Premier League, Formula 1, The Masters, the Ryder Cup, The Hundred and the Super Bowl among the events live on Sky Sports this year
Wednesday 1 January 2020 18:34, UK
It's only live once.
Every sports fan knows that the biggest events need to be experienced in real time and 2020 is primed for plenty of huge moments.
Will Sky Sports viewers see the following before their eyes over the next 12 months?
2019 was an astonishing year for Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. They became champions of Europe. They became champions of the world. They recorded the third highest points tally in Premier League history. And yet the prize they crave the most still eludes them.
Liverpool have not won the league since 1990, but ended the calendar year with a 13-point lead and a game in hand over second-placed Leicester. They are a point further clear of defending champions Manchester City and a collapse from this position would be truly spectacular. The sight of Jordan Henderson raising the Premier League trophy above his head in 2020 feels inevitable.
This winter saw Lewis Hamilton claim his sixth world title, establishing himself ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio as the man with the second-most championships in the history of the sport. Only one man remains ahead of him on that list - the legendary Michael Schumacher - and Hamilton could move level with him if he can win his fourth consecutive title in 2020.
Hamilton is also just seven victories adrift of Schumacher's haul of 91 grands prix wins, and just four more podiums away from the German's record 155. However, it's the hunt for a seventh world title which is set to be the story of the season. Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel and perhaps even Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas will hope to keep him waiting.
Anthony Joshua's rematch win against Andy Ruiz Jr in December means his dream of unifying the heavyweight division is back on in 2020. With the IBF, WBA and WBO belts back around his waist, Joshua holds all but one of the major divisional titles.
But mandatory obligations are looming. Kubrat Pulev, the IBF's choice, is in line to be his first fight of 2020, while Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury have confirmed they will battle for the American's WBC title in February. Both men have spoken of a desire to fight Joshua - so will the world finally see a unification bout at some point in 2020?
England's men and women are reigning world champions in 50-over cricket and in 2020, both sides will seek to repeat the feat in the shorter format of the game. Heather Knight's side fell at the final hurdle in 2018 when they lost the Women's World T20 final to Australia and they will have to overcome home advantage if they are to wrestle the trophy from the defending champions and favourites in February and March.
Australia also host the men's T20 World Cup in October and November, and England will be seeking to go one step further after Carlos Brathwaite and West Indies famously denied them in the final over of the 2016 tournament. Could Eoin Morgan's side become the first to hold both the World Cup and the T20 World Cup at the same time?
The Hundred is cricket like you've never seen it before. The new competition will begin in England in the summer of 2020 and comprise of eight teams competing against each other across seven cities. Each side will bat for up to 100 balls, with a change of bowling ends taking place after every 10 balls.
The tournament, in which men's and women's teams will play side-by-side, aims to make cricket accessible for the whole family through shorter, faster matches that last less than three hours. It's an exciting new dawn for the sport - and it will be live on Sky Sports Cricket.
When Rory McIlroy took a four-shot lead into the final round of the 2011 Masters, few expected him to still be waiting for his first Green Jacket nine years later. Only two months after that infamous fourth-day collapse, he picked up his maiden major at the US Open and then added the PGA Championship by the same winning margin - eight strokes - in 2012.
Victory at The Open in 2014 left him requiring only the Masters to complete golf's career Grand Slam, but McIlroy starts a new decade still searching for that elusive Augusta title. "If there's a key to me starting to contend more regularly and win majors again, I just need to start a little better," he told Sky Sports News last month. Will 2020 be his year?
Celtic were almost unstoppable during the last decade in Scotland, but could their bitterest rivals end their unparalleled period of dominance? Neil Lennon's side took the first step towards a fourth consecutive treble when they beat Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final in December, but the league title will take some winning this time around.
A famous Old Firm win for Steven Gerrard's side at Parkhead on the final weekend of 2019 leaves them just two points behind Celtic with a game in hand. "There is still loads of work to do," said the Rangers manager, after a game which tees up potentially the most exciting title race in years.
Katie Taylor wants to build on her status as a two-weight world champion by competing in a series of "history-making" fights in 2020. Taylor capped a magnificent 2019 by beating Christina Linardatou in November to claim her first super-lightweight title, having beaten Delfine Persoon in June to become the undisputed champion of the lightweight division.
The close nature of her victory over Persoon means a rematch remains a major possibility, while Taylor is also eyeing bouts with fellow champions Amanda Serrano and the undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus. Promoter Eddie Hearn has even suggested the Irish superstar is on course to headline her own pay-per-view show in 2020 and few would bet against her making more history in the next 12 months.
"I think they are both very capable of making the team," said Steve Stricker when asked if Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson might make his 12-man USA side for next September's Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. "To leave any of those guys out would be hard to do, just because of what they mean and what they have meant to these teams over the years."
Woods rolled back the years in an epic Masters triumph in 2019 and if he gets anywhere near that sort of form in the first half of 2020, he'll be in the thoughts of the USA captain. Stricker is plotting revenge for Europe's 17½ - 10½ victory in 2018 - and the potential inclusion of 15-time major winner Woods could be one of the major storylines leading into this year's edition.
Are the New England Patriots too old? Too washed up? Is another Super Bowl beyond them? The criticisms of Bill Belichick's franchise are familiar - many were citing them ahead of last season - and yet a sixth Super Bowl in 17 years followed with a 13-3 success over the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta last February.
Repeating the trick won't be easy. A 27-24 defeat to the Miami Dolphins last weekend means the Patriots failed to clinch a first-round bye and their first task of 2020 will be to take on the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round. Much rests on the shoulders of quarterback Tom Brady, who is now 42 years old but insists he still "feels like a kid" and is determined to keep building on his legacy. Like Lewis Hamilton, a historic number seven is firmly in his sights.
Leeds United, champions of England more recently than Liverpool, have not played a top-flight game since May 2004. Yet an end to that barren run is in sight. Sunday's remarkable 5-4 win over Birmingham City meant they ended 2019 on top of the Sky Bet Championship and start the New Year with a nine-point cushion over third-place Fulham and the pack of sides seeking to hunt them down and deny them an automatic promotion spot.
Marcelo Bielsa will be cautious in his optimism. His side ended 2018 in the same position, top of the table with a five-point gap to third and they ended up being overhauled by both Norwich City and Sheffield United before losing to Derby County in the Play-Offs. After being burned in 2019, Leeds are hot, hot favourites for promotion in 2020 and two decades of pain at Elland Road could soon be over.
