Global I.T. outage spills over into sports as athletes in the WNBA, NHL and more miss events on Friday – MASHAHER

As a huge computer outage on Friday affects airports, hospitals and banks worldwide, the effects have begun to spill over into sports.

With a busy weekend of sports ahead, some athletes in the WNBA, NHL, NASCAR and more are having to miss events on Friday as a result of delayed and canceled flights.

On Friday morning, Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler found herself stranded ahead of WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. In a since-deleted post on X, Wheeler, who is supposed to compete in the All-Star Skills Challenge on Friday night, said that her flight had been canceled and that she would likely not make it to Phoenix in time for the event.

Wheeler’s flight was supposed to take place on Delta Airlines, which is one of several airlines that were heavily affected by the outage. While it is unclear why Wheeler deleted the post, it is also unclear at this time whether she will arrive in Phoenix on time — and if not, who her replacement would be.

Florida Panthers winger Kyle Okposo also found his plans disrupted by travel issues. The Saint Paul-born hockey player and recent NHL Champion was set to have his day with the Stanley Cup on Friday, with an event outside of Minneapolis. The Cup, after starting out in Ft. Lauderdale, has traveled around the country for different Panthers to celebrate in their hometowns.

Unfortunately, ahead of Okposo’s event, the Cup is stuck in St. Louis as a result of the outage, causing the event to be canceled. Okposo told The Athletic’s Michael Russo that he was “crushed” to have to call off the event. Per Russo, the Panthers are still trying to get the Cup to Minnesota somehow in order to give Okposo at least some of his time with the trophy.

The outage has also had some effect on other sports, including NASCAR. Ahead of a race in the Xfinity Series this weekend, Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported that Ryan Sieg, who drives #39 for Ford, will miss practice on Friday due to travel issues. As a result, Sieg will be replaced, likely by Noah Gragson, ahead of qualifying on Saturday.

As the outage has dragged throughout most of Friday without a clear end in sight, it’s possible that issues will continue to affect travel — and, as a result, the sports world as well.