Here’s The Latest on When Professional Sports Could Start

Earlier this week, the National Hockey League announced a plan to complete their season, while other major sports leagues are still scrambling to find a way to bring games to fans.

According to the announcement on the NHL website, it will be late this summer when 24 hockey teams will compete in "Seeding Round Robins, a Qualifying Round and Conference-based Stanley Cup Playoffs." This tournament will take place in two "hub" cities, neither of which has been announced as of today (5/29). Possible cities that the NHL is considering to host these playoffs include Minneapolis, Toronto, and Las Vegas.

The National Basketball Association hasn't announced a plan to resume their season, but many players have been working out in NBA facilities for over two weeks. Many teams opened their gyms and practices facilities back up for voluntary workouts on March 13, according to an NBA press release. There have been discussions between the NBA and Disney, with a possible scenario that would have NBA games played in Orlando at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in late July, according to the NBA press release.

Major League Baseball doesn't seem to be anywhere close to resuming their 2020 season. Earlier this month, MLB team owners approved a plan to begin playing around July 4th weekend. The owners proposed plan would have MLB players returning at a reduced salary, but the Major League Baseball Players Association "won't yield on a prorated salary," according to a report from CBS Sports. The MLBPA intends to propose playing a longer season than the owners had in their plan, according to the CBS Sports story.

The National Football League is hopeful their upcoming 2020-2021 season will begin on-time, with an opening night of the regular season planned for Thursday, September 10, when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Houston Texans. Some NFL teams in Ohio have already opened their team facilities, with the Cleveland Browns announcing June 1 as their reopening for some employees.

PBR returns to Vegas next month with a new "bull riding team competition" that will end with a ticketed event in Sioux Falls this July.

The first four weekends of the team challenge in Las Vegas will be closed-to-the-public on June 5-28 using the safety protocols PBR debuted during three previous event weekends in April and May, including a scaled-down crew, medical testing, functional separation and social distancing. Championship weekend in South Dakota will be held in front of fans July 10-12. -PBR