American sports, Basketball, Ice hockey

When is NBA coming back? Will NHL resume its season? Latest news from US sports [UPDATE]

American sports are on their way back! The NBA will resume its season on July 30  at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, with players kept in a bubble. The NHL returns to play on August 1 with Toronto and Edmonton serving as hub cities. Stay updated with STATSCORE‘s latest news!

Latest news from US sports!

UPDATE 24/07/2020, 11:05 AM CET

  • NFL training camp has started. The league informed all 32 teams about the reporting dates – rookies reported to camp on July 21, quarterbacks and injured players on July 23, and all other players must report until July 28. Each of the teams is going to play two preseason games. Week 1 of the preseason was scheduled to August 20-24, and Week 2 will be held on August 27-31. The NFL and NFLPA are continuing to work on COVID-19 safety protocols as players still express their concerns about safety.
  • NBA began its ‘pre-season’ scrimmages. All the games are played behind closed doors, in a bubble at the Walt Disney World in Florida.  Throughout the season all the players will undergo regular PCR testing and daily temperature checks. The league had been suspended since March 11 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The season will officially restart on July 30.
  • NHL released detailed information about how the return to play will look like. “This is going to be an unusual, to say the least, endeavour,” said the NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman. “It will be challenging at times, but I assure you we, in conjunction with the Players’ Association, who we work with every step of the way, are trying to do everything possible to make this an experience that hopefully you’ll never forget, but in a good way.” There will be 12 exhibition games (six in each city) and play will officially resume with the Stanley Cup Qualifiers on August 1, when there will be 3 games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and two at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The NHL will be testing players for COVID-10 every day.

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When is NBA coming back?

The 2019-20 NBA season was suspended on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic. After more than 100 days of hiatus, the league is finally making a comeback. So… what’s the plan?

On June 4, the NBA’s Board of Governors approved a format for the resumption of the season, which will consist in a 22-team competition. It was confirmed that the season will start on July 30, and the Finals will end no later than on October 13.

Which NBA teams will be participating?

The NBA’s authorities decided that a total of 22  of the league’s 30 teams will be taking part in the competition: nine from the Eastern Conference (Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards) and thirteen from the Western Conference (LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns.

What will the modified NBA format look like?

Before the season restarts, all the 22 teams will compete in three inter-squad scrimmages between July 22 and 28.

The actual competition will resume on July 30.  Each of the returning teams will play eight seeding games, selected from a team’s remaining regular-season schedule.

The competition will then (from August 17) move into a 16-team playoff which will be held in a standard conference-based format.

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Will the NHL resume its season?

NHL owners and players reached an agreement to restart the 2019-2020 season of the league, which had to be halted due to the global pandemic.

The games will be held in a bubble in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta. The competition is scheduled to begin on August 1.

Which NHL teams will take part in the resumed season?

The league’s authorities decided to abandon the remaining part of the regular season and move directly into the playoffs. 24 teams will take part 12 per conference.

Eastern Conference, Seeding Round Robin: Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers.

Eastern Conference, Qualifying Round: Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens.

Western Conference, Seeding Round Robin: St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars.

Western Conference, Qualifying Round: Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks.

What will the NHL modified format look like?

The eight lower-seeded teams from each conference are set to compete in the Qualifying Round, a best-of-five series with playoff overtime rules. The winners of the Qualifying Round will advance to play against top-seeded teams in the First Round.

The top four teams from each conference will meet in a separate Seeding Round Robin to determine the seeding in the First Round.

The playoff will end no later than October 4, 2020, with the Stanley Cup Finals.

The games will be hosted by Edmonton (Western Conference early-round games, conference finals, Stanley Cup finals), and Toronto (Eastern Conference early-round games).

What will the MLB season look like?

The 2020 MLB regular season was shortened to 60 games because of the global coronavirus pandemic. The 162-game regular season was originally set to begin on March 26, but on March 12 the league announced that the remainder of spring training games were cancelled and that the season would be delayed.

The regular season will be played from July 23 to October 28, 2020. Each team will play only nine rivals over the course of the regular season, including 10 games against each of their four division opponents. The remaining 20 games of the will be interleague contests.

The season will open on July 23, with 2 games: New York Yankees at Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers.

The traditional postseason competition is scheduled to start on September 29. The World Series will end no later than on October 28.

Get ready and read more about baseball!