It doesn't come as a surprise, but still, a week after promoting it was ready to start football,  a broadcast report says the Big Ten Conference is ready to pull the plug on the Fall 2020 football season. An announcement is expected Tuesday morning.

Nationally syndicated sport talk show host Dan Patrick reported Monday morning a source close to the situation said The Big Ten conference voted 12-2 to not play the 2020 football schedule. He said the two votes to play were from Nebraska and Iowa. He also said it was likely four of the Power Five conferences would likely be cancelling fall sports, with only The SEC still trying to salvage some sort of schedule this fall.

Patrick says aside from the obvious health issues, the main reason for the shutdown is liability, using an example of a player being asymptomatic, but going home and infecting others. Another secondary concern is, a small number of asymptomatic athletes are reporting subsequent heart issues arising. He also said for the MAC, the cost of continuous Covid testing was an issue, thought it would not be for the bigger, richer conferences and programs.

This news comes on the heels of the Mid American Conference (Western Michigan University is a member) cancelling Fall sports on Saturday, after Northern Illinois said they were pulling out for health and safety reasons.

The ramifications of a cancellation would be far-reaching beyond the schools and their athletes. A typical Saturday pulls in fans into cities like Ann Arbor and East Lansing. And statewide, many bars and restaurants cash in with beer and food sales on a Saturday.

The show also said the NFL is bent of playing this fall, and would, in all likelihood, move games into the Saturday afternoon and evening timeslots.

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