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,[7][8] 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 Feb. 5 that COVID-19 might "throw cold water on the momentum toward the Games."[9][10]

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.[11] On 23 March, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain announced that they would withdraw from the Games unless they are postponed for one year.[12] 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.[13][14][15] The opening ceremonies of the Games were officially postponed to 23 July 2021.[16]

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".[17]

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.[18] 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.[19]

The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, were scheduled for July 2021, but due to the rescheduling of the 2020 Summer Olympics, the eleventh World Games will be held in July 2022 instead.[20]

The 2020 Arctic Winter Games were cancelled.[21]

The 2020 ASEAN Para Games were cancelled.[22]

U Sports curtailed its men's and women's ice hockey championships on 12 March. On 8 June 2020, U Sports announced that it had cancelled all national championships for the fall semester of the 2020–21 academic year, including football (the first time the Vanier Cup will not be contested since its inception), cross-country, field hockey, women's rugby, and soccer.[23] Atlantic University Sport, Canada West, and Ontario University Athletics followed suit, suspending all university athletics programs through the end of 2020.[24][25][26][27]

The Gaelic games of football, hurling, camogie, and ladies' football – mostly played in Ireland – 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.[28][29] On 17 March, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) confirmed that the opening fixture of the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – due to have taken place at Gaelic Park in The Bronx on 3 May – had been postponed.[30]

On 26 June all GAA competitions would commence in October, with the hurling and football competitions to be a all-knockout competition.

In the Philippines, NCAA Season 95 and UAAP Season 82 were both indefinitely suspended.[31][32] 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.[33] UAAP Season 82 was canceled on 7 April, after the enhanced community quarantine was extended to 30 April.[34]

On 1 May, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) have decided to cancel their 2020 season.[35]

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.[36]

On 11 March 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — the main U.S. 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".[37]

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.[38] This created a de facto mythical national championship situation.[39] Other American multi-sports organizations — the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA),[40] National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA),[41] and California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA)[42] — 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, due to the California State University system announcing 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 1]—announced that it would also suspend its fall athletics season.[44]

The Patriot League, an NCAA Division I conference that competes in the second level of D-I football,[lower-alpha 2] the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), 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.[45]

The financial fallout from the pandemic was specifically cited by the following schools in their decisions to drop certain sports programs effective with the 2020–21 school year:

• University of Akron – Men's cross country, men's golf, women's tennis[46]
• University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) – Men's and women's tennis [47]
• Appalachian State University – Men's indoor track & field, men's soccer, men's tennis[48]
• Central Michigan University – Men's indoor and outdoor track & field[49][lower-alpha 3]
• Chicago State University – Baseball[50][lower-alpha 4]
• University of Cincinnati – Men's soccer[51]
• University of Connecticut – Men's cross country, rowing,[lower-alpha 5] men's swimming & diving, men's tennis[52]
• East Carolina University – Men's and women's swimming & diving,[lower-alpha 6] men's and women's tennis[53]
• Florida Institute of Technology – Football[54]
• Furman University – Baseball, men's lacrosse[55]
• Hampton University – Men's and women's golf[56]
• Lincoln University (Missouri) – Bowling[lower-alpha 7][57]
• University of Northern Colorado – Men's and women's tennis[58]
• Old Dominion University – Wrestling[59]
• 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.[60]
• Seattle Pacific University – Women's gymnastics[61]
• Sonoma State University – Men's and women's tennis, women's water polo[62]
• Southern Utah University – Men's and women's tennis[63]
• Winthrop University – Men's and women's tennis[64]
• University of Wisconsin–Green Bay – Men's and women's tennis[65]
• Wright State University – Softball, men's and women's tennis[66]

Additionally, 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.[67]

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.[68] Similarly, Bowling Green State University announced that it would drop its baseball team,[69] but also had a successful fundraising effort that led to the team being reinstated.[70]

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.[71][72][73]

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.[105]

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.[106]

On 26 February 2020, Nippon Professional Baseball announced that spring training would continue behind closed doors.[107] On 9 March, the league announced that the start of its 2020 season would be postponed until April.[108][109] Eventually, NPB started the 2020 season on 19 June, with the Japan Series starting on 21 November.

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.[110] However, on 11 March, the governing body of high school baseball in Japan declared that the tournament had been cancelled.[111][112] 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.[113][114] According to JHSBF chairman Hideaki Hatta (八田英明) announced on 20 May, all games, including regional qualifying were cancelled on High School Baseball Tourment of Japan, that one of popular sports event in nation, since Second World War (1941 to 1945).

