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English Premier League to return June 17

Yahoo Sports' Doug McIntyre discusses the Premier league returning to play and the implication it has on U.S. sports.

Video Transcript

DOUG MCINTYRE: Hi, everybody. Doug McIntyre from Yahoo Sports, and some breaking news in the sports world on this Thursday. The English Premier League reportedly coming back on June 17. That would be exactly 100 days since it shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, along with just about every other sports competition in the world.

Manchester City and Arsenal, two of the biggest clubs in the Prem, would meet in one of the first games. And, of course, Liverpool looking to wrap up its first domestic title in 30 years. The Reds are 25 points ahead of Man City in the title race with nine games to go.

But as much as soccer fans are excited about this development-- and they should be-- there are bigger implications here, particularly for the North American sports leagues which are going to be watching how successful the Prem is in its restart very carefully. All those leagues looking to come back. The NHL announcing its plans to resume later in the summer.

And the United Kingdom, like the United States, has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus. So I think there will be a lot of attention paid on the sort of practices and precautions that the Premier League uses to keep its players and its staff healthy. Of course, fans will not be present in these games.

But an exciting development for sure. And it's a developing situation, obviously. A lot can happen between now and June 17. So for all the updates, check back with us here at Yahoo Sports.