See also: 1919 in sports, other events of 1920, 1921 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Baseball (Major League)

• January 3 - Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a $350,000 loan, beginning the "Curse of the Bambino". This was the prelude to an extraordinary Major League season during which the Bambino would hit 54 home runs, Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman would be killed by a pitch from Carl Mays, and Eddie Cicotte and Shoeless Joe Jackson would confess to their roles in the Black Sox scandal.

• August 16 - Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit in the head and fatally wounded with a fastball from Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Chapman dies early the next day, becoming the only person to ever die from a major league baseball game (as of 2004).

• Babe Ruth hits 54 home runs for the Yankees, nearly double the record of 29 he hit the season before.

Baseball (Negro League)

• February 13 - The Negro National League is formed.

• May 2 - The first game of the Negro National League is played in Indianapolis, Indiana, with the Indianapolis ABC's beating the Chicago American Giants.

• The Chicago American Giants win the first Negro National League pennant.

Field Hockey

• Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Antwerp, Belgium
  • Gold Medal: Great Britain
  • Silver Medal: Denmark
  • Bronze Medal: Belgium

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League - Richmond wins the 24th VFL Premiership (Richmond 7.10 (52) d Collingwood 5.5 (35))

American Football

• The National Football League is formed as the American Professional Football Association in Canton, Ohio on September 17. The Akron Pros finished undefeated and are the first champions of the league. Only two of the original teams the Bears and Cardinals after left from the 1920 season.

Football (soccer)

England

• First Division - West Bromwich Albion win the 1919-20 title.
• FA Cup - Aston Villa beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 (after extra time).
• The Football League expands with the addition of the 22 top Southern League sides to create a new Third Division; the League now has 66 members.

Netherlands

• FC Volendam, a Dutch football club, is founded as Victoria on June 1.

Hockey (Ice)

• Ottawa Senators win their 3rd Stanley Cup, defeating the Seattle Metropolitans 3 games to 2.

Olympics

• 1920 Summer Olympics takes place in Antwerp, Belgium
  • The 1916 Summer Olympics were due to take place in Berlin, Germany, but were cancelled, due to World War I. Following the war, the Olympics were awarded to Antwerp to "honor the suffering of the Belgian people".
  • United States wins the most medals (95), and the most gold medals (41).

Births

• February 8 — Sverre Farstad, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1978)
• March 25 — Howard Cosell, sports broadcaster
• April 3 — Nida Senff, Dutch swimmer (d. 1995)
• August 10 — Red Holzman, American pro basketball coach
• December 28 — James Counsilman, American swimming coach (d. 2004)

Deaths

1920 | 1920 in sports

1920 en sport | Sportåret 1920