Many places banned sports altogether.
Nobody was allowed to play sports.
Golf courses and tennis courts were closed.
In many cases, people were not allowed to use exercise equipment in fitness centers.
In many cases, playgrounds were closed.
Teams were not allowed to travel to other places for games.
Competition venues were closed by governments.
Governments required virtual competitions, but this does not work for most sports.
Even when teams were allowed to travel, airlines would not take them.
Often governments required interrupting play to sanitize equipment so much that play was impossible.
In many cases, no spectators are allowed at what games are allowed to be played.
In many cases, spectators must wear masks even when not near other spectators.
Some places allowed only the families of players to attend games, keeping them separated from each other.
When a game is televised, cardboard fake spectators are often put in the seats.
Some places prohibited televising the games to keep bars from spreading the virus.
Often teams are required to forfeit games if team members were exposed to or contracted COVID-19
Teams that are not required to forfeit must often play without star players.
Games were sometimes postponed and other times cancelled with no logic as to which happened.
Since some teams played more games than other teams, team standings and statistics are strange.
What was allowed and what was forbidden changes as local and state officials changed the rules to match government guidelines.
Different teams may have been subject to different regulations and at different times.
Tree tournaments have always been unfair, and this remains true in this case.
Because team standings and statistics are strange, assigning places in the tournament is even more chancy than usual.
If COVID cases and exposures cause teams to forfeit or play without star players, the game winners can be unexpected.
Exposed teams were replaced with other teams at the beginning of the NCAA tournament.
Teams exposed during the NCAA Tournament were eliminated, with the other team advancing.
Even for fair round-robin tournaments, the winners can be affected by forfeits, missing players, and cancelled games.
The timing of the scheduled games is more important to the organizers than fairness. They won't wait for a team to become eligible to play again.
The entire year's outcome must have an asterisk beside it. *What a mess.
The combination of tree tournaments, strange standings, forfeits, missing players, and skipped games make betting a mess.
This affects high school, college, private league, and professional sports.
A wager can't be cancelled by the actions of governments and officials changing game outcomes.
Anyone would be a fool to make a sports bet this year.
The big winners would be insiders who knew what regulations were coming.
The combination of tree tournaments, strange standings, forfeits, missing players, and skipped games spoil the final outcomes.
The facts that different regulations and virus exposures affected various teams at random times further roil validity of the outcomes.
Nobody can truly claim a tournament victory this year because of the restrictions.
Flipping a coin could predict the outcomes of this year's seasons as well as normal betting analysis.
The fanfare for opening a COVID tournament is illustrated at right.