The Rutgers football stadium will remain empty this autumn, after the Big Ten Athletic Conference announced it will postpone its 2020 football season – and all fall sports – amid uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“This decision was made in the interest of the health and safety of our student-athletes and the broader community. The pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for our society and this outcome was always a possibility,” Rutgers University Athletic Director Pat Hobbs said in a university-wide email Tuesday evening. “Unfortunately, today it has become a reality.”

Tuesday’s decision could send shockwaves through some of the largest football universities. The Big Ten is among the Power Five conferences, which include the nation’s most significant college football teams, and is the first of those leagues to announce a delay in the season.

The Mid-American and Mountain West athletic conferences cancelled their fall seasons, as has the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts.

“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a Tuesday statement. “As time progressed … it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”

The announcement encompasses men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, along with championship games and conference tournaments.

“Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students, faculty and staff,” said Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro, who chairs the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:51 a.m. EST on Aug. 12, 2020, to include comments from a university-wide email from Rutgers University Athletic Director Pat Hobbs.