Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports

The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were scheduled to take place in Tokyo starting 24 July. Although the Japanese government had taken extra precautions to help minimize the outbreak's impact in the country,[8][9] qualifying events were being canceled or postponed almost daily. "And the Games themselves are expected to draw 600,000 foreign visitors from nearly every country. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Tokyo 2020 organizing-committee chief executive Toshiro Muto voiced concerns on 5 February, that COVID-19 might "throw cold water on the momentum toward the Games."[10][11]

The traditional Olympic flame lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece, to mark the start of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay was held on 12 March without spectators.[12] On 23 March, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain announced that they would withdraw from the Games unless they are postponed for one year.[13] On 24 March 2020, the IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics would be "rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021", marking the first time in the history of the modern Olympics that an Olympiad has been postponed.[14][15][16] The opening ceremonies of the Games were officially rescheduled to 23 July 2021.[17]

On 29 April 2020, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that the Games "must be held in a way that shows the world has won its battle against the coronavirus pandemic".[18] He also says that if a vaccine is not found, the Olympics will be canceled completely.

Although the next Winter Olympics are not until 2022 (hosted by Beijing, China), the pandemic has already impacted qualifying in specific sports such as curling—where the World Curling Federation announced a proposal to have qualification be dependent on performance in the 2021 world championships (whose top teams will automatically qualify) and a final qualification tournament, as opposed to the previous plan of having qualification determined by both the 2020 and 2021 world championships.[19] Qualification for the women's hockey tournament was to be determined by IIHF World Rankings after the 2020 Women's World Championship. As the tournament was cancelled, the existing rankings going into the tournament were used instead.[20]

The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, were scheduled for July 2021, but because of the rescheduling of the 2020 Summer Olympics, the eleventh World Games will be held in July 2022 instead.[21]

The 2020 Arctic Winter Games were canceled.[22]

The 2020 ASEAN Para Games were cancelled.[23]

The 2021 Summer World University Games were postponed for ten days by the rescheduling of the Summer Olympics.

• The 2021 World Masters Games, original schedule held in Osaka Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture on 14 to 30 May, that indefinite postponed after 2022, the organisation announced on 28 October.

X Games Chongli 2020 was postponed.[24] X Games Minneapolis 2020 was cancelled.[25]

U Sports curtailed its men's and women's ice hockey championships on 12 March 2020. On 8 June, U Sports announced that it had cancelled all national championships for the fall semester of the 2020–21 academic year, including football[lower-alpha 1] (the first time the Vanier Cup will not be contested since its inception), cross-country, field hockey, women's rugby, and soccer.[26] On 15 October 2020, U Sports announced it would do the same thing for the winter 2021 portion of the 2020–21, once again cancelling all winter national championships as well. Atlantic University Sport, Canada West, and Ontario University Athletics followed suit, suspending all university athletics programs initially through to 31 December 2020, but was later extended through to 31 March 2021, as announced on 15 October 2020.[27][28][29][30][31]

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland had a significant impact on the conduct of sports, affecting both competitive sports leagues and tournaments and recreational sports. The Gaelic games of football, hurling, camogie, and ladies' football saw all competitions suspended from 12 March 2020. The National Hurling League, National Football League, National Camogie League and Ladies' National Football League were suspended, with competitions not intended to resume until 29 March at the earliest..[32] This proved to be an optimistic assumption.

In the Philippines, NCAA Season 95 and UAAP Season 82 were both indefinitely suspended.[33][34] NCAA Season 95 was terminated on 19 March after the then community quarantine in Luzon was upgraded to an "enhanced community quarantine", in effect a lockdown.[35] UAAP Season 82 was canceled on 7 April, after the enhanced community quarantine was extended to 30 April.[36]

On 1 May, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) have decided to cancel their 2020 season.[37]

On 16 March 2020, British Universities and Colleges Sport, the UK organisation for university sport, announced that all fixtures from 17 March to 1 April would not take place. Some individual events, like the orienteering and windsurfing championships were canceled entirely, while others were postponed indefinitely.[38]

On 6 March 2020, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, a game played at Johns Hopkins University between Yeshiva University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute became the first U.S. sporting event to be played without fans in attendance, after a student at Yeshiva University tested positive for COVID-19.[39]

On 11 March 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — the main U.S.A. sanctioning body for college athletics — initially announced that its winter-semester championships and tournaments, including its popular "March Madness" men's basketball tournament, would be conducted behind closed doors with "only essential staff and limited family attendance".[40]

The following day, in respect of the suspension of the NBA season and other professional sports leagues, the NCAA announced that all remaining championship events for the 2019–20 academic year would be canceled entirely, resulting in the first cancellation in the 81-year history of the NCAA basketball tournament.[41] This created a de facto mythical national championship situation.[42] Other American multi-sports organizations—the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA),[43] National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA),[44] and California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA)[45]—also canceled their seasons. Additionally the Community College level sports governing bodies restored the season of eligibility to athletes who had already participated in the 2020 spring season.

On 12 May 2020, because the California State University system announced that in-person classes would remain suspended through the fall 2020 semester, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)—a 12-member NCAA Division II conference consisting entirely of CSU campuses[lower-alpha 2]—announced that it would also suspend its fall athletics season.[47]

The Patriot League, an NCAA Division I conference that competes in the second level of D1 Football,[lower-alpha 1] the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), initially announced on 22 June that while it would hold its fall sports seasons, its teams would not fly to any competitions, and overnight travel would only be allowed on a case-by-case basis.[48] Another FCS conference, the Ivy League, announced on 8 July that it was canceling all fall sports, and that winter sports (whose seasons normally begin during the fall academic term) would not begin play until after the end of the fall term. It left open the possibility of shifting its fall sports, including football, to the spring.[49] The Patriot League would later cancel its fall sports season entirely on 13 July, but gave the two federally operated service academies among its membership, Army and Navy, the option to play fall sports as they saw fit. While the academies are full members of the Patriot League, their football teams play outside the conference in the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).[50]

The days following the Ivy League's cancellation of fall sports saw two of the major "Power Five" conferences of FBS announce that if fall sports were played, only in-conference matchups would take place. The Big Ten Conference made this announcement on 9 July,[51] with the Pac-12 Conference doing the same the next day.[52] Both conferences later chose to hold abbreviated conference-only football seasons, with the Big Ten starting play on the weekend of 24 October[53] and the Pac-12 on the weekend of 7 November.[54]

In August, the NCAA announced that the Division II and Division III Presidents Councils decided to cancel national championships in all fall sports.[55][56]

In September, it was announced that 2020 Division I championships administered by NCAA in fall sports (cross country, field hockey, football soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo) would be rescheduled to spring 2021, and conducted with a 25% reduction in championship participants. Matches played in fall or spring would count toward qualification. The Football Bowl Subdivision was not included as it is not an NCAA-administered championship.[57]

In December, the NCAA announced that 2021 Division II championship events in winter and spring sports would also have a 25% overall reduction in participants (individual sports varied from 17-34% based on logistics) to mitigate costs of testing and health protocols, as well as lost income.[58]

Programs located in the state of New Mexico and in Santa Clara County, California had to relocate practices and games because of legislative bans on any competitive sport requiring physical contact. At the University of New Mexico, the football team moved its first two home games to the sites of their opponents and the last two to Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada, in Clark County near Las Vegas; while the men's basketball team moved to Lubbock, Texas and played home games at Lubbock Christian University. New Mexico State moved its men's basketball program to Phoenix, Arizona and used Arizona Christian University as its home court. San Jose State University's football team played its regular-season finale and championship game at Sam Boyd, while the men's basketball team played home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz. The same venue hosted early-season home games of the Stanford University and Santa Clara University men's basketball teams.

The financial fallout from the pandemic was specifically cited by the following schools in their decisions to drop certain sports programs:

Effective in 2020–21

• University of Akron – Men's cross country, men's golf, women's tennis[59]
• University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) – Men's and women's tennis [60]
• Appalachian State University – Men's indoor track & field, men's soccer, men's tennis[61]
• Boise State University – Baseball, women's swimming & diving[lower-alpha 3][62]
• Central Michigan University – Men's indoor and outdoor track & field[63][lower-alpha 4]
• Chicago State University – Baseball[64][lower-alpha 5]
• University of Cincinnati – Men's soccer[65]
• Dartmouth College – Men's and women's golf and men's and women's swimming & diving, as well as the non-NCAA sport of men's lightweight rowing.[lower-alpha 6][66]
• East Carolina University – Men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis[67]
• Florida Institute of Technology – Football[68]
• Furman University – Baseball, men's lacrosse[69]
• University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (Green Bay) – Men's and women's tennis[70]
• Hampton University – Men's and women's golf[71]
• Lincoln University (Missouri) – Bowling[lower-alpha 7][72]
• University of Northern Colorado – Men's and women's tennis[73]
• Old Dominion University – Men's wrestling[74][lower-alpha 8]
• St. Edward's University – Men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men's soccer. Cheerleading, which had been a recognized varsity sport though not under NCAA governance, was downgraded to a club sport under the umbrella of the university's recreation department.[75]
• Seattle Pacific University – Women's gymnastics[76]
• Sonoma State University – Men's and women's tennis, women's water polo[77]
• Southern Utah University – Men's and women's tennis[78]
• Winthrop University – Men's and women's tennis[79]
• Wright State University – Softball, men's and women's tennis[80]

