2020 American athlete strikes
On August 26, 2020, some professional athletes in the United States began to go on strike for their respective sports contests in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the video of Blake's shooting in which he was seriously injured went viral, protests and riots broke out in the city of Kenosha and elsewhere. As a result of the shooting of Blake and the protests which followed, on August 26, professional athletes refused to play in their scheduled sports events, beginning with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
| Date | August 26, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Location | Canada and United States |
| Type | Strike |
| Theme | Shooting of Jacob Blake |
| Participants | National Basketball Association Women's National Basketball Association Major League Baseball Major League Soccer Women's Tennis Association National Hockey League National Football League |
Some athletes in the NBA, Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and Major League Soccer (MLS) decided not to play their games on August 26. Also on that day, the Women's Tennis Association Cincinnati Masters organizers postponed the tournament for one day to August 27, 2020. The strikes extended into August 27 and 28 when players from the National Hockey League (NHL) walked out of their playoff games. In response to the athlete strikes, nine National Football League (NFL) teams canceled their scheduled practices on August 27, 2020. The athlete strikes occurred as part of the broader racial unrest in the United States since 2020.