When Will Sports Return? The Latest News…

Tuesday, June 23: After some contentious negotiations and plenty of posturing from both MLB owners and the players union, the two sides officially agreed to a deal that calls for a 60-game regular season schedule that will begin on the weekend of July 24-26 and end by Sept. 27.

The players had been pushing for expanded playoff, but this deal calls for the normal 10 playoff teams. The owners, meanwhile, agreed to pay the players full pro-rated salaries; they had pushed hard to dock players’ pay even more due to the expectations that fans won’t attend any games this season.

While a much shorter season will certainly introduce some more variance into the regular season than we’ve seen in the past, the Dodgers (+375), Yankees (+400) and Astros (+650) are still the clear favorites to win the World Series at DraftKings.

[Stay tuned to our MLB hub for more coverage on this breaking news]

Wednesday, June 17: The Champions League will officially return on Aug. 12 and hold an eight-team knockout tournament that will run through Aug. 23. The event will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, and feature the following schedule:

Aug 12-15: Quarterfinals

Quarterfinals Aug 18-19: Semifinals

Semifinals Aug. 23: Finals

Wednesday, June 17: The ATP and WTA both announced their plans to return on Wednesday. The WTA will lead the way with a tournament in Italy on Aug. 3, while the ATP plans to hold off on resuming play until Aug. 14 in Washington D.C. That will give the ATP two events — the one in D.C. and an ATP 1000 event moving from Cincinnati to New York — before the start of the U.S. Open on Aug. 31.

As part of the announcement, the French Open also rescheduled its event for the second time, pushing it back from Sept. 20 to Sept. 27.

Monday, June 15: The WNBA announced it will start its season in “late July” at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The plan is to play a 22-game regular season schedule, along with the usual postseason, inside a “bubble environment” at the IMG Academy. The league had been slated to start its season on May 15, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus.

Monday, June 15: According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, the 2020 PGA Championship will remain at Harding Park in the Bay Area when it takes place at its rescheduled time (Aug. 6-9). There will be no fans in attendance at the event.

The PGA Championship will be first golf major played in this year’s reshuffled golf calendar. The U.S. Open is slated for Sept. 17-20, while the Masters was reschedule for Nov. 12-15.

Monday, June 15: The European Tour had previously said it would be returning to play on July 22, but on Monday, it moved up the date two weeks (July 9), announcing an event in Austria.

Estimated Return Dates for the NBA, MLB, NHL, Tennis, Soccer & More

Current as of June 23 at 5 p.m. ET. Any dates below are estimates on when each sport could return, based on statements from each league and/or news reports. We’ll run through them one by one below in chronological order.

League Return Date Status Formula 1 July 5 Date Set MLS July 8 Date Set European Tour July 9 Rescheduled Date LPGA July 23 Rescheduled Date MLB Opening Day July 24 Rescheduled Date NBA July 30 Date Set WNBA Late July Estimate WTA Aug. 3 Date Set PGA Championship Aug. 6-9 Rescheduled Date Champions League Aug. 12-23 Rescheduled Date FedEx Cup Playoffs Aug. 13-Sept. 7 Rescheduled Date ATP Aug. 14 Date Set Indy 500 Aug. 23 Rescheduled Date CFB Week 0 Aug. 29 No Date Change Yet Tour de France Aug. 29-Sept. 20 Rescheduled Date U.S. Open (tennis) Aug. 31-Sept. 13 No Date Change Yet CFB Week 1 Sept. 5 No Date Change Yet Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 Rescheduled Date NFL Opening Game Sept. 10 No Date Change Yet NFL Opening Sunday Sept. 13 No Date Change Yet U.S. Open (golf) Sept. 17-20 No Date Change Yet French Open Sept. 27-Oct. 11 Rescheduled Date Ryder Cup Sept. 25-27 No Date Change Yet Preakness Stakes Oct. 3 Rescheduled Date Wilder-Fury III Early October Estimate Breeders’ Cup Nov. 6-7 No Date Change Yet Masters Nov. 12-15 Rescheduled Date NHL TBD Postponed CFL TBD Postponed Tokyo Olympics N/A Canceled British Open N/A Canceled Wimbledon N/A Canceled Euro 2020 N/A Canceled Copa America N/A Canceled XFL N/A Canceled

Formula 1 Start Date

After having to postpone the start of its season, Formula 1 will get underway on June 5 in Austria. The circuit is planning to have about a race every week from June through Sept. 6, spanning Austria, Hungary, Great Britain, Spain, Belgium and Italy.

