India has been given the official go-ahead to host the ICC T20 World Cup in 2021 by the International Cricket Council. Australia was originally scheduled to host the tournament in Australia in the second half of 2020, but the second wave of COVID-19 has forced the ICC to delay the tournament. A revised ICC international calendar will see Australia host another T20 World Cup 12 months later.
The changes to the international calendar have meant that the ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup, scheduled for New Zealand in 2021 has been pushed back to March 2022.
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney commented on the revised changes to the international calendar:
“We now have absolute clarity on the future of ICC events enabling all of our Members to focus on the rescheduling of lost international and domestic cricket. We will now proceed as planned with the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in India and host the 2022 edition in Australia.
American Football has taken many knocks in recent weeks. There was the NFL draft, which this year took place online rather than with all the pomp and ceremony we’ve come to expect. Then there was last week’s opt-out deadline which saw no fewer than 67 players pull out of the season for health-related concerns, including an incredible eight New England Patriots players.
This week, the very season of football stretching ahead of us seems under threat. With the rumoured cancellation of the CFB (college football) season, the knock-on impact could well affect the regular season in NFL, yet it looks like nothing can derail a runaway train when that train is full of money.
Pete Thamel commented on Twitter that, “Big Ten presidents are meeting today. All options are on the table. There’s some presidential momentum for canceling the fall football season. It’s unknown if there’s enough support to make that decision today.”
If that’s the case, then the knock-on effect should be that the NFL season is under threat. If it is, then no-one seems to be aware of it. With CFB possibly falling by the wayside, if anything, it might help scheduling towards the back-end of the season, with Saturdays having been used before in the Autumn of other seasons. That could well be a fixture again, but if so, then a new agreement will need to be brokered as current broadcasting rules mean that until December, no games can be shown on Fridays or Saturdays.
No question that the big losers of the NHL’s unique round-robin tournament to determine the top four seeds in each conference were the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues – the two teams that met in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, won by St. Louis in seven games for the first Cup in franchise history.
The Eastern Conference Bruins had the most regular-season points in the NHL this year with 100 and would have had home-ice advantage throughout a normal Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference Blues had the second-most points in the league and would have had home ice against every team in the NHL except for Boston. Both slipped to the fourth seed from the round-robin games. The Bruins are now +750 to win the Stanley Cup and the Blues +1100.
The Vegas Golden Knights earned the top seed in the Western Conference and the Colorado Avalanche the No. 2. They are the co-favorites to win the Cup at +550. The Golden Knights are in just their third season of existence and memorably reached the Stanley Cup Final as an expansion team, losing in five games to the Washington Capitals (+1100). The Avalanche have won two Cups, most recently in 2001.
Did the St. Louis Cardinals put their season at risk by visiting a casino? That’s what many in the baseball community are trying to figure out, and thanks to strict safety guidelines at a Milwaulkee area casino, it appears we have the answer.
The controversy started because Jerry Hairston Jr., put out speculation on Twitter that the Miami Marlins had gotten sick by going to the club, and the Cardinals had contracted Covid-19 by visiting a casino.
Never named names, which city or which casino. Even had question mark after casino in my tweet from what I heard from reliable sources. @JonHeyman confirmed. Cards said got it from outside. President said it could’ve been store or Bar. Hope everyone gets healthy/back on the field pic.twitter.com/jZOZQie14p
— Jerry Hairston, Jr. (@TheRealJHair) August 5, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Last night should have been a great night for football fans. It should have been the night that the first preseason games were held, with the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Hall of Fame Game. However, the game was canceled in June because of the coronavirus, and all preseason games were subsequently erased from the schedule, as well. With the regular season expected to get underway on September 10, there are still a lot of questions that have to be answered, and many are concerned that there may not be any fall football. Longtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has joined that crowd and made his thoughts known last night.
When asked by a reporter if the NFL season would be able to hold a complete season, Tomlin made it clear that he’s not convinced things will turn out the way the league and football fans hope. According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, he responded, “I don’t know if I am extremely confident. I respect the challenges these circumstance has presented to other leagues, some of which we are witnessing. I think we are all proceeding with caution and working extremely hard not to become part of that. We have some people in leadership positions — Dr. [Allen] Sills — and others, medical professionals, who have led the charge for us globally in the NFL, and we are working out tails off to adhere to it and hoping that is enough coupled with personal decision-making that needs to be exhibited continually by our guys throughout the course of this.”
The NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) reached an agreement that allowed players to opt-out of the season because of COVID-19 without facing any repercussions. They would also be able to collect a salary for the season, and 66 players responded to the call ahead of yesterday’s 4 PM deadline. Players can still walk away, even though the deadline has past, but they won’t be eligible for any money. The New England Patriots saw the biggest loss, recording eight players who had taken the option. The Steelers saw no player opt-out, as was the case with the Atlanta Falcons and the LA Chargers.
Some fans have complained that the players are being “selfish,” an assertion that is, obviously, extremely ludicrous and shallow. Catching COVID-19 can have long-term health implications and there’s not yet enough known about it to guarantee players will be able to remain safe and virus-free. Testing positive could ultimately ruin a player’s career permanently, not to mention the fact that it could spread to other members of his team or his family. There have already been players, such as Von Miller and Kareem Jackson, who have tested positive for COVID-19, and the ease with which the virus is passed is leading many to decide it simply isn’t worth it. Both Miller and Jackson, however, will be on the field this season if it moves forward.
Reigning U.S. Open men’s champion Rafael Nadal has confirmed his withdrawal from the Flushing Meadows event. Nadal cited the timing of the event being so close to the French Open and player safety as the motives for his withdrawal.
Nadal has joined World Number One Ash Barty and Nick Kyrgios as confirmed withdrawals from the U.S. Open in recent weeks. Nadal called on tennis authorities to give players more control over the timing of events in the revised calendar. “We know that the reduced tennis calendar is barbaric this year after 4 months stopped with no play,” Nadal said on Twitter.
After many thoughts I have decided not to play this year’s US Open. The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don’t have control of it.
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) August 4, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins finally caved against overwhelming pressure to change its name this past July, but has yet to offer an alternative. The brass at the franchise is busy with damage control over reports of widespread sexual harassment that has already led to at least five employees, either by force or by choice, announcing their departures. However, it plans on surviving the drama and is making preparations to start the upcoming NFL season along with the rest of the teams. While the team, now simply called the Washington Football Team, may not have a viable name, at least they’ll have pretty helmets.
The team posted a video on Twitter yesterday, unveiling the new helmets as it announced “exciting news.” The individual affixing numbers to the helmet, which will use the same color scheme the team has used for decades, can’t be seen, but he’s applying “20,” which is the number worn by safety Landon Collins. Notably absent from the helmet is any type of logo, moniker, drawing or even shadow, giving the helmet the appearance of being something one would see out of a low-budget rural community college. Previously, the helmets carried the Redskins logo, with the player’s number nowhere on the protective headgear.
Reactions to the changes have been mixed. Some haven’t been afraid to show their opinion of fashionable by supporting the changes, while others recognize that they leave something to be desired. One Twitter user, Dominic Lucente, pointed out, “Looks like a college football helmet but that seems appropriate. You have been playing like a college football team going on many years now.” In the past decade, the former Redskins only had winning seasons twice. Another tweeter aptly summed things up, responding to the team’s announcement by saying, “I don’t think you know what ‘exciting’ means.”
The regular NFL season is expected to get underway on September 10, providing the coronavirus doesn’t force the league to make any last-minute changes. It has already had to scrap the All-Star Game and the preseason games, but everything else seems to, at least for the time being, remain on schedule. If it does, this could be a great fall for sports fans everywhere.
The key to betting these NBA restart games is all about motivation, and that was never more clear than Tuesday. Both the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks had little to play for in their game with both essentially locked into their playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks, the team with the NBA’s best record, were 19-point favorites over a Nets team without its top eight players for one reason or another. Brooklyn pulled a 119-116 stunner, the biggest point spread upset in the NBA since Dallas was +19.5 in Seattle and upset the Sonics on April 6, 1993.
So, while Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets on Thursday night (9 p.m. ET) looks like a marquee matchup, the Lakers have absolutely no reason to care because they have wrapped up the top seed in the Western Conference.
The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the longest-running and most successful professional lacrosse league in the world, today announced that the 2020 Entry Draft will be held on September 17th at 7:00 ET. For the first time in league history, the Entry Draft will be done virtually.
