The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground all flights nationwide Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college teams stranded as they tried to reach their destinations, and NFL teams were left to wonder whether the issue would be resolved in time to travel to their games this weekend.
The FAA issued a notice that said the ground stop was “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
Sports leagues and college football conferences have released statements regarding the situation and how to proceed with scheduled games moving forward.
“Due to the national FAA ground stop impacting team travel, the Big 12 Conference is evaluating potential changes to Saturday’s football schedule. The Conference will continue to monitor the travel disruptions alongside its member institutions and provide updates for Saturday’s games,” the Big 12 Conference said in a statement.
According to On3, there are 14 Division I college football teams that have not yet reached their destination for Saturday games. Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss, Baylor, Kansas State, San Jose State, Washington, Minnesota, Florida Atlantic, Utah, Arizona State, Oregon State, UNLV and Colorado State have been grounded. Some of the teams have returned to their respective campuses with no concrete plans to fly out Friday night.
The Southeastern Conference addressed the travel troubles in a statement, noting that the disruptions are affecting several of its teams.
“The safety and well-being of student-athletes, coaches, and team personnel remain our highest priority,” SEC officials said. “They’re going to monitor the situation and make decisions as they come.”
The Texas Longhorns posted on social media a short video of them boarding their plane before the stoppage began. If they ended up taking a bus to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the trip for the 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff against the Tigers on Saturday would take about seven hours.
“We are grounded and waiting to see when we can leave,” a Texas team spokesman said.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Baylor’s game against BYU in Provo, Utah, is likely to be postponed indefinitely if the Bears are unable to fly the 1,225 miles from Waco, Texas, as the Cougars cannot play on Sundays because of religious restrictions in the Mormon faith.
The only NFL teams that have officially landed in their destination for Sunday’s games are the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions, who both landed in Munich, Germany, earlier in the week. Their game kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday.
For some of the NFL teams, trips via bus would be manageable: Pittsburgh plays at Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Rams play at Arizona, Minnesota is visiting Green Bay and Buffalo is scheduled to play the Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
