Sporting Calendar for this week.

[slick]

I'll drop this in here so we have a record of up coming events with all the current cancellations going on.



Horse Racing:

-This continues to take place in Ireland and the start of the flat season officially gets underway at Naas today. The cards for the week are below:

Tuesday – Clonmel - 7 races (jumps)

Wednesday – Dundalk – 7 races (all-weather)

Thursday – Cork – 7 races (jumps)

Friday – Navan – 7 races (flat)

-There is an 8 race card on Wednesday from Happy Valley in Hong Kong, this is usually popular among racing fans

-There are also South African and Australian horse racing continuing throughout the week.


Greyhounds:

-These continue to take place with the same regularity as usual with multiple meetings each day.


Volleyball:

-A full fixture list takes place on Monday and Tuesday over in Russia.


Basketball:

-The Russian league (MLBL) continues to take place with fixtures on Monday and Tuesday.


Grand Prix Bowls:

- Grand Prix Bowls continues with Kevin Rands, Neil Smith and Wayne Willgress all in action on Tuesday.


Soccer - Australian A-League:

- On Friday Melbourne City, who sit second in the table, take on a struggling Adelaide United side who have lost four on the bounce.


Table Tennis:

- A lot of Table Tennis is still taking place in Russia, featuring competitions such as the Moscow Liga Pro.


Esports:

-This market is growing more and more and with a pretty much full fixture list popularity is only going to grow in this market. The three top games are:

LOL (League of Legends)

DOTA2 (Defense of the Ancients)

CS:GO (Counter Strike:Global Offensive)

-There is even a Rocket League event taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday which provides even more variety.

Most of these evens are being streamed live on Bet365.

 

[SAMOAN]

Just enough going on and the SA racing will keep me busy. Aussie Rugby League finally suspended having been running behind closed doors and having played all eight round two fixtures over the weekend.

 

[SAMOAN]

By the looks of it Aussie RL is very similar to English RU. Both potentially have plenty of money, RL from the Billion Dollar 5 Year TV Deal and RU from the money procured from the International game, but club sides in both are struggling. The NRL has few assets and is almost solely reliant on the broadcast money, which in the event of no competition leaves them in a perilous position. Top English RU clubs have wage bills of around £1m a Month and again with no broadcast money, will very soon be skint.

The team best off in either code in England is probably a League club. St Helens have got their own stadium and do not have any debt. The big difference with RL over here compared to the Aussie game and English RU is their costs are a lot lower. Hard to say who will come out of it better, but with the lower cost base, it could just be English Rugby league.

 

[ONEDUNME]

Must admit the start of the Irish flat season passed me by. Assumed it was still all weather shite. Will have to watch the replays later.

 

[slick]

Horse Racing:

-Racing in Ireland was suspended this week – meaning there’s no horse racing taking place in the UK and Ireland for the foreseeable future.

-There are 15 race meetings taking place in Australia with the showpiece events being the Group I Tancred Stakes and the Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill.

-The pick of the American racing comes on the dirt from Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita.

-There is a popular 10 race card over in Sha Tin on Sunday.


Greyhounds:

-UK and Ireland greyhound racing has also been pulled – it does continue in Australia however.


Soccer:

-The Belarus Premier League takes place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday – this is the only football scheduled to take place this weekend.


Volleyball:

-A few more fixtures are taking place over in Russia.


Basketball:

-The Russian league (MLBL) continues to take place with fixtures over the weekend, there is also some Belarus MVL Mixed action taking place.


Table Tennis:

- A lot of Table Tennis is still taking place in Russia and Ukraine.


Ice Hockey

-There are various tournaments taking place in Russia over the weekend.


Esports:

-The Esoccer Ultimate Quaran-TeamCup continues to take place – check Leyton Orients Twitter feed (@leytonorietnfc) for further updates and fixture announcements – there is also an outright market available for this along with your normal outright fixture markets.

-There’s also a pretty much full fixture list continuing with the four top games being:

LOL (League of Legends)

DOTA2 (Defense of the Ancients)

CS:GO (Counter Strike:Global Offensive)

Rocket League

Most of these evens are being streamed live on Bet365.

 

[slick]

Horse Racing:

-There are race meetings taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday over in Australia.

-American racing continues throughout the week, cards are taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Again to reiterate, US racing is far more appealing to a UK audience than AUS.