Effective in 2021–22

• University of Alaska Anchorage – Women's gymnastics, men's ice hockey, skiing[lower-alpha 9][81]
• Clemson University – Men's cross country, men's indoor and outdoor track & field[82]
• California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) – Women's lacrosse, men's tennis, men's wrestling[83]
• George Washington University – NCAA-sanctioned sports dropped were men's tennis, men's indoor track and field, and women's water polo. Non-NCAA varsity sports dropped were men's rowing,[lower-alpha 6] coed sailing, and men's and women's squash.[84]
• University of Iowa – Men's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's tennis[85]
• La Salle University – Baseball, softball, men's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, women's volleyball, men's water polo[86]
• Michigan State University – Men's and women's swimming & diving[87]
• University of Minnesota – Men's gymnastics, men's tennis, men's indoor track & field[88]
• San Diego State University – Women's rowing[89]
• Stanford University – NCAA-sanctioned sports dropped were fencing,[lower-alpha 10] field hockey,[lower-alpha 11] men's volleyball, and wrestling. Non-NCAA varsity sports dropped were lightweight rowing, men's rowing,[lower-alpha 6] coed and women's sailing, squash, and synchronized swimming.[90]
• University of Connecticut (UConn) – Men's cross country, women's rowing,[lower-alpha 6] men's swimming & diving, men's tennis[91]

Additionally, the New York Institute of Technology suspended its entire athletic program for two seasons, after which it will reconsider the decision.[92] Similarily, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff announced that it was "suspending" its men's and women's tennis teams for the 2020–21 school year, citing the pandemic, but did not officially eliminate the tennis program.[93]

UAH initially dropped men's ice hockey alongside both of its tennis teams, but a successful fundraising drive by alumni and team supporters led the school to reinstate hockey a week later.[94] Similarly, Bowling Green State University announced that it would drop its baseball team,[95] but also had a successful fundraising effort that led to the team being reinstated.[96] The University of Minnesota, which had announced plans to drop four men's sports effective in 2021–22, announced that one of these sports, namely outdoor track & field, would be spared discontinuation, pending a further review of the school's sports offerings in spring 2021.[88] The most extensive rollback of plans to drop sports came at the College of William & Mary. In early September 2020, W&M announced it would drop seven sports effective in 2021–22—men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's indoor and outdoor track & field, and women's volleyball.[97] The fallout from this move led the school's athletic director to resign a month after this announcement.[98] W&M eventually reversed course completely, restoring the three women's sports on 19 October[99] and announcing on 5 November that the four men's sports would continue to be sponsored through at least 2021–22.[100]

MacMurray College, Notre Dame de Namur University, and Urbana University announced that they would wind down operations and close due to economic issues brought upon or exacerbated by the pandemic—effectively ending the entirety of their athletics programs.[101][102][103]

In August 2020, officials at the University of California, Riverside, a Division I member, publicly announced that shutting down the school's entire athletic program was one possible option to address pandemic-related financial challenges. As of mid-October, no decision on the program's future had yet been reached.[104]

The qualifying round of the World Baseball Softball Confederation-sanctioned 2021 World Baseball Classic, scheduled in Tucson, Arizona, United States in March 2020 was postponed on 12 March 2020.[143] The tournament itself has been rescheduled tentatively to 2023, depending on a new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players' union.

On 30 April 2020, Little League International announced that the 2020 Little League World Series and its associated regional qualifiers would be cancelled due to the pandemic. This was the first cancellation of the tournament since its first edition in 1947.[144]

On 26 February 2020, Nippon Professional Baseball announced that spring training would continue behind closed doors.[145] On 9 March, the league announced that the start of its 2020 season, originally scheduled for 20 March, would be postponed until April.[146][147] Eventually, the heavily-modified season started on 19 June and was shortened from 143 games to 120 games. To maximize the number of intraleague games that could be played, interleague play and the All-Star Series were eliminated.[148] Additionally, NPB's post-season, the Climax Series, was affected as well. The Pacific League reduced their post-season from two playoff series to one, while the Central League cancelled their Climax Series altogether, instead opting to advance their regular-season champion directly to the Japan Series[149] NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito announced on June, fan entry admit within 5000 audience in ballpark, that start from 10 July, set on hand spray and thermo-temperatures measuring device in stadium entrance. According to NPB commissioner Saito announced on 12 September, the maximum number of all home stadium onto admit allowance spectators will be raised range from 11,000 to 20,000 from 19 September.

On 4 March, the Japan High School Baseball Federation announced that the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament, scheduled to begin on 19 March, would take place without fans in attendance.[150] However, on 11 March, the governing body of high school baseball in Japan declared that the tournament had been cancelled.[151][152] The cancellation of the 2020 tournament marked the first time the contest had been cancelled since its establishment in 1924. The tournaments were not formally scheduled between 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.[151][153] According to JHSBF chairman Hideaki Hatta announced on 20 May, all games, including regional qualifying were cancelled on High School Baseball Tournament of Japan, that one of the more popular sports event in the nation, since Second World War (1941 to 1945). According to Japan Students Baseball Association honour chairman Tatsuro Matsumae (松前達郎) announced on 9 October, a Meiji Shrine Baseball Tournament (明治神宮野球大会), section of university and senior high-school section officially suspend by high level positive infection continue COVID-19 around Tokyo Metropolitan Area, this tournament suspend since 1988, when critical condition of Emperor Hirohito, after September.

Opening Day of the 2020 KBO League season was originally scheduled for 28 March 2020.[154] The Korea Baseball Organization announced in March that all ten exhibition games would be cancelled.[155][156] The league later decided that exhibition games would be played starting 21 April with no spectators. The start of the regular season would also take place with no spectators, on 5 May.[157]

The Taiwan-based Chinese Professional Baseball League was scheduled to begin its 2020 season on 14 March.[158][159] On 1 April, the league announced that opening day would take place on 11 April, without fans in attendance.[160] Due to inclement weather on that date, games did not begin until 12 April.[161][162] On 9 May, the CPBL began admitting spectators.[163]

Cut-outs of fans placed in seats at Nationals Park in August 2020

Luis Rojas of the New York Mets wears a face mask in September 2020

On 12 March 2020, Major League Baseball suspended all spring training activities. Opening Day of the 2020 season, scheduled for 26 March, was postponed, as was the start of the regular season for Minor League Baseball, which was to begin on 9 April.[164][165] In addition, the Mexico Series and Puerto Rico Series games were canceled; the former would have featured the San Diego Padres playing the Arizona Diamondbacks at Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, and the latter featuring the New York Mets playing the Miami Marlins at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.[166] MLB also canceled the 2020 London Series games, which would have featured the Chicago Cubs playing the St. Louis Cardinals at London Stadium.[167]

Also on 12 March, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced the suspension of its baseball season and cancellation of the entire season, further adding an automatic redshirt year without officially using a redshirt year. Seniors who would have exhausted their eligibility would not be charged a year, as most conferences had not begun their conference seasons.[168][169]

On 30 April, the 2020 Little League World Series and its other associated tournaments were canceled, and with it, the 2020 MLB Little League Classic game between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles scheduled for 23 August in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.[170]

Several summer collegiate baseball leagues were canceled entirely, while others postponed their starts from the beginning of June to the beginning of July. The Portland Pickles of the West Coast League announced that they would play without fans, while several other teams withdrew from their leagues entirely.[171]

On 30 June 2020 Minor League Baseball was cancelled outright.[172]

On 1 July, the 2020 Mexican Baseball League season was cancelled because of MiLB affiliations.[173]

On 18 July, the Toronto Blue Jays were denied permission by the Canadian federal government to play their home games at the Rogers Centre.[174][175] On 24 July, the Blue Jays announced they would play their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo.[176]

The 60-game 2020 Major League Baseball season began on 23 July with the New York Yankees at Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers. Subsequently, seven teams were forced to postpone games as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks. The worst of these, and the first, involved 17 members of the Miami Marlins. Starting on 27 July 11 of their games were postponed.[177] This was followed, in order, by the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, and San Francisco Giants.

During the 2020 MLB season, teams endured multiple outbreaks. In their handling of positive tests, many teams complied with updated protocols, making sure that infected team members were not spreading the virus to other players, coaching staff, and members of the organization. Compliance lapsed when one of the players, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who had a positive COVID-19 case, stormed the field after the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series. After being ordered into isolation and failing to comply with the rules - by running onto the field, taking photos, and hugging players - Turner, the Dodgers, and MLB received unwanted backlash from fans and the media around the world.[178]

After an MLB investigation, no further action was taken against Turner or the Dodgers; however, there were reportedly five positive tests among other members of the organization.

Turner's diagnosis was announced late in the Dodgers' Game 6 eventual win. It has been speculated that the World Series would have faced significant delays if the Tampa Bay Rays had won and forced a Game 7.