Opening Day of the 2020 KBO League season was originally scheduled for 28 March 2020.[115] The Korea Baseball Organization announced in March that all ten exhibition games would be cancelled.[116][117] 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.[118]

The Taiwan-based Chinese Professional Baseball League was scheduled to begin its 2020 season on 14 March.[119][120] On 1 April, the league announced that opening day would take place on 11 April, without fans in attendance.[121] Due to inclement weather on that date, games did not begin until 12 April.[122][123] On May 9, the CPBL began admitting spectators. [124]

On 12 March 2020, Major League Baseball suspended all spring training activities. Opening Day of the 2020 Major League Baseball 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.[125][126] 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.[127] MLB also canceled the 2020 London Series games, which would have featured the Chicago Cubs playing the St. Louis Cardinals at London Stadium.[128]

Also on 12 March, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced the suspension of its baseball season and cancellation of the 2020 College World Series.[129]

On 30 April, the 2020 Little League World Series and its other associated tourneys 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.[130]

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.[131]

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.[132]

The 2019–20 Chinese Basketball Association season was suspended on 1 February 2020.[133] However, China Basketball Association (CBA) chairman Yao Ming announced, 2019-20 CBA season restart on June 20, without spectators.

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.[134] Later that week, the Guam vs. Hong Kong game in Hagåtña was also postponed.[135]

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.[136]

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.[137]

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.[138]

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.[139] On 13 March 2020, the league's 2019–20 season was postponed indefinitely.[140]

The 2020 season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the PBA D-League was suspended indefinitely on 10 March 2020. The inaugural of the PBA's 3x3 tournament was also likewise delayed.[32] The PBA management also imposed a two-week prohibition on team "practices, scrimmages and other related activities" which took effect on 14 March 2020.[140]

Several leagues have suspended their tournaments on 12 March: Community Basketball Association, National Basketball League, Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.[141]

On 7 April 2020, the PBA Board of Governors have decided to shorten this season into a two-conference format 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.[142]

The possibility of cancelling the 2020 PBA season has been discussed as they have set a deadline in August 2020 to decide if the season will still be pushed through during the Board of Governors meeting on 2 May 2020. Also during the meeting, the board of governors have decided to prohibit all player trades and free agent transactions until the season resumes.[143][144]

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.[145]However, 2019-20 Basketball Bundesliga in Germany, restart on June 6. The government of Turkey suspended the Basketball Super League on 19 March, the last major European league to do so.[146]

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.[147] 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".[148] On 6 April in an interview with TNT's Ernie Johnson Jr., he stated there would be no decision on a restart of the season made before 1 May at the minimum.[149] On 4 June, it was announced that the season would restart on July 31 for 22 teams, and would finish no later than 12 October.

On 12 March, all Division I conferences in NCAA 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.[150][151][152] The NCAA subsequently canceled its tournaments outright.[3][153][154]

On 14 March, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of Puerto Rico suspended its season.[146]

On 23 March, National Basketball League of Canada suspended the remainder of the 2019–20 season.[155]

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.[156] The 2020 WNBA draft was held virtually and televised on 17 April 2020 without players, guests, and media on-site.[157]

In Australia's National Basketball League, the 2020 NBL Finals 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.[158]

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.[159][160][159] On 18 March, the NBL declared the Perth Wildcats as champions by forfeit.[161]

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.[180] 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.[181][182][183] 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.[184]

On 9 March, Combate Americas announced that its March events would be cancelled and replaced by closed-door tapings beginning 3 April.[185] On 10 March, Polish MMA promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) cancelled its 21 March 2020 event KSW 53 in Łódź.[186] 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.[187][188]

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.[185][189] 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.[190]

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.[190] On 18 March, the New York State Athletic Commission also withdrew its sanctioning for the event.[191] Due to international travel restrictions and other withdrawals, a revised card for UFC 249 was unveiled 6 April with a location still being determined.[192][193] 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.[194][195]

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.[191] 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.[196] 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.[197] Despite the cancellation, White stated that he was still going on with his "Fight Island" project.[196][197]

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.[198] 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.[199][200]

On 9 June, White revealed that the "Fight Island" venue was Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which will host UFC 251 on 11 July and three other UFC Fight Night cards. The area includes accommodations and training facilities, and a 10 square mile (16 km) radius restricted to UFC staff.[201]

Kunlun Fight cancelled multiple events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[202][203]

Glory cancelled events in Lint, Belgium and Miami, Florida.[204]

