The Pittsburgh Steelers found safety depth in former first-round pick Darnell Savage late on Tuesday night. Savage also came for a bargain price.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the Steelers agreed to a 1-year deal with Savage. Over the Cap, per Steelers Depot, added the contract will have a base salary of $1.3 million.
That’s the league minimum for the 2026 season.
Savage will also receive a $187,500 signing bonus and possess about a $1.26 cap hit for 2026.
Just two years ago, Savage was a starting safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last year, he appeared in 12 contests for the Jaguars, Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills.
The Green Bay Packers selected Savage at No. 21 overall in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He spent his first five seasons with the Packers before joining the Jaguars in 2024.
Chargers Retain 2025 Starting Tackle On $10 Million Contract
Baltimore Ravens stunningly back out of Maxx Crosby trade with Raiders
The Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Kirk Cousins had a lengthy history together from 2018 to 2023, but as they say, all good things must come to an end, and they cut ties in March of 2024. Now, Cousins finds himself a free agent again, following a short stint with the Atlanta Falcons.
So, Cousins is a free agent, and he’s one of a handful of veteran quarterbacks still available to sign. That puts him in an elite category, and he’s getting interest from a range of teams. One of those teams is surprising.
Cousins was first drafted by the Washington Redskins, now the Commanders, in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft as the 102nd overall pick out of Michigan State University. After leaving the Vikings, he signed a four-year, $180 million contract, with the Falcons, according to Spotrac research.
With those numbers, he’s not a a “value pick,” as they say. But, he certainly adds value.
Kirk Cousins Projected to Land With Team That’s Currently in Quarterback Limbo
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been waiting to see if Aaron Rodgers is coming back for another season, and it’s pretty much expected that he’ll be back. But, why go through the drama of waiting if there’s another seasoned quarterback available who’s willing to jump in right away?
“They’re supposedly waiting for Aaron Rodgers,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes in a Tuesday, March 10 feature. “If they do for the rest of the week, they’ll likely miss out on multiple affordable options — like Geno Smith, who could possibly be had for $1.3 million. Other potential candidates include Kirk Cousins.”
According to NFL insider Jason La Canfora, the team is seriously looking at Cousins. “Former Vikings playoff quarterback Kirk Cousins is among the top options for Pittsburgh if Rodgers is not back, according to league sources, while the team is legitimately high on the upside of second-year quarterback Will Howard as well,” La Canfora stated in a Sports Boom report.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter has also said Kirk Cousins is a “definitely” an option for the Steelers, according to sports personality Andrew Fillipponi, if Aaron Rodgers decides to not play for them in 2026.
Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings is Another Option
In a March 4 feature in Essentially Sports, via Yahoo News, Luke Hubbard predicts where a handful of NFL free agents will land, and for Cousins, he predicts that he’ll be back in Minnesota.
The Vikings certainly don’t have full faith in quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who had a shaky second year with the team in 2025. In the story, Hubbard notes that even though he’s “not sure exactly where Cousins and the Vikings stand relationship-wise” that it’s “hard to say this wouldn’t be a match made in heaven for both sides.”
“Cousins wants to be a starter again, and he wants to play for a team that’s ready to make a run at the Super Bowl in the next few years,” Hubbard adds. “The Vikings are the only team that really fits that bill. Maybe Pittsburgh, but with Rodgers likely returning, that doesn’t seem like a likely landing spot for Cousins.”
Hubbard brings up that the Vikings aren’t sold on McCarthy and “should be looking to bring someone else in to challenge McCarthy for the starting job.”
Chiefs Lose Super Bowl Hero to the Commanders
The Los Angeles Chargers continue to revamp the offensive line in the 2026 NFL Free Agency.
NFL insider Tom Pelissero revealed that the Bolts have agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with tackle Trey Pipkins. The O-lineman can earn another $2 million with playing time incentives.
Pipkin, who has been with the Chargers his entire career, was a key member of the offensive line after the injuries to Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt (Alt, who plays on the right, switched to left tackle after Slater’s injury).
The offensive lineman has played all over the offensive line in his professional career and will likely become a depth piece if the Chargers are to be plagued by injuries again.
LA retaining Pipkins is the third offensive line move the Bolts have made this free agency, alongside signing center Tyler Biadasz and guard Cole Strange.
Trey Pipkins received a 58 pass block grade and a 42.7 run block grade from Pro Football Focus after the 2025 season. The lineman received a 42.7 overall grade from the publication, ranking Pipkin 84th out of 89 qualifying tackles.
Bolts Fail to Retain Starting Offensive Lineman
After the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive line suffered many injuries in the 2025 season, retaining the best player on the squad would make sense.
Left guard Zion Johnson was among the better performers on a depleted O-line and having a healthy, revamped offensive front could help him perform better.
On the opening day of the free agency’s legal tampering period, Johnson signed a three-year, $48 million deal with the AFC North’s Cleveland Browns.
LA had the cap space to offer the guard a similar contract offer, but appears to have decided against it — the Bolts had one of the most cap spaces when free agency began.
There is still time to figure out the left guard spot, but with players getting snagged, it would be hard for Los Angeles to get a quality option unless they look at the upcoming draft.
Getting Back Starting Tackles
Mike McDaniel won’t have to worry about the offensive line as much in his first season with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, as mentioned, both suffered season-ending injuries, leaving the O-line heavily impeded.
Both players will return healthy next season and provide Justin Herbert some protection off the edges.
Slater is a two-time Pro Bowl and signed a $114 million deal in the offseason before the 2025 season. Alt played in 6 games for the Chargers this season and earned a Pro Bowl nod, showcasing his capability to be one of the better protectors in the league.
With a healthy offensive line with McDaniel as playcaller, the Bolts offense appears to be lining up for success.
No Maxx Crosby trade? What now for NFL free agency, Ravens, Raiders
The Baltimore Ravens stunned the NFL on Tuesday night by backing out of an agreement to trade for Las Vegas Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby.
“The Baltimore Ravens have backed out of our trade agreement for Maxx Crosby,” the Raiders announced in an unprecedented call-out of another franchise on social media. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
Crosby, 28, a five-time Pro Bowler, had traveled to Baltimore to meet his new coaches and prepare for Wednesday’s official signing. He posted a video of the Baltimore skyline on his Instagram account.
But the Ravens, it turns out, failed Crosby on his physical medical examination and therefore reneged on the trade.
Crosby underwent successful surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee in January, so it was well known that he was recovering from that procedure when the Ravens agreed to the original trade in the first place.
So numerous people in the NFL were confused about how the Ravens could pull this last minute and were wondering if something else had prompted their last-minute decision to pull out.
“This is very much bulls— on Baltimore’s part,” one GM told NFL Network late Tuesday night.
The news sent shockwaves through the league, starting with the Raiders’ building.
Vegas was acquiring two first-round picks from Baltimore in the deal, on top of trading away an expensive and disgruntled player who no longer wanted to play in Sin City.
They proceeded to add players in free agency with an understanding of having their salary cap space at a certain number and their draft assets increased for more young players at cost control.
Instead, Crosby is now back on their books, and the Raiders no longer likely have the same market for him.
The Dallas Cowboys, for example, who were bidding against the Ravens initially for Crosby and lost out, have moved on after acquiring defensive end Rashan Gary in a trade with the Green Bay Packers.
The Raiders could try to repair their damaged relationship with Crosby and retain him. He is their best player, after all. But Crosby no longer wants to play in Vegas after GM John Spytek shut Crosby down late last season so the Raiders could tank for the No. 1 pick.
Crosby considered that unforgivable.
The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the teams to watch to potentially swoop in on Crosby. GM Howie Roseman is always a top contender in moments like these for premier players.
The Ravens could pivot to Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson or be left with a similarly underwhelming pass rush to last year’s.
Baltimore has reneged on agreements in the past due to players not passing physicals, such as wide receiver Ryan Grant and defensive tackle Michael Brockers in 2020, according to the Athletic. But what the Ravens did on Tuesday night was considered by many in the league to be bad business.
The question now is how the Raiders resolve an unusual situation to make their team better in the short and long term. And how the NFL and other teams now treat and view the Ravens the next time they pick up the phone.
No Maxx Crosby trade? What now for NFL free agency, Ravens, Raiders
The Kansas City Chiefs formed an all-time class in the 2022 NFL Draft. Cornerback Trent McDuffie, defensive end George Karlaftis, safety Bryan Cook, linebacker Leo Chenal, cornerback Joshua Williams, cornerback Jaylen Watson, and running back Isiah Pacheco made an immediate impact as rookies. That group was crucial to the Chiefs winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023.
Now, only Karlaftis remains in Kansas City. He signed an extension last July. So far this offseason, there has been a mass exodus in Kansas City. The Chiefs agreed to trade All-Pro McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams last week, and Watson agreed to terms with the Rams when the legal tampering window opened on Monday. Impending free agents Cook agreed to terms with the Cincinnati Bengals, Williams agreed to join the Tennessee Titans, and Pacheco is on his way to Detroit.
Chenal completed the pattern on Tuesday evening. NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that Chenal will sign a three-year, $24.75 million contract with the Washington Commanders. Chenal emerged as a stalwart in Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme. The 25-year-old consistently shot gaps and helped shut down the running game. He also came up huge in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII and LVIII wins.
Against Philadelphia in Super Bowl LVI, Chenal recorded six tackles (four solo), one sack, and one tackle for loss. Against San Francisco in Super Bowl LVIII, Chenal forced 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey to fumble on the opening drive, and he blocked an extra point that would have put San Francisco up 20-16 in the fourth quarter. Chenal will also be remembered for blocking a last-second field goal to cement a 16-14 win over Denver in November 2024.
As for the Commanders’ perspective, Chenal injects youth into what was the league’s oldest roster last season. So far during the legal tampering window, Washington has made a concerted effort to remake the oft-injured group that ranked at the bottom of the league across the board in 2025.
Two of NHL’s biggest players square off to fight in Bruins-Kings game
BOSTON — The was a lot of swinging, a little jawing and not much connecting when two of the NHL’s biggest guys squared off to fight on Tuesday at TD Garden.
It’s unclear exactly what Nikita Zadorov was riled up about in Boston’s game against the Kings. After a collision near the blue that sent he and Taylor Ward sprawling, the Bruins defenseman got up and went after Samuel Helenius, one of the few Los Angeles players in his weight class.
The 6-foot-7 Russian defenseman and the 6-foot-6 forward from Texas each used their left arms to prevent the other from getting off any clean swings with their right hands creating a tangled tango that the officials eventually broke up.
The five minute infraction with 6:35 left in the second brought Zadorov’s league-leading penalty minute total to 132.
Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer, Ryan Pulock relying on each other
ST. LOUIS — The night before he made his NHL debut, Matthew Schaefer followed Ryan Pulock back to his hotel room after dinner.
They were talking about nothing and everything, the 31-year-old Pulock asking the 18-year-old Schaefer how excited he was to play his first game the next night.
Schaefer, who is thinking about getting a tattoo, then asked Pulock about his tattoo: a Maple Leaf over his heart with two hockey sticks. He has it in memory of his brother, Brock, who died at 13 years old after injuries sustained in a car crash. Ryan was in the backseat.
He’s told the story publicly before, but not often. Schaefer didn’t know it. Ryan, well aware of Schaefer’s own experience with losing his mother, recounted it.
Sharks unable to overcome defensive woes in loss to Buffalo Sabres
The San Jose Sharks’ top priority if they want to continue challenging for a playoff spot down the stretch is keeping the puck out of their net.
The Sharks’ game Tuesday night against one of the NHL’s best teams was pretty much a disaster in that regard, as they allowed two goals in both the first and second periods and an especially deflating one early in the third in a 6-3 loss to the red-hot Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Macklin Celebrini, Kiefer Sherwood, and Alex Wennberg all scored for the Sharks, with Sherwood’s goal at the 19:29 mark of the second period cutting the Sabres’ lead to 4-2, giving San Jose some life.
But the Sharks, caught running around in their own zone, allowed a second goal to Jack Quinn 33 seconds into the third period and never fully recovered as they opened a five-game road trip with their third straight loss. Quinn completed the hat-trick, the first of his NHL career, with an empty-net goal with 2:46 to play as the Sabres won their eighth straight game.
Celebrini’s goal, his 33rd of the season, gave him 90 points on the season, and Sherwood set a new career-high with his 20th goal of the season.
The Sharks gave up an odd-man rush on Quinn’s first goal to open the scoring in the first period, and allowed net-front goals to Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker in the first and second periods, respectively. A Sam Dickinson puck-handling miscue also led to a Beck Malenstyn goal early in the second period.
The Sharks now have a goal differential of -26 on the season, and were 29th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (3.46) before Tuesday.
The Sharks trailed 2-1 after an entertaining first period that also featured two fights and a highlight-reel play from the Sharks’ top line.
The Sharks allowed goals to Quinn and Tuch and trailed 2-0 after the opening 5:39, but started to find their game as the period went on.
William Eklund and Shakir Mukhamadullin each had quality scoring chances before a Celebrini forecheck caused Tuch’s errant pass inside the Buffalo zone. Will Smith pounced on the loose puck, and fed Celebrini, who won the race to the front of the net and beat Sabres goalie Alex Lyon.
Only four players have scored at least 90 points in one season for the Sharks. Joe Thornton had 114 in 2006-07, 96 in 2007-08, and 92 in 2005-06 when he joined the Sharks in November of that season. Jonathan Cheechoo had 93 points that year, and Erik Karlsson had 101 points in 2002-23 in his third Norris Trophy season.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is among the legion of coaches impressed by Celebrini, who entered Tuesday as the NHL’s fifth leading scorer involved in 47% of the Sharks’ 189 goals this season.
“He scares me,” Ruff said Tuesday morning. “Incredible talent. I watched him in the Olympics. He’s an unbelievably talented kid. He’s a team driver, can drive your offense, and is unbelievably competitive. He can make plays that a lot of people can’t make.
“We know he’s one of those guys you try to limit. You’re not going to take away his opportunities, but you’ve got to try to limit the really good opportunities, because he’s a game changer.”
This road trip is arguably the Sharks’ most challenging of the season, as every team the Sharks play, as of Tuesday, was either in a playoff spot or just outside.
It’s easily the most important.
The Sharks entered Tuesday one point back of the Seattle Kraken for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. With a trip of .500 or better, the Sharks would put themselves in an ideal spot for the stretch run, with only four of their final 16 games coming against teams that are now in a playoff position.
A losing record on the trip, which continues with stops in Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, and Edmonton, and the Sharks risk losing ground in a tight Western Conference playoff race while adding more importance to their remaining games.
Askarov was coming off a 32-save performance in the Sharks’ 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday to close a six-game homestand. In four starts since the Olympic break, Askarov before Tuesday, was 2-1-1 with an .885 save percentage. This was Askarov’s first career start against the Sabres.
NOTABLE
The Sharks made one lineup change from Saturday’s loss, re-inserting forward Philipp Kurashev into the lineup with scratching Ryan Reaves. Kurashev was a surprise scratch against the Islanders, but started Tuesday’s game on a line with Alex Wennberg and Kiefer Sherwood.
Quinn gets 1st NHL hat trick, Sabres top Sharks for 8th win in row
It was Quinn’s first four-point game in the NHL.
Rasmus Dahlin and Ryan McLeod each had three assists, and Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (40-19-6), who have recorded multiple eight-game runs in a single season for the first time in their history. They won 10 straight from Dec. 9-31.
Alex Lyon made 18 saves.
Macklin Celebrini scored four the fourth straight game, and Alexander Wennberg had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (30-26-6), whose five-game point streak ended (3-0-2). Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves.
Quinn gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 4:12 of the first period, burying a wrist shot under the bar from low in the right circle off a pass from Zucker on a 2-on-1. It was Quinn’s first goal in 13 games.
Alex Tuch tipped Dahlin’s point shot past Askarov blocker side to make it 2-0 at 5:39.
Celebrini cut it to 2-1 at 12:54. Will Smith intercepted Tuch’s clearing attempt and sent it over to Celebrini, who was alone in front to put a backhand under Lyon’s right arm.
Beck Malenstyn pushed it to 3-1 when he pushed a bouncing puck through Sam Dickinson’s legs, went around the defenseman to collect it and put it past Askarov’s glove at 4:59 of the second period.
With Askarov at the left of the crease following a save on a one-timer from Quinn, Zucker backhanded the rebound at the back door to increase it to 4-1 at 8:51.
Kiefer Sherwood narrowed it to 4-2 at 19:29 with a one-timer from the left circle that beat Lyon bar down on the far side for his NHL career-high 20th goal.
Quinn scored 42 seconds into the third, one-timing a feed from McLeod from the top of the slot past Askarov glove side to increase it to 5-2.
Wennberg backhanded a shot from his knees from the slot on the power play that went past Lyon’s right pad to cut it to 5-3 at 6:56.
Quinn completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 17:14 for the 6-3 final.
Oilers milestones: Draisaitl passes Messier for fourth in franchise games played, Frederic plays 400th NHL game
A couple of players have hit some notable milestones.
When the puck dropped between the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, forward Leon Draisaitl officially dressed in the 852nd game of his NHL career, while fellow forward Trent Frederic appeared in the 400th game of his career in the big leagues.
Draisaitl’s appearance is notable, as he takes sole possession of fourth place in franchise history in games played, surpassing former Edmonton captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier.
The German sniper was the third overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft and has been an everyday part of the Oilers’ lineup since the 2015-16 season. Alongside captain Connor McDavid, the two have driven the franchise back to prominence and back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.
Draisaitl became one of the NHL’s most lethal goal scorers, beginning with the 2018-19 campaign, when he reached 50 goals and 100 points for the first time. His persistent production has continued ever since. The Cologne native has reached the century mark in points six times in the past seven seasons, and is well on his way to hitting 100 points once again. He’s also scored 50 goals four times in his career, finally winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy last season, when he potted 52 goals in 71 games.
Draisaitl’s best year came in 2019-20, when he led the NHL with 110 points in the COVID-shortened season, earning the Art Ross and Hart Trophies, as well as the Ted Lindsay Award.
Draisaitl sits third all-time on the Oilers’ goal-scoring list with 433 goals and 1,048 points, and fourth in assists (615). This year, he has notched 34 goals and 58 assists for 92 points, sitting second behind McDavid in all categories.
Frederic came to the Oilers via trade with the Boston Bruins last March. He was brought in to provide a little depth and toughness for a team looking to get over the hump. He spent parts of over six seasons with the Bruins, having now appeared in 63 regular-season games with Edmonton, scoring four goals and five points so far this year.
Canadiens’ Lane Hutson sets record for most assists by NHL defenseman within first 150 games
Hutson achieved the feat during Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, doing so on the Canadiens second goal of the game with just over five minutes remaining in the first period. After Jakub Dobes handed the puck to Hutson behind the Montreal net, he skated the puck up the ice before handing the puck off to his defense partner, Kaiden Guhle, in the neutral zone. Guhle got the puck past center ice before dumping the puck in, but the puck took a weird bounce off of the boards and careened towards the slot for Phillip Danault to collect and bury past Joseph Woll, giving Montreal the 2-0 lead and the eventual game-winning goal.
In doing so, Hutson gets the 116th assist of his NHL career, giving him the most by an NHL defenseman within their first 150 games. He surpasses Hall-of-Fame defenseman Sergei Zubov to achieve the feat, as Zubov had 115 through his first 150 NHL games, all with the New York Rangers.
Hutson also has some room to add to that record, as he’s only played 147 career regular season games. The Canadiens next three games are Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators, Saturday against the San Jose Sharks and Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Jonathan Quick close to matching NHL legend on all-time list
A trying season for Jonathan Quick and the New York Rangers still includes some history for the veteran netminder. Quick’s shutout of the Calgary Flames moved further up the ladder on the NHL’s all-time list.
In the Rangers’ 4-0 blanking of the Flames, Quick, 40, saved all 21 shots sent his way.
Jonathan Quick will match a legend and Islanders head coach with his next shutout
He now has 65 shutouts for his career, placing him just one away from tying Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche legend and current New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy (66) for the 16th most.
The win marked Quick’s first since Jan. 26 and only his fifth of the season. His record improved to 5-15-2 when in the net for New York during the 2025-26 campaign.
Out of his five wins so far this season, two of them are shutouts, with the other coming back on Oct. 28 in Vancouver against the Canucks.
Jonathan Quick has a resume worthy of Hall of Fame consideration
In the midst of his 19th NHL season, Quick has 409 career regular-season wins, 49 more in the postseason, a cumulative goals-against average of 2.51, a .910 save percentage, three All-Star appearances, three Stanley Cups (two as a starter and one as a backup), a couple of William M. Jennings Trophy’s for giving up the fewest goals allowed and the 2012 Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP.
It’s unclear how much longer Quick will play, but these shutouts show he can still turn back the clock occasionally.
Trophy Tracker: Makar, Werenski in close race for Norris as top defenseman
At the quarter-point and halfway point of the NHL season, Cale Makar was the unanimous choice to win the Norris Trophy as the League’s best defenseman, according to an NHL.com poll. All 16 voters selected the Colorado Avalanche star to win.
But with the season hitting the three-quarter point last week, the race is as close at it gets. Makar remains the choice, but received seven of the 16 first-place votes and 80 total voting points, with Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets also receiving seven first-place votes and 79 points. Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild and Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers received the other first-place votes.
Saros makes 43 saves, Predators hand Kraken 3rd straight loss
Tyson Jost and Reid Schaefer scored, Jonathan Marchessault had two assists, and Ryan Ufko scored his first NHL goal for the Predators (29-27-8), who have won two of their past three.
Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers scored for the Kraken (29-25-9). Joey Daccord had 23 saves.
Kakko put the Kraken up 1-0 at 2:14 of the first period. Shane Wright’s shot from the right face-off circle bounced off Saros’ right pad into the slot, and Kakko lifted the rebound into the net.
Beniers made is 2-0 at 9:46 when he roofed a shot over Saros’ left shoulder from a sharp angle below the right face-off circle.
Jost cut the deficit to 2-1 at 4:13 of the second period. Marchessault caught Fedor Svechkov in stride into the offensive zone, and Svechkov then sent a cross-ice pass to Jost in the left circle, where he beat a sprawling Daccord with a wrist shot to the blocker side.
Wright appeared to put Seattle up 3-1 at 9:46, but Ryker Evans’ skate caught a piece of Predators defenseman Nick Perbix and Evans slid into Saros before the puck went in.
Schaefer tied it 2-2 just 33 seconds later at 10:19. Matthew Wood drove past Kraken forward Ryan Winterton and slid the puck to the top of the crease, where Schaefer tapped it into an open net.
Ufko put Nashville ahead 3-2 at 14:25 with a highlight-reel goal. Following a face-off win in the left circle by Ryan O’Reilly, Marchessault collected the puck and fed it to Ufko at the blue line. Ufko danced through the Kraken defense before going backhand-forehand and tucked the puck around the left skate of Daccord.
Ufko, playing in his fourth NHL game, was recalled from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League on March 5 along with Schaefer and Svechkov.
Steven Stamkos scored an empty-net goal at 19:55 of the third period for the 4-2 final.
Ryan Ufko scores his first NHL goal as the Predators beat the Kraken 4-2
SEATTLE (AP) — Ryan Ufko scored his first NHL goal with 5:35 to play in the second period to put the Nashville Predators ahead to stay in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
The rookie skated in from the right of the goal, dodged between two defenders and tucked the puck past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord to give the Predators a 3-2 lead and two critical points in their chase for a wild-card playoff spot. Right now the team is on the outside of the playoff picture.
Tyson Jost and Reid Schaefer also scored second-period goals to erase Seattle’s 2-0 first-period lead and Steve Stamkos added an empty-netter for his 31st goal of the season.
Jonathan Marchessault had a pair of assists for Nashville, which had lost four of its previous five, and Juuse Saros made 43 saves.
Kaapo Kakko scored just 2:14 into the game and Matty Beniers scored at 9:46 of the first period to give the Kraken a 2-0 lead. Beniers scored from a tough angle, firing from the bottom of the right circle and over the shoulder of Saros just inside the far post.
Daccord finished with 23 saves.
Seattle’s Shane Wright scored a goal in the second but it was waved off because of goalie interference when Ryker Evans slid into Saros and took out his feet.
The Kraken were without left wing Jaden Schwartz, who was hit in the face by a skate during Seattle’s 7-4 loss to Ottawa on Saturday.
Kraken, clinging to a wild-card slot, have now lost five of their last seven games.
Up next
Predators: Visit Vancouver on Thursday night.
Kraken: Host Colorado on Thursday night.
___
Bam Adebayo scores 83 points, 2nd-best in NBA history, sets FT records in Heat win over Wizards
By TIM REYNOLDS
MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 83 points, the second-best scoring effort in NBA history, to carry the Miami Heat to a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.
Adebayo had 31 points in the first quarter, 43 by halftime and 62 by the end of the third quarter. He finished 20 for 43 from the field, 36 for 43 from the foul line and 7 for 22 from 3-point range.
Adebayo’s free throw makes and attempts both set NBA records for a game. The record for attempts was 39 by Dwight Howard — who got to the line that many times on two occasions. The record for free throws made in a game was 28, set by Wilt Chamberlain and Adrian Dantley.
Chamberlain got the 28 free throws on the night he scored 100 points in 1962 — the only game better than Adebayo in NBA history. Adebayo passed his basketball idol, Kobe Bryant, for the second-highest scoring game ever; Bryant’s career-best was 81.
LeBron James had the previous Heat single-game scoring mark; his 61-point effort against Charlotte happened on March 3, 2014. Denver’s Nikola Jokic had the previous season high in the NBA this season with 56.
Adebayo passed them both in the third quarter — and just kept going.
Simone Fontecchio scored 18 points for Miami (37-29), which has won six straight and moved a season-best eight games over .500. The Heat were without Norman Powell (groin), Tyler Herro (quadriceps), Nikola Jovic (back) and Andrew Wiggins (toe).
Alex Sarr had 28 points for the Wizards, who were without Trae Young — held out with right knee injury management. Will Riley added 22 and Jaden Hardy scored 17 for Washington, which has lost nine straight.
Besides Towns and now Adebayo, only three other players in the last 30 seasons had at least 31 points in a quarter.
— Klay Thompson had an NBA record for any quarter with 37 for Golden State against Sacramento in the third quarter on Jan. 23, 2015.
— Kevin Love had 34 for Cleveland against Portland in the first quarter on Nov. 23, 2016.
— Carmelo Anthony had 33 for Denver against Minnesota in the third quarter on Dec. 10, 2008.
The previous Heat record for points in a first quarter was 25, done by LeBron James at Cleveland on March 18, 2014. James had the only other 25-point quarter in Heat history, part of his team-record, 61-point game against Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
Before Tuesday, Adebayo had never scored more than 19 points in a quarter.
43-point half
Adebayo’s 43-point first half was the NBA’s second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.
Towns had 44 for Minnesota against Charlotte on Jan. 22, 2024.
The NBA record for points in a first half is 53, shared by Denver’s David Thompson and San Antonio’s George Gervin — who famously did it on the same day, April 9, 1978. That was the final day of that regular season, as those two dueled (albeit in separate games) to decide the league’s scoring title.
LeBron James, Kevin Durant and other superstars react to Bam Adebayo’s 83 point night
Eighty-three points and counting for the Miami Heat’s captain Bam Adebayo tonight against the Washington Wizards.
Sets an NBA scoring record, only trailing Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.
The NBA world was quick to react to this historic night in basketball history.
Olympic teammates LeBron James reacted to his big night. Adebayo actually passed James in some Heat history in this game, as his 31 point first quarter marked the most points scored in a quarter in Heat franchise history, passing James’ 25 points which he did twice.
Damian Lillard is another former Olympic teammate of Adebayo, and close friend, as he called into The Association to tell NBA reporter Chris Haynes that he
A’ja Wilson Has the Perfect Response After Boyfriend Bam Adebayo Rewrites NBA History
Bam Adebayo saw the Washington Wizards one fine Tuesday night and decided to channel his inner Kobe Bryant. The Miami Heat Center sent the entire basketball world into a frenzy after dropping 83 points in the 150-129 win over the Wizards. Adebayo was everywhere during the game and was found in the arms of his girlfriend, A’ja Wilson, after scripting history. Wilson was on the sidelines, watching Adebayo play the game of his life. Once it was all said and done, she had the perfect words regarding Adebayo’s fortunes.
Adebayo passed Kobe Bryant (81 points in 2006) for second place on the single-game scoring list. Wilt Chamberlain’s infamous 100-point game still stands as the record since 1962. “Welp, won’t have the highest career high in the house anymore, but at least it gives me something to go after,” Wilson wrote on twitter. A’ja Wilson herself holds the record for most points in a WNBA game with her 53 points against Atlanta in 2023 (tied with Liz Cambage).
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“God is really just really special for him and God doesn’t play about Bam,” Wilson said in the post-match press conference. Adebayo’s statline is something very unique, even beyond the points. He went 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, and 7 of 22 from 3-point range.
Adebayo also broke the Free throw attempt and made a record in the process. And not without reason, he was getting double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line. It was his day, but Adebayo also took time to credit Wilson as one of the drivers behind his effort.
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“She’s been gone for about a week. She was joking about how I got my 10,000th point and saying she wanted me to wait until she was there. So having her here for my 83rd is very special,” Adebayo said. “The behind-the-scenes work, the workouts, and the conversations are very motivating. Obviously, you see what she does and get inspired by it every day. I’m thankful to have her in my life.”
A’ja Wilson and Bam Adebayo have always turned up for the important moments of each other’s careers. When Wilson won the MVP last year, it was Adebayo who handed her the trophy. They have openly shared learning from each other during their workouts and propelled each other to new heights. Bam also took a page out of Wilson’s book during the game after he met with an exclusive problem.
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Bam Adebayo Dips In A’ja Wilson’s Formula During His 83-Point Game
By the fourth quarter, it was clear both teams were fighting over one thing: Bam Adebayo’s scoring record. Heat was actively trying to get Bam the ball and get his numbers up while the Wizards were giving him extra attention. Defenders swarmed around Adebayo and Bam continued getting and-ones. After the game, he joked about seeing the same situation happening with Wilson.
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“Turning around and you got four people guarding you. I’ve seen that before,” Adebayo said while not so subtly pointing towards Wilson sitting beside him, who laughed heartily. “Obviously when they just don’t want you to get the ball…I don’t even know how to put this night into words, man. Like I’m still feeling lightheaded. I don’t even know, like, how to really respond for real.”
Wilson is famous for leading the WNBA in freethrows because of the sheer attention she gets. Not without reason, she is a 4-time MVP who can score from anywhere. Her playstyle forces teams to defend her with multiple players. Remember Game 3 of the WNBA finals against the Phoenix Mercury?
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With the game tied, Wilson took a dribble left and spun right while being guarded by DeWanna Bonner. Alyssa Thomas, an All-Defensive team member, joined in for a double team. But Wilson did not care. She fired the winner from mid-range with 0.3 seconds left, taking the Aces closer to the title, which they eventually won in Game 4.
Jaylen Brown’s Ejection Shouldn’t Have Happened, and the NBA Knows It
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to San Antonio for Tuesday’s matchup between the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs, featuring Victor Wembanyama and Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and De’Aaron Fox, Tyler Ford and Suyash Mehta.
Wait … who?
If you missed it, Ford and Mehta are the referees who tagged Brown with a pair of technical fouls late in the second quarter of the Spurs’ 125–116 win over the Celtics, ejecting Boston’s All-Star from the game. Brown was hot after a no-call on Stephon Castle caused a turnover, and he let Ford know it. When Ford T’d him up, Brown aggressively moved toward him. That’s when Mehta, from across the floor, hit him with another.
Goodbye, Jaylen.
Look: Brown came into this game a little prickly. In January, Boston shot four free throws in a 100–95 home loss to San Antonio. Brown popped off after the game, telling reporters “it’s the same s— every time we play a good team. It’s, like, they refuse to make a call, then they call touch fouls on the other end.” The NBA dinged Brown with a $35,000 fine.
So Brown, who has an elephant-like memory, likely came into the game with a chip on his shoulder. He probably earned the first tech. And he put himself in the position for Ford to eject him when he went after him aggressively enough that multiple teammates had to hold him back.
But Ford didn’t eject him. That came from Mehta, the umpire, who injected himself into the situation from the basketball equivalent of right field. Ford told a pool reporter after the game that Brown was given the first tech “for aggressively pointing and using profanity and resentment to the no call.” The second, Ford said, was because Brown “aggressively approached a game official while pointing and using profanity.”
Minutes after getting toss, Brown posted from the locker room, “This the s— I be talking about.”
Did Brown earn the technicals? Sure, if it was a midseason game between Boston and the Brooklyn Nets. But it wasn’t. It was a nationally televised game between two of the top four teams in the NBA. It featured two MVP candidates in Brown and Wembanyama. Brown had eight points in 14 minutes and left with the Celtics holding a two-point lead. They ended up losing the game by nine.
More importantly, this wasn’t Mehta’s call to make. Ford was the crew chief. He was the one who T’d up Brown and he was the one taking his abuse. If Ford, the more experienced official, believed Brown had gone too far, he should have tossed him. Mehta, who was never involved in the play, should not.
That it was Mehta, not Ford, who tossed Brown, didn’t go unnoticed by Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. “I just give a ton of credit to my high school principal,” said Mazzulla. “He had the balls to throw a student out. He didn’t leave it to the hall monitor.”
Yikes.
NBA referees generally do an excellent job. It isn’t easy to manage a game played at these speeds by these kind of athletes. And, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver reminded me last fall, a lot of how the game is called is dictated by the league. There are certain actions they have to call. Wave your hand at an official? That’s a tech. Clap at one? That’s another. Slap the stanchion in frustration. You are going to get whistled.
These are rules that are constantly evolving. For example: Silver said the league recognizes the need to allow players to show more emotion without fear of getting T’d up for it. “I think we may have gotten to a point where we had disallowed some of the spontaneous emotion on the floor and created some bright line leading to technicals that I think were not necessary to control the game and not the official’s fault,” said Silver. “I think that’s the league office’s fault.”
Brown needed to have a cooler head in that situation. But referees need to exercise more discretion, too. More than 19,000 fans packed the Frost Bank Center on Tuesday for what could have been an NBA Finals preview. They got nearly two quarters of it. After that, they got something else.
More NBA from Sports Illustrated
Heat’s Bam Adebayo scores 83, 2nd only to Wilt in NBA history
By Tim Reynolds
MIAMI (AP) — It’s Wilt, then Bam.
Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.
“An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter and never stopped rolling. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.
His final numbers: 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range. It was a stat line unlike any other in NBA history, and a night like none other for Adebayo.
He was in tears as he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game.
“Welp won’t have the highest career high in the house anymore,” Adebayo’s girlfriend, four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, wrote on social media, “but at least it gives me something to go after.”
Adebayo’s dunk with 22 seconds left in the third quarter gave him 62 points for the game, breaking the Heat single-game record of 61 set by LeBron James on March 3, 2014.
The NBA’s previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters: one of Adebayo’s basketball heroes, Kobe Bryant, who had exactly that many through three quarters for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005.
He wound up passing Bryant for single-game scoring as well. Bryant’s career-best was 81 — a game that was the second-best on the NBA scoring list for two decades.
Until now.
And Adebayo only needed the first half to set a career high, too.
Adebayo scored 31 points in the opening quarter against the Wizards, breaking the Heat record for points in any quarter — and tying the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.
He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high — for a full game, that is — of 41, set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.
Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.
31-point quarter
Adebayo had the NBA’s highest-scoring quarter — any quarter — since Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 for Minnesota in the third quarter of a game at San Antonio on March 14, 2022.
Besides Towns and now Adebayo, only three other players in the last 30 seasons had at least 31 points in a quarter.
— Klay Thompson had an NBA record for any quarter with 37 for Golden State against Sacramento in the third quarter on Jan. 23, 2015.
— Kevin Love had 34 for Cleveland against Portland in the first quarter on Nov. 23, 2016.
— Carmelo Anthony had 33 for Denver against Minnesota in the third quarter on Dec. 10, 2008.
The previous Heat record for points in a first quarter was 25, done by James at Cleveland on March 18, 2014. James had the only other 25-point quarter in Heat history, part of his team-record, 61-point game against Charlotte.
Before Tuesday, Adebayo had never scored more than 19 points in a quarter.
43-POINT HALF
Adebayo’s 43-point first half was the NBA’s second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.
Towns had 44 for Minnesota against Charlotte on Jan. 22, 2024.
The NBA record for points in a first half is 53, shared by Denver’s David Thompson and San Antonio’s George Gervin — who famously did it on the same day, April 9, 1978. That was the final day of that regular season, as those two dueled (albeit in separate games) to decide the league’s scoring title.
AJ Dybantsa scores 40 as No. 10 seed BYU beats Kansas State 105-91 in the Big 12 Tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — AJ Dybantsa had 40 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and No. 10 seed BYU use a big second-half run to break open a close game with No. 15 seed Kansas State and roll to a 105-91 victory in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday night.
Robert Wright III added 14 points and six assists, and Kennard Davis Jr. had 15 points for the Cougars (22-10), who set a single-game tournament scoring record while advancing to play seventh-seeded West Virginia on Wednesday night.
P.J. Haggerty matched Dybantsa into the second half and finished with 27 points for the Wildcats (12-20), who played their final game for interim coach Matthew Driscoll, who had taken control of the program after the firing of Jerome Tang last month.
Nate Johnson had 19 points for Kansas State. Khamari McGriff finished with 13.
The fact that BYU was playing at all Tuesday night was somewhat surprising.
Dybantsa could be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this year. Wright has been a star in his own right. At one point early in the season, the Cougars were ranked seventh in the AP Top 25 and living up to the lofty expectations of their expensive lineup.
But things went sideways beginning with a four-game skid in January and February, and floor leader Richie Saunders was lost for the rest of the season to a torn ACL. The Cougars lost three of their last four games, and tiebreakers put them at the No. 10 seed.
They jumped out to a quick lead Tuesday night, though, as Haggerty and Dybantsa began to duel. And while they led just 50-49 at the break, the Cougars went on a 17-2 run beginning with about 9 1/2 minutes to play that allowed them to pull away.
Up next
The Cougars march on to face West Virginia, which beat them 79-71 a couple of weeks ago.
Kansas State turns its focus toward hiring its next permanent coach.
Bam Adebayo erupts for 83 points in NBA’s highest-scoring game since Luka Doncic in 2024
MIAMI (AP) — It’s Wilt, then Bam.
Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.
“An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Obviously, we’ve been blessed to have been part of a lot of big moments in this arena. This one, it just happened. Moments happen and I’m grateful that we’re all able to be a part of it and witness it.”
Chamberlain’s record of 100 points has stood since 1962. Kobe Bryant — one of Adebayo’s basketball heroes — was No. 2 on the list with 81. Adebayo never thought he’d be in that club.
And then came a night he’ll never forget.
“Wilt, me, then Kobe,” Adebayo said. “It sounds crazy.”
Adebayo’s final numbers: 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range. It was the most points in an NBA game since then-Dallas Maverick Luka Doncic scored 73 against the Atlanta Hawks in January 2024.
He was in tears as he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game. Emotions were kept in check, until then.
“For me, it was just remaining calm, remaining locked in and understanding that I can go for something special,” Adebayo said. “I didn’t think it was going to be 83. But to have this moment is surreal, because like I said, man, to be able to do it at home, in front of my mom, in front of my people, in front of the home fans, this is a mark in history that will forever be remembered.”
Adebayo’s career high, before Monday, was 41.
That was passed by halftime.
“I looked at the stat sheet. It was pretty crazy: 40 shots, 40 free throws, 20 3s, that takes a lot of stamina, man,” Houston star and Adebayo’s USA Basketball teammate Kevin Durant said. “It takes a lot of energy to go out there and put those shots up and also make them, set a record, surpass Kobe as the second highest-scoring player in the history of the game. I mean, damn. Congrats to him. Huge, huge accomplishment, something we’re going to be talking about forever.”
Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter and never stopped rolling. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.
“BAM BAM BAM,” former Heat forward LeBron James posted on social media. James had the Heat single-game record of 61 points, set on March 3, 2014. He’s now No. 2 on the team list — by a wide margin.
The NBA’s previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters was Bryant, who had exactly that many going into the fourth for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005.
Adebayo got to the line 16 times in the fourth, and the game had some comical moments. The Heat made clear they kept wanting Adebayo to get the ball and get to the line, even in a blowout. The Wizards tried to foul others — but couldn’t stop the scoring onslaught.
“You’ve got to give him credit,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said. ”In the first half he shot the ball terrific, he scored the ball really well. Obviously, he came out and had a little bit in the third, too. They obviously kept him in the game, and there was a lot of fouls called — 16 free throws in the fourth quarter. I was trying to take the ball out of his hands, he still got some free throws 40 feet from the rim. I can’t explain some of those calls. That’s all I got to say on that.”
And Adebayo only needed the first half to set a career high, too.
Adebayo’s 31 points in the opening quarter broke the Heat record for points in any quarter — and tied the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.
He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high — for a full game, that is — set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.
Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.
He was just getting started.
“I would say once he got to 50, then we’re thinking, all right, maybe he can get to 60,” Spoelstra said.
He got to 60, late in the third.
“And when he got to 60, it just kept on going,” Spoelstra said. “We might as well go for 70.”
He got to 70,
“And then, I didn’t dare even think about taking him out at that point,” Spoelstra said. “We just kept on going.”
When Spoelstra finally declared Adebayo’s night over, he was waiting to greet the center with a big hug. Teammates did the same, as did some of the Wizards after the final buzzer. Adebayo made his way over to Heat managing general partner Micky Arison for congratulations, before eventually getting to the locker room.
Everyone wanted his jersey, which he kept. The game ball was secured. The nets were cut down as souvenirs. A’ja Wilson, Adebayo’s longtime girlfriend and the four-time WNBA MVP, could barely keep from crying.
“I know he says that I’m his inspiration,” Wilson said. “But I don’t think he has a clue how much he inspires me to continue to be the person that I am.”
Finally, Adebayo made his way to the parking garage, exhausted. He never had an opportunity to meet Bryant, who died in 2020, and often wonders what it would be like to have him as a confidant. He had those same thoughts Tuesday, after topping Bryant’s 81.
“Just a surreal moment,” Adebayo said, “being in the company with somebody I idolized growing up.”
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo makes NBA history with 83-point game
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Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made NBA history on Tuesday night.
Adebayo scored 83 points, all while setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. It is the second-highest scoring game for a player ever, only to Wilt Chamberlain’s famed 100-point game.
Bam’s night: Inside the numbers of an 83-point game
MIAMI (AP) — A look inside the numbers from Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game for the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, the second-highest total in NBA history:
83 points
Start with the obvious one. Only Wilt Chamberlain with his 100-point game is now ahead of Adebayo on the NBA single-game list.
Kobe Bryant — Adebayo’s idol — had the No. 2 spot, with 81 points.
“It speaks volumes for his hard work,” Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I know Bam. He works his butt off every single day. He never cheats the game. Seeing a guy like him doing something like this is incredible.”
The 40-40 club
Adebayo is the first player in the NBA’s play-by-play era — dating back to the start of the 1996-97 season — to have 40 points in both halves of a game.
He had 43 points in the first, 40 in the second.
The closest anyone has come to that in the last 30 years is Luka Doncic, who had 41 in the first and 32 in the second for Dallas against Atlanta on Jan. 26, 2024.
Chamberlain is the only other 40-40 member — barely. He had 41 in the first half of his 100-point game, then 59 more after halftime.
The free throws
Adebayo made 36 free throws and took 43, both of which are NBA single-game records.
Chamberlain made 28 on the night that he scored 100, March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania for Philadelphia against New York. Utah’s Adrian Dantley also made 28 free throws, in Las Vegas, against Houston on Jan. 4, 1984.
The record for free throws attempted was 39, done twice, both times by Dwight Howard. He took that many for Orlando against Golden State on Jan. 12, 2012 — then did it again for the Los Angeles Lakers, against Orlando, on March 12, 2013.
The 3-pointers
Adebayo attempted 22 3-pointers, making him the seventh player in NBA history to try that many in a game.
The others with at least that many: James Harden has done it four times and Stephen Curry twice, while Damian Lillard, Marcus Smart, J.R. Smith and Klay Thompson all did it once. Thompson has the record for attempts in a game with 24, done for Golden State on Oct. 29, 2018, against Chicago.
Thompson had a record 14 made 3s that night as well.
For perspective, Adebayo averaged — averaged! — 15 3-point attempts per season over his first seven years in the league.
43 shots
Adebayo’s 43 field goal attempts wasn’t even a season-high in the NBA. Cade Cunningham took 45 in a game for Detroit on Nov. 10.
Scoring average
In one night, Adebayo’s average went from 18.9 to 20.0 points per game.
Heat records
Among the many Heat regular-season records that Adebayo set on Tuesday night:
— Most points in a quarter (31, previous was LeBron James with 25).
— Most points in a first half (43, previous was 31 by James, Dwyane Wade and Sherman Douglas).
— Most points in a second half (40, previous was 37 by James).
— Most shots in a game (43, previous was 39 by Wade).
— Most 3-point attempts in a game (22, previous mark was 17, done on six occasions).
___
Bam Adebayo pulls off statistical shock with historic 83-point outburst
His nickname is the same as the sound caused by hitting everyone over the head with what he just did, because of course it is. Yes, this morning or afternoon, whenever you read this, you are certainly asking yourself what just happened and still woozy from the Bam!
Wilt Chamberlain, 100 points.
Kobe Bryant, 81 points.
And now, freshly wedged between those immortal single-game scoring totals is a player known for defense, a player whose previous scoring high was 41 points, a player who wasn’t an All-Star last month, a player whose career could generously be described as pretty good but hardly legendary.
Everything changed on a random yet manic March night in Miami with this entry:
Eldrice Femi “Bam” Adebayo, 83 points.
This perhaps qualifies as the biggest statistical surprise in NBA history. Is that prisoner-of-the-moment talk? Maybe not, because it came so unexpectedly, and it involves the glamorous art of scoring, and it’s now in the company of Wilt and Kobe, and it’s more than Michael Jordan or LeBron James ever managed, and …
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opened his postgame press conference by saying: “Anything happen tonight?”
If Bam’s 83 becomes widely judged by the basketball gods as a fluke because of certain late-game antics and circumstances that contributed, so be it and so what?
It was witnessed by a disbelieving crowd cheering on Adebayo on Tuesday in Miami, teammates who deliriously did whatever necessary to help make it possible, the powerless Washington Wizards, and thousands around the country who rushed to their computers or phones and crashed NBA League Pass as the game progressed and his scoring total went stratospheric.
“It’s a special moment,” he said. “It’s Wilt, me, then Kobe, which sounds crazy.”
He shot 20-for-43 from the floor. Almost half of those attempts, 22, were on 3-pointers. This was a good player on a hot night, which happens frequently in the NBA, just not to this level or anywhere close, actually.
Before Tuesday, Adebayo averaged 4.8 free-throw attempts per game this season. He finished this game with an astounding 43 attempts, making 36 — which is rather impressive for a 77% shooter. His attempts and makes are single-game NBA records.
His teammates conspired to put him in the books. They fouled purposely down the stretch and early in the shot clock, sometimes as soon as the ball was inbounded, to get the ball back to Adebayo as much as possible, even with a comfortable lead that would eventually swell into the 30s. And Spoelstra was clearly co-signing this by keeping Adebayo in the game and throwing in his two cents.
With three minutes left, two Wizards players purposely took a charge against Adebayo. The Heat were up 25 but Spoelstra challenged the call to try to get Adebayo two more free-throw attempts. It was unsuccessful but again, everyone was in on it.
“The last six minutes of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter I was a fan,” said Spoelstra. “This one came out of nowhere. This one snuck up on us. It snuck up on all of us. Once it kept on going, we knew we could be part of something special.”
Once Adebayo crept toward Kobe’s mythical 81, which is worshiped by the current generation, Spoelstra admitted: “You’re caught up in the moment like everyone else. And I didn’t want to get in the way. And I damn for sure wasn’t going to take him out.”
Adebayo did have 31 points in the first quarter and 43 at halftime. That raised possibilities. That was legitimate, with no theatrics by his teammates and against a full Wizards squad. Speaking of the Wizards, they benched their two best starters after three quarters, in particular Alex Sarr, their promising center, and therefore contributed to the cause.
