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May is an incredible month of sports. Things are starting to get warmer out and all of the sports that are going down this month remind us of that. The Kentucky Derby is spring personified and it will be nice to see that and the Preakness Stakes this month. We also have some baseball which should start having some more offense as it gets warmer outside. At least I hope it will.
The big change in the schedule going down this month is that both the NBA and NHL regular seasons are coming to an end. The NBA Playoffs will start with the Play-In tournament which looks to be a lot of fun with the 7th through 10th seeds doing battle for the final two playoff spots. We’ll also see the NHL Playoffs begin which should be heated as these teams have played each other a lot during the season.
This month features plenty of auto racing, some huge fights in boxing and MMA, and a whole lot more. Plus, the PGA Championship takes place and the French Open begins.
Check out our May 2021 Sporting Events calendar below:
Baseball:
Baseball is in full swing and there are some great match-ups throughout this month. I highlighted a few of the games that I am looking forward to that will air on national television this month.
May 1: Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox
May 2: New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies
May 4: Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees
May 5: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs
May 6: Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals
May 8: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves
May 10: Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros
May 13: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers
May 16: St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres
May 17: New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves
May 21: Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds
May 22: Boston Red Sox vs. Philadelphia Phillies
May 23: Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals
May 25: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Houston Astros
May 30: Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets
Basketball:
The NBA Playoffs are finally here! This year we have the play-in tournament before the official start which should be a lot of fun. The rules of the play-in tournament will see the 7th and 8th seed play each other with the winner being the 7th seed. Then the loser plays the winner of a game between the 9th and 10th seeds to determine the 8th seed.
There are still quite a few games for seeding to be played before we get there so I highlighted a few of those here as well.
May 2: Portland Trail Blazers at Boston Celtics
May 3: Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers
May 4: Brooklyn Nets at Milwaukee Bucks
May 6: Los Angeles Lakers at Los Angeles Clippers
May 7: Denver Nuggets at Utah Jazz
May 8: Brooklyn Nets at Denver Nuggets
May 9: Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
May 12: Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz
May 15: Miami Heat at Milwaukee Bucks
May 16: Last day of NBA season
May 18-21: NBA Play-In Tournament
May 22: NBA Playoffs begin
Boxing:
All the attention in the boxing world right now is on next month’s Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather fight, but there are still quite a few fights to look forward to this month.
May 1: Chris Arreola vs. Andy Ruiz Jr
May 1: Dereck Chisora vs. Joseph Parker
May 8: Saul Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders
May 14: Heather Hardy vs. Jessica Camara
May 14: Jay Harris vs. Ricardo Rafael Sandoval
May 15: Brandon Figueroa vs. Luis Nery
May 22: Jose Carlos Ramirez vs. Josh Taylor
May 28: Michael Dutchover vs. Ivan Leon Benitez
May 29: Jorge Linares vs. Devin Haney
May 29: Nonito Donaire vs. Nordine Oubaali
Cycling:
The Giro d’Italia begins on May 8 and ends on May 30 after 21 stages. It is the first major race of the Grand tour.
May 8-30: 2021 Giro d’Italia
Golf – PGA Tour:
The big event this month is the PGA Championship. This year’s event will take place at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Last year’s event saw a huge upset as Collin Morikawa grabbed the win.
May 6-9: Wells Fargo Championship
May 13-16: AT&T Byron Nelson
May 20-23: PGA Championship
May 27-30: Charles Schwab Challenge
Golf – European Tour:
May 6-9: Canary Islands Championship
May 12-15: Betfred British Masters
May 27-30: Made in HimmerLand
Golf – LPGA Tour:
May 6-9: Honda LPGA Thailand
May 13-16: Blue Bay LPGA
May 20-23: Pure Silk Championship
May 26-30: Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play
Golf – Champions Tour:
May 6-9: Regions Tradition
May 14-16: Mitsubishi Electric Classic
May 27-30: KitchenAid Senior PGA Classic
Hockey:
The NHL Playoffs begin this month and they will look slightly different thanks to the division alignment due to COVID-19. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs and be placed into divisional brackets for the first two rounds of the playoffs. They will then re-seed with their regular season points total for the Eastern and Western Conference Finals.
A few games to finish out the season and then the playoffs begin.