The launch of the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League set for March 2020 was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. No new date has been announced.[179]

The 2019–20 Chinese Basketball Association season was suspended on 1 February 2020.[180] However, China Basketball Association (CBA) chairman Yao Ming announced that the season will restart on 20 June, without spectators.[181]

On 14 February, FIBA ordered two qualifying games for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup, Philippines vs Thailand in Quezon City, and Japan vs. China in Chiba to be postponed to a later date. This brought the postponed games to three, after FIBA earlier ordered the China vs. Malaysia game in Foshan to be postponed.[182] Later that week, the Guam vs. Hong Kong game in Hagåtña was also postponed.[183]

The Korean Basketball League canceled its 2019–20 season on 24 March, after playing its last game on 29 February. This comes as the Women's Korean Basketball League canceled its season a week before.[184]

On 4 March, FIBA announced the cancellation of the 2019 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship in Beirut and the 2019 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship for Women in Canberra. It also postponed the 3x3 Olympic qualification tournament in Bangalore, and rescheduled the 2020 FIBA Asia 3x3 Cups in Changsha and the 2020 FIBA 3x3 Under-17 Asian Cup in Cyberjaya.[185]

The 2019–20 season of the Super Basketball League in Taiwan continued despite the outbreak. When the Taiwanese government shut down all publicly-controlled arenas on 19 March, the league contemplated of shutting down as well, but ended up on holding all of its games at the HaoYu Basketball Training Center. No less than 100 people are in the arena at any time.[186]

Several fixtures of the ASEAN Basketball League 2019–20 season scheduled in February onwards were rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In early March 2020, four participating teams, Alab Pilipinas, Hong Kong Eastern, Macau Black Bears and Formosa Dreamers has released statements urging the suspension of the whole season due to logistical issues posed by COVID-19-related travel measures in Southeast Asia, mainland China and Taiwan.[187] On 13 March 2020, the league's 2019–20 season was postponed indefinitely.[188] On 15 July 2020, the league announced that it canceled the season, without a champion being named.[189]

The 2020 season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the PBA D-League was suspended indefinitely on 10 March 2020 after its first game had completed. The inaugural of the PBA's 3x3 tournament was also likewise delayed.[34] The PBA management also imposed a two-week prohibition on team "practices, scrimmages and other related activities" which took effect on 14 March 2020.[188]

Several leagues have suspended their tournaments on 12 March: Community Basketball Association, National Basketball League, Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.[190]

On 7 April 2020, the PBA Board of Governors have decided to shorten this season into a two-conference season (later revised to a one-conference season on August) following the postponement of the Philippine Cup due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the enforcement of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon until 30 April.[191]

On 17 September, the PBA Board of Governors have approved a plan to restart the season on 11 October (originally on 9 October), then was given a provisional approval by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-ID) on 24 September. All games will be played in the "PBA bubble" at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, the isolation zone specifically created for league operations.[192][193]

Jordi Bertomeu, CEO of the Euroleague, suspended the games from 14 March to 11 April. The Euroleague previously suspended the Eurocup. FIBA also suspended the Basketball Champions League and the FIBA Europe Cup starting on 14 March. Lithuania, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia and Ukraine canceled outright their respective first division leagues, naming the teams in the top of the standings as champions. Top flight divisions in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Finland, Croatia, Greece, Poland, Cyprus, and Czech Republic suspended its games as of 14 March. The Adriatic League and the VTB United League suspended its competitions until April.[194]

The government of Turkey suspended the Basketball Super League on 19 March, the last major European league to do so.[195]

On 6 June, the 2019–20 Basketball Bundesliga in Germany restarted with a ten-team closing tournament with the top teams invited.

In many New York City parks, hoops were removed from basketball courts to discourage people being in groups.

On 11 March 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended its season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus prior to tip-off for a scheduled game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.[196] Commissioner Adam Silver stated the next day that this suspension "will be most likely at least 30 days, and we don't know enough to be more specific than that".[197]

On 12 March, all Division I conferences in college basketball canceled their respective tournaments in-progress. The Ivy League had already called off its tournament prior to the decision, while some conferences, as well as the NCAA for its men's and women's tournaments, had previously announced that they would conduct their games behind closed doors.[198][199][200] The NCAA subsequently canceled its tournaments outright.[4][201][202]

On 14 March, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of Puerto Rico suspended its season.[195]

On 23 March, National Basketball League of Canada suspended the remainder of the 2019–20 season.[203]

On 3 April, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced that they will have postponed the start of training camp and regular season which was originally scheduled for 15 May.[204] The 2020 WNBA draft was held virtually and televised on 17 April 2020 without players, guests, and media on-site.[205]

On 4 June, it was announced that the season would restart on 31 July for 22 teams still in playoff contention at the time of the suspension, and would finish no later than 12 October. Professional teams such as the Houston Rockets saw their seasons impacted as players like all-star Russell Westbrook tested positive for COVID-19.[206]

On 30 July, the 2019–20 NBA season officially resumed in a "bubble" setting at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida. Play concluded on 11 October when the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship.

Pandemic impacts continued into the next college basketball season. The earliest allowable date for games in the 2020-21 season was pushed back from 10 to 25 November, when most campuses would have either concluded their fall term or moved remaining classes online. In addition, the maximum number of games was reduced by four (to 27), and the minimum number of games required to qualify for the national championship tournament was halved from 26 to 13.[207]

Scheduling of games was also disrupted with early season "Multi-Team Events" cancelled, relocated, or rearranged. The Maui Invitational was moved from Lahaina, Hawaii to Asheville, North Carolina, while the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas was also canceled and replaced by a separate event, the Crossover Classic, being held at the Sanford Pentagon and featuring most of the teams originally invited.[208] Between 25 November[209] and 5 December, almost two weeks of nonconference games were played at Mohegan Sun, in a secured environment marketed as "Bubbleville".[210][211]

Some conferences adapted altered scheduling formats intended to limit air travel (divisions, back to back games at one site), and allow opportunities for cancelled games to be rescheduled.[212]

On 4 January 2021, the NCAA announced that all games of the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament would take place in the state of Indiana, with health protocols and possible spectator restrictions in place. The 68-team field will be announced on 14 March, followed by the "First Four" games on 18 March, first and second rounds from 19-22 March, "Sweet 16" on 27 and 28 March, and "Elite 8" on 29 and 30 March at various locations. The national semifinals on 3 April and national championship on 5 April will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.[213][214] Because of the 2020 cancellation and 2021 realignment, 24 U.S. cities were deprived of hosting NCAA tournament games over two seasons. Dayton, Ohio lost First Four games in each season, while Indianapolis will stage the 2021 Final Four as originally scheduled.

On 5 February 2021, the NCAA announced that all games of the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament would take place in the state of Texas, with most games in San Antonio. The field will be announced on 15 March, followed by the first and second rounds from 21-24 March at locations in San Antonio, Austin, and San Marcos. All remaining rounds - "Sweet 16" on 27 and 28 March, "Elite 8" on 29 and 30 March, national semifinals on 2 April, and national championship on 4 April - will take place at the Alamodome.[215] As was the case with the men's tournament, San Antonio was already scheduled to host the Final Four.

The 2020–21 NBA season began on 22 December. Each team is scheduled to play 72 games - less than the normal 82 games, but more than teams played the prior season, including the games in the bubble. The NBA planned to release the slate in two parts, with the first covering games from 22 December to the start of a six-day break on 5 March, and the second covering the period from 10 March to the end of the regular season in mid-May. All games were to be played at home arenas, with health and safety protocols still in place. Except for Utah Jazz home games, fans were not allowed to attend. Due to ongoing restrictions on traffic on the Canada–United States border, the Toronto Raptors moved home games temporarily to Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.[216]

On 25 November, the NBA announced that its annual All-Star Game and other weekend events would not be held during the coming season. The Indiana Pacers - who were to have hosted the weekend at Bankers Life Fieldhouse - were given the 2024 game as compensation.[217]

On 8 January 2021, the G League announced plans to run its entire season using the same bubble at ESPN Wide World of Sports used by the NBA previously. Play will begin sometime in February. Eighteen of the league's 31 teams will participate, including the newly launched NBA G League Ignite team of prospects.[218]

In Australia's National Basketball League, the 2020 NBL Grand Final between the Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats was played behind closed doors beginning with Game 2, and the NBL stated that it would be suspended immediately if any player was diagnosed.[219]

After Game 3—trailing 2–1 in a best-of-five series—the Kings announced 17 March that they would withdraw from the Finals, due to "a critical mass of relevant and actual concerns related to player welfare and the club's social responsibility". The NBL had been considering playing Game 4 of the series on 18 March instead of 20 March as originally scheduled to accelerate its completion.[220][221] On 18 March, the NBL declared the Perth Wildcats as champions by default.[222]

Novo Basquete Brasil canceled its season on 4 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.[223]

