NCAA President Mark Emmert told congressional Republicans this week that the football season this fall "could be shortened, with the regular season perhaps ending by Thanksgiving because of the coronavirus pandemic," according to Blinder & Martin of the N.Y. TIMES. In a call Wednesday with members of the House Republican whip team and other sports execs, Emmert said that he "anticipated that the college football season would begin around Labor Day as usual if games could be held within the regulations and guidelines of individual states." But U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who participated in the call, said that Emmert also "said the schedule may ultimately be truncated and that certain championships, like conference title games, could be played by Thanksgiving." Blinder & Martin note college football "does not have a central governing authority, and Emmert does not have the power to set or modify the sport’s schedules." But he has been "advising conferences about how a season might proceed, and his cautionary words to lawmakers suggest that, despite many sports executives’ optimistic public ambitions, top officials have serious doubts about the trajectory of a season during a pandemic." Congressional officials said that leaders from NASCAR, the NFL, NHL and PGA Tour "also participated" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/5).
