No fans will be in the stands for Badgers basketball, hockey home games

Wisconsin says it won’t have any fans for basketball or hockey home games for what the school describes as “an indefinite period of time.”

The policy covers men’s and women’s basketball as well as men’s and women’s hockey.

Wisconsin already had announced it wouldn’t sell season tickets for basketball or hockey. Season ticket holders already have been refunded or are in the process of being refunded.

Wisconsin opens its men’s hockey season at Notre Dame this weekend before hosting Michigan on Nov. 19-20. Wisconsin starts its women’s hockey season Nov. 27-28 at Ohio State and has its home opener Dec. 11-12 against Minnesota-Duluth.

The men’s and women’s basketball schedules haven’t been released yet.

Wisconsin already is playing home football games without fans. A COVID-19 outbreak within the football program caused the school to cancel scheduled games with Nebraska and Purdue the last two weekends, but the 13th-ranked Badgers expect to return to action Saturday at Michigan.