ONE Championship moved its 28 February "King of the Jungle" event behind closed doors, and announced that its ONE Infinity 1 event on 10 April would move from Chongqing, China to Jakarta, Indonesia.[245] On 13 March, ONE announced that all cards would be held behind closed doors in Singapore until ONE Infinity 1 on 29 May, re-located to Manila, Philippines (which was originally to host ONE Infinity 2). The ONE Championship "Heart of Heroes" event in Vietnam (originally scheduled for 20 March) was postponed to June.[246][247][248] On 6 April, due to lockdown orders issued by the Singapore government that restrict non-essential business, ONE announced that the two April cards would be postponed.[249]

On 9 March, Combate Americas announced that its March events would be cancelled and replaced by closed-door tapings beginning 3 April.[250] On 10 March, Polish MMA promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) cancelled its 21 March 2020 event KSW 53 in Łódź.[251] On 13 March, Bellator canceled Bellator 241 in Uncasville, Connecticut (which was scheduled to occur later that day), and has since canceled all events through May.[252][253]

The main North American promotion UFC went on with its 13 March event UFC Fight Night: Lee vs. Oliveira in Brasília, Brazil, behind closed doors.[250][254] On 16 March, UFC announced that the next three UFC Fight Night events, Overeem vs. Harris, Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik, and Woodley vs. Edwards, would be postponed to future dates.[255]

In regards to its next pay-per-view, UFC 249 on 18 April, UFC president Dana White stated that the event would likely go on, but at a new venue behind closed doors. It was originally to be held at New York City's Barclays Center, but a stay-at-home order was issued by the New York state government.[255] On 18 March, the New York State Athletic Commission also withdrew its sanctioning for the event.[256] Due to international travel restrictions and other withdrawals, a revised card for UFC 249 was unveiled 6 April with a location still being determined.[257][258] On 7 April, White disclosed that he had booked an unspecified venue for two months, in order to host both UFC 249 and other future events involving U.S. fighters. He also disclosed plans to secure a private island to host events with international fighters.[259][260]

The new UFC 249 venue was subsequently revealed to be Tachi Palace—a tribal casino in Lemoore, California; as it is on tribal land, it also fell outside of the jurisdiction of the California State Athletic Commission, meaning that events held there could be self-sanctioned.[256] On 9 April, UFC announced that UFC 249 had been canceled, and all other UFC events would be suspended until further notice. White cited interventions from high-ranking staff of the UFC's U.S. media rightsholders, ESPN Inc. and parent The Walt Disney Company.[261] The New York Post reported that Governor of California Gavin Newsom had contacted Disney chairman and former CEO Bob Iger, urging ESPN and the UFC to not hold the event.[262] Despite the cancellation, White stated that he was still going on with his "Fight Island" project.[261][262]

The UFC later announced on 24 April that it would resume its events with a series of three cards held behind closed doors at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, beginning with UFC 249 on 9 May, along with two other cards on 13 May (UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira) and 16 May (UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris). Florida had recently exempted sporting events held behind closed doors for a national audience from its stay-at-home order. White also announced a planned card at an undetermined location on 23 May, and plans to begin events at his "Fight Island" in June.[263] The Nevada Athletic Commission approved the hosting of UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns on 30 May, and UFC 250 on 6 June, both at the company's UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.[264][265]

On 9 June, White revealed that the "Fight Island" venue was Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which hosted UFC 251 on 11 July and will host three other UFC Fight Night cards. The area includes accommodations and training facilities, and a 10-square-mile (26 km²) area restricted to fighters, coaches, and UFC staff.[266]

Kunlun Fight cancelled multiple events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[267][268]

Glory cancelled events in Lint, Belgium and Miami, Florida.[269]

Numerous promotions have canceled major events, such as Impact Wrestling's TNA: There's No Place Like Home, Ring of Honor's 18th Anniversary Show, and the National Wrestling Alliance's Crockett Cup in the United States.[270] Impact, ROH, and NWA also cancelled future tapings for their respective weekly television shows until further notice.[271][272][273] In Mexico, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre cancelled tapings for their weekly shows for the foreseeable future and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide postponed the 2020 Rey de Reyes event.[274][275] In Japan, DDT Pro-Wrestling cancelled their marquee event Wrestle Peter Pan 2020.[276]

In accordance with recommendations from the Japanese Ministry of Health, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) decided to cancel all scheduled shows from 1 March through 15 March.[277] On 10 March, NJPW announced that they were cancelling all shows through 22 March, and postponed most notably the 2020 New Japan Cup.[278] The Stardom promotion, sister company of NJPW also owned by Bushiroad, also made adjustments to their scheduled, cancelling shows from 19 February to 14 March. Their show of 8 March in Korakuen Hall was held without any spectators in attendance, instead streaming live on their YouTube channel.[279] On 23 March, NJPW would later cancel the 2020 Sakura Genesis event that was originally scheduled to take place on 31 March.[280][281] On 8 April, NJPW would cancel more events from 11 April through 4 May, including the entire Wrestling Dontaku, which was not rescheduled.[282] On 6 May, NJPW cancelled their annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament.[283] The next day, NJPW postponed their Wrestle Dynasty event to 2021, which was to take place in Madison Square Garden in New York.[284] On 9 June, NJPW announced their return with special show with a mystery match card called Together Special on 15 June and the rescheduled New Japan Cup would now be held from 16 June until 11 July, with the finals being held at Osaka-jō Hall in Osaka alongside Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall being rescheduled to 12 July 2020.[285][286]

American promotion WWE began to move the broadcasts of its weekly programs SmackDown and Raw (which usually broadcast from arenas) behind closed doors to its Orlando training facility, the WWE Performance Center, beginning with SmackDown on 13 March, with no audience and only essential staff in attendance.[287][288][289] The promotion also postponed some of its upcoming house shows.[290]

WrestleMania 36—WWE's flagship pay-per-view event—was originally scheduled to be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. On 16 March, WWE announced that it would also be produced from the Performance Center and air across two nights (4 and 5 April).[291][292][293] WrestleMania Weekend's associated events, such as the NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay card (which was scheduled for Amalie Arena) and WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony were also postponed to unannounced dates, though TakeOver was ultimately canceled with its planned matches moved to weekly episodes of NXT.[294] Matches for WrestleMania, as well as the final two episodes of SmackDown and final episode of Raw before WrestleMania, were recorded in advance at the Performance Center between 21 and 26 March.[295] While the majority of matches were filmed in Performance Center arena and presented plausibly live, two matches were filmed off-site in different, cinematic styles.[296][297][298]

After continuing with pre-taped episodes for the go-home shows after WrestleMania, WWE announced that its weekly series would resume live broadcasts on 13 April, with Raw and SmackDown from the Performance Center as before, and NXT taped from its existing studio at Full Sail University in Winter Park.[299][300] WWE told ESPN that "it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times", and that its programming "bring[s] families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance".[300] WWE also confirmed that one of its employees had contracted COVID-19 after a meeting with two health care workers on 26 March, but that the exposure occurred after production had wrapped; the employee had not made any contact with WWE staff since and they made a complete recovery.[300][301][302] Wrestling journalists Dave Meltzer noted that WWE's television contracts with Fox and USA Network likely restricted the number of non-live episodes it could broadcast per-year (accommodating breaks in live broadcasts usually held around the Christmas and New Year holidays).[303]

WWE's next PPV, Money in the Bank, was expected to be held at Baltimore's Royal Farms Arena in May, but was canceled by the arena on 9 April.[304][305] On 17 April, WWE announced that the show's eponymous Money in the Bank matches (where wrestlers compete to retrieve a briefcase suspended above the ring with a ladder, containing a contract granting rights to challenge one of WWE's world championships at any point within the next year) would take place at its world headquarters building in Stamford, Connecticut, with a new "corporate ladder" gimmick where the briefcases would be suspended above a ring on the building's roof; the wrestlers began on the ground floor of the building and fought their way to the roof. The rest of the event occurred live at the Performance Center.[306]

On 9 April, Florida's Division of Emergency Management added an exemption to the state stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production with a national audience", if closed to the general public.[307][308] On 13 April, Mayor of Orange County Jerry Demings acknowledged the change during a news conference, stating that they were made following consultations with the office of Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, and that they would allow WWE to continue its operations.[309][310] It was reported that WWE had received repeated warnings by state officials over the stay-at-home order, but that DeSantis considered the operation critical to the state economy, and accommodated them by allowing the aforementioned changes.[311][309]

DeSantis acknowledged the changes the next day, explaining that viewers were "starved" for sports content, and that the new exception could also be theoretically used by other sporting events.[307] The same day, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he was forming an economic advisory group to address the country's emergence and "reopening" from the pandemic; WWE owner and chairman Vince McMahon was named to the group (alongside other major sports commissioners and team owners). McMahon has been an ally of Trump, who has also made appearances on WWE programming in the past, and is also a member of the celebrity wing of the company's Hall of Fame.[312][313][314][315]

On 28 August, WWE moved its weekly Raw and SmackDown shows, as well as pay-per-views, to the Amway Center which is also in Orlando. The centerpiece of the new setup is "ThunderDome," an in-arena staging incorporating a virtual audience and larger-scale arena show.[316] In October 2020, NXT re-located to the Performance Center from Full Sail University, using a remodeled main arena adding a virtual audience (similar to the ThunderDome staging) alongside limited in-person attendance,[317] which is called "Capitol Wrestling Center."