In that situation, giving such player multiple cracks at the all-time single-game scoring list becomes an obligation by his coach and teammates, to measure how high and where he can take this performance. Any team will feed a hot player to see what happens next. And in this instance, it was a lot.
He had 63 points after three quarters. That was the tipping point. That’s when everyone knew something really unique was brewing. That was just six points fewer than Wilt’s total through three quarters in Hershey, Pa., on March 2, 1962 and 10 more than Kobe’s three quarters 20 years ago.
According to the book Wilt, 1962, an account of his record scoring night, his Philadelphia Warriors teammates constantly fed Wilt the ball in the fourth and stood by and watched. The Knicks, the opponent, began fouling all Warriors except Wilt. So those twin strategies went back and forth and Wilt was caught in the middle as the crowd screamed “give it to Wilt.”
As for Kobe’s 81, the Lakers didn’t conspire to help Kobe in the fourth quarter as much as Kobe helped himself. He took 13 of his team’s last 17 shots, although unlike Heat-Wizards, the game was competitive at that stage.
Sam Mitchell, the coach of the Toronto Raptors that night in LA, recently told NBA.com: “Go back and look at what types of shots he made. It’ll blow your mind. He was pump-faking three, four times and then spinning opposite of the defense while shooting … it was Kobe freaking Bryant, man. Whatcha gonna do?”
Adebayo mentioned Kobe after his own record night, and added: “I wonder what he would say, to be 83 and pass him, my mind is like, what would he say to me? ‘Cause I always wanted to have a conversation with him … he would probably tell me to do it again. Just a surreal moment to be in the company of somebody you idolized growing up.”
The Wizards became an understandable victim because the club has long veered toward the bottom of the East and toward the draft lottery. Washington, like most teams in such a situation, is using the final few weeks of the season to force-feed playing time to young players, essentially judging them now for the future. The downside is this philosophy made the Wizards vulnerable to … this.
So these historic games are part-freakish, part-concocted and partly due to talented players who can’t miss. None are completely pure or explainable. They just happen — and in the case of Bam Adebayo’s night, so inexplicably out of nowhere and by a very unlikely player.
“Unreal,” he said.
* * *
MLS bans two former players for ‘extensive gambling’ on matches
Former Major League Soccer players Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah have been banned for life for gambling on matches, the league announced Monday.
Jones and Yeboah were placed on administrative leave in October 2025 pending a league review of potential rules violations. Jones, 29, most recently played for the Columbus Crew, appearing in 23 games across 2024 and 2025. Yeboah, 28, was a teammate of Jones’ with the Crew before joining Los Angeles FC in 2025.
They were placed on leave after the league received suspicious betting alerts through its partners.
The MLS investigation uncovered “extensive gambling” by Jones and Yeboah over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, including on their own matches. During an October 2024 match, both players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card, according to the investigation. Jones did in fact receive the card.
The investigation also concluded the players likely shared inside information with other bettors.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
In a statement, the Crew said it fully condemned the actions of Jones and Yeboah.
MORE MLS COVERAGE
“The Crew — who strictly adhere to all MLS policies on educating and enforcing sports gambling regulations with team personnel — fully cooperated with the league since first learning about the inquiry regarding the players in question,” the statement read.
MLS has disciplined players for gambling before, suspending Sporting Kansas City’s Felipe Hernandez in 2021 and then terminating his contract in 2024 for multiple violations of the league’s betting policy.
Gambling, and in particular prop bets, have been an issue for multiple North American sports leagues in the wake of legalization of sports betting.
Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged last year and are set to face trial this year over a pitch-rigging related to in-game prop bets and parlays.
In the NBA, former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban in 2024 for violating the league’s betting rules. Porter was in part banned for disclosing information betters used on prop bets and parlays. (Last season, the NBA’s gambling partners agreed to no longer offer “under” prop bets on players either on 10-day or two-way contracts.)
Derrick Jones, Yaw Yeboah banned for life by Major League Soccer for gambling on games
Two players were banned for life Monday by Major League Soccer for gambling on soccer, including bets involving their own matches.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were both placed on administrative leave in October pending a review of potential violations of league rules.
MLS said the investigation concluded the players “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.” The league cited one instance where the players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card in a 2024 match, which he did. Both players were with the Columbus Crew at the time.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
Jones was playing for the Crew when he was placed on leave. Yeboah, Jones’ former teammate in Columbus, played for LAFC last season and is currently playing for Qingdao Hainiu in China.
MLS was alerted to suspicious betting through its integrity partners and retained a law firm for the subsequent investigation. The Crew cooperated with the probe.
“The Columbus Crew are proud of the reputation we’ve established in MLS and global soccer that’s rooted in respect and integrity throughout our organization,” the team said. “We fully condemn all actions and notions that aren’t aligned with these critical values for our Club and any individual’s activity contradicting the principles of fair competition that are pivotal to our team, league and sport.”
Jones, 29, played for the Philadelphia Union for four seasons starting in 2016. He later had stints in Nashville, Houston and Charlotte before joining the Crew ahead of the 2024 season.
Yeboah, 28, played for the Crew for three seasons from 2022-24.
___
Wayne Rooney Sounds Alarm Over Sky-High MLS Ticket Prices
English football legend and former DC United player and coach Wayne Rooney has expressed concern about the high ticket prices for Major League Soccer games.
Rooney made a cultural comparison between what is experienced in England and in the United States and said that, to his surprise, tickets used to be more expensive in MLS than in the Premier League.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah banned for life by Major League Soccer for gambling on games
Two players were banned for life Monday by Major League Soccer for gambling on soccer, including bets involving their own matches.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were both placed on administrative leave in October pending a review of potential violations of league rules.
MLS said the investigation concluded the players “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.” The league cited one instance where the players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card in a 2024 match, which he did. Both players were with the Columbus Crew at the time.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
Jones was playing for the Crew when he was placed on leave. Yeboah, Jones’ former teammate in Columbus, played for LAFC last season and is currently playing for Qingdao Hainiu in China.
MLS was alerted to suspicious betting through its integrity partners and retained a law firm for the subsequent investigation. The Crew cooperated with the probe.
“The Columbus Crew are proud of the reputation we’ve established in MLS and global soccer that’s rooted in respect and integrity throughout our organization,” the team said. “We fully condemn all actions and notions that aren’t aligned with these critical values for our Club and any individual’s activity contradicting the principles of fair competition that are pivotal to our team, league and sport.”
Jones, 29, played for the Philadelphia Union for four seasons starting in 2016. He later had stints in Nashville, Houston and Charlotte before joining the Crew ahead of the 2024 season.
Yeboah, 28, played for the Crew for three seasons from 2022-24.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
MLS bans Jones, Yeboah for life after gambling investigation
March 9 (Reuters) – Major League Soccer has handed lifetime bans to midfielder Derrick Jones and winger Yaw Yeboah for violating its gambling policy, the league announced on Monday.
Jones, 29, played 23 games for Columbus Crew in 2024 and 2025, while 28-year-old Yeboah was his teammate before joining Los Angeles FC in January 2025 after three seasons at the Crew.
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Suspicious betting alerts were investigated by the MLS who said the two players engaged in extensive gambling on matches, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The violations included Jones’ time at Columbus and Yeboah’s stints with the Crew in 2024 and LAFC in 2025.
In one instance, both players wagered on Jones receiving a yellow card during the Crew’s 3-2 win at the New York Red Bulls in an October 19, 2024 match, which he did.
Investigators also determined that the pair likely shared confidential information with other gamblers about their intent to draw bookings, though no evidence emerged that any of the activity influenced the outcome of matches.
Both players were provisionally suspended in October 2025 pending the investigation. Yeboah, who has been capped by Ghana, joined Chinese Super League side Qingdao Hainiu after a mutual agreement to terminate his contract with LAFC in January.
Ghana-born Jones, who has played for the U.S. at under-20 and under-23 level, is currently without a club after being released by the Crew in November.
Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement that the MLS
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah receive lifetime ban from MLS for betting on matches
Two soccer players received lifetime suspensions from Major League Soccer for betting on MLS matches, the league announced on Monday.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah, neither currently on an MLS roster, are accused of engaging in “extensive gambling on soccer, including placing wagers on their own teams during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, according to a statement released by the league.
Jones and Yeboah both played with the Columbus Crew in 2024 and were found to have placed a wager on Jones to receive a yellow card in a match against the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 19, 2024 and likely shared that information with outside bettors.
The activity was flagged by the league’s integrity partners and the MLS decided to place the two players on administrative leave in 2025.
By that point, Yeboah was a member of Los Angeles Football Club while Jones was still rostered by Columbus.
In the league’s statement, commissioner Don Garber pushed for reform to the markets available to bettors on MLS matches, specifically singling out the ability to bet on players receiving yellow cards.
“The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans,” Garber said.
It’s not the first time a league has pushed for betting reform regarding niche markets.
Sportsbooks placed a $200 limit on MLB pitch-level markets after the Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted on federal charges for their alleged involvement in an illegal betting scheme.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.
Two MLS players banned for life for betting on games
Former Major League Soccer players Yaw Yeboah and Derrick Jones received lifetime bans for betting on MLS matches — including their own — the league announced Monday.
Yeboah, 28, most recently played for LAFC in 2025 and is a former teammate of Jones with the Columbus Crew. Both were placed on administrative leave last October while awaiting league review of potential MLS rules violations.
MLS hired the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP to investigate after the league received suspicious betting alerts through integrity partners. The law firm found that Jones and Yeboah
Visa issues may leave Jamaican club short-handed against LA Galaxy in Champions Cup
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Mount Pleasant, a team from the Jamaican Premier League, is bracing to be without as many as 10 players on Wednesday when it takes on the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer in a CONCACAF Champions Cup matchup.
The reason: Those players, including six from Haiti, were unable to get visas to enter the U.S. for the match, Jamaican officials said.
Officials said Monday the match is still set to be played as scheduled, even while the Jamaican club — which plans to add younger players from the academy level if necessary — and CONCACAF seek a solution. The U.S. has travel restrictions on citizens from some nations, including Haiti, though there are mechanisms that can assist athletes in some cases.
The Jamaican club has been dealing with the issue since at least last week, apparently to no avail.
The match is the first of a two-leg Round of 16 matchup in the tournament, with the second leg set to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on March 19.
___
Visa woes leave Jamaican side down 10 players against Galaxy
CARSON, Calif. — Mount Pleasant, a team from the Jamaican Premier League, is bracing to be without as many as 10 players on Wednesday when it takes on the LA Galaxy of MLS in a Concacaf Champions Cup matchup.
The reason: Those players, including six from Haiti, were unable to get visas to enter the U.S. for the match, Jamaican officials said.
Officials said Monday the match is still set to be played as scheduled, even while the Jamaican club — which plans to add younger players from the academy level if necessary — and Concacaf seek a solution.
The U.S. has travel restrictions on citizens from some nations, including Haiti, though there are mechanisms that can assist athletes in some cases.
The Jamaican club has been dealing with the issue since at least last week, apparently to no avail.
The match is the first of a two-leg round of 16 matchup in the tournament, with the second leg set to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on March 19.
Last year’s champion Cruz Azul beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 in the final.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Federico Bernardeschi reveals Juventus denied him the number 10 shirt
Federico Bernardeschi was a Juventus player between 2017 and 2022, before leaving to join Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. The winger arrived at Juve from Fiorentina, where he had been one of Serie A’s standout performers, despite La Viola doing everything possible to prevent the transfer from taking place.
During his time at Juventus, Bernardeschi was regarded as one of the club’s more talented players and was relied upon in several key matches. His versatility and attacking flair made him a valuable asset in various tactical setups, and he quickly adapted to the demands of a top club competing for major honours.
The Number 10 Ambition
Upon his arrival, Bernardeschi expressed a desire to wear the number 10 shirt, a number historically associated with some of the club’s most iconic figures. At that time, the shirt was vacant, and the young Italian hoped to continue the legacy associated with it.
However, Juventus had other plans. The club decided not to award him the number immediately, and the shirt was soon given to Paulo Dybala, who was already in his third year at Juventus and widely considered to have earned the honour. The decision sent a clear message regarding the club’s view of Bernardeschi’s readiness to assume such a prestigious role.
Reflecting on the Past
Bernardeschi has recalled the moment and shared his perspective on the situation. As quoted by Tuttojuve, he said, “The number 10 at Juve? I asked to have the number 10 shirt, they told me I was too young and had to wait at least a year. Then Dybala took it, who was already in his third year at Juventus, and that train passed for me.”
The experience highlighted both the challenges of stepping into a club with a rich history and the patience required for young players to make their mark. Despite not receiving the number 10 shirt, Bernardeschi went on to contribute significantly during his five years with Juventus before embarking on a new chapter in North America with Toronto FC.
Trump backs ‘powerful caps’ on college athlete pay
WASHINGTON — President Trump wants “very powerful caps” to limit college athlete salaries so that universities won’t “go out of business.”
Trump told ESPN host Pat McAfee that he fears that “lesser” sports also are being scrapped due to the newly allowed practice of directly paying athletes, which has been allowed since July on top of name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorships by companies and booster clubs permitted since 2021.
“It is a very serious problem because even football, when they give quarterbacks $12 million, $13 million, $14 million — I read a couple of them — and all of a sudden you’re going to see it’s going to be out of control, and even rich colleges are going to go bust,” Trump said in a Tuesday interview.
“They had the old way. They gave scholarships, and they did lots of good things. But there could be some form of payments, but… look, the NFL, and all of you know, all teams, they have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports,” the president said.
“When the guard comes along that weighs 350 pounds and he’s phenomenal, and they say, ‘That’s going to make the difference between having a great team and a lousy team’, and they give him $10 million — that’s going to start happening pretty soon — all of a sudden you’re going to have NFL-type payrolls.”
The reform allowing for direct payment of players by universities came through a court-approved settlement involving the NCAA, with an estimated initial annual cap of $20.5 million per player. Without changes, the salary cap is expected to rise to $33 million over the next decade, CBS Sports reported.
Trump, whose administration this year paused federal grants to prominent universities to force policy changes, added, “colleges don’t make that much money, even the most successful, so they’re not going to be able to do this. Bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out…
“And frankly, the college football, it’s very big. But as big as it is, if they don’t do some very powerful caps, these colleges are all going to go out of business no matter how rich they are.”
Trump floated Nick Saban, the retired longtime football coach at the University of Alabama, as a potential point person to lead a group to devise new salary caps.
“I don’t want to use any particular sport, because it’s, you know, degrading. But they are really terminating a lot of sports… you would call them lesser sports, but big sports, good sports, and sports where they have tremendous interest, they’re getting rid of them,” Trump added.
“A lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated. You know that? It’s a shame. It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics, and a lot of those training grounds are being lost.”
Mavs honoring VP of corporate sponsorships Billy Phillips as he retires after 33 years
A wave of emotion overcame Billy Phillips as he went through a list of acknowledgements that included his Dallas Mavericks colleagues, corporate sponsorship partners and immediate family.
Phillips, the Mavericks’ longtime vice president of corporate sponsorships, was the final voice to speak on Saturday to commemorate his retirement after 33 years of tenure with the franchise. It was a celebration inside the Executive Lounge at American Airlines Center to honor one of the most respected employees in the team’s 45-year history.
“Many of you know his Dallas Mavericks legacy and what he’s done for this community, but what he’s done for the overall sports business community in North Texas is unparalleled,” said Gina Miller, the Mavericks’ new chief communications officer.
Phillips’ storied sports legacy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area didn’t start in basketball. The Long Island, N.Y., native played soccer as a goalkeeper from 1980 to 1981 for the Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League. He played an instrumental role with the Dallas Sidekicks, both as a player from 1984 to 1987 and manager from 1987 to 1996.
Phillips helped establish soccer in North Texas in the 1970s and 1980s, and the momentum led to Dallas being the host city for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The quadrennial international men’s soccer tournament will return in 2026, with AT&T Stadium hosting nine matches in Arlington, including a semi-final game. FC Dallas president Dan Hunt said Phillips played a role in the Cup’s return.
Phillips joined the Mavericks in 1992 as a senior director of corporate sponsorship. He was promoted to vice president in 2018, the role he serves in currently until his final day on Dec. 23. As an athlete, he can’t help but reflect on the team’s lone championship in 2011 as a standout moment, but the people he worked with is what he’ll cherish the most.
“At the end of the day, it’s relationships,” Phillips said. “I have so many amazing relationships from people who work for the Mavericks and partners that I’ve worked with now…It’s always the people who’s the most important part of my job.”
Several influential people around the Mavericks spoke during Phillips’ retirement ceremony, including minority shareholder Mark Cuban and CEO Rick Welts. Co-interim general manager Michael Finley was also in attendance.
“This man can sell,” Cuban said. “Billy has been a rock, not just for the young salespeople, but for the whole organization. When things were up, when things were down, Billy was steady. Billy has this calming influence that he brings to anybody that he’s met, but he also can sell. What’s the rule, Billy?”
“If you’re talking to someone, you better have a check,” Phillips said.
The celebration didn’t stop during the pregame. Phillips was honored during halftime of Saturday’s game with a tribute video, which included cameos by Dirk Nowitzki and former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd began his pregame news conference with a congratulatory message for Phillips.
“I want to congratulate Billy Phillips,” Kidd said. “He’s retiring after 33 years with the Mavs. He’s a big influence in sports here in Dallas. Goalkeeper for the Dallas Sidekicks. He did everything and he’s a big reason why soccer is coming to Dallas for the Cup.”
Twitter/X: @MikeACurtis2
TKO Stock Slides despite Receiving a New Street-High Price Target
TKO Group Holdings (TKO) had a standout year in 2025, thanks to major media rights deals and a surge in sponsorships. In fact, the sports and entertainment company signed agreements to broadcast UFC and Zuffa Boxing with Paramount (PSKY) and licensed WWE content through Endeavor Group. These deals were big enough that TKO raised its outlook for the year, and the stock climbed by more than 50%, thereby making it one of the top performers in its sector.
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Importantly, analysts believe there’s more room to grow, even after this big run. For instance, BTIG analyst Tyler DiMatteo noted that 2026 looks promising for both the sports and entertainment industry and TKO specifically. While he does expect some short-term ups and downs due to the stock’s recent surge, he’s comfortable giving TKO a higher valuation. He points to strong consumer interest in live events and what many call the “experience economy” as key reasons why the company should keep performing well.
TKO is also betting on newer trends, such as prediction markets. It signed a multi-year deal with Polymarket that will apply to UFC and Zuffa Boxing in an attempt to increase fan engagement. Interestingly, that market was worth $1.4 billion in 2024 and could grow to $95.5 billion by 2035. As a result, DiMatteo gave TKO a Buy rating and raised his price target to a street high of $250 per share.
Is TKO Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TKO stock based on 14 Buys, one Hold, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TKO price target of $225.73 per share implies 7.9% upside potential.
See more TKO analyst ratings
How shared values drove Ferrari’s first crypto partnership: Interview with BingX
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The multi-year agreement between Formula One racing team Scuderia Ferrari and crypto exchange BingX represents the Italian team’s first partnership with a crypto exchange.
For Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at BingX, the connection is built on performance rather than just visibility. She notes that Ferrari’s “engineering excellence and uncompromising standards” mirror the platform’s own approach, stating that the goal is to demonstrate that a crypto exchange can operate with the “same discipline, transparency and ambition” as the iconic automotive brand.
In this interview, Lin sheds light on the strategic vision behind the collaboration, the maturity of the crypto landscape and how shared values with Ferrari are influencing BingX’s global roadmap.
Cointelegraph: How is the convergence of high-performance sports and financial technology reshaping global marketing strategies?
Vivien Lin: High-performance sports attract fans who are deeply committed and loyal, much like the community we’ve built at BingX with our 40 million users. In Formula 1, this engagement is clear. Recent research shows that 94% of fans plan to follow the sport five years from now, and 86% watch at least 16 races each season.
This kind of loyalty gives us a unique chance for us to build lasting relationships, not just short-term awareness. In my experience, it’s rare to find a partnership that fits so well. I also believe that sponsorship shapes how fans experience the sport.
The same research found that about three-quarters of fans think sponsors make Formula 1 better, and one in three are more likely to buy from F1 partners. For Gen Z, that number rises to 40%. For BingX, this trend means our marketing is now more focused on values, performance and long-term relevance, not just visibility.
CT: Why are elite sporting institutions increasingly looking toward the cryptocurrency sector for strategic alliances?
VL: In our experience, elite sports organizations have always focused on progress and winning. To stay ahead, they keep evolving, adopt new technologies and look to the future. The crypto sector and BingX share this forward-thinking approach, so there is a unique purpose behind these partnerships.
Furthermore, 2026 marks a change. As the industry grows, crypto is now about infrastructure, security and global access — not just experimentation. Sports organizations see this obvious shift and want to work with partners who are leading the way. These partnerships show a shared belief that responsible innovation can create lasting value for people around the world.
CT: What does the evolving relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets signal about the maturity of the crypto industry?
VL: The growing relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets is a strong signal that the crypto industry is entering a more mature phase. One that is defined less by speculation and more by credibility, infrastructure and long-term brand building.
Both Formula 1 and crypto are built on resilience. Progress is never linear. There are moments of rapid innovation, periods of pressure and times when patience matters more than speed. After seven years in this industry, I’ve seen crypto evolve through multiple cycles, shaped by both breakthroughs and hard lessons. Formula 1 understands this reality deeply.
From BingX’s perspective, Formula 1 represents the highest standards of performance, precision and trust. It is a global sport governed by rigorous regulation and scrutiny. The fact that teams and stakeholders are increasingly selective about their partners reflects how the crypto industry itself is changing.
Partnerships today are about values, governance and the ability to perform at scale. As the industry matures, we are seeing leading crypto platforms focus on compliance, security and user protection, foundational elements that are essential for long-term adoption.
The presence of digital asset companies in Formula 1 signals that these platforms are now capable of meeting the expectations of world-class institutions and global audiences. It also reflects a move away from short-term hype toward sustainable engagement and education.
CT: How does becoming a cryptocurrency partner for Ferrari differentiate BingX from its competitors?
VL: This partnership is significant not only because of Ferrari’s global brand and history, but also because it marks their first collaboration with a cryptocurrency exchange, which we do not take lightly. For BingX, it reinforces our position as a top-of-mind brand in crypto and reflects how far we’ve come as a platform.
For example, we were the first major exchange to introduce copy trading, which helped us become recognized as a top 5 derivatives platform, and today we are the first all-in-AI crypto exchange, with a $300 million commitment to implementing AI across our platform. It shows that we are seen as a long-term partner capable of meeting the standards of one of motorsport’s most iconic teams.
CT: What specific shared values between BingX and Scuderia Ferrari form the foundation of this multi-year collaboration?
VL: At the heart of this collaboration is a shared mindset of pioneering breakthroughs and redefining what’s possible. Both BingX and Scuderia Ferrari operate in environments where precision, performance and continuous innovation matter deeply.
Ferrari’s culture of constant innovation, race after race and season after season, closely mirrors how BingX approaches product innovation and platform evolution. We also share a long-term view that goes beyond short-term wins. There is a strong mutual respect for data, technology and discipline, as well as a belief that innovation should always be purposeful.
On the product side, this philosophy translates directly into action. Just as Ferrari continuously refines performance to push limits on the track, BingX is committed to helping traders go beyond their current potential through continuous platform upgrades, BingX Academy and AI-driven innovation.
CT: How do you plan to turn this partnership into tangible benefits for the BingX trading community?
VL: For us, partnerships like this are about delivering a more premium experience for our users. We are intentional about who we align with because those relationships reflect how we build our platform and our community.
Our partnerships with globally respected teams like Chelsea Football Club and Ferrari are not coincidences. They represent excellence, discipline and a commitment to performing at the highest level.
For our trading community, this translates into elevated experiences, stronger engagement and a brand they can trust and feel proud to be part of. Whether markets are moving fast or slowing down, our focus remains on quality, reliability and long-term value. These partnerships, along with racing-inspired campaigns, race-week activations and limited-edition experiences, reinforce that we are building BingX to operate at a global, premium standard.
CT: How does aligning with the most iconic team in motorsport reinforce BingX’s commitment to security and technological excellence?
VL: Ferrari’s reputation is built on precision, reliability and performance under pressure. Partnering with a team of that caliber reinforces how we think about building BingX and our own commitment to building secure, resilient and high-performing systems.
For years, we’ve focused on creating a resilient, AI-native platform, with intelligence embedded directly into the trading experience and a long-term $300 million commitment to AI.
In crypto, trust is built through infrastructure, not promises. We treat security as a foundation, supported by proof-based protections such as a $150 million Shield Fund and 100% proof-of-reserves.
This partnership reflects confidence in our technology and governance, and it sends a clear message that innovation and security are not trade-offs. They must work together to create a platform that can perform at a global, world-class standard.
CT: How will this alliance influence BingX’s strategic roadmap and expansion plans over the next few years?
VL: This partnership builds on a foundation we’ve already established. With over 40 million users globally and a position among the top five derivatives trading platforms, BingX has reached a scale where brand trust, consistency and global relevance matter more than ever.
Our multi-year partnership with Chelsea Football Club reflects that same thinking. Whether on the pitch or in the market, we align with teams that operate at the highest level of performance.
Working with Ferrari represents the next stage of that journey. It opens new opportunities for global storytelling, deeper regional engagement and innovation across markets. More importantly, it aligns with our long-term view of crypto as part of global finance and culture, not a niche industry.
CT: What role will this partnership play in BingX’s long-term goal to redefine standards within the cryptocurrency landscape?
Partnerships like this help set a new benchmark for what crypto brands can represent. They show that it’s possible to combine innovation with discipline, and ambition with responsibility.
Our goal is to help move the industry forward by building trust, raising standards and focusing on long-term value. If crypto wants to be part of global culture, it must meet the standards of the world’s most demanding institutions. This partnership is our commitment to that future.
NCAA D1 Cabinet Approves Jersey Patch Sponsorships in College Sports
If you felt that the influx of NIL and other cash influences had already thoroughly corrupted college sports, you may want to brace yourself.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet voted to approve jersey patch sponsorships in college sports. The new ruling will take effect on August 1, allowing patches to be placed on uniforms just in time for the start of the 2026 college football season.
“College sports are in an exciting new era of increased financial benefits for student-athletes, and the Cabinet’s vote today reflects the ongoing commitment of Division I members to drive additional revenues and fully fund those benefits,” said Illinois Athletics Director and D-I Cabinet chair, Josh Whitman, in a statement.
“This also continues the NCAA’s efforts to expand flexibility in areas of NCAA rules, thereby allowing schools and conferences to set standards that reflect their values and serve their unique needs. This important policy change is another step forward in advancing that philosophy and providing members with increased flexibility.”
As On3 reports, “Under the new legislation, schools will be able to place up to two additional commercial logos on uniforms and one additional logo on equipment during both the preseason and postseason. They can also add another logo on uniforms and apparel during conference championships.
“Patches are limited to a maximum of 4 square inches per logo, according to the NCAA. The legislation is in effect for non-NCAA championship competition.”
In anticipation of the rule’s passing, several schools, most notably LSU and UNLV, have already inked sponsorship deals.
The move will undoubtedly accelerate the commercialization of the game-day experience. In the last two years, fans in the stands and those watching at home have seen the emergence of company logos on the field and on the court, resulting from the House v. NCAA settlement approval.
Adding sponsorship patches to jerseys will create yet another revenue stream for college athletics, likely adding tens of millions of dollars annually.
Watch Brands Increasingly Turn to Sports for Spark
Could sports be the tonic that revives the luxury watch market?
Over the past few months, Swiss watch brands have lined up to announce multimillion-dollar deals with elite professional sports leagues and athletes, hoping to leverage their star power and the emotions of sports fandom to fire up a cooling market.
Last week, Breitling became the latest high-end brand to hitch its wagon to Formula 1, signing a deal with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, adding to a deal it announced in August to be the official timepiece partner of the National Football League (N.F.L.).
In November, Norqain became what it called the Official Luxury Sports Watch of the National Hockey League (N.H.L.), and in January Frederique Constant introduced its first sports sponsorship, connecting with the nascent Pro Padel League, in which athletes compete in padel, a game often described as a cross between squash and tennis.
Brands such as Rolex, Omega and TAG Heuer have built their profiles on ties with sports, but in today’s saturated market, can sports sponsorships really help brands achieve their goals?
Fears of foreign influence spark bipartisan crackdown on college sports funding
Student-athletes are increasingly exploring name, image and likeness contracts to benefit from their emerging stardoms. But lawmakers want to make sure those deals don’t provide loopholes for foreign adversaries to exert their influence in the United States.
Utah Rep. Blake Moore introduced the No Foreign NIL Funds Act on Tuesday that would implement a number of restrictions banning foreign governments and adversarial entities from investing in U.S. college sports. The bill would mostly apply to NIL contracts, but it would also extend to sponsorships, media rights deals, hosting amateur athletic conferences, and other joint ventures.
“College sports are woven into American campus life, local communities, and family traditions. But allowing foreign entities to funnel money and sponsorships into college athletics through NIL deals risks undermining the integrity of the game and exposing universities to unintended foreign influence or national security concerns,” Moore, a former student-athlete himself, said in a statement. “NIL should be used to support college athletes, not as a backdoor for moving foreign money into American institutions.”
Since NIL contracts have been accepted in recent years, lawmakers have struggled to adopt comprehensive laws regulating those deals. As a result, there are no federal restrictions banning foreign governments from funding those contracts so long as the agreements are cleared through a list of requirements settled in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit in 2024.
That settlement now allows each school to pay its athletes up to $20.5 million per year, which works out to about 22% of the average athletic department revenue at Power Four schools.
However, many of the organizations that coordinate NIL contracts operate as limited liability companies, or LLCs, that do not require donor lists to be made public. That has raised national security concerns among some lawmakers who said adversarial countries could quietly pour money into a university’s sports program and try to build political influence or gain leverage.
The bill would go beyond those NIL contracts to also block foreign countries from investing in collegiate athletic streams, and it would prohibit entering into contracts with individual universities, media rights distributors, bowl games or postseason football organizations.
Bill would have exceptions for foreign NIL donations
The legislation would carve out some exceptions to allow members of NATO, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland to still participate in those contracts.
Moore pointed to recent incidents in which college football coaches have engaged in foreign trips for lobbying or fundraising as well as some athletic conferences who are finalizing plans to organize tournaments in foreign countries.
The bill has garnered the support of bipartisan lawmakers, and even has the backing of Utah State University’s athletic director, who said it’s crucial “to create a safe and sustainable future.”
“Utah State Athletics firmly supports our student-athletes and their ability to seek name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities through the appropriate channels,” USU athletic director Cameron Walker said. “However, the origin of these sources is critical for NIL to function effectively and operate in the best interest of our university, state, and student-athletes. We are thankful for Congressman Moore’s work in this area and support his efforts to create a safe and sustainable future.”
Arkansas Razorback athletics announces its jersey sponsor
Recently, the Tyson Foods logo has shown up on the field at Razorback Stadium.
Now, the iconic food brand will be on the Razorback uniforms for all varsity sports beginning in 2026-27. Under the new multi-year agreement, Tyson Foods will also serve as the official protein of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Expect to see the Tyson Foods brand on things such as backdrops for press conferences, stadium branding with on field/court placements.
“This historic sponsorship is transformative for Razorback Athletics. For decades, Tyson Foods has been more than a corporate partner—they are an integral part of the Arkansas story,
How LinkSports is Democratizing the Talent Pipeline by Leveraging Data-Driven Reinvention of Sports Sponsorships
LinkSports, a Canadian technology company operating across 29 countries, is building what it calls the new infrastructure of sports sponsorship. Founded by Neissan Monadjem, LinkSports is a fintech company with sports content that combines artificial intelligence, standardized athletic challenges, and micro-sponsorship funding into a single platform designed to connect amateur athletes with corporate capital. The greater objective, however, lies in eliminating the problem of gatekeeping in sports sponsorship.
According to Monadjem, corporate budgets in sports often concentrate on elite professionals, while grassroots athletes, who may be equally driven, compete for limited visibility and even scarcer funding. The global sports sponsorship market exceeds $100 billion annually, yet he believes that the vast majority of that capital flows to a narrow section of top-tier talent.
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
Where to stay for March Madness
The 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament is a major driver of sports tourism across the U.S.
Dayton, Ohio, will host the ‘First Four’ games on March 17 and 18 to kick off the tournament.
First and second-round games will be held in various cities, including Buffalo, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
Many hotels close to the stadiums across the country still have limited availability.
2026 is the year for sports travel, from the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, to increased traffic in many major cities for the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Those are all unique to this year—while the NCAA March Madness tournament happens every year, it still drives tourism to the host sites for basketball fans from all over the country.
Whether you’re heading to Dayton, Ohio in the hopes of catching the beginning of an incredible Cinderella story, heading to a host site like San Diego to see your favorite team play between trips to the beach, or headed to Philadelphia for a little history lesson between games, you’ll have plenty of options on where to stay. The USA TODAY Shopping team has curated some hotel options for you, depending on your location.
Book your hotel stay for March Madness today
Where to stay for March Madness
If you’re waiting to see where your team is going to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, bookmark this page, a list of all the men’s March Madness sites for the first week of games, and available hotels by proximity to the stadiums.
See all March Madness hotel options
Where to stay in Dayton for March Madness
Dayton, Ohio is going to host the first two games of the March Madness tournament, on March 17 and March 18. These two games are known as the ‘first four’—the first four games in the March Madness bracket, which are play-in games for the at-large bid teams and the No. 16-seeded teams. We won’t know the teams or the matchups until the bracket is revealed, but it will be two nights with two games each. See hotels close to the University of Dayton arena.
Find a hotel in Dayton
Where to stay in Buffalo for March Madness
Buffalo is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Find a hotel in Buffalo
Where to stay in Greenville for March Madness
Greenville, S.C. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Greenville.
Find a hotel in Greenville
Where to stay in Oklahoma City for March Madness
Oklahoma City is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Paycom Center, which is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Find a hotel in Oklahoma City
Where to stay in Portland for March Madness
Portland, Ore. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Moda Center, which is home to the Portland Trailblazers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Moda Center in Portland.
Find a hotel in Portland
Where to stay in Tampa for March Madness
Tampa, Fla. is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Benchmark International Arena, which is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the stadium in Tampa.
Find a hotel in Tampa
Where to stay in Philadelphia for March Madness
Philadelphia is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Find a hotel in Philadelphia
Where to stay in San Diego for March Madness?
San Diego is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Viejas Arena, home of the San Diego Aztecs men’s and women’s basketball teams, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Viejas Arena in San Diego.
Find a hotel in San Diego
Where to stay in St. Louis for March Madness?
St. Louis is one of the host sites for the first and second round. First round games will take place March 19-20, while second round games will take place March 21-22. Games will be played at Enterprise Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues, but the NCAA tournament matchups have not been announced yet. See hotels close to Enterprise Arena in St. Louis.
Find a hotel St. Louis
When is March Madness 2026?
The 2026 March Madness tournament will kick off after the 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday, which lands on Sunday, March 15 this year. The tournament will continue through March, ending with the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 and the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
March Madness 2026 full schedule for the men’s tournament
For better or worse, Tony Stewart vows to keep his competitive edge while racing against his wife
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Joey Logano wins pole for NASCAR race at Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Joey Logano completed a Team Penske qualifying sweep at Phoenix Raceway, where the team is celebrating its 60th anniversary in motorsports.
Logano’s run at 135.537 mph put him on the pole for the NASCAR race on Sunday. David Malukas, in his first season with the storied organization, started on the pole Saturday for the IndyCar race.
NASCAR and IndyCar are bundled together this weekend for a doubleheader in the desert, and Roger Penske used the opportunity to assemble his six drivers spanning the two series for the 60th anniversary celebration.
Through qualifying, they have delivered: Austin Cindric qualified his Penske Ford third — behind reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson — and Ryan Blaney, who won last year’s finale, qualified fifth.
Blaney is the BetMGM betting favorite to win the race with 10 top-five finishes in 20 career starts at Phoenix.
Tyler Reddick set a NASCAR record by winning the first three races of the season and will start fourth Sunday as he seeks a fourth consecutive victory.
Anthony Alfredo, the fill-in driver at Hendrick Motorsports as Alex Bowman battles vertigo, qualified 31st.
___
Carson Hocevar Enters “The Double” Conversation as He Eyes Tony Stewart’s Legacy in NASCAR
Very few drivers have a legacy as versatile as Tony Stewart. The three-time Cup Series champion famously attempted “The Double,” where he raced in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Carson Hocevar’s recent words might have hinted that. Having raced in all three NASCAR national series races, the Spire man could enter the NASCAR and IndyCar double race weekend and follow Smoke’s footsteps.
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Could Hocevar attempt The Double?
In a recent interview with NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck, Hocevar opened up about his interest in racing in the IndyCar 500, the equivalent of NASCAR’s Daytona 500, the most important stock car race of the season. Being from Michigan, a state where all sorts of motorsport is quite popular, the #77 driver said:
“I would love to. I would love to do the 500, obviously. You know, being from Michigan and racing USAC sprint cars, that would be something I would love to do, but try to be successful at the day job first.”
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Following this, Hocevar shed light on how Spire Motorsports, the team he races for, has a deep connection with Andretti Global, one of the teams competing in the IndyCar championship. Here’s what he said on this:
“Better shot than most others could say when, you got similar bosses or same bosses, basically. But I would love to do it. We’ll see.”
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Notably, NASCAR team Spire Motorsports is co-owned by Dan Towriss-led holding company called TWG Motorsports. The company has an impressive portfolio that includes IndyCar outfit Andretti Global, NASCAR team Spire Motorsports, the Cadillac F1 team, and IMSA team Wayne Taylor Racing.
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Towriss brought all the teams under the TWG umbrella in late 2024, and this was when Andretti Global and Spire Motorsports came under the same owner. As a consequence, Carson Hocevar will now have the opportunity to race in the Indy 500.
That being said, Hocevar could have also tried his luck for the double header this weekend at Phoenix, where NASCAR and IndyCar will shake hands — IndyCar will have its NTT IndyCar race on Saturday, just hours before the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.
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If Hocevar had locked in, the Spire man could have followed Tony Stewart’s legacy, as the former NASCAR driver is still the only driver to race simultaneously in both competitions and come out successfully. Drivers like John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson have attempted it but didn’t succeed as Stewart did.
Stewart made two attempts at the 1999 and 2001 Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600. In his 1999 attempt, he finished 9th at Indianapolis and 4th at Charlotte. In 2001, he placed 6th at Indianapolis and 3rd at Charlotte, completing all 1100 miles.
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To this day, Stewart’s result in the doubleheader is considered the benchmark. Even though Kyle Larson tried the double header twice, he could not succeed like Stewart, who has now embarked on a new journey.
Tony Stewart wants absolute competitiveness at NHRA
As Tony Stewart is all set to start his NHRA journey with Elite Motorsports, the 54-year-old wants to be immensely competitive, even if he has to race directly against his wife and the mother of his child, Leah Pruett. Speaking about this, Stewart recently said in an interview:
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“First off, at the end of the year, no matter who wins or loses, we’ll still be married. You can put that in ink. I’m a race car driver,” Stewart said. “I drive race cars. I’m not a trophy wife. For the first two years we met, I kind of leaned in the doorway and didn’t do a very good job of being pretty enough to be a trophy wife. So I figured I’d better do what I do best and put a helmet on.”
Leah Pruett, Stewart’s wife, is a long-time NHRA Hot Rod racing driver. She stepped away from racing for several months after becoming pregnant with their son, Dominic. However, as she returned last year, Stewart handed her the ride and switched to Elite Motorsports for the 2026 season.
NASCAR Dishes Out Penalties to Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Team
Following the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR issued penalties to Zane Smith and his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team. According to NASCAR, the penalties were assessed after the sanctioning body discovered unapproved adjustments to the No. 38 Ford Mustang Dark Horse following inspection, which took place prior to practice.
In an update, the NASCAR Communications department said officials observed the No. 38 team making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody of their car during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments.
As a result of the unapproved adjustments between practice and qualifying, Smith, who was 25th-fastest in practice and qualified 24th for Sunday’s race, will have to drop to the rear of the field prior to the green flag, and after taking the green flag in Sunday’s race, Smith will have to perform a pass-thru penalty on pit road.
Additionally, Will Norris, the car chief of Smith’s No. 38 Ford, has been ejected for the remainder of the race weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
The penalties will put Smith in a tough spot to open the fourth race of the season, and the penalties come after a solid start to the 2026 campaign, which has the driver sitting 14th in the championship standings. Smith finished sixth in the season-opening Daytona 500 and seventh the following weekend at EchoPark Speedway.
Smith was running near the front of the field late in the day at Circuit of the Americas until he was swept up in an incident with 20 laps to go, which cut his tire down, and resulted in a 33rd-place finish.
If Smith doesn’t get an early-race caution Sunday at Phoenix, he could find himself trapped a lap down if additional drivers fall a lap down to the leaders before he can get a free pass on Sunday.
The 26-year-old racer has one top-10 finish in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 1-mile oval in Avondale, AZ. If he hopes to tally a second top-10 finish on Sunday, he’ll have to overcome some obstacles.
NASCAR Penalty: 26-YO Ford Driver’s Phoenix Weekend Unravels as Officials Bar Crew Chief
Life as a NASCAR driver can be pretty grueling and full of unpredictability. Two races in, and you’re having the best start you’ve ever had to a season in your career. Two races further from that, it turns into a bleak nightmare. Such is the case with 26-year-old Zane Smith at the moment.
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Zane Smith and the #38 FRM team face the wrath of NASCAR
The Front Row Motorsports driver had a promising start to his season in the first two races at Daytona and Atlanta. He ended up finishing inside the top 10 in both races, a career first for the young driver. With a 6th-place finish in the Daytona 500 and 7th in Atlanta, Smith was soaring high.
However, at COTA, all of Smith’s high flying and momentum came undone as a late crash left him with a result pretty far from the top 10. It was a 33rd-place finish for the FRM driver.
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But somehow, a week from that, it is shaping up to be an even worse weekend for Smith at Phoenix.
During inspection on Saturday, the #38 team was observed “making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments,” per a NASCAR release.
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The car failed the test again when it was checked, leading to a massive penalty.
Zane Smith would be starting Sunday’s Cup race from the rear. He would also have to perform a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag. On top of all of that, Smith also had his crew chief ejected as part of the penalty.
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Smith is currently ranked 14th in the points table. Unless he gets a good finish at Phoenix, he could potentially lose his spot and fall in the standings.
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Smith is quietly finding his feet at the Cup level
Having wowed everyone on the Truck level, Zane Smith earned his first full-time season on the Cup level in 2024 with Spire Motorsports. In his rookie year, Smith faced a string of poor results in the first half of the season. However, a runner-up finish at Nashville saw him finish the season with another top 5 and a couple of top 10s.
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For 2025, Smith joined Front Row Motorsports. In his second season in the Cup, Smith found more consistency in the first half of the season with a run of finishes inside the top 20. He finished the season with four top 10 finishes and a single top 5.
But his performance and results in the 2025 season were enough for his team to offer him a multi-year extension to his contract. It was announced towards the end of 2025. Speaking about his contract extension, Smith said, as per NASCAR, “We’ve had an up-and-down year, but heading into the offseason, I feel like we’ve put our program in a great position to hit the ground running in 2026.”
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He claimed that FRM has ‘always felt like home,’ be it the people or the shop. Smith expressed his excitement for the 2026 season, which had gone quite well for the first two races. And even if there was a speed bump at COTA, it was due to a late crash.
But now with a penalty and losing his crew chief at Phoenix, Zane Smith could be in for a pretty grueling race on Sunday.
Kyle Larson Breaks Silence on HMS Prodigy’s Controversy After Getting an Earful From Rick Hendrick
Following two controversial races, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson addressed his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series teammate Corey Day with a strong message ahead of the Phoenix race. The #17 Chevy driver had drawn attention after his finish in Atlanta and was involved in another similar incident at Circuit of the Americas. But even amid the setbacks, Larson continues to stand by him.
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Kyle “mentor” Larson steps up for Corey Day
In a recent interview with Jeff Gluck, Larson opened up on how he spoke to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver, who is under a full-time obligation with HMS. Addressing Day, Larson, who played an instrumental role in bringing him to HMS, asked him to fight his battles, get going, and not give up.
“I haven’t really talked to him a whole lot, but just like, ‘Hey man, you’re doing great. Obviously, you’ve had a rough couple of weeks and all that, and you’ve taken in a lot of advice, but keep your head up,” Larson said.
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Following this, the #5 driver highlighted how the young days as a racing driver are mostly spent learning and gathering experience. Larson asked him to keep his chin up and learn on the go.
“I think that’s important to do when you’re 20, and you’re getting a lot of advice, and you’re beating yourself down, I’m sure, for how you’ve handled things. So, just trying to be like, ‘Hey, we all believe in you. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t. And keep your head up. You’re a great race car driver. You’ll figure it out,” Larson added.
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Larson’s appreciation for Day amid tough times comes days after Rick Hendrick, the owner of HMS, personally met Day at the track. As also mentioned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Mr. Hendrick pulled the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver aside after back-to-back incidents at Daytona, Atlanta, and COTA.
Dale Jr. also added how he and Mr. Hendrick had a conversation with Day, where he said,
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“We all got together, and we all sat down. Rick [Hendrick] had a conversation with Corey, and we’re all trying to help him understand, ‘Look, man, we want you here. We believe in you; we believe you’re a winner. We want to see you succeed. But we have to do this without being detrimental to each other.’”
Right from the start of the season, the rookie driver created a poor reputation for his name following his irrational and aggressive moves in back-to-back races in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. At Daytona, he was involved in a wreck with William Sawalich.
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In Atlanta, Day was also involved in a multi-car wreck after his collision with Ryan Sieg. At COTA, Corey Day wrecked fan favorite Connor Zilisch while battling for a top-five finish. Besides reckless moves, the lack of accountability and controversial excuses also led fans not to like him.
As a consequence, the NASCAR fans were unimpressed with the Hendrick Motorsports prodigy, as they shared stern criticism. Denny Hamlin, one of NASCAR’s most experienced drivers, also voiced a similar concern.
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Denny Hamlin calls out Hendrick Motorsports amid Corey Day row
Hendrick Motorsports brought in Corey Day, the shining Truck Series driver, and put him on an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride. However, weeks after the said move, numerous NASCAR figures, including Denny Hamlin, called Rick Hendrick’s team out over Day’s reckless and meaningless driving.
“I mean, you’ve seen good runs out of him,” Hamlin said in the Actions Detrimental podcast. “I haven’t seen a lot of great runs out of him. You’ve seen more mistakes than you’ve seen great runs. And like when I say mistakes, I mean big old blatant mistakes. And every weekend, some guys are upset.”
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With this, Hamlin, a longtime NASCAR driver and a co-owner of a Cup Series team, raised serious questions about Hendrick Motorsports and how they handle developing drivers. Especially after he spoke about Day’s attitude after wrecking Zilisch at COTA.
With that said, it will be interesting to see if Corey Day puts his chin up, takes note, and can steer himself away from wrecks and controversies.
Joey Logano Reveals the Secret Behind Roger Penske’s Successful Racing Empire With Bold 3-Word Verdict
For a person to dominate in three different racing categories at the same time is not only a hard nut to crack, but also a rare sight. That’s where Roger Penske enters, one of the foundational figures of modern motorsports in America. As Penske’s contribution in the country’s automotive and racing sector is unparalleled, his team’s driver, Joey Logano, recently reiterated the same with a fascinating take and unraveled the secret behind it.
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Logano’s bold appreciation for his team owner
In a recent interview with Cup Scene on YouTube, the Penske star opened up about his team owner and how Mr. Penske rose above the ordinary and made a place for himself.
“As a competitor, no matter what your position is on a team, you want to be with the best, right?” Logano said, revealing the secret. “You can’t soar like an eagle when you’re working with turkeys, you know? And he’s an eagle, right? And it’s those are the ones you want to attach to, right? You want to fly together. And I’ve been very fortunate to drive for him for the last 14-15 years.”
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Logano’s eagle reference for his boss also resonates with the spirit of the national bird of the United States of America (bald eagle), which symbolizes power, leadership, and keen vision. Soon after this, the #22 driver reflected on his time at the team and shed light on how Team Penske has had impactful retention over the years, where sponsors, engineers, crew chiefs, and other major shareholders remained at the team.
