The FAA grounded all flights nationwide for several hours on Friday, leaving NBA, NHL and college football teams scrambling to reach their destinations in time for weekend games.
Officials cited extraordinary circumstances tied to communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. Teams searched for hotel rooms, chartered buses and moved flights, while leagues shifted some start times.
It's part of it. You just adapt.
Utah, Texas and Tennessee were among the college programs caught at a standstill, and several NBA and NHL teams waited on word about their travel.
FAA Ground Stop Throws Weekend Sports Travel Into Chaos
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights across the country for several hours on Friday, and the sports world was thrown into chaos as NBA, NHL and college teams raced to reach this weekend's games on time.
The ground stop forced teams to look for hotel rooms, rebook flights and wait for word on schedules, while leagues adjusted start times to give travelers some breathing room before their games.
Officials pointed to extraordinary circumstances tied to communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. The stoppage lasted over four hours, leaving some teams hunting for hotels and rebooking flights.
Some programs skipped the wait altogether and chartered buses. Auburn rode to Mississippi State, with the SEC moving its start from noon to 4:15 p.m. EST, and Purdue boarded buses in West Lafayette for its game at Iowa.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said general aviation and larger movements would get priority once flights resumed. He asked football teams, many on charters, to contact the FAA to schedule flights so games go on.
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Top College Football Teams Stuck Before Big Road Games
Most college football teams travel the day before a Saturday game, so the stoppage caught many schools just as they were leaving. That included No. 2 Utah, No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Tennessee, all headed to road games.
The Utes play at No. 22 Arizona, the Longhorns visit No. 24 LSU and the Volunteers are due at Texas A&M, three of the bigger matchups on the weekend schedule.
Texas and Tennessee both returned to their campuses while the ground stop lasted. Once it was lifted, after more than four hours of uncertainty, they began planning to fly out as soon as possible to arrive before game day.
The Southeastern Conference said it was aware of the stoppage and was in close contact with its member schools to assess possible disruptions. The safety and well-being of student-athletes, coaches and staff remain its highest priority, it said.
Leagues Move Start Times and Teams Take the Bus
Other schools affected included Baylor, Washington, Kansas State, Minnesota and No. 19 Ole Miss, which said it did not plan to fly to Oklahoma for its game against the Sooners until Saturday morning.
The Big 12 moved Kansas-West Virginia from 5:30 p.m. EST to 3:30 p.m., since the Jayhawks arrived in plenty of time. That let the league push Arizona State-UCF from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., giving the Sun Devils three more hours after their flight to Florida was delayed.
Washington returned to campus when its flight was grounded, but spokesman Kurt Svoboda said officials stayed in touch with Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines and the flight crew remained in place. The Huskies flew out late Friday for their game at Michigan State.
Several teams got away before the stoppage began, including every Atlantic Coast Conference team, Missouri on its way to top-ranked Georgia, Duke at fifth-ranked Miami, and No. 10 Texas Tech, which posted photos of its arrival at Oklahoma State.
Friday Night Games, Referees and the NFL
Some games were being played Friday night. Florida State was at Pittsburgh, Illinois visited fourth-ranked UCLA and No. 14 Houston was at Colorado, and those teams hoped their charter flights home would not be hurt by the disruption.
It was unclear whether any referees, who normally fly in the day before games, would have trouble getting to their assignments. The Big Ten said all of its officials had arrived for their Saturday games.
NFL teams that play Sunday usually travel the day before, and they were expected to fly as planned on Saturday.
NBA, NHL and Soccer Teams Left Waiting
In the NBA, the Nets were one of five teams due to fly Friday for Saturday games. They had just boarded their plane in New Orleans, after playing the Pelicans earlier in the week, when the flight to Memphis was halted in place.
The Pistons flew earlier in the day to Miami, while the Cavaliers, Bulls and Grizzlies played Friday night and were due to fly afterward. Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said about 90 minutes before tip-off that the team was scrambling for hotel rooms, just in case. "It's part of it. You just adapt," he said.
The NHL has 14 games on Saturday. The Panthers were among the majority who reached their destinations before the stoppage, but the Sharks were left waiting in San Jose to learn whether they could get to Utah.
Third-ranked USC, with JuJu Watkins, was trying to get to South Carolina for a Sunday game against the top-ranked Gamecocks. The team had just boarded at Los Angeles International Airport when the ground stop hit, then got off and returned to the Galen Center.
In soccer, the Utah Royals were already in the Washington, D.C., area for their NWSL semifinal against the Spirit. The Kansas City Current were due to leave Friday for Sunday's semifinal against Gotham FC in New York, and officials did not know when they could depart. The U.S. men's match against Haiti in Miami was not affected.
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Emily Parker
Sports Reporter
Emily Parker is an expert sports journalist, covering major leagues like the NFL, NBA, and the Olympics. She focuses on athlete stories, sports culture, and global sports events, bringing a unique perspective to the world of sports reporting.