On 11 December, the ThunderDome set was relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, as WWE vacated Amway Center to make room for its professional sports co-tenants.[318]

On 16 January 2021, WWE announced that, for the second year in a row, COVID-19 would impact the site and schedule for WrestleMania. Originally scheduled for 28 March at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California (near Los Angeles), WrestleMania 37 was rescheduled for 10 and 11 April and relocated to Raymond James Stadium, which was originally scheduled to host WM36. A factor behind the move is that, due to stay-at-home restrictions, SoFi was still unable to sell tickets to any of its events. Inglewood will now host the same event in 2023, after AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas is to stage it in 2022.

On 12 March, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced the relocation of its two remaining live broadcasts of Dynamite on TNT for the month of March, scheduled for Rochester, New York and Newark, New Jersey respectively (with the latter originally scheduled to feature AEW's "Blood and Guts" event, also indefinitely postponed),[319] to an alternative location with no audience. AEW stated that it had re-booked the two cities for future episodes in July.[290][320] AEW subsequently cancelled on-location Dynamite broadcasts through at least 13 May.[321][322]

Beginning on 15 March, AEW began to originate Dynamite from a closed stage at TIAA Bank Field's Daily's Place amphitheater in Jacksonville, Florida.[323] Beginning with 1 April episode, Dynamite moved to an undisclosed location to prevent fans from attempting to interact with the wrestlers;[324] the location was later reported to be in Norcross, Georgia. On 3 April, after a state-wide stay-at-home order was issued, it was reported that AEW had also pre-recorded content for Dynamite on 1 and 2 April, and that they had amassed enough content "for weeks if not months if necessary."[325]

AEW's next pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing, was originally scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on 23 May. The venue, however, canceled all events up through 31 May due to the pandemic.[326] The event was subsequently moved to Daily's Place (with nearby TIAA Bank Field hosting a deliberate empty arena "Stadium Stampede" match).[327]

On 27 August, AEW began to hold events with spectators, again at Daily's Place. These events are ticketed and will carry between 10%-15% capacity.

Despite the March honbasho in Osaka taking place behind closed doors without a hitch, bar one wrestler (Chiyomaru) having temporarily withdrawn from the tournament with a fever whilst undergoing tests; both the Natsu honbasho in May and Nagoya honbasho in July were initially postponed by two weeks on 4 April. The July tournament had been previously moved forward a week to avoid conflict with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which have since been postponed a year.[328][329]

A week later, the Japan Sumo Association confirmed the sport's first case when an undisclosed wrestler in the lower ranks, was tested positive after developing a fever some six days earlier. This led to all wrestlers and officials being ordered to stay indoor until further notice.[330]

Following the extension of Japan's national state of emergency until 31 May, the Sumo Association officially cancelled the May Grand Sumo Tournament on 4 May. It is the second cancellation of a honbasho since 1946, and the first since March 2011 amidst a match-fixing scandal.[331]

The wrestler who caught the virus was later confirmed to be the Sandanme 11 wrestler Shobushi of Takadagawa stable, who passed away from multiple organ failure on 13 May.[332]

The July tournament, originally to be held in Nagoya, was moved to Tokyo and began on 19 July, with a maximum of 2500 spectators per day allowed, about a quarter of the Ryōgoku Kokugikan's 11,000 capacity.[333]

An October 2020 story by ESPN journalist Marc Raimondi made the case that combat sports face long-lasting negative effects from the pandemic. While many top-flight competitions and promotions have returned to operation, Raimondi pointed out,

The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the regional and local scenes in combat sports, doing untold damage to the long-term future of MMA, boxing and professional wrestling. The next Floyd Mayweather or Conor McGregor has probably not fought in 2020. Many athletes cannot even train with consistency due to gym closures. The combat-sports pipeline -- from amateur to prospect to contender to superstar -- has cracked, and stakeholders aren't sure how or when it will be fully repaired.[334]

The Tapology website, which tracks MMA fights worldwide, reported that the worldwide number of sanctioned MMA fights dropped by over 80% from 2019 to 2020, as measured from 1 March to 1 September of each year. The U.S. saw an even greater drop in total fights during that time frame. During the March–September 2019 period, Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, accounted for 4.4% of U.S. MMA fights. The company was responsible for more than 20% of U.S. MMA fights during the same period in 2020—despite only running one event in the country in March, April, or July. Boxing also saw slightly less dramatic declines in the same period; the BoxRec website reported a drop in total bouts of over 65% worldwide and over 55% in the U.S.[334]

The 2020 Holmenkollen Ski Festival in Oslo, Norway, part of the 2019–20 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, was held on 7–8 March, without spectators in the stadium part of the Holmenkollen National Arena.[335]

The final two events of the World Cup season, the 2020 Sprint Tour (14–17 March, in Quebec City, Canada and Minneapolis, United States) and the 2020 World Cup Finals (20–21 March, in Canmore, Canada), were cancelled on 12 and 13 March.[336][337][338]

The Swedish Ski Association elected not to send a full squad of skiers and support staff for the first round of the 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Rukatunturi, Finland, 27–29 November.[339]

The second round of the World Cup, to be held in Lillehammer, Norway, 4–6 December, was postponed on 12 November, due to the current status of COVID-19 prevention measures, with a new date to be announced later.[340]

On 1 December, the Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF) announced that they would not send any skiers to take part in the World Cup events in Davos, Switzerland, and Dresden, Germany, in December, and possibly not take part in the Tour de Ski, which is planned to begin on 1 January 2021. Espen Bjervig, manager of the NSF's cross-country section said the decision was based on "the risk of travelling, we have experienced that keeping distance and avoiding close contact in the World Cup arena is more demanding than we first assumed”, and that "endurance athletes have their lungs as a tool, and we do not know the after-effects of COVID-19. Therefore, we must take precautions".[341]

On 2 December, the Swedish Ski Association and the Finnish Ski Association announced that they would mirror Norway's decision, and not send any skiers to the events in Davos and Dresden. International Ski Federation (FIS) marketing director Jürg Capol was critical of the three countries pulling out of the events and said "We need solidarity. If it's not given it's going to be hard to find (competition) arrangers in the future", and added that "Of course all nations must make their own decisions. The problem is not that they can not get to the competitions, but that they themselves have chosen not to go there".[342]

On 4 December, the FIS cancelled the World Cup races in Beijing, China, citing travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, “including a current mandatory 14-day quarantine for all international visitors” in China. The races were supposed to be held 19–21 March, and would have acted as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The FIS said they would be looking for a replacement host for the races.[343]

On 9 December, the NSF announced that it would not send any skiers to take part in the 2021 Tour de Ski.[344]

The 2021 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, from 22 February to 7 March, in Oberstdorf, Germany, are planned to go ahead as scheduled. The organiser has set a limit of two thousand spectators around the cross-country trails.[345]

Marc Hirschi wearing a face mask is interviewed after the 2nd stage of the 2020 Tour de France. The journalist is maintaining a physical distance between him and the cyclist using a pole with the microphone attached to the end.

The 2020 UAE Tour was scheduled to run until 29 February, but was abandoned following stage five after two support staff tested positive for coronavirus. Of the following nineteen 2020 UCI World Tour races scheduled to take place up to 31 May, only Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Paris–Nice, which also had the final day of racing removed, took place at the intended time, some with the stated hope of taking place at a later date. The postponed races in this block include the 2020 Giro d'Italia and four of the five annual monuments, and many lower category races were also cancelled or postponed. Also races of the 2020 UCI Women's World Tour were cancelled or postponed.[347][348][349][350][351][352][353][354][355][356]

On 15 March, UCI requested to suspend all UCI-sanctioned events in affected territories until 3 April, and the qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to stop retroactively as of 3 March.[357] On 18 March, the suspension of events were extended at least until the end of April.[358] On 1 April, the suspension was extended until 1 June,[359] and on 15 April, it was extended until 1 July for the international races, and until 1 August for the UCI World Tour races.[360]

On 14 April, the annual Tour de France, originally scheduled for 27 June – 19 July, was postponed due to the country's strict measures with the coronavirus as the government extended a ban on mass gatherings until July.[361] The following day, ASO and UCI rescheduled the race for 29 August to 20 September, and it was ultimately held at that time.[360] A virtual race was conducted every weekend with bikers and teams racing against each other from their homes.[362]

A revised calendar for both the men and the women was issued on 5 May, which was updated on 12 June.

