Weekend sporting events in jeopardy as nationwide ground stop throws air travel into chaos

A nationwide crushed halt has disrupted aerial question for millions of Americans, including athletes crossed large nonrecreational sports leagues and assemblage teams scheduled to vie this weekend.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the crushed halt owed to "extraordinary circumstances," throwing a curveball astatine the sports satellite arsenic teams scrambled to navigate question disruptions up of their games.

GROUND STOP ORDERED BY FAA AT ALL AIRPORTS IN AMERICA DUE TO A 'COMMUNICATION ISSUE'

The disruptions travel up of a engaged play of NBA, NHL and NFL action, on with a packed assemblage shot slate featuring top-ranked teams hitting the roadworthy to look their opponents.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) said it is assessing question disruptions from the nationwide FAA crushed halt and could set this weekend’s contention schedules if necessary.

"We volition proceed to show developments and enactment with our institutions to find whether immoderate adjustments to scheduled competitions go necessary," the SEC said successful a statement.

The league said it is coordinating with subordinate schools and prioritizing the information of student-athletes, coaches and squad personnel.

Mississippi State Bulldogs squad autobus arrives anterior to a assemblage shot crippled betwixt the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the University of Arizona Wildcats connected September 10, 2022 astatine Arizona Stadium successful Tucson, AZ.

(Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Saturday’s highly anticipated SEC slate features No. 6 Texas visiting No. 21 LSU, No. 8 Tennessee traveling to Texas A&M and No. 19 Ole Miss visiting Oklahoma.

Some teams person turned to buses for shorter trips, including Purdue, which switched to a astir five-hour thrust to Iowa City aft the crushed halt disrupted its formation plans.

Big 4 play impact

The nationwide crushed halt disrupted squad question up of a engaged nonrecreational sports weekend, with 5 NBA games and 14 NHL games scheduled for Saturday.

The NBA’s Saturday slate features tip-offs from 7 to 8 p.m. ET. The Brooklyn Nets were grounded successful New Orleans up of their travel to Memphis, portion the Cavaliers, Bulls and Grizzlies planned to alert aft Friday night’s games, the Associated Press reported. 

With 14 NHL games connected Saturday’s docket and puck drops ranging from 1 to 10 p.m. ET, the San Jose Sharks were waiting to depart for Utah, portion the Florida Panthers reached St. Louis earlier the crushed stop, AP reported.

A JetBlue Airbus A320 level with the NBA Boston Celtics livery, astatine Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) connected August 29, 2026 successful Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

(Al Drago/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The NFL has 12 games scheduled for Sunday, opening astatine 9:30 a.m. ET successful Munich, followed by Monday night’s crippled astatine 8:15 p.m. ET. 

Prolonged formation disruptions could complicate question for visiting teams, which league guidelines necessitate to get successful the big metropolis astatine slightest 18 hours earlier kickoff erstwhile traveling by air. 

The NFL’s exigency rules springiness the commissioner authorization to reschedule games if an exigency prevents them from starting.