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.[205] Impact, ROH, and NWA also cancelled future tapings for their respective weekly television shows until further notice.[206][207][208] 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.[209][210] In Japan, DDT Pro-Wrestling cancelled their marquee event Wrestle Peter Pan 2020.[211]

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.[212] On 10 March, NJPW announced that they were cancelling all shows through 22 March, which meant that they cancelled the 2020 New Japan Cup as well.[213] 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 8 March show in Korakuen Hall was held without any spectators in attendance, instead streaming live on their YouTube channel.[214] On 23 March, NJPW would later cancel the 2020 Sakura Genesis event that was originally scheduled to take place in on 31 March.[215][216] On 8 April, NJPW would cancel more events from 11 April through 4 May, which mean both nights of 2020 Wrestling Dontaku were cancelled as well.[217] On 6 May, NJPW cancelled their annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament.[218] The next day, NJPW postponed their Wrestle Dynasty event to 2021, which was to take place in Madison Square Garden in New York.[219] On June 9, NJPW announced their return with special show with mystery match card called Together Special on June 15 and the return of the New Japan Cup would now be held from June 16 until July 11, with the finals being held at Osaka-jō Hall in Osaka alongside Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall being rescheduled to July 12, 2020.[220][221]

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.[222][223][224] The promotion also postponed some of its upcoming house shows.[225]

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).[226][227][228] 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.[229] 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.[230] 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.[231][232][233]

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 from its existing studio at Full Sail University in Winter Park.[234][235] 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".[235] 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.[235][236][237] 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).[238]

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.[239][240] 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.[241]

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.[242][243] 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.[244][245] 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.[246][244]

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.[242] 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.[247][248][249][250]

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),[251] to an alternative location with no audience. AEW stated that it had re-booked the two cities for future episodes in July.[225][252] AEW subsequently cancelled on-location Dynamite broadcasts through at least 13 May.[253][254]

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.[255] Beginning with the 1 April episode, Dynamite moved to an undisclosed location to prevent fans from attempting to interact with the wrestlers;[256] 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."[257]

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.[258] The event was subsequently moved to Daily's Place (with nearby TIAA Bank Field hosting a deliberate empty arena "Stadium Stampede" match).[259]

Despite the March Haru basho 2020 taking behind closed doors without a hitch, bar one wrestler (Chiyomaru) having temporarily withdrawn from the tournament with a fever whilst undergoing tests; both Natsu basho in May and Nagoya basho in May and July have been postponed by two weeks. 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.[260][261]

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.[262]

Following the extension of Japan's national state of emergency until 31 May, the Sumo Association officially shortly cancelled the May Grand Sumo Tournament. It is the second cancellation of a basho since 1946, and the first since March 2011 amidst a match-fixing scandal.[263]

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.[264]

The coronavirus pandemic impacted on several international cricket fixtures and tournaments. The 2020 ACA Africa T20 Cup Finals was scheduled to take place in Kenya in March 2020, before it was postponed in line with the Kenyan government's 30-day ban on international gatherings.[265][266] On 13 March 2020, the Netherlands tour to Namibia was cancelled due to the pandemic.[267] Three days later, Ireland's tour to Zimbabwe also got cancelled.[268][269] On 24 March, Namibia tri-series was postponed.[270]

The 2020 Everest Premier League in Nepal was also postponed on 12 March.[271] On 13 March, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the start of 2020 Indian Premier League will be postponed from 29 March to 15 April.[272] On 16 April, BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely due to the pandemic and on 4th June BCCI announced that IPL will staged outside India.[273] On 13 March, BCCI cancelled the ODI matches between India and South Africa on 15 and 18 March, which were originally announced to be played without spectators.[274] On the same day, the two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and England, scheduled to be played in March 2020, was also postponed.[275] The remaining seven matches of the 2020 Road Safety World Series were rescheduled to a later date.[276] It was earlier decided that the remaining seven matches of the tournament would be played behind the closed doors in DY Patil Stadium.[277]

A women's quadrangular series was scheduled to take place in Thailand in April 2020,[278] but was cancelled a month before it was due to start.[279] The 2020 Malaysia Cricket World Cup Challenge League A, scheduled to take place in March 2020, was postponed,[280] along with two T20I matches between a World XI and Asia XI side.[281]

On 12 March, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that all remaining matches of the Pakistan Super League's ongoing fifth season being played in Karachi (where the majority of cases in Pakistan had been concentrated) would be closed to spectators.[282][283] On 16 March 2020, the remaining play-offs in the 2020 Pakistan Super League were postponed due to a huge spike in the number of coronavirus cases around the country.[284] The Bangladesh tour of Pakistan for a single ODI and a Test match was also postponed.[285]