On 15 July, the first UCI-sanctioned race after the suspension, Dookoła Mazowsza was commenced.[363] The first UCI World Tour race after the suspension was Strade Bianche on 1 August, which was moved from its original schedule in March.[364]

On 23 July, the GP de Québec and the GP de Montréal races scheduled for September in Quebec City and Montreal were cancelled.[365] On 9 October Paris-Roubaix, originally scheduled for 25 October, was added to the listed of cancelled races.[366]

Race days of the 2020 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup were cancelled including 2 to 3 May in Papendal, the Netherlands.[367]

The 2020 UCI BMX World Championships, scheduled to take place in Houston, United States on 26–31 May, are postponed.[368]

The annual Cape Epic endurance race scheduled from 15 to 22 March was cancelled.[369]

The suspension of sports competitions has allowed professional athletes to increase their involvement in video game streaming as a means to engage with fans.[373] Esports organisations have also invited professional athletes to compete in specific competitions (often alongside, or in competition with professional players); FaZe Clan organized a charity Call of Duty: Warzone pro-am entitled "Fight 2 Fund" in support of coronavirus-related charities, where professional players were partnered with celebrity participants (such as Ben Simmons, Chad Johnson, and JuJu Smith-Schuster),[373] and several sim racing competitions similarly invited professional race drivers.[376][377]

Some sports teams have taken advantage of sports games in a similar manner, such as the Phoenix Suns holding NBA 2K20 streams with guest players, between the teams the Suns were scheduled to play that night if the season had continued.[378][379] This culminated with a game actually being commentated by the team's radio broadcasters on team flagship KMVP-FM.[379] Sports broadcasters have also taken advantage of esports as a form of replacement programming, with leagues partnering to hold televised tournaments in sports games featuring their players, or in some cases (such as ESPN2 simulcasting the 2020 League of Legends Championship Series) acquiring professional esports events to air on television.[380][381]

The IndyCar Series and NASCAR announced partnerships with sim racing platform iRacing to hold online invitational events featuring series regulars.[382][383] The inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event drew a television audience of 903,000 on Fox Sports 1—making it the most-watched esports broadcast on U.S. linear television since a 2016 Mortal Kombat X tournament aired by The CW. This record was surpassed the following week with a Texas Motor Speedway race — also aired by the main Fox network — which attracted 1.339 million viewers.[384]

The National Football League repurposed the 2021 Pro Bowl as an eSports tournament using the Madden NFL 21 game, featuring two players from each Pro Bowl team representing each conference, with the NFC team having a third player and the AFC having an NFL legend, with each conference also featuring one celebrity.

On 12 March, the Canadian Football League (CFL) announced the cancellation or modification of several pre-season events in response to the pandemic. Several scouting combines across Canada and the United States were cancelled, while other events such as rules committee meetings were held remotely. The CFL initially planned to hold both its International and National Drafts in April, but it was announced on 24 March that the Global Draft would be postponed indefinitely.[453][454]

The 2020 regular season had originally been scheduled to begin on 11 June.[455] On 7 April, Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced that the season would not begin until at least July. In a press statement, he announced that the CFL was exploring multiple options to ensure that the league will be able to play as close to a full season as possible.[456] On 20 May, Ambrosie announced that the season would begin no earlier than September, and the 108th Grey Cup festivities in Regina, Saskatchewan had been cancelled — with the game being hosted by home advantage instead.[457][458] The league has explored the possible use of centralized "hub" cities,[459][460][461] and has requested $30 million in financial assistance from the federal government, and up to $130 million in the event the 2020 season must be scrapped entirely.[462]

On 17 August 2020, the CFL announced that the entire 2020 season, including the Grey Cup, would be cancelled as the league's request for funding was rejected by the federal government.[463]

U Sports announced on 8 June 2020 that all fall semester national championships had been cancelled. This resulted in the cancellation of the Vanier Cup for the first time since its inception in 1965.[26] Atlantic University Sport, Canada West, and Ontario University Athletics (OUA) all announced that fall semester competition would be cancelled for the season, including football.[26][30][464]

The National Football League (NFL) had been in its off-season since Super Bowl LIV in early February. Experts acknowledged that the San Francisco 49ers' loss in Super Bowl LIV may have averted early community transmission in California via post-game celebrations and victory parades.[465][466]

On 12 March, various NFL teams began to suspend travel by their coaches and player scouts, while the league itself had advised its non-critical staff to work from home.[467] The league will not allow teams to re-open their facilities until restrictions are sufficiently lifted in all U.S. states that contain NFL teams.[468]

The pandemic had an impact on the 2020 NFL Draft; draft-eligible players were prohibited by the league from travelling to meet team personnel, and vice versa.[467] The draft went on as scheduled, but public festivities in Las Vegas were canceled,[469] and the draft switched to a remote format where team staff convened from home, with all 32 teams being linked to each other and league staff via Microsoft Teams and other communication software. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the first-round picks from his home in Bronxville, New York.[468][470][471][472] The NFL hosted a charity appeal throughout the draft, supporting aid-related charities.[473] During the broadcast, Goodell announced that Las Vegas would instead host the 2022 NFL Draft.[474]

The NFL released its regular season schedule for the 2020 season on 7 May. While the league intends to play its full season as scheduled, the schedule was formulated so that two weeks of games from the 16-week schedule could be removed without repercussions and Super Bowl LV could be delayed to late February in the event the start of the season has to be delayed to late-October. This follows a blueprint from the 2011 season, in which a lockout threatened the season.[475] In addition, the league had to work around The Masters, which was postponed to November, in order to avoid a broadcasting conflict on CBS.[476] Due to logistical issues associated with the pandemic, the NFL suspended its international games in London and Mexico City for the season.[477]

On 25 June, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys scheduled for 6 August would be postponed to August 2021. In addition, the ceremony for the five "modern era" inductees will be consolidated with the 2021 class to be announced prior to Super Bowl LV. A separate "Centennial Class" of 15 members was to be inducted on 18 September; that ceremony has yet to be rescheduled.[478] On 25 July, the remaining 64 preseason games were also scrapped.[479]

NFL game between the New York Giants and Washington Football Team at MetLife Stadium without fans in October 2020

Whether fans were allowed to attend games was on a case-by-case basis, dependent on local regulations. Teams were allowed to add simulated crowd noise to public address systems to compensate for lower attendance figures. In addition, Fox had planned to add its own sound effects and "crowds" based on computer-generated imagery for its telecasts, according to an interview with its lead announcer, Joe Buck.[480][481] However, Fox Sports quietly dropped those plans for NFL games after substantial negative feedback when this was tried out on its Major League Baseball telecasts.

On 10 July, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) said that 72 NFL players, or 2.5 percent of players on rosters had tested positive for COVID-19.[482] The NFL and its players' union decided in late July not to create a "bubble" of isolation around their players, unlike the NBA, the WNBA and the NHL.[483]

On 30 September, the NFL announced its first regular-season game postponement resulting from the pandemic. Due to an outbreak among the Tennessee Titans, the team's scheduled home game on 4 October against the Steelers was postponed.[484] It was eventually rescheduled for 25 October, with the Steelers' road game against the Baltimore Ravens pushed back from 25 October to 1 November.[485]

On 14 October, the NFL announced cancellation of the 2021 Pro Bowl, which was to have been held at Allegiant Stadium.[486]

As of 27 November 20 games had either been postponed or rescheduled due to outbreaks. The Los Angeles Chargers were to be involved in four of the affected games, with the Titans and New England Patriots changing two each. In addition, both the Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football packages saw schedule changes.

The second game between the Ravens and Steelers became the first to be postponed three times. Originally set for the night of U.S. Thanksgiving (26 November) at Heinz Field, it was first pushed back to 29 November,[487] then to 1 December,[488] and finally to 2 December.[489]

Nearly every team had at least one player placed on a new reserve/COVID-19 list, which means either the player tested positive or was in close contact with someone who was. Examples included Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, Matthew Stafford, and Josh Norman. On 2 November, the Broncos announced that Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback - and current general manager - John Elway had tested positive, perhaps the most notable NFL figure to be diagnosed.[490] The previous spring, Broncos linebacker and Super Bowl 50 most valuable player Von Miller had COVID-19. In addition, the NFL enforced strict safety protocols, with fines and draft pick reductions possible for violations.

On 28 October, it was reported that the NFL planned to cap Raymond James Stadium at 20% of its 65,000-seat capacity for Super Bowl LV.[491] On 21 January 2021, the NFL confirmed a maximum attendance of 22,000 for the game, of which 7,500 will be health-care workers that have been vaccinated. Two of those fans will keep alive their streak of attending every contest since its inception in 1967.[492][493]

Due to new restrictions imposed by Santa Clara County, California, the San Francisco 49ers had to move two home games - against the Buffalo Bills on 7 December and the Washington Football Team on 13 December - to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.[494] When those restrictions were extended to 8 January 2021, the 49ers moved their regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks to Glendale. Practices were held somewhere in the Phoenix area.

On 1 January 2021, Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints had a positive test for COVID-19 revealed, exactly one week after he tied the all-time record for most rushing touchdowns in an NFL game with six; it had been the longest-standing significant record in the NFL, dating back to Ernie Nevers' achievement in 1929.

On 5 January 2021, a positive COVID-19 test was reported for Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, making him unavailable to coach in the wild card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers; the game was the first postseason game for the Browns franchise in 18 seasons, which had been the longest drought among NFL clubs. It was part of an outbreak which led to the facility being closed for many days in a two-week period.