Speaking about this, here’s Logano further added, “I think when you look at the tenure of the employees, the sponsors, the drivers, no one really moves that often, right? Like once you’re in, you want to be there. Nobody wants to leave. Because you’re going to see success eventually, one way or another. Everyone works hard. Everyone has the same culture and the same thought process. It’s something I’m really proud of. Like I take a lot of pride in saying that I drive for Team Penske.”
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Logano’s words about longevity at Team Penske are proven by his own tenure there. Since 2013, he has continued to drive the No. 22 for the team. Ryan Blaney has been with the team since 2018. All of this shows the culture that Roger Penske has built at Team Penske over the decades. Stability has been a defining trait of the organization.
Notably, Roger Penske leads a massive billion-dollar empire in motorsports. With over $3.8 billion in fortune, he heads Team Penske (a team that fields three different outfits in three different racing categories, such as NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA Championship.
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Besides this, he also owns the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar competition. Because of his contribution to American motorsport, Penske received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump in 2019.
Penske’s success story is not just limited to his ownership, as the 89-year-old won the Indy 500 recently in 2023 and 2024, Cup Series championship in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and three consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
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Particularly in NASCAR, Team Penske has five Cup Series and two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championships. Statistically, Roger Penske’s team has been one of the best teams in the early 2020s. Keeping the momentum intact, Joey Logano’s teammate wants to succeed at Phoenix, despite a slow start to the season.
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Ryan Blaney boosted up ahead of Phoenix Cup race
NASCAR is all set to host the fourth Cup Series race of the season at Phoenix, a track regarded as a happy hunting ground for Team Penske. In recent years, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have won three titles on this track in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Besides this, the Penske duo also claimed six wins altogether. Banking on such impressive statistics, Blaney shared his thoughts ahead of this weekend’s race on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:
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“I feel like I have a decent understanding of what I take, what it takes to go fast around there, and kind of what I need my car to do. But Penske’s always brought really fast cars there. It was nice to finally get a win there last year in the fall. We’ve run second there a lot of times, and it was nice to finally win. So I’m looking forward to it this weekend.”
The start of the season has not been ideal for Team Penske drivers as Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Cindric failed to match 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who won three back-to-back races at Daytona, Atlanta, and COTA. With that said, it will be interesting to see if Blaney and Co. manage to break this streak on Sunday at a track that they are used to taming.
IndyCar Champion Teases NASCAR Debut Days After Rival Driver’s Backhanded Comments
Being a phenomenon in IndyCar is not enough for Alex Palou. After winning four straight championships and defending the title in 2026, Palou now wants to test his limits. Not only is he looking prepared for the IndyCar 2026 season with a victory at St. Pete, but he is also ready to utilize their latest partnership with one of the biggest names in American motorsports.
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Alex Palou aims for NASCAR entry in 2026
It is clear that IndyCar and NASCAR have a set plan for the 2026 season. With multiple double-header weekends, they are aiming to provide more racing action to the fans. Palou’s rival, Pato O’Ward, didn’t appreciate the idea a few days back, as he felt like IndyCar doesn’t get the limelight it deserves when clubbed together with NASCAR.
“Already tired of IndyCar being like the support race. We are always the sideshow. It’s great for the fans, but not for us,” he said.
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However, after Kevin Harvick and Will Buxton doubled down on the argument on why they are better, O’Ward later tweeted sarcastically, “I stand corrected, i’m so happy to be here with NASCAR this weekend🤝😆.”
But the popular opinion is positive, and like Palou, many others are supporting this move. “Hope we have more of these,” said the Phoenix winner Josef Newgarden recently.
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On the topic of NASCAR and IndyCar racing together on weekends, Palou says, “If I knew they (NASCAR) were racing with us this weekend, I would have done it. But in my opinion I would have to do a road course first.”
Palou is yet to take part in any stock car racing. However, he has considerable experience in driving outside the open-wheel discipline. Using his time with other racing series as a foundation, Palou wants to drive in NASCAR. And just like other drivers, he wants to test his skills out on a road course first.
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Even though both IndyCar and NASCAR run ovals, drivers from different disciplines generally like to race on road courses to have a fighting chance against the other veterans in the sport. But Palou is not the only driver from his discipline to think of trying out NASCAR.
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Earlier, IndyCar veterans Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe took advantage of the NASCAR Truck Series and IndyCar doubleheader by trying their luck in the race. Hinchcliffe even posted a top 10 finish, looking forward to more racing in NASCAR.
While Palou regrets not taking part in NASCAR this weekend, Phoenix has left him sour with a massive points deficit.
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Alex Palou gets crashed out of Phoenix
With a victory at St. Pete, it was clear that Alex Palou is very serious about the 2026 season. It already looked like the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was ahead of the competition. Starting at the Phoenix oval in P10, Palou was looking stable and fast enough for the weekend. As the race progressed, he would slot himself into P3, running behind David Malukas and Josef Newgarden.
Unfortunately, his runaway performance came to a brutal halt when he made a grave misjudgment and drove into Rinus VeeKay. While VeeKay was trying to make a move on Palou as he took the top lane, Palou closed the door on him suddenly, causing him to make contact with his car.
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And with that, the infallible Alex Palou was out of the race in a wreck. “I haven’t been able to see it,” Palou said, noting a replay. “I just, I don’t know if I just squeezed someone or someone was trying to get there. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t think there was anybody there.
“I need to see if there was really that space or not, but yeah, it’s unfortunate that we ended up in the wall so early and not even trying, but it’s racing.” Not only that, his actions also left VeeKay fuming about potential suspension damage.
It’s unfortunate, but Alex Palou did not become a four-time champion for nothing. He should bounce back soon and definitely make up the points deficit from Phoenix. And who knows, maybe he might also do it with a subsequent top-10 finish in a NASCAR race that weekend.
Denny Hamlin Calls Out Rick Hendrick & Co.’s Struggles in Phoenix Amid Kyle Larson’s Grind
Just three months after winning the title, Kyle Larson came back to his championship arena. And the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion performed better than any of his teammates. Nevertheless, the scope for doing more at Phoenix Raceway was a lot, as even rival Denny Hamlin saw. The latter dissected the struggles faced by Rick Hendrick’s team as a collective.
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Denny Hamlin’s rival stood out
“Larson, Cliff Daniels, you got to give them credit. They take a 15th-place car every Phoenix and finish in the top five with it,” Denny Hamlin said in an ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode. “Larson did an amazing job on restarts, like gaining chunks of spots, like two or three cautions come out. And it was like if it ever just went green, like his pace, his actual pace was not good.”
Indeed, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team gritted their teeth for the Straight Talk 500 race. Starting from a front row spot, Larson overcame an early pit road miscue and dodged a lot of debilitating cautions. He ran side-by-side with Ty Gibbs for the lead as the day’s final caution flew with 19 laps to go. And with a two-tire call from crew chief Cliff Daniels, Larson could salvage a third-place result.
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In comparison, Kyle Larson’s teammates did not look so good. William Byron, driving the No. 24 Chevy, suffered a cut tire early in the race. He lacked the pace to win the race and instead relied on restarts to fetch a 7th-place result, his first top ten of the season. Chase Elliott was mired in traffic throughout the race, with his No. 9 Chevy getting caught in two crashes before a 23rd-place finish. Alex Bowman, sidelined due to vertigo, had his No. 48 driven by Anthony Alfredo – the latter finished 33rd.
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“It just seemed like Hendrick in general were not as strong as they usually were, and Penske was good. Gibbs was good,” Denny Hamlin continued. “I thought William Byron was less than exciting compared to where he’s been there at that track in the past. So, he was kind of an underperformer compared to what I would say is the status quo Phoenix race. Um, I guess we can talk Chase Elliott was not good either, right? He was involved in an accident early.”
Kyle Larson himself was not satisfied with his team’s effort. “It’s concerning,” he said. “William’s had his moments of being pretty strong. I feel like the rest of us three have always been really bad. We just were worse today.”
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Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin scrutinized his own efforts in Phoenix in a dim light.
Persevering through many mishaps
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Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs waved Joe Gibbs Racing‘s colors in Phoenix. Yet Denny Hamlin was also right there, finishing 5th. He overcame immense trouble for that result. The No. 11 team faced problems on pit road that limited their ability to stay near the front. Although it showed steady speed, the team did not have the pace needed to match the leaders who controlled the race in the closing laps.
Denny Hamlin reflected critically, “Not enough. That’s a good overall summary. We just didn’t have the ‘it’ that we needed. I felt like I was always just a little behind the 20 and the 12. I thought we were kind of the next tier of cars, but we didn’t have anything more than that.”
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“We had some issues when we did have track position. We didn’t have a great day on pit road. They had a great day when we were kind of in the middle of the pack. But those are the ebbs and flows. Everyone is trying to get reps and rhythm for the season. We’ve just got to work on it and get a little better for sure.”
Clearly, a number of Cup Series stars need to work on their pace. Let’s wait and see how Denny Hamlin and his HMS rivals perform in the upcoming races.
Yamaha Motor Co. to move U.S. HQ to Georgia
Yamaha Motor Co., which already has a big presence in Georgia, is about to get even bigger here after announced shift of home office from California.
Yamaha’s FSH Sport at the marina at the Miami International Boat Show on February 11, 2016. (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Yamaha Motor Co., LTD )
After a half-century in California, an international motorsports company is moving its American home base to Georgia.
Yamaha Motor Co. announced it will relocate its U.S. headquarters to Kennesaw, where the Japanese company already operates a marine sports campus. The move will happen in stages through 2028 and will vacate Yamaha’s longtime corporate home near Los Angeles.
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The Yamaha Motor Co. headquarters in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan, on Thursday, July 6, 2023. Yamaha is backing hydrogen as a clean and viable option for reaching carbon neutrality and will develop it as a source of fuel, President and Chief Executive Officer Yoshihiro Hidaka said. (Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Yamaha rider Sergio Lafuente, of Uruguay, races across the dunes during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between the cities of Calama and Iquique, Chile, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. (Victor R. Caivano/AP)
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Kim Speciale, left, Ben Speciale, president of Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit , Gov. Brian Kemp, first lady Marty Kemp, Mike Chrzanowski, Yamaha Motor Corporation’s US president, and Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling celebrate the official grand opening of the Yamaha Marine Innovation Center in Kennesaw on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. The facility is dedicated to creating the next generation in outdoor sport connected technology and is specifically recruiting local university students for engineering and technical jobs. (Jenni Girtman for the AJC)
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Teenager Samra swaps snowy Canada for Mumbai heat with IPL dream
Bengaluru, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Yuvraj Samra honed his batting skills in indoor stadiums back home in snowy Canada and the gifted teenager is now ready to test himself in the heat of Mumbai as he chases an Indian Premier League deal after an impressive Twenty20 World Cup.
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While his World Cup adventure ended after Canada’s exit, Samra is eager to get used to Indian conditions and has shifted base to Mumbai to train under India international Yashasvi Jaiswal’s childhood coach Jwala Singh.
Konnor Griffin was featured on ‘You Got Mossed’
Konnor Griffin is only 19 years old and already turning heads as MLB’s top prospect, flexing his muscle by launching spring dingers out of stadiums. But the Pirates phenom is no stranger to jaw-dropping feats of athleticism. In fact, he’s been doing so since the ninth grade (that’s only something like five years ago for him, of course).
Griffin is a multi-sport athlete who excelled in football as well, and there’s video proof of perhaps his peak moment on the gridiron. As a middle school wide receiver, he was featured on the popular ESPN segment
Iron Maiden Sets ‘Run For Your Lives’ Tour of Australia
Iron Maiden will bring their brand of heavy metal thunder down under later this year.
The British heavy metal legends today (Feb. 27) announce the Australia dates of their Run For Your Lives World Tour, where they’ll play stadiums for the first time in both Melbourne and Sydney, and arenas in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Megadeth are special guests on the four-date run, which will get underway Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, before hitting Melbourne’s AAMI Park (Nov. 13), Sydney’s Allianz Stadium (Nov. 15), and wrapping up Nov. 18 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
The Australia visit will mark Iron Maiden’s eighth, dating back to November 1982. Australians can’t get enough of them; Iron Maiden was here fewer than two years ago, in September 2024.
“This will be Iron Maiden’s biggest tour of Australia ever,” explains TEG Dainty president Paul Dainty, producer of the forthcoming run. “Headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their 50-year history is a massive moment. And with Megadeth joining the tour, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal — two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show Australian fans won’t know what hit them.”
Iron Maiden has had a solid week. On Wednesday, the band’s name was called out for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. And earlier, on Tuesday, Universal Pictures International (UPI) unveiled Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, a feature film that’s said to trace the rockers’ “remarkable five‑decade journey” with “unprecedented access” to the rockers’ official archives.
Formed in East London in 1975, Iron Maiden are titans of the heavy genre, with 17 studio albums, over 100 million records sold, and more than 2,500 performances across 64 countries. In September 2021, Iron Maiden earned its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 as Senjutsu debuted at No. 3.
General public tickets for the Australia shows go on sale Friday, March 6.
Run For Your Lives Australia Dates
Nov. 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Nov. 13 — AAMI Park, Melbourne
Nov. 15 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Nov. 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
The Case for Expanding Great American Ballpark’s Outfield
Since its opening in 2003, Great American Ballpark has been considered one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the majors.
Although the park’s dimensions are very similar to the Reds’ former home, Riverfront Stadium, it still plays differently in practice. It is a hitter’s paradise, but a pitcher’s nightmare.
Part of what makes Great American so unique is its home run rate. Over the years, the ballpark has consistently ranked near the top of Major League Baseball in home runs allowed, especially down the left- and right-field lines.
In fact, from 2020-2024, it led the league with 1,031 home runs allowed. The next closest was Yankee Stadium at 981.
However, some of the best insight into this quirky ballpark comes from players who spent years in Cincinnati, and few know it better than Joey Votto.
In an interview with Jim Day on the Jim Day Podcast, Votto said that he’d
2026 World Cup schedule: Dates, times, stadiums all confirmed – Full details
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games now confirmed.
There are 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol. Check out the latest on the superstars and how they’re shaping up ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
We now know where you can watch each team play across the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and you can start making your plans.
MORE — World Cup base camps for every team | 2026 World Cup hub | 2026 World Cup venues
This is what it is all about, as we’ve been waiting years for the schedule for this 48-team tournament to be revealed.
Below are all the details you need.
2026 World Cup schedule, dates, times, stadiums, full details
Group A schedule
June 11: Mexico vs South Africa – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 3pm ET
June 11: South Korea vs UEFA playoff D – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm
June 18: UEFA playoff D vs South Africa – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 18: Mexico vs South Korea – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 9pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff D vs Mexico – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
June 24: South Africa vs South Korea – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
Group B schedule
June 12: Canada vs UEFA playoff A – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
June 13: Qatar vs Switzerland – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 3pm ET
June 18: Switzerland vs UEFA playoff A – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 18: Canada vs Qatar – BC Place, Vancouver – 6pm ET
June 24: Switzerland vs Canada – BC Place, Vancouver – 3pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff A vs Qatar – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
Group C schedule
June 13: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 6pm ET
June 13: Haiti vs Scotland – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 9pm ET
June 19: Scotland vs Morocco – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 19: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 9pm ET
June 24: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 24: Morocco vs Haiti – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 6pm ET
Group D schedule
June 12: USA vs Paraguay – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 13: Australia vs UEFA playoff C – BC Place, Vancouver – Midnight ET
June 19: USA vs Australia – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 19: UEFA playoff C vs Paraguay – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 25: UEFA playoff C vs USA – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 10pm ET
June 25: Paraguay vs Australia – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 10pm ET
Group E schedule
June 14: Germany vs Curacao – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 14: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 7pm ET
June 20: Germany vs Ivory Coast – BMO Field, Toronto – 4pm ET
June 20: Ecuador vs Curacao – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 8pm ET
June 25: Ecuador vs Germany – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
June 25: Curacao vs Ivory Coast – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 4pm ET
Group F schedule
June 14: Netherlands vs Japan – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 14: UEFA playoff B vs Tunisia – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 10pm ET
June 20: Netherlands vs UEFA playoff B – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 20: Tunisia vs Japan – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – Midnight ET
June 25: Japan vs UEFA playoff B – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 7pm ET
June 25: Tunisia vs Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 7pm ET
Group G schedule
June 15: Iran vs New Zealand – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 15: Belgium vs Egypt – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 21: Belgium vs Iran – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 21: New Zealand vs Egypt – BC Place, Vancouver – 9pm ET
June 26: Egypt vs Iran – Lumen Field, Seattle – 11pm ET
June 26: New Zealand vs Belgium – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
Group H schedule
June 15: Spain vs Cape Verde – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 15: Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 21: Spain vs Saudi Arabia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 21: Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 26: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – NRG Stadium, Houston – 8pm ET
June 26: Uruguay vs Spain – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 8pm ET
Group I schedule
June 16: France vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
June 16: Inter-confederation playoff 2 vs Norway – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 22: France vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
June 22: Norway vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 8pm ET
June 26: Norway vs France – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 3pm ET
June 26: Senegal vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
Group J schedule
June 16: Argentina vs Algeria – Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City – 9pm ET
June 16: Austria vs Jordan – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 22: Argentina vs Austria – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 22: Jordan vs Algeria – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 11pm ET
June 27: Algeria vs Austria – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 10pm ET
June 27: Jordan vs Argentina – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 10pm ET
Group K schedule
June 17: Portugal vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 17: Uzbekistan vs Colombia – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 10pm ET
June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 23: Colombia vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm ET
June 27: Colombia vs Portugal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 7:30pm ET
June 27: Inter-confederation playoff 1 vs Uzbekistan – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 7:30pm ET
Group L schedule
June 17: England vs Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 17: Ghana vs Panama – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 23: England vs Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
June 23: Panama vs Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 27: Panama vs England – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 27: Croatia vs Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
Round of 32 schedule
June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET
June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET
July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET
July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET
July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET
Round of 16 schedule
July 4: Match 90 – Winner Match 73 vs Winner Match 75 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
July 4: Match 89 – Winner Match 74 vs Winner Match 77 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
July 5: Match 91 – Winner Match 76 vs Winner Match 78 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
July 5: Match 92 – Winner Match 79 vs Winner Match 80 – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 8pm ET
July 6: Match 93 – Winner Match 83 vs Winner Match 84 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 6: Match 94 – Winner Match 81 vs Winner Match 82 – Lumen Field, Seattle – 8pm ET
July 7: Match 95 – Winner Match 86 vs Winner Match 88 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 7: Match 96 – Winner Match 85 vs Winner Match 87 – BC Place, Vancouver – 4pm ET
Quarterfinal schedule
July 9: Match 97 – Winner Match 89 vs Winner Match 90 – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
July 10: Match 98 – Winner Match 93 vs Winner Match 94 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 11: Match 99 – Winner Match 91 vs Winner Match 92 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
July 11: Match 100 – Winner Match 95 vs Winner Match 96 – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9pm ET
Semifinal schedule
July 14: Match 101 – Winner Match 97 vs Winner Match 98 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 15: Match 102 – Winner Match 99 vs Winner Match 100 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 3pm ET
Third-place game
July 18: Match 103 – Loser Match 101 vs Loser Match 102 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
Final
July 19: Match 104 – Winner Match 101 vs Winner Match 102 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
Liga MX stadiums to host Leagues Cup phase one matches in 2026
The 2026 edition of Leagues Cup will see Liga MX teams host phase one matches in Mexico for the first time since the intraleague tournament debuted the modern format three years ago.
Phase one of the competition kicks off on Aug. 4, seeing 54 games between the 18 participating Major League Soccer clubs and all Liga MX teams. The current format will mirror the 2025 edition of Leagues Cup, as clubs compete in three matches in an attempt to qualify to the knockout rounds.
Like the previous year, all 54 phase one matches are set to be played between Liga MX and MLS clubs.
Four phase one matches will be played in Mexico: highest ranked Club Toluca hosts two matches, while Tigres UANL and Club América host one match each.
Toluca welcomes the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas at the Estadio Nemesio Díez for Phase One games, as Club América hosts San Diego FC at the Estadio Banorte and Tigres UANL faces the Vancouver Whitecaps at Estadio Universitario.
The first phase of the tournament will also see Inter Miami CF meet CF Monterrey, seeing new Designated Player Germán Berterame face off against his previous Liga MX club for the first time since departing during the January transfer window.
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Teams that qualify to the knockout stage will then be paired with counterparts of the opposing league based on each performance from the first round. The upcoming edition of Leagues Cup will maintain the no draws format, meaning any game that concludes regulation time with a tie will go directly to penalties.
According to Leagues Cup rules:
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Locations for tournament
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Pool play for the baseball tournament featuring 20 nations is underway at four different sites.
Here’s what to know about where each nation is playing in pool play and the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds of the 2026 WBC tournament.
The tournament runs through March 17.
Most games can be streamed on FUBO, which offers a free trial. Check the schedule for the complete World Baseball Classic schedule with TV channels and streaming information.
Watch World Baseball Classic games on FUBO (free trial)
World Baseball Classic pool play locations
Pool A of the World Baseball Classic is being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico competing in that pool at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Pool B is being held in Houston with Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States playing at Daikin Park.
Pool C in Tokyo consists of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea facing off at the Tokyo Dome.
The Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela comprise Pool D at loanDepot park in Miami.
Pool play runs through March 11.
World Baseball Classic quarterfinal locations
Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinal games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on March 13 and March 14.
World Baseball Classic semifinal locations
Miami will host both World Baseball Classic semifinal matchups on March 15 and March 16.
World Baseball Classic championship location
Miami will also host the WBC championship game on March 17.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
Reader photo pick of the week: Sports stadiums
This week, we asked our readers to toss on their jerseys and root for their favorite sports teams while commemorating a few of the amazing stadiums they’ve visited. From all-star rivals to historic landmarks, our readers did not disappoint this week!
The winner this week is Angela Carbonetti of Baltimore, Md., with a wide shot of a ball game at Camden Yards.
Honorable mentions go to William Hine of Mount Pleasant with a photo of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams at batting practice and Robert Peterson of Summerville with rafter seats at Madison Square Garden to see Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier duke it out.
Next week’s topic is
NWSL Ambition Rankings: All 16 clubs judged by the big moves they are or aren’t making
Welcome to year three of ESPN’s NWSL Ambition Rankings, the semi-scientific way to determine which franchises are pushing boundaries, and which are just trying to keep up.
NWSL franchise valuations continue to rise to record highs, and the balance of ownership groups across the league keeps shifting in favor those with more money and bigger ambitions. But some teams continue to step up for than others.
Two new teams, Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, will play their first games in a few days, and their debuts on the ranking adds some shake-ups. Atlanta, which will begin playing in 2028, is sure to challenge for the top spot before even playing a game.
For this ranking to be useful in an ever-growing league (16 teams and counting), we have simplified our process. Criteria remain the same, with key factors being the willingness of franchise owners to invest in their teams on and off the field.
We’re asking: Is the team pushing the limits of the salary cap (and the new, fluid High Impact Player rule) to build a contender? Has team ownership spent money on a training facility or stadium improvements? Quite simply, are their stated goals ambitious (win a championship, be the best team in the world) or do they have a low ceiling?
One important reminder: Ambition is not the same as execution. There are teams that have lofty aspirations, but have failed to successfully realize them. There are teams with more modest ambitions who over-perform. We have absolutely deducted points for poor execution, but the willingness to aim high — even if it means falling short — outweighs not trying at all.
The original idea is inspired by the late Grant Wahl, who annually did a similar ranking for MLS. Measuring ambition, especially for a league as young as the 14-year-old NWSL, is a worthwhile endeavor. Let’s get to it!
• Watch Gotham vs. Boston: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, live on ABC
• Stream NWSL matches live on ESPN+ all season (U.S.)
• NWSL kit rankings: See every new jersey from all 16 teams
16. Chicago Stars FC (Last year: 13)
While the Stars’ ranking dipped this year, there is finally progress in Chicagoland.
The team’s move to Martin Stadium is a temporary, but necessary, step to move on from the abyss of Bridgeview. The Stars had to do something, and they did. They also recently announced plans to build a dedicated training facility, which will be relatively small but, again, was one of many pain points for this team.
Where do they play beyond 2026? That still needs to be resolved, which is hardly ideal.
On the field, they finished last for the second time in three years. And yet, their biggest offseason move was selling forward Ludmila to San Diego. Mallory Swanson’s return from maternity leave can’t come soon enough.
15. Houston Dash (Last year: 14)
The Dash remains for sale after one of the most bizarre stories in a decently long list of them failed to produce a new owner. Until there is a new, motivated owner with a clearly stated direction for the team, it’s impossible to fully understand the ambitions of the Dash.
The good news: there is progress on the soccer front. Houston was inconsistent last year as another rebuild got underway, but the Dash have talent and more direction than before. Houston has also built out a robust technical staff — including the recent addition of Twila Kilgore as technical director — that is larger than most of its peers in this section of the rankings, which requires investment.
14. Racing Louisville FC (Last year: T-10)
Louisville’s facilities are great and plenty of teams would love to have them. Of course, those facilities are more expensive to build in bigger markets, and the rub on having a nice stadium is that there need to be butts in the seats. Louisville finished last in average attendance in 2025 and recorded its worst attendance in its five-year history. That is ominous.
Those struggles stand in stark contrast to what happened on the field. Bev Yanez won NWSL Coach of the Year for galvanizing a gritty team and earning Racing’s first playoff berth. Louisville was a difficult opponent for every team last season and could build upon that success this year — even while being outspent by other teams.
13. North Carolina Courage (Last year: T-10)
A reported $40 million investment from team owner and billionaire Marc Lasry, per Sportico, could be a sign of this team moving forward and making long-term, much needed investments.
Attendance improved to over 7,600 fans per game in 2025, the team’s best since it arrived in the market in 2017. First Horizon Stadium still needs major modernization, but improved attendance is a good sign for a team that struggled to gain a local foothold even during its successful years. Long-term, the Courage still need to either gut the stadium or finally build one inside Raleigh limits.
On the field, the team regressed and missed the playoffs in a chaotic season that included the confusingly messaged firing of head coach Sean Nahas and the abrupt re-sale of USWNT star Jaedyn Shaw (who ended the year by winning a title with Gotham FC) eight months after acquiring her.
12. Utah Royals (Last year: 12)
We’ve been begging Utah to splash some more cash on the field to compete, so the $800,000 transfer fee to get Kiana Palacios from Club América is a welcomed sign. Now, what does this team want to be? For two straight years, the Royals have endured miserable starts to the campaign before salvaging results and playing the role of spoiler late in the season.
The Royals have their own training ground, and they play at the (too empty, too often) America First Field, which is from a previous wave of MLS stadium projects. The facilities are there, and there are new owners since we last did our ambition rankings. This year will be telling of their ambitions.
11. Seattle Reign FC (Last year: 9)
This is the point in the rankings where there’s nothing inherently wrong with what a team is doing; our task is to compare them to the rest of the NWSL.
The Reign’s joint ownership with the Sounders allows for bigger thinking and better staffing, including more support staff than ever around head coach Laura Harvey. On the field, the Reign made major improvements in 2025, finishing fifth and conceding the third-fewest goals (an Achilles heel in 2024).
But nobody has yet solved the riddle in Seattle: Why do the Reign still struggle to crack the local market the way the Sounders have? Reign attendance dropped last year, and 8,000 fans is always an aesthetic struggle in a cavernous NFL stadium. It’s time to take bigger swings.
10. Orlando Pride (Last year: 5)
Average attendance in Orlando improved for the third straight year following the team’s 2024 NWSL Shield and Championship double, although the Pride are still fighting for better crowds and local relevance in a tough media market.
Orlando already has the soccer-specific stadium that it shares with its men’s team, and they will soon upgrade their training facility. What’s next? Their encore on the field in 2025 was respectable — a whisker away from making it back to the final. Haley Carter has moved on from her VP/sporting director role, and Caitlin Carducci is tasked with pushing the team forward.
Elimination in the group stage of Concacaf play was a failure, though a healthy Barbra Banda should help them return to championship contention again. And to the Pride’s credit, the $1.5 million transfer fee to acquire Jacquie Ovalle last summer was a world record at the time.
9. Boston Legacy FC (Last year: N/A)
Here we have a perfect example of the dichotomy between ambition and execution. It would be a disservice to sugarcoat the early years (!) of Boston’s launch. The club wasted that historic lead time on a name, BosNation, that was almost immediately ridiculed and scrapped, anchored by a disastrous
Photos of families in southern Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes and taking shelter in Beirut
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced woman who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon looks through a classroom window at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A girl displaced by Israeli airstrikes, looks on at a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, arrive at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Children displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, play in the courtyard of a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, settle at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A nurse, left, measures the blood pressure of a woman who fled Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family plays on a bicycle in a classroom corridor at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, sleep at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced children run between tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Clothes hang to dry outside a school in Beirut, used as a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family sits on the backyard school that turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced child plays past tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Teenager Samra swaps snowy Canada for Mumbai heat with IPL dream
Bengaluru, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Yuvraj Samra honed his batting skills in indoor stadiums back home in snowy Canada and the gifted teenager is now ready to test himself in the heat of Mumbai as he chases an Indian Premier League deal after an impressive Twenty20 World Cup.
Sign up here.
While his World Cup adventure ended after Canada’s exit, Samra is eager to get used to Indian conditions and has shifted base to Mumbai to train under India international Yashasvi Jaiswal’s childhood coach Jwala Singh.
Konnor Griffin was featured on ‘You Got Mossed’
Konnor Griffin is only 19 years old and already turning heads as MLB’s top prospect, flexing his muscle by launching spring dingers out of stadiums. But the Pirates phenom is no stranger to jaw-dropping feats of athleticism. In fact, he’s been doing so since the ninth grade (that’s only something like five years ago for him, of course).
Griffin is a multi-sport athlete who excelled in football as well, and there’s video proof of perhaps his peak moment on the gridiron. As a middle school wide receiver, he was featured on the popular ESPN segment
Teenager Samra swaps snowy Canada for Mumbai heat with IPL dream
Bengaluru, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Yuvraj Samra honed his batting skills in indoor stadiums back home in snowy Canada and the gifted teenager is now ready to test himself in the heat of Mumbai as he chases an Indian Premier League deal after an impressive Twenty20 World Cup.
Sign up here.
While his World Cup adventure ended after Canada’s exit, Samra is eager to get used to Indian conditions and has shifted base to Mumbai to train under India international Yashasvi Jaiswal’s childhood coach Jwala Singh.
Iron Maiden Sets ‘Run For Your Lives’ Tour of Australia
Iron Maiden will bring their brand of heavy metal thunder down under later this year.
The British heavy metal legends today (Feb. 27) announce the Australia dates of their Run For Your Lives World Tour, where they’ll play stadiums for the first time in both Melbourne and Sydney, and arenas in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Megadeth are special guests on the four-date run, which will get underway Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, before hitting Melbourne’s AAMI Park (Nov. 13), Sydney’s Allianz Stadium (Nov. 15), and wrapping up Nov. 18 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
The Australia visit will mark Iron Maiden’s eighth, dating back to November 1982. Australians can’t get enough of them; Iron Maiden was here fewer than two years ago, in September 2024.
“This will be Iron Maiden’s biggest tour of Australia ever,” explains TEG Dainty president Paul Dainty, producer of the forthcoming run. “Headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their 50-year history is a massive moment. And with Megadeth joining the tour, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal — two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show Australian fans won’t know what hit them.”
Iron Maiden has had a solid week. On Wednesday, the band’s name was called out for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. And earlier, on Tuesday, Universal Pictures International (UPI) unveiled Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, a feature film that’s said to trace the rockers’ “remarkable five‑decade journey” with “unprecedented access” to the rockers’ official archives.
Formed in East London in 1975, Iron Maiden are titans of the heavy genre, with 17 studio albums, over 100 million records sold, and more than 2,500 performances across 64 countries. In September 2021, Iron Maiden earned its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 as Senjutsu debuted at No. 3.
General public tickets for the Australia shows go on sale Friday, March 6.
Run For Your Lives Australia Dates
Nov. 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Nov. 13 — AAMI Park, Melbourne
Nov. 15 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Nov. 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
The Case for Expanding Great American Ballpark’s Outfield
Since its opening in 2003, Great American Ballpark has been considered one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the majors.
Although the park’s dimensions are very similar to the Reds’ former home, Riverfront Stadium, it still plays differently in practice. It is a hitter’s paradise, but a pitcher’s nightmare.
Part of what makes Great American so unique is its home run rate. Over the years, the ballpark has consistently ranked near the top of Major League Baseball in home runs allowed, especially down the left- and right-field lines.
In fact, from 2020-2024, it led the league with 1,031 home runs allowed. The next closest was Yankee Stadium at 981.
However, some of the best insight into this quirky ballpark comes from players who spent years in Cincinnati, and few know it better than Joey Votto.
In an interview with Jim Day on the Jim Day Podcast, Votto said that he’d
Konnor Griffin was featured on ‘You Got Mossed’
Konnor Griffin is only 19 years old and already turning heads as MLB’s top prospect, flexing his muscle by launching spring dingers out of stadiums. But the Pirates phenom is no stranger to jaw-dropping feats of athleticism. In fact, he’s been doing so since the ninth grade (that’s only something like five years ago for him, of course).
Griffin is a multi-sport athlete who excelled in football as well, and there’s video proof of perhaps his peak moment on the gridiron. As a middle school wide receiver, he was featured on the popular ESPN segment
Iron Maiden Sets ‘Run For Your Lives’ Tour of Australia
Iron Maiden will bring their brand of heavy metal thunder down under later this year.
The British heavy metal legends today (Feb. 27) announce the Australia dates of their Run For Your Lives World Tour, where they’ll play stadiums for the first time in both Melbourne and Sydney, and arenas in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Megadeth are special guests on the four-date run, which will get underway Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, before hitting Melbourne’s AAMI Park (Nov. 13), Sydney’s Allianz Stadium (Nov. 15), and wrapping up Nov. 18 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
The Australia visit will mark Iron Maiden’s eighth, dating back to November 1982. Australians can’t get enough of them; Iron Maiden was here fewer than two years ago, in September 2024.
“This will be Iron Maiden’s biggest tour of Australia ever,” explains TEG Dainty president Paul Dainty, producer of the forthcoming run. “Headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their 50-year history is a massive moment. And with Megadeth joining the tour, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal — two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show Australian fans won’t know what hit them.”
Iron Maiden has had a solid week. On Wednesday, the band’s name was called out for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. And earlier, on Tuesday, Universal Pictures International (UPI) unveiled Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, a feature film that’s said to trace the rockers’ “remarkable five‑decade journey” with “unprecedented access” to the rockers’ official archives.
Formed in East London in 1975, Iron Maiden are titans of the heavy genre, with 17 studio albums, over 100 million records sold, and more than 2,500 performances across 64 countries. In September 2021, Iron Maiden earned its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 as Senjutsu debuted at No. 3.
General public tickets for the Australia shows go on sale Friday, March 6.
Run For Your Lives Australia Dates
Nov. 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Nov. 13 — AAMI Park, Melbourne
Nov. 15 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Nov. 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
2026 World Cup schedule: Dates, times, stadiums all confirmed – Full details
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games now confirmed.
There are 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol. Check out the latest on the superstars and how they’re shaping up ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
We now know where you can watch each team play across the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and you can start making your plans.
MORE — World Cup base camps for every team | 2026 World Cup hub | 2026 World Cup venues
This is what it is all about, as we’ve been waiting years for the schedule for this 48-team tournament to be revealed.
Below are all the details you need.
2026 World Cup schedule, dates, times, stadiums, full details
Group A schedule
June 11: Mexico vs South Africa – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 3pm ET
June 11: South Korea vs UEFA playoff D – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm
June 18: UEFA playoff D vs South Africa – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 18: Mexico vs South Korea – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 9pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff D vs Mexico – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
June 24: South Africa vs South Korea – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
Group B schedule
June 12: Canada vs UEFA playoff A – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
June 13: Qatar vs Switzerland – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 3pm ET
June 18: Switzerland vs UEFA playoff A – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 18: Canada vs Qatar – BC Place, Vancouver – 6pm ET
June 24: Switzerland vs Canada – BC Place, Vancouver – 3pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff A vs Qatar – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
Group C schedule
June 13: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 6pm ET
June 13: Haiti vs Scotland – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 9pm ET
June 19: Scotland vs Morocco – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 19: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 9pm ET
June 24: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 24: Morocco vs Haiti – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 6pm ET
Group D schedule
June 12: USA vs Paraguay – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 13: Australia vs UEFA playoff C – BC Place, Vancouver – Midnight ET
June 19: USA vs Australia – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 19: UEFA playoff C vs Paraguay – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 25: UEFA playoff C vs USA – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 10pm ET
June 25: Paraguay vs Australia – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 10pm ET
Group E schedule
June 14: Germany vs Curacao – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 14: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 7pm ET
June 20: Germany vs Ivory Coast – BMO Field, Toronto – 4pm ET
June 20: Ecuador vs Curacao – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 8pm ET
June 25: Ecuador vs Germany – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
June 25: Curacao vs Ivory Coast – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 4pm ET
Group F schedule
June 14: Netherlands vs Japan – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 14: UEFA playoff B vs Tunisia – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 10pm ET
June 20: Netherlands vs UEFA playoff B – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 20: Tunisia vs Japan – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – Midnight ET
June 25: Japan vs UEFA playoff B – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 7pm ET
June 25: Tunisia vs Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 7pm ET
Group G schedule
June 15: Iran vs New Zealand – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 15: Belgium vs Egypt – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 21: Belgium vs Iran – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 21: New Zealand vs Egypt – BC Place, Vancouver – 9pm ET
June 26: Egypt vs Iran – Lumen Field, Seattle – 11pm ET
June 26: New Zealand vs Belgium – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
Group H schedule
June 15: Spain vs Cape Verde – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 15: Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 21: Spain vs Saudi Arabia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 21: Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 26: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – NRG Stadium, Houston – 8pm ET
June 26: Uruguay vs Spain – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 8pm ET
Group I schedule
June 16: France vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
June 16: Inter-confederation playoff 2 vs Norway – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 22: France vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
June 22: Norway vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 8pm ET
June 26: Norway vs France – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 3pm ET
June 26: Senegal vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
Group J schedule
June 16: Argentina vs Algeria – Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City – 9pm ET
June 16: Austria vs Jordan – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 22: Argentina vs Austria – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 22: Jordan vs Algeria – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 11pm ET
June 27: Algeria vs Austria – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 10pm ET
June 27: Jordan vs Argentina – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 10pm ET
Group K schedule
June 17: Portugal vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 17: Uzbekistan vs Colombia – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 10pm ET
June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 23: Colombia vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm ET
June 27: Colombia vs Portugal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 7:30pm ET
June 27: Inter-confederation playoff 1 vs Uzbekistan – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 7:30pm ET
Group L schedule
June 17: England vs Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 17: Ghana vs Panama – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 23: England vs Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
June 23: Panama vs Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 27: Panama vs England – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 27: Croatia vs Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
Round of 32 schedule
June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET
June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET
July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET
July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET
July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET
Round of 16 schedule
July 4: Match 90 – Winner Match 73 vs Winner Match 75 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
July 4: Match 89 – Winner Match 74 vs Winner Match 77 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
July 5: Match 91 – Winner Match 76 vs Winner Match 78 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
July 5: Match 92 – Winner Match 79 vs Winner Match 80 – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 8pm ET
July 6: Match 93 – Winner Match 83 vs Winner Match 84 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 6: Match 94 – Winner Match 81 vs Winner Match 82 – Lumen Field, Seattle – 8pm ET
July 7: Match 95 – Winner Match 86 vs Winner Match 88 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 7: Match 96 – Winner Match 85 vs Winner Match 87 – BC Place, Vancouver – 4pm ET
Quarterfinal schedule
July 9: Match 97 – Winner Match 89 vs Winner Match 90 – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
July 10: Match 98 – Winner Match 93 vs Winner Match 94 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 11: Match 99 – Winner Match 91 vs Winner Match 92 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
July 11: Match 100 – Winner Match 95 vs Winner Match 96 – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9pm ET
Semifinal schedule
July 14: Match 101 – Winner Match 97 vs Winner Match 98 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 15: Match 102 – Winner Match 99 vs Winner Match 100 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 3pm ET
Third-place game
July 18: Match 103 – Loser Match 101 vs Loser Match 102 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
Final
July 19: Match 104 – Winner Match 101 vs Winner Match 102 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
Teenager Samra swaps snowy Canada for Mumbai heat with IPL dream
Bengaluru, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Yuvraj Samra honed his batting skills in indoor stadiums back home in snowy Canada and the gifted teenager is now ready to test himself in the heat of Mumbai as he chases an Indian Premier League deal after an impressive Twenty20 World Cup.
Sign up here.
While his World Cup adventure ended after Canada’s exit, Samra is eager to get used to Indian conditions and has shifted base to Mumbai to train under India international Yashasvi Jaiswal’s childhood coach Jwala Singh.
The Case for Expanding Great American Ballpark’s Outfield
Since its opening in 2003, Great American Ballpark has been considered one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the majors.
Although the park’s dimensions are very similar to the Reds’ former home, Riverfront Stadium, it still plays differently in practice. It is a hitter’s paradise, but a pitcher’s nightmare.
Part of what makes Great American so unique is its home run rate. Over the years, the ballpark has consistently ranked near the top of Major League Baseball in home runs allowed, especially down the left- and right-field lines.
In fact, from 2020-2024, it led the league with 1,031 home runs allowed. The next closest was Yankee Stadium at 981.
However, some of the best insight into this quirky ballpark comes from players who spent years in Cincinnati, and few know it better than Joey Votto.
In an interview with Jim Day on the Jim Day Podcast, Votto said that he’d
Liga MX stadiums to host Leagues Cup phase one matches in 2026
The 2026 edition of Leagues Cup will see Liga MX teams host phase one matches in Mexico for the first time since the intraleague tournament debuted the modern format three years ago.
Phase one of the competition kicks off on Aug. 4, seeing 54 games between the 18 participating Major League Soccer clubs and all Liga MX teams. The current format will mirror the 2025 edition of Leagues Cup, as clubs compete in three matches in an attempt to qualify to the knockout rounds.
Like the previous year, all 54 phase one matches are set to be played between Liga MX and MLS clubs.
Four phase one matches will be played in Mexico: highest ranked Club Toluca hosts two matches, while Tigres UANL and Club América host one match each.
Toluca welcomes the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas at the Estadio Nemesio Díez for Phase One games, as Club América hosts San Diego FC at the Estadio Banorte and Tigres UANL faces the Vancouver Whitecaps at Estadio Universitario.
The first phase of the tournament will also see Inter Miami CF meet CF Monterrey, seeing new Designated Player Germán Berterame face off against his previous Liga MX club for the first time since departing during the January transfer window.
– Inter Miami invited to White House to mark MLS Cup win – source
– Vancouver Whitecaps, MLS settle suit in missed Lionel Messi game
– Atlético Madrid’s Griezmann pauses plans for MLS move – sources
Teams that qualify to the knockout stage will then be paired with counterparts of the opposing league based on each performance from the first round. The upcoming edition of Leagues Cup will maintain the no draws format, meaning any game that concludes regulation time with a tie will go directly to penalties.
According to Leagues Cup rules:
Konnor Griffin was featured on ‘You Got Mossed’
Konnor Griffin is only 19 years old and already turning heads as MLB’s top prospect, flexing his muscle by launching spring dingers out of stadiums. But the Pirates phenom is no stranger to jaw-dropping feats of athleticism. In fact, he’s been doing so since the ninth grade (that’s only something like five years ago for him, of course).
Griffin is a multi-sport athlete who excelled in football as well, and there’s video proof of perhaps his peak moment on the gridiron. As a middle school wide receiver, he was featured on the popular ESPN segment
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Locations for tournament
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Pool play for the baseball tournament featuring 20 nations is underway at four different sites.
Here’s what to know about where each nation is playing in pool play and the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds of the 2026 WBC tournament.
The tournament runs through March 17.
Most games can be streamed on FUBO, which offers a free trial. Check the schedule for the complete World Baseball Classic schedule with TV channels and streaming information.
Watch World Baseball Classic games on FUBO (free trial)
World Baseball Classic pool play locations
Pool A of the World Baseball Classic is being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico competing in that pool at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Pool B is being held in Houston with Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States playing at Daikin Park.
Pool C in Tokyo consists of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea facing off at the Tokyo Dome.
The Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela comprise Pool D at loanDepot park in Miami.
Pool play runs through March 11.
World Baseball Classic quarterfinal locations
Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinal games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on March 13 and March 14.
World Baseball Classic semifinal locations
Miami will host both World Baseball Classic semifinal matchups on March 15 and March 16.
World Baseball Classic championship location
Miami will also host the WBC championship game on March 17.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
2026 World Cup schedule: Dates, times, stadiums all confirmed – Full details
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games now confirmed.
There are 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol. Check out the latest on the superstars and how they’re shaping up ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
We now know where you can watch each team play across the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and you can start making your plans.
MORE — World Cup base camps for every team | 2026 World Cup hub | 2026 World Cup venues
This is what it is all about, as we’ve been waiting years for the schedule for this 48-team tournament to be revealed.
Below are all the details you need.
2026 World Cup schedule, dates, times, stadiums, full details
Group A schedule
June 11: Mexico vs South Africa – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 3pm ET
June 11: South Korea vs UEFA playoff D – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm
June 18: UEFA playoff D vs South Africa – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 18: Mexico vs South Korea – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 9pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff D vs Mexico – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
June 24: South Africa vs South Korea – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
Group B schedule
June 12: Canada vs UEFA playoff A – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
June 13: Qatar vs Switzerland – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 3pm ET
June 18: Switzerland vs UEFA playoff A – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 18: Canada vs Qatar – BC Place, Vancouver – 6pm ET
June 24: Switzerland vs Canada – BC Place, Vancouver – 3pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff A vs Qatar – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
Group C schedule
June 13: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 6pm ET
June 13: Haiti vs Scotland – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 9pm ET
June 19: Scotland vs Morocco – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 19: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 9pm ET
June 24: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 24: Morocco vs Haiti – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 6pm ET
Group D schedule
June 12: USA vs Paraguay – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 13: Australia vs UEFA playoff C – BC Place, Vancouver – Midnight ET
June 19: USA vs Australia – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 19: UEFA playoff C vs Paraguay – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 25: UEFA playoff C vs USA – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 10pm ET
June 25: Paraguay vs Australia – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 10pm ET
Group E schedule
June 14: Germany vs Curacao – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 14: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 7pm ET
June 20: Germany vs Ivory Coast – BMO Field, Toronto – 4pm ET
June 20: Ecuador vs Curacao – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 8pm ET
June 25: Ecuador vs Germany – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
June 25: Curacao vs Ivory Coast – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 4pm ET
Group F schedule
June 14: Netherlands vs Japan – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 14: UEFA playoff B vs Tunisia – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 10pm ET
June 20: Netherlands vs UEFA playoff B – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 20: Tunisia vs Japan – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – Midnight ET
June 25: Japan vs UEFA playoff B – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 7pm ET
June 25: Tunisia vs Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 7pm ET
Group G schedule
June 15: Iran vs New Zealand – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 15: Belgium vs Egypt – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 21: Belgium vs Iran – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 21: New Zealand vs Egypt – BC Place, Vancouver – 9pm ET
June 26: Egypt vs Iran – Lumen Field, Seattle – 11pm ET
June 26: New Zealand vs Belgium – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
Group H schedule
June 15: Spain vs Cape Verde – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 15: Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 21: Spain vs Saudi Arabia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 21: Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 26: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – NRG Stadium, Houston – 8pm ET
June 26: Uruguay vs Spain – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 8pm ET
Group I schedule
June 16: France vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
June 16: Inter-confederation playoff 2 vs Norway – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 22: France vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
June 22: Norway vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 8pm ET
June 26: Norway vs France – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 3pm ET
June 26: Senegal vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
Group J schedule
June 16: Argentina vs Algeria – Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City – 9pm ET
June 16: Austria vs Jordan – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 22: Argentina vs Austria – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 22: Jordan vs Algeria – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 11pm ET
June 27: Algeria vs Austria – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 10pm ET
June 27: Jordan vs Argentina – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 10pm ET
Group K schedule
June 17: Portugal vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 17: Uzbekistan vs Colombia – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 10pm ET
June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 23: Colombia vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm ET
June 27: Colombia vs Portugal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 7:30pm ET
June 27: Inter-confederation playoff 1 vs Uzbekistan – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 7:30pm ET
Group L schedule
June 17: England vs Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 17: Ghana vs Panama – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 23: England vs Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
June 23: Panama vs Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 27: Panama vs England – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 27: Croatia vs Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
Round of 32 schedule
June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET
June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET
July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET
July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET
July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET
Round of 16 schedule
July 4: Match 90 – Winner Match 73 vs Winner Match 75 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
July 4: Match 89 – Winner Match 74 vs Winner Match 77 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
July 5: Match 91 – Winner Match 76 vs Winner Match 78 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
July 5: Match 92 – Winner Match 79 vs Winner Match 80 – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 8pm ET
July 6: Match 93 – Winner Match 83 vs Winner Match 84 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 6: Match 94 – Winner Match 81 vs Winner Match 82 – Lumen Field, Seattle – 8pm ET
July 7: Match 95 – Winner Match 86 vs Winner Match 88 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 7: Match 96 – Winner Match 85 vs Winner Match 87 – BC Place, Vancouver – 4pm ET
Quarterfinal schedule
July 9: Match 97 – Winner Match 89 vs Winner Match 90 – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
July 10: Match 98 – Winner Match 93 vs Winner Match 94 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 11: Match 99 – Winner Match 91 vs Winner Match 92 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
July 11: Match 100 – Winner Match 95 vs Winner Match 96 – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9pm ET
Semifinal schedule
July 14: Match 101 – Winner Match 97 vs Winner Match 98 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 15: Match 102 – Winner Match 99 vs Winner Match 100 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 3pm ET
Third-place game
July 18: Match 103 – Loser Match 101 vs Loser Match 102 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
Final
July 19: Match 104 – Winner Match 101 vs Winner Match 102 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
Iron Maiden Sets ‘Run For Your Lives’ Tour of Australia
Iron Maiden will bring their brand of heavy metal thunder down under later this year.
