Big East officials consider future of college sports amid pandemic

With the spring season of college sports canceled and the future of the fall season in limbo, the commissioner of the Big East Conference says that the future of college sports is up in the air.

News 12 Staff

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May 12, 2020, 1:18 AM

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Updated 1,689 days ago

With the spring season of college sports canceled and the future of the fall season in limbo, the commissioner of the Big East Conference says that the future of college sports is up in the air.

Only one half of a basketball game was played in the Big East tournament this year.

“We did have insurance for the Big East Tournament that did cover pandemics,” says Commissioner Val Ackerman.

Ackerman says that officials are now trying to figure out how college sports can return.

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“If our campuses aren’t open, we will not have athletes coming back or sports events or activities returning,” she says.

With UConn coming back to the Big East this summer, Ackerman says that they are working on different scenarios.

“We are in 10 states and the District of Colombia, so the likelihood of possible staggered entry dates this fall and beyond are very high for us,” Ackerman says.

The commissioner says that health and safety are the most important things to consider.

“The absence of sports in many ways reaffirms how important they are to us, so, I’m very confident that when sports come back, they are coming to come back big,” she says.

Ackerman is a graduate of Hopewell Valley Central High School. She was the president of the WNBA and USA Basketball before becoming the head of the Big East.

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