Following the recent NFL, MLB, and WNBA Drafts, the NLL is just the fourth professional sports league to produce a fully live virtual draft. The NLL will transmit live feeds to B/R Live, NLL’s YouTube channel, and Facebook (@NLL). With real-time coverage expected from over 30 virtual contributors, the production will leverage a combination of technologies from vendors AviWest, VMix, TVU Anywhere, Zoom, and LTN. The production will also use the new Clearcom IP based intercom app called Agent IC to handle the complex communications required to execute a virtual live draft.
“As a league that always thinks digital-first, we are excited to be able to use state-of-the-art technology to hold the 2020 Draft online for all fans to watch and participate in,” said Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “As we continue to wade through the challenges, we are all facing today we would have liked to offer the newest rising stars a live experience. But we know that the entire event and team, player, and fan experience will be first-class.”
The NLL will be using Telescope Inc.’s interactive platform, CONNECT Live, to enable real-time on-air integration of Twitter fan comments and high capacity hashtag poll results powered by at-home users across the nation.
Commissioner Sakiewicz is scheduled to announce the first pick, which belongs to the New York Riptide. Returning from last year’s coverage that garnered hundreds of thousands of viewers, the broadcast team for the draft will include Devan Kaney (@DevanKaneyTV) as host, joined by Teddy Jenner (voice of Colorado Mammoth @OffTheCrosseBar), Stephen Stamp (NLL Draft Expert @StampLax), and Tabitha Turner, floor reporter for the Georgia Swarm (@TabTurnerTV1). Additional participants and contributors to the 2020 NLL Draft Selection Show will be announced at a later date. The 2020 Draft Selection Show will be produced by the NLL in association with Joel Kitay Productions, showrunners for the 2019 NLL Draft.
“We are all looking to the future and the start of the 35th season of the NLL and the Draft will be a great next step towards that point. The level of young talent coming into the league is unprecedented and The Draft will be the first time many of these athletes get a chance to be recognized on such a platform. It will be a great night for the players, the NLL, and our sport.” said Peter Schmitz, President, Professional Lacrosse Players’ Association (PLPA).
Draft Logistics
In terms of eligibility, all players 21 and older who have never participated in NCAA lacrosse are eligible to be selected in the Entry Draft. Additionally, all players who have either exhausted or forfeited their NCAA eligibility are draft-eligible. For the 2020 NLL Entry Draft, all NCAA players who have exhausted four seasons of eligibility and may return to play a fifth NCAA season are eligible to be selected.
Draft Order (as of August 5th, 2020)
New York
Rochester
Vancouver
San Diego
Calgary
Colorado
Philadelphia
Georgia
Buffalo
Toronto
Halifax
Saskatchewan
New England
First Round (as of August 5th, 2020)
New York
Rochester
Vancouver
San Diego
Calgary
Georgia (from Colorado)
Saskatchewan (from Philadelphia)
Georgia
Buffalo
Georgia or Buffalo (from Toronto)*
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Georgia (from New England)
Halifax
San Diego
Philadelphia
*Conditional pick – Georgia has until September 1, 2020, to opt to choose this pick (10th in 2020) or receive Toronto’s first round selection in the 2022 Entry Draft. After Georgia chooses, Buffalo will receive the remaining Toronto first round pick.
Dates for the start of the 35th NLL season will be announced in the Fall.
Click here for a video trailer of the PFL OTT platform
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) will bring the action closer to fans once again with the release of a brand-new OTT platform.
The premium content service – which will be free – was announced by the promotion on Tuesday, providing fight fans around the world with hundreds of hours of viewing from the first organization to present MMA through a regular season, playoff and championship format.
“With the launch of our first OTT platform, we’re excited to fulfill the growing global demand for our product by providing fight fans around the world with free access to premium PFL content wherever, whenever and however they want to consume it,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “Professional Fighters League is a media and content company. As we continue to grow, innovate and reimagine MMA, we have placed an emphasis on engaging fans all year long through impactful storytelling and unprecedented access to the sport, our fighters and the action inside the cage.