The British heavy metal legends today (Feb. 27) announce the Australia dates of their Run For Your Lives World Tour, where they’ll play stadiums for the first time in both Melbourne and Sydney, and arenas in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Megadeth are special guests on the four-date run, which will get underway Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, before hitting Melbourne’s AAMI Park (Nov. 13), Sydney’s Allianz Stadium (Nov. 15), and wrapping up Nov. 18 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
The Australia visit will mark Iron Maiden’s eighth, dating back to November 1982. Australians can’t get enough of them; Iron Maiden was here fewer than two years ago, in September 2024.
“This will be Iron Maiden’s biggest tour of Australia ever,” explains TEG Dainty president Paul Dainty, producer of the forthcoming run. “Headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their 50-year history is a massive moment. And with Megadeth joining the tour, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal — two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show Australian fans won’t know what hit them.”
Iron Maiden has had a solid week. On Wednesday, the band’s name was called out for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. And earlier, on Tuesday, Universal Pictures International (UPI) unveiled Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, a feature film that’s said to trace the rockers’ “remarkable five‑decade journey” with “unprecedented access” to the rockers’ official archives.
Formed in East London in 1975, Iron Maiden are titans of the heavy genre, with 17 studio albums, over 100 million records sold, and more than 2,500 performances across 64 countries. In September 2021, Iron Maiden earned its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 as Senjutsu debuted at No. 3.
General public tickets for the Australia shows go on sale Friday, March 6.
Run For Your Lives Australia Dates
Nov. 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Nov. 13 — AAMI Park, Melbourne
Nov. 15 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Nov. 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Reader photo pick of the week: Sports stadiums
This week, we asked our readers to toss on their jerseys and root for their favorite sports teams while commemorating a few of the amazing stadiums they’ve visited. From all-star rivals to historic landmarks, our readers did not disappoint this week!
The winner this week is Angela Carbonetti of Baltimore, Md., with a wide shot of a ball game at Camden Yards.
Honorable mentions go to William Hine of Mount Pleasant with a photo of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams at batting practice and Robert Peterson of Summerville with rafter seats at Madison Square Garden to see Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier duke it out.
Next week’s topic is
Liga MX stadiums to host Leagues Cup phase one matches in 2026
The 2026 edition of Leagues Cup will see Liga MX teams host phase one matches in Mexico for the first time since the intraleague tournament debuted the modern format three years ago.
Phase one of the competition kicks off on Aug. 4, seeing 54 games between the 18 participating Major League Soccer clubs and all Liga MX teams. The current format will mirror the 2025 edition of Leagues Cup, as clubs compete in three matches in an attempt to qualify to the knockout rounds.
Like the previous year, all 54 phase one matches are set to be played between Liga MX and MLS clubs.
Four phase one matches will be played in Mexico: highest ranked Club Toluca hosts two matches, while Tigres UANL and Club América host one match each.
Toluca welcomes the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas at the Estadio Nemesio Díez for Phase One games, as Club América hosts San Diego FC at the Estadio Banorte and Tigres UANL faces the Vancouver Whitecaps at Estadio Universitario.
The first phase of the tournament will also see Inter Miami CF meet CF Monterrey, seeing new Designated Player Germán Berterame face off against his previous Liga MX club for the first time since departing during the January transfer window.
– Inter Miami invited to White House to mark MLS Cup win – source
– Vancouver Whitecaps, MLS settle suit in missed Lionel Messi game
– Atlético Madrid’s Griezmann pauses plans for MLS move – sources
Teams that qualify to the knockout stage will then be paired with counterparts of the opposing league based on each performance from the first round. The upcoming edition of Leagues Cup will maintain the no draws format, meaning any game that concludes regulation time with a tie will go directly to penalties.
According to Leagues Cup rules:
The Case for Expanding Great American Ballpark’s Outfield
Since its opening in 2003, Great American Ballpark has been considered one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the majors.
Although the park’s dimensions are very similar to the Reds’ former home, Riverfront Stadium, it still plays differently in practice. It is a hitter’s paradise, but a pitcher’s nightmare.
Part of what makes Great American so unique is its home run rate. Over the years, the ballpark has consistently ranked near the top of Major League Baseball in home runs allowed, especially down the left- and right-field lines.
In fact, from 2020-2024, it led the league with 1,031 home runs allowed. The next closest was Yankee Stadium at 981.
However, some of the best insight into this quirky ballpark comes from players who spent years in Cincinnati, and few know it better than Joey Votto.
In an interview with Jim Day on the Jim Day Podcast, Votto said that he’d
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Locations for tournament
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Pool play for the baseball tournament featuring 20 nations is underway at four different sites.
Here’s what to know about where each nation is playing in pool play and the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds of the 2026 WBC tournament.
The tournament runs through March 17.
Most games can be streamed on FUBO, which offers a free trial. Check the schedule for the complete World Baseball Classic schedule with TV channels and streaming information.
Watch World Baseball Classic games on FUBO (free trial)
World Baseball Classic pool play locations
Pool A of the World Baseball Classic is being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico competing in that pool at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Pool B is being held in Houston with Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States playing at Daikin Park.
Pool C in Tokyo consists of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea facing off at the Tokyo Dome.
The Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela comprise Pool D at loanDepot park in Miami.
Pool play runs through March 11.
World Baseball Classic quarterfinal locations
Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinal games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on March 13 and March 14.
World Baseball Classic semifinal locations
Miami will host both World Baseball Classic semifinal matchups on March 15 and March 16.
World Baseball Classic championship location
Miami will also host the WBC championship game on March 17.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
NWSL Ambition Rankings: All 16 clubs judged by the big moves they are or aren’t making
Welcome to year three of ESPN’s NWSL Ambition Rankings, the semi-scientific way to determine which franchises are pushing boundaries, and which are just trying to keep up.
NWSL franchise valuations continue to rise to record highs, and the balance of ownership groups across the league keeps shifting in favor those with more money and bigger ambitions. But some teams continue to step up for than others.
Two new teams, Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, will play their first games in a few days, and their debuts on the ranking adds some shake-ups. Atlanta, which will begin playing in 2028, is sure to challenge for the top spot before even playing a game.
For this ranking to be useful in an ever-growing league (16 teams and counting), we have simplified our process. Criteria remain the same, with key factors being the willingness of franchise owners to invest in their teams on and off the field.
We’re asking: Is the team pushing the limits of the salary cap (and the new, fluid High Impact Player rule) to build a contender? Has team ownership spent money on a training facility or stadium improvements? Quite simply, are their stated goals ambitious (win a championship, be the best team in the world) or do they have a low ceiling?
One important reminder: Ambition is not the same as execution. There are teams that have lofty aspirations, but have failed to successfully realize them. There are teams with more modest ambitions who over-perform. We have absolutely deducted points for poor execution, but the willingness to aim high — even if it means falling short — outweighs not trying at all.
The original idea is inspired by the late Grant Wahl, who annually did a similar ranking for MLS. Measuring ambition, especially for a league as young as the 14-year-old NWSL, is a worthwhile endeavor. Let’s get to it!
• Watch Gotham vs. Boston: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, live on ABC
• Stream NWSL matches live on ESPN+ all season (U.S.)
• NWSL kit rankings: See every new jersey from all 16 teams
16. Chicago Stars FC (Last year: 13)
While the Stars’ ranking dipped this year, there is finally progress in Chicagoland.
The team’s move to Martin Stadium is a temporary, but necessary, step to move on from the abyss of Bridgeview. The Stars had to do something, and they did. They also recently announced plans to build a dedicated training facility, which will be relatively small but, again, was one of many pain points for this team.
Where do they play beyond 2026? That still needs to be resolved, which is hardly ideal.
On the field, they finished last for the second time in three years. And yet, their biggest offseason move was selling forward Ludmila to San Diego. Mallory Swanson’s return from maternity leave can’t come soon enough.
15. Houston Dash (Last year: 14)
The Dash remains for sale after one of the most bizarre stories in a decently long list of them failed to produce a new owner. Until there is a new, motivated owner with a clearly stated direction for the team, it’s impossible to fully understand the ambitions of the Dash.
The good news: there is progress on the soccer front. Houston was inconsistent last year as another rebuild got underway, but the Dash have talent and more direction than before. Houston has also built out a robust technical staff — including the recent addition of Twila Kilgore as technical director — that is larger than most of its peers in this section of the rankings, which requires investment.
14. Racing Louisville FC (Last year: T-10)
Louisville’s facilities are great and plenty of teams would love to have them. Of course, those facilities are more expensive to build in bigger markets, and the rub on having a nice stadium is that there need to be butts in the seats. Louisville finished last in average attendance in 2025 and recorded its worst attendance in its five-year history. That is ominous.
Those struggles stand in stark contrast to what happened on the field. Bev Yanez won NWSL Coach of the Year for galvanizing a gritty team and earning Racing’s first playoff berth. Louisville was a difficult opponent for every team last season and could build upon that success this year — even while being outspent by other teams.
13. North Carolina Courage (Last year: T-10)
A reported $40 million investment from team owner and billionaire Marc Lasry, per Sportico, could be a sign of this team moving forward and making long-term, much needed investments.
Attendance improved to over 7,600 fans per game in 2025, the team’s best since it arrived in the market in 2017. First Horizon Stadium still needs major modernization, but improved attendance is a good sign for a team that struggled to gain a local foothold even during its successful years. Long-term, the Courage still need to either gut the stadium or finally build one inside Raleigh limits.
On the field, the team regressed and missed the playoffs in a chaotic season that included the confusingly messaged firing of head coach Sean Nahas and the abrupt re-sale of USWNT star Jaedyn Shaw (who ended the year by winning a title with Gotham FC) eight months after acquiring her.
12. Utah Royals (Last year: 12)
We’ve been begging Utah to splash some more cash on the field to compete, so the $800,000 transfer fee to get Kiana Palacios from Club América is a welcomed sign. Now, what does this team want to be? For two straight years, the Royals have endured miserable starts to the campaign before salvaging results and playing the role of spoiler late in the season.
The Royals have their own training ground, and they play at the (too empty, too often) America First Field, which is from a previous wave of MLS stadium projects. The facilities are there, and there are new owners since we last did our ambition rankings. This year will be telling of their ambitions.
11. Seattle Reign FC (Last year: 9)
This is the point in the rankings where there’s nothing inherently wrong with what a team is doing; our task is to compare them to the rest of the NWSL.
The Reign’s joint ownership with the Sounders allows for bigger thinking and better staffing, including more support staff than ever around head coach Laura Harvey. On the field, the Reign made major improvements in 2025, finishing fifth and conceding the third-fewest goals (an Achilles heel in 2024).
But nobody has yet solved the riddle in Seattle: Why do the Reign still struggle to crack the local market the way the Sounders have? Reign attendance dropped last year, and 8,000 fans is always an aesthetic struggle in a cavernous NFL stadium. It’s time to take bigger swings.
10. Orlando Pride (Last year: 5)
Average attendance in Orlando improved for the third straight year following the team’s 2024 NWSL Shield and Championship double, although the Pride are still fighting for better crowds and local relevance in a tough media market.
Orlando already has the soccer-specific stadium that it shares with its men’s team, and they will soon upgrade their training facility. What’s next? Their encore on the field in 2025 was respectable — a whisker away from making it back to the final. Haley Carter has moved on from her VP/sporting director role, and Caitlin Carducci is tasked with pushing the team forward.
Elimination in the group stage of Concacaf play was a failure, though a healthy Barbra Banda should help them return to championship contention again. And to the Pride’s credit, the $1.5 million transfer fee to acquire Jacquie Ovalle last summer was a world record at the time.
9. Boston Legacy FC (Last year: N/A)
Here we have a perfect example of the dichotomy between ambition and execution. It would be a disservice to sugarcoat the early years (!) of Boston’s launch. The club wasted that historic lead time on a name, BosNation, that was almost immediately ridiculed and scrapped, anchored by a disastrous
Reader photo pick of the week: Sports stadiums
This week, we asked our readers to toss on their jerseys and root for their favorite sports teams while commemorating a few of the amazing stadiums they’ve visited. From all-star rivals to historic landmarks, our readers did not disappoint this week!
The winner this week is Angela Carbonetti of Baltimore, Md., with a wide shot of a ball game at Camden Yards.
Honorable mentions go to William Hine of Mount Pleasant with a photo of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams at batting practice and Robert Peterson of Summerville with rafter seats at Madison Square Garden to see Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier duke it out.
Next week’s topic is
Photos of families in southern Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes and taking shelter in Beirut
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced woman who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon looks through a classroom window at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A girl displaced by Israeli airstrikes, looks on at a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, arrive at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Children displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, play in the courtyard of a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, settle at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A nurse, left, measures the blood pressure of a woman who fled Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family plays on a bicycle in a classroom corridor at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, sleep at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced children run between tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Clothes hang to dry outside a school in Beirut, used as a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family sits on the backyard school that turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced child plays past tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
2026 World Cup schedule: Dates, times, stadiums all confirmed – Full details
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games now confirmed.
There are 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol. Check out the latest on the superstars and how they’re shaping up ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
We now know where you can watch each team play across the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and you can start making your plans.
MORE — World Cup base camps for every team | 2026 World Cup hub | 2026 World Cup venues
This is what it is all about, as we’ve been waiting years for the schedule for this 48-team tournament to be revealed.
Below are all the details you need.
2026 World Cup schedule, dates, times, stadiums, full details
Group A schedule
June 11: Mexico vs South Africa – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 3pm ET
June 11: South Korea vs UEFA playoff D – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm
June 18: UEFA playoff D vs South Africa – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 18: Mexico vs South Korea – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 9pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff D vs Mexico – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
June 24: South Africa vs South Korea – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
Group B schedule
June 12: Canada vs UEFA playoff A – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
June 13: Qatar vs Switzerland – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 3pm ET
June 18: Switzerland vs UEFA playoff A – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 18: Canada vs Qatar – BC Place, Vancouver – 6pm ET
June 24: Switzerland vs Canada – BC Place, Vancouver – 3pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff A vs Qatar – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
Group C schedule
June 13: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 6pm ET
June 13: Haiti vs Scotland – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 9pm ET
June 19: Scotland vs Morocco – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 19: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 9pm ET
June 24: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 24: Morocco vs Haiti – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 6pm ET
Group D schedule
June 12: USA vs Paraguay – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 13: Australia vs UEFA playoff C – BC Place, Vancouver – Midnight ET
June 19: USA vs Australia – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 19: UEFA playoff C vs Paraguay – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 25: UEFA playoff C vs USA – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 10pm ET
June 25: Paraguay vs Australia – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 10pm ET
Group E schedule
June 14: Germany vs Curacao – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 14: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 7pm ET
June 20: Germany vs Ivory Coast – BMO Field, Toronto – 4pm ET
June 20: Ecuador vs Curacao – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 8pm ET
June 25: Ecuador vs Germany – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
June 25: Curacao vs Ivory Coast – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 4pm ET
Group F schedule
June 14: Netherlands vs Japan – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 14: UEFA playoff B vs Tunisia – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 10pm ET
June 20: Netherlands vs UEFA playoff B – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 20: Tunisia vs Japan – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – Midnight ET
June 25: Japan vs UEFA playoff B – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 7pm ET
June 25: Tunisia vs Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 7pm ET
Group G schedule
June 15: Iran vs New Zealand – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 15: Belgium vs Egypt – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 21: Belgium vs Iran – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 21: New Zealand vs Egypt – BC Place, Vancouver – 9pm ET
June 26: Egypt vs Iran – Lumen Field, Seattle – 11pm ET
June 26: New Zealand vs Belgium – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
Group H schedule
June 15: Spain vs Cape Verde – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 15: Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 21: Spain vs Saudi Arabia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 21: Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 26: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – NRG Stadium, Houston – 8pm ET
June 26: Uruguay vs Spain – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 8pm ET
Group I schedule
June 16: France vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
June 16: Inter-confederation playoff 2 vs Norway – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 22: France vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
June 22: Norway vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 8pm ET
June 26: Norway vs France – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 3pm ET
June 26: Senegal vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
Group J schedule
June 16: Argentina vs Algeria – Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City – 9pm ET
June 16: Austria vs Jordan – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 22: Argentina vs Austria – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 22: Jordan vs Algeria – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 11pm ET
June 27: Algeria vs Austria – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 10pm ET
June 27: Jordan vs Argentina – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 10pm ET
Group K schedule
June 17: Portugal vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 17: Uzbekistan vs Colombia – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 10pm ET
June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 23: Colombia vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm ET
June 27: Colombia vs Portugal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 7:30pm ET
June 27: Inter-confederation playoff 1 vs Uzbekistan – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 7:30pm ET
Group L schedule
June 17: England vs Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 17: Ghana vs Panama – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 23: England vs Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
June 23: Panama vs Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 27: Panama vs England – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 27: Croatia vs Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
Round of 32 schedule
June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET
June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET
July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET
July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET
July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET
Round of 16 schedule
July 4: Match 90 – Winner Match 73 vs Winner Match 75 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
July 4: Match 89 – Winner Match 74 vs Winner Match 77 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
July 5: Match 91 – Winner Match 76 vs Winner Match 78 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
July 5: Match 92 – Winner Match 79 vs Winner Match 80 – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 8pm ET
July 6: Match 93 – Winner Match 83 vs Winner Match 84 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 6: Match 94 – Winner Match 81 vs Winner Match 82 – Lumen Field, Seattle – 8pm ET
July 7: Match 95 – Winner Match 86 vs Winner Match 88 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 7: Match 96 – Winner Match 85 vs Winner Match 87 – BC Place, Vancouver – 4pm ET
Quarterfinal schedule
July 9: Match 97 – Winner Match 89 vs Winner Match 90 – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
July 10: Match 98 – Winner Match 93 vs Winner Match 94 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 11: Match 99 – Winner Match 91 vs Winner Match 92 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
July 11: Match 100 – Winner Match 95 vs Winner Match 96 – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9pm ET
Semifinal schedule
July 14: Match 101 – Winner Match 97 vs Winner Match 98 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 15: Match 102 – Winner Match 99 vs Winner Match 100 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 3pm ET
Third-place game
July 18: Match 103 – Loser Match 101 vs Loser Match 102 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
Final
July 19: Match 104 – Winner Match 101 vs Winner Match 102 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
NWSL Ambition Rankings: All 16 clubs judged by the big moves they are or aren’t making
Welcome to year three of ESPN’s NWSL Ambition Rankings, the semi-scientific way to determine which franchises are pushing boundaries, and which are just trying to keep up.
NWSL franchise valuations continue to rise to record highs, and the balance of ownership groups across the league keeps shifting in favor those with more money and bigger ambitions. But some teams continue to step up for than others.
Two new teams, Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, will play their first games in a few days, and their debuts on the ranking adds some shake-ups. Atlanta, which will begin playing in 2028, is sure to challenge for the top spot before even playing a game.
For this ranking to be useful in an ever-growing league (16 teams and counting), we have simplified our process. Criteria remain the same, with key factors being the willingness of franchise owners to invest in their teams on and off the field.
We’re asking: Is the team pushing the limits of the salary cap (and the new, fluid High Impact Player rule) to build a contender? Has team ownership spent money on a training facility or stadium improvements? Quite simply, are their stated goals ambitious (win a championship, be the best team in the world) or do they have a low ceiling?
One important reminder: Ambition is not the same as execution. There are teams that have lofty aspirations, but have failed to successfully realize them. There are teams with more modest ambitions who over-perform. We have absolutely deducted points for poor execution, but the willingness to aim high — even if it means falling short — outweighs not trying at all.
The original idea is inspired by the late Grant Wahl, who annually did a similar ranking for MLS. Measuring ambition, especially for a league as young as the 14-year-old NWSL, is a worthwhile endeavor. Let’s get to it!
• Watch Gotham vs. Boston: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, live on ABC
• Stream NWSL matches live on ESPN+ all season (U.S.)
• NWSL kit rankings: See every new jersey from all 16 teams
16. Chicago Stars FC (Last year: 13)
While the Stars’ ranking dipped this year, there is finally progress in Chicagoland.
The team’s move to Martin Stadium is a temporary, but necessary, step to move on from the abyss of Bridgeview. The Stars had to do something, and they did. They also recently announced plans to build a dedicated training facility, which will be relatively small but, again, was one of many pain points for this team.
Where do they play beyond 2026? That still needs to be resolved, which is hardly ideal.
On the field, they finished last for the second time in three years. And yet, their biggest offseason move was selling forward Ludmila to San Diego. Mallory Swanson’s return from maternity leave can’t come soon enough.
15. Houston Dash (Last year: 14)
The Dash remains for sale after one of the most bizarre stories in a decently long list of them failed to produce a new owner. Until there is a new, motivated owner with a clearly stated direction for the team, it’s impossible to fully understand the ambitions of the Dash.
The good news: there is progress on the soccer front. Houston was inconsistent last year as another rebuild got underway, but the Dash have talent and more direction than before. Houston has also built out a robust technical staff — including the recent addition of Twila Kilgore as technical director — that is larger than most of its peers in this section of the rankings, which requires investment.
14. Racing Louisville FC (Last year: T-10)
Louisville’s facilities are great and plenty of teams would love to have them. Of course, those facilities are more expensive to build in bigger markets, and the rub on having a nice stadium is that there need to be butts in the seats. Louisville finished last in average attendance in 2025 and recorded its worst attendance in its five-year history. That is ominous.
Those struggles stand in stark contrast to what happened on the field. Bev Yanez won NWSL Coach of the Year for galvanizing a gritty team and earning Racing’s first playoff berth. Louisville was a difficult opponent for every team last season and could build upon that success this year — even while being outspent by other teams.
13. North Carolina Courage (Last year: T-10)
A reported $40 million investment from team owner and billionaire Marc Lasry, per Sportico, could be a sign of this team moving forward and making long-term, much needed investments.
Attendance improved to over 7,600 fans per game in 2025, the team’s best since it arrived in the market in 2017. First Horizon Stadium still needs major modernization, but improved attendance is a good sign for a team that struggled to gain a local foothold even during its successful years. Long-term, the Courage still need to either gut the stadium or finally build one inside Raleigh limits.
On the field, the team regressed and missed the playoffs in a chaotic season that included the confusingly messaged firing of head coach Sean Nahas and the abrupt re-sale of USWNT star Jaedyn Shaw (who ended the year by winning a title with Gotham FC) eight months after acquiring her.
12. Utah Royals (Last year: 12)
We’ve been begging Utah to splash some more cash on the field to compete, so the $800,000 transfer fee to get Kiana Palacios from Club América is a welcomed sign. Now, what does this team want to be? For two straight years, the Royals have endured miserable starts to the campaign before salvaging results and playing the role of spoiler late in the season.
The Royals have their own training ground, and they play at the (too empty, too often) America First Field, which is from a previous wave of MLS stadium projects. The facilities are there, and there are new owners since we last did our ambition rankings. This year will be telling of their ambitions.
11. Seattle Reign FC (Last year: 9)
This is the point in the rankings where there’s nothing inherently wrong with what a team is doing; our task is to compare them to the rest of the NWSL.
The Reign’s joint ownership with the Sounders allows for bigger thinking and better staffing, including more support staff than ever around head coach Laura Harvey. On the field, the Reign made major improvements in 2025, finishing fifth and conceding the third-fewest goals (an Achilles heel in 2024).
But nobody has yet solved the riddle in Seattle: Why do the Reign still struggle to crack the local market the way the Sounders have? Reign attendance dropped last year, and 8,000 fans is always an aesthetic struggle in a cavernous NFL stadium. It’s time to take bigger swings.
10. Orlando Pride (Last year: 5)
Average attendance in Orlando improved for the third straight year following the team’s 2024 NWSL Shield and Championship double, although the Pride are still fighting for better crowds and local relevance in a tough media market.
Orlando already has the soccer-specific stadium that it shares with its men’s team, and they will soon upgrade their training facility. What’s next? Their encore on the field in 2025 was respectable — a whisker away from making it back to the final. Haley Carter has moved on from her VP/sporting director role, and Caitlin Carducci is tasked with pushing the team forward.
Elimination in the group stage of Concacaf play was a failure, though a healthy Barbra Banda should help them return to championship contention again. And to the Pride’s credit, the $1.5 million transfer fee to acquire Jacquie Ovalle last summer was a world record at the time.
9. Boston Legacy FC (Last year: N/A)
Here we have a perfect example of the dichotomy between ambition and execution. It would be a disservice to sugarcoat the early years (!) of Boston’s launch. The club wasted that historic lead time on a name, BosNation, that was almost immediately ridiculed and scrapped, anchored by a disastrous
Photos of families in southern Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes and taking shelter in Beirut
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced woman who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon looks through a classroom window at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A girl displaced by Israeli airstrikes, looks on at a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, arrive at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Children displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, play in the courtyard of a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, settle at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A nurse, left, measures the blood pressure of a woman who fled Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family plays on a bicycle in a classroom corridor at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, sleep at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced children run between tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Clothes hang to dry outside a school in Beirut, used as a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family sits on the backyard school that turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced child plays past tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Liga MX stadiums to host Leagues Cup phase one matches in 2026
The 2026 edition of Leagues Cup will see Liga MX teams host phase one matches in Mexico for the first time since the intraleague tournament debuted the modern format three years ago.
Phase one of the competition kicks off on Aug. 4, seeing 54 games between the 18 participating Major League Soccer clubs and all Liga MX teams. The current format will mirror the 2025 edition of Leagues Cup, as clubs compete in three matches in an attempt to qualify to the knockout rounds.
Like the previous year, all 54 phase one matches are set to be played between Liga MX and MLS clubs.
Four phase one matches will be played in Mexico: highest ranked Club Toluca hosts two matches, while Tigres UANL and Club América host one match each.
Toluca welcomes the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas at the Estadio Nemesio Díez for Phase One games, as Club América hosts San Diego FC at the Estadio Banorte and Tigres UANL faces the Vancouver Whitecaps at Estadio Universitario.
The first phase of the tournament will also see Inter Miami CF meet CF Monterrey, seeing new Designated Player Germán Berterame face off against his previous Liga MX club for the first time since departing during the January transfer window.
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Teams that qualify to the knockout stage will then be paired with counterparts of the opposing league based on each performance from the first round. The upcoming edition of Leagues Cup will maintain the no draws format, meaning any game that concludes regulation time with a tie will go directly to penalties.
According to Leagues Cup rules:
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Locations for tournament
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Pool play for the baseball tournament featuring 20 nations is underway at four different sites.
Here’s what to know about where each nation is playing in pool play and the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds of the 2026 WBC tournament.
The tournament runs through March 17.
Most games can be streamed on FUBO, which offers a free trial. Check the schedule for the complete World Baseball Classic schedule with TV channels and streaming information.
Watch World Baseball Classic games on FUBO (free trial)
World Baseball Classic pool play locations
Pool A of the World Baseball Classic is being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico competing in that pool at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Pool B is being held in Houston with Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States playing at Daikin Park.
Pool C in Tokyo consists of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea facing off at the Tokyo Dome.
The Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela comprise Pool D at loanDepot park in Miami.
Pool play runs through March 11.
World Baseball Classic quarterfinal locations
Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinal games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on March 13 and March 14.
World Baseball Classic semifinal locations
Miami will host both World Baseball Classic semifinal matchups on March 15 and March 16.
World Baseball Classic championship location
Miami will also host the WBC championship game on March 17.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
Reader photo pick of the week: Sports stadiums
This week, we asked our readers to toss on their jerseys and root for their favorite sports teams while commemorating a few of the amazing stadiums they’ve visited. From all-star rivals to historic landmarks, our readers did not disappoint this week!
The winner this week is Angela Carbonetti of Baltimore, Md., with a wide shot of a ball game at Camden Yards.
Honorable mentions go to William Hine of Mount Pleasant with a photo of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams at batting practice and Robert Peterson of Summerville with rafter seats at Madison Square Garden to see Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier duke it out.
Next week’s topic is
NWSL Ambition Rankings: All 16 clubs judged by the big moves they are or aren’t making
Welcome to year three of ESPN’s NWSL Ambition Rankings, the semi-scientific way to determine which franchises are pushing boundaries, and which are just trying to keep up.
NWSL franchise valuations continue to rise to record highs, and the balance of ownership groups across the league keeps shifting in favor those with more money and bigger ambitions. But some teams continue to step up for than others.
Two new teams, Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, will play their first games in a few days, and their debuts on the ranking adds some shake-ups. Atlanta, which will begin playing in 2028, is sure to challenge for the top spot before even playing a game.
For this ranking to be useful in an ever-growing league (16 teams and counting), we have simplified our process. Criteria remain the same, with key factors being the willingness of franchise owners to invest in their teams on and off the field.
We’re asking: Is the team pushing the limits of the salary cap (and the new, fluid High Impact Player rule) to build a contender? Has team ownership spent money on a training facility or stadium improvements? Quite simply, are their stated goals ambitious (win a championship, be the best team in the world) or do they have a low ceiling?
One important reminder: Ambition is not the same as execution. There are teams that have lofty aspirations, but have failed to successfully realize them. There are teams with more modest ambitions who over-perform. We have absolutely deducted points for poor execution, but the willingness to aim high — even if it means falling short — outweighs not trying at all.
The original idea is inspired by the late Grant Wahl, who annually did a similar ranking for MLS. Measuring ambition, especially for a league as young as the 14-year-old NWSL, is a worthwhile endeavor. Let’s get to it!
• Watch Gotham vs. Boston: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, live on ABC
• Stream NWSL matches live on ESPN+ all season (U.S.)
• NWSL kit rankings: See every new jersey from all 16 teams
16. Chicago Stars FC (Last year: 13)
While the Stars’ ranking dipped this year, there is finally progress in Chicagoland.
The team’s move to Martin Stadium is a temporary, but necessary, step to move on from the abyss of Bridgeview. The Stars had to do something, and they did. They also recently announced plans to build a dedicated training facility, which will be relatively small but, again, was one of many pain points for this team.
Where do they play beyond 2026? That still needs to be resolved, which is hardly ideal.
On the field, they finished last for the second time in three years. And yet, their biggest offseason move was selling forward Ludmila to San Diego. Mallory Swanson’s return from maternity leave can’t come soon enough.
15. Houston Dash (Last year: 14)
The Dash remains for sale after one of the most bizarre stories in a decently long list of them failed to produce a new owner. Until there is a new, motivated owner with a clearly stated direction for the team, it’s impossible to fully understand the ambitions of the Dash.
The good news: there is progress on the soccer front. Houston was inconsistent last year as another rebuild got underway, but the Dash have talent and more direction than before. Houston has also built out a robust technical staff — including the recent addition of Twila Kilgore as technical director — that is larger than most of its peers in this section of the rankings, which requires investment.
14. Racing Louisville FC (Last year: T-10)
Louisville’s facilities are great and plenty of teams would love to have them. Of course, those facilities are more expensive to build in bigger markets, and the rub on having a nice stadium is that there need to be butts in the seats. Louisville finished last in average attendance in 2025 and recorded its worst attendance in its five-year history. That is ominous.
Those struggles stand in stark contrast to what happened on the field. Bev Yanez won NWSL Coach of the Year for galvanizing a gritty team and earning Racing’s first playoff berth. Louisville was a difficult opponent for every team last season and could build upon that success this year — even while being outspent by other teams.
13. North Carolina Courage (Last year: T-10)
A reported $40 million investment from team owner and billionaire Marc Lasry, per Sportico, could be a sign of this team moving forward and making long-term, much needed investments.
Attendance improved to over 7,600 fans per game in 2025, the team’s best since it arrived in the market in 2017. First Horizon Stadium still needs major modernization, but improved attendance is a good sign for a team that struggled to gain a local foothold even during its successful years. Long-term, the Courage still need to either gut the stadium or finally build one inside Raleigh limits.
On the field, the team regressed and missed the playoffs in a chaotic season that included the confusingly messaged firing of head coach Sean Nahas and the abrupt re-sale of USWNT star Jaedyn Shaw (who ended the year by winning a title with Gotham FC) eight months after acquiring her.
12. Utah Royals (Last year: 12)
We’ve been begging Utah to splash some more cash on the field to compete, so the $800,000 transfer fee to get Kiana Palacios from Club América is a welcomed sign. Now, what does this team want to be? For two straight years, the Royals have endured miserable starts to the campaign before salvaging results and playing the role of spoiler late in the season.
The Royals have their own training ground, and they play at the (too empty, too often) America First Field, which is from a previous wave of MLS stadium projects. The facilities are there, and there are new owners since we last did our ambition rankings. This year will be telling of their ambitions.
11. Seattle Reign FC (Last year: 9)
This is the point in the rankings where there’s nothing inherently wrong with what a team is doing; our task is to compare them to the rest of the NWSL.
The Reign’s joint ownership with the Sounders allows for bigger thinking and better staffing, including more support staff than ever around head coach Laura Harvey. On the field, the Reign made major improvements in 2025, finishing fifth and conceding the third-fewest goals (an Achilles heel in 2024).
But nobody has yet solved the riddle in Seattle: Why do the Reign still struggle to crack the local market the way the Sounders have? Reign attendance dropped last year, and 8,000 fans is always an aesthetic struggle in a cavernous NFL stadium. It’s time to take bigger swings.
10. Orlando Pride (Last year: 5)
Average attendance in Orlando improved for the third straight year following the team’s 2024 NWSL Shield and Championship double, although the Pride are still fighting for better crowds and local relevance in a tough media market.
Orlando already has the soccer-specific stadium that it shares with its men’s team, and they will soon upgrade their training facility. What’s next? Their encore on the field in 2025 was respectable — a whisker away from making it back to the final. Haley Carter has moved on from her VP/sporting director role, and Caitlin Carducci is tasked with pushing the team forward.
Elimination in the group stage of Concacaf play was a failure, though a healthy Barbra Banda should help them return to championship contention again. And to the Pride’s credit, the $1.5 million transfer fee to acquire Jacquie Ovalle last summer was a world record at the time.
9. Boston Legacy FC (Last year: N/A)
Here we have a perfect example of the dichotomy between ambition and execution. It would be a disservice to sugarcoat the early years (!) of Boston’s launch. The club wasted that historic lead time on a name, BosNation, that was almost immediately ridiculed and scrapped, anchored by a disastrous
Photos of families in southern Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes and taking shelter in Beirut
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced woman who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon looks through a classroom window at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A girl displaced by Israeli airstrikes, looks on at a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, arrive at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Children displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, play in the courtyard of a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, settle at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A nurse, left, measures the blood pressure of a woman who fled Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family plays on a bicycle in a classroom corridor at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, sleep at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced children run between tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced man who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon receives a haircut in the playground of a school turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Clothes hang to dry outside a school in Beirut, used as a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced boy who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon with his family sits on the backyard school that turned into a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A displaced child plays past tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A roundup of Sarasota and Manatee high school results for March 9-14
Sarasota, North Port, Lakewood Ranch, and Palmetto all secured wins in Monday’s high school softball games.
In baseball, Braden River defeated Knoxville Catholic in a 10-inning game.
A roundup of Sarasota and Manatee high school sports for the week of March 9-14, 2026.
MONDAY
Softball
Sarasota 4, Braden River 1: Gemma Mulhollen improved to 5-0 in the circle, allowing 1 run with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts for the complete-game win, and hit a two-run home run.
North Port 18, Southeast 0 (3 Inn.): Lauren Boff went 2 for 2 with a home run, 4 RBIs, and 3 runs scored. Hailey Perez also hit a home run with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
Lakewood Ranch 16, Cardinal Mooney 4: Payton Burdick and Kylie Green each scored 3 times and drove in 3 RBIs, and Isabella Toscano went 5 for 5 with 5 RBIs.
Palmetto 8, Bradenton Christian 7: LeiLani Cruz and Kaylee Varnadore (RBI) each went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 runs scored, and Emma Hague went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs for Palmetto. Grace Smallwood went 3 for 5 with a double and 2 runs, and Jaden Lipsey went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs for the Panthers.
Baseball
Braden River 5, Knoxville Catholic 4 (10 Inn): Jackson Williams (run) and Chaz Templeton (RBI) each had 2 hits. Tristan Tallo went 1 for 3 with 2 runs and an RBI and pitched 3 innings, allowing a hit, an unearned run, and striking out 3.
Palmetto 15, Southeast 0
Indian Wells apologises as Williams, Fernandez miss out on doubles over draw error
March 10 (Reuters) – Organisers of the Indian Wells tennis tournament apologised to Venus Williams and her playing partner Leylah Fernandez after a clerical error ahead of the women’s doubles draw denied the wildcard duo the opportunity to compete.
Seven-times Grand Slam champion Williams, 45, was beaten in the opening round of the singles tournament by Diane Parry while Canada’s Fernandez lost to Katerina Siniakova in the second round.
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However, organisers said they had made an error and failed to certify the doubles wildcard entry of the pair ahead of the draw.
Chris Eubanks goes off on Coco Vandeweghe in awkward Tennis Channel scene
A routine broadcast segment turned into a awkward on-air exchange in the Tennis Channel booth at Indian Wells on Monday.
Former pros Chris Eubanks and Coco Vandeweghe, along with comedian Hannah Berner, recorded a speed serve test for the broadcast Sunday.
Eubanks hit 103 mph, while Vandeweghe notched 113 mph on the radar. Berner reached as high as 87 mph.
The segment was aired for viewers Monday and the broadcast panned to the two analysts afterwards where Vandeweghe challenged Eubanks’ serving speed ability, which led to a viral moment.
“Is this going to be a thing now, like we’re just gonna keep every week being like, ‘Oh, can you break 103 mph?’” Eubanks, the former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, said on the broadcast.
“We could go back out today and try it on,” Vandeweghe responded. “I’ll wear this dress and throw down maybe 115 mph. I’ll keep rising.”
Ticked off and frustrated, Eubanks fired back a critique of Vandeweghe.
“See, here is the thing about me and you, Coco. I don’t like to just bask in my own career and accomplishments. I like to focus on the players,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about myself and what I did and what my serve was.
“I understand we’re a little different, I get that. Let’s just try to focus on the players. These are world-class athletes, that’s where the focus should be. Not on you and I sitting up here in our little fancy clothes out there trying to test our serve speed.”
There was a moment to conclude the on-air tiff, but Vandeweghe did not utilize the opportunity.
Instead, she fired back.
“Well, the difference also between you and I is that I keep recreating a new career,” she said. “And I just did it yesterday, but Hannah and I had a great time, Chris. It was a revenge of our revenge match from the 14-and-unders.”
Eubanks noticeably rollied his eyes at that comment.
During the pre-recorded serve segment, Berner and Vandeweghe were asked about Eubanks hardly cracking 100 mph on his serve.
“It was sad,” Vandeweghe said at the time.
Vandeweghe, 34, reached as high of a world No. 9 ranking in 2018 and made the semifinals of both the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2017.
She won two WTA titles and won a major doubles title at the 2018 U.S. Open.
The New York native retired in 2023 and quickly transitioned into the broadcast booth.
Eubanks, who reached a career high of No. 29 after the storied run in Wimbledon in 2023, is a fresher face on broadcast after he just retired from the sport at 29 last November.
He previously dipped into the media industry to analyze the major tournaments, but now he will be permanently on fans’ screens.
Eubanks signed a three-year deal in February with the Tennis Channel and Indian Wells marks his debut as an on-air commentator and host.
Where to watch Aryna Sabalenka vs Naomi Osaka today: Tennis free stream
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will face former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka at the BNP Paribas Open Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET. The last time Sabalenka and Osaka faced each other was the 2018 US Open, where Osaka beat a 19-year-old Sabalenka.
Sabalenka vs. Osaka will air on Tennis Channel, and streams live on FuboTV (free trial).
What: BNP Paribas Open, Round 4
Who: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 16 Naomi Osaka
When: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Where: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells, California
Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: Tennis Channel
Live stream: FuboTV (free trial), DIRECTV (free trial)
Here’s a recent tennis story from the Associated Press:
Jessica Pegula, the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up, will lead a new 13-person panel to suggest changes to the women’s tennis calendar, rankings points rules and the requirements about competing in certain events, according to a letter sent Tuesday by WTA Tour chair Valerie Camillo to players and tournament officials.
For years, tennis players — women and men — have complained that the sport’s season is too long and the offseason is too short and lamented other factors that contribute to injuries and burnout. Camillo said the Tour Architecture Council will make recommendations to the WTA Board; she hopes a revised setup can be approved for 2027.
“There has been a clear sentiment across the Tour that the current calendar does not feel sustainable for players given the physical, professional, and personal pressures of competing at the highest level,” Camillo, who became chair in November, wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Camillo’s letter said the council “will focus first on areas where the WTA has direct authority to drive change, while also identifying longer-term opportunities that will require broader coordination across the sport” — by working, eventually, with the ATP men’s tour and the four Grand Slam tournaments, she explained in a telephone interview.
“We are very open to looking broadly at a host of potential solutions to this. … The idea is: We go in there with a very open mind and open dialogue,” Camillo told the AP. “We’re not going to solve the entire world (immediately). … The reason we don’t want to wait for, ‘Hey, let’s do this as a collective system,’ (is) we want to be timely, we want to be focused on making an immediate impact.”
The No. 5-ranked Pegula, a 31-year-old American who will chair the council, “has a unique perspective as a top player (and is) widely respected for her thoughtful, collaborative approach,” Camillo said.
“It’s one of the toughest sports,” Pegula said last year, “just when you combine, not just the physicality of it, but the schedule, the loneliness, the mental side, how tough it is to go out there and compete, week-in and week-out, by yourself.”
No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek were among more than a half-dozen withdrawals from this week’s WTA event in Dubai. During a pre-Australian Open tournament in January, Sabalenka said she planned to skip some tour stops “to protect my body.”
“The season,” she said then, “is definitely insane.”
In addition to Pegula, active players on the council are Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, a two-time Australian Open champion and former No. 1; Maria Sakkari of Greece, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist who has been ranked as high as No. 3; and Katie Volynets of the U.S., who is currently No. 96.
Camillo, WTA CEO Portia Archer and three other tour officials are on the panel, whose members also include Anja Vreg, an agent, ex-player and ex-umpire who is chair of the WTA Player Board; Bob Moran, whose Beemok Sports & Entertainment runs tournaments in Cincinnati and Charleston, South Carolina; Laura Ceccarelli, who represents the Asia-Pacific region on the WTA Tournament Council; and Alastair Garland, the managing director of Octagon Tennis and member of the WTA Board of Directors.
Defending champion Mirra Andreeva loses at Indian Wells, erupts at fans
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Tennis star Mirra Andreeva had a total meltdown on the court after losing to Katerina Siniakova 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the Round of 32 at Indian Wells in Coachella Valley on Monday.
Andreeva, 18, entered the tournament as the defending champion, but her emotions got the best of her throughout her match with Siniakova.
Andreeva rallied from a 0-3 deficit to win the first set 6-4, but things spiraled from there. After she lost the second set in a tiebreaker, she took out her frustrations on her racket, earning a code violation. During the tiebreak, while smashing her racket, she asked her team to leave the court.
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After she lost the match, Andreeva flung her racket toward the bench and briefly shook hands with Siniakova. She then erupted and let the fans hear it as she screamed
Tennis Pro Aryna Sabalenka Wants Engagement Ring to Distract
Tennis pro Aryna Sabalenka is a huge fan of her engagement ring from entrepreneur Georgios Frangulis.
Sabalenka, 27, gushed about her massive sparkler at a press conference during the Indian Wells Open, which takes place in Palm Springs, California, and concludes on Sunday, March 15. When asked why she decided to keep her diamond ring on while playing, Sabalenka answered, “We double checked if there’s a possibility to lose a diamond, and there’s none, so I was pretty confident wearing this ring.”
She added, “It feels pretty comfy. It feels shiny.” Sabalenka also laughed, “I hope that my opponent will get distracted by this diamond and it’s going to benefit me.”
Fans shared their reactions in the comments section. “QUEEEEEEEN,” one gushed. A second added, “You are the biggest diamond💎❤️,” while a third commented, “Diamond of the season 😍.”
Sabalenka first announced her engagement on March 4 via Instagram. She shared a sweet video of Frangulis, 37, getting down on one knee and proposing with an oval diamond set on a band with even more stones. The ring, which is estimated to be 12-carats, cost around $1 million, per Diamond World.
The couple were surrounded by flowers and candles when he popped the question. Sabalenka put her hands over her mouth while beaming. She rocked blue jeans and a white T-shirt with her blonde hair worn in a braid.
“You & me, forever ♾️ 3.3.26 💍🤍,” she captioned the post.
Elsewhere on social media, Sabalenka showed off a zoomed-in photo of her ring while giving Frangulis a kiss. “I can finally call him something else… FIANCÉ 💍,” she wrote beside the photos. Celebrities congratulated her in the comments section.
Aryna Sabalenka credits her new dog with ‘mental health support’
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka credits her new puppy, Ash, with providing “mental health support” as she continues to rack up victories and maintain her standing as the top-ranked player in women’s tennis.
Sabalenka brought her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to a post-match interview on the Tennis Channel following her round-of-16 victory over Naomi Osaka on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
“I feel like I’m much more settled, calm, more in control,” Sabalenka, who has a history of emotional, on-court outbursts, said while Tennis Channel commentators held and petted her dog. “Whenever I feel like going crazy on my team, I just pet Ash and I feel better.”
Sabalenka, who also recently announced her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis, shared news of her puppy in a social media post last week, introducing Ash as a “new addition” to Team Tiger, her support team of coaches, trainers and other staff.
She spoke more about Ash following her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Osaka.
Sabalenka said she had a deal with coach Anton Dubrov that if she won last year’s U.S. Open, she would get a dog.
She also considered getting a Dachshund, but decided on a spaniel because “my mom had a spaniel and I loved that dog,” adding that spaniels make good “family dogs.”
“Super attached to their owners, super chill, super cute, supper cuddly,” she said.
Sabalenka said she wanted her dog’s name to be related somehow to New York and the U.S. Open.
“Apple doesn’t sound right,” she said. So, she went with Ash as a nod to American tennis great and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe, after whom the main U.S. Open stadium court is named.
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Where to watch Jannik Sinner vs. Joao Fonseca today: Tennis free stream
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner will face Joao Fonseca in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. Sinner has never faced Fonseca, an up-and-coming 19-year-old from Brazil.
Sinner vs. Fonseca will air on Tennis Channel, and streams live on FuboTV (free trial).
What: BNP Paribas Open, Round 4
Who: No. 2 Jannik Sinner vs. Joao Fonseca
When: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Where: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells, California
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: Tennis Channel
Live stream: FuboTV (free trial), DIRECTV (free trial)
Here’s a recent tennis story from the Associated Press:
Former U.S. Open tennis champion Daniil Medvedev has indicated he’s one of what the ATP Tour calls “a small number of players and team members” it is trying to help leave Dubai as the war in the Middle East causes a widespread travel shutdown that has also caused issues for athletes heading to the Paralympics.
