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The Athletic provided live coverage as a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop disrupted travel for numerous sports teams heading to weekend games. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced Friday afternoon that the FAA issued the ground stop for all U.S. airports due to a communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
Official Response and Air Traffic Crisis
According to updates shared on social media by Duffy around 4:15 p.m. ET, FAA technicians immediately began investigating the technical failure. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stated on CNN that he viewed the situation as a crisis that would require time to resolve. Mullin added that passenger flights were accounted for and the public faced no safety risks.
College Football Disruptions
While several prominent college football programs arrived at their destinations ahead of the stoppage, numerous teams were affected late Friday afternoon, based on program sources and public school updates. Programs facing travel hurdles included No. 2 Utah, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 19 Ole Miss, Arizona State, Baylor, Auburn, Tulane, Kansas State, Purdue, Washington, Minnesota, and Oregon State. Washington failed to depart for its game against Michigan State and returned to campus with no immediate plans to reschedule travel. Conversely, several other schools successfully took off before the shutdown, including Florida, Nebraska, USC, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Missouri, and South Carolina. Meanwhile, Alabama, Auburn, Purdue, and North Texas pivoted to buses to reach their respective matchups.
Regarding game officials, a Power 4 conference official noted that programs were still verifying whether referees could reach their assignments. A Big Ten spokesperson confirmed that all league officials were on site for Saturday games, except for the Washington-Michigan State and Minnesota-Penn State contests, while a Pac-12 official reported being in good standing, as reported by Grace Raynor.
NBA and NHL Team Status
Five NBA teams were scheduled to fly Friday afternoon or evening for Saturday fixtures. The Brooklyn Nets remained seated on their chartered plane on the New Orleans runway when the ground stop took effect just minutes before departure. The Detroit Pistons successfully landed in Miami shortly before 5 p.m., while the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, and Memphis Grizzlies had evening flights scheduled after their Friday night games. An NBA spokesperson stated the league would withhold further comment on potential cancellations until receiving more information. League rules require teams to travel at least one day prior to a game unless playing the previous night, and commercially-flying referees faced similar uncertainty.
In the NHL, which features 14 Saturday games, no teams were reported stranded or delayed as of 5 p.m. ET on Friday. Numerous franchises, including the Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, and Calgary Flames, reached their destination cities prior to the shutdown. The travel status for the San Jose Sharks traveling to Utah remained unknown, while international and cross-border travelers like the Seattle Kraken, Carolina Hurricanes, and Edmonton Oilers navigated their itineraries successfully.
College Basketball and Soccer Updates
In women’s college basketball, a major early-season matchup between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 3 Southern California faced potential complications. USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told The Athletic that the Trojans failed to depart Los Angeles on Friday ahead of their Sunday afternoon semi-neutral-site game in Greenville, South Carolina, disrupting plans to practice on Saturday morning. In soccer, the United States men’s national team successfully departed before the ground stop and reached Miami ahead of a Saturday Concacaf Nations League match against Haiti, as reported by Tom Bogert.