If the coronavirus has taught us anything, it’s that it’s never a good idea to become too comfortable or complacent in business. The global economic impact will be felt for years to come, but the fallout will also lead to some positive developments. Sports gambling legalization is gaining more support than ever before, even among some of the most anti-gambling organizations around. A number of major sports organizations had their hand in convincing U.S. lawmakers to pass the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), but are now having a change of heart. They are now actively embracing sports gambling as a means of recuperating losses from this year’s massive sports stoppage, and the NBA is the latest to get on board. It is launching NBABet Stream, a streaming service that will allow sports gamblers to gain access to data during live games that will help them make their selections.
NBABet Stream provides broadcast overlays that offer odds, point spreads, betting analysis and more. This is made possible, in part, due to a partnership with MGM Resorts, whose BetMGM sports gambling arm appears as NBABet’s presenting partner. The streaming option made its debut during the Oklahoma City Thunder game last night against the Denver Nuggets, and is available on NBA League Pass, NBA TV and NBA.com. It combines virtual reality to assist with the offering, as well as different camera angles and other options that would not normally be included if fans were allowed to attend games.
The idea is similar to, but larger than, one implemented by MLB recently. The baseball league brought in Statcast as the season saw its reboot, using augmented reality in all 30 ballparks across the U.S. to give fans at home access to any player on the field. It also shows live flight paths for hits, like what has already been launched in golf tournaments, and is designed to increase at-home fan engagement.
The NBA was a pioneer in embracing the sports gambling industry, signing an official partnership with sportsbook William Hill in October of last year. That deal gave the sportsbook access to the league’s official data for gambling purposes, and the NBA began promoting William Hill through its website, social media presence and apps. It has also established similar arrangements with Stars Group, Unibet, DraftKings and more. The NBA isn’t alone, and there have been other arrangements created between sportsbooks and the NFL and MLB, as well as between bookmakers and individual teams.
One thing’s for sure – no one will ever forget the 2020 MLB season. Just days before it should have kicked off this past March, it was forced to suspend the action because of COVID-19. That was only the beginning of what would turn into enough drama to fill a five-year soap opera, with just as many twists and surprise plot changes. Chances are, we’re not done yet, with everything from new coronavirus cases to wayward drones forcing the season to change course once again.
Since the season reboot began, MLB has had to deal with major coronavirus outbreaks in two teams that apparently thought they didn’t have to follow the rules. The Miami Marlins were the first after a number of players allegedly decided to go clubbing, leading to at least 19 players and staffers being diagnosed with COVID-19. Not to be outdone, players with the St. Louis Cardinals are said to have gone to a casino close to home, which led to a second outbreak. In both cases, games had to be postponed, throwing the already-confusing schedule into turmoil and leading to threats by league commissioner Rob Manfred to cancel the season (a bluff that would never materialize).
New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes traveled with his team to Atlanta to take on the Braves this past weekend when he suddenly went MIA. There was apparently no word, no phone call, no text message – he simply vanished from his hotel room with his personal belongings. It was later revealed, after the club began scrambling to cover the game, that he had made an impromptu decision to sit out the remainder of the season because of the coronavirus. However, that may have just been a cover for another reason. Cespedes had seen his playing time reduced and wasn’t going to be on the field much for the game against the Braves. He reportedly got fed up and decided to walk away, using the league’s coronavirus opt-out policy as an excuse. With it being so easy to abandon the season, other players could choose to follow suit and take a year off.
The plan for the MLB reboot was to have all teams top out with 30-man rosters, which would be reduced to 28 after two weeks, then to 26. Because of the continuing number of positive COVID-19 cases, the league has decided to drop only to 28 for the remainder of the season and postseason, fearful that too many players might end up riding the bench because of the virus. Taxi squads, reserve players who practice with the teams, will be increased from three to five.
The latest scandal to hit the NFL comes at the worst possible time. With over 50 players having taken the league up on the ‘Opt-Out’ option, preferring the $350,000 and their family’s guaranteed health over running the risk of catching COVID-19, new rules have come into place to coincide with the deadline for pre-season opt-outs being confirmed as this coming Thursday.
Just the other day, an incredible eighth New England Patriot was confirmed among the latest raft of opt-outs, with Matt LaCosse choosing to give the 2020 NFL season a miss. The NFL had to act and they have done, confirming exactly what will happen to anyone else who decides to opt out, and when.
With a busy page on the NFL’s official site now dedicated to what has been a largely chaotic start to training camps up and down the United States of America, the NFL announced that issues have been resolved and they’ve finally got a procedure in place, along with fines for players who opt out without good reason. With over 50 opt-outs already, this smacks a little of a nightclub putting together a new set of rules for bouncers at nine the next morning after the dancefloor was empty at midnight.