On 3 February 2021, the NFL’s chief medical officer reported that COVID-19 had infected 262 players and 463 other personnel.[495]

By 5 February 2021, 31 of the NFL's 32 teams (96%) had COVID-19 cases. Only the Seattle Seahawks did not have any cases, despite flying farther than any other NFL team.[483]

On 1 June, the NCAA began allowing players to begin voluntary on-campus team activities (such as workouts); cases began to emerge among players and staff afterward.[496] By 24 June, it was reported that at least 37 schools (about one quarter overall) of schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) — the highest level of competition in U.S. college football — had reported positive cases among student-athletes or staff.[497]

In July 2020, the Big Ten Conference and Pac-12 Conference — two of the "Power Five" conferences in Division I FBS — announced that if fall sports and the 2020 season were played, all games would be played against conference opponents only. Other Power Five conferences have been expected to potentially follow suit. In the second level of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), the Colonial Athletic Association, Ivy League, MEAC, and Patriot League have cancelled all fall semester sports (although the CAA is still allowing teams to compete independently if they so choose).[498][499][500][501]

The FBS independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish cancelled its Emerald Isle Classic game in Ireland against Navy, rescheduling it at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium before it was eventually canceled outright. It also saw three marquee games cancelled due to the Big Ten and Pac-12 restrictions, including a long-running rivalry game against USC); Notre Dame's head coach Brian Kelly stated that the team was evaluating alternatives, and hinted at the possibility of playing additional games against trams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), where Notre Dame is a member outside of football and ice hockey (as part of its membership, Notre Dame usually schedules five games per-season against ACC opponents).[502][503]

The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season became bifurcated, with schools in the ACC, Big 12, and SEC committing to play their usual fall seasons with the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponing. In addition, Notre Dame played a full schedule of ACC games (plus one non-conference contest), with the ACC scrapping its usual division structure.

However, a dramatic series of events occurred in September:

• The Big Ten announced on 16 September that it would indeed play in the fall, with the first game set for 23 October.[504] Each team was to play eight games.
• Presidents of Pac-12 colleges voted on 24 September to move up its football season to fall, with a seven-game schedule per school starting on 6 November.[505]
• On the same day, the Mountain West Conference agreed to advance its football season to the fall. The first games were played on 24 October and each team was scheduled for seven games.[506]
• On 25 September, the Mid-American Conference also revealed its plan to go ahead with fall games starting on 4 November and with six games per team.[507]
• In all instances, the only opponents were within each conference.

That left only three FBS programs with no plans to play during the usual season: Connecticut, New Mexico State, and Old Dominion.

Due to scheduling circumstances, the usual limit of six wins to qualify for bowl eligibility was lifted for the 2020 season only.[508] On that basis, seven teams with losing records accepted bowl bids, although not all of them played.

In all, 114 regular-season games were postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 outbreaks.[lower-alpha 12] The highest for a single week was 18, in the week before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The University of Houston program was the most affected, with eight games postponed, canceled, or rescheduled. The worst outbreak by program was at Wisconsin, which had 27 combined cases, including players and head coach Paul Chryst, and had consecutive games canceled. Later, a third Badger game was scrapped - the Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe against Minnesota - making them ineligible to participate in the Big Ten championship game. (The game was later rescheduled for 19 December; otherwise, this would have been the first season since 1906 in which the game was not played.) The school was investigated for possible violations of the conference protocol regarding COVID-19, but no violations were found.[509] Later that season, the rivalry game between Michigan and Ohio State was scrapped due to a large number of cases in the Wolverines' program; the last time that game wasn't played was 1916. That should have made the Buckeyes ineligible to play in the Big Ten title game; however, the conference later changed its rule to allow the Buckeyes to represent the East Division in the game, with Northwestern being the opponent. The Old Oaken Bucket game between Purdue and Indiana was canceled on 13 December due to outbreaks at both schools; the last year the game wasn't played was 1919.

On the other hand, two significant games were hastily arranged: California versus UCLA on 15 October with a 9 a.m. Pacific time kickoff, after both teams saw their original games that week against other opponents canceled,[510] and a battle of undefeated teams - 13th-ranked BYU versus 18th-ranked Coastal Carolina - on 5 December; CCU's original opponent Liberty had to cancel, while BYU had an open date.[511]

Nineteen bowl games were canceled: Bahamas Bowl, Hawaii Bowl,[512] Redbox Bowl,[513] Holiday Bowl,[514] Celebration Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl,[515] Sun Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl,[516] LA Bowl,[517] Frisco Bowl,[518] Independence Bowl, Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Military Bowl, Birmingham Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, Music City Bowl, and Texas Bowl. The Fenway Bowl, whose inaugural game has been postponed until 2021, was replaced by a temporary game called the Montgomery Bowl.[519]

The 2020 Army–Navy Game was played at West Point in front of a crowd of mostly students.

The Army–Navy Game scheduled for 12 December was relocated from Philadelphia to Michie Stadium on the United States Military Academy campus on 23 October; officials cited restrictions on the number of military members from each side allowed to attend. It was to be the first game in the rivalry played somewhere other than a neutral site since World War II.[520]

On 14 November, it was announced that the Heisman Trophy ceremony for the 2020 season will be revamped as a virtual event that would be originated from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut; the Heisman Trust was searching for a suitable location to hold the presentation shortly after the PlayStation Theater in New York City closed following the 2019 ceremony.[521]

The first semifinal for the 2021 College Football Playoff was relocated from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in part because Los Angeles County (of which Pasadena is part) denied officials of the CFP and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association permission to allow family members to attend. Whether the game would be called "Rose Bowl" or something else had yet to be determined;[522] however, a deal was eventually reached in which the city and PTORA agreed to pay relocation expenses in exchange for the CFP committee's use of the name. It was the second time the contest was played outside California and the first since 1942.

On 12 March, the XFL (a revival of the one-season 2001 league owned by WWE founder Vince McMahon) announced the suspension of the 2020 season, with all players to be paid their base pay and benefits for the full 2020 regular season; the season was officially canceled on 20 March, with half of its ten-week regular season schedule played.[523] On 10 April, the league announced that it would suspend all operations and lay off all but a few critical executives, and said it was unlikely a 2021 season would be organized and played, with those executives remaining to wind down the league's business and operations after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing three days later.[524][525]

Shortly before the league's assets had been set to be sold in a bankruptcy auction, an investment group led by actor and former WWE performer Dwayne Johnson purchased the league.[526] Johnson announced in a tweet on 1 October that the league would not play in 2021 but planned to play in 2022; the league issued a confirmation later that day.[527]

Multiple international artistic gymnastics competitions, many of which were Olympic qualifying events, were either canceled or postponed. On 13 March, after already having completed qualifications, the Baku World Cup canceled its event finals.[528] The Stuttgart, Birmingham, and Tokyo World Cups (scheduled to take place between 21 March – 5 April) were all postponed to 2021.[529][530][531]

The 2020 European Women's Championships (scheduled to take place 30 April – 3 May in Paris, France) and the 2020 European Men's Championships (scheduled to take place 27–31 May in Baku, Azerbaijan) were both cancelled.[532] They were later both rescheduled to be held on 17–20 December and 9–13 December, respectively, in Mersin, Turkey after Baku considered hosting the replacement competitions.[533] Originally Olympic qualifying events, the competitions were undesignated as such in light of the ongoing pandemic, so as to avoid pressuring member federations to attend if they were not willing to do so.[534]

The Pacific Rim Championships (scheduled to take place 17–19 April in Tauranga, New Zealand) was postponed until April 2021.[535] On 2 September 2020, Gymnastics New Zealand announced that it was withdrawing from hosting and cancelled the competition.[536]

The IIHF Women's World Championship, IIHF World Championship Division IV and Women's Ice Hockey World Championships were all cancelled by the International Ice Hockey Federation due to the coronavirus.[597][598] The federation also cancelled the 2020 event of one of its two official junior world championship tournaments, the IIHF World U18 Championship.[599] On 21 March, IIHF publicly announced that the senior men's world championships had also been cancelled.[600]

Cancelled tournaments:

As a result of the German government's ban on large events, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga announced on 10 March that it would cancel the remainder of its season, marking the first time in the league's history a champion would not be crowned. The top four teams at the time of the cancellation — EHC Red Bull München, Adler Mannheim, Straubing Tigers, and Eisbaren Berlin — would advance to the Champions Hockey League.[601]

The Swedish Ice Hockey Association suspended all remaining hockey, the playoffs and qualification rounds, in the Swedish elite leagues on 15 March; no awarding of the Le Mat Trophy for the 2019/20 season nor transference of teams from the leagues' qualification plays for the 2020/21 season will happen as a result.[602]

Cancelled or ended leagues:

In early March 2020, the National Hockey League suspended media access to the locker rooms, saying that only official personnel would be allowed in after the games to limit person-to-person contact. On 12 March, the NHL, American Hockey League, the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League (Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Hockey League), the USHL, and ECHL announced that their 2019–20 seasons would be indefinitely suspended.[603][604][605][606]

On 12 March, the National Women's Hockey League postponed its Isobel Cup Final game indefinitely.[607]

The ECHL announced on 14 March that the remainder of the season would be cancelled.[608] The leagues of the CHL announced on 18 March that they would cancel the remainder of their regular seasons.[609] On 23 March, the CHL confirmed that all playoffs and the 2020 Memorial Cup were cancelled.[610]

Hockey Canada, the governing body for amateur hockey in the country, cancelled the remainder of its season on 12 March. This included national championships such as the Telus Cup and Esso Cup, as well as all regional and provincial playoffs, the Canadian Junior Hockey League playoffs, and the 2020 Centennial Cup.[611][612]

On 11 May, the AHL announced the conclusion of the 2019–20 AHL season, awarding all regular season trophies.[613]

Fencing and security for the National Hockey League's "bubble" in Edmonton. The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs were held in two hub city bubbles, Edmonton and Toronto.

