The Oklahoma Sooners have been considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament after securing the No. 3 Seed in the Big 12 Tournament. While the field remains far from set at this point in time, it appears as though all games will be played without fans in attendance. Citing COVID-19 as the reason for decision, here’s how fans immediately reacted to the news.
https://twitter.com/Mikeyb20162017/status/1237839666314792963
https://twitter.com/Rmac_15/status/1237839381768974342
https://twitter.com/nsim15/status/1237840420635201537
— Lisa🇺🇸🏃🏽♀️🏃🏼♀️ (@AralynnsMomma) March 11, 2020
Several responses quickly point out a flaw in the argument to forbid people from purchasing a ticket and attending the game. Clearly, peddling paranoia as well as panic, media outlets appear uninformed around the globe. Regardless, many of decisions pertaining to sporting events are based in the sensationalism of the story.
Make no mistake, the powers that be will not be out the large sum of money that some are speculating. A majority of the revenue generated by the NCAA Tournament through media rights. In 2019, March Madness generated a whopping $933M dollars. Only a percentage of that came from tickets sales.
Others took to social media to express the unfair advantage certain teams would possess with an empty arena — you know — because those teams played in empty arenas all season long…
Huge avantage for Ohio State, they only have home game then 😂
— Two Words (@2words94) March 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/SopaHog/status/1237841106039001091
However, you feel about the decision, there’s one thing that remains true: March Madness will not be the same without the fan base. We might as well go ahead and call it March Sadness 2020…