The deadline for pre-season opt-outs is Thursday August 6th at 4pm Eastern Time, with players informed of the cut-off on Monday night. This deadline coincides with the drug-testing window opening on Friday Aguust 7th, with
It’s difficult not to love that glorious SOB Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – is there anything that the man can’t do? If you were a fan of the HBO Ballers, then it’s a case of life imitating art. The Rock purchased the XFL from WWE boss Vince McMahon for only $15 million. The former wrestler turned movie star partnered with investment firm Redbird Capital Partners and ex-wife Danny Garcia to acquire the XFL in a bankruptcy auc’tion.
Johnson confirmed the acquisition on Twitter
“With my trailblazing partner Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital, we have acquired the XFL.” Johnson tweeted. “With gratitude and passion, I’ve built a career with my own two hands and will apply these callouses to our XFL brand. Excited to create something special for the fans.”
With my trail blazing partner @DanyGarciaCo & Red Bird Capital, we have acquired the XFL.
Excuse the puns, but the AFL is in a hub of trouble after drawing a strong backlash from media for firing one of their own journalists. Respected AFL writer Mitch Cleary published an Instagram post from Brooke Cotchin, that had earned the Richmond team a USD 32K fine for breaking COVID protocols.
“I don’t know Mitch Cleary, but I do not agree with him being stood down and I have voiced that to the AFL.”
Brooke Cotchin says sorry for breaking the AFL’s hub rules and backs the journo who was stood down for reporting her breach >>> https://t.co/YCUDZ5KZqB pic.twitter.com/LEGrtsGous
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 3, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The NBA reboot officially got underway last Thursday with two awesome buzzer-beating games. If that’s a prelude of how the NBA Bubble in Orlando will play out, this final run of the 2019-20 season is going to be spectacular. Now that sports fans have more choices than they’ve had in almost five months, sports gambling activity is picking up, as well. In addition to the NBA, both the NHL and MLB are live once again, and international sportsbook Bodog is seeing a lot of action. This past weekend, all three of those leagues led the way in wagers as the numbers continue to rise.
NBA was a slam dunk with 45.92% of the action. MLB, despite the threats of a season cancelation due to the reappearance of COVID-19, grabbed 28.24% of the bets, with the NHL picking up 7.97%. The presence of the major leagues forced other sports activity down the list, with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), golf and table tennis delivering to Bodog 4.11%, 3.96% and 2.97%, respectively. In a first since sports resumed, soccer only made one appearance, as Italy’s Serie A received 2.55% of the action. Rounding out the top-ten list, the WNBA squeaked in with just 1.92% of the wagers.
It’s not too surprising that NBA captured such a large percentage – it’s always a popular option for sports gambling fans. In terms of individual events, NBA games occupied nine of the top ten spots on Bodog, with PGA’s WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational breaking what would have otherwise been a complete domination of basketball. The game between the LA Lakers and the Toronto Raptors received 14.78% of the wagers on Bodog, with the Raptors handing the LA squad a surprising defeat, 107-92. The Lakers had been seen as the obvious choice for the win, which means anyone who took the Raptors at or about +120 made out well.
Right behind that game, with 11.3%, was the contest between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Houston Rockets. This game also had a surprise ending when the Rockets pulled ahead to advance with a 120-116 win. Going into the game as the sizeable underdogs, the Rockets shook up the court and showed that the team is definitely still in the running. That was one of two victories for the Rockets – both on the court and at the sportsbook, as the Friday game against the Dallas Mavericks saw the team pick up an overtime win, 153-149, and capture 10.94% of the wagers on Bodog.
In the 2018 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns took Arizona big man Deandre Ayton at No. 1 overall, which left the Sacramento Kings on the clock at No. 2. They could have taken European teenage superstar Luka Doncic, called by some scouts the best Euro prospect ever, but the Kings opted to take Duke forward Marvin Bagley III.
That would prove to be a huge mistake. Doncic went No. 3 to the Atlanta Hawks and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks (who picked Trae Young fifth and sent Young and a 2019 first-round pick to Atlanta). Doncic already is one of the best players in the league, while Bagley hasn’t been able to stay on the court due to injury.
