Concerns from multiple college basketball programs about the threat of contracting the Zika virus has prompted an unprecedented move: ESPN is pulling its annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off out of Puerto Rico.
Instead, the exempt, made-for-TV college hoops event will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. ESPN made its formal announcement of the change Monday. The dates for the tournament will not change. The Tip-Off will still be held on Nov. 17, 18 and 20. The teams participating in the event: Arizona State, Clemson, Davidson, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma, Tulane and Xavier.
Coaches at multiple schools expressed concern with playing the event in Puerto Rico. Representatives from their schools shared those concerns to ESPN. Some staffers -- especially younger men looking to have children (the Zika virus' damage on a fetus in the womb is well-documented and awful) -- were prepared to not travel to the event if it was to be held in Puerto Rico, multiple sources told CBS Sports.
There was also the concern that Zika's prominence in Puerto Rico would lead to fan bases opting not to travel to the event.
"We enjoy the beauty and accommodations that are afforded in Puerto Rico and wanted to make every effort in playing the event in San Juan, but the concern for student-athlete and spectator welfare became the primary driver in the decision," ESPN senior vice president Pete Derzis said in a statement. "We intend to return to Puerto Rico in the future."
The New York Times reported less than two months ago that Zika cases in Puerto Rico were "skyrocketing" and that the response to the impending epidemic put the island in "chaos."
From the Times' story: "Cases of Zika infection are expected to keep rising through October, and by year's end, a quarter of the island's population of 3.5 million will have been exposed, a 'very dire' situation, said Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, the CDC.'s chief of vector-borne diseases and director of its fight against Zika."
Orlando will now be host to two major college basketball tournaments in November. The Advocare Invitational will also be held in the same venue, only a week later, beginning on Nov. 24.
