Ever since COVID-19 shut down the vast majority of professional sports in mid-March, fans have been itching for live events to return. The Korea Baseball Organization, NASCAR and UFC led the way by kicking things off in May. Golf, European soccer, the NWSL and MLS followed soon after.

Things aren’t back to normal on the sports calendar just yet, but they’re getting closer. The last handful of weeks has seen a steady increase in action and Thursday might be the busiest day yet.

TSN is your home for a jam-packed day of live sports with three MLS is Back Tournament matches, the NASCAR Cup Series Super Start Batteries 400 from Kansas Speedway and the opening of the 2020 MLB regular season.

Here is a closer look at what’s on tap:

 

MLS is Back Tournament

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9am ET – Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (TSN1, TSN4, TSN Direct)

8pm ET – LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo (TSN5, TSN Direct)

10:30pm ET – LAFC vs. Portland Timbers (TSN5, TSN Direct)

Group play for the MLS is Back Tournament concludes Thursday as the Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps start the day bright and early at 9:00 a.m. ET. It hasn’t been the start to the tournament that Whitecaps head coach Marc Dos Santos was looking for with two losses and an ugly seven goals allowed in their first two matches, but Vancouver can still advance to the Round of 16 if they beat Chicago by two goals or more and get some help.

It’s going to be a tall order for the Whitecaps, who are without starting goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau because of a broken thumb. Still, Dos Santos said his team needs to focus on winning the match first and worry about goal differential after.

"I told the players 'First we need to win the game 1-0,'" Dos Santos told reporters Tuesday. "If it's 1-0 at minute 80, minute 85, then we could go with everything and take all the risks possible."

Meanwhile, the nightcap features a showdown for first place in Group F with the undefeated Portland Timbers taking on LAFC.

 

NASCAR Cup Series

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7:30pm ET (TSN1, TSN3, TSN Direct)

Next stop on NASCAR’s schedule is the Super Start Batteries 400 from Kansas Speedway.

Seven active drivers have multiple wins at the asphalt oval located in Kansas City, while Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are three-time winners. Harvick is the odds-on favourite this week as he looks for his first victory since early July at The Brickyard in Indianapolis. Harvick will start from pole position with Joey Logano joining him on the front row for the 267-lap, 400-mile race. Of Harvick’s three wins at Kansas Speedway, two have come from pole.

Fans in Kansas City won’t just have the race to look forward to. Defensive tackle Chris Jones of the Super Bowl winning Kansas City Chiefs will serve as the grand marshal Thursday night. He should be in a good mood as the recent recipient of a four-year contract extension worth up to $85 million.

 

MLB season opener

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7:00pm ET – New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals (TSN4, TSN Direct)

10:00pm ET – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants (TSN4, TSN Direct)

Finally, two of the sweetest words in the world of sports – play ball.

The 2020 Major League Baseball season gets underway with a doubleheader featuring the defending-champion Washington Nationals hosting the New York Yankees in D.C. followed by one of the greatest rivalries in the league as the Los Angeles Dodgers head to San Francisco to take on the Giants.

Fans might not be in the stands but there will certainly be some of the game’s best on the mound. Max Scherzer gets the ball for the reigning World Series champs and will be opposed by Gerrit Cole and his fresh new $324 million contract. Game two sees three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw take on veteran trickster Johnny Cueto.

But the opening pitch of the season won’t be thrown by any of them. Instead, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will toss out the first ceremonial pitch of 2020.

"I hope I don’t bounce it," Fauci told CNN.