Big Ten Postpones Media Days Event Scheduled for July

The Big Ten doesn't want to risk having hundreds of people in the same hotel room this summer, so it announced on Friday that Big Ten Media Days will not be held in July.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The first Big Ten football event of the year was scratched from the calendar on Friday when the Big Ten announced that football Media Days will not be held in July.

The event, which brings all 14 conference coaches together along with about 40 players and hundreds of media members, has always been the first official kickoff to a new season. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event won't take place, the league said in a release. 

"Following discussions with Big Ten member institutions, the Big Ten Conference announced today that the 2020 Big Ten Football Media Days and Kickoff Luncheon scheduled to take place July 22-23 in Chicago will not be held as scheduled in order to ensure the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans, partners and media. 

"The Conference will continue to monitor developing information and continue to consult with medical experts to determine the appropriate dates and format for our annual event.''

What the 2020 college football season might look like is still in question because of the pandemic. Just this week, the NCAA announced that football players are allowed to return to campuses for voluntary workouts after June 1. Several schools already have put plans in place, like Illinois and Ohio State. Other schools such as Indiana still have not announced their plans for athletes returning the  Bloomington, and what precautions will be used to keep everyone safe when they arrive.

Indiana's football season is scheduled to start on Friday, Sept. 4 with a conference game at Wisconsin.