On 9 April 2020, there was an annoucement of postponement of Australia-Bangladesh Test series.[286]On 20 April 2020, Sri Lanka and South Africa cricket boards confirmed that SA tour to the island nation has been postponed.[287]

On 23 June 2020, New Zealand cricket team's tour to Bangladesh, which was scheduled to take place in August, was postponed.[288] A day later, on 24 June 2020, the Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka was postponed due to the pandemic.[289]

On 11 March 2020, English teams Worcestershire and Surrey both cancelled their pre-season warm-up tours to the United Arab Emirates.[290] The following day, Australia Women's tour to South Africa in March 2020 became the first major international series to be curtailed due to the pandemic.[291] On 21 March 2020, announcemnet was made for postponement of Bangladesh's summer tour to Ireland.[292][293]

On 21 April 2020, the Dutch government banned all public events in the country through August, requiring the postponement of tours of the Netherlands by New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies.[294][295]

On 5 May 2020, Tom Harrison, chief of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that the ECB could lose as much as £380 million if the entirety of the season were to be cancelled, and hoped that investments in the upcoming limited overs competition The Hundred could be a "profit centre" for the ECB.[296] The New Zealand tour of Ireland was postponed on 15 May 2020 due to the pandemic. At the same time Pakistan's tour was also called-off.[297]

On June 1, 2020, the Professional Cricketers' Association confirmed that county cricketers will continue to take pay cuts of up to 20 per cent for the months of June and July.[298] On 10 June 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the Scotland tri-series, also involving Nepal and Namibia has been postponed due to the pandemic.[299]Australia were suposed to tour Scotland for a solitary T20I. However, on 17 June 2020, Cricket Scotland confirmed that the match had been cancelled.[300]

On 13 March 2020, the 2020 United States Tri-Nation Series was postponed due to the pandemic and travel restrictions to the United States.[301][302] The 2019–20 West Indies Championship was suspended due to the pandemic and Barbados was declared the champion on 24 March.[303]

On 14 March 2020, the remaining two One Day International (ODI) matches of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy along with the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series between Australia and New Zealand were cancelled due to new border restrictions imposed by the New Zealand government.[304] The first ODI match of the series had been played on 13 March behind closed doors in Sydney.[305] The following day, Cricket Australia confirmed that the final round of matches in the 2019–20 Sheffield Shield season had been cancelled, with New South Wales being named as the winners of the tournament.[306] New Zealand Cricket cancelled the final two rounds of matches in the 2019–20 Plunket Shield season,[307] with Wellington being named the winners of the tournament.[308]

On 24 March 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that all ICC qualifying events scheduled to take place before 30 June 2020 had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included tri-series in PNG, including PNG, Nepal and UAE.[309]

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.[313][314][315][316][317][318][319][320][321][322]

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.[323] On 18 March, the suspension of events were extended at least until the end of April.[324] On 1 April, the suspension was extended until 1 June,[325] and on 15 April, it was extended until 1 July for the international races, and until 1 August for the UCI World Tour races.[326]

On 14 April, the annual Tour de France was originally scheduled for 27 June – 19 July, but it was postponed due to the country's strict measures with the coronavirus as the government extended a ban on mass gatherings until July.[327] As of 15 April, ASO and UCI plans it to take place from 29 August to 20 September.[326]

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

Race days of the 2020 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup were cancelled including 2 to 3 May in Papendal, the Netherlands.[328]

The 2020 UCI BMX World Championships, scheduled to take place in Houston, United States on 26–31 May, are postponed.[329]

The annual Cape Epic endurance race scheduled from 15 to 22 March was cancelled.[330]

The suspension of sports competitions has allowed professional athletes to increase their involvement in video game streaming as a means to engage with fans.[333] 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),[333] and several sim racing competitions similarly invited professional race drivers.[336][337]

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.[338][339] This culminated with a game actually being commentated by the team's radio broadcasters on team flagship KMVP-FM.[339] 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.[340][341]

The IndyCar Series and NASCAR announced partnerships with sim racing platform iRacing to hold online invitational events featuring series regulars.[342][343][343] 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.[344]

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.[364][365]

The 2020 regular season had originally been scheduled to begin on 11 June.[366] 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.[367] On May 20, 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.[368][369] The league has explored the possible use of centralized "hub" cities,[370][371][372] 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.[373]

