Minor League Baseball (MiLB), whose season was already canceled due to the pandemic, is staring down a historic contraction once its agreement with Major League Baseball (MLB) expires on Sept. 30.
Why it matters: Roughly 42 of the 160 affiliated minor league clubs are set to lose affiliate status by the end of the month, drastically changing the future of not only the affected clubs, but the minor leagues as a whole.
College football has become a key political issue as the 2020 election approaches, and the impending NFL season will only ratchet up the intensity around empty stadiums and player protests.
Why it matters: Football is America's most popular sport. And considering 43 of the top 50 most-watched TV broadcasts last year were football games, it's arguably our most popular form of entertainment, period.
More than 160 human rights groups called on the International Olympic Committee to revoke China's award of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games over the country's human rights abuses, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: The letter represents "the largest coordinated effort" yet against staging the Beijing games, coming amid heightened scrutiny of China's mass detention and repression of Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, according to Reuters.
Olympic champion Caster Semenya lost her appeal against the governing body of track and field's rule requiring female runners to lower their naturally high testosterone levels with medication, AP reports.
Why it matters: Semenya will not be able to attend the Tokyo Games next year to defend her 800-meter Olympic title nor any major meets in distances from 400 to 1,500 meters unless she lowers her testosterone level through surgery or medication, which she has said she won't do.
EA Sports announced Tuesday that it added Colin Kaepernick to Madden NFL 21, marking his first appearance in the popular football video game series since 2016.
Why it matters: Kaepernick has not been signed to an NFL team since 2016, when he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and systemic racism. EA Sports said it wanted "to see him back in our game," calling him "a starting-caliber quarterback."
The 16th Summer Paralympics would have ended this weekend in Tokyo, but the pandemic had other ideas.
Why it matters: The Paralympics is the one of the biggest sporting events on Earth, and its recent surge in popularity has helped change how the world views disabilities — and human potential.
