State of the Sporting World- Wednesday, August 19^th, 2020

 

The UFC will switch apparel providers from Reebok to Venum starting in April, although Reebok will remain the UFC’s footwear provider through the end of next year.

Looking ahead to the Tokyo Olympics next summer, the round-robin groups have been assigned in men’s and women’s field hockey and men’s and women’s indoor volleyball; while the six-team softball field is complete.

In the UFC, Chan Sung Jung can move a step closer to a title fight- he’s won two straight over Renato Moicano and Frankie Edgar and will most likely take on Brian Ortega on October 17^th.

WNBA action yesterday saw the Seattle Storm defeat the New York Liberty- they have now won nine straight and improve to 11-1.

In the NHL Playoffs, the Las Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to punch their ticket for round two of the bracket- they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games and move into the Western Conference Semifinals.

Later today will be the second semifinal of the UEFA Champions League between Bayern Munich and Lyon, with the winner meeting Paris Saint-Germain in the final. It’s worth noting that Bayern won their twentieth DFB Pokal title earlier this year and have already qualified for the 2020-21 Champions League.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs in PGA Tour Golf will start tomorrow and continue through Monday, September 7^th.

Also tomorrow at 8:30 pm Eastern on ESPN will be the NBA Draft Lottery. The actual draft is expected to be virtual.

The Olympic men’s and women’s team handball fields will be completely filled after the World Qualifier Tournaments in March, which will award the final six spots on each side.

Looking forward to next season, UEFA Champions League qualifier games from yesterday saw Celtic, Dinamo Brest, FK Qarabag, Legia Warsaw and Red Star Belgrade qualify for the next round.