Thursday, March 12th was a devastating day in the sports and entertainment world. As event cancellations poured in all over the country, the city of Omaha waited anxiously to hear the fate of its biggest moneymakers. 

Omaha was supposed to host first and second round games of the 2020 March Madness tournament, and on the 11th, the NCAA announced it was still going to hold the tournament with empty arenas. The organization quickly scrapped that decision as every American professional sports league put their seasons on hold and canceled the remainder of the winter sports season a day later.

“NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments,” The NCAA said in a statement. “…This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to the spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.”

This cancellation is estimated to cost the city of Omaha around five million dollars, but Mayor Jean Stotheart understands that it is the best decision for the health and safety of the fans and athletes. 

“The revenue that the city will lose is not the most important,” she said in an interview with KETV NewsWatch 7. “It’s public health and public safety that is the most important.”

With the NCAA’s announcement to terminate the winter sports season came the biggest shock yet. The NCAA had also canceled all of its remaining spring championships, including the College World Series. 

For the first time in 70 years, Omaha won’t be hosting the eight-team tradition, which is an extreme blow to the city. The city has long prided itself on hosting the tournament and in 2009 spent $100 million to build TD Ameritrade Park in exchange for an NCAA promise to keep the CWS through at least 2035. 

A year ago, around 332,054 people attended the 15 games and thousands more spent their time filling bars and restaurants, tailgating or visiting the Omaha Baseball Village. Canceling the CWS alone will cost the local economy $70 million, and is a huge loss for the businesses and vendors that surround TD Ameritrade Park. 

Kevin Culjat is the owner of Rocco’s Pizza and Cantina and Lefty O’Tooles, both just across the street from the TD Ameritrade Park. 

“…It’s probably 50 percent of your entire yearly revenue in about a 14- or 15-day period, which is obviously extremely amazing when you consider that half a year is made in literally two-and-a-half weeks” Culjat said in an interview with Baseball America. “It’s a monster chunk, and not just for me, but all of the people who work for me.”

By the end of the day on March 12th, there was still a flicker of hope that the US Olympic Swim Trials, an event Omaha has hosted for the past four Olympics, would be held. Just like the CWS, the trials are a $70 million-plus economic impact for the city. USA Swimming had announced in a statement that the sport’s governing body suspended all events that require traveling and the gathering of groups. However, the Swim Trials were not specifically mentioned in the statement.

It was clear that the fate of the trials would not be announced until the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the postponement of the 2020 summer games. The IOC and USA Swimming announced that both events will now be held in 2021. The trials will take place June 13-20 and wrap up just in time for the 2021 College World Series. 

“To be quite honest, you’re kind of in shock right now,” Culjat told Baseball America. “You just really don’t know what to do or what to say, and now you’re just hoping that it gets back to normal at some point.” 

There’s a lot of anticipation for the 2021  sports season and when it arrives, there’s no doubt that Omaha will be ready to host athletes, fans, and teams from all over the country.