Is The NCAA Tournament Canceled? Charles Barkley Wants March Madness Stopped Amid Coronavirus Fears

The NCAA announced Wednesday that both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would go on without fans in the stands because of the coronavirus pandemic. It could only be a matter of time before March Madness 2020 is postponed or even canceled.

The NBA suspended the season until further notice Wednesday night when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. Charles Barkley, who works as an analyst for both Turner Sports’ NBA and March Madness coverage, has urged the NCAA to follow the NBA’s lead.

“I think Turner Sports and CBS gotta close down March Madness,” Barkley said on ESPN’s “Get Up” Thursday morning. “Because you can’t have these players, even if there’s no fans in the stadium, you can’t have these players breathing on each other for two weeks. Even if they have a hotel they’re gonna be in different cities around the country. And I hate to say it, like I said I probably shouldn’t say it because I work for CBS, I think we’re going to shut down March Madness until we know more.”

The Ivy League canceled its conference tournament Tuesday. The NCAA Tournament is scheduled to officially begin with the “First Four” games on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio. Those contests are scheduled to be played without fans.

“I think that my company’s gotta bite the bullet,” Barkley told ESPN's Mike Greenberg. “I know the kids want to play, but we can’t have these kids...like, think about it, Greenie. These kids are sweating, breathing, leaning on each other. That’s crazy. And even if you lose, you go back home. You don’t know if you got the virus for a week or two. But the problem’s gonna be, I think, we paid $1 billion for March Madness. I think the right thing to do is for us to honor our contract. Because, listen, if they play these games, it’s really just about they want that $1 billion check. Let’s be realistic. I think that we gotta say, ‘You know what? Everybody’s made a lot of money. We’re gonna have to bite the bullet.’ Because that $1 billion paid for a lot of sports. I think we're gonna have to bite the bullet and say, ‘You know what, these kids have been great to us forever. Let’s pay the NCAA their $1 billion.’”

According to CNBC, the men’s NCAA Tournament makes more than $800 million each year from its television deal. That accounts for more than three-quarters of the NCAA’s yearly revenue.

“Nobody has the answers. We’re trying to handle all these ‘what ifs’ on the fly. But I think the best thing would be like, ‘hey guys, we have no idea what the hell is going to happen next. Let’s shut everything down and let’s take a deep breath.’ Because right now, we can’t have these players out there affecting themselves, the referees,” Barkley continued.

“One of the greatest things in our lives is we all make a lot of money because of sports. But the negative thing about it is everybody wants the money. Everybody follows the green. It’s gonna take tremendous courage because a lot of people make a lot of money on March Madness.”