MLS Return Date

The MLS officially announced its plans for a tournament, starting on July 8, to restart its season. The event, which the league is calling the “MLS Is Back Tournament,” will run from July 8 to Aug. 11 and take place at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando. All 26 MLS teams will be involved.

The tournament will be set up in a similar way to the World Cup, meaning there will be a group stage, before whittling down the field to a Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championship.

The 26 teams were placed into six different groups via a random drawing that took place on June 11. Teams will begin arriving in Orlando on June 24, with games beginning two weeks later.

The 39 group stage games will count toward the regular season standings. The league said it plans to resume the regular season in its teams’ home markets after the tournament is completed, but no further details were provided.

European Tour Return Date

The European Tour had previously said it would be returning to play on July 22, but on Monday, it moved up the date two weeks (July 9), announcing an event in Austria.

LPGA Return Date

The LPGA will return on July 23 at the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

NBA Return Date

The NBA is bumping up its return date by one day, moving it to July 30, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Shams also reported the following details on dates for the NBA’s return to play:

July 30-Aug. 14: Seeding games

Seeding games Aug. 15-16: Play-in game(s)

Play-in game(s) Aug. 17: Playoffs begin

Playoffs begin Aug. 30: Family/guests of teams arrive

Family/guests of teams arrive Aug. 31-Sept. 13: Conf. Semifinals

Conf. Semifinals Sept. 15-Sept. 28: Conf. Finals

Conf. Finals Sept. 30-Oct. 13: NBA Finals

This news coincided with reports that players, most notably the Nets’ Kyrie Irving, are “raising concerns over the NBA’s bubble plan,” according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. BR’s Taylor Rooks first reported the following:

“I’ve spoken to multiple players, about 5 days ago there was a zoom call of about 50 players discussing what they can do to take a stand. They are planning another call tonight with about 150 players to solidify what that stand is and stress this only works if they unify.”

The league has given no indication that it’s wavering from the plan it laid out on June 4, which involves 22 of the league’s 30 teams playing inside a bubble environment in Orlando. The 22 teams will be the 16 currently in the playoffs plus the Pelicans, Blazers, Suns, Kings, Spurs and Wizards.

WNBA Start Date

The WNBA announced it will start its season in “late July” at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The plan is to play a 22-game regular season schedule, along with the usual postseason, inside a “bubble environment” at the IMG Academy. The league had been slated to start its season on May 15, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus.

WTA Return Date

The WTA will return with a tournament in Italy on Aug. 3. The week following that is still up in the air, but the plan is for the WTA to head to New York area for a warm-up event around Aug. 21 before playing the U.S. Open starting on Aug. 31 in Flushing Meadows outside of NYC.

PGA Championship Date

According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, the 2020 PGA Championship will remain at Harding Park in the Bay Area when it takes place at its rescheduled time (Aug. 6-9). There will be no fans in attendance at the event.

The PGA Championship will be first golf major played in this year’s reshuffled golf calendar. The U.S. Open is slated for Sept. 17-20, while the Masters was reschedule for Nov. 12-15.

Champions League Return Date

The Champions League will officially return on Aug. 12 and hold an eight-team knockout tournament that will run through Aug. 23. The event will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, and feature the following schedule:

Aug 12-15: Quarterfinals

Quarterfinals Aug 18-19: Semifinals

Semifinals Aug. 23: Finals

ATP Return Date

The ATP will return on Aug. 14 in Washington D.C. That will give the ATP two events — the one in D.C. and an ATP 1000 event moving from Cincinnati to New York — before the start of the U.S. Open on Aug. 31.

Indy 500 Date

The Indy 500 has officially been moved from Memorial Day Weekend (May 24) to Sunday, Aug. 23.

College Football Start Date

ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who’s certainly plugged into all levels of football, reported on April 9 that there’s “strong conviction” among college football decision-makers that we’ll have a 2020 season. The start time is uncertain, but, Schefter reported, “they sound certain there still will be college football this season.”

Tour de France Date

The Tour de France, which had been postponed from its original June 27 start date, will now take place from Aug. 29-Sept. 20.

US Open (Tennis) Date

The USATA plans to go forward with playing the US Open tennis major in New York City starting on Aug. 31, according to reports from ESPN and Forbes. A formal announcement is expected to come “in the very near future,” per a USTA official.

Officials had reportedly explored a contingency plan of playing the event in November at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California if the coronavirus outbreak continued to be an issue in New York. But with cases and hospitalizations rapidly declining in NYC, the USTA appears that it will go forward with its usual date and location.

