Sports Leagues Bar Fans and Cancel Games Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

A steady trickle of cancellations and other disruptions in the sports world caused by the coronavirus outbreak erupted into an avalanche on Wednesday, with the N.B.A. abruptly suspending its season and the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament and other events barring most spectators. A major tennis tournament was also in doubt.

The N.B.A. acted after a player for the Utah Jazz, who had been listed as not playing, tested positive for the coronavirus, causing a moment of confusion before tip-off of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The game was called off and the N.B.A. said the season would go on hiatus indefinitely.

Earlier, the Golden State Warriors had become the first N.B.A. team to bar fans from games because of the coronavirus pandemic, announcing that it would close the doors to spectators for Thursday’s game against the Nets at Chase Center in San Francisco. The move foreshadowed sweeping changes across sports as public officials pressured teams to bar fans to help limit the spread of the virus.

At least 1,190 people in 41 states and Washington, D.C., have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a New York Times database, and at least 37 patients with the virus have died. A majority of the cases were in Washington State, California and New York.

In parts of Washington State and California, large gatherings were restricted entirely. In states like Ohio, the authorities said similar orders were on the way. And the governing body of men’s tennis was in discussions about suspending tour events, including the Miami Open, a major tournament, for six weeks, according to three people briefed on the discussions who were not authorized to speak about them publicly.

In Major League Baseball, the Seattle Mariners announced that they were working with the league to find alternative arrangements for home games at the end of March. The N.H.L.’s Columbus Blue Jackets said they would restrict attendance after the governor of Ohio announced that a ban on large gatherings was coming.

Before the N.B.A.’s suspended season, the biggest move had come from the N.C.A.A., which barred all but a limited gathering of family members and essential staff members at the men’s and women’s basketball championship tournaments set to begin next week.

The N.B.A.’s team owners held a conference call on Wednesday to decide what to do about their games, with the start of the playoffs just over a month away. The owners, according to a source familiar with the call, leaned toward playing in empty arenas for the rest of the season, but nothing was decided Wednesday night until news arrived that the Utah Jazz player had contracted the virus.

On Wednesday, after San Francisco moved to ban gatherings of more than 1,000 people for at least two weeks, the Warriors announced that Thursday’s home game against the Nets would be played without spectators, and that all other events at the arena would be canceled or postponed through March 21.

The San Francisco Giants, who play at Oracle Park, said in a statement that they would cancel their only event at the stadium during that city’s two-week ban on public gatherings — a March 24 exhibition against the Oakland Athletics.

Santa Clara County, where the N.H.L.’s San Jose Sharks and M.L.S.’s San Jose Earthquakes play, announced a ban earlier in the week on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The N.H.L. said in a statement, after the N.B.A. suspended its season, that it was evaluating its own plans for the season. Earlier, the league said it was working with the Sharks “to determine an appropriate course of action for home games through the end of the month.”

In Washington State, Gov. Jay Inslee banned gatherings of more than 250 in multiple counties, including King County, which encompasses T-Mobile Park, the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners, and CenturyLink Field, where the Seattle Sounders FC of the M.L.S. play.

The Sounders said their March 21 match against FC Dallas, which was to take place at CenturyLink Field, would be postponed.

While many events in different industries have been canceled or changed because of the health crisis, attention sharply shifted to the sports world on Wednesday after Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, put the sports leagues on notice in an appearance before lawmakers.

“We would recommend that there not be large crowds,” Dr. Fauci said. “If that means not having any people in the audience when the N.B.A. plays, so be it. But as a public health official, anything that has large crowds is something that would give a risk to spread.”

Still, the N.B.A. had seemed determined all day to carry on in some capacity.

In Washington, D.C., despite a recommendation from the Department of Health that large gatherings be postponed or canceled, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group of the Washington Wizards and the N.H.L.’s Washington Capitals, said its home games would be played as scheduled “at the current direction” of both leagues.

“Should they update their guidance, we will update the public accordingly,” the ownership group said in a statement.

Likewise, a spokesperson for Madison Square Garden, which owns the N.B.A.’s Knicks and the N.H.L.’s Rangers, said, “The remainder of our calendar is moving forward as scheduled.”

The N.B.A. and the N.H.L. could face the most direct immediate financial hit of not playing. The M.L.B. season is not slated to begin until the end of March, and N.F.L. players are in the middle of their off-season, though the draft is slated to begin on April 23 in Las Vegas. The W.N.B.A. draft is on April 17, and the season begins May 15.

“It’s a developing story,” Rick Welts, the president and chief operating officer of the Warriors, said before the league’s suspension. “We don’t know how it’s going to end.”

Tyler Kepner and Kevin Draper contributed reporting.