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.[23] Atlantic University Sport and Canada West announced in parallel that fall semester regular season sports would also be cancelled.[23][27]

The National Football League (NFL) has 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.[374][375]

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.[376] 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.[377]

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.[376] The draft went on as scheduled, but public festivities in Las Vegas (which were to be hosted by the newly-relocated Las Vegas Raiders) were canceled,[378] 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.[377][379][380][381] The NFL hosted a charity appeal throughout the draft, supporting aid-related charities.[382] During the broadcast, Goodell announced that Las Vegas would instead host the 2022 draft.[383]

The NFL released its regular season schedule for the 2020 season on 7 May. While the league still 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, in the event the start of the season has to be delayed to late-October, following a blueprint from the 2011 NFL season, in which a lockout threatened the season.[384] In addition, the league originally had to work around two major golf tournaments that were also postponed to the autumn, the U.S. Open and The Masters (see also below), to avoid broadcasting conflicts.[385] Due to logistical issues associated with the pandemic, the NFL suspended its international games in London and Mexico City for the season.[386]

On June 25, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys scheduled for August 6 would be postponed until the same month in 2021. In addition, the ceremony for the five "modern era" inductees will be consolidated with the 2021 class to be announced just before Super Bowl LV. A separate "Centennial Class" of 15 members was to be inducted on September 18; that ceremony has yet to be rescheduled.[387]

Whether fans will be allowed to attend games will be on a case-by-case basis, dependent on local regulations. Fox Sports' lead NFL commentator Joe Buck stated that the network already had plans to employ simulated crowds on its telecasts, including sound effects and the possibility of using computer-rendered spectators to provide the illusion of a filled stadium.[388][389]

On 12 March, the XFL (a revival of the one-season 2001 league) 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.[390] 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.[391][392]

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Navy Midshipmen moved their August 29 match up from Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium to Labor Day Weekend (Exact date TBD) in Annapolis, Maryland, where it will be played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on the campus of the Naval Academy for the first time in history.[393]

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.[481][482] The federation also cancelled the 2020 event of one of its two official junior world championship tournaments, the IIHF World U18 Championship.[483] On 21 March, IIHF publicly announced that the senior men's world championships had also been cancelled.[484]

Cancelled tournaments:

• 2020 IIHF World U18 Championships
• 2020 IIHF World Championships
• 2020 IIHF World Championship Division I
• 2020 IIHF World Championship Division II
• 2020 IIHF World Championship Division III
• 2020 IIHF World Championship Division IV
• 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship
• 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I
• 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship Division II Group A

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.[485]

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.[486]

Cancelled or ended leagues:

• 2019–20 Slovak Extraliga season
• 2019–20 Austrian Hockey League season
• 2019–20 DEL season
• 2019–20 Liiga season
• 2019–20 SHL season
• 2019–20 EIHL season

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.[487][488][489][490]

On 12 March, the National Women's Hockey League postponed its Isobel Cup Final game indefinitely.[491]

The ECHL announced on 14 March that the remainder of the season would be scrapped.[492] The leagues of the CHL announced on 18 March that they would scrap the remainder of their regular seasons.[493] On 23 March, the CHL confirmed that all playoffs and the 2020 Memorial Cup were cancelled.[494]

Hockey Canada, the governing body for amateur hockey in the country, cancelled the remainder of its season on 13 March. This included national championships such as the Telus Cup and Esso Cup, as well as all regional and provincial playoffs. It also included the Canadian Junior Hockey League playoffs and the 2020 Centennial Cup.[495][496]

On 11 May, the American Hockey League announced the cancellation of the 2019–20 AHL season.[497]

The Supercars Championship had planned to hold an event, the Melbourne 400 supporting the Australian Grand Prix. The event was cancelled the same time the Grand Prix was also cancelled. Although the Championship were seeking to hold a replacement event later in the year,[499] it was ultimately not made up. The Supercars' Tasmania Super400 at Symmons Plains Raceway (originally scheduled for 4–5 April), the Auckland Super400 at Hampton Downs (25–26 April), and the Perth SuperNight at Wanneroo Raceway (16–17 May) rounds were also postponed beyond June.[500] The pandemic saw 23Red Racing withdraw from the championship as its primary sponsor, Milwaukee Tools, ended its deal with the team.

A revised calender was released on 17 May, with the events at Gold Coast and Newcastle dropped from the calender and a second race at Bathurst to be held in February 2021. As well, the Melbourne 400 will still count as a round because practice and qualifying had taken place before the event was cancelled. The second race at Bathurst would ultimately not take place after a second revision on 19 June, with the Sydney SuperNight round being restored and acting as the season finale.

