GREENSBORO, N.C. _ The ACC will close the remainder of its men's basketball tournament to spectators, beginning with Thursday's quarterfinals, ensuring that games will be played in a mostly empty Greensboro Coliseum amid the emerging threat of the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease.
The decision to close the tournament to fans, announced Wednesday night, came hours after the NCAA announced that its men's and women's tournaments would also be played without spectators, and with "only essential staff and limited family" in attendance. Those tournaments begin next week, and the Greensboro Coliseum is a first- and second-round site in the men's tournament.
The decisions to close major, regional and national sporting events to fans is believed to be unprecedented. Those decisions come as a decisive response to a public health crisis whose severity has come into focus in recent days, forcing businesses and organizations to take drastic protective measures in attempt to limit the spread of disease.
As recently as late Wednesday afternoon, there was no indication that the ACC would close the Greensboro Coliseum to spectators. The conference had announced, on Tuesday, its plans to hold the tournament as scheduled, outside of minor changes to postgame media availability. The NCAA's announcement, which came at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, spurred the ACC into action.
"While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement. "This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes."
Not long after the NCAA released its statement, the ACC announced in a post on Twitter that its two tournament games on Wednesday night, which were scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and approximately 9:30 p.m., would "proceed as planned." The league also said that it would "evaluate the rest of the tournament." Fans were still allowed into the night session Wednesday for games between Boston College and Notre Dame and North Carolina and Syracuse.
Conference officials met throughout Wednesday afternoon. The ACC's decision to close the tournament to fans came not long after the Big 12 Conference announced a similar decision for its conference tournament. Both the Mid-American and Big West conferences announced Tuesday that their conference tournaments would be played without spectators, and the Ivy League canceled its men's and women's tournaments.