-There is an eight-race card scheduled to take place over in Happy Valley on Wednesday.


Greyhounds:

-A number of meetings still taking place in Australia and North America.


Soccer:

-There is both league and cup action this week in Belarus – former Champions League side BATE travel to Slavia Mozyr in the Belarus Cup, whilst the only side left to pick up a point in the league, Belinsha, make the 800-mile round trip to face Neman Grodno.

-There are also five matches taking place in the Nicaragua Clausura and two matches in the Tajikistan Vysshaya Liga.

-One other market in Soccer this week is the Esoccer Pro Player Cup.


Ice Hockey:

-There’s action from both the Belarus Minsk Champs and the Liga Pro Short Hockey.


Darts:

-The Icons of Darts Live League begins today and features a few household names and emerging stars playing from home in a round-robin format with a winner crowned Saturday 2nd May.

-This should prove to be popular given the popularity of darts in the UK, stars taking part include:

Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, Paul Nicholson, Mark Webster, Andy Jenkins and Wessel Nijman.

All matches are a best of nine legs.

Markets offered by bet365 range from Correct Leg Score, Most 180s, Total 180s, Score After 4 Legs and much more.

bet365 will be streaming all of action throughout the tournament.


Motor Sports:

-Such has been the popularity and success of the virtual Formula One races each Sunday a range of other virtual Motor Sports have now become available:

NASCAR

Touring Cars

Supercars

All of the above three are taking place this week with a host of names set to take to the wheel in their respective discipline.


Esports:

-This continues to rise in popularity – the main areas of focus for the following titles are below:

LOL (League of Legends)

Major fixtures here where the most popular game modes are taking place can be found in the LCK Spring – LPL Spring

Fixtures are taking place on the above two tournaments throughout the week

CS:GO (Counter Strike:Global Offensive)

The ESL Pro League is also a major event with the fixtures taking place tonight.

DOTA2 (Defense of the Ancients)

Rocket League


Some of these evens are being streamed live on Bet365.

 

[SAMOAN]

By the looks of it Aussie RL is very similar to English RU. Both potentially have plenty of money, RL from the Billion Dollar 5 Year TV Deal and RU from the money procured from the International game, but club sides in both are struggling. The NRL has few assets and is almost solely reliant on the broadcast money, which in the event of no competition leaves them in a perilous position. Top English RU clubs have wage bills of around £1m a Month and again with no broadcast money, will very soon be skint.

The team best off in either code in England is probably a League club. St Helens have got their own stadium and do not have any debt. The big difference with RL over here compared to the Aussie game and English RU is their costs are a lot lower. Hard to say who will come out of it better, but with the lower cost base, it could just be English Rugby league.

The NRL has announced a re - start date of 28th May. Looks like a 15 game season with everyone playing each other once, though expecting plenty of games played behind closed doors. Channel Nine not happy though as they see less value in their TV deal if this happens. ( basically saying a shortened season in empty stadia, is not what they paid for ) It also looks like there may be manoeuvring to oust the current CEO of the league and with the current crisis highlighting the lack of assets and almost total reliance on TV money, I can see a pretty big shake up in the near future.

Going back to the actual season, still no word on whether the Queensland clubs will have to play all their games in Sydney, though to maintain an isolation bubble of players, this does look a strong possibility.

 

[rcgills]

The NRL has announced a re - start date of 28th May. Looks like a 15 game season with everyone playing each other once, though expecting plenty of games played behind closed doors. Channel Nine not happy though as they see less value in their TV deal if this happens. ( basically saying a shortened season in empty stadia, is not what they paid for)

They might lose out in terms of the shortened season, but surely the empty stadia works in their favour? The vast majority of the thousands of people that can't go and watch the matches live are presumably now going to watch the matches on TV, so won't that give them a far higher audience than they'd normally get?

 

[SAMOAN]

The Nine network were apparently left out of the re - start negotiations and have stated that not resuming the season would save them $130 million. Average NRL attendance is just below 15000, so viewers and advertising revenue would not go up anywhere near enough.

 

[SAMOAN]

That of course is the big difference between The NRL and the English Premier League. Whilst it could be argued that broadcasters over - paid for both, SKY and BT will be desperate to get the season going again.

 

[SAMOAN]

Racing authorities across South Africa are coordinating a plan to restart racing on May 1st. Fingers crossed they get the green light.

