Impact of coronavirus on professional sports and a list of cancellations

BREAKING: NBA, MLS, NHL, PGA Tour suspend play and MLB delayed due to coronavirus. EPL, The Masters, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and WSL are all suspended too.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, with the outbreak officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on March 11 (EDT), professional sporting competitions across the globe are suffering.

Initially leading to the postponement or cancellation of sporting events in China back in late January, where COVID-19 is believed to have originated, it’s now affecting leagues and tournaments in Europe, Australia and the US. Northern Italy has been the most affected area in Europe for COVID-19. Since the first official announcement on March 4 (EDT) that all Italian sports were to be held behind closed doors until at least April 3 was made, Italy has suspended all sports in the country— and the US isn’t far behind.

What major sports are affected by COVID-19?

Formula One and MotoGP, Six Nations and World Sevens rugby, The Masters and March Madness as well as European soccer leagues are all experiencing delays or cancellations.

The Chinese F1 Grand Prix (GP) scheduled for April was the first to be postponed, with the cancellation of the Australian GP and postponement of the Dutch, Vietnamese, Spanish and Bahrain Grand Prix following soon after. Formula One has since postponed its 2020 season, predicting it to begin in May.

The AFC Champions League postponed matches across the continent, with the exception of one each in Malaysia and Australia. The latter was Sydney FC’s home fixture against South Korea’s Jeonbuk. The start of the Japanese and Korean leagues have both been delayed.

This is all likely to have a trickle-down effect too, with areas such as broadcasting, merchandising and revenue from ticket sales all expected to be significantly impacted. With events like the Euro 2020 play-offs and the 2020 Olympics fast approaching, the situation is being closely monitored on a daily basis.

List of sports cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus

Finder acknowledges that this is not a comprehensive list of every single sport in the world affected.

Will more sports be cancelled due to coronavirus?

With new cases of coronavirus growing by the day and the situation declared a global pandemic, sports fans are facing a rocky outlook for 2020.

The International Olympic Committee’s official stance is that everything is “business as usual” and athletes should continue their preparations, yet some Olympic test events have already been cancelled. The NFL is doing something similar, where it still plans to hold the 2020 draft in April, but have decided to cut out the public draft events usually held in Las Vegas.

As for the final round of play-offs for the Euro 2020 soccer tournament, semi-finals and finals are scheduled for March 26 and 31, respectively.

What if I have signed up to watch these sports?

Sports fans in the general sense might want to think twice before signing up for new subscriptions with the intention of watching particular tournaments— NCAA, The Masters, F1. While seasons could start up again, there’s no guarantee of what will happen in the next few weeks.

We don’t see any type of refund happening if COVID-19 disrupts your plans for the 2020 season, but crazier things have happened. It’s best to contact customer service and talk through your situation, given the special circumstance.