Bull Riding With Fans, Belmont Stakes On June 20th, Women’s Sports Network, NCAA Academic Progress Report
BULL RIDING
Bull riding will be the first pro sports event with live crowds. The tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. will be held July 10th-12th.
HORSE RACING
The Belmont Stakes will be held on June 20th (without fans) and will be reconfigured as the first leg (normally it’s the third and final leg) of the Triple Crown series. The Kentucky Derby has been rescheduled for September 5th and the Preakness Stakes on October 3rd. The Belmont (at 1.5 miles) has always been the tough finale to a six-week stretch which begins with the Derby. The 2020 Belmont is now slated to be 1 1/8 miles for the first time in its 152-year history which won’t be as big of a test of endurance as it’s been in years past.
WOMEN’S SPORTS NETWORK
Athletes Unlimited is launching a new network of sports leagues to try and reinvent women’s sports. The company, founded by Jon Patricof (former President of NYCFC and Tribeca Enterprises) and Jonathan Soros (son of billionaire George Soros), plan to launch three women’s leagues over the next three years. They will start with softball, debuting in August, and then launch volleyball for a debut in February 2021. The idea is to make the athletes more popular than the teams. Teams won’t have a city affiliation, and players will change teams on a weekly basis (accumulating points by wins and individual performances).
NCAA
The NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) report measures the academic performance of a sports team over a span of four years and measures graduation rates. The recently released report of men’s Division- I sports listed golf, ice hockey, and lacrosse with the highest APR’s, while FBS (football bowl subdivision) football, basketball, and FCS (football championship subdivision) football ranked the lowest. In women’s D-1 sports, gymnastics, lacrosse, and swimming ranked highest, while softball, track and field, and basketball ranked the lowest.