On 26 May, the NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association agreed on a basic framework to stage the Stanley Cup playoffs behind closed doors.[614] The seeds would be based on each club's points percentage when the season paused on 12 March; with the 2019–20 season effectively ended on 11 March. The top four seeds in each conference would receive a bye into the playoffs and play in a round robbin tournament to determine playoff seeding; while the next eight seeds in each conference would play in a best-of-five series for the remaining playoff seeds. The NHL entered its second phase of "returning to play" on 8 June.[615] On 10 July, the NHL announced that the games for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs would be hosted in two hub cities, Edmonton, and Toronto. Toronto's Scotiabank Arena hosted games for the Eastern Conference's playoff qualifiers, quarterfinals, and semi-finals; while Edmonton's Rogers Place hosted the same rounds for the Western Conference's, in addition to both conference's finals, as well as the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.[616] Players that entered the hub city "bubbles" were required to agree to protocols governing how camps operate, and the environment around where games are played, separating the hubs into "secure zones".[617]

From 28 to 31 July 24 NHL teams each played one exhibition game before the Stanley Cup playoff qualifiers began on 1 August.[618] The league conducted over 7,000 tests for COVID-19 during the first week of return-to-play, with the NHL reporting no positive cases.[619][620] The playoff qualifiers were concluded on 9 August, with the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning the day after.[621] The entire 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs (including the qualifier rounds) were scheduled to last 66 days.[617] Play ended on 28 September in Edmonton, when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup.

On 20 December 2020, the NHL announced its 2020–21 season would begin on 13 January 2021 and run for 56 games per team, ending on 8 May.[622] Due to ongoing travel restrictions, teams in each of the four new divisions will only play each other, including those in a separate division of all-Canadian teams.

Playoffs were also reorganized. The top four teams in each division will play each other in the first two rounds, then the four teams remaining will participate in a semifinal round; those teams will be re-seeded from 1 to 4 based on their regular-season point totals.

Previously, the NHL had said that the season would begin no earlier than 1 December.[623]

The season will not include the NHL Global Series, NHL Winter Classic, and NHL All-Star Game, which have all been postponed by the league. Those games could be held at the same sites, with the same teams, in the 2021–22 season; however, the All-Star Game could be pushed back again if NHL players are released to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics.[624] On the other hand, the NHL Stadium Series will continue with two games in the Lake Tahoe area: Vegas Golden Knights vs. Colorado Avalanche on 20 February and Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins on 21 February. These will replace the original Stadium Series game in which the Carolina Hurricanes were to have hosted a team to be determined at Carter–Finley Stadium.

The 2020–21 ECHL season began on 11 December, but with only 13 of its 24 member teams playing. The 2020–21 AHL season is tentatively scheduled to begin on 5 February, with three teams opting out and at least four others playing home games in alternate locations.[625][626]

At the end of February and start of March, the 2020 Six Nations Championship saw all games against Italy postponed due to the worsening situation in that country,[653] with games against the Scotland women's team also cancelled as one of the players tested positive and the team went into isolation.[654] By 13 March, the competition had been suspended [655] until late October. On 12 March, the Pro14 European rugby competition was suspended [656] until 22 August.

On 12 March, Major League Rugby suspended its third season for 30 days.[657] The league later announced, on 18 March, that the season had been scrapped.[658]

In the 2020 Super Rugby season, two fixtures of Japanese team Sunwolves had been moved to Australia from Japan, while Australia announced on 12 March that beginning in the next round of fixtures, all matches held in Australia would be played with no spectators, but otherwise continue as normal. However, on 14 March, New Zealand (who fields five teams in the competition) announced that it will require 14 days self-isolation for any person that arrives in the country from outside of the Pacific Islands, regardless of origin and including New Zealand citizens. League organizer SANZAAR stated that it was evaluating the impact of this restriction,[659][660][661] and ultimately announced later in the day that the season would be suspended following the completion of the weekend's fixtures.[662]

Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby announced that they would play regional tournaments beginning in July and June respectively — Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Aotearoa — between local teams who play in Super Rugby, to supplant the suspended season. The Sunwolves were prevented from competing in Super Rugby AU by the government, leading to the team disbanding on 1 June 2020 (the club had already planned to exit Super Rugby and cease operations after the 2020 season).[663][664][665]

Super Rugby Aotearoa games were initially held with no spectator restrictions, as New Zealand had lifted most restrictions on 8 June due to there having been no active cases and no new cases in the prior 17 days. Entry restrictions to New Zealand have remained in force throughout.[666] Stadiums remained at full capacity through the first nine weeks of the competition, but a spike in locally transmitted cases led the country to reimpose restrictions on mass gatherings on 11 August,[667] causing one match in the final round to be held behind closed doors and another to be cancelled and scored as a draw.[668][669]

The South African clubs also staged their own regional league, Super Rugby Unlocked, between its four teams, joined by the Cheetahs from Pro14, and the Griquas and Pumas from the Currie Cup.[670][671]

A number of notable professional tennis players, coaches, or commentators have contracted COVID-19 in 2020 and beyond. Affected players include Altmaier, Anisimova, Badosa, Cerúndolo, Ćorić, Davidovich Fokina, Dimitrov, Djokovic, Escobedo, Ferro, Fognini, Goffin, Halep, van der Hoek, Istomin, Kalinskaya, Keys, Khachanov, Kudla, Moutet, Murray, Nishikori, Paire, Pouille, Querrey, Sandgren, Seyboth Wild, Soares, Tiafoe, Tomova, Troicki, Verdasco, Vondroušová and Yastremska. Also affected were coaches Franco Davín, Christian Groh, Goran Ivanišević, Nicolás Massú, Petar Popović and Alexander Zverev Sr.; in addition to commentator Patrick McEnroe, and ITF vice president Katrina Adams. (Furthermore, some non-notable spouses or coaches of the above returned a positive test for the disease.)

Earlier in the year, controversial tennis star Bernard Tomic generated media interest after conflicting claims of exposure to the virus.[734][735][736]

The 2020 Women's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament was scheduled to take place in Trieste, Italy, 8–15 March 2020. On 28 February 2020, International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced that the tournament would be postponed to 17–24 May due to the coronavirus outbreak, then it was moved again to 17–24 January 2021 due to the outbreak in the country.[739]

On 12 March, FINA announced that several international water polo tournaments would be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 Men's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament due to take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, 22–29 March, would be postponed to 31 May – 7 June, then it was postponed again to 21–28 February 2021. The 2020 FINA Men's Water Polo World League and 2020 FINA Women's Water Polo World League would be postponed to September–October 2020.[740]

2020 Asian Water Polo Championship, the Asian continental qualification for the 2020 Olympic water polo tournament, was scheduled to take place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, 12–16 February 2020.[741] In late January the event was canceled as the Kazakh Government suspended all flights and visas from China due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak in the country.[742] In mid-February Asia Swimming Federation decided to use the final ranking of the 2018 Asian Games to allocate its continental quotas.[743]

On 28 February 2020, European Swimming League (LEN) announced that the match of 2019–20 LEN Champions League Day 10 between Ferencváros (Hungary) and Pro Recco (Italy), and the match of 2019–20 LEN Euro Cup semifinal between Egri VK (Hungary) and AN Brescia (Italy) would be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.[744]

On 11 March 2020, LEN announced that all eight matches of 2019–20 LEN Champions League Day 11, the second leg of the 2019–20 LEN Euro League Women quarter-finals, and the 2020 men's U19 European Championships qualification tournaments would be postponed to later dates due to the coronavirus pandemic.[745]

On 11 March 2020, the USA Water Polo (USAWP) announced that the 2020 ODP Girls National Water Polo Championship would be postponed, and the exhibition matches scheduled to be played on 19–21 March 2020 in California between United States and Spain men's national water polo teams would be canceled.[746]

On 16 March 2020, USAWP announced that the inaugural USA Water Polo Division III Women's National Championship scheduled for 8–10 May 2020 in Southern California would be rescheduled for May 2021; and week three of the 2020 National Water Polo League and the 2020 National League Championship/Fisher Cup would be canceled.[747]

On 16 March 2020, the Water Polo Australia (WPA) announced that the 2020 Australian National Water Polo League would be terminated, the 2020 WPA National Championships scheduled to take place in Adelaide, South Australia in May would be canceled, and the 2020 Open Championships (Country and Masters) scheduled to take place in the Gold Coast, Queensland in May would be postponed.[748]