 

[slick]

Horse Racing:


The biggest meeting of the week comes from Sha Tin on Sunday (26th April) where Champions Day takes place. Three group one races on the card will prove to be highly popular and these can be found highlighted below:


·Queen Elizabeth II Cup:

Tony Cruz has trained the winner of this twice in the last five years – this year he has Exultant as hot-favourite for the race, he’s a three-time Group 1 winner and looks the rightful favourite. Tony Cruz also has Furore, winner of last year’s Hong Kong derby, in the race and it wouldn’t be a surprise if either of those two were to land the spoils this year.


·Champions Mile:

Beauty Generation has won this race for the past two years for Zac Purton and John Moore and it would be a shock should he not make it a third. He was the world’s top-rated miler last year and after bouncing back when losing his 10-in-a-row streak last year, Hong Kong’s highest-ever rated horse looks set for another shot at glory.


·Chairman’s Sprint Prize:

John Size has landed the last two renewals of this contest and would probably have the likely favourite in Beat The Clock if he wasn’t injured, he does have Hot King Prawn however, aDenman gelding who came second in the same race last year, as a worthy replacement for the HK$16,000,000 prize. He will have to overcome a fierce competitor in Aethero though, trainer John Moore has been very bullish about his chances and is meant to be Hong Kong’s next superstar.


Over in Australia and the US racing continues with the usual cards taking place including a fully-packed schedule for the weekend.


Soccer

The Belarus Premier League continues to carry on in full flow, we will be streaming every single one of these fixtures this weekend.


There is also action in the Tajikistan and Turkmenistan leagues.


eSoccer continues to take place as well with a variety of fixtures taking place this week, fixtures are still TBC but a number of leagues are progressing as usual.


Darts:

The PDC Home Tour 2020 continues each night this week with no fewer than 24 markets available on each game – with every match streamed live at peak time in the UK.
Other tournaments that are taking place this week (and streamed on bet365) include:


·Icons of Darts Icon Tour

·A Night at the Darts

·Remote Darts League

·Czech Premier League


NFL:

One of major interest to American Sports sites and fans in general is the inaugural Draft beginning on Thursday (23rd April) – this is one the biggest events in the NFL which sees Cinncinati Bengals with the first pick – expected to be quarterback Joe Burrow. This year it will be held virtually due to the worldwide pandemic but it will be no less entertaining with the Miami Dolphins having the most picks overall.


bet365 have a range of markets on the Draft ranging from:


·Number 1 Overall Pick

·Number 2 Overall Pick

·Draft Position

·First WR Drafted

·First RB Drafted

·Quarterbacks Drafted in First Round


Plus much more.


Table Tennis:

Various fixtures and tournaments are taking place, mainly in Ukraine.


Basketball:

Action takes place in the Chinese Taipei SBL.


Greyhounds:

This continues to take place in Australia and the US with a number of meetings.

Some of these evens are being streamed live on Bet365.

 

[SAMOAN]

NFL:

One of major interest to American Sports sites and fans in general is the inaugural Draft beginning on Thursday (23rd April) – this is one the biggest events in the NFL which sees Cinncinati Bengals with the first pick – expected to be quarterback Joe Burrow. This year it will be held virtually due to the worldwide pandemic but it will be no less entertaining with the Miami Dolphins having the most picks overall.


bet365 have a range of markets on the Draft ranging from:


·Number 1 Overall Pick

·Number 2 Overall Pick

·Draft Position

·First WR Drafted

·First RB Drafted

·Quarterbacks Drafted in First Round


Plus much more.

My now Las Vegas Raiders have 2 picks in the first round ( numbers 12 and 19 ) so will be tuning in to watch. Joe Burrow is 50's on to go first and Chase Young is 14's on to be picked number 2. Other than an injury rumour or something popping up in their personal lives, these prices look right. The closest market is for the first Wide receiver to be drafted, with the top 3 in the betting at 5/6, EVS and 7/2. Would expect the Raiders to be in the mix for one of these and do think the market leaders will all go on to have decent careers.

