UT Games To Be Played Without Fans Amid Coronavirus Fears

AUSTIN, TX — All University of Texas home sporting events will be played without fans in attendance through March 22 over new coronavirus fears, school officials announced Wednesday.

UT Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte made the announcement, adding athletics teams would continue to travel for road competitions as scheduled.

The move comes amid a growing list of large gatherings cancellations as a precaution against potential spread of the respiratory ailment now called COVID-19 caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have sparked outbreaks in the past.

At last check, more than 25 cases of COVID-19 have been reported throughout Texas, including 14 in the Houston area. No confirmed COVID-19 cases have emerged in Austin.

"We realize COVID-19 (coronavirus) is a major concern to everyone, and in an effort to mitigate any potential risks for our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans, we will be limiting those in attendance at our home sporting events through the next two weekends," Del Conte said in a prepared stateement. "We regret that our fans will not be able to attend our events to support our teams, but this decision was made with the health and well-being of our campus community and fans as the top priority."

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Del Conte said school officials would continue to monitor the situation as they are apprised by university leadership: "This is an evolving situation, and we remain in constant communication with our University leadership and will continue to reassess the situation. Ultimately, we will take direction from President Fenves and The University while continuing to discuss and evaluate the best way to handle our future events. We will continue to monitor the situation and make additional announcements if other events are impacted."

Texas will host a Baseball series with New Mexico this weekend, as well as a game against Incarnate Word on Tuesday, Mar. 17. Columbia University was scheduled to play a Men's Tennis match at Texas this Saturday, but has canceled their trip to Austin. As scheduled, all four baseball games will be broadcasted live on Longhorn Network and UT's flagship radio station, 104.9 FM The Horn.

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As the unviersity earlier reported, beginning on Thursday, the Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments have both gone to a competition format without fans. Longhorn fans who bought Big 12 Tournament tickets through Texas will be refunded for those purchases, officials said.

"The priority of the Big 12 Conference is to ensure the safety of our students, coaches, administrators, event staff and fans," the Big 12 said in a statement. "After careful consideration and consulting with medical officials, other conferences, the NCAA and local officials, the Big 12 Conference announced that after tonight's men's first round games, all remaining Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Championship games will be played with only family, friends, credentialed media and essential staff permitted in the arenas."