Medvedev’s Instagram account reposted on Monday a report from a Russian-language tennis outlet, Bolshe, which said he was safe and staying at a friend’s apartment in Dubai, amid flight cancellations after winning the ATP event there last week.
“The health, safety and wellbeing of our players, staff and tournament personnel is our priority. We can confirm that a small number of players and team members remain in Dubai following the conclusion of the recent ATP 500 event,” the ATP Tour said in a statement Monday.
“They and their teams are being accommodated in the tournament’s official hotels, where their immediate needs are being fully supported.”
Medvedev and others are due to play at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, where main-draw matches start Wednesday.
“We are in direct communication with those affected, as well as with tournament organizers and security advisors,” the ATP said. “At this stage, travel assessments remain subject to ongoing assessment in line with airline operations and official guidance. We will continue to provide appropriate support to ensure players and their teams can depart safely when conditions allow.”
The Winter Paralympics open in Italy on Friday and some athletes are facing travel difficulties, the International Paralympic Committee said.
“We are in close contact with all delegations competing at the Games as well as other stakeholders. Many of the teams are already in Europe attending training or holding camps, but the closure of airspace in the Middle East is impacting the arrival of some stakeholders,” the IPC said in a statement.
The IPC confirmed to The Associated Press that the affected stakeholders include athletes.
“We would prefer not to comment on the status of individual delegations or stakeholders at this stage but can provide assurance that we are working diligently with Milano Cortina 2026 to find solutions for those affected,” the IPC added.
Iran has one cross-country skier expected to compete at the March 6-15 Paralympics.
Cricketers from England and Pakistan’s men’s developmental teams were in the United Arab Emirates at the weekend ahead of Sunday’s game that was cancelled.
Youth basketball players also faced travel issues when a EuroLeague tournament there was canceled at the weekend.
Numerous sports events in the region have shut down, with Asian Champions League soccer games and the Qatari league on hold. The governing body which oversees Formula 1 said Monday it will focus on “safety and wellbeing” as it considers upcoming races in the region.
Plainfield News, Breaking News in Plainfield, IL
Will County Children’s Advocacy Center
The Will County Children’s Advocacy Center was founded in 1995 by State’s Attorney James Glasgow to partner with multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) comprised of law enforcement, DCFS investigators, medical personnel, prosecutors, and Will County CAC forensic interviewers, family advocates, and trauma therapists in response to reports of severe physical abuse, sexual abuse, commercial exploitation, neglect, and exposure to violence of children, in Will County, IL.
Our Will County CAC intake/MDT coordinator, forensic interviewers, family advocates, and trauma therapists provide the following services:
* Forensic Interviews: After a child is referred to the Will County CAC by law enforcement or the IL Dept. of Family Services (DCFS), our Intake Coordinator schedules a forensic interview for the child. One of our 4 forensic interviewers listens to the child’s story and asks non-leading, developmentally-appropriate questions as the child talks about the trauma he/she has experienced. Law enforcement, prosecution, DCFS, and mental health professionals observe the interview from a separate room. This reduces trauma for the child and provides a stronger foundation if the case goes to court.
* Family Advocacy: Our family advocates are committed to helping each family navigate the complex systems that a family enters when a child makes an outcry of abuse. As each case goes through the investigation, prosecution and healing process, the team is there to help the family understand the process, learn about their rights and successfully access resources that will help their family during crisis.
* Trauma-Focused Therapy: Our team of licensed clinical social workers provide short-term, trauma informed therapy to children who have received a forensic interview. Since child abuse affects the whole family, the services are available at no cost to both the child and their non-offending family members. Individual and group therapy is offered in English and Spanish.
Learn More
Timbers of Shorewood
For the fourth consecutive year, the Timbers of Shorewood has been voted
Players Championship prop bet picks and PGA Tour predictions
The world’s top players are teeing it up this week at the iconic TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the 2026 Players Championship. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with a purse of $25 million and $4.5 million going to the winner. The first round from the Stadium Course begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the Players Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win his third Players Championship this week, coming in at +450 on the outright odds board. The defending champion, Rory McIlroy, has the second-shortest odds at +1400, followed by AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa (+1800).
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 and plays at 7,352 yards long, but by no means is it a course that long hitters can overpower. It requires accuracy and shot-shaping off the tee, positioning yourself on the proper side of the fairway to avoid interference from trees on approach shots. The winning score has been between 10-under and 20-under par every year since 2010, with McIlroy winning at 12-under in 2025.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+350)
Morikawa is red hot right now and it’s worth riding that wave for at least another week at a course where he has a 13th and 10th in his last 3 trips here. He’s finished top 7 in each of his last 3 starts this season, including that win at Pebble.
Si Woo Kim (+500)
Kim won the Players in 2017 and more recently finished sixth in 2024. In the last 3 months, his 2.38 strokes gained from tee to green ranks first among all players in the field this week, showing just how well he’s striking the ball.
Rory McIlroy (+250)
McIlroy’s status for this week will be determined by how he feels Wednesday after he withdrew due to a back injury Saturday at Bay Hill. That’s not exactly encouraging, and he may not even play a practice round, so monitor his status before placing this bet. Still, he’s someone who could fly blind into Sawgrass and still play well, given his experience here (2-time champ).
Players Championship: Outright winner bets
Players Championship – Top-10 picks
Sepp Straka (+375)
Straka continues to play well, especially in signature events. Despite a final-round 76 on Sunday at Bay Hill, he still managed to finish 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and that was with an unsightly triple-bogey on Thursday. He’s come in ninth, 65th, 16th and 14th in his last 4 starts at Sawgrass, showing he can navigate this challenging course, even when the wind picks up.
Akshay Bhatia (+350)
Bhatia chased down Daniel Berger last week at Bay Hill with a stellar back 9 Sunday, and he’ll try to carry that momentum into Sawgrass where he finished third last year. If he can keep his driver in the fairway, or at least close to it, he’ll put himself in position to contend again.
Ludvig Aberg (+225)
Aberg is only making his third start at the Players, finishing eighth in his debut in 2024 and missing the cut last year. He was hardly the only big name to miss it last year, along with Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Hideki Matsuyama, but his game is tailor-made for Sawgrass. He hits it high and straight, allowing him to hold the greens and find the fairways.
Players Championship – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+250)
Theegala has 4 top-22 finishes in his last 5 starts this season, getting back on track after a rocky 2025 season. He’s still losing strokes off the tee in the last 3 months but he’s gaining shots everywhere else, which is important.
Aaron Rai (+275)
Rai has had back-to-back top-30 finishes in his last 2 starts after a slow open to the year. He’s quietly had a great track record at the Players, too, coming in 19th, 35th and 14th in his 3 career starts since 2023.
Ricky Castillo (+333)
Castillo claimed the crown at the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after also coming in fifth at the Cognizant Classic. It’s only his second start at the Players, but his game is in strong form.
Players Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Ludvig Aberg (-105) vs. Xander Schauffele (-118)
Like a lot of players, Schauffele has had his share of struggles at Sawgrass, perhaps more than most elite players. He missed the cut 3 straight years from 2019-22, and finished 72nd last year after making. the cut. He was the runner-up in 2024 and 2018, but in terms of recent form, Aberg may have a better shot than X-Man.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Robert MacIntyre (-118)
MacIntyre missed the cut in 2021 and 2024 before finishing ninth last year. Knapp has gone 45-12 in his 2 starts at the Players, and his recent form is outstanding; he’s finished 11th or better in 5 straight starts this season.
Players Championship – Top Asian
Si Woo Kim (+188)
Hideki Matsuyama (+300) is the biggest competition to Kim in this market, because Ryo Hisatsune (+800) is inexperienced at Sawgrass and Sungjae Im (+1100) is only making his second start of the season. Take Kim, who’s a past champion and is one of the best ball strikers in the world right now.
Players Championship – Top Australasian
Adam Scott (+260)
Scott is playing exceptionally well, making a run at the Genesis Invitational and performing at a high level again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Min Woo Lee (+160) is in great form, too, but Scott is worth a shot as an underdog.
Players Championship – First-round leader
Akshay Bhatia (+4500)
Bhatia is riding some momentum after his Arnold Palmer Invitational win and after contending at Sawgrass last year, he could be in for another good week. He was just 1 shot off the lead on Thursday last year after shooting 67 in the opening round.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
Players Championship’s hole-in-one history
PGA Tour’s TourCast Range gives fans a new look at practice
Players Championship prop bet picks and PGA Tour predictions
The world’s top players are teeing it up this week at the iconic TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the 2026 Players Championship. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with a purse of $25 million and $4.5 million going to the winner. The first round from the Stadium Course begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the Players Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win his third Players Championship this week, coming in at +450 on the outright odds board. The defending champion, Rory McIlroy, has the second-shortest odds at +1400, followed by AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa (+1800).
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 and plays at 7,352 yards long, but by no means is it a course that long hitters can overpower. It requires accuracy and shot-shaping off the tee, positioning yourself on the proper side of the fairway to avoid interference from trees on approach shots. The winning score has been between 10-under and 20-under par every year since 2010, with McIlroy winning at 12-under in 2025.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+350)
Morikawa is red hot right now and it’s worth riding that wave for at least another week at a course where he has a 13th and 10th in his last 3 trips here. He’s finished top 7 in each of his last 3 starts this season, including that win at Pebble.
Players Championship: Outright winner bets
Si Woo Kim (+500)
Kim won the Players in 2017 and more recently finished sixth in 2024. In the last 3 months, his 2.38 strokes gained from tee to green ranks first among all players in the field this week, showing just how well he’s striking the ball.
Rory McIlroy (+250)
McIlroy’s status for this week will be determined by how he feels Wednesday after he withdrew due to a back injury Saturday at Bay Hill. That’s not exactly encouraging, and he may not even play a practice round, so monitor his status before placing this bet. Still, he’s someone who could fly blind into Sawgrass and still play well, given his experience here (2-time champ).
Players Championship – Top-10 picks
Sepp Straka (+375)
Straka continues to play well, especially in signature events. Despite a final-round 76 on Sunday at Bay Hill, he still managed to finish 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and that was with an unsightly triple-bogey on Thursday. He’s come in ninth, 65th, 16th and 14th in his last 4 starts at Sawgrass, showing he can navigate this challenging course, even when the wind picks up.
Akshay Bhatia (+350)
Bhatia chased down Daniel Berger last week at Bay Hill with a stellar back 9 Sunday, and he’ll try to carry that momentum into Sawgrass where he finished third last year. If he can keep his driver in the fairway, or at least close to it, he’ll put himself in position to contend again.
Ludvig Aberg (+225)
Aberg is only making his third start at the Players, finishing eighth in his debut in 2024 and missing the cut last year. He was hardly the only big name to miss it last year, along with Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Hideki Matsuyama, but his game is tailor-made for Sawgrass. He hits it high and straight, allowing him to hold the greens and find the fairways.
Players Championship – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+250)
Theegala has 4 top-22 finishes in his last 5 starts this season, getting back on track after a rocky 2025 season. He’s still losing strokes off the tee in the last 3 months but he’s gaining shots everywhere else, which is important.
Aaron Rai (+275)
Rai has had back-to-back top-30 finishes in his last 2 starts after a slow open to the year. He’s quietly had a great track record at the Players, too, coming in 19th, 35th and 14th in his 3 career starts since 2023.
Ricky Castillo (+333)
Castillo claimed the crown at the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after also coming in fifth at the Cognizant Classic. It’s only his second start at the Players, but his game is in strong form.
Players Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Ludvig Aberg (-105) vs. Xander Schauffele (-118)
Like a lot of players, Schauffele has had his share of struggles at Sawgrass, perhaps more than most elite players. He missed the cut 3 straight years from 2019-22, and finished 72nd last year after making. the cut. He was the runner-up in 2024 and 2018, but in terms of recent form, Aberg may have a better shot than X-Man.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Robert MacIntyre (-118)
MacIntyre missed the cut in 2021 and 2024 before finishing ninth last year. Knapp has gone 45-12 in his 2 starts at the Players, and his recent form is outstanding; he’s finished 11th or better in 5 straight starts this season.
Players Championship – Top Asian
Si Woo Kim (+188)
Hideki Matsuyama (+300) is the biggest competition to Kim in this market, because Ryo Hisatsune (+800) is inexperienced at Sawgrass and Sungjae Im (+1100) is only making his second start of the season. Take Kim, who’s a past champion and is one of the best ball strikers in the world right now.
Players Championship – Top Australasian
Adam Scott (+260)
Scott is playing exceptionally well, making a run at the Genesis Invitational and performing at a high level again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Min Woo Lee (+160) is in great form, too, but Scott is worth a shot as an underdog.
Players Championship – First-round leader
Akshay Bhatia (+4500)
Bhatia is riding some momentum after his Arnold Palmer Invitational win and after contending at Sawgrass last year, he could be in for another good week. He was just 1 shot off the lead on Thursday last year after shooting 67 in the opening round.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
PGA Tour’s TourCast Range gives fans a new look at practice
2026 The Players Championship expert picks, predictions and odds
Kevin Kisner’s split world as golf analyst, player go hand in hand
The world’s top players are teeing it up this week at the iconic TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the 2026 Players Championship. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with a purse of $25 million and $4.5 million going to the winner. The first round from the Stadium Course begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the Players Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win his third Players Championship this week, coming in at +450 on the outright odds board. The defending champion, Rory McIlroy, has the second-shortest odds at +1400, followed by AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa (+1800).
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 and plays at 7,352 yards long, but by no means is it a course that long hitters can overpower. It requires accuracy and shot-shaping off the tee, positioning yourself on the proper side of the fairway to avoid interference from trees on approach shots. The winning score has been between 10-under and 20-under par every year since 2010, with McIlroy winning at 12-under in 2025.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+350)
Morikawa is red hot right now and it’s worth riding that wave for at least another week at a course where he has a 13th and 10th in his last 3 trips here. He’s finished top 7 in each of his last 3 starts this season, including that win at Pebble.
Players Championship: Outright winner bets
Si Woo Kim (+500)
Kim won the Players in 2017 and more recently finished sixth in 2024. In the last 3 months, his 2.38 strokes gained from tee to green ranks first among all players in the field this week, showing just how well he’s striking the ball.
Rory McIlroy (+250)
McIlroy’s status for this week will be determined by how he feels Wednesday after he withdrew due to a back injury Saturday at Bay Hill. That’s not exactly encouraging, and he may not even play a practice round, so monitor his status before placing this bet. Still, he’s someone who could fly blind into Sawgrass and still play well, given his experience here (2-time champ).
Players Championship – Top-10 picks
Sepp Straka (+375)
Straka continues to play well, especially in signature events. Despite a final-round 76 on Sunday at Bay Hill, he still managed to finish 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and that was with an unsightly triple-bogey on Thursday. He’s come in ninth, 65th, 16th and 14th in his last 4 starts at Sawgrass, showing he can navigate this challenging course, even when the wind picks up.
Akshay Bhatia (+350)
Bhatia chased down Daniel Berger last week at Bay Hill with a stellar back 9 Sunday, and he’ll try to carry that momentum into Sawgrass where he finished third last year. If he can keep his driver in the fairway, or at least close to it, he’ll put himself in position to contend again.
Ludvig Aberg (+225)
Aberg is only making his third start at the Players, finishing eighth in his debut in 2024 and missing the cut last year. He was hardly the only big name to miss it last year, along with Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Hideki Matsuyama, but his game is tailor-made for Sawgrass. He hits it high and straight, allowing him to hold the greens and find the fairways.
Players Championship – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+250)
Theegala has 4 top-22 finishes in his last 5 starts this season, getting back on track after a rocky 2025 season. He’s still losing strokes off the tee in the last 3 months but he’s gaining shots everywhere else, which is important.
Aaron Rai (+275)
Rai has had back-to-back top-30 finishes in his last 2 starts after a slow open to the year. He’s quietly had a great track record at the Players, too, coming in 19th, 35th and 14th in his 3 career starts since 2023.
Ricky Castillo (+333)
Castillo claimed the crown at the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after also coming in fifth at the Cognizant Classic. It’s only his second start at the Players, but his game is in strong form.
Players Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Ludvig Aberg (-105) vs. Xander Schauffele (-118)
Like a lot of players, Schauffele has had his share of struggles at Sawgrass, perhaps more than most elite players. He missed the cut 3 straight years from 2019-22, and finished 72nd last year after making. the cut. He was the runner-up in 2024 and 2018, but in terms of recent form, Aberg may have a better shot than X-Man.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Robert MacIntyre (-118)
MacIntyre missed the cut in 2021 and 2024 before finishing ninth last year. Knapp has gone 45-12 in his 2 starts at the Players, and his recent form is outstanding; he’s finished 11th or better in 5 straight starts this season.
Players Championship – Top Asian
Si Woo Kim (+188)
Hideki Matsuyama (+300) is the biggest competition to Kim in this market, because Ryo Hisatsune (+800) is inexperienced at Sawgrass and Sungjae Im (+1100) is only making his second start of the season. Take Kim, who’s a past champion and is one of the best ball strikers in the world right now.
Players Championship – Top Australasian
Adam Scott (+260)
Scott is playing exceptionally well, making a run at the Genesis Invitational and performing at a high level again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Min Woo Lee (+160) is in great form, too, but Scott is worth a shot as an underdog.
Players Championship – First-round leader
Akshay Bhatia (+4500)
Bhatia is riding some momentum after his Arnold Palmer Invitational win and after contending at Sawgrass last year, he could be in for another good week. He was just 1 shot off the lead on Thursday last year after shooting 67 in the opening round.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
PGA Tour’s TourCast Range gives fans a new look at practice
2026 The Players Championship expert picks, predictions and odds
UL golfer makes history with successive La. Classics titles
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Kevin Kisner’s reputation as golf’s “everyman” has defined much of his career.
He’s the fan favorite whose self-deprecating charm bridges the gap between the common golfer and a successful PGA Tour pro.
After 14 years of holding a full-time PGA Tour card that garnered four wins and an Official World Golf Ranking as high as No. 14 in 2016, Kisner, 42, has transitioned to only playing in select events.
Now prioritizing a career in the media, Kisner is at peace with leaving his best days on Tour behind him — he’s just doing it without sacrificing his devotion to golf, or the relationships he’s forged.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that point,” Kisner told The Post. “I want to continue to play so I can be amongst the guys. Understand, you know, it’s only gonna help my broadcast and my brand by playing more. But I don’t have any want to play 25 times a year, 30 times a year at 42 years old with three kids.”
Kisner’s time is now primarily split between serving as the lead golf analyst on NBC, competing on the Jupiter Links Golf Club in the TGL indoor simulation league and most recently, joining Barstool Sports’ “Fore Play” golf podcast.
The combination of his off-the-cuff commentary, veteran experience and bonds with current players makes him an asset in the NBC broadcast booth alongside Dan Hicks. Last year, Kisner called flagship events such as the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, the Players Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup.
Adding commentary that reflects perspective without compromising his standing within the clubhouse is Kisner’s balancing act, so criticism must come judiciously.
“I always wanted to be the guy that [players] felt like, whatever I said, that was right, and I was never gonna do anything to lose their trust or say anything that would be offensive to them,” he said.
In TGL, Kisner competes under a three-on-three alternate-shot format where relationships with teammates serve as an asset. Matches are 15 holes and are played inside a 1,500 capacity arena specifically built for an intimate, yet energetic golf viewing experience.
It’s a theatre that’s tailor-made for characters like Kisner: Players wear Bluetooth earpieces not only to communicate with teammates and adjust what they hear, but to chat candidly with the ESPN broadcast crew during play.
“I would say the relationship with the players is why I continue to [compete in TGL] as well as broadcast,” Kisner said. “I never want to be seen as the broadcaster that just sits up in the booth and talks about players he doesn’t know or doesn’t interact with.”
While the long periods between shots have made individual consistency a challenge for Kisner in TGL, the drive to contribute to a team effort supplants those adjustments.
“I was such a rhythm golfer throughout my career, and the format here kind of doesn’t ever let me get going, but I love the team atmosphere,” Kisner said. “The three-man alternate shot is so cool when you’re hitting on a roll, you’re getting momentum. You can feel the energy and the juice, and you really want to perform, and that’s what I love doing.”
One of Kisner’s most viral “one of us” moments came in his TGL debut: a bladed-bunker shot struck the flagstick and bounced off the green, which had his Jupiter Links teammates — Tiger Woods and Max Homa — roaring with laughter.
In TGL’s second season, Kisner helped his Jupiter Links reach their first playoff berth by besting Wyndham Clark on the final hole of a winner-take-all regular season-finale.
He hasn’t made a PGA Tour appearance since the RSM Classic last November and his last top-10 finish came in July at the ISCO Championship. Kisner, who won $29.4 million in PGA Tour career earnings, retained his playing privileges by using a top-50 career money exemption in 2025 despite finishing outside the top 125 in the 2024 FedEx Cup Standings.
He made three of 17 cuts in 2025, but Kisner’s idea of success is now measured more than just by leaderboard finishes. It’s about life balance and “building your brand.”
“I’m in a great spot, man,” Kisner said. “I get to go work for NBC. I get to come play [TGL]. I get to play a few handful of events that I really love, and I still get to go see my kids and go to their sporting events as well.”
When The Post noted that it sounded like the best of both worlds, Kisner quipped, “Yeah, trying, anyway. Until I get fired from something.
“Then I gotta find another job.”
2026 Players Championship Betting Models, Picks: TPC Sawgrass Demands Positional Excellence
In the 41-year history of the Louisiana Classics Golf Tournament, winners have included Ryder Cup players, one major champion and multiple PGA Tour winners.
But none of them accomplished what Malan Potgieter did Tuesday, when he etched his name into the UL golf record book once again.
One year ago, the Kirkwood, South Africa, native became the first Ragin’ Cajuns player to win the Louisiana Classics individual title. On Tuesday, he became the first player in tournament history to claim medalist honors in back-to-back years.
Potgieter carried a four-stroke lead into Tuesday’s final round over the 6,898-yard par-72 Oakbourne Country Club layout. His 3-under 69 in the final round left him at 15-under 201 for a three-stroke advantage over runner-up Carter Maneth of Middle Tennessee State.
“With the mental fortitude and the golf IQ he has, he’s a professional golfer playing in a college field,” UL coach Theo Sliman said. “It’s something special to watch. I’m really proud of the grit he showed over the last two days, because it’s not easy to win at home.”
Potgieter won last year’s tournament title in a three-hole playoff. In Monday’s opening round, he birdied the first three holes he played to take the lead from the opening tee shot. On Tuesday, he birdied his first two holes.
“That gave me a lot of confidence, settled some of the nerves,” said Potgieter, who has now finished in the individual top four in seven of UL’s eight tournaments this year. “It’s always nice to start hot, and I was able to take it from there.
“(Monday) I was coasting, and everything went well. Today I had a few bumps in the road, but I held it together and finished strong.”
Potgieter had 14 birdies and two bogeys in Monday’s 36-hole opening day. He added six more birdies on Tuesday but had three bogeys along with a double-bogey at the par-five 13th hole (his fourth hole of the day after starting on No. 10) that temporarily dropped his lead to one shot when playing partner Maneth birdied that same hole.
But Potgieter came back with two birdies in a four-hole stretch, and he put away the individual title when he birdied the par-four sixth and eagled the par-five seventh for a four-shot lead going into the final two holes.
“I had planted a little seed this morning, knowing how fickle this game can be,” Sliman said, “and he knew the message I was giving him. He doesn’t need a lot of speeches, he just goes out and gets locked in.”
“It’s pretty cool to have your name up on that board twice,” Potgieter said while looking at the sign listing the 40 previous individual winners.
The UL team dropped two spots in Tuesday’s final round and finished ninth in the 16-team field, with a final-round 2-over 290 score that left the Cajuns at 5 under for the tournament. Freshman James Holtsclaw shot his third straight subpar round and finished tied for 19th at 71-71-71—213 for UL’s next-highest finisher.
Texas A&M, ranked 29th nationally, entered the final round with an eight-shot lead and was never caught, winning its fourth Louisiana Classics title in the last five years with a 24-under 840 total.
The Aggies did not have a player finish in the individual top seven, but they had four top-20 finishers. Jaime Montojo led the Aggies with an eighth-place finish at 6-under 210.
2026 Players Championship odds, favorites
Whether you consider it the fifth major or not, we can all agree that the Players Championship is, bar none, the most fun event on the PGA Tour every year. It’s always a delight to return to TPC Sawgrass, a Pete Dye design that demands accuracy, positional golf, a complete game, and brings in the Florida-swing volatility that we know and love as well. And I’m not expecting anything different from the 2026 tournament.
TPC Sawgrass’s Stadium Course was opened in 1980 and has hosted the Players Championship since 1982. Pete Dye and Alice Dye designed the tract, which measures out at 7,352 yards on the scorecard for the par-72 layout. The iconic island green on the 17th hole highlights the water trouble that awaits around numerous turns throughout the venue, but it’s also a challenging course with Dye’s signature deceptive eyelines and some harsh green complexes to manage as well.
The Players Championship always tests, well, the players—even the very best in the world. That’s why we see roller-coaster results from even top players who have enjoyed success at TPC Sawgrass in the past. That also makes modeling this event tough, but nonetheless, still quite fun. As for that, let’s dive into the numbers and try to get some big winners this week.
Key Stats for TPC Sawgrass
Strokes-gained approach over last 24 rounds
At a positional golf course, you always need to be able to both take advantage of good spots off the tee, but also make something happen when that’s not the case. So, naturally, we’re giving strokes-gained approach its weekly love as a key factor in the model.
Austin Smotherman (+1.177)
Si Woo Kim (1.120)
Shane Lowry (1.115)
Collin Morikawa (0.982)
Zecheng Dou (0.910)
Strokes-gained around the green over last 24 rounds
While the ever-important approach play matters, finding ways to save a score when you miss the green is just as important. So, much to my chagrin, we have to weight around-the-green play pretty heavily for the second straight week.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+0.664)
Jason Day (0.617)
Hideki Matsuyama (0.607)
Justin Thomas (0.552)
Stephan Jaeger (0.551)
Fairways Gained over the last 24 rounds
There’s more than just finding the fairway at TPC Sawgrass as a positional golf course. Having said that, being in the short grass surely doesn’t hurt the cause, and we’re looking at fairways gained in relation to the field.
Joel Dahmen (+2.222)
Andrew Putnam (1.981)
Si Woo Kim (1.609)
Lucas Glover (1.344)
Matt Fitzpatrick (1.307)
Birdie-or-Better Gained Percentage
Scores can always vary at the Players, but you definitely need to rack up some birdies in relation to the field in order to win. So we have to take a look at the players who have been successful relative to the field in terms of circles on the scorecard.
Scottie Scheffler (1.541)
Andrew Putnam (1.248)
Rory McIlroy (1.243)
Jacob Bridgeman (1.233)
Rick Castillo (1.224)
The Players Championship model rankings this week
I honestly ended up baking more into the model this week than expected, but it’s to get a complete picture of the unique test that TPC Sawgrass provides. We start with strokes-gained approach over the last 24 rounds (20%) followed not far behind by strokes-gained around the Green in the last 24 (15%). We then get a solid blend of fairways gained, birdie-or-better gained percentage, and strokes-gained TPC Sawgrass over the last 24 rounds (10% each). We then sprinkle in a lot more with strokes-gained putting on Bermuda (8%) and strokes-gained par-5s (7%) before rounding out with bogey avoidance, good drive percentage, strokes-gained short courses (5% each) and then some Pete Dye comp courses with strokes-gained TPC River Highlands (3%) and Harbour Town (2%). Here’s how the Top 10 of the model shakes out after we plug in those numbers.
Rory McIlroy
Tommy Fleetwood
Scottie Scheffler
Matt Fitzpatrick
Si Woo Kim
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Hideki Matsuyama
Collin Morikawa
Russell Henley
Alex Noren
2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational picks
Ludvig Åberg +2700 (DraftKings)
While Ludvig Åberg doesn’t crack the top 10 of the model (he’s 22nd, for what it’s worth), this is a trending play that the last 24 round numbers don’t fully appreciate. And it seems like the strapping young Swede is about to peak at a place where he quietly has a solo eighth finish to his credit here back in 2024.
As he’s clearly started to get healthier, Ludvig has been on a steady trend upward since missing the cut at Farmers. He’s improved his strokes-gained off the tee and strokes-gained approach in each of his last three starts, including gaining 9.786 strokes tee-to-green as he finished T3 at the API. When his ball-striking is in form and on a surface in Bermuda where he’s been a positive putter, his scoring ability makes him exceptionally dangerous.
This is definitely trying to be ahead of a trend while I still think the number is quite good, and I’m going to bet on Åberg getting back to his winning ways in a big-time event as he can capture his first Players victory.
Matt Fitzpatrick +4000 (DraftKings)
If you’re looking for the right balance, then you should probably look no further than Matt Fitzpatrick right now. The results—especially after a wildly bad tee-to-green week at the API—haven’t fully mirrored how well he’s playing, but it does feel as if he’s still in the right form to make a splash at the Players.
As with anyone, I’m not worried about MCs at the Players, but rather what the highs have looked like. In his last five starts at TPC Sawgrass, Fitzpatrick has a solo fifth and a T9 finish working his way. When you then consider that he’s 10th in strokes-gained approach and fifth in strokes-gained putting on Bermuda, not to mention fifth in fairways gained as well, then you start to see how things could absolutely line up for him to make a run this week.
More importantly, after what happened at Bay Hill last week, I suspect a lot of the Fitzpatrick backers will be off him. That looks like the outlier so far this season, and I’m willing to try and swoop in with a depressed price and cash with Fitzy at the Players.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +10000 (FanDuel)
We love a longshot and there is reason to believe that Bezuidenhout could fit the bill this week. He’s coming off a T8 finish in Puerto Rico last week, and has four top-40 finishes in five starts this season. That’s not overly impressive, but the profile shows a lot to like about how he’s been finding success in relation to what TPC Sawgrass asks of players.
Bezuidenhout is 17th in strokes-gained approach, first in strokes-gained around the green, eighth in strokes-gained putting on Bermuda, top 20 in fairways gained, and top 30 in bogey avoidance as well over the last 24 rounds. The only worry with him is that he’s actually been sub-average in terms of birdie-or-better percentage, but the formula for him to find success this week specifically could be there.
The South African quietly finished T13 here in back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024, which goes to show how he can have success at the Players when his game is firing. It might not be all cylinders, but it certainly seems like most of it is firing right now, which makes a 100 to 1 shot worth it.
Adam Scott on future of PGA Tour schedule: ‘It can’t sit still’
The 2026 Players Championship gets underway at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., beginning on Thursday. Often referred to as the unofficial fifth major on the PGA Tour, this event always features a high-end field, and it now has a $25 million purse, surpassing even the Signature Events with that number. The latest 2026 Players Championship odds from FanDuel Sportsbook have Scottie Scheffler atop the board as the +480 favorite (risk $100 to win $480), with Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa behind him at +1600.
Other Players Championship favorites include Si Woo Kim and Ludvig Aberg at +2200. Russell Henley (+2500) and Tommy Fleetwood (+2700) is the only other Players Championship 2026 contenders lower than +3000 on the PGA odds board this week. Before locking in any 2026 Players Championship picks, entering any Players Championship Invitational one and done contests, or making any PGA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters — its fourth Masters in a row — as well as last year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
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Now that the 2026 Players Championship field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, which you can use for PGA picks, one and done contests or golf DFS lineups.
2026 Players Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at The Players Championship 2026: Schauffele barely cracks the top 10 of the projected leaderboard. He’s a golfer to fade this week. The 32-year-old only has one top-10 finish this season. He also really struggled over the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shooting a 73 and 74, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. He finished T2 at this event in 2024, but had a three-year run of missing the cut from 2021-23, and he finished 72nd last year. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: The model says Aberg is one of the top values. After a disappointing start to the season, Aberg is rounding into form. He’s improved his finish position in his past four events, and his T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week signals that he’s ready to contend against a strong field. He missed the cut in this event last year, but did finish solo eighth at TPC Sawgrass in 2024. See who else to pick here.
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How to make 2026 Players Championship picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of +3000 or higher who make a run for the top of the leaderboard. You can only see the model’s picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Players Championship, and which massive longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Players Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Players Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Players Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
7x PGA Tour Champ Highlights Critical Flaw in Tiger Woods’s Schedule Shake-Up Plans
For three years, the PGA Tour has been reacting. There have been elevated events, limited fields, no-cut formats, and bigger purses. Now comes the version that might be permanent: a revamped schedule in 2027, and one of golf’s most respected voices, 7x PGA Tour winner Peter Jacobsen, is sounding the alarm before the ink dries.
“It’s a huge gamble trying to remake the PGA Tour. I’ve read a lot of the players saying, ‘We all know the PGA Tour has to change,’ and I ask the question, ‘Why?’ It was working really well before, and if the players wanted to have tournaments where the good players play more often together, they have that at LIV. Go join LIV,” said Jacobsen, criticizing the idea of restructuring the calendar to cluster top players more frequently.
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Jacobsen also warned that cutting events could weaken the charitable and community foundations that many long-standing tournaments rely on, and it is absolutely correct. Take the Sony Open, for instance.
It is one of the PGA Tour’s longest-running events and a fixture of the Hawaiian swing since 1965 and is reportedly to be eliminated under the 2027 restructuring plan. The Sony Open raises money through Friends of Hawaii Charities, with support from the Hawaii Community Foundation, to help local nonprofits that serve individuals with special needs and families in need across the islands. Brian Rolapp calls the concept at the center of the debate “scarcity,” so it surely won’t be the last name on the list.
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This move did not happen in a vacuum. When LIV Golf began pulling marquee names in 2023, the Tour responded with Signature Events, guaranteeing stronger fields and larger purses. It was damage control dressed as innovation. By 2024, limited fields and no-cut formats had quietly become the norm across the calendar. Then, in August 2025, Rolapp gave the direction a name at the Tour Championship, calling it “scarcity.”
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What began as a reaction to an outside threat has slowly become the Tour’s own blueprint. The restructuring under discussion would cut the Tour’s annual slate of roughly 45 to 46 events down to somewhere between 20 and 25. The idea is straightforward: fewer tournaments means stronger fields, which means bigger television numbers and a product that feels more consequential week to week.
Alongside the schedule reduction, the Tour is also exploring a shift toward major American cities—New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia—and a summer-heavy calendar that would give the circuit room to breathe without going head-to-head against the NFL, NBA, and NHL. And also, the big names are playing against each other more instead of skipping regular events.
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Tiger Woods, one of the more influential voices in discussions about the Tour’s future, has clearly articulated the case for the new model. He argued that pulling back on volume could actually drive more attention to the remaining events, reasoning that a shorter window of competition naturally commands more focus from fans.
“We’re trying to figure out what is the best schedule possible so we can create the best fields and have the most viewership and also the most fan involvement,” Woods said.
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Others see a different risk in that math. Sam Saunders, who carries forward the legacy of his grandfather Arnold Palmer at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, pushed back on the notion that a leaner tour serves the game’s broader competitive health. He pointed to how fiercely players fight just to earn and keep a tour card and recalled that Palmer himself believed in throwing the doors open, not narrowing them.
“I would love to see more guys here. There are so many great players. It’s so hard to see some of the names that aren’t here sometimes,” Saunders said.
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The comparison to LIV Golf looms over it all. That circuit was built on exactly the blueprint now being debated: a compact schedule, intimate fields, and guaranteed matchups between the game’s biggest names at virtually every stop. The skepticism, it turns out, runs well beyond one man’s opinion.
Insiders don’t support the PGA Tour’s scarcity philosophy
The skepticism runs deeper than just one generation. Former Tour commissioner Deane Beman, who built the circuit into a powerhouse, never needed Jack Nicklaus in every city to make it work, but the Tour thrived anyway.
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“I don’t think he ever played in Hartford,” Beman noted.
Veteran agent Mac Barnhardt argues the scarcity logic simply doesn’t hold. The majors already own golf’s biggest audiences, and chasing that model for regular Tour events will only cannibalize what little broad viewership remains.
Barnhardt also invoked Tiger Woods, not as a blueprint but as a warning. Woods transcended demographics in ways no schedule tweak can manufacture.
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Restructuring the calendar won’t conjure another 15x major winner. It will just leave fewer events behind when the experiment falls short.
Curtis Strange directly addresses the competitive nature of the argument. Weekend cuts aren’t just about formatting; they’re about accountability, as golf is a different sport than football. Golf’s not a six-month audience thing.
Stripping away that weekly drama, he warns, risks turning proud legacy events into little more than warm-up acts.
Justin Rose Calls for Clarity From PGA Tour Leaders Amid Evolving Schedule
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is all set to unveil the changes in the tour’s schedule. And golfers, including Justin Rose, are looking forward to gaining some clarity regarding the ongoing talks about the upcoming changes.
Talking about his expectations from the PGA Tour CEO, Rose said, “But I feel like for the fans’ sake and the players’ sake, just to sort of get some clarity. We’re halfway through — well not halfway through the season, but we kind of feel like we’re getting into the meat of the season now, so I think it’s probably fair to the players to know if there’s going to be a change this year or next year or is it going to be the year after or whatever it is, what’s at stake.”
The golf community is about to enter the “meat of the season” with THE PLAYERS Championship right around the corner. And that will be followed by a major in every single month. So most PGA Tour pros would like to understand the sport’s direction before getting into the Spring Rush.
“So I think now would be a good time just to get some clarity from the players’ point of view, but obviously from a fans’ point of view, because ultimately that’s Brian’s job is to grow this TOUR and to engage.”
However, as per Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated, who reached out to several stakeholders, who explained that many title sponsors haven’t been contacted, so a major update may not come soon.
But if we go by the changes that we saw previously, there could be significant movement to the schedule, such as when the PGA Championship moved to May to improve the schedule. Such a big shakeup would have players looking for some advance warning.
Justin Rose Isn’t the Only One Looking for Clarity
During the pre-tournament presser at TPC Sawgrass, Adam Scott revealed that no one has a clear understanding of the changes coming into the tour. “I can’t be specific because we don’t have the specifics,” he said.
The common belief in the community is that the tour should look to improve, even if it brings major changes. It simply “can’t sit still” to remain the strongest golf tour.
“I think Brian and his team are now challenged with the task of looking years into the future of how it needs to look to continue to be the strongest tour in the world. That’s where their expertise lies, and I’m confident in his ability to guide the Tour into the future.”
The intrigue around Rolapp’s news conference grew after it was moved from the typical media center to the PGA Tour’s ‘Global Home’ headquarters. The shift possibly means that the announcements would be more significant than we initially expected.
Players Championship prop bet picks and PGA Tour predictions
The world’s top players are teeing it up this week at the iconic TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the 2026 Players Championship. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with a purse of $25 million and $4.5 million going to the winner. The first round from the Stadium Course begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the Players Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win his third Players Championship this week, coming in at +450 on the outright odds board. The defending champion, Rory McIlroy, has the second-shortest odds at +1400, followed by AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa (+1800).
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 and plays at 7,352 yards long, but by no means is it a course that long hitters can overpower. It requires accuracy and shot-shaping off the tee, positioning yourself on the proper side of the fairway to avoid interference from trees on approach shots. The winning score has been between 10-under and 20-under par every year since 2010, with McIlroy winning at 12-under in 2025.
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Players Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+350)
Morikawa is red hot right now and it’s worth riding that wave for at least another week at a course where he has a 13th and 10th in his last 3 trips here. He’s finished top 7 in each of his last 3 starts this season, including that win at Pebble.
Si Woo Kim (+500)
Kim won the Players in 2017 and more recently finished sixth in 2024. In the last 3 months, his 2.38 strokes gained from tee to green ranks first among all players in the field this week, showing just how well he’s striking the ball.
Rory McIlroy (+250)
McIlroy’s status for this week will be determined by how he feels Wednesday after he withdrew due to a back injury Saturday at Bay Hill. That’s not exactly encouraging, and he may not even play a practice round, so monitor his status before placing this bet. Still, he’s someone who could fly blind into Sawgrass and still play well, given his experience here (2-time champ).
Players Championship: Outright winner bets
Players Championship – Top-10 picks
Sepp Straka (+375)
Straka continues to play well, especially in signature events. Despite a final-round 76 on Sunday at Bay Hill, he still managed to finish 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and that was with an unsightly triple-bogey on Thursday. He’s come in ninth, 65th, 16th and 14th in his last 4 starts at Sawgrass, showing he can navigate this challenging course, even when the wind picks up.
Akshay Bhatia (+350)
Bhatia chased down Daniel Berger last week at Bay Hill with a stellar back 9 Sunday, and he’ll try to carry that momentum into Sawgrass where he finished third last year. If he can keep his driver in the fairway, or at least close to it, he’ll put himself in position to contend again.
Ludvig Aberg (+225)
Aberg is only making his third start at the Players, finishing eighth in his debut in 2024 and missing the cut last year. He was hardly the only big name to miss it last year, along with Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Hideki Matsuyama, but his game is tailor-made for Sawgrass. He hits it high and straight, allowing him to hold the greens and find the fairways.
Players Championship – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+250)
Theegala has 4 top-22 finishes in his last 5 starts this season, getting back on track after a rocky 2025 season. He’s still losing strokes off the tee in the last 3 months but he’s gaining shots everywhere else, which is important.
Aaron Rai (+275)
Rai has had back-to-back top-30 finishes in his last 2 starts after a slow open to the year. He’s quietly had a great track record at the Players, too, coming in 19th, 35th and 14th in his 3 career starts since 2023.
Ricky Castillo (+333)
Castillo claimed the crown at the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after also coming in fifth at the Cognizant Classic. It’s only his second start at the Players, but his game is in strong form.
Players Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Ludvig Aberg (-105) vs. Xander Schauffele (-118)
Like a lot of players, Schauffele has had his share of struggles at Sawgrass, perhaps more than most elite players. He missed the cut 3 straight years from 2019-22, and finished 72nd last year after making. the cut. He was the runner-up in 2024 and 2018, but in terms of recent form, Aberg may have a better shot than X-Man.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Robert MacIntyre (-118)
MacIntyre missed the cut in 2021 and 2024 before finishing ninth last year. Knapp has gone 45-12 in his 2 starts at the Players, and his recent form is outstanding; he’s finished 11th or better in 5 straight starts this season.
Players Championship – Top Asian
Si Woo Kim (+188)
Hideki Matsuyama (+300) is the biggest competition to Kim in this market, because Ryo Hisatsune (+800) is inexperienced at Sawgrass and Sungjae Im (+1100) is only making his second start of the season. Take Kim, who’s a past champion and is one of the best ball strikers in the world right now.
Players Championship – Top Australasian
Adam Scott (+260)
Scott is playing exceptionally well, making a run at the Genesis Invitational and performing at a high level again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Min Woo Lee (+160) is in great form, too, but Scott is worth a shot as an underdog.
Players Championship – First-round leader
Akshay Bhatia (+4500)
Bhatia is riding some momentum after his Arnold Palmer Invitational win and after contending at Sawgrass last year, he could be in for another good week. He was just 1 shot off the lead on Thursday last year after shooting 67 in the opening round.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
Players Championship’s hole-in-one history
PGA Tour’s TourCast Range gives fans a new look at practice
Players Championship prop bet picks and PGA Tour predictions
The world’s top players are teeing it up this week at the iconic TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the 2026 Players Championship. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with a purse of $25 million and $4.5 million going to the winner. The first round from the Stadium Course begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the Players Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win his third Players Championship this week, coming in at +450 on the outright odds board. The defending champion, Rory McIlroy, has the second-shortest odds at +1400, followed by AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa (+1800).
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 and plays at 7,352 yards long, but by no means is it a course that long hitters can overpower. It requires accuracy and shot-shaping off the tee, positioning yourself on the proper side of the fairway to avoid interference from trees on approach shots. The winning score has been between 10-under and 20-under par every year since 2010, with McIlroy winning at 12-under in 2025.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+350)
Morikawa is red hot right now and it’s worth riding that wave for at least another week at a course where he has a 13th and 10th in his last 3 trips here. He’s finished top 7 in each of his last 3 starts this season, including that win at Pebble.
Players Championship: Outright winner bets
Si Woo Kim (+500)
Kim won the Players in 2017 and more recently finished sixth in 2024. In the last 3 months, his 2.38 strokes gained from tee to green ranks first among all players in the field this week, showing just how well he’s striking the ball.
Rory McIlroy (+250)
McIlroy’s status for this week will be determined by how he feels Wednesday after he withdrew due to a back injury Saturday at Bay Hill. That’s not exactly encouraging, and he may not even play a practice round, so monitor his status before placing this bet. Still, he’s someone who could fly blind into Sawgrass and still play well, given his experience here (2-time champ).
Players Championship – Top-10 picks
Sepp Straka (+375)
Straka continues to play well, especially in signature events. Despite a final-round 76 on Sunday at Bay Hill, he still managed to finish 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and that was with an unsightly triple-bogey on Thursday. He’s come in ninth, 65th, 16th and 14th in his last 4 starts at Sawgrass, showing he can navigate this challenging course, even when the wind picks up.
Akshay Bhatia (+350)
Bhatia chased down Daniel Berger last week at Bay Hill with a stellar back 9 Sunday, and he’ll try to carry that momentum into Sawgrass where he finished third last year. If he can keep his driver in the fairway, or at least close to it, he’ll put himself in position to contend again.
Ludvig Aberg (+225)
Aberg is only making his third start at the Players, finishing eighth in his debut in 2024 and missing the cut last year. He was hardly the only big name to miss it last year, along with Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Hideki Matsuyama, but his game is tailor-made for Sawgrass. He hits it high and straight, allowing him to hold the greens and find the fairways.
Players Championship – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+250)
Theegala has 4 top-22 finishes in his last 5 starts this season, getting back on track after a rocky 2025 season. He’s still losing strokes off the tee in the last 3 months but he’s gaining shots everywhere else, which is important.
Aaron Rai (+275)
Rai has had back-to-back top-30 finishes in his last 2 starts after a slow open to the year. He’s quietly had a great track record at the Players, too, coming in 19th, 35th and 14th in his 3 career starts since 2023.
Ricky Castillo (+333)
Castillo claimed the crown at the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after also coming in fifth at the Cognizant Classic. It’s only his second start at the Players, but his game is in strong form.
Players Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Ludvig Aberg (-105) vs. Xander Schauffele (-118)
Like a lot of players, Schauffele has had his share of struggles at Sawgrass, perhaps more than most elite players. He missed the cut 3 straight years from 2019-22, and finished 72nd last year after making. the cut. He was the runner-up in 2024 and 2018, but in terms of recent form, Aberg may have a better shot than X-Man.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Robert MacIntyre (-118)
MacIntyre missed the cut in 2021 and 2024 before finishing ninth last year. Knapp has gone 45-12 in his 2 starts at the Players, and his recent form is outstanding; he’s finished 11th or better in 5 straight starts this season.
Players Championship – Top Asian
Si Woo Kim (+188)
Hideki Matsuyama (+300) is the biggest competition to Kim in this market, because Ryo Hisatsune (+800) is inexperienced at Sawgrass and Sungjae Im (+1100) is only making his second start of the season. Take Kim, who’s a past champion and is one of the best ball strikers in the world right now.
Players Championship – Top Australasian
Adam Scott (+260)
Scott is playing exceptionally well, making a run at the Genesis Invitational and performing at a high level again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Min Woo Lee (+160) is in great form, too, but Scott is worth a shot as an underdog.
Players Championship – First-round leader
Akshay Bhatia (+4500)
Bhatia is riding some momentum after his Arnold Palmer Invitational win and after contending at Sawgrass last year, he could be in for another good week. He was just 1 shot off the lead on Thursday last year after shooting 67 in the opening round.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
PGA Tour’s TourCast Range gives fans a new look at practice
2026 The Players Championship expert picks, predictions and odds
Kevin Kisner’s split world as golf analyst, player go hand in hand
The world’s top players are teeing it up this week at the iconic TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the 2026 Players Championship. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with a purse of $25 million and $4.5 million going to the winner. The first round from the Stadium Course begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the Players Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win his third Players Championship this week, coming in at +450 on the outright odds board. The defending champion, Rory McIlroy, has the second-shortest odds at +1400, followed by AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa (+1800).
