Covid-19 Sports Postponements: NHL Pauses Season Early, NBA Warns of Possible Christmas Day Schedule Changes By SVG Staff
Thursday, December 23, 2021 - 11:51 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In light of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, pro sports leagues and colleges have postponed or canceled several events. Here's a look at the most recent changes to the U.S. sports schedule.
NBA Wednesday's Raptors at Bulls game and Thursday's Nets at Trail Blazers contest have been postponed, due to Brooklyn and Toronto not having the required eight players available for their games.
Nine games in total have been postponed, but the NBA has no plans to pause the season, commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this week. The league has also told teams that shifting some game times is a possibility for the five-game Christmas Day slate.
NFL The NFL postponed three Week 15 games due to Covid-19 issues: Saturday's game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Cleveland Browns was moved to Monday (on NFL Network), while Sunday's meetings between the Washington Football Team and the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams were moved to Tuesday (on Fox).
In addition, the NFL announced new Covid-19 protocols, which will include a more targeted testing plan, more flexibility for players to attend meetings virtually and also a high-risk player opt-out for the remainder of the season. The new protocols call for testing vaccinated players less frequently.
As of today, no Week 16 NFL games have rescheduled.
NHL On Monday, the NHL announced it would pause the current season until after Christmas Day. The Washington Capitals at Philadelphia Flyers game scheduled for Tuesday was postponed by the NHL because of COVID-19 concerns. It brings the total of games postponed this season to 50, including 32 this week. The NHL and NHL Players' Association agreed Monday to postpone five games Thursday, the day before the holiday break was scheduled to begin.
In addition, the NHL and NHL Players' Association have come to an agreement to not participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic men's hockey tournament in Beijing.
College Football No. 25 Texas A&M was forced to pull out of the Gator Bowl because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the program that prevented the Aggies from fielding enough healthy players. As a result, Rutgers is expected to take Texas A&M's place for Dec. 31 matchup against No. 17 Wake Forest.
Meanwhile, the University of Miami football team has been hit by a COVID-19 outbreak of its own, but still hopes to play in the Dec. 31 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl against Washington State.
Looking ahead, the College Football Playoff has announced new protocols for potentially postponing or canceling games this year amid the recent covid-19 surge. Semifinal games will not be made up if a team does not have enough players available due to COVID-19 cases. If a team is unable to field enough players, it would forfeit the game and its opponent would advance to the CFP National Championship. If one of the teams advancing to the National Championship game is unable to play, the game could be postponed to no later than Jan. 14. If one team is still unable to play by that date, the game will be declared a forfeit and the remaining healthy team will be national champion.
College Basketball In total, more than 120 men's and women's basketball games have been canceled due to Covid-19 thus far this season with the bulk of these games cancelled in the past week as a result of the recent surge. In addition, more than 50 Div. 1 men's college basketball programs have shut down temporarily, including UCLA, Ohio State, USC, Memphis, Syracuse, and Seton Hall (full list here).
Among the most notable cancellations, Kentucky and Louisville cancelled their annual rivalry game, scheduled for Wednesday, due to multiple COVID positives in Louisville's program.
In addition, conferences are now looking to make adjustments and even change their forfeit rules and dozens more games are likely to be lost due to the recent Covid-19 spike.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Covid-19 Sports Postponements: NHL Pauses Season Early, NBA Warns of Possible Christmas Day Schedule Changes By SVG Staff 