Supercars formed the All Stars Eseries to allow its drivers to compete against each other.[501]

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series postponed the start of its championship until July 2020.[502]

The early Formula One season was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.[503] Prior to the start of the season, Ferrari and AlphaTauri expressed concern about the spread of the virus and its effect on the championship. Both teams are based in Italy, which has suffered one of the worst outbreaks of the virus outside China,[504][505] and so both Ferrari and AlphaTauri were therefore concerned over the ability of their staff to leave a quarantine zone that was established in northern Italy. Ross Brawn, the managing director of the sport, announced that Grands Prix would not go ahead if a team were blocked from entering a host nation, but that events could go ahead if a team voluntarily chose not to enter a host nation.[506] Races in Australia, Monaco and France were cancelled.[507][508][509] The cancellation of the Monaco Grand Prix meant that 2020 would mark the first time since 1954 that the race has not been held. The Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Chinese, Canadian, Dutch, Spanish and Vietnam Grands Prix were postponed.[508][510][511][512](The Dutch Grand Prix would eventually be cancelled on May 28, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would eventually be cancelled on June 12, while the Spanish Grand Prix would be rescheduled to August 16 on June 2). Organisers of the Austrian, British and Hungarian Grands Prix announced that their races could go ahead, but would be run without spectators and with teams staffed by minimal personnel.[513][514] The summer break shut down period—which includes mandatory factory closures as a cost-cutting measure—was also brought forward from August to March and April and was extended to three weeks, allowing for postponed races to be held in August.[515]

The sport had planned to overhaul its technical regulations for the 2021 championship in one of the largest changes in its seventy-year history. The pandemic prompted these changes to be postponed until 2022, with teams required to enter their 2020 cars in the 2021 championship to minimise the financial stress placed on the teams.[516] The sport had also planned to introduce a $175 million budget cap in 2021, which was later revised to $150 million.[517] Teams called for further revisions to $100 million, arguing that the pandemic threatened the future of four of the ten teams.[518]

In March 2020, some Formula One drivers entered a virtual version of the Australian[519] and Bahrain Grands Prix dubbed "Not The Grand Prix".[520][521] The races are hosted by Jean-Éric Vergne's Veloce Esports and Formula One. The online races are contested by current and former Formula One drivers, like Lando Norris, Nicholas Latifi, Stoffel Vandoorne, Esteban Gutiérrez, Nico Hülkenberg, Johnny Herbert and Martin Brundle, as well as celebrities and other sportsmen.

The Bahrain and Barcelona rounds of the FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 Championships—a series of races for junior drivers that run in support of Formula 1 events—were postponed when the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix were postponed.[522][523] The Monaco and Zandvoort Formula 2 rounds were cancelled when the Monaco and Dutch Grands Prix were cancelled and the Baku round postponed when the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was postponed;[523][524] Formula 3 had not been scheduled to race in Monaco or Azerbaijan.

The Formula E championship for electric cars initially responded to the pandemic by postponing the Rome and Sanya ePrix. Planned races in Paris, Jakarta and Seoul were also postponed, prompting organisers to postpone the entire season by two months.[525][526][527] On 17 June it was announced that the series would finish at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit with three double headers on three different layouts in August, and that the races in Rome, Sanya, Paris, Jakarta, Seoul and New York have been cancelled.

The 3 Hours of Monza round of the 2020 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, scheduled for 19 April, was cancelled.[528]

The IndyCar Series initially announced on 12 March that it would hold the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg — the opening race of the 2020 season — behind closed doors.[529] On 13 March, the series announced that it would cancel all races through at least the end of April, including St. Petersburg, Alabama, Long Beach, and Austin. IndyCar intended to begin the season with the traditional "Month of May" races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the GMR Grand Prix (held on IMS's road course configuration), and the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 on its traditional Memorial Day Sunday date.[530] IndyCar formed the IndyCar iRacing Challenge, with its drivers racing against one another on the iRacing racing simulation game.[531]

On 26 March, IndyCar announced that it would postpone the two Indianapolis races to later in the season—moving the GMR Grand Prix to the Fourth of July as support for the NASCAR Cup Series' Brickyard 400 (and creating a rare NASCAR/IndyCar double-header with the Xfinity Series' Pennzoil 150),[532][533] and the 500 to 23 August—marking the first time in history that it has not been held in May. Therefore, the season was to tentatively begin with the Detroit Grand Prix. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was reinstated as the planned season finale, with a date to be determined.[534] On 6 April, IndyCar announced that the Detroit Grand Prix had been canceled. To make up for other canceled races, it was announced that a third race at Indianapolis (the IndyCar Harvest GP, a second race on the track's road course) would be added to the schedule in October, and that the Iowa 300 and Monterey Grand Prix would become twin race weekends with two points-paying races each.[535]