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 and plays at 7,352 yards long, but by no means is it a course that long hitters can overpower. It requires accuracy and shot-shaping off the tee, positioning yourself on the proper side of the fairway to avoid interference from trees on approach shots. The winning score has been between 10-under and 20-under par every year since 2010, with McIlroy winning at 12-under in 2025.
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Players Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+350)
Morikawa is red hot right now and it’s worth riding that wave for at least another week at a course where he has a 13th and 10th in his last 3 trips here. He’s finished top 7 in each of his last 3 starts this season, including that win at Pebble.
Players Championship: Outright winner bets
Si Woo Kim (+500)
Kim won the Players in 2017 and more recently finished sixth in 2024. In the last 3 months, his 2.38 strokes gained from tee to green ranks first among all players in the field this week, showing just how well he’s striking the ball.
Rory McIlroy (+250)
McIlroy’s status for this week will be determined by how he feels Wednesday after he withdrew due to a back injury Saturday at Bay Hill. That’s not exactly encouraging, and he may not even play a practice round, so monitor his status before placing this bet. Still, he’s someone who could fly blind into Sawgrass and still play well, given his experience here (2-time champ).
Players Championship – Top-10 picks
Sepp Straka (+375)
Straka continues to play well, especially in signature events. Despite a final-round 76 on Sunday at Bay Hill, he still managed to finish 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and that was with an unsightly triple-bogey on Thursday. He’s come in ninth, 65th, 16th and 14th in his last 4 starts at Sawgrass, showing he can navigate this challenging course, even when the wind picks up.
Akshay Bhatia (+350)
Bhatia chased down Daniel Berger last week at Bay Hill with a stellar back 9 Sunday, and he’ll try to carry that momentum into Sawgrass where he finished third last year. If he can keep his driver in the fairway, or at least close to it, he’ll put himself in position to contend again.
Ludvig Aberg (+225)
Aberg is only making his third start at the Players, finishing eighth in his debut in 2024 and missing the cut last year. He was hardly the only big name to miss it last year, along with Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Hideki Matsuyama, but his game is tailor-made for Sawgrass. He hits it high and straight, allowing him to hold the greens and find the fairways.
Players Championship – Top-20 picks
Sahith Theegala (+250)
Theegala has 4 top-22 finishes in his last 5 starts this season, getting back on track after a rocky 2025 season. He’s still losing strokes off the tee in the last 3 months but he’s gaining shots everywhere else, which is important.
Aaron Rai (+275)
Rai has had back-to-back top-30 finishes in his last 2 starts after a slow open to the year. He’s quietly had a great track record at the Players, too, coming in 19th, 35th and 14th in his 3 career starts since 2023.
Ricky Castillo (+333)
Castillo claimed the crown at the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after also coming in fifth at the Cognizant Classic. It’s only his second start at the Players, but his game is in strong form.
Players Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Ludvig Aberg (-105) vs. Xander Schauffele (-118)
Like a lot of players, Schauffele has had his share of struggles at Sawgrass, perhaps more than most elite players. He missed the cut 3 straight years from 2019-22, and finished 72nd last year after making. the cut. He was the runner-up in 2024 and 2018, but in terms of recent form, Aberg may have a better shot than X-Man.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Robert MacIntyre (-118)
MacIntyre missed the cut in 2021 and 2024 before finishing ninth last year. Knapp has gone 45-12 in his 2 starts at the Players, and his recent form is outstanding; he’s finished 11th or better in 5 straight starts this season.
Players Championship – Top Asian
Si Woo Kim (+188)
Hideki Matsuyama (+300) is the biggest competition to Kim in this market, because Ryo Hisatsune (+800) is inexperienced at Sawgrass and Sungjae Im (+1100) is only making his second start of the season. Take Kim, who’s a past champion and is one of the best ball strikers in the world right now.
Players Championship – Top Australasian
Adam Scott (+260)
Scott is playing exceptionally well, making a run at the Genesis Invitational and performing at a high level again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Min Woo Lee (+160) is in great form, too, but Scott is worth a shot as an underdog.
Players Championship – First-round leader
Akshay Bhatia (+4500)
Bhatia is riding some momentum after his Arnold Palmer Invitational win and after contending at Sawgrass last year, he could be in for another good week. He was just 1 shot off the lead on Thursday last year after shooting 67 in the opening round.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
PGA Tour’s TourCast Range gives fans a new look at practice
2026 The Players Championship expert picks, predictions and odds
UL golfer makes history with successive La. Classics titles
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Kevin Kisner’s reputation as golf’s “everyman” has defined much of his career.
He’s the fan favorite whose self-deprecating charm bridges the gap between the common golfer and a successful PGA Tour pro.
After 14 years of holding a full-time PGA Tour card that garnered four wins and an Official World Golf Ranking as high as No. 14 in 2016, Kisner, 42, has transitioned to only playing in select events.
Now prioritizing a career in the media, Kisner is at peace with leaving his best days on Tour behind him — he’s just doing it without sacrificing his devotion to golf, or the relationships he’s forged.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that point,” Kisner told The Post. “I want to continue to play so I can be amongst the guys. Understand, you know, it’s only gonna help my broadcast and my brand by playing more. But I don’t have any want to play 25 times a year, 30 times a year at 42 years old with three kids.”
Kisner’s time is now primarily split between serving as the lead golf analyst on NBC, competing on the Jupiter Links Golf Club in the TGL indoor simulation league and most recently, joining Barstool Sports’ “Fore Play” golf podcast.
The combination of his off-the-cuff commentary, veteran experience and bonds with current players makes him an asset in the NBC broadcast booth alongside Dan Hicks. Last year, Kisner called flagship events such as the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, the Players Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup.
Adding commentary that reflects perspective without compromising his standing within the clubhouse is Kisner’s balancing act, so criticism must come judiciously.
“I always wanted to be the guy that [players] felt like, whatever I said, that was right, and I was never gonna do anything to lose their trust or say anything that would be offensive to them,” he said.
In TGL, Kisner competes under a three-on-three alternate-shot format where relationships with teammates serve as an asset. Matches are 15 holes and are played inside a 1,500 capacity arena specifically built for an intimate, yet energetic golf viewing experience.
It’s a theatre that’s tailor-made for characters like Kisner: Players wear Bluetooth earpieces not only to communicate with teammates and adjust what they hear, but to chat candidly with the ESPN broadcast crew during play.
“I would say the relationship with the players is why I continue to [compete in TGL] as well as broadcast,” Kisner said. “I never want to be seen as the broadcaster that just sits up in the booth and talks about players he doesn’t know or doesn’t interact with.”
While the long periods between shots have made individual consistency a challenge for Kisner in TGL, the drive to contribute to a team effort supplants those adjustments.
“I was such a rhythm golfer throughout my career, and the format here kind of doesn’t ever let me get going, but I love the team atmosphere,” Kisner said. “The three-man alternate shot is so cool when you’re hitting on a roll, you’re getting momentum. You can feel the energy and the juice, and you really want to perform, and that’s what I love doing.”
One of Kisner’s most viral “one of us” moments came in his TGL debut: a bladed-bunker shot struck the flagstick and bounced off the green, which had his Jupiter Links teammates — Tiger Woods and Max Homa — roaring with laughter.
In TGL’s second season, Kisner helped his Jupiter Links reach their first playoff berth by besting Wyndham Clark on the final hole of a winner-take-all regular season-finale.
He hasn’t made a PGA Tour appearance since the RSM Classic last November and his last top-10 finish came in July at the ISCO Championship. Kisner, who won $29.4 million in PGA Tour career earnings, retained his playing privileges by using a top-50 career money exemption in 2025 despite finishing outside the top 125 in the 2024 FedEx Cup Standings.
He made three of 17 cuts in 2025, but Kisner’s idea of success is now measured more than just by leaderboard finishes. It’s about life balance and “building your brand.”
“I’m in a great spot, man,” Kisner said. “I get to go work for NBC. I get to come play [TGL]. I get to play a few handful of events that I really love, and I still get to go see my kids and go to their sporting events as well.”
When The Post noted that it sounded like the best of both worlds, Kisner quipped, “Yeah, trying, anyway. Until I get fired from something.
“Then I gotta find another job.”
2026 Players Championship Betting Models, Picks: TPC Sawgrass Demands Positional Excellence
In the 41-year history of the Louisiana Classics Golf Tournament, winners have included Ryder Cup players, one major champion and multiple PGA Tour winners.
But none of them accomplished what Malan Potgieter did Tuesday, when he etched his name into the UL golf record book once again.
One year ago, the Kirkwood, South Africa, native became the first Ragin’ Cajuns player to win the Louisiana Classics individual title. On Tuesday, he became the first player in tournament history to claim medalist honors in back-to-back years.
Potgieter carried a four-stroke lead into Tuesday’s final round over the 6,898-yard par-72 Oakbourne Country Club layout. His 3-under 69 in the final round left him at 15-under 201 for a three-stroke advantage over runner-up Carter Maneth of Middle Tennessee State.
“With the mental fortitude and the golf IQ he has, he’s a professional golfer playing in a college field,” UL coach Theo Sliman said. “It’s something special to watch. I’m really proud of the grit he showed over the last two days, because it’s not easy to win at home.”
Potgieter won last year’s tournament title in a three-hole playoff. In Monday’s opening round, he birdied the first three holes he played to take the lead from the opening tee shot. On Tuesday, he birdied his first two holes.
“That gave me a lot of confidence, settled some of the nerves,” said Potgieter, who has now finished in the individual top four in seven of UL’s eight tournaments this year. “It’s always nice to start hot, and I was able to take it from there.
“(Monday) I was coasting, and everything went well. Today I had a few bumps in the road, but I held it together and finished strong.”
Potgieter had 14 birdies and two bogeys in Monday’s 36-hole opening day. He added six more birdies on Tuesday but had three bogeys along with a double-bogey at the par-five 13th hole (his fourth hole of the day after starting on No. 10) that temporarily dropped his lead to one shot when playing partner Maneth birdied that same hole.
But Potgieter came back with two birdies in a four-hole stretch, and he put away the individual title when he birdied the par-four sixth and eagled the par-five seventh for a four-shot lead going into the final two holes.
“I had planted a little seed this morning, knowing how fickle this game can be,” Sliman said, “and he knew the message I was giving him. He doesn’t need a lot of speeches, he just goes out and gets locked in.”
“It’s pretty cool to have your name up on that board twice,” Potgieter said while looking at the sign listing the 40 previous individual winners.
The UL team dropped two spots in Tuesday’s final round and finished ninth in the 16-team field, with a final-round 2-over 290 score that left the Cajuns at 5 under for the tournament. Freshman James Holtsclaw shot his third straight subpar round and finished tied for 19th at 71-71-71—213 for UL’s next-highest finisher.
Texas A&M, ranked 29th nationally, entered the final round with an eight-shot lead and was never caught, winning its fourth Louisiana Classics title in the last five years with a 24-under 840 total.
The Aggies did not have a player finish in the individual top seven, but they had four top-20 finishers. Jaime Montojo led the Aggies with an eighth-place finish at 6-under 210.
2026 Players Championship odds, favorites
Whether you consider it the fifth major or not, we can all agree that the Players Championship is, bar none, the most fun event on the PGA Tour every year. It’s always a delight to return to TPC Sawgrass, a Pete Dye design that demands accuracy, positional golf, a complete game, and brings in the Florida-swing volatility that we know and love as well. And I’m not expecting anything different from the 2026 tournament.
TPC Sawgrass’s Stadium Course was opened in 1980 and has hosted the Players Championship since 1982. Pete Dye and Alice Dye designed the tract, which measures out at 7,352 yards on the scorecard for the par-72 layout. The iconic island green on the 17th hole highlights the water trouble that awaits around numerous turns throughout the venue, but it’s also a challenging course with Dye’s signature deceptive eyelines and some harsh green complexes to manage as well.
The Players Championship always tests, well, the players—even the very best in the world. That’s why we see roller-coaster results from even top players who have enjoyed success at TPC Sawgrass in the past. That also makes modeling this event tough, but nonetheless, still quite fun. As for that, let’s dive into the numbers and try to get some big winners this week.
Key Stats for TPC Sawgrass
Strokes-gained approach over last 24 rounds
At a positional golf course, you always need to be able to both take advantage of good spots off the tee, but also make something happen when that’s not the case. So, naturally, we’re giving strokes-gained approach its weekly love as a key factor in the model.
Austin Smotherman (+1.177)
Si Woo Kim (1.120)
Shane Lowry (1.115)
Collin Morikawa (0.982)
Zecheng Dou (0.910)
Strokes-gained around the green over last 24 rounds
While the ever-important approach play matters, finding ways to save a score when you miss the green is just as important. So, much to my chagrin, we have to weight around-the-green play pretty heavily for the second straight week.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+0.664)
Jason Day (0.617)
Hideki Matsuyama (0.607)
Justin Thomas (0.552)
Stephan Jaeger (0.551)
Fairways Gained over the last 24 rounds
There’s more than just finding the fairway at TPC Sawgrass as a positional golf course. Having said that, being in the short grass surely doesn’t hurt the cause, and we’re looking at fairways gained in relation to the field.
Joel Dahmen (+2.222)
Andrew Putnam (1.981)
Si Woo Kim (1.609)
Lucas Glover (1.344)
Matt Fitzpatrick (1.307)
Birdie-or-Better Gained Percentage
Scores can always vary at the Players, but you definitely need to rack up some birdies in relation to the field in order to win. So we have to take a look at the players who have been successful relative to the field in terms of circles on the scorecard.
Scottie Scheffler (1.541)
Andrew Putnam (1.248)
Rory McIlroy (1.243)
Jacob Bridgeman (1.233)
Rick Castillo (1.224)
The Players Championship model rankings this week
I honestly ended up baking more into the model this week than expected, but it’s to get a complete picture of the unique test that TPC Sawgrass provides. We start with strokes-gained approach over the last 24 rounds (20%) followed not far behind by strokes-gained around the Green in the last 24 (15%). We then get a solid blend of fairways gained, birdie-or-better gained percentage, and strokes-gained TPC Sawgrass over the last 24 rounds (10% each). We then sprinkle in a lot more with strokes-gained putting on Bermuda (8%) and strokes-gained par-5s (7%) before rounding out with bogey avoidance, good drive percentage, strokes-gained short courses (5% each) and then some Pete Dye comp courses with strokes-gained TPC River Highlands (3%) and Harbour Town (2%). Here’s how the Top 10 of the model shakes out after we plug in those numbers.
Rory McIlroy
Tommy Fleetwood
Scottie Scheffler
Matt Fitzpatrick
Si Woo Kim
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Hideki Matsuyama
Collin Morikawa
Russell Henley
Alex Noren
2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational picks
Ludvig Åberg +2700 (DraftKings)
While Ludvig Åberg doesn’t crack the top 10 of the model (he’s 22nd, for what it’s worth), this is a trending play that the last 24 round numbers don’t fully appreciate. And it seems like the strapping young Swede is about to peak at a place where he quietly has a solo eighth finish to his credit here back in 2024.
As he’s clearly started to get healthier, Ludvig has been on a steady trend upward since missing the cut at Farmers. He’s improved his strokes-gained off the tee and strokes-gained approach in each of his last three starts, including gaining 9.786 strokes tee-to-green as he finished T3 at the API. When his ball-striking is in form and on a surface in Bermuda where he’s been a positive putter, his scoring ability makes him exceptionally dangerous.
This is definitely trying to be ahead of a trend while I still think the number is quite good, and I’m going to bet on Åberg getting back to his winning ways in a big-time event as he can capture his first Players victory.
Matt Fitzpatrick +4000 (DraftKings)
If you’re looking for the right balance, then you should probably look no further than Matt Fitzpatrick right now. The results—especially after a wildly bad tee-to-green week at the API—haven’t fully mirrored how well he’s playing, but it does feel as if he’s still in the right form to make a splash at the Players.
As with anyone, I’m not worried about MCs at the Players, but rather what the highs have looked like. In his last five starts at TPC Sawgrass, Fitzpatrick has a solo fifth and a T9 finish working his way. When you then consider that he’s 10th in strokes-gained approach and fifth in strokes-gained putting on Bermuda, not to mention fifth in fairways gained as well, then you start to see how things could absolutely line up for him to make a run this week.
More importantly, after what happened at Bay Hill last week, I suspect a lot of the Fitzpatrick backers will be off him. That looks like the outlier so far this season, and I’m willing to try and swoop in with a depressed price and cash with Fitzy at the Players.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +10000 (FanDuel)
We love a longshot and there is reason to believe that Bezuidenhout could fit the bill this week. He’s coming off a T8 finish in Puerto Rico last week, and has four top-40 finishes in five starts this season. That’s not overly impressive, but the profile shows a lot to like about how he’s been finding success in relation to what TPC Sawgrass asks of players.
Bezuidenhout is 17th in strokes-gained approach, first in strokes-gained around the green, eighth in strokes-gained putting on Bermuda, top 20 in fairways gained, and top 30 in bogey avoidance as well over the last 24 rounds. The only worry with him is that he’s actually been sub-average in terms of birdie-or-better percentage, but the formula for him to find success this week specifically could be there.
The South African quietly finished T13 here in back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024, which goes to show how he can have success at the Players when his game is firing. It might not be all cylinders, but it certainly seems like most of it is firing right now, which makes a 100 to 1 shot worth it.
Adam Scott on future of PGA Tour schedule: ‘It can’t sit still’
The 2026 Players Championship gets underway at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., beginning on Thursday. Often referred to as the unofficial fifth major on the PGA Tour, this event always features a high-end field, and it now has a $25 million purse, surpassing even the Signature Events with that number. The latest 2026 Players Championship odds from FanDuel Sportsbook have Scottie Scheffler atop the board as the +480 favorite (risk $100 to win $480), with Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa behind him at +1600.
Other Players Championship favorites include Si Woo Kim and Ludvig Aberg at +2200. Russell Henley (+2500) and Tommy Fleetwood (+2700) is the only other Players Championship 2026 contenders lower than +3000 on the PGA odds board this week. Before locking in any 2026 Players Championship picks, entering any Players Championship Invitational one and done contests, or making any PGA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters — its fourth Masters in a row — as well as last year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
New users can bet the 2026 Players Championship with the latest DraftKings promo code, which offers $200 in bonus bets instantly after any $5+ bet:
Now that the 2026 Players Championship field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, which you can use for PGA picks, one and done contests or golf DFS lineups.
2026 Players Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at The Players Championship 2026: Schauffele barely cracks the top 10 of the projected leaderboard. He’s a golfer to fade this week. The 32-year-old only has one top-10 finish this season. He also really struggled over the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shooting a 73 and 74, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. He finished T2 at this event in 2024, but had a three-year run of missing the cut from 2021-23, and he finished 72nd last year. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: The model says Aberg is one of the top values. After a disappointing start to the season, Aberg is rounding into form. He’s improved his finish position in his past four events, and his T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week signals that he’s ready to contend against a strong field. He missed the cut in this event last year, but did finish solo eighth at TPC Sawgrass in 2024. See who else to pick here.
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How to make 2026 Players Championship picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of +3000 or higher who make a run for the top of the leaderboard. You can only see the model’s picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Players Championship, and which massive longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Players Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Players Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Players Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
7x PGA Tour Champ Highlights Critical Flaw in Tiger Woods’s Schedule Shake-Up Plans
For three years, the PGA Tour has been reacting. There have been elevated events, limited fields, no-cut formats, and bigger purses. Now comes the version that might be permanent: a revamped schedule in 2027, and one of golf’s most respected voices, 7x PGA Tour winner Peter Jacobsen, is sounding the alarm before the ink dries.
“It’s a huge gamble trying to remake the PGA Tour. I’ve read a lot of the players saying, ‘We all know the PGA Tour has to change,’ and I ask the question, ‘Why?’ It was working really well before, and if the players wanted to have tournaments where the good players play more often together, they have that at LIV. Go join LIV,” said Jacobsen, criticizing the idea of restructuring the calendar to cluster top players more frequently.
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Jacobsen also warned that cutting events could weaken the charitable and community foundations that many long-standing tournaments rely on, and it is absolutely correct. Take the Sony Open, for instance.
It is one of the PGA Tour’s longest-running events and a fixture of the Hawaiian swing since 1965 and is reportedly to be eliminated under the 2027 restructuring plan. The Sony Open raises money through Friends of Hawaii Charities, with support from the Hawaii Community Foundation, to help local nonprofits that serve individuals with special needs and families in need across the islands. Brian Rolapp calls the concept at the center of the debate “scarcity,” so it surely won’t be the last name on the list.
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This move did not happen in a vacuum. When LIV Golf began pulling marquee names in 2023, the Tour responded with Signature Events, guaranteeing stronger fields and larger purses. It was damage control dressed as innovation. By 2024, limited fields and no-cut formats had quietly become the norm across the calendar. Then, in August 2025, Rolapp gave the direction a name at the Tour Championship, calling it “scarcity.”
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What began as a reaction to an outside threat has slowly become the Tour’s own blueprint. The restructuring under discussion would cut the Tour’s annual slate of roughly 45 to 46 events down to somewhere between 20 and 25. The idea is straightforward: fewer tournaments means stronger fields, which means bigger television numbers and a product that feels more consequential week to week.
Alongside the schedule reduction, the Tour is also exploring a shift toward major American cities—New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia—and a summer-heavy calendar that would give the circuit room to breathe without going head-to-head against the NFL, NBA, and NHL. And also, the big names are playing against each other more instead of skipping regular events.
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Tiger Woods, one of the more influential voices in discussions about the Tour’s future, has clearly articulated the case for the new model. He argued that pulling back on volume could actually drive more attention to the remaining events, reasoning that a shorter window of competition naturally commands more focus from fans.
“We’re trying to figure out what is the best schedule possible so we can create the best fields and have the most viewership and also the most fan involvement,” Woods said.
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Others see a different risk in that math. Sam Saunders, who carries forward the legacy of his grandfather Arnold Palmer at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, pushed back on the notion that a leaner tour serves the game’s broader competitive health. He pointed to how fiercely players fight just to earn and keep a tour card and recalled that Palmer himself believed in throwing the doors open, not narrowing them.
“I would love to see more guys here. There are so many great players. It’s so hard to see some of the names that aren’t here sometimes,” Saunders said.
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The comparison to LIV Golf looms over it all. That circuit was built on exactly the blueprint now being debated: a compact schedule, intimate fields, and guaranteed matchups between the game’s biggest names at virtually every stop. The skepticism, it turns out, runs well beyond one man’s opinion.
Insiders don’t support the PGA Tour’s scarcity philosophy
The skepticism runs deeper than just one generation. Former Tour commissioner Deane Beman, who built the circuit into a powerhouse, never needed Jack Nicklaus in every city to make it work, but the Tour thrived anyway.
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“I don’t think he ever played in Hartford,” Beman noted.
Veteran agent Mac Barnhardt argues the scarcity logic simply doesn’t hold. The majors already own golf’s biggest audiences, and chasing that model for regular Tour events will only cannibalize what little broad viewership remains.
Barnhardt also invoked Tiger Woods, not as a blueprint but as a warning. Woods transcended demographics in ways no schedule tweak can manufacture.
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Restructuring the calendar won’t conjure another 15x major winner. It will just leave fewer events behind when the experiment falls short.
Curtis Strange directly addresses the competitive nature of the argument. Weekend cuts aren’t just about formatting; they’re about accountability, as golf is a different sport than football. Golf’s not a six-month audience thing.
Stripping away that weekly drama, he warns, risks turning proud legacy events into little more than warm-up acts.
Justin Rose Calls for Clarity From PGA Tour Leaders Amid Evolving Schedule
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is all set to unveil the changes in the tour’s schedule. And golfers, including Justin Rose, are looking forward to gaining some clarity regarding the ongoing talks about the upcoming changes.
Talking about his expectations from the PGA Tour CEO, Rose said, “But I feel like for the fans’ sake and the players’ sake, just to sort of get some clarity. We’re halfway through — well not halfway through the season, but we kind of feel like we’re getting into the meat of the season now, so I think it’s probably fair to the players to know if there’s going to be a change this year or next year or is it going to be the year after or whatever it is, what’s at stake.”
The golf community is about to enter the “meat of the season” with THE PLAYERS Championship right around the corner. And that will be followed by a major in every single month. So most PGA Tour pros would like to understand the sport’s direction before getting into the Spring Rush.
“So I think now would be a good time just to get some clarity from the players’ point of view, but obviously from a fans’ point of view, because ultimately that’s Brian’s job is to grow this TOUR and to engage.”
However, as per Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated, who reached out to several stakeholders, who explained that many title sponsors haven’t been contacted, so a major update may not come soon.
But if we go by the changes that we saw previously, there could be significant movement to the schedule, such as when the PGA Championship moved to May to improve the schedule. Such a big shakeup would have players looking for some advance warning.
Justin Rose Isn’t the Only One Looking for Clarity
During the pre-tournament presser at TPC Sawgrass, Adam Scott revealed that no one has a clear understanding of the changes coming into the tour. “I can’t be specific because we don’t have the specifics,” he said.
The common belief in the community is that the tour should look to improve, even if it brings major changes. It simply “can’t sit still” to remain the strongest golf tour.
“I think Brian and his team are now challenged with the task of looking years into the future of how it needs to look to continue to be the strongest tour in the world. That’s where their expertise lies, and I’m confident in his ability to guide the Tour into the future.”
The intrigue around Rolapp’s news conference grew after it was moved from the typical media center to the PGA Tour’s ‘Global Home’ headquarters. The shift possibly means that the announcements would be more significant than we initially expected.
NASCAR on FOX Announcer Apologizes to Alex Bowman
Alex Bowman was sidelined from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix due to vertigo. After prematurely exiting the Cup race at COTA the week prior, the driver of the No. 48 was diagnosed with the illness.
During Sunday’s FOX broadcast of the Cup Series race, longtime announcer Mike Joy said Bowman’s diagnosis wasn’t related to the driver missing the Phoenix event.
On Tuesday, Joy issued an apology to the Hendrick Motorsports driver as he said he misspoke about his condition. Joy followed up by sending Bowman well wishes and explained how he got the information wrong.
Mike Joy on Alex Bowman mishap: ‘Apologies to Alex’
It was brought to Joy’s attention that he misspoke about what led to Bowman being sidelined for last Sunday’s race at Phoenix.
Joy claimed on the broadcast that the driver’s vertigo diagnosis wasn’t related to why he exited the race at COTA. In an X post on Tuesday, the play-by-play announcer apologized to Bowman and said he would clarify his statements on the next broadcast.
“I misspoke Sunday about [Alex Bowman’s] vertigo, which he experienced during the COTA race. Apologies to Alex; I’ll correct and update on Sunday’s telecast. Hope he’s recovered and back on track soon,” Joy wrote.
Joy followed up with another X post explaining how he got the information wrong.
The 76-year-old said he meant to say Bowman’s Phoenix absence had nothing to do with any prior concussions, rather than saying it wasn’t due to his vertigo diagnosis.
“For some who asked for details.. I mistakenly said Alex Bowman’s vertigo that sidelined him for PHX wasn’t related to the COTA situation. It was a continuation of that. I intended to say it wasn’t related to a prior concussion (per HMS’ Jeff Andrews), and that got crossed up,” Joy wrote.
Bowman retired from last week’s Cup race at COTA with just over 20 laps to go. Myatt Snider filled in for the eight-time Cup Series winner the remainder of the race, posting a 36th-place finish in the end.
Anthony Alfredo was the fill-in driver for Bowman this past Sunday at Phoenix. The 26-year-old started the race 31st and wound up posting a DNF after getting caught up in a crash with Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric.
Alex Bowman not listed for Las Vegas Cup race yet
As of Tuesday afternoon (March 10), Alex Bowman’s status for the upcoming Cup Series race at Las Vegas remains unclear.
Jeff Andrews, President and General Manager of Hendrick Motorsports, made it clear that the organization supports Bowman in his road to recovery.
In an interview with SiriusXM Radio last week, Andrews said the organization anticipates Bowman’s return to the seat of the No. 48 car.
“We’ll support him however long this takes and that seat will be ready for him when he gets ready to get back in that car,” Andrews said.
After four races, Bowman is currently 36th in the Cup points standings, which is last among full-time drivers. The Arizona native failed to finish top 20 in a Cup race this season.
Brad Keselowski Urged NASCAR to Change Points Format
Brad Keselowski was not a fan of NASCAR‘s previous championship format. The driver of the No. 6 recently reflected on how vocal he was to the sport’s higher ups to make a change.
With the old win-and-you’re-in, elimination-style format, the Michigan native felt there were races during the regular season that didn’t matter.
In turn, the return to the Chase format ahead of this season was a positive change in the 2012 Cup Series champion’s mind.
Brad Keselowski on the previous playoff format: ‘Killing the sport’
With Dale Earnhardt Jr. on vacation, Keselowski filled in as the host of Tuesday’s “Dale Jr. Download” with co-host TJ Majors, Keselowski’s spotter in the Cup Series.
During the episode, the co-owner of RFK Racing was asked about the return to the Chase points format. Keselowski said where a driver is in points is more “relevant” today, which has him checking the standings more often in 2026.
Mostly in private, Keselowski expressed to NASCAR that he wasn’t a fan of the last playoff format. He recounted a conversation with President of NASCAR Steve O’Donnell around 2018 where he voiced his opinion on the points system.
“I told them, ‘Dude, the playoff format’s killing the sport.’ I remember he said to me, ‘What do you mean it’s killing the sport?’ Well, I had won two or three races earlier in the year. I’m in the middle of the season and I go to the racetrack and I’m asking myself, ‘What am I doing here?’” Keselowski said.
Previously, a win all but guaranteed a driver a spot in the playoffs, while a driver with multiple wins never missed the playoffs.
Keselowski went on to say he remembers sitting in meetings and being told he wouldn’t get the best equipment as it needed to go to a teammate of his that wasn’t locked into the playoffs.
Because of this, many races during the regular season felt pointless.
“You couldn’t even really be mad at the team. Putting yourself in their shoes, they’re like, ‘Man, we’ve got to get our other cars in the playoffs,’ so you couldn’t really be mad at them, you just felt trapped by the format. That was a lot of what was happening,” Keselowski said.
Brad Keselowski believes they aren’t ‘skipping’ races under Chase format
Unlike the last playoff format, Keselowski is a fan of The Chase returning for this season.
The 42-year-old feels like he’s not being shafted with the lesser equipment and that every race this season matters.
“I like this format because there’s no race where the team’s like, ‘Hey, you don’t get the good engine.’ I really appreciate that because I don’t feel like we’re quote-unquote skipping races,” Keselowski said.
Brad Keselowski has competed in all four races to start the 2026 season, despite suffering a broken femur last December. The 36-time Cup Series winner posted a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500, his sole top-five finish of the campaign.
Keselowski sits 16th in the Cup Series points standings, currently the last driver in The Chase. He is two points above Daniel Suarez in 17th.
NASCAR Cup: Joey Logano Takes Blame for Phoenix Raceway Wreck
Joey Logano’s strong start at Phoenix Raceway ended in frustration during the NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 500 on March 8, 2026. The Team Penske driver showed speed early in the race after starting from the pole and leading laps, but his afternoon unraveled through two separate incidents. The first came during a tense restart that triggered a multicar crash involving Ross Chastain and several other drivers.
Later in the race, Joey Logano’s own day ended in another wreck while racing three wide entering Turn 1. Despite the outcome, Logano said the team brought fast cars to begin the season and showed a competitive pace again at Phoenix.
Joey Logano Reflects on His Race-Ending Wreck
Joey Logano addressed reporters outside the infield care center after his race ended in a crash late in the event. The incident happened on Lap 254 as drivers battled for position entering Turn 1.
“I’m not really 100% sure what happened there. I guess I didn’t realize we were three-wide, but it still seemed like there was some room there. Just ran out of space into (Turn) 1. Just seemed like racing, I guess. It is what it is.”
Logano also explained that the team had executed many parts of the race well before the crash ended their day.
“We got points in both stages and were in desperate need of a race finish without a crash, and we did not get that today. It’s a shame because I felt like we did all the right things throughout the afternoon, so that’s racing. I’m not discouraged by any means. It’s a long season. My team has brought me four fast race cars to start the year.”
NASCAR Cup Restart Contact With Ross Chastain Triggers Crash
Earlier in the race, Logano was involved in another major incident during a restart with fewer than 100 laps remaining. Strategy played a role in how the field lined up. Some teams stayed out on older tires while others took fresh rubber.
Logano restarted seventh after taking four new tires. Ross Chastain lined up directly ahead of him in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.
When the green flag waved around Lap 217, Logano gained momentum through the dogleg past the start-finish line. As he closed in on Chastain, the two cars made contact. The bump unsettled Chastain’s Chevrolet and caused it to fishtail before spinning up the track.
The spin collected several other drivers. Anthony Alfredo, who was driving the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Alex Bowman, was also caught up in the crash. Austin Cindric slammed the No. 2 Team Penske Ford into the outside wall during the crash. Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota also suffered heavy left side damage.
The incident added to a caution-heavy race that tied Phoenix Raceway’s record for yellow flags.
Ryan Blaney Wins Chaotic Phoenix Race
While Logano’s race ended early, the event finished with a comeback victory by his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney. Blaney faced problems earlier in the race, including loose wheels and penalties that dropped him deep in the field.
He recovered during the second half of the race and worked through traffic. In the closing laps, he passed Ty Gibbs to take the lead and held the position to win.
The victory marked Blaney’s first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season and the 18th of his career.
Joey Logano Eyes Vegas Rebound After Phoenix Mistakes
For much of Sunday’s NASCAR race at Phoenix Raceway, it looked like Joey Logano might be headed toward one of the strongest runs of his season.
The Team Penske driver started from the pole, led 73 laps and ran comfortably inside the top 10 for the majority of the race. Logano also finished third in both Stage 1 and Stage 2, putting together one of the most competitive overall performances in the field.
Then, in a matter of laps, everything unraveled.
Two separate incidents, both involving the three-time Cup Series champion, turned what had been shaping up as a potential victory into a 31st-place finish that didn’t reflect the speed he showed all afternoon
Yet the real takeaway from Phoenix may not be the wrecks. It may be the speed.
And that could make the timing of the next race especially interesting.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway has long been one of Logano’s best tracks, and it arrives immediately after a race that showed just how competitive the No. 22 team can be when everything clicks.
Logano Had a Race-Winning Car at Phoenix
Phoenix was shaping up to be a strong day for Logano from the moment the green flag dropped.
Starting first after winning the pole, Logano quickly established himself as one of the drivers to beat. He led 73 laps and consistently ran near the front of the field, rarely falling outside the top 10. By the time the race reached its midpoint, Logano had already collected valuable stage points with third-place finishes in both of the opening stages.
Statistically, it was the kind of performance that often produces a win.
Logano’s average running position of 8.29 reflected how consistently the No. 22 Ford ran near the front throughout the afternoon. Even as the race evolved through pit cycles and restarts, Logano remained in position to contend.
But two moments late in the race ultimately changed the outcome.
The first came on Lap 217 during a restart when Logano made contact with Ross Chastain entering the corner. The contact sent Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet spinning into Anthony Alfredo and Austin Cindric, triggering a crash that reshuffled the field.
Logano continued racing afterward, but a second mistake proved far more costly.
On Lap 254, Logano attempted to merge back onto the racing surface from the dogleg apron. His car slid into the side of AJ Allmendinger, sending the No. 22 Ford spinning into traffic and collecting multiple cars in the crash. The damage ended Logano’s race and left him with a finish that didn’t reflect how competitive he had been earlier in the afternoon.
Still, Phoenix revealed something important about Logano’s team: the speed is clearly there.
Las Vegas Has Historically Been One of Logano’s Best Tracks
If Logano is looking for a place to quickly move past the frustration of Phoenix, Las Vegas Motor Speedway may be exactly that track.
Few active drivers have been as successful there.
Logano has four career NASCAR Cup Series wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including playoff victories in 2022 and 2024 that helped propel him to eventual championships.
His recent consistency at the track is just as impressive. Logano has one win and three top-10 finishes in his last four starts at Las Vegas, making it one of the most reliable venues on the schedule for the No. 22 team.
The 1.5-mile intermediate track has historically played to the strengths of both Logano’s aggressive driving style and the setups developed by Team Penske on similar ovals.
That combination is why the upcoming race carries an interesting narrative.
Phoenix showed that Logano still has the speed to run at the front and lead races. The results simply didn’t follow.
Las Vegas, however, has repeatedly been a place where Logano turns raw speed into trophies. And after what unfolded at Phoenix, it may offer the perfect opportunity to prove it again.
Tyler Reddick Refuses to Get Bogged Down After Falling Short to Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy at Phoenix
Tyler Reddick had a remarkable start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup season. Defying expectations, he seized victory in three consecutive races to assume a commanding championship lead. Heading into the Cup race at Phoenix, he was clearly one of the favorites to win. Regrettably, Ryan Blaney emerged victorious on Sunday.
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Tyler Reddick spoke about missing out on four in a row
Post race, he caught up with pit reporter Jamie Little to break down his day in the office. She commiserated with the #45 driver’s lost chance at extending his dominance. However, Little did note that Tyler Reddick looked pretty strong during the race. In fact, he hovered around the top 10 for much of the race before ending the day in 8th.
Tyler Reddick told Little, “Yeah, you know. We just kind of find handling it a little bit difficult. It seemed like our Jordan-brand Toyota Camry had good speed. Just kind of back and forth on which direction we needed to go in our Camry. We kind of had it around 5 all day, and we took those two tires there. It just got a little tight on us at the end; all in all, it would have been nice to make it four. Looking at the board over here, scored the fourth-most amount of points on the day. That’s kind of what we need to just keep doing all year to keep the lead that we have and try and hang onto it. Just saw out the day; if we’re not going to win, these are the kind of days we need to have. Glad to get out of here with some points.”
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It was a shame, too, because Reddick was eyeing history in the making. Had he won, he would have been the 9th driver to achieve the feat. The last person to do it was none other than 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Others who achieved the feat were Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, and Jeff Gordon.
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The 23XI Racing driver was not too torn up about losing the win
Sure, he was disappointed, but the trade-off was that he still managed to extend his championship lead. Since there are no playoffs or ‘win, and you’re in,’ everything depends solely on points. In other words, Blaney’s Phoenix win does not automatically put him in title contention. Instead, Reddick’s 3-win advantage places him firmly in the lead.
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Then again, the season is long, and there are plenty of opportunities for three things to happen. First and foremost, Reddick could continue to add more Cup wins to his tally and potentially wrap up the championship early. Secondly, Ryan Blaney could pick up some momentum and pose a serious threat to the #45 driver with more wins. Finally, other top drivers like Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, William Byron, and more could join the party with their wins. What helps Blaney’s case is that he finished in the Top 10 in the last two races. That was enough to propel him to second in the standings.
Although Reddick is tied with Johnson and the other legendary drivers, one thing sets him apart. His hat-trick of race wins came at the start of the season, from the Daytona 500 onward. He is the only driver so far to ever achieve that hat-trick in the first three races of the season. We now await the unfolding of the remaining races, commencing with Las Vegas this weekend.
Richard Petty Sounds Off on Modern NASCAR Cars After Phoenix Tire Scare
NASCAR has changed rapidly. When even the modern drivers are not very fond of the Next Gen car, it becomes only apparent that the legendary Richard Petty might find it confusing as well. He was one of the earliest prodigies in the sport, winning 200 Cup races alone, setting the benchmark for generations to come. And now, when he looks back at NASCAR in the current era, Petty sounds confused, almost. Moreover, the tire situation at Phoenix left him appalled.
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Richard Petty reacts to the chaos at Phoenix
“You’re lucky on a track like that to run all day,” said Petty. “They just don’t put enough air in those tires. You’re lucky on a track like that to run all day. They did not have trouble. And the big deal is, I noticed two or three of the wrecks were caused by the same guy.”
Petty comes with enough experience to pass a comment on the current NASCAR teams and drivers. He stated that the primary cause of the extensive tire issues was the cars’ insufficient tire pressure. There were a couple of reasons that caused the issues, and Petty found them hard to miss.
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The race was filled with chaos. The major change introduced by NASCAR was an increase in horsepower, from 600 to 750 hp, for the short tracks this year. These modifications also increased the chaos that went on the track. Daniel Suarez even mentioned that he could not see the wreck that had happened in time to react and slow down.
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Although the first stage was largely uneventful, chaos ensued in the subsequent two stages, with multiple cautions issued throughout the race. Richard Petty’s mention of the tire issue underscored its significance.
NASCAR’s tire drama at Phoenix
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Goodyear had warned the teams about the recommended tire pressure well before the race began, mentioning that the numbers were not random guesses. Yet, seemingly, some of the teams went overboard with how much air they filled in the tires, and the chaos began soon enough.
Despite claims that debris on the track caused some early flats, the issues persisted later in the race. Another major cause was the massive increase in horsepower. The harder acceleration put more stress on the tire; paired with the Arizona sun on the tarmac, it proved disastrous for the tires.
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Ultimately, the right strategy became the only way to win the race, and Team Penske clinched it when they pitted Ryan Blaney to change only two tires. He edged out the race win, marking Ford’s first of the season.
So even though Richard Petty feels that NASCAR is changing massively now, considering the chaos that ensued on the track, the teams did manage to find a way to cope with it. However, it is quite understandable that the cars have changed massively, but as Petty said:
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“Well, they’re NASCAR cars now.”
It seems that the sport is now giving more into defining its unique personality. The cars are different, and even though the drivers have mostly had a love-hate relationship, they seem to be adapting well.
Kyle Busch Reveals Scary Injury Nearly Sidelined Him Before NASCAR Season
Kyle Busch was almost watching the start of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season from the sidelines. The driver of the No. 8 suffered a freak injury at his home that required 24 stitches.
The two-time Cup Series champion appeared as a guest on his wife, Samantha’s, podcast. Fans of “Certified Oversharer” got to hear a chaotic story as Kyle Busch recounted the details of what happened.
Kyle Busch suffered leg laceration from an accident at his home
Just days before the Cook Out Clash exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium, it was a regular day at the Busch household.
But it turned into anything but an ideal day when Kyle went to fix a faulty smoke detector on the upstairs level of his house. With it being a “shorter” ceiling, all Busch needed was an 18-inch step stool to reach the smoke detector.
Busch assembled the stool and climbed up, but when he reached up, something went wrong.
“I get up on the stool and as I’m reaching up with my second arm, the stool explodes,” Busch said.
Initially, Busch felt as if he was OK as he landed on his feet and had his hands on the wall. That was until his son, Brexton, comes out and immediately tells his father he’s bleeding.
“As soon as he said, ‘You’re bleeding,’ I look down, and it’s not like you’re bleeding like a nosebleed. It is like pouring. Like, you’re gushing. … I’m like, ‘This is hospital grade,’” Busch said.
As shown in an image on the podcast, Busch had suffered a deep laceration on his right leg. Samantha immediately drove Kyle to the hospital with his leg propped up on the dashboard of the car covered in towels.
At first, Busch’s wife recalled a physician assistant (PA) was going to stitch his leg up, but was reluctant because he was a NASCAR driver and didn’t “want to mess up his leg.”
When Samantha saw the injury, it was as gruesome as her husband described.
“When they lifted up his leg, he’s not kidding. This flap was down and it was just gushing,” Samantha said.
Kyle Busch needed 24 stitches after home accident
Eventually, the doctor came in and ensured there wasn’t any porcelain inside the wound. Luckily, the laceration just missed a muscle in Busch’s leg.
“Just sliced the fat, folks. Didn’t even get a muscle,” Kyle Busch said.
The injury required 24 stitches. Fortunately, as Samantha noted, the injury wasn’t worse, as the freak incident happened just days prior to the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray.
“Thank God, though, because this was less than a week out before Bowman Gray. Like, you would not have been racing,” Samantha told Kyle.
Busch ended up being ready to race as he proceeded to qualify on the pole for this year’s Daytona 500, the first time he’s done so in his career. Aside from that, however, results have been difficult to come by.
The Richard Childress Racing driver has failed to post a top-10 finish in 2026. His best finish after four races was 12th at Circuit of The Americas. Busch currently sits 20th in the points standings.
Roger Penske’s Insider Reveals How IndyCar Star’s Post-Race Taunt Pushed the NASCAR Crew to Deliver
The 2026 Phoenix race weekend was a doubleheader affair for Team Penske, as they won both the IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Cup Series races. With IndyCar being the first race that Roger Penske’s team won, the pressure to win in NASCAR inevitably fell on them, something Team Penske’s president shed light on recently.
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Penske executive’s revelation on IndyCar’s push on NASCAR
In a recent interview with Cup Scene on YouTube, Team Penske Racing South’s President Michael Nelson highlighted how Josef Newgarden’s victory on Saturday and his post-race taunt were behind the push. Speaking about this, he stated that the NASCAR side would have done the same.
“Yeah, no, he put the pressure on us. We had an event last night with our sponsors and all of our drivers,” Nelson said. “He definitely pushed hard on us to try to keep up our end of the bargain. We would have done the same. We’re just glad we were able to get it done and bring it home today. He had a great race yesterday. Really great for Team Penske.”
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Echoing Nelson’s comment, Jonathan Hassler, who was sitting with him during the interview, also shared his thoughts. Hassler, who serves as Team Penske’s crew chief, stated that he liked the doubleheader event.
“Yeah, same thing. I echo what Michael said. To see those guys do well, it was a really fun race to watch. I really like this event. There were a lot of the NASCAR guys and crew members that stayed after and watched the race, and got to experience firsthand what we don’t get the opportunity to see. Great weekend for everybody, fans included. So pretty cool,” Hassler commented.
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Notably, Ryan Blaney arrived in Phoenix as a favorite, carrying impressive statistics. Having won the 2025 Championship race here last year, Blaney was oozing confidence at this oval.
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Besides this, Team Penske came to race here, having secured six wins in the last few races, by far the most by any team. As a result, there were increased expectations—one to keep their stellar run at the Phoenix race going and, secondly, to match Team Penske’s IndyCar driver, Josef Newgarden.
With the victory at Phoenix, Ryan Blaney finished Tyler Reddick’s race-winning streak, which started from Daytona and continued at Atlanta and COTA. Despite Reddick’s sadness at losing the winning streak, his day was not entirely wasted.
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Tyler Reddick is happy with Phoenix outing despite Ryan Blaney’s victory
As Tyler Reddick finished the race in eighth place after battling a handling issue, he was content with his performance on Sunday. Despite the broken streak, 23XI Racing noted that his total, which was 39 at the end of the race, provided some relief.
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“Yeah, we just kind of found handling a little bit,” Reddick said at the end of the race. “It seemed like our Jordan brand toy Camry had good speed. It was just kind of back and forth on which direction we thought we needed to go with our Camry, and so we kind of just hovered around fifth all day. But looking at the board over here, he scored the fourth most points on the day. That’s kind of what we need to just keep doing all year to keep the lead that we have and try to hang on to it. So yeah, just a solid day.”
Blaney claimed the most points (65) from the race, followed by Christopher Bell (54) and Denny Hamlin (47). Thanks to his eighth place, Reddick was able to take his championship tally to 255 points. Blaney, the winner at Phoenix Raceway, is in second place with 165 points.
Brad Keselowski Drops Radical Ideas To Fix NASCAR’s
The inclusion of Cleetus McFarland in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series line-up by Richard Childress Racing gathered ample criticism. However, it was not more than what NASCAR received after their surprising decision to allow him to race in the second tier of stock car racing. Pointing it out, Brad Keselowski shared his thoughts and proposed a radical idea to prevent such situations in the future.
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Keselowski’s take on the system following Richard Childress’ driver’s inclusion
“The problem that we have—this is NASCAR’s industry as a whole—is for whatever reason we completely abandoned the identity of those four series,” Keselowski said on Dale Jr.’s podcast. “Not necessarily the Cup series, but those four series—kind of like the pecking order—have been thrown away. And it started with removing the Cup drivers from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.”
Keselowski mentioned how ARCA was the starting point for every stock car racer after their jump from Late Models. Following this, the Truck Series used to be for veteran drivers who were around 35-40 years old, but now it is for inexperienced drivers around 17-18 years old. However, the double approval of Cleetus McFarland in the Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts in a span of two months and one race made Keselowski change his mind.
