Indeed, it is. We didn't shut down college sports during the epidemics of swine flu (2009), SARS (2003), Hong Kong flu (1968-1969), or Asian flu (1957-1958). The 1918 Spanish flu epidemic caused the delay of the start of the season until November--at least in California--but the season wasn't cancelled.
2009 Swine Flu Deaths in the US - 3,433
2003 SARS deaths in the US - 0
1968-1969 Hing Kong Flu Deaths in the US - ~100,000
1957-1958 Asian Flu deaths in the US - ~116,000
COVID-19 Deaths in the US - 165,083
That’s the number as of August 8. We’re still racking them up at a 1,000 a day average, so the final number will be (much) higher. And that’s with significantly better health care than we had in the 50s and 60s.
Make your own judgement, but I believe the numbers show that this outbreak is significantly more dangerous than the previous ones you cited.