The Telegraph previously reportd that the USTA is “absolutely desperate to stage the event,” adding that it makes approximately $400 million in revenue for the association.

Kentucky Derby Date

The Kentucky Derby was originally slated for the first weekend in May, but it’s been rescheduled for Sept. 5, which is also currently expected to be the first full college football Saturday.

NFL Start Date

According to the Sports Business Journal, the NFL is actively working on back-up plans should the league be unable to start on Sept. 10.

The NFL is set to reveal its regular schedule in May, and as part of that exercise it’s building in the potential that it might not be able to start until mid-October. SBJ reports that if the season can’t start until then, the NFL would still play a 16-game schedule, but there would be no bye weeks, the Super Bowl would move from Feb. 7 to Feb. 28 and the bye week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl would be spiked.

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert had previously reported that multiple NFL execs plan to start the season on time. Per executive vice president/general counsel Jeff Pash said during a media briefing, “All of our focus, has been on a normal, traditional season, starting on time, playing in front of fans, in our regular stadiums, and going through a full 16-game regular season and a full set of playoffs.”

Preakness Date

The Preakness is rescheduled for Oct. 3. It will follow the Kentucky Derby and be the final leg of the Triple Crown. It had previously been slated for May 16.

Wilder-Fury III Date

The third heavyweight battle between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will have to wait. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told ESPN that the much-anticipated rematch, which was scheduled to take place on July 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will likely be rescheduled for “early October.”

Postponed Events/Leagues With No Date Provided

NHL Return Date

NHL teams will report to training camp on July 10. The league did not announce any other dates, saying, “The length of training camp and, therefore, the start date for formal resumption of play will be determined at a future date.”

Whenever the league does resume playing games, it will go straight to the playoffs, which will feature 24 teams, eight more than the usual 16. Each conference will be assigned a hub city for the playoffs. The bottom eight qualifying teams in each conference will play a best-of-5 series to get into the playoffs, and the top four seeds will play in a round robin to determine seeding.

MLB Opening Day Date

Last week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN that baseball would “100 percent” be played in 2020, but on Monday, June 15, Manfred backtracked, saying, “I’m not confident. I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue.”

Manfred’s comments come on the heels of the MLBPA rejecting the league’s latest proposal over the weekend. MLBPA lead negotiator Bruce Meyer said in a letter to MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem: “Given your continued insistence on hundreds of millions of dollars of additional pay reductions, we assume these negotiations are at an end.”

CFL Start Date

The Canadian Football League announced on April 7 that it would not start until at least July 1. The regular season was supposed to kickoff on June 11.

Canceled Seasons/Events

Summer Olympics Reschedule Date

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will no longer take place this summer. They might not even take place this year, as the International Olympic Committee and officials from Tokyo officially postponed the Games on Tuesday morning.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the IOC “100%” agreed to postponing the Games until the Summer of 2021, though a release from the IOC didn’t quite go that far, saying the latest the Games “must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than Summer 2021.”

British Open (Canceled)

The British Open has officially been canceled. The R&A reportedly has pandemic insurance, which meant the organization had to make a decision soon on whether to cancel if it wanted to collect on that insurance. Royal St. George, which was slated to host this year’s event, will now play host in 2021, The 2022 event, which will be the 150th playing of The Open, will take place at St. Andrews.

Wimbledon (Canceled)

The All England Lawn Tennis Club officially canceled 2020 Wimbledon on Wednesday, April 1, marking the first time since World War II that the event will not be held.

The AELTC had previously stated that it did not want to play the event without crowds, so it really had three options: 1) Play with crowds at the original date, June 29 to July 12; 2) Postpone to when crowds can be safely present; or 3) Cancel the event altogether. The AELTC chose Option 3.

The USTA — which runs the US Open (set to take place in New York from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 — released a statement on Wednesday saying it still plans to host the US Open “at this time.”

Euro 2020 Rescheduled Date

UEFA has postponed Euro 2020 until the summer of 2021.

Copa America Rescheduled Date

Much like Euro 2020, Copa America has been postponed a full year until the summer of 2021.

XFL (Canceled)

The XFL officially canceled its season on March 20. A few weeks later, the upstart football league fired all of its employees and said it has no plans to return in 2021, a quick reversal to their March 20 statement saying that it was “looking forward to playing full seasons for you — and with you — in 2021 and beyond.”

Monaco Grand Prix (Canceled)

Formula 1 canceled the Monaco Grand Prix, which is probably the biggest motorsports event in the world each year. The race was supposed to take place over Memorial Day Weekend. It will mark the first time since 1954 that the Monaco Grand Prix does not take place.