Mekhi Becton caught my eye at the combine event, where the players and put through their paces in several different exercises and a bit surprised that he is 10/1 4th choice to be the First Offensive Lineman " off the board. "

Isaiah Simmons looks a very good prospect, but for me is not a 1/80 shot to be the first linebacker picked. Have therefore gone with Patrick Queen at 16's and Kenneth Murray at 20's

 

[SAMOAN]

The NRL has announced a re - start date of 28th May. Looks like a 15 game season with everyone playing each other once, though expecting plenty of games played behind closed doors. Channel Nine not happy though as they see less value in their TV deal if this happens. ( basically saying a shortened season in empty stadia, is not what they paid for ) It also looks like there may be manoeuvring to oust the current CEO of the league and with the current crisis highlighting the lack of assets and almost total reliance on TV money, I can see a pretty big shake up in the near future.

Going back to the actual season, still no word on whether the Queensland clubs will have to play all their games in Sydney, though to maintain an isolation bubble of players, this does look a strong possibility.

The NRL have confirmed their intention of re - starting the season on 28th May, with teams able to begin training on the 4th. Commissioner Wayne Pearce stated they had permission from the NSW Government and was also quoted saying "We're allowed to play, provided we adhere to the public health guidelines. We intend to exceed what the public health guidelines are. "

The NRL's only overseas based team, the Auckland-based Warriors, will be allowed to arrive in Australia prior to the May 4 team training restart date, with the players set to be given exemption from the country's strict isolation protocols. The 3 Queensland based clubs along with the Melbourne Storm will all be based in New South Wales and presumably will have to stay in that so - called isolation bubble.

To my knowledge this will be the first major league to re - start their season and from an English point of view will be interesting to see what problems they encounter and what if anything we can take from their experiences when it comes to getting football going again.

 

[SAMOAN]

My now Las Vegas Raiders have 2 picks in the first round ( numbers 12 and 19 ) so will be tuning in to watch. Joe Burrow is 50's on to go first and Chase Young is 14's on to be picked number 2. Other than an injury rumour or something popping up in their personal lives, these prices look right. The closest market is for the first Wide receiver to be drafted, with the top 3 in the betting at 5/6, EVS and 7/2. Would expect the Raiders to be in the mix for one of these and do think the market leaders will all go on to have decent careers.

Top 2 went as expected and the Raiders had the pick of the wide receivers and went with the quickest guy in the shape of Henry Ruggs.

 

[slick]

Thought the draft was tomorrow, is it happening now?

 

[SAMOAN]

First round currently live on Sky Sports
Second and Third rounds are Tomorrow
Fourth to Seventh rounds on Saturday

Raiders about to use the second of their first round picks.

 

[SAMOAN]

Damon Arnette was not really on my radar with the 19th pick and many " experts " had him more of a second round selection. Does look a decent athlete, but did see the phrase " looks a little grabby " so it might be that he panics a bit when he knows he is in trouble. May give a few too many penalties away as a result, but hopefully this can be coached out of him.

Overall happy with both Raider first round picks, but will now have to wait for round 3 in which they have 3 picks.

 

[slick]

Horse Racing:

There is Group 1 action over in the US this weekend with Oaklawn Park hosting a split Arkansas Derby. The race has been split into two divisions this year which serves as eligibility for the Kentucky Derby later this year and carries a $500,000 purse for each race. It will prove to be popular with UK racing fans given their notorious interest in US Racing.


There is also racing throughout the week in Australia with the TAB Classic and Australasian Oaks the key races at the weekend.


Soccer

There is both league and cup action this week in Belarus. Bate Borisov host Slavia Mozyr in the Belarus Cup on Wednesday, whilst top of the table Slutsk travel to Dinamo Minsk on Saturday.

At the other end of the table, bottom-side Belshina will be looking for their first win of the season at home to 14th placed Dinamo Brest.


Darts:

The PDC Home Tour 2020 continues each night this week with every match streamed live at peak time in the UK. We have banners available for this so please use them where appropriate.

Other tournaments that are taking place this week (and streamed) include:


·Icons of Darts Icon Tour

·A Night at the Darts

·Remote Darts League

·Czech Premier League


Table Tennis:

Various fixtures and tournaments are taking place, mainly in Ukraine.


Basketball:

Action takes place in the Chinese Taipei SBL.


Greyhounds:

This continues to take place in Australia.

Poker:

Perfect Pairs: Complete a step from the weekly mission to receive a spin on the Perfect Pairs Prize Wheel. This week’s qualifying period runs until 18:59 GMT on 3rd May.

Most of these evens are being streamed live on Bet365.

 

[SAMOAN]

South African racing is still awaiting government clearance for Friday's resumption. Looking a bit less likely now, but hopefully will get the go ahead sooner rather than later.