The chair of the Sport Management Department was interviewed by Front Office Sports, a business news platform covering the sport industry, examining the cancellation of March Madness.
In the days leading up to the NCAA’s decision to cancel the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments – and subsequently all collegiate athletics this spring – uncertainty was the prevalent theme.
Part of that conversation included Tony Weaver, chair of the Sport Management Department, who was featured in an article titled “NCAA’s Coronavirus Decision Looms Large For March Madness,” published on March 10 by Front Office Sports.
The online business news platform, which covers the sport industry, examined the financial fallout of canceling March Madness and the association’s decision-making process. Of note, more than 75 percent of the NCAA’s annual revenue comes from its March Madness television deals. Per the report, that’s more than $800 million annually from the men’s tournament alone.
When author Emily Caron interviewed Weaver before the cancellation of the tournaments, the Elon professor noted that the NCAA faced an unprecedented decision.
“It’s almost impossible to predict something like this,” said Weaver in the article. “I think that’s why you see a lot of this wait-and-see mentality. Especially with college athletics, it creates a whole other layer of concern because these are student-athletes. This isn’t professional sports. So, in some ways, you don’t have to play these games. But the reality is that from an event management point of view, from a facilities point of view, from a revenue generation point of view – this next month is so important to so many people including, obviously, the NCAA.”
While at the time the author hypothesized that a decision might not come quickly, the tournaments and collegiate spring seasons were canceled shortly thereafter.
“The reality is you’d like to make a decision that gives everyone enough time,” said Weaver in the interview. “Unfortunately, what’s happening right now is new to everybody. There may be a scenario where they have to make some last-minute decisions, and you just have to adjust. In a perfect world, you’d give everyone plenty of time to set a plan in place. Travel plans would be adjusted. But I just don’t see that happening here.”