The Kings are without Bagley for the entire NBA restart due to a right foot sprain as Sacramento chases its first playoff berth since 2006. The Kings face Doncic and the Mavericks at 2:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday from the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex in the Orlando “bubble”. The Mavs, who have been historically good on offense this season, are 5.5-point favorites.
Playing a game for living has huge aspirational appeal. From playing poker for a profession to streaming build-battles in Fortnite, crushing CS:GO to lording it in League of Legends, gaming for a living has never been more appealing with the global COVID-19 pandemic forcing many people with jobs requiring travel to readjust their mindsets.
It’s a good sign of strength in the industry, therefore, that this week saw Spanish Esports brand MAD Lions partner up with Crown Esports Nutrition in a bid to get healthier and give the team a more consistent level of performance.
But how much does good nutrition help when it comes to gaming for a living?
Crown Nutrition already worked with traditional sportsmen and women, and the fact that they will now help MAD Lions by working on ‘developing products, habits and ways of working to increase player performance’ is terrific for MAD Lions.
The PGA TOUR announced today that BetMGM has signed a multi-year content and marketing relationship to become an Official Betting Operator of the PGA TOUR.
By joining the TOUR’s Official Betting Operator program, BetMGM will have rights in the United States to use PGA TOUR marks, rights to advertise within TOUR media and TOUR partner platforms, plus content and video rights allowing BetMGM Sportsbook platforms to create pre-game and post-game betting programming, as well as distribution of highlights to users who have placed bets.
“BetMGM is part of a premium brand that is deeply connected to golf through sponsorship of various PGA TOUR players and tournaments,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President, Media and Gaming. “Through the power of the BetMGM brand and resources, this new relationship will help accelerate our sports betting strategy, and enable the TOUR to reach new fans and further engage current fans who enjoy betting on golf.”
The PGA TOUR is one of the most popular offerings on BetMGM’s platform. Currently available for download on iOS and Android, the BetMGM mobile app offers the latest betting odds, enhanced offers and multiple betting formats, from money line and point spread bets to parlays and futures. BetMGM is currently licensed for sports betting in seven states including Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada as well as West Virginia, and has plans to be in eleven states by the end of 2020.
Matt Prevost, BetMGM Chief Marketing Officer said, “We look forward to working with the PGA TOUR to integrate great experiences for BetMGM customers. BetMGM’s advanced betting technology, combined with the PGA TOUR’s world-class competitions and iconic players, will not only advance the TOUR’s position at the forefront of professional sports, but the entire betting industry as well.”
BetMGM has access to existing sponsor relationships with several members of the PGA TOUR, including Max Homa, Jimmy Walker, Kevin Na, Pat Perez, Ryan Moore, Joel Dahmen and Boo Weekley.
Following the Supreme Court’s repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, the TOUR instituted an integrity program in collaboration with Genius Sports to protect its competitions from betting-related corruption. Later that year, the TOUR announced a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world.
The PGA TOUR is a Platinum Member of the National Council on Problem Gambling, committed to industry-leading responsible gaming practices.
With the new NFL season just weeks away, the New England Patriots have lost an eighth player to the opting out fever that has swept through American Football.
In an era dominated by the global Coronavirus pandemic, the clash between players, officials and the U.S. Government over preparations for NFL to return has spilled over into the NFL pre-season. This weekend, New England Patriots tight end Matt LaCosse became the eighth player of the New England Patriots to opt out of the forthcoming NFL season.
While not perhaps as headline-grabbing as other withdrawals, 27-year-old LaCosse will be a big miss for the Patriots, following as he does in the walk-out footsteps of Dont’a Hightower, Marcus Cannon, Patrick Chung, Brandon Bolden, Marqise Lee, Dan Vitale and Najee Toran.
LaCosse’s absence has been put down to Coronavirus reasons, with his wife Jessica, due to deliver a baby boy in the upcoming NFL season. It would appear that LaCosse is simply not happy to risk anything for his family’s health, and why should he? In 2019, LaCosse started 8 of the 11 games, and while he had an ankle injury to contend with, he still finished the season with 13 recpetions for 132 yards. He even made a touchdown, one more than he’ll be able to make in 2020 thanks to as the players see it, broken promises in terms of testing and health protocols.