May 3: Las Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild
May 4: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
May 5: Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks
May 6: New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins
May 7: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals
May 8: Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
May 9: Dallas Stars vs. Chicago Blackhawks
May 11: NHL Playoffs begin
Horse Racing:
The first two legs of the Triple Crown take place this month. These are the biggest events in horse racing with the Kentucky Derby being arguably the most famous race in the world.
May 1: 2021 Kentucky Derby
May 15: 2021 Preakness Stakes
Mixed Martial Arts – Bellator:
May 7: Bellator 258
Mixed Martial Arts – ONE:
May 15: ONE Championship Dangal
May 28: ONE Championship Empower
Mixed Martial Arts – UFC:
May 1: UFC Vegas 25
May 8: UFC Vegas 26
May 15: UFC 262 – Oliveira vs. Chandler
May 22: UFC Vegas 27
Motor Sports – F1 Racing:
A huge month for Formula 1 racing with three big races on the schedule.
May 2: Portuguese Grand Prix
May 9: Spanish Grand Prix
May 23: Monaco Grand Prix
Motor Sports – Indy Racing:
While Indy Racing isn’t quite as big as it once was in the eyes of racing fans, the Indianapolis 500 is still an event worth paying attention to.
May 30: Indianapolis 500
Motor Sports – NASCAR:
May 2: Buschy McBusch Race 400
May 9: Goodyear 400
May 16: Drydene 400
May 23: EchoPark Texas Grand Prix
May 30: Coca-Cola 600
Rugby:
May 22: European Champions Cup final
Soccer – Champions League:
The 2021 Champions League will see their champion crowned at the end of this month.
May 4: Manchester City vs. Paris Saint-Germain
May 5: Chelsea vs. Real Madrid
May 29: Champions League Final
Soccer – Premier League:
The final few weeks of the Premier League season are going down in May. Fulham, West Brom, and Sheffield United are locked into regulation. There is intrigue at the top of the table though as West Ham and Liverpool look to get into the fourth spot currently held by West Ham. Tottenham and Everton are within distance of that fifth spot.
May 8: Leeds United vs. Tottenham Hotspur
May 8: Sheffield United vs. Crystal Palace
May 8: Manchester City vs. Chelsea
May 8: Liverpool vs. Southampton
May 9: Wolves vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
May 9: Aston Villa vs. Manchester United
May 9: West Ham United vs. Everton
May 9: Arsenal vs. West Bromwich Albion
May 10: Fulham vs. Burnley
May 11: Everton vs. Sheffield United
May 11: Burnley vs. Leeds United
May 11: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. West Ham United
May 11: Manchester United vs. Leicester City
May 11: West Bromwich Albion vs. Liverpool
May 11: Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa
May 12: Chelsea vs. Arsenal
May 12: Newcastle United vs. Manchester City
May 12: Southampton vs. Fulham
May 12: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wolves
May 15: Chelsea vs. Leicester City
May 15: Everton vs. Wolves
May 15: Manchester United vs. Fulham
May 15: Newcastle United vs. Sheffield United
May 15: Southampton vs. Leeds United
May 15: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Aston Villa
May 15: Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal
May 15: West Bromwich Albion vs. West Ham United
May 15: Burnley vs. Liverpool
May 15: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Manchester City
May 23: Arsenal vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
May 23: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea
May 23: Leeds United vs. West Bromwich Albion
May 23: Leicester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur
May 23: Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace
May 23: Manchester City vs. Everton
May 23: West Ham United vs. Southampton
May 23: Sheffield United vs. Burnley
May 23: Fulham vs. Newcastle United
May 23: Wolves vs. Manchester United
Soccer:
May also features a lot of Cup finals as well.
May 15: FA Cup final at Wembley
May 16: Women’s Champions League final in Gothenburg
May 22: Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park
May 22: Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley
May 26: Europa League final
Tennis:
The French Open is the next step on tennis’ Grand Slam.
May 10-17: Italian Open
May 30-June 13: French Open
Wrestling:
May is a great month of professional wrestling with two huge stadium shows, WWE’s Backlash, and AEW’s Double or Nothing. We actually went to the first Double or Nothing together two years ago so that’s something we’re especially excited for.
May 15: NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in Yokohama
May 15: Impact Under Siege
May 16: WWE Backlash
May 29: NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome
May 29: AEW Double or Nothing