On 7 May, IndyCar officially announced that the season would begin 6 June with the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, with races held behind closed doors and with enhanced safety protocols until further notice. To accommodate same-day qualifying and practice, the race was shortened from its usual 245-lap (600 kilometer) distance to 200 laps (300 miles). Although track owner Eddie Gossage originally insisted that he would not allow the race to be held unless as support for a NASCAR event, he later came to terms with new series owner Roger Penske.[536] On 21 May, IndyCar announced the cancellation of the Honda Indy Toronto and Indy Richmond 300 events due to local restrictions, and that the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America would become a twin-race weekend and assume Toronto's date on the schedule.[537]

On 1 June, IndyCar announced that the 2020 season of its developmental Indy Lights circuit had been scrapped.[538] On 8 June, Penske stated his preference for the Indianapolis 500 to not be held behind closed doors, and that he would be willing to delay the event to October if state restrictions are not sufficiently loosened by August.[539][540] On 26 June, IndyCar and IMS announced that the 500 would be held with spectators, limited to half of its normal capacity.[541]

The MotoGP World Championship cancelled the opening round of the 2020 championship in Qatar. The Moto2 and Moto3 support categories raced in the country, as the teams were already in Qatar before the quarantine measures were put in place. Planned events in Thailand, the United States, and Argentina were also postponed, but were later rescheduled to 4 October 15 and 22 November respectively. The races at Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello, and Catalunya were also postponed, while the Germany, Assen, British, Australian and Finland races were cancelled.[542]

The AMA Supercross Live Series postponed its scheduled race card at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis just before it was to occur on March 14. On March 25, officials announced the postponement of six more events.[543] The cards - consisting of the 450cc class and one of two 250cc classes each - were rescheduled for seven consecutive dates between May 31 and June 21. All of them occurred behind closed doors at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.[544]

Prior to the 2020 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, part of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR announced that no fans would be permitted to attend the race; this event, along with the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, were later postponed.[545] On 16 March, NASCAR announced that all race events through 3 May were postponed, however they still intend to run all 36 races for the season.[546] On 17 April, NASCAR announced that it had postponed the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (9 May at Martinsville Speedway), but that they still intend to run a full schedule of 36 races.[547] NASCAR began to organize invitational eSports events on iRacing, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.[548]

On 30 April 2020, NASCAR announced that it would resume races in a modified schedule, with seven events across its three national series (including two Cup Series doubleheaders, and Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series events) at Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway from 17–27 May.[549] NASCAR stated that it still planned to run its full schedule of races, but that where events would be held beyond these May races was subject to change, with a tentative plan to focus primarily on "classic" tracks in the Southeastern United States (within driving distance of Charlotte—where the majority of NASCAR staff and teams are based).[549] NASCAR announced the next set of races on 14 May (through late-June), formally cancelling originally-scheduled races in late-May and early-June, and shifting postponed or rescheduled events in their place at Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, Tennessee), Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville, Homestead-Miami, and Talladega Superspeedway.[550] On 2 June, NASCAR announced the third phase of the revised schedule through early-August, including a mid-week NASCAR All-Star Race on 15 July at Charlotte (as part of a double-header with the NASCAR-owned ARCA Menards Series), and a Thursday race at Kansas Speedway.[551]

The Cup Series returned with The Real Heroes 400 on 17 May (in support of The Real Heroes Project—a collaboration of U.S. sports leagues honoring front line health care workers),[552][553] followed by a rare Wednesday-night race (the first since the 1984 Firecracker 400), the Toyota 500 (a 500 kilometer, 310-mile race) on 20 May.[554] The Xfinity Series returned on 19 May with the Toyota 200, while all three series raced their regularly-scheduled Memorial Day weekend events at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In the Cup Series, this included two events — the 60th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, and the 500 kilometer Alsco Uniforms 500 on the following Wednesday.[549]