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Following this, the RFK driver revealed what he thought was the perfect way to get the Truck Series approval from ARCA and then improve further to the O’Reilly Auto Parts and the Cup Series. Here’s what he further added:
“Personally, I think that the 3 series should have three different approval criteria, with the Truck series being approved. So, here’s my opinion. If you want to run ARCA and you know you have less than 100 starts in any major or even minor league form of racing. Yeah. Okay, cool. ARCA is your place. You, in my mind, should not be allowed to run the Truck series unless you’re like, “I have 100-plus starts across the country.”
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Notably, Keselowski’s concern surfaced after NASCAR allowed Cleetus McFarland to race in the Truck Series after just six ARCA races. What shocked fans and experts more than anything was that NASCAR allowed him to run in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series just after one race in the Truck Series!
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NASCAR allowed McFarland even though he only ran four laps at Daytona before crashing his truck in his debut. This was something many experts, including current Cup Series driver Kyle Busch, criticized.
Kyle Busch criticized NASCAR over Cleetus McFarland’s approval
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Kyle Busch did disagree that NASCAR allowed Cleetus McFarland to run in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series despite having just seven races to his name. Drivers often regard O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races as a gateway to the Cup Series.
Busch, who has himself had to wait two full years (he started racing in Trucks in 2001 and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, known as the Busch Series then, in 2003) before stepping into O’Reilly, compared McFarland with his son, Brexton, and stated that the latter has more races than the YouTuber.
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“I mean, he just, I don’t know,” Busch said in an interview with Fox8. “I don’t know how many races he’s run. Denny Hamlin ran 10,000 before he got here, right? So, I don’t know if Cleetus has run 10 or not, but there’s definitely a need to have ample experience. My son has probably run more races than he has, and he’s 10 years old. You know what I mean? So, I don’t think that sits well with many of us.”
In February of this year, NASCAR allowed Cleetus McFarland to race in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, following which he signed up with Richard Childress Racing. He will drive the #33 Chevrolet Camaro SS entry at Rockingham Speedway this year, the same ride Kasey Kahne drove last year.
NASCAR Community Joins Corey LaJoie as He Celebrates the Arrival of New ‘Wolfpack’ Member
Corey LaJoie hasn’t had the best time this year, but his family is there to back him up, and they now have another member to do so. The family just welcomed their fourth kid in Corey and Kelly’s seven years of marriage, and the NASCAR community celebrated as he shared the pictures on social media.
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Corey LaJoie welcomes a new member to the ‘wolfpack.’
“Emmett Edward. Welcome to our wolfpack.” LaJoie wrote on Instagram as he welcomed his baby boy to the world. He also shared two adorable pictures, with Kelly cradling the newborn.
LaJoie has been very close to his family. He has previously mentioned raising kids of this generation and how difficult it can be. But so far, it seems like he’s doing it the right way with his wife, Kelly. The comments were filled with messages from the NASCAR community, especially fans, wishing the couple and their baby good health.
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Their first child, Levi Ronnie LaJoie, was born in 2020. Just two years later, they welcomed Jenson Daniel LaJoie, and within another two years, Pierce Jackson LaJoie was born. And now, Emmett’s arrival has added a new chapter to the LaJoie family.
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As mentioned, LaJoie hasn’t had the best time in the past year and a half. Spire Motorsports sacked him mid-season, and he failed to find a full-time seat. He did compete for RWR on a part-time schedule, but that was about it. As of now, his plans for the future remain uncertain, but he continues to gain support from his family.
He is also extremely particular about raising children. Emmett, as mentioned, is his fourth child. But according to Corey LaJoie, this has a positive impact on society.
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When Corey LaJoie explained his view of raising children
Ahead of the birth of his third child, a few years ago, Corey LaJoie had come up with an interesting theory. He was asked about his feelings about becoming a parent multiple times. LaJoie replied:
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“I can go a lot of different ways with the answer, but I land on this: the world we live in is a broken place. This isn’t our intended home anyway, and when it comes to raising our kids to respect themself, respect their adults, and be able to think for themself, that’s what I’m excited for—the challenge of how to raise a child to impact the community positively.”
Now with the birth of Emmett, it is apparent that Corey LaJoie doesn’t need to be worried. While he has gained massive experience racing on the track, he has also spent just as much time with his family. While his search for a full-time ride continues, LaJoie has his family to spend time with.
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With respect to his racing, LaJoie had earlier mentioned how he was in the last stage of grief.
“You know the five stages of grief. I feel like I’m in the last stage of that now,” LaJoie told The Athletic.
Understandably, his results on the track weren’t as competitive as the teams would’ve wanted them to be. But one aspect of Corey LaJoie that cannot be disputed is the time he has spent behind the wheel. He has been involved in the Cup Series for over a decade, which can set him apart if a team needs someone with pure racing experience.
Fantasy Baseball Rankings 2026: Busts by proven MLB model that called Spencer Strider’s tough year
The Braves saw their seven-year playoff streak come to an end last year as a number of their players underperformed. The likes of Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar, who was just suspended for all of this season after missing half of last season, all ended up as Fantasy baseball busts, whether due to injury, suspension, ineffectiveness or a combination. As anyone entering 2026 Fantasy baseball drafts knows, composing a winning squad will be as much about hitting on your top Fantasy baseball picks as it will be about avoiding selecting Fantasy baseball busts 2026.
Others like Mookie Betts, J.T. Realmuto, Zac Gallen and Devin Williams are also coming off down years and failing to live up to their Fantasy baseball ADP. Thus, you’re faced with a decision as to if last year was the start of a trend of if they’ll bounce back and are worth taking in 2026 Fantasy baseball drafts. Before finalizing your 2026 Fantasy baseball draft prep, be sure to see the 2026 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last season, SportsLine’s Projection Model identified several top Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts, including Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider.
Strider led MLB in both wins (20) and strikeouts (281) in 2023 before missing most of 2024 due to injury. He returned last year but the model predicted he would struggle to regain his pre-injury form and wouldn’t live up to his lofty Fantasy baseball ADP (97.81). Strider was the SP30 by average draft position, but SportsLine had him barely cracking the top 75 starting pitchers in its rankings.
The result: Strider posted a 7-14 record, with a 4.45 ERA and not even half as many strikeouts (131) as his dominant 2023 season. He also missed over a month of action due to another injury and ended up barely making the top 100 starting pitchers in Fantasy points, much closer to SportsLine’s projection of SP74 rather than his ADP of SP30. Anybody who followed the model’s advice and avoided Strider in their Fantasy baseball drafts avoided a major headache in their Fantasy baseball lineups.
The SportsLine model is engineered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. And that same group is sharing its 2026 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets over at SportsLine, helping you find Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts long before your competition. Their cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day.
Any time more MLB news comes out about MLB free agency signings or Fantasy baseball injuries, the team at SportsLine updates its projections. Go to SportsLine now to see these proven Fantasy baseball cheat sheets.
Top 2026 Fantasy baseball busts
One of the Fantasy baseball busts 2026 the model is fading: Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. A June call-up last year, the rookie became the first pitcher in over 60 years to record 11 no-hit innings to start his career and then made MLB history by becoming an All-Star after just five starts. He had the majors’ fifth-highest average fastball velocity (99.3 m.p.h.) across his 66 regular season innings and then posted a microscopic 1.50 ERA across 12 postseason innings.
However, in between the All-Star Game and the playoffs, Misiorowski looked every bit like a novice on the mound. He had a 6.03 ERA over his last eight starts as batters adjusted to seeing his arsenal, while Misiorowski failed to make adjustments to hitters. Many Fantasy owners are being overly influenced by his hot start as his No. 15 Fantasy baseball ADP puts him amongst the top 30 starters. However, SportsLine’s model has him barely cracking the top 100 starting pitchers, making Misiorowski one to avoid in Fantasy baseball drafts 2026.
Another of the 2026 Fantasy baseball busts the model projects won’t live up to their ADP: Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso. After seven years in Queens, Alonso left the Mets for Baltimore in the offseason, on the heels of a season with 38 homers, 126 RBI and an .871 OPS. He’s going in the fourth round, on average, in 2026 Fantasy baseball drafts with a mean draft position of 32.
However, Alonso’s metrics from last year should be a bit concerning. His batting average on balls in play (BAbip) was a career-best of .305, indicating he was a bit lucky and could regress to the mean. Additionally, his home run rate (5.4%) was the second-lowest of his career, while his walk rate (8.6%) was the lowest of his seven seasons. Alonso’s greatest strength is his home run power, but the two lowest HR rates of his career have come in the last two seasons as the 31-year-old could be on the decline. The model has Alonso on par with Michael Busch in its Fantasy baseball 2026 rankings, but Alonso is being drafted seven rounds earlier on average. See more busts at SportsLine.
How to find proven 2026 Fantasy baseball rankings
SportsLine’s model is also fading a surprising ace who is coming off the board in the sixth round on average in early 2026 Fantasy baseball drafts. The model is predicting this All-Star fails to live up to his lofty daft status finishes outside the top 30 at his position. Avoiding him until later on could be the difference between winning your league or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
MLB Insider Offers Optimistic Take on Hunter Greene Injury Situation
The Reds announced Hunter Greene will be undergoing a procedure this week to remove bone spurs from his pitching elbow.
He is expected to be out until at least July. However, MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds in encouraged by the news and thinks it could have been a lot worse.
This Orioles pitching prospect hopes to make MLB debut in 2026
Facing perhaps the best lineup of his life, Luis De León looked like he belonged.
The Orioles’ pitching prospect found himself in a small pickle in the first inning Saturday with a runner on third, one out and the heart of the Atlanta Braves’ big league lineup due up. De León, a 22-year-old lefty who has faced only 68 batters above High-A, was suddenly facing Matt Olson and Austin Riley, a pair of mashers with five All-Star appearances between them.
De León didn’t flinch.
He threw a first-pitch slider to Olson to induce a weak groundout to first base. He then started Riley off with a slider and ended the eight-pitch at-bat with a 3-2 slider that spun beneath the slugger’s bat to end the inning.
Randy Arozarena explodes at Cal Raleigh after WBC handshake snub incident
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The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is known for its rivalries, but a viral moment between MLB teammates got even spicier after Team USA and Mexico faced off in pool play on Monday night in Houston.
Mexico’s Randy Arozarena stepped up to the plate to face USA star pitcher Paul Skenes, but not before extending his hand to acknowledge his Seattle Mariners teammate, Cal Raleigh, catching behind home plate.
That was until Raleigh looked up at Arozarena and refused to shake his hand.
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Raleigh appeared in the viral video to say something to his teammate, who bent down to listen. But, whether it’s a competitive thing or not for Raleigh, Arozarena seemed serious about the situation in his post-game comments.
After the U.S. defeated Mexico, 5-3, to remain undefeated in the WBC, Raleigh had no comment on what happened with Arozarena at the dish. But Arozarena had plenty to say about the situation.
Arozarena was asked in Spanish how he would respond to Raleigh’s handshake snub. His answer was translated, and while some on social media dismissed it as potentially sarcastic, the majority believes he was quite serious.
AARON JUDGE, PAUL SKENES POWER TEAM USA OVER MEXICO, CLOSES IN ON SPOT IN WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC QUARTERFINAL
MLB Mock Trade: Astros Acquire OF Wilyer Abreu from Red Sox
The Houston Astros could make a splash by acquiring Wilyer Abreu from the Boston Red Sox, adding a dynamic bat and versatile outfielder to their lineup.
Abreu, who hit .247 with 22 home runs and 69 RBIs in 2025, brings both power and speed, along with the ability to play multiple outfield positions.
His on-base skills and run-producing potential would give the Astros a significant boost in the middle of their lineup, making him an immediate impact player for a contending team. With his combination of youth, talent, and versatility, Abreu fits perfectly into Houston’s mix of controllable, high-upside players.
Here’s what it would take for the Astros to acquire him.
Houston Astros -Boston Red Sox MLB Mock Trade Details & Fantasy Baseball Impact
Astros Acquire
OF Wilyer Abreu
Red Sox Acquire
3B Isaac Paredes
P Miguel Ullola
Abreu becomes a high-upside fantasy asset in Houston. In 2025, he hit .247 with 22 home runs, 69 RBIs, and 6 stolen bases over 115 games, showing a mix of power and speed.
Moving to the Astros, he would likely play every day in a potent lineup with strong on-base teammates, increasing his runs and RBI opportunities.
He’s a middle-of-the-order bat with multi-category value, particularly in standard 5×5 leagues, providing power, decent speed, and solid run production. Fantasy managers would see an upgrade in run scoring and RBI potential due to the Astros’ lineup strength.
Paredes offers solid but less explosive fantasy value. In 2025, he hit .254 with 20 home runs, 53 RBIs, and a .352 OBP across 102 games. He can provide moderate power and OBP contributions while offering infield versatility.
Fantasy impact is mostly limited to standard 5×5 leagues, as he lacks elite power or speed. However, he’s a reliable, everyday contributor who can help fill the gaps left by Abreu’s departure.
Ullola has no immediate MLB fantasy impact as he remains a Triple-A pitching prospect. His 2025 stats included 3.88 ERA, 131 strikeouts in 113.2 IP, and a 1.35 WHIP, showing strong strikeout ability and potential for MLB innings.
His fantasy relevance is strictly in dynasty or keeper leagues, where he could become a high-upside starting pitcher once called up. Until then, he offers long-term potential rather than immediate production.
Why The Red Sox Make This Trade
The Boston Red Sox would have several reasons for trading Wilyer Abreu to the Astros for Isaac Paredes and Miguel Ullola.
Abreu is an established everyday outfielder, and moving him opens a roster spot while allowing the Red Sox to add depth in other areas. Paredes provides infield versatility, capable of playing multiple positions, which strengthens the roster and gives Boston more lineup flexibility.
While Abreu offers power, Paredes brings moderate power and a strong on-base approach at an earlier, controllable stage of his career, and Ullola adds a high-upside pitching prospect, giving Boston a chance to develop talent internally and bolster their farm system.
The trade also aligns with the team’s long-term planning, mixing immediate MLB contributors with prospects they can control for multiple seasons. Additionally, moving Abreu frees up payroll, which Boston can allocate toward other roster needs or player development.
Why The Astros Make This Trade
The Houston Astros would make a trade for Wilyer Abreu to immediately upgrade their outfield and add a dynamic bat to their lineup.
Abreu brings power, speed, and on-base skills, evidenced by his 2025 season with 22 home runs, 69 RBIs, and a .247 batting average over 115 games. His versatility allows him to play multiple outfield positions, giving the Astros flexibility while strengthening a lineup that already features elite run producers.
For a contending team like Houston, acquiring a young, high-upside everyday outfielder fits their model of pairing controllable talent with championship-level performance, even at the cost of giving up MLB-ready infielder Isaac Paredes and pitching prospect Miguel Ullola.
This trade allows the Astros to maximize immediate competitiveness while maintaining depth elsewhere in their roster.
More Fantasy Sports On SI News
Who Is Nolan McLean? New York Mets Pitchers’ Net Worth, Wife, Parents, Siblings, Ethnicity & MLB Contract
Things for Nolan McLean since the calendar turned 2025 have been very good. He not only made his debut for the New York Mets but also became a major part of their pitching rotation. And now he is an important part of the USA rotation in the WBC.
Who is Nolan McLean?
Nolan James McLean was born July 24, 2001, in Willow Spring, North Carolina, United States. McLean grew up there before eventually becoming a professional pitcher in Major League Baseball. He currently plays as a right-handed pitcher for the New York Mets in MLB. McLean made his MLB debut with the Mets on August 16, 2025, beginning his rookie season. During that debut season, he recorded a 5-1 record with 57 strikeouts in 48 innings.
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Those numbers quickly built his reputation as a promising young pitcher within the Mets organization. Across 8 starts in 2025, he finished with a strong 2.06 ERA for New York. One example came against Texas on September 14, when he threw 6 scoreless innings. As a result, McLean remains an active rookie pitcher on the Mets roster entering 2026. At 24 years old, he continues developing as part of New York’s pitching future.
Who Is Nolan McLean’s Wife?
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Nolan McLean married longtime partner Avery Frechette during a winter ceremony on January 16, 2026. The couple had dated for years before marriage and shared moments publicly during McLean’s rise.
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Reports also note the wedding featured their cavapoo Waffles, adding a personal family touch. Public information does not confirm Avery Frechette’s profession, and no children are reported together. Their relationship continues quietly while McLean balances family life with his growing responsibilities in baseball.
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Who are Nolan McLean’s Parents & Siblings?
Nolan McLean was born to parents John McLean and Erin McLean in Willow Spring, North Carolina. Public profiles list John and Erin McLean as the primary family support behind Nolan’s upbringing. Reports about his upbringing describe a close family environment in Willow Spring during his childhood years.
McLean has spoken about his father’s strong work ethic shaping his discipline and daily routines. He recalled watching his father work long hours to support the family financially. That example stayed with him while growing up and helped shape his approach toward responsibility. Verified public biographies do not list any brothers or sisters connected to Nolan McLean.
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Because of that, available records suggest he may be the only child of John and Erin. Even today, family stories about discipline and support remain part of how fans understand McLean’s background.
What is Nolan McLean’s Ethnicity & Nationality?
Nolan McLean was born July 24, 2001, in Willow Spring, North Carolina, United States. His birthplace and citizenship confirm his nationality as American, representing the United States internationally. Public biographies list him as a white American athlete raised in North Carolina communities.
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Growing up in Willow Spring connected McLean to American culture rooted in North Carolina family life. His identity as an American athlete reflects both birthplace records and United States citizenship documentation. For many fans, those simple facts shape the background story behind Nolan McLean.
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What is Nolan McLean’s Net Worth?
Public contract records show Nolan McLean has earned about $927,385 during early professional seasons. Those reported earnings form the base of his estimated net worth near $1 million. Financial sites like Spotrac track these totals using verified contract data from New York.
Most of McLean’s wealth currently comes from baseball contracts recorded in official league payroll databases. Public records show no confirmed endorsement deals tied to Nolan McLean as of 2026. That leaves contract earnings as the clear foundation behind his early professional financial picture.
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What is Nolan McLean’s MLB Contract & Salary?
Public contract records show Nolan McLean signed a 1 year agreement with the New York Mets for 2026. Verified payroll databases report his 2025 season earnings were recorded at $760,000 under pre-arbitration contract rules. Financial tracking site Spotrac reports McLean’s total career earnings reached $927,385 entering the 2026 season.
Those numbers become clearer when viewed through yearly records compiled from verified MLB payroll reports. Available data shows his 2023 earnings recorded at $747,600, while 2025 reached $760,000. The following verified payroll table presents year-by-year earnings reported through league salary tracking databases.
What Are Nolan McLean’s MLB Career Highlights?
Nolan McLean reached Major League Baseball when the New York Mets called him up on August 16, 2025. During that rookie season, he started 8 games and pitched a total of 48 innings. Across those outings, McLean allowed only 11 runs, finishing the year with a 2.06 ERA. He also recorded 57 strikeouts during those 48 innings, showing clear swing-and-miss ability early.
That first stretch also produced a strong 5-1 record across his 8 appearances for New York. One example came during September 2025 when he threw 6 scoreless innings against Texas. Performances like that helped place his ERA among the top 15 starters with 48 innings. Fans quickly noticed how calm he looked while handling pressure moments during those early starts.
Those early numbers also built momentum behind McLean’s reputation as one promising young pitcher. Prospect rankings from MLB Pipeline placed him sixth among all prospects entering the 2026 season. His strong rookie numbers of 57 strikeouts and 2.06 ERA supported that rising league-wide reputation. With only 48 career innings recorded so far, those early results still shape expectations around him today.
Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars have lunch at MLB Headquarters
NEW YORK — Often when Major League Baseball hosts college students at its headquarters, the room is filled with bright-eyed young people pursuing a career in sports. Last Friday’s event, however, had a broader goal.
As part of the Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars program’s annual Mentoring and Leadership Conference, MLB hosted a sponsor luncheon for a group of scholars who are majoring in a wide variety of fields and not necessarily seeking to work in sports directly.
But, as senior vice president of corporate social responsibility April Brown noted, there are many “traditional” business departments like law and finance at MLB, just like any other company. One of the league’s key CSR pillars is to invest in young people regardless of any affiliation to baseball or sports in general. That mission, combined with MLB’s strong connection to Jackie Robinson, makes it a perfect fit to sponsor the scholars.
“Each and every year, we carry out his legacy in all of the work that we do within communities,” Brown said. “But this really speaks to the legacy of the Robinson family, setting up young people for success, ensuring they have the resources that they need while they’re in their college journey, and being able to pour into them as they continue that.”
The JRF Scholars program is a four-year college scholarship that supports college students who demonstrate financial need, academic excellence and interest in community leadership. MLB has been a program sponsor since 2012, and the 33 scholars it hosted on Friday represented the 30 MLB clubs and the league office.
These scholars hail from schools nationwide, from Ivy League institutions like Brown University to HBCUs like Spelman College and Howard University. Most of Friday’s attendees were sophomores in their second of four years in the program. They represented over 25 different majors, including public health, professional pilot/aviation management and even viola performance.
Throughout the day, both Brown and the scholars spoke about how an important part of Robinson’s legacy was his multifaceted work after his playing career. From becoming a VP of Chock Full O’Nuts to working as a civil rights activist and political advisor, Robinson’s post-baseball life had many layers of impact.
“He was one of the early trailblazers, not only in terms of being a Black athlete, but showing that we can do it all,” said Johnathan Dye, a JRF Scholar from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Friday’s festivities began with remarks from Brown and MLB director of community affairs Kevin Moss. Scholars then helped themselves to a hearty lunch of pasta, meatballs and salad before enjoying a keynote presentation from Edward Acuna, director of social sponsorships at MLB.
He gave the scholars an inside look at MLB’s social media strategy, how his group approaches celebrity partners and how MLB’s social accounts strive to celebrate baseball as part of broader culture. The presentation was lively and interactive, including a “Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar” poll that ignited some energetic debate. (Kendrick was the clear winner.)
Acuna made room for many thoughtful questions from the scholars, as nearly all of them use social media — even if they aren’t pursuing it as a career. Those questions ranged from inquiries about how MLB uses data to inform content decisions to how the league’s social channels promote up-and-coming players alongside superstars. One overarching message throughout the presentation was about the importance of showcasing the players authentically and staying true to their genuine personalities and interests.
With the conference theme of “Building on the Past, Designing Our Future” in mind, the scholars took away valuable lessons about creating social media content in a business setting and how to build their personal brand moving forward.
“Social media is not my field,” said Camille Owen, a JRF Scholar studying at San Diego State. “But as a consumer of the media that he is producing, I think that it was incredible to hear his answer to my question about the inclusivity of the players that maybe aren’t in the spotlight, and how he touched on how important that was.”
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Owen also spoke fondly about the networking opportunities and connections that the scholarship has given her, a sentiment echoed by other scholars. With the pressure of paying for college alleviated by the scholarship, she has been able to fully dedicate herself to her kinesiology major. While sports medicine isn’t necessarily a field found at the league office, as a lifelong Padres fan, getting a behind-the-scenes look at MLB HQ was a dream come true.
“I bet you no one in my school can say that they’ve been to MLB headquarters,” Owen said with a smile. “My dad is also super interested, so I’m gonna go call him after this.”
Perhaps the biggest cheer of the day came when, right before a scheduled office tour, Moss announced that all the scholars would receive $100 vouchers courtesy of MLB to shop in the flagship store. That shopping spree closed out the afternoon, as the scholars sifted through merchandise of their favorite teams and players, and took selfies while trying on hats.
It was a spirited event all around. As Dye put it, at the conference, the scholars learn not only from Jackie Robinson and the sponsors, but also from each other. Seeing “the power behind everyone’s mind” can be quite invigorating for a motivated student among like-minded peers.
Blue Jays Sign Former White Sox Pitcher to Minor League Deal
The Toronto Blue Jays, like all other 39 MLB teams, are gearing up their organization for a long 162-game season, which starts in less than three weeks.
On Monday, the Blue Jays made a notable roster addition by signing right-handed pitcher Caleb Freeman to a minor league contract, according to MLB.com’s transaction log. He’s since been assigned to Double-A New Hampshire, but will likely be a part of the Blue Jays’ spring camp for the next few weeks.
More MLB on Heavy: Phillies Extend Jesus Luzardo to Five-Year, $135 Million Contract
Blue Jays Bring in Caleb Freeman
Caleb Freeman is. 28-year-old reliever who has spent his entire career in the Chicago White Sox system. He was drafted in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB draft out of Texas Tech.
After several years going through the minors, Freeman made his MLB debut in 2025.
He appeared in five games with the White Sox and pitched 3.2 innings, while giving up five hits and two earned runs. Also in 2025, he pitched to the tune of a 4.91 ERA over 33 innings with Triple-A Charlotte.
MLBTradeRumors.com was quick to the news and gave insight into Freeman’s journey as a professional baseball player:
“In 2024, he dialed things in, relatively speaking. His 13.6% walk rate was still high but an improvement. He also struck out a strong 29.3% of opponents, helping him post a 3.92 ERA in Double-A that year. In 2025, he got out to a blazing start. In his first 13 1/3 innings, he had a 1.35 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. The White Sox tried to ride the hot hand and added him to their big league roster.”
More MLB on Heavy: Red Sox Trade Idea Offloads Wilyer Abreu for Astros’ All-Star Infielder
What Chance Does Caleb Freeman Have to Pitch for Blue Jays?
This is a good organizational depth piece, but if the Blue Jays have to turn to Caleb Freeman at any point this season, the pitching staff might be drowning with injuries.
It’s not a knock to Freeman, but Toronto has a crowded pitching staff, and if he was only able to see 3.2 with the lowly White Sox big-league club, it’s unlikely the Jays will need him for any innings.
Some of Toronto’s “starters” may even have to be pushed into a bullpen role for the time being to start the season, and there are certainly a handful of more productive, younger arms than Freeman that could fill in for spot innings.
Off to minors, Yankees’ Spencer Jones could hit 35 homers in majors this year, scout predicts
CLEARWATER, Fla. — A watered-down version of the Yankees bussed from Tampa to Clearwater, then after a quick stop into the visiting clubhouse, everyone headed out to the field for some pre-game prepping.
First baseman Ben Rice was the only regular on the trip. Left fielder Jasson Dominguez and George Lombard Jr., the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, were there, too, as was one of their starting pitchers, Luis Gil.
Also in manager Aaron Boone’s lineup for this Tuesday game against the Phillies was a touted prospect who seems to get as much flake for his strikeouts as he does for being a left-handed slugger who hits a lot of home runs, steals a bunch of bases and plays a very good center field.
As usual, Spencer Jones stood out jogging back and forth with teammates in front of the first-base dugout because the 24-year-old is a baseball giant at 6-foot-7, 240 pounds.
During one of his short runs, Jones looked up into the stands when a middle-school aged boy in a Yankees pinstripes jersey called out his name. Just a few feet away, the boy proudly held up a large handmade sign that read:
“My hero. Next Great Yankee. Spencer Jones. Let’s go.”
Jones smiled and waved at his young fan.
After Jones took batting practice, the boy got an autograph … and then another great memory.
Jones continued his hot hitting in the second inning by blasting a long home run, a 416 footer to center that made it four for the spring. No one for any team has more.
All of this occurred the morning after the Yankees officially dropped Jones from their spring training roster.
Entering camp, Jones had to know his quest to become a first-time big leaguer by Opening Day 2026 was a long shot. After all, the Yankees’ two biggest offseason moves were re-signing center fielder Trent Grisham and left fielder Cody Bellinger.
Jones had to know he probably needed at least one injury to a Yankees outfielder to make the team, maybe even two with second-year left fielder Jasson Dominguez also a real possibility to start the season in Triple-A after spending all of 2025 in the majors.
So far this spring, the Yankees’ list of healthy outfielders actually has grown by one, counting the late February signing of Randal Grichuk.
Jones handled his demotion with extreme professionalism, but he was disappointed. He hit 35 homers, stole 29 bases and played excellent defense last year for Double-A Somerset and then Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Also, he addressed his very high strikeout rate by changing his batting stance and swing early into the offseason to somewhat mimic Shohei Ohtani’s. Then he worked and worked on it before spring training. And then he tried it out in Grapefruit Leagues.
It’s working. Counting his 1-for-3 with a walk and strikeout in Tuesday’s 4-2 Yankees win, Jones is hitting .333 with four homers and eight RBIs in 10 games. He’s struck out seven times in 25 plate appearances, but this 28 percent K rate is a 20 percent drop from last season’s 35.6, which all were against minor-league pitching.
Jones likes his new Ohtani look.
“I feel very still,” he said. “I feel very stable. It’s just about being on time and swinging at the right pitches.
“I think it’s all been positive. I think there’s still more to come with it and it’s only going to get better and better as we keep moving forward.”
With the regular season starting up in two weeks, the Yankees want more at-bats for veterans who will be on their club, so young talent like Jones is being weeded out. That’s why he’s already has been optioned.
“You never want to hear it, but it is what it is,” Jones said. “I’ve got a lot of good work to do, and then obviously I’ve got a whole long season ahead of us. Opportunities are available and it’s just about taking advantage of them.”
That’s what Jones was told on Monday after he was called into Aaron Boone’s office to get the demotion news. This means he’ll be reporting to the Yankees’ minor-league camp for the remainder of spring training, unless he’s called back for Grapefruit League cameos like he was on Tuesday.
Jones often has flashed his bat skills in spring games since he first appeared in them in 2023, as he owns a .325 average with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 47 games. The difference now, Jones believes, is that he feels ready for the big leagues.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve gotten out of this year is a feeling of I belong and that I can compete,” Jones said.
Feeling the same is a major league scout who was down on Jones last season.
“If you’d stick Jones in the majors for someone this year and let him play 150 games, I think he’d hit only .210 but around 35 homers and 85 RBIs,” the scout told NJ.com after watching Tuesday’s game. “He’d also steal some bags and play a good center field.
“A lot of teams would take that from a rookie.”
The Yankees thought Jones would become a star when they drafted him 25th overall in 2022 out of Vanderbilt and they still feel that way. They’ve seen progress at the plate this spring. They know he’ll probably always strike out a lot because all sluggers do nowadays, even Aaron Judge, but Jones’ swing changes are leading to more hard contact with less swing-and-miss.
“It’s spring training, so I don’t want to over or under-react to anything, but I do feel like day in and day out he’s been putting up solid at-bats,” Boone said. “That’s encouraging, especially when you consider the talent he has and the ceiling that he has. He continues to get better.”
No one knows what’s in store for Jones beyond where he starts this season. He could get a first shot with the Yankees at some point this year if someone gets hurt, or perhaps next season if Grisham walks as a free agent. He also could be used as trade bait this summer or next winter.
“I don’t really think about what could be,” Jones said. “It’s more about what do we’ve got right now. Just focus on the day to day and showing up to work and getting the job done.”
The Yankees don’t have to worry about that.
“One of the things I’ve told him is there’s things that are out of your control,” Boone said. “As best you can, you’ve got to focus because there’s still improvements that he needs to make in his game. The good thing is, he’s done that. He’s shown that.
“He had a really good platform here at the upper levels last year. I feel like he’s continued to make adjustments this winter. I feel like he’s had a really good spring. There’s always things to continue to work on to continue to get better at.
“The reality is he’s pushing through right now. He is knocking on that door. All you can do is handle your business and take care of your end of the bargain and force us into a situation.”
Mark DeRosa admits he thought Team USA had already advanced before stunning WBC loss to Italy
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa did not fully understand the tiebreaker rules in this year’s World Baseball Classic.
DeRosa appeared on MLB Network on Tuesday, hours before Team USA took on Italy in the Americans’ final game of pool play at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas. Team USA’s skipper spoke about wanting to win the contest despite it being inconsequential for his squad, which he claimed had already clinched a quarterfinals berth.
“Ton of respect for Italy,” DeRosa said. “It’s weird. We want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals because Mexico plays Italy actually tomorrow. The way the schedule lines up, it’s an important game for us.”
Team USA had not, in fact, punched its ticket to the quarterfinals just yet. DeRosa’s quote spread like wildfire after the Americans lost to the Italians 8-6 in a stunning upset, leaving Team USA in jeopardy of getting eliminated.
If Mexico beats Italy on Wednesday, all three teams would be tied atop the Pool B standings at 3-1 with only two advancing. The tiebreaker is based on a runs-allowed quotient calculated as follows: fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games in that round between the teams tied.
In simpler terms, Team USA would need either Italy to score at least 5 runs or Mexico to score at least 6 runs when the latter two teams face off on Wednesday, assuming Mexico wins.
DeRosa spoke to reporters after the game and admitted that he “misspoke” and that he “completely misread the calculations” while preparing for Tuesday’s game.
It’s all moot if Italy wins to sweep Pool B, allowing Team USA to advance without any complications. But it wouldn’t erase the fact that DeRosa made a serious error heading into a critical WBC game. He could have made some key decisions in the contest under the assumption that he had free rein to experiment rather than go for a win. Team USA’s hopes rest on another team’s hands.
Joe Brady Signs Josh Allen’s Close Friend as Bills New QB After Early NFL Draft Setback – Report
The Buffalo Bills have rarely had to worry about life without quarterback Josh Allen. Since his rookie season, Allen has not missed a start because of injury and currently holds the longest active starting streak among quarterbacks at 122 games. However, when he has been unavailable in the past, Buffalo has struggled badly, posting just a 25% win rate. Because of that concern, new head coach Joe Brady recently moved to solidify the backup quarterback position by bringing in one of Allen’s closest friends.
“Former Lions QB Kyle Allen is signing a two-year, $4.1 million deal worth up to $6.1 million with the Buffalo Bills, where he will reunite with his close friend Josh Allen,” insider Adam Schefter wrote on X.
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The Bills need a new backup, as Mitchell Trubisky, who previously handled that role in 2021 and again during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, agreed to a two-year contract with the Tennessee Titans.
Kyle Allen is already familiar with Highmark Stadium after serving as Josh Allen’s backup during the 2023 season. After that stint, he spent 2025 behind Jared Goff in Detroit following a year as a reserve with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Beyond the professional connection, the two quarterbacks share a strong personal bond. The two quarterbacks share a strong personal bond, having trained together under coach Jordan Palmer since before the 2018 NFL Draft. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the friendship grew even stronger when the two quarterbacks quarantined together while continuing their offseason training.
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Now, several years later, Josh Allen and Kyle Allen find themselves sharing the same quarterback room again.
Over the course of his career, Kyle Allen has taken a winding path through the league. He has appeared for six different teams across eight seasons, including the Bills, Panthers, Texans, Commanders, Steelers, and Lions. Statistically, he has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 4,753 yards with 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.
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So it’s a good move by Joe Brady to stabilize the quarterback depth chart, but Buffalo just faced an early setback tied to its pre-draft planning.
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Joe Brady and the Buffalo Bills miss out on compensatory picks
Earlier this week, the NFL confirmed that 33 compensatory selections will be distributed to 15 teams in the 2026 NFL Draft, which takes place April 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh. However, the Buffalo Bills were not awarded any compensatory picks. Still, that result did not come as a shock for head coach Joe Brady and the front office.
To understand why, let’s look at how the league calculates those extra picks. Every year, the NFL awards compensatory selections to teams that lose more qualifying free agents than they sign during the previous offseason. Those picks always appear at the ends of Rounds 3 through 7. More importantly, only unrestricted free agents factor into the league’s formula when the compensatory totals are calculated.
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At the same time, several other transactions do not affect the system at all. Players who get released before signing elsewhere do not count, and neither do restricted free agents who go unsigned after a tender decision.
For example, the Bills lost wide receiver Mack Hollins last March when he signed with the New England Patriots, which initially placed Buffalo in line for a late Round 6 compensatory pick. But that potential pick quickly disappeared once the Bills made their own move in free agency. Buffalo signed wide receiver Joshua Palmer to a deal worth about $10 million per year, and his contract fell into the same compensatory category as Hollins.
As a result, Palmer’s signing immediately canceled out the potential pick gained from Hollins’ departure.
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Then the Bills added defensive end Michael Hoecht on a contract averaging $7 million per year, which also qualified as a Round 6 offset. Then the team brought back cornerback Tre’Davious White on a deal worth roughly $4 million annually, classified as a Round 7 offset.
Kenneth Walker III joins Mahomes in KC and Malik Willis starts QB reset in Miami, AP sources say
Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III is the new running back for Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, Miami settled on Malik Willis for a reset at quarterback and receiver Mike Evans is headed to San Francisco after 12 years in Tampa Bay.
People with knowledge of the agreements told The Associated Press on Monday, the opening day of NFL free agency, that Walker was leaving Seattle after winning a championship and the Dolphins reached a deal with Willis after announcing earlier in the day that they were releasing Tua Tagovailoa.
Patriots fill major need by signing free-agent offensive lineman away from Jets
The Patriots made one final splash signing on the first day of free agency, agreeing to a deal with offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker late Monday night, per NFL Media.
Vera-Tucker, who has spent his entire NFL career with the Jets, projects to play left guard next to left tackle Will Campbell, center Jared Wilson, right guard Mike Onwenu and right tackle Morgan Moses.
The 6-foot-5, 308-pound offensive lineman went one pick before the Patriots selected Mac Jones in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft when the Jets traded up to the No. 14 overall pick. Vera-Tucker, 26, has started 43 games since entering the NFL.
The USC product has started games at left guard, right guard and right tackle during his NFL career. He missed all of last season with a torn triceps. It was the second time he’s missed games due to a torn triceps during his career. He also missed time with an Achilles injury.
Vera-Tucker joins Wilson, Onwenu, Ben Brown and Caedan Wallace on the Patriots’ interior offensive line.
The Patriots agreed to trade center Garrett Bradbury to the Bears over the weekend. The deal can’t become official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
The Patriots have also agreed to deals with edge defender Dre’Mont Jones and fullback Reggie Gilliam since the league’s open tampering period began Monday at noon.
NFL Free Agency: Patriots add offensive line help
Just before the end of the first day of NFL free agency’s legal tampering period, the Patriots added an interesting piece.
New England agreed to terms with former Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker. NFL Media’s Ian Rapport first reported the deal.
Terms weren’t immediately announced.
The 26-year-old former first round-pick is 6-foot-5, 308 pounds. He’s been injury prone throughout his career and didn’t play at all in 2025 with a torn triceps.
After the Patriots traded starting center Garrett Bradbury, Jared Wilson is expected to move to center leaving a hole at left guard. New England is hoping Vera-Tucker can fill it.
ESPN ranked the former USC standout as its No. 59-ranked free agent available.
No deals can become official until Wednesday.
Source: Patriots reach deal with OL Alijah Vera-Tucker
The New England Patriots made a move to bolster their offensive line Monday night, agreeing to a three-year deal with the versatile but injury-plagued Alijah Vera-Tucker, according to NFL Network.
Strengthening the unit in front of quarterback Drake Maye was expected to be a focus of the reigning AFC champions, and adding Vera-Tucker accomplishes that. He could slot into left guard for the team, between tackle Will Campbell and Jared Wilson if the latter moves to center in the wake of the Garrett Bradbury trade to the Chicago Bears.
Vera-Tucker, drafted 14th in 2021, earned $15.3 million last season on his fifth-year option with the New York Jets. The Jets were so high on him as a prospect that they traded up in the first round — an unusual move for a player whose natural position isn’t tackle.
His career has been defined by unusual versatility and devastating injuries.
Vera-Tucker (6-foot-5, 308 pounds) has started at every offensive-line position except center — 20 games at right guard, 16 at left guard, six at right tackle and one at left tackle. Early in his career, there was talk of making him a full-time tackle, but he eventually settled in at guard — specifically, right guard over the last two seasons.
His problem is staying on the field. He has suffered three major injuries in five years — a torn Achilles and torn triceps (both arms). He has missed one full season (2025) and large chunks in two others (2022, ’23). All told, he has played in only 43 out of 85 games, making him a big risk/big reward free agent.
Vera-Tucker was looking forward to a big year in 2025 — he was elected a captain for the first time — but he tore a triceps in practice during the run-up to the season opener. When healthy, he’s considered an above-average run blocker who can adapt to any scheme. In 2024, he finished with the third-best pressure rate among right guards, per Next Gen Stats.
Chiefs Expected to Sign Speedy WR for Patrick Mahomes
The Kansas City Chiefs made sure Patrick Mahomes had a good day on Monday.
The three-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time NFL MVP quarterback is rehabilitating a torn ACL and LCL suffered on Dec. 14, and the Chiefs are fast at work rebuilding the offense around him. The blockbuster move came in the form of former Seattle Seahawks running back and reigning Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III. Part of it also involved agreeing to re-sign two familiar faces to welcome Mahomes back in 2026.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Monday afternoon that the Chiefs plan to re-sign future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, 36, for his 14th season. Per Rapoport, the deal is for $12 million
Patriots agree to terms with OL Alijah Vera-Tucker
The Patriots are signing offensive guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Vera-Tucker, 26, missed all of last season after tearing his left triceps in training camp with the Jets. It was the second triceps tear for Vera-Tucker after he tore his right one in Week 7 of 2022.
He tore his Achilles’ tendon in Week 5 of 2023.
Vera-Tucker has played only 43 games, while missing 41, since the Jets drafted him in the first round in 2021.
Still, he ranks 31st on PFT’s top-100 free agents list.
Jared Wilson, a third-round pick in 2025, started at left guard as a rookie. He is moving to center to replace Garrett Bradbury, with Vera-Tucker penciled in to start at left guard.
Patriots Steal Key Offensive Player From Division Rival
Coming off another Super Bowl appearance, the New England Patriots found a way to stick it to their longtime rival once again.
The Patriots have agreed to a three-year deal with former New York Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The deal gives rising star quarterback Drake Maye more protection and ammunition up front, both in the run game and the passing attack.
Vera-Tucker was one of the top interior offensive linemen available this offseason. The USC product battled injuries during his time with the Jets, but when healthy, he has the potential to be a Pro Bowler at either guard position.
The former first-round pick missed the entire 2025 season after tearing his triceps in practice before the season-opener. Now healthy, he should slot into the Patriots’ offensive line with ease alongside the team’s top pick last offseason: left tackle Will Campbell.
Vera-Tucker was selected No. 14 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, just one pick before the Patriots took quarterback Mac Jones. Still just 26 years old, there is plenty of time for Vera-Tucker to reach his potential and become a key piece in bringing the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
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The move comes at a good time, considering the Patriots traded center Garrett Bradbury to the Bears this weekend, meaning Jared Wilson will slide to become the full-time center, allowing Vera-Tucker to take over at left guard.
The Patriots beat out the Giants for Vera-Tucker’s services, potentially because the price became too steep when considering the guard’s injury history, according to NFL reporter Connor Hughes. He has missed 41 total games in four years.
The news is especially stinging for the Jets. Not only did the team hope to keep its former first-rounder, but losing him to a rival looking to reignite a dynasty only makes it worse. The Jets also lost guard John Simpson to the Ravens on a deal agreed upon earlier on Monday.
Dallas Cowboys keep Sam Williams out of free agency
Defensive end Sam Williams was headed toward becoming an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday afternoon. But the Dallas Cowboys announced on Monday night that they had reached an agreement with Williams to remain in Dallas on a one-year contract extension.
Williams had completed his four-year, $6.527 million rookie contract signed after he joined the Cowboys from Ole Miss in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Dallas did not announce the monetary value of Williams’ new one-year deal, but the Dallas News reported the deal was worth $3 million for the 2026 season.
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Williams was a standout at Lee High School (now Percy Julian) in Montgomery.
In 2025, Williams played in every game for Dallas, with five starts, after he missed the entire 2024 season. Williams bounced back with 37 tackles, one sack, seven tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, two pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He played a career-high 474 defensive snaps, 43 percent of the Cowboys’ total.
Williams played in 32 regular-season games and three postseason games in his first two NFL seasons. He had 48 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
Then in training camp ahead of the 2024 season, Williams suffered a torn ACL and MCL, which ended his third season before it started.
Travis Kelce Announces Future Plans After Much Speculation
Travis Kelce‘s “New Heights” podcast has announced his return to the Kansas City Chiefs for his 14th season in the NFL.
After months of speculation, the podcast revealed via Instagram on Monday, March 9, that the tight end, 36, will be “back with the Chiefs for year 14.”
“New Heights” shared a parody of a John Wick scene with an animated version of Kelce quoting the action movie, saying, “People keep asking if I’m back and I haven’t really had an answer. But now, yeah, I’m thinking I’m back!”
NFL insider Ian Rapoport was first to report the news on Monday, March 9. Kelce was set to become a free agent and receive interest from other teams.
Kelce has played for the Chiefs ever since the team drafted him in 2013, winning three Super Bowls in 2020, 2023 and 2024. He was under contract with the Chiefs through the 2025-2026 NFL season, sparking speculation that he could retire this year. While Kelce and his teammates hoped to secure another Super Bowl title this year, the Chiefs had a disappointing season, failing to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and losing quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a knee injury in December 2025 before the regular season ended.
In November 2025, Travis shared an update on his retirement plans, telling reporters that he looked to the example set by his older brother, Jason Kelce, when weighing his decision. (Jason, 38, announced his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles in March 2024 after 13 seasons.)
“You know, seeing my brother go through it and seeing … just how the league works, the season kind of restarts in April, and I want to give the Chiefs a good opportunity to know whether I come back or not,” he explained at the time. “And vice versa. Like, whether they want me back or not, it’s one of those things where I’d like to make that decision before they’ve got to get draft picks and free agency opens up.”
He added, “All that will be at the end of the season. I won’t be thinking about it until then.”
Meanwhile, Jason shared some sage advice for his younger brother as Travis debated retirement.
“In my opinion, to nail that decision, you have to step away from the game for a little bit,” he said on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown in December 2025. “Play these last three games, enjoy them with your teammates, enjoy them with your coaches. The team’s going to be different no matter whether you come back or not next year.”
Jason also emphasized the importance of Travis processing his feelings about the Chiefs’ rough season before making a major decision about his NFL future.
“Enjoy these last three games and then let it sink in. It will come to you with time,” he insisted. “There are so many emotions with this game right after a season, especially with the way this one’s been.”
“They’ve been close, and right now it’s just too fresh,” Jason added. “You gotta step away from it, you gotta think about it, and then, yeah, it will come to you.”
Before the 2025-2026 NFL season officially began, Travis took the next step in his relationship with Taylor Swift by getting engaged in August 2025. Since then, the couple — who have been dating since the summer of 2023 — have started wedding planning.
“They are both [very] involved, and Taylor thinks it’s cute that Travis wants to help,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2025.
As they look ahead to their future, Travis and Swift, 36, know that they “don’t want a long engagement,” the insider said, revealing that the pair “very much want to start a family in the next year or so.”
How the Maple Leafs can get out of the mess they created in 3 steps
The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the NHL Trade Deadline in complete disarray that was entirely of their own making. The team was in a nosedive towards the bottom of the standings, their GM had not made a trade in months, their coach was questioning their players’ heart, and their CEO was making excuses for why this season has been a disaster.
Despite the trepidation from fans about the overall direction of the team, there was an opportunity for Brad Treliving to reinstate some confidence by being an active seller and recouping a lot of assets to kickstart the retool. Things got off to a promising start when they were able to send Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche for a first and a fifth, but things regressed from there in disappointing fashion. They held onto Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton for too long and had to settle for lesser returns so they didn’t risk losing them both for nothing. They were unable to make a move involving Oliver Ekman-Larsson, didn’t get anything done on the other pending UFAs in Calle Jarnkrok and Troy Stecher, and still don’t have a guaranteed pick until the third round at the time of filing.
It is becoming painfully obvious that the Leafs need to make some serious changes to prevent this lost season from spiraling into another dark age for the franchise. The amount of damage that Treliving and head coach Craig Berube have done to the organization in such a short amount of time is shocking, and fans are quickly losing faith that the two of them will be able to get the Leafs out of it. Not when the GM was too indecisive for months and didn’t execute on his deadline goals, or when the coach is out of answers and places the blame on the players instead of making smarter adjustments with the lineup.
If the Leafs want to get the ship back on track and make the 2025-26 campaign an outlier instead of the start of a downward trend, there is a three-step plan that they should aim to execute in the weeks and months ahead.
Step 1: Find a new GM and head coach
This is something that the Leafs should have done back in late November when things started to unravel, or back in December when they fired Marc Savard as a scapegoat. But the Leafs are not going to do themselves any favours the longer they hold onto Berube and Treliving, which is why letting go of them both has to be the first step of their turnaround. The issues plaguing this team have only gotten worse to the point that the Leafs found themselves as sellers at the deadline for the first time in a decade. The fact that they are in this position less than a year after winning the Atlantic Division and having their deepest playoff run since 2002 is quite the revelation, and it’s hard to envision things improving next season if they stay the course with their current GM and coach.
