NCAA tournament to be played without fans due to COVID-19
Cornell and Wisconsin had already made plans to close for the general public
The NCAA announced Wednesday afternoon that the remaining national tournaments, including the four semifinal games and the Frozen Four in Boston, will be played without fans. Only essential staff and limited family members will be allowed in.
Please see the statement below, which impacts the upcoming Frozen Four at Agganis Arena. https://t.co/HjU93uXn0b
— BU Women's Hockey (@TerrierWHockey) March 11, 2020
Cornell and Wisconsin - two of the four semifinal campus sites - had already made independent decisions to close their games to the general public. Each are allotting the players a small number of tickets. Cornell also noted that media will be allowed in. Northeastern and Minnesota have not announced any specific plans, nor has Boston University, about the Frozen Four.
According to the men’s hockey NCAA page (the women’s page has not been updated as of 8 p.m. on Wednesday for unclear reasons), refunds for tickets purchased through an official NCAA vendor will be automatically refunded within 30 days.
In addition, the Ivy League has cancelled all spring sports and is leaving it up to the individual universities to decide if their teams will participate in postseason tournaments. Cornell and Princeton (who is set to play Northeastern in Boston) are both in the Ivy League.
The NCAA is the latest league to change their procedure due to the coronavirus. The SDHL in Sweden closed their arenas for the remaining playoff games. The IIHF cancelled the World Championships set for the end of the month.
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