All races will be held behind closed doors with only essential staff present and team sizes capped at 16, physical distancing requirements for garages and spotters, additional protective equipment for drivers and pit crew members, random temperature checks and removal of symptomatic team members, and requiring teams to perform contact tracing logs. To reduce on-track activity, all events are being held without qualifying or practice sessions (excluding the Coca-Cola 600, which used same-day qualifying), and starting order is determined by either a random draw (divided into segments of the owners' points standings as of that race), or the finishing order from the previous race with the top 20 inverted (primarily on the mid-week events). Due to there being no practice sessions, an extended competition caution will be thrown within the first stage of each race, in order to allow for extended adjustments of vehicles.[555]

On 9 June, NASCAR announced that a limited number of spectators would be admitted at the Dixie Vodka 400 (Miami) and GEICO 500 (Talladega). The Miami race will feature 1,000 members of the U.S. military from the South Florida area (representing United States Southern Command and the Homestead Air Reserve Base), and the Talladega race will admit up to 5,000 spectators and limited campsites above the back straightaway, with priority given to local ticketholders.[556]

Almost all TCR championships have been affected by the outbreak, resulting in complete calendar changes, race postponements and cancellations. These include: TCR Australia, TCR Asia Pacific Cup, TCR Germany, TCR UK, TCR Japan, TCR Italy, TCR Scandinavia, TCR Denmark, TCR Asia, TCR China, TCR Europe, and TC America.[557]

The 1000 Miles of Sebring race was canceled.[558] The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans were both postponed.[559][560]

The 2020 running of Rally Argentina, Rally Italia Sardegna and Rally de Portugal were postponed,[561][562] with Portugal later announced to be cancelled.[563] The Safari Rally in Kenya, Rally Finland, Wales Rally GB and Rally New Zealand were also cancelled.[564][565] The 2020 Rally Mexico was shortened to allow competitors time to pack their equipment up and return to their headquarters in Europe before a series of travel bans were implemented.[566] The World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3 and Junior World Rally Championship support categories were also affected by the postponements.

The opening rounds of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Barcelona and Portugal were postponed.[567][568]

The opening rounds of the 2020 World Touring Car Cup in Hungary and Germany were cancelled.[569][570][571] The four races that would have been held across the two rounds were rescheduled for other rounds.

The 2020 Isle of Man TT and Scottish Six Days Trial were cancelled.[572][573][574] The 2020 North West 200 event was postponed[575] and subsequently cancelled.[576]

All British motorsport, including the British Touring Car Championship,[577] the British GT Championship,[578] and the Britcar Endurance and Trophy Championships.[579] were postponed until July 2020.[580]

Monster Jam events in multiple localities were affected. Shows in Austin, Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Cincinnati, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Hidalgo, Texas were postponed; and shows in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Columbus, Ohio, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, Columbia, South Carolina, Des Moines, Iowa, Evansville, Indiana, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Hamilton, Ontario, Huntsville, Alabama, Kansas City, Missouri, and Vancouver were cancelled.[581] On 27 March 2020, World Finals XXI, scheduled to take place 2–3 May 2020, was canceled.[582]

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live postponed a show in Louisville, Kentucky.[583]

Monster X Tour postponed its World Finals event in Honolulu, Hawaii.[584]

Despite taking place in the second half of the year, all 4 blocks (representing Asia (FEMCA), North America (ROAR), Europe (EFRA) and the rest of the world (FAMAR)) and the IFMAR committee have agreed to postpone all remaining IFMAR World Championships (1:10 Electric Touring Car in Heemstede, Netherlands); 1:8 IC Off-Road in Cianorte, Brasil and 1:10 IC Touring Car in Brisbane, Australia) to an alternative date, possibly early 2021.[585][586] This was the first postponement since 2001 when the events of the September 11 attacks caused the 1:10 Electric Off-Road Worlds to be moved to May the following year.[587]

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,[601] with games against the Scotland women's team also cancelled as one of the players tested positive and the team went into isolation.[602] By 13 March, the competition had been suspended.[603] On 12 March, the Pro14 European rugby competition was suspended [604] until 22 August.

On 12 March, Major League Rugby suspended its third season for 30 days.[605] The League later announced, on 18 March, that the season had been scrapped.[606]

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,[607][608][609] and ultimately announced later in the day that the season would be suspended following the completion of the weekend's fixtures.[610]

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).[611][612][613] Spectators will be allowed to attend the Super Rugby Aotearoa games, as New Zealand had lifted most restrictions on 8 June due to there being no active cases and no new cases in the past 17 days. Entry restrictions remain in force.[614]

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.[651]

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.[652]

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.[653] 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.[654] In mid-February Asia Swimming Federation decided to use the final ranking of the 2018 Asian Games to allocate its continental quotas.[655]

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.[656]

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.[657]

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.[658]

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.[659]

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.[660]