- The NCAA has reversed course on its mask mandate for courtside individuals at March Madness.
- Insider previously reported that the rule required cheerleaders, press, and scoring officials to mask up.
- A source from a Sweet 16 regional site shared that "the NCAA is not enforcing the masking policy."
Watching the first round of this year's March Madness felt surprisingly normal.
As COVID-19 infection rates wane across the country, fans were allowed back in the stands and could even cheer on their teams without masking up. But cheerleaders, journalists, photographers, and scoring officials were conspicuously still required to wear face coverings, as their close proximity to the court purportedly posed too much of a risk to the players and coaches competing nearby.
According to an informational document provided to media members ahead of the 2022 men's South Regional in San Antonio, Texas, the NCAA instructed such individuals to "be masked when courtside" out of concern "for the safety of tournament participants."
Just a week later, however, the NCAA is reversing course.
In a follow-up email sent to members of the press covering the South Regional, a site official informed recipients that "the NCAA is not enforcing the masking policy" that it initially set in place.
And, sure enough, the cheerleaders, journalists, photographers, and officials seated at the scorer's table were predominantly unmasked during the men's Sweet 16 games Thursday night.
The NCAA's change of heart is not likely to go unnoticed by fans tuning in for a weekend full of highly anticipated Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups. The action picks up again Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN for the women's tournament and 7:09 p.m. on CBS for men's March Madness.