Stadiums

The new Crew Stadium is slowly rising at the center of the Confluence Village neighborhood near downtown Columbus. The $300 million project is slated to open in time for the start of the 2021 stadium, and the latest renderings of the ground look spectacular. 

Some visible features include an exclusive Nordecke entrance, which is the safe standing end of the stadium that’ll house the Crew’s supporters’ groups. This area will also have the league’s first beer garden. Hell yes.

Major League Soccer hopes to have all 26 teams begin training by June 1 in Florida ahead of an official tournament later in the month, ESPN's Jeff Carlisle reported on Wednesday. The proposal would need to be approved by MLS' Player Association. 

After months without it, it’s only natural to look at this weekend’s upcoming Bundesliga fixture list and lose your shit. The Revierderby between Schalke and Borussia Dortmund?! Cinderella side Union Berlin hosting mighty Bayern Munich?! It doesn’t get any better than this . . . until you remember it kind of does.

The National Football League has time on its side as the sports world prepares to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and will use some it to observe German soccer's Bundesliga as a potential blueprint on how to deal with the outbreak. 

Sporting events in the Netherlands will have to take place without fans in attendance until there is a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said. 

The global pandemic has infected over 41,000 people in the Netherlands and caused 5,288 deaths. 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday organized sport could resume from Sept. 1, but de Jonge said mass gatherings would not be allowed until a vaccine had been developed. 

Outside of the Pentagon recognizing the existence of UFOs, this week’s strangest saga has been the story of Mike Tyson’s weed company trying to purchase the naming rights to Barcelona’s legendary Camp Nou stadium.

Spectators are unlikely to be able to return to football stadiums until next year at the earliest due to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus, according to Jaume Roures, the head of Spanish media company Mediapro which broadcasts LaLiga. 

Roures, whose company also manages the international broadcasting rights for the Spanish top flight and broadcasts the Champions League, also predicts the end of colossal transfer fees for players due to the pandemic. 

Last month's Rhine Derby between Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Koln should've been a high-spirited event. Instead, it was played in an eerily quiet, empty stadium as the Bundesliga played out its first game behind closed doors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Now, the DFB (German FA) says playing in empty stadiums is the only way the competition could resume next month.

Major League Soccer will not return until at least June 8, according to multiple reports. The timetable is in line with the latest official word from MLS, which was confirmation that a hoped for mid-May return would not happen due to the ongoing restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus. 

Commissioner Don Garber said MLS remains focused on getting in as many games as possible. Garber expanded the league's guidelines prohibiting group workouts, which initially stretched to April 24.