Ideally, now would be the time since the actual prime time was back in the aforementioned period of late-November to late-December. They have plenty of internal options they can use to finish out the season on an interim and then the offseason is a chance to assess if they can be given a permanent role. It is also in their best interest to get a better sense of which players on their roster they actually would like to hold onto and which ones they should seriously consider moving off of (more on that later). With that said, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the Leafs decide to just ride out the rest of their schedule before firing them both so they can begin their replacement searches in earnest. The last thing this Leafs team needs is a new coach/GM bump when they are best incentivized to lose as much as possible to improve their draft lottery odds.
As far as who should be the replacements, it’s hard to say at this juncture since we don’t know who will become available to be GM and head coach. They could look at someone in-house to fill the void, like Derek Lalonde as head coach or Brandon Pridham as GM, or they could look at hiring more established options who could be up for grabs. There have been rumours suggesting Doug Armstrong could be lured to Toronto since he would like to continue being a GM despite moving up to be the St. Louis Blues president after this season. Pete DeBoer has remained available all season long and could be a good change of pace if he is convinced to coach the Leafs. There are plenty of young and experienced options the Leafs could consider for both roles, but the goal is to find someone who will have a better long-term plan and a better coaching system to get this team back on track.
Step 2: Consider moving anyone not named Matthews, Nylander, or Tavares
One thing that Treliving did correctly leading up to the deadline was listen in on just about anyone on the roster, apart from the cornerstone pieces in Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares. What he didn’t do was go deep enough in the weeds at selling off more parts of the roster, and this is what should be the primary focus of the early days of the next GM’s tenure in charge. It’s not to say that they need to trade away everyone to start over, but they shouldn’t be afraid to move pieces off the roster so they can get back assets that will further restock the cupboard.
Getting a proper sense of what the value is on the players that could fetch back a solid return and then make deals is going to be paramount to making this a successful retool. This means exploring the market for guys like Brandon Carlo, Max Domi, Anthony Stolarz, and Simon Benoit, all of whom likely won’t be long-term options for the team at this current juncture. It also means looking to offset a Morgan Rielly, who has struggled mightily from a defensive standpoint and his time in Toronto feels like it’s coming to an end. While they shouldn’t be quick to move off some of their younger guys like Matthew Knies or Easton Cowan, they should be comfortable having a conversation with teams about them and only move off of said players if it’s an offer they can’t refuse.
It would be in their best interest to dangle just about everyone who has term remaining on their contracts because those are the players who may be able to bring back plenty of assets like draft picks and prospects. Not everyone has to be moved because they will still need to ice a competitive roster, but getting the cupboard filled up has to be a primary goal in the offseason. The reality is that even after the three moves the Leafs have made at the deadline, they don’t currently possess a pick in the first and second rounds, so they would be wise to get at least one pick back in each round for this year. Their prospect system also leaves a lot to be desired, with no major pieces that are on the verge of making the jump to help bring reinforcement. Improving the farm system would do wonders for the long-term health of the team, especially if they wish to maximize their chances with Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares in the fold.
Step 3: Use some of the assets to bring in established players
This will no doubt be the trickiest part of the plan since it is all dependent on how much they get done leading up to the buying phase, but this is their only path to get meaningful improvements. The Leafs do need to improve their prospect pool – as mentioned in the previous section – but they also need to be mindful of the fact that most of these prospects they add won’t be able to jump in and help the team right away. They could look to free agency to address their needs, but the market is drying up fast and there will be slim pickings for them and the rest of the league.
All that is left are trades, which shouldn’t be difficult to manage from a cap perspective since they have over $10 million to work with currently and that could increase in the weeks ahead. The Leafs have a lot of needs to address this summer, but the big three are a top-six centre, a top-six winger, and improvements to the blueline. They could circle back on Robert Thomas to address their needs down the middle since reports emerged that they kicked tires on him leading up to the deadline. Jason Robertson could be made available if he isn’t able to get a deal with the Dallas Stars, making him an ideal target to add a winger up top. Colton Parayko’s name had made the rounds leading up to the deadline and the Blues may opt to try again in the summer, making him someone the Leafs could look at.
It is far from an exhaustive list, but the point is that there would be plenty of players the Leafs could make an aggressive push towards if they can get enough back in the prior trades. This will go a long way in making the team significantly stronger from a roster construction standpoint, since it was something Treliving outlined as part of their failings this season. Of course, it should be someone else making said moves while being aligned with the system that the new coach wants to implement. If they can play their cards right with the replacement hires, move some of their roster players, and use the assets acquired to bring in immediate help, it would go a long way to getting the Leafs out of the mess and back to contention in short order.
NHL fines Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel
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NHL EDGE stats behind Sabres-Lightning’ 8-7 thriller
The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 8-7, on Sunday to move into first place in the Atlantic Division, and the game featured plenty of offensive fireworks and advanced stats highlights.
The Sabres-Lightning matchup was the 16th time in NHL history and 10th in the expansion era (since 1967-68) where both teams combined for at least seven goals in multiple periods of the game (second and third) and the first such game since Nov. 25, 1992 (Detroit Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues). The teams combined for 15 goals and 70 shots on goal (42-28 advantage for Buffalo).
Buffalo forward Tage Thompson (four assists; now has 11-game point streak) led a group of seven players with at least three points in the game (other Sabres: forward Jason Zucker, defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram had three each); Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, defensemen Darren Raddysh and J.J. Moser also each had three-point games. It is the first time in over 18 years that an NHL game featured that many players with three or more points (Calgary Flames, Lightning also combined for seven on Dec. 13, 2007).
The Sabres led the game 3-0 and 4-1 before the Lightning scored five unanswered goals to take a 6-4 lead. Then, Buffalo later overcame a 7-5 deficit to win in regulation by scoring the final three goals of the game over the final 8:57, capped by Josh Doan’s second goal with 4:17 left. With seven straight wins and an NHL-best 28-5-2 record over their past 35 games since Dec. 9, 2025, Buffalo is among the top five in the League standings at this stage of the season or later for the first time since their Presidents’ Trophy-winning season in 2006-07 and are leading their division at this stage of the season or later for the first time since 2009-10.
There were six special teams goals in the game, five scored by the Sabres (four on power play, one shorthanded), highlighted by Doan’s go-ahead goal. It was Buffalo’s most special teams goals in one game since Nov. 8, 2011 (also had five against Winnipeg Jets).
Here are some advanced stats takeaways surrounding the Lightning-Sabres thriller, which was arguably the game of the year across the NHL this season:
Shot speed: Raddysh had the hardest shot of the game at 98.64 miles per hour; it was the hardest shot by any player in the seven NHL games on Sunday. Raddysh, who had two 90-plus mph shots in the game, leads the NHL with 75 such attempts this season (34 more than next-closest player).
Buffalo had 16 shot attempts of at least 80 mph by 10 different skaters, while Tampa Bay had eight such attempts. Thompson and Raddysh were tied for the most 80-plus mph attempts in the game (four each). There were four shot attempts of at least 90 mph in the game, two by Raddysh and one each by Thompson and Dahlin. Thompson leads NHL forwards in 90-plus mph shot attempts (31) this season, has the fifth-hardest shot attempt at the position this season (97.94 mph) and ranks in the 98th percentile in average shot speed (64.63 mph).
Skating speed: Buffalo had 26 speed bursts of at least 20 miles per hour, including forward Beck Malenstyn’s fastest burst by either team in the game (22.19 mph in first period). Malenstyn leads the Sabres with 13 speed bursts of at least 22 mph this season, which ranks in the 96th percentile among forwards.
Forward Ryan McLeod, who had an assist in the game, led all players in the game with six 20-plus mph speed bursts; he ranks eighth in the entire NHL with 250 such bursts this season. Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, who had a goal and an assist in the game, had the fastest speed burst for the Lightning (22.15 mph in third period). He ranks among the forward leaders in the League’s 93rd percentile in 22-plus mph speed bursts (11) and 90th percentile in 20-plus mph bursts (138).
Goals off the rush: Per NHL EDGE IQ, there were six goals (four by Buffalo, two by Tampa Bay) scored off the rush, defined as ones that occur within five seconds of the puck crossing the offensive blue line. Both of Zucker’s goals were scored off the rush, including his goal that tied the game, 7-7, with 5:31 left in the third period.
Projected goal rate: Per NHL EDGE IQ,
Stanley Cup champ, former NHL broadcaster dies
Former Chicago Blackhawks player and broadcaster Troy Murray has died, the franchise announced. He was 63.
Murray died after a yearslong battle with cancer, which he first announced he was diagnosed with in 2021.
“The Chicago Blackhawks are deeply heartbroken today as we mourn the loss of Troy Murray, our beloved “Muzz,” and our love and support go out to his family,” the organization said in a news release. “Troy was the epitome of a Blackhawk, so far beyond his incredible playing career with a presence felt in every corner of our organization over the last 45 years. He was admired by his teammates and our players, and was so proud to connect generations of Blackhawks through his work with the Blackhawks Alumni Association. He jumped at every call to support our local community with our Foundation. He never missed a chance to say ‘hello’ in our press box and always knew the perfect time for a joke just when someone around the office needed it most. And he absolutely loved bringing Blackhawks hockey to you, our fans, night after night with a dedication to his craft that never wavered to the very end.
“During his long and hard battle with cancer, it was often said that Troy didn’t have any ‘give up’ in him. While our front office simply won’t be the same without him, we will carry that spirit forward every day in his honor. We’ll miss you, Muzz.”
Murray played 15 seasons in the NHL from 1981-96, including his first 12 seasons with the Blackhawks. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound center won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 1986, an honor that is awarded annually to the NHL’s best defensive forward. He recorded 488 points – 197 goals, 291 assists – in 688 games for the Blackhawks.
After 12 seasons in Chicago, Murray was traded to the Winnipeg Jets, where he served as team captain for two seasons in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
Midway through the 1993 season, however, Murray was traded from Winnipeg back to Chicago, where he played one more year. He was again traded from Chicago to the Ottawa Senators in 1994 and played parts of two seasons there.
Murray split his final season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche, including winning the 1996 Stanley Cup with the Avs.
Following his playing career, Murray transitioned to broadcasting and served as the radio color analyst for the Blackhawks on WGN for more than two decades. He also served as president of the Chicago Blackhawks Alumni Association, where he helped oversee a scholarship program for high school hockey players in Illinois.
Prior to the Blackhawks’ road game on Sunday, the host Dallas Stars honored the late Murray with a bouquet of flowers and a handwritten card in the Stars press box next to a headset.
Lightning’s Brandon Hagel fined as aggressor in altercation with Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin
There are some extended consequences following one of the craziest games we have seen in a long time.
On Monday, the NHL Department of Player Safety fined Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel $5,000 for “serving as the aggressor in an altercation” with Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
The incident in question occurred early in the second period between the teams on Sunday night. Hagel decided that he was going to target the Sabres captain and grabbed the Swedish defenseman. After it became clear that Dahlin had no intentions of fighting, Hagel decided he would express his frustrations by punching Dahlin multiple times in the back of the head before taking him down to the ice.
It led to a full-fledged donnybrook, and not the first of the game either. Even Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen came out of his net to come to his teammate’s aid. The only penalty handed out in the skirmish was a double-minor for roughing against Hagel.
The fine is the maximum allowable under the current collective bargaining agreement. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
That wasn’t the only time Hagel was sent to the box on Sunday. He totaled 11 minutes in penalties, as he also fought Sabres forward Peyton Krebs in the first period, and was called for boarding Tage Thompson just a few minutes into the game. Hagel ended up with a goal and an assist as well to complete the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
It was a small part of a wild game in western New York. The teams combined for a total of 27 penalties, five fighting majors and 102 penalty minutes, with the Sabres, who squandered a 3-0 lead, rallying back to win the game 8-7. According to OptaSTATS, it was the largest combination of goals and penalties since Feb. 21, 1994, when the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers reached that total.
This isn’t the first time Hagel has received supplemental discipline. He was suspended for Game 3 of the Bolts’ first-round series against the Florida Panthers last spring for hitting Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov. Hagel was also fined for boarding Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen during the 2022 playoffs.
The Lightning and Sabres will meet one more time before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, that coming in Buffalo on April 6.
Red Wings get a feel-good win and feel good for Dominik Shine
The Detroit Red Wings’ 3-0 victory Sunday over the New Jersey Devils was a feel-good win.
They felt good to bounce back after a pair of losses at home (0-1-1), to win their first game without injured captain Dylan Larkin, to see newly acquired defenseman Justin Faulk make a seamless transition, to know that goaltender John Gibson is fine despite leaving after the second period due to an injury.
They also felt good seeing Dominik Shine score his first NHL goal.
“Everyone had smiles on their faces when he scored, and I think that says a lot, not only about this team, but also what he brings to our team,” Moritz Seider told media in New Jersey.
Shine’s goal at 10:24 of the third period provided added insurance at 3-0. He went to the net and buried a nice backhand pass through the crease from James van Riemsdyk.
“It’s just a great play by JVR and good forecheck by (Michael Rasmussen) and (Seider) there, but man, it felt good,” Shine told media.
“It means the world. There’s a ton of guys like me who work their (rears) off in the American League, do whatever it takes, fight, grind, and just feels really good.”
Shine, at 32 years and 342 days, became the oldest Red Wings player at the time of his first NHL goal since Vaclav Nedomansky (33 years, 269 days on Dec. 8, 1977).
It came during his 14th NHL game, all with the Red Wings over the past two seasons.
The native of Pinckney, Mich., and Northern Michigan University product has played in 521 AHL games, all with the Grand Rapids Griffins over the past 10 seasons.
“At the end of the day, I just want to work hard wherever I am,” Shine said. “If it’s here or it’s Grand Rapids or whatever it is, I just want to leave my mark on be a hard-working guy and someone people respect.”
Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said everyone on the bench was excited for Shine.
“He’s done a lot for the organization, not just with our team, but in Grand Rapids over the years,” McLellan said in his postgame address. “He’s hit, he’s fought, he’s blocked shots. Now he’s got a puck to put on his wall, and we’re all happy for him.”
Said Shine: “I get a little emotional thinking about it. I got a 2-year-old, almost 3-year-old and one on the way. So, my wife’s at home taking care of our kid and two dogs. I’m just really, really happy right now.”
Projected lineups, starting goalies for today
KINGS (25-23-14) at BLUE JACKETS (32-21-9)
4 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, FDSNW
Kings projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore — Quinton Byfield — Alex Laferriere
Alex Turcotte — Scott Laughton — Jared Wright
Jeff Malott — Samuel Helenius — Taylor Ward
Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin — Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Mathieu Joseph, Jacob Moverare
Injured: Joel Armia (back), Andrei Kuzmenko (meniscus), Kevin Fiala (fractured leg)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Mason Marchment — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson — Sean Monahan — Conor Garland
Cole Sillinger — Charlie Coyle — Mathieu Olivier
Isac Lundestrom — Boone Jenner — Miles Wood
Zach Werenski — Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov — Denton Mateychuk
Dante Fabbro — Erik Gudbranson
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Jake Christiansen, Dmitri Voronkov, Danton Heinen, Egor Zamula
Injured: None
Status report
Neither team will hold a morning skate. … The Kings could use the same lineup that played in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. … Fabbro practiced Sunday and is a game-time decision after missing two games because of a lower-body injury. … Monahan and Coyle did not practice Sunday (maintenance) but are expected to play.
RANGERS (24-30-8) at FLYERS (29-22-11)
7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, NBCSP+, TVAS
Rangers projected lineup
Gabe Perreault — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck — Jonny Brodzinski
Tye Kartye — Noah Laba — Conor Sheary
Adam Edstrom — Juuso Parssinen — Jaroslav Chmelar
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Will Borgen — Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson — Urho Vaakanainen
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Scratched: Vincent Iorio, Aidan Thompson, Taylor Raddysh, Brendan Brisson
Injured: Matt Rempe (upper body), J.T. Miller (upper body)
Flyers projected lineup
Alex Bump — Christian Dvorak — Nikita Grebenkin
Denver Barkey — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Carl Grundstrom — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Luke Glendening — Sean Couturier — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
Samuel Ersson
Scratched: None
Injured: Tyson Foerster (arm), Rodrigo Abols (lower body), Travis Konecny (upper body), Nick Seeler (lower body)
Status report
Raddysh is expected to miss two games following the death of the forward’s father; Brodzinski will replace him Monday. … Brisson was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday, but the forward is unlikely to play. … Vaakanainen will play after being scratched for five games. He’ll replace Iorio, a defenseman. … Konecny and Seeler took part in an optional morning skate; Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said the forward and defenseman each will be a game-time decision, but Konecny is closer to playing than Seeler.
FLAMES (25-30-7) at CAPITALS (31-26-7)
7 p.m. ET; MNMT, SNW
Flames projected lineup
Joel Farabee — Morgan Frost — Blake Coleman
Victor Olofsson — Mikael Backlund — Matt Coronato
Connor Zary — Ryan Strome — Matvei Gridin
Ryan Lomberg — Yegor Sharangovich — Adam Klapka
Kevin Bahl — Yan Kuznetsov
Olli Maatta — Brayden Pachal
Joel Hanley — Zayne Parekh
Devin Cooley
Dustin Wolf
Scratched: Martin Pospisil, John Beecher, Hunter Brzustewicz
Injured: Jake Bean (undisclosed), Samuel Honzek (upper body), Jonathan Huberdeau (hip surgery), Zach Whitecloud (upper body)
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Anthony Beauvillier
Aliaksei Protas — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Justin Sourdif — Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime — Hendrix Lapierre — Ethen Frank
Martin Fehervary — Rasmus Sandin
Jakob Chychrun — Matt Roy
Dylan McIlrath — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charie Lindgren
Scratched: David Kampf, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Timothy Liljegren, Declan Chisholm
Injured: None
Status report
Olofsson will make his Flames debut after being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. … Whitecloud did not travel with the Flames; the defenseman fell awkwardly into the boards in the first period of a 5-4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. … Gridin and Brzustewicz, a defenseman, were each recalled from Calgary of the American Hockey League on Sunday. Kampf, a forward, is still in the process of having his immigration status cleared after being acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. … Washington coach Spencer Carbery said Liljegren, who was acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on Friday, will not play; the defenseman could make his Capitals debut at the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
MAMMOTH (34-25-4) at BLACKHAWKS (23-29-11)
8:30 p.m. ET; Utah16, CHSN
Mammoth projected lineup
Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — Dylan Guenther
JJ Peterka — Logan Cooley — Logan Crouse
Jack McBain — Barrett Hayton — Kailer Yamamoto
Alexander Kerfoot — Kevin Stenlund — Michael Carcone
Nate Schmidt — Sean Durzi
Ian Cole — Nick DeSimone
Dmitri Simashev — John Marino
Vitek Vanecek
Karel Vejmelka
Scratched: Liam O’Brien, Brandon Tanev, MacKenzie Weegar
Injured: Mikhail Sergachev (lower body)
Blackhawks projected lineup
Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — Andre Burakovsky
Ryan Donato — Frank Nazar — Teuvo Teravainen
Nick Lardis — Ilya Mikheyev — Tyler Bertuzzi
Landon Slaggert — Andrew Mangiapane — Sam Lafferty
Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk — Artyom Levshunov
Drew Commesso
Arvid Soderblom
Scratched: Ethan Del Mastro
Injured: Spencer Knight (illness), Oliver Moore (undisclosed)
Status report
Sergachev, a defenseman, could be game-time decision; he has missed the past two games. … The Blackhawks held an optional morning skate following a 4-3 overtime loss at the Dallas Stars on Sunday … Knight, a goalie, will miss his third straight game … Moore, a forward, will not play after he was injured in the first period Sunday.
SENATORS (31-22-9) at CANUCKS (19-36-8)
9 p.m. ET; RDS, Prime
Senators projected lineup
Drake Batherson — Tim Stutzle — Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk — Dylan Cozens — Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins — Shane Pinto — Michael Amadio
Warren Foegele — Lars Eller — Fabian Zetterlund
Thomas Chabot — Artem Zub
Nikolas Matinpalo — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Jordan Spence
James Reimer
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Stephen Halliday, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Jake Sanderson (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
Jake DeBrusk — Elias Pettersson — Nils Hoglander
Liam Ohgren — Marco Rossi — Brock Boeser
Evander Kane — Aatu Raty — Drew O’Connor
Max Sasson — Teddy Blueger — Linus Karlsson
Elias Nils Pettersson — Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson — Tom Willander
Zeev Buium — Victor Mancini
Kevin Lankinen
Nikita Tolopilo
Scratched: Curtis Douglas
Injured: P.O Joseph (upper body), Filip Chytil (facial fracture), Thatcher Demko (hip surgery), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)
Status report
Sanderson, a defenseman, is week to week, Senators coach Travis Green said. Sanderson was injured by a hit along the boards in the second period of a 7-4 win at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. Chabot moves up into Sanderson’s spot on the top pair, and Matinpalo will enter the lineup for the first time in 12 games. … Reimer will start in goal for the first time in six games. … Kane, a forward, was not at the morning skate and Boeser left early, but Canucks coach Adam Foote said they were “just taking care of a couple things” and “should be fine.” … Douglas, a forward claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, skated on the right side of Kane’s line at the morning skate and will make his Vancouver debut if either Kane or Boeser can’t play.
NHL Blasted For Brandon Hagel Punishment After Sabres-Lightning Chaos
The NHL is catching serious heat after disciplining Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel … ’cause a lot of hockey fans think the punishment didn’t go nearly far enough.
The league announced Monday it has fined Hagel $5,000 — the maximum allowed under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement — after determining he was the aggressor in an altercation with Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin during Sunday’s heated matchup.
Notably, Hagel was not suspended … a decision that has sparked plenty of outrage online.
Many fans argued the hit — which came after Dahlin appeared to disengage from the play — warranted a suspension instead of what amounts to the league’s standard maximum fine.
The controversial moment went down early in the second period when Hagel and Dahlin got tangled up in Buffalo’s defensive zone. Dahlin delivered a cross-check during the sequence, prompting Hagel to retaliate.
As Dahlin turned and began skating away, Hagel struck him in the back of the head, causing tensions to boil over.
Officials immediately stepped in and assessed Hagel two minor penalties for roughing, and players from both teams gathered briefly before referees restored order.
But the bad blood had started even earlier.
Less than five minutes into the game, Hagel and teammate Anthony Cirelli crushed Sabres star Tage Thompson into the boards after the whistle, triggering a massive scrum involving players from both sides.
The gloves kept dropping throughout the night … by the end of the first period alone, officials had already handed out 70 penalty minutes.
When the dust settled, the teams combined for 100 penalty minutes, five fights, 27 penalties and 15 goals — a stat line the NHL hadn’t seen in a single game since 1994.
Alexis Lafreniere knows he has to seize newfound Rangers moment
PHILADELPHIA — Before the Rangers took the ice Monday for morning skate, Alexis Lafrenière already was out there. He practiced his net-front tips, one after the other, with assistant coach Ty Hennes for his current position on the top power-play unit.
But Lafrenière putting in the extra work before morning skate isn’t exactly a sight that’s been synonymous with his six seasons in New York.
That’s not to say it’s never happened before; it surely has. Every player has a different approach and is entitled to their preferred routine.
Since the Rangers drafted him first overall in 2020, however, Lafrenière’s work ethic has been questioned as he’s struggled to find consistency in the NHL. It’s only become more relevant since he signed a seven-year, $52.15 million extension in October 2024.
NHL insider drops update on Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving’s future
The top brass of the Toronto Maple Leafs have not decided to fire general manager Brad Treliving, nor have they told him that his job is at risk, according to reports.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Treliving likely has not been told anything definitive about his future with the Maple Leafs yet, despite the pressure fans have applied for structural changes following the team’s rough patch.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Joins LeBron James in NBA History
The battle of NBA MVPs on Monday, March 9, surely didn’t disappoint.
In a game between Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, both players dazzled.
The latter ended up making history in multiple ways, while coming out on top with the victory.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Joins Exclusive List With LeBron James
In 39 minutes of action, Gilgeous-Alexander shot 14-21 from the field and 3-7 from three to score 35 points.
In addition to his scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander dished out 15 assists to secure the double-double, while coming down with nine rebounds. He also registered one blok and one steal.
With 35 points and 15 assists, Gilgeous-Alexander made NBA history, joining an exclusive list with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. The perfect high-volume assist-to-turnover ratio was truly special.
via @UnderdogNBA:
Players in NBA history with 35+ PTS, 15+ AST, 0 TO in a game:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (tonight)
LeBron James (2018)
End of list.
Gilgeous-Alexander landed plenty of help in the matchup, getting 29 points out of Jaylin Williams. He also secured a double-double by coming down with 12 rebounds.
On the other side, the Nuggets received a strong game from their MVP-winning center, Nikola Jokic.
In 40 minutes, Jokic shot 12-19 from the field and hit on five of his six free throws to score 32 points.
More Thunder News: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Likely Secured MVP With Game Winner
Typically a triple-double threat, Jokic added another one to his yearly collection. He dished out 13 assists and came down with 14 rebounds. Jokic also blocked a shot on the defensive end.
The Thunder defeated the Nuggets 129-126.
Another MVP Season In The Making
To no surprise, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having another MVP season in the making.
The Thunder star went into Monday’s action with 53 games played this season. After averaging 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.4 assists last season, Gilgous-Alexander is right in the same range.
The star guard averages 31.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. He is shooting at a higher percentage, knocking down shots at a 54% clip from the field and 38% from beyond the arc.
Last year, Gilgeous-Alexander ended up beating out Jokic for the league’s MVP award. After being top five in the voting over the previous two seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander finally won the hardware.
This year, he’s looking to become the latest NBA player to repeat the award.
Landing in company with LeBron James, while beating out Jokic, will certainly be a great campaign sweetener.
James, the 41-year-old legend, has won the league’s MVP award on four occasions. While Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t enter the elite conversation as early as LeBron in his career, he’s certainly an undeniable elite player at this stage of his run. As SGA continues to pile up impressive personal accolades, his argument for a Hall of Famer himself just grows by the night at this point.
“Should Be a Suspension”: Lu Dort’s ‘Second Attack’ on Jokic Sparks Fan Outrage in Nuggets-Thunder
The last time the Nuggets-Thunder clashed, Nikola Jokic wore all of his emotions on his sleeve. Anger was one of them, after Lu Dort appeared to intentionally go after the Joker’s injured left knee. The Thunder’s defensive stalwart admitted going ‘over the line’. But it appears he’s still not willing to let Jokic off without some bruises whenever they play.
The repeat clash tonight produced yet another thriller. The three-time MVP was sensational, but was interrupted by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s historic night. However, the focus here is on Dort getting another hit on Nikola Jokic.
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With a minute remaining and Dort guarding Jamal Murray, the Thunder guard tried to go over Jokic’s screen. In doing so, he flared his arms in the air, striking the Nuggets cornerstone in his face. After a few blurry moments, the officials reviewed the play. Lu Dort was assessed with a flagrant one for his violent play against Nikola Jokic.
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Tensions didn’t need to be contained this time. The Joker didn’t react with any frustration, but just went about his day. The Nuggets talisman tried to best to will the team back into the contest. Jokic scored 11 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, missing just one shot in the period. The All-Star center also missed one of the two flagrant foul free throws.
His valiant effort wasn’t enough against the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder. Playing without Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder still managed to thwart one of their top conference rivals. It marked their 51 win of the season and extended their winning streak to six games.
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Fans disgusted by Lu Dort’s foul against Nikola Jokic
NBA fans turned against the Thunder’s Lu Dort for targeting Nikola Jokic over their last two meetings. “Get this dude out of the league,” an outraged fan wrote. Dort has suffered a knock to his reputation with such plays. As a point of attack defender, his physicality and instincts are elite. However, there’s still the occasional questionable play that has led to some criticism.
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One of them is fans saying, “Dort is dirty”. The Canadian star recently defended himself against those claims after tripping Jokic when they faced off in February. During this particular instance, Dort’s arms caught Nikola Jokic flush in the face. However, it wasn’t as bad as his first attack on the three-time MVP.
Fans aren’t concerned about that. They’ve seen Lu Dort get away with some hard fouls over the years. And it’s reached a boiling point for some. “This should be a suspension,” a fan reacted. Dort has picked up flagrants in both games against the Nuggets over the past month. There are several other dangerous incidents. Hence, some fans want there to be punishment.
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Others advocated for the players to possibly take some action against Lu Dort. “The NBA is so soft. Lu Dort plays like a dirty b—h and everyone just cries rather than putting his little a– on the ground lol,” one fan suggested. Players such as Jeremiah Fears of the Pelicans nearly tried that. But getting into an altercation or responding to Dort’s actions means bringing trouble to yourself. A reaction does seem well warranted. But in the NBA, everybody doing wrong gets some punishment.
So far, it’s too early to say whether the league will make some changes. There are already concerns about the Thunder getting preferential treatment. But is it mostly inclined to Dort? Let us know your views in the comments below.
Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Ties Record Held by NBA Legend
Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander likely just won back-to-back NBA MVPs.
On Monday night, the reigning champion Thunder hosted the Denver Nuggets for the second time in 11 days. Oklahoma City defeated Denver 127-121 in overtime on Feb. 27, and Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, is the only reason they didn’t go to overtime again.
With five seconds left in regulation, Gilgeous-Alexander pulled up from three and drained the game-winning dagger.
After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters he’d rank this performance among the best regular-season performances in his eight-year NBA career.
Steve Kerr Pitches Bold Idea To Fix NBA’s Biggest Problems
Popular head coach Steve Kerr pitched a bold idea to drastically change the NBA season by removing 10 games from the schedule. The Golden State Warriors coach has deeper insight into the problem of too many injuries taking place to harm the league. Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry both suffering injuries of varying levels ruined the Warriors’ season after a promising star created some high expectations.
Kerr said the following to the media, while admitting the idea would be unpopular around the league:
“I know this will not be a popular opinion in the league office, but I will continue to say it because it’s obvious. We need to play fewer games. We need to take 10 games off the schedule. I think it would be great for the league. And I get it, it’s revenue, and you’d have to get everybody to agree to take a little less money, and that’s a really hard thing to do.
But I know about the league, about coaching, about how hard it is to play the modern game with the pace and the space. I think it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer games.”
Kerr backed up his claims by stating the modern game is harder with the pace and space. Faster competition and high-level competition today increase the risk of injuries compared to past eras.
Kerr’s Solution Could Fix Other Issues
The NBA is dealing with multiple problems harming the latter stages of the regular season. Many fans feel the season is relatively pointless due to tanking, injuries, and the standings holding little relevance beyond a few teams in certain secondary tiers.
Kerr’s idea to remove 10 games would help a few of these other issues. Tanking feels significant now since the end of the season feels long. Winning only hurts the bottom tier teams to see more than five teams drastically tanking.
Franchises like the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, and Sacramento Kings have all ruled out more than a few players out with questionable injuries. The season would also feel more important with fewer games meaning each game holds more importance. Kerr’s point would get support from other coaches and media members.
Why NBA Will NEVER Approve Kerr’s Idea
Multiple reasons exist for why the NBA has not considered lowering the schedule in recent years. Complaints about too many back-to-back games have created this conversation over the past couple of seasons with nothing coming out of it.
The NBA loves the historic records being part of the game with the greatest teams compared via the same total amount of games played. Statistical records for averages and other individual accomplishments will be harmed. Mikal Bridges’ “iron man” streak or Victor Wembanyama setting a blocks record are things that can be harmed.
Kerr also acknowledged that the financial benefits of playing 82 games will likely stop the league from considering his plan. The NBA has new television rights’ deals with national television games almost every night. Adam Silver is not risking losing money and likely prefers the risks of injury hurting the game.
The Harsh Truth About LeBron James’ Most Ideal Role On Lakers
After the Los Angeles Lakers’ dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves combined for 60 points in a 110-97 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday, a familiar debate resurfaced around the league: are the Lakers actually better without LeBron James?
James missed the game with a left elbow contusion and arthritis in his left foot. That absence left Doncic and Reaves to carry the offense. Doncic finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. He knocked down four three-pointers and scored 28 points in the first three quarters. Reaves added another strong scoring night as the Lakers secured their 39th win of the season.
The performance fueled online discussion about the Lakers’ offensive identity. However, NBA analyst Jason Timpf believes the real takeaway is different. Speaking on his podcast Hoops Tonight, Timpf argued the Lakers are not better without James. Instead, he believes the team may need to redefine his offensive role to maximize the lineup built around Doncic and Reaves.
Timpf addressed the viral discourse directly. He pushed back against the idea that Los Angeles functions better without its longtime superstar.
“No the Lakers are not better without LeBron, but I do think Austin needs to be the second option on this Lakers team,” Timpf said.
Lakers Need LeBron, But the Offense Should Change
The Knicks game offered a clear example of how dangerous the Lakers can look when Doncic runs the offense and Reaves serves as the primary scoring partner. Reaves’ performance stood out after several inconsistent outings earlier in the season.
But this conversation extends beyond one game. The statistical evidence supporting the Doncic-Reaves partnership has become difficult to ignore this season, even in a small sample size.
When the two share the floor without James, the Lakers hold a 9-2 record. In the 329 minutes Doncic and Reaves have played together, Los Angeles owns a +16.9 net rating. That mark ranks among the team’s most effective lineup combinations.
By comparison:
LeBron + Reaves: -4.7 net rating (194 minutes)
LeBron + Doncic: -3.5 net rating (498 minutes)
All three together: +1.5 net rating (293 minutes)
The numbers do not suggest James is the problem. Instead, they highlight how productive the Doncic–Reaves pairing can be when the offense runs through them.
Timpf made it clear that claims the Lakers are better without James are “ridiculous.” However, he noted the team could benefit if James accepts a different role now that Reaves has re-emerged as a consistent offensive weapon.
“But now that Austin’s back, I do think LeBron’s role offensively should be pared back,” he explained. “LeBron should be functioning as a screener unless he gets a favorable post matchup. I think that is the best version of this team.”
That would represent a unique role for the league’s all-time leading scorer. James has spent most of his career running offenses as the primary initiator. Now, the veteran may face a different reality. At this stage of his career, he may need to adjust his game to fit around other stars rather than the opposite.
Los Angeles Still Need LeBron to Contend
Despite the recent debate, the Lakers’ broader outlook still revolves around James. The team currently ranks ninth in offensive rating. That number has steadily improved over the past week.
If Los Angeles hopes to contend in the Western Conference playoffs, the offense likely needs to climb into the top five.
James remains one of the league’s most impactful players in his 21st season. However, the roster’s evolving identity centers on Doncic’s pace and Reaves’ scoring versatility. Because of that shift, the Lakers may benefit from adjusting how the four-time MVP is used.
That is the balance Timpf believes the Lakers must find. The team is not better without LeBron James. But if Los Angeles wants to maximize its new core, the path forward may involve reshaping James’ offensive role rather than replacing it.
“Irretrievably Broken”: Dwight Howard Files for Divorce After Wife Amy Luciani’s Latest Accusations – Report
Dwight Howard has finally broken his silence and filed for divorce for the second time. The honeymoon phase with wife Amber Rose, aka Amy Luciani, didn’t last long as the couple headed for a split after just 6 months of marriage. Eventually, they reconciled, but the current accusations caused a significant setback.
A few days ago, Luciani uploaded multiple videos on her Instagram and then deleted them, alleging that her husband was a dr-g addict. The Love & Hip-Hop alum also claimed that Dwight Howard called Child Protective Services three times in less than three months. While the NBA Hall of Famer hasn’t released a statement, TMZ reported that he filed for divorce on Monday morning.
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Dwight said the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” In the recent filing, the 3x DPOY demanded exclusive use of his Georgia mansion, which the couple shared. Even though he has filed for divorce, there was no other statement from the former Lakers star. Even Luciani, apart from those deleted videos, hasn’t spoken about her petition or divorce claims.
The NBA star’s ex first filed for divorce in July 2025, after six months of marriage. Last year, Amy even allegedly claimed that Howard tried to give her a herbal tea laced with a drug. But Howard’s attorney, Gillian B. Fierer, refuted any such claims, calling them “patently false.”
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At the time, even Dwight Howard would file his petition, but both dismissed it soon enough. Since then, the couple would step out together quite often. This included their attendance at events such as the Hall of Fame weekend and the recent photo taken at the WWE event last month. That’s why the videos from Luciani about Howard’s behavior went viral.
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She claimed that her stepdaughter was just taken by CPS because of her father. In another video, Luciani spoke to her stepson and asked him if his dad had made him lie to the police, and the reply was positive. Amy was in her car, crying profusely while revealing these details. She even stated that people close to the former NBA player knew about the issue and asked her not to end the marriage last year.
Dwight Howard’s ex hits back
Being a father to five children from five different women always made Howard’s personal life complicated. In fact, legal drama always surrounded his very first relationship. Royce Reed, a former Orlando Magic cheerleader, shares 17-year-old son Braylon with Howard. In 2024, she would even launch her own Instagram page, ‘ihadababybysuperman,’ which, until now, has 25 posts and has shared issues with Dwight Howard.
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At the time, Amy Luciani dismissed them and backed her husband. But now, after her allegations, Reed was quick with her statement. “Now you want to speak because he brought you into it,” Reed said. “Girl, keep me blocked! Because I’m gonna CLOCK IT!” She made it clear that it wasn’t against the kids and that she is standing in solidarity against Dwight Howard.
Their son, Braylon, also stated the same in a caption on Instagram. “I really hope you’re getting the help you need, Dad, but this other stuff you’re doing has to stop.” So, Dwight Howard is not receiving support during his legal issue.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ties NBA record in heroic win vs. Nuggets
Having already put together a career worthy of legendary status, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had one of the most memorable games of his career to date on Monday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, was at his best while matching an icon with a share of NBA history as the Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 129-126. He scored 35 points, shooting a 66.7% from the field and falling one rebound away from a triple-double with nine boards and 15 assists.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s monster performance saw him tie Wilt Chamberlain for the longest streak of scoring at least 20 points in NBA history at 126 games.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the hero in more ways than one
But his total statistics and historic achievement still don’t tell the whole story of why the game was a special one for Gilgeous-Alexander.
The reigning league MVP and Finals MVP made sure the Oklahoma City faithful went home happy after his big night. With the game tied at 126-126, Gilgeous-Alexander took control of the ball and drilled a clutch three to win the game in the final seconds.
Watch: Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg, NBA legend Larry Bird trade barbs in comedic Chime ad
Cooper Flagg’s latest ad campaign caught basketball fans’ attention when he teamed up with NBA legend Larry Bird to promote Chime’s new banking app.
The Mavericks rookie looks up to Bird in a big way, as he has previously said Bird was his favorite NBA player despite the fact Bird retired 14 years before Flagg was born. The star from Maine grew up rooting for the Celtics and his parents owned a DVD set featuring Boston games from Bird’s heyday.
It wouldn’t be a commericial involving Bird if it didn’t feature is infamous ability to trash talk. The 12-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion validates his titles because he won them “back when the league was legit.”
When the customer in the commercial shows off that his credit score on the Chime app went up 70 points, Flagg asks Bird if he could put up 70 points in game.
“Not if I’m guarding you,” Bird replied.
Flagg also had a joke of his own for Bird. When the Celtics legend asked Flagg if one of the benefits to the Chime app were for real, Flagg held up an old photo of Bird with his iconic haircut and said, “As real as your mullet in ‘86.”
Watch the full advertisement below.
“Must-See Experience”: NBA Legend Draws Strong Comparison Between Victor Wembanyama and Michael Jordan
For decades, the NBA has been defined by players who make it an experience. From Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry, through Michael Jordan’s gravity-defying feats, to Stephen Curry’s long-distance shooting, these athletes command the price of admission not just for their stats, but for the sheer unpredictability of their greatness. A generation after His Airness turned every possession into a historic feat and The Chef made every crossing of the half-court line must-see, Victor Wembanyama is completing the trinity of the game’s greatest marksmen.
Back again on Dan Patrick’s show, Reggie Miller declared that the alien has surpassed the rookie plane and firmly in a category reserved for the sport’s most watchable icons. After his 2025 season was cut short with blood clots, Miller feels that Wemby has defied scouting reports that suggested that physical play could disrupt his rhythm.
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“He’s come back with a sense of purpose of matching other teams’ physicality,” Miller said about Wemby’s Shaolin retreat in the offseason. This transformation has turned Wembanyama into a dual-threat terror on both ends of the floor that fans want to watch and opponents can’t predict.
“I’m thinking like, MJ was like that, because you didn’t know what you were going to see with MJ on the court,” Miller explained. “I put Stephen Curry in that because of his ability to shoot the basketball. To me, Wemby is a must-see experience because you truly do not know what you are going to see. And what you do see and witness, it’s like, I don’t think I’ve seen a human being do that.”
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It defies Charles Barkley’s narrative that Wemby could never be the face of the league. The Spurs’ last three games alone have made the French phenom a thrill to watch.
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Fans feel a little protective about him but by embracing the physical style rather than shying away from it, Wembanyama has transitioned from a curiosity into a “must-see” phenomenon that mirrors the legendary auras of Jordan and Curry.
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Victor Wembanyama’s rapid revolution into Michael Jordan’s mindset
Even Michael Jordan struggled with the physicality of ’80s NBA in his scrawny, rookie days. It only takes watching episode 4 of The Last Dance to show how he overcame that.
The infamous ‘Jordan Rules’ seem to be at play whenever Victor Wembanyama is on the floor now. Reggie Miller and Dan Patrick referenced a grueling three-game stretch for the San Antonio Spurs where Wemby had some close calls. Each time, he got up and dismantled some of the league’s most physical rosters.
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That mental fortitude was tested against the Detroit Pistons, the LA Clippers, and a towering Houston Rockets lineup featuring Kevin Durant. Wemby didn’t just embrace that, Miller says that he, “almost uses it against them.” This ability to weaponize an opponent’s aggression has propelled the Spurs to a dominant 14-of-15 stretch as of March 2026.
Wembanyama’s recent performance against the Clippers, where he led a 25-point comeback, is being cited by many as his “Jordan moment.” It was a back-to-back game, he was exhausted, and teared up with relief when the game was over. He could’ve rested in this game, but he’s on the threshold of falling out of DPOY contention if he misses more games. And he knows fans want to watch him play.
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Irrespective of what Jaylen Brown thinks, his defensive impact now rivals the peak years of Hakeem Olajuwon, who by the way trained him at his camp months ago. He’s also bringing some flair in his footwork and handles that he learned from Jamal Crawford and Kevin Garnett.
Knicks’ Mohamed Diawara posterizes Nic Batum with vicious vicious dunk
LOS ANGELES — Mohamed Diawara’s first NBA dunk was a poster.
The Knicks rookie highlighted an otherwise dreary Knicks loss Monday with a dribble through the Clippers defense before a one-handed jam over fellow Frenchman Nic Batum.
It occurred late in the third quarter and ignited a pro-Knicks crowd at the Intuit Dome, but the visitors couldn’t complete a comeback and fell amid a rash of turnovers, 126-118.
“I was just driving and dunked the ball and fortunately (Batum) was there,” Diawara, who grew up in France hearing much about Batum, told The Post. “But that was a good play. Funny to see that. My first dunk – my first poster – was against him.”
Diawara’s jam was part of an 11-3 run to end the third quarter. He finished with five points in 18 minutes with four rebounds and two assists.
“(The dunk) felt good,” Diawara said. “It was about time. I was looking forward to doing it.”
With Jose Alvarado struggling, coach Mike Brown briefly gave Tyler Kolek a meaningful cameo in the fourth quarter.
Kolek has been basically out of the rotation since Alvarado was acquired in a trade. On Monday, Kolek went scoreless in just two minutes.
“I thought Jose was struggling a little bit. So I threw Tyler out there to see if we could get something from him, similar to me throwing Jordan Clarkson out there (in the previous game against the Lakers),” Brown said. “Tyler didn’t get a long time to play because we put Jalen out there to see if we could make a run. But I said this before, those guys have to keep themselves ready just in case their number is called. Because it can be called at any time.”
Brown knocked on wood while crediting the performance staff, including owner James Dolan’s son, Quentin, for keeping Mitchell Robinson healthy throughout this season.
“Casey (Smith, the VP of Sports Medicine), Chico (Goenega, the head athletic trainer), those guys, and Quentin Dolan, those guys have done a nice job of coming up with a plan,” Brown said. “And the biggest thing is to get him in games this year and making sure he stays healthy. And so our whole medical staff, starting with those three guys down to everybody that’s in our medical department. They’ve done a great job of keeping him healthy and keeping him in the game and practicing and stuff like that. So I applaud them more than anybody else for what they put together and how they’re executing it.”
Quentin Dolan holds the title of Senior VP, Player Performance and Science Leader.
Robinson, who has been injury prone throughout his career and underwent multiple surgeries on his ankle, again sat Monday versus the Clippers in the second game of a back-to-back. Robinson hasn’t played both games of a back-to-back all season.
MLS bans two former players for ‘extensive gambling’ on matches
Former Major League Soccer players Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah have been banned for life for gambling on matches, the league announced Monday.
Jones and Yeboah were placed on administrative leave in October 2025 pending a league review of potential rules violations. Jones, 29, most recently played for the Columbus Crew, appearing in 23 games across 2024 and 2025. Yeboah, 28, was a teammate of Jones’ with the Crew before joining Los Angeles FC in 2025.
They were placed on leave after the league received suspicious betting alerts through its partners.
The MLS investigation uncovered “extensive gambling” by Jones and Yeboah over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, including on their own matches. During an October 2024 match, both players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card, according to the investigation. Jones did in fact receive the card.
The investigation also concluded the players likely shared inside information with other bettors.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
In a statement, the Crew said it fully condemned the actions of Jones and Yeboah.
MORE MLS COVERAGE
“The Crew — who strictly adhere to all MLS policies on educating and enforcing sports gambling regulations with team personnel — fully cooperated with the league since first learning about the inquiry regarding the players in question,” the statement read.
MLS has disciplined players for gambling before, suspending Sporting Kansas City’s Felipe Hernandez in 2021 and then terminating his contract in 2024 for multiple violations of the league’s betting policy.
Gambling, and in particular prop bets, have been an issue for multiple North American sports leagues in the wake of legalization of sports betting.
Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged last year and are set to face trial this year over a pitch-rigging related to in-game prop bets and parlays.
In the NBA, former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban in 2024 for violating the league’s betting rules. Porter was in part banned for disclosing information betters used on prop bets and parlays. (Last season, the NBA’s gambling partners agreed to no longer offer “under” prop bets on players either on 10-day or two-way contracts.)
MLS bans two former players for ‘extensive gambling’ on matches
Former Major League Soccer players Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah have been banned for life for gambling on matches, the league announced Monday.
Jones and Yeboah were placed on administrative leave in October 2025 pending a league review of potential rules violations. Jones, 29, most recently played for the Columbus Crew, appearing in 23 games across 2024 and 2025. Yeboah, 28, was a teammate of Jones’ with the Crew before joining Los Angeles FC in 2025.
They were placed on leave after the league received suspicious betting alerts through its partners.
The MLS investigation uncovered “extensive gambling” by Jones and Yeboah over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, including on their own matches. During an October 2024 match, both players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card, according to the investigation. Jones did in fact receive the card.
The investigation also concluded the players likely shared inside information with other bettors.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
In a statement, the Crew said it fully condemned the actions of Jones and Yeboah.
MORE MLS COVERAGE
“The Crew — who strictly adhere to all MLS policies on educating and enforcing sports gambling regulations with team personnel — fully cooperated with the league since first learning about the inquiry regarding the players in question,” the statement read.
MLS has disciplined players for gambling before, suspending Sporting Kansas City’s Felipe Hernandez in 2021 and then terminating his contract in 2024 for multiple violations of the league’s betting policy.
Gambling, and in particular prop bets, have been an issue for multiple North American sports leagues in the wake of legalization of sports betting.
Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged last year and are set to face trial this year over a pitch-rigging related to in-game prop bets and parlays.
In the NBA, former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban in 2024 for violating the league’s betting rules. Porter was in part banned for disclosing information betters used on prop bets and parlays. (Last season, the NBA’s gambling partners agreed to no longer offer “under” prop bets on players either on 10-day or two-way contracts.)
Derrick Jones, Yaw Yeboah banned for life by Major League Soccer for gambling on games
Two players were banned for life Monday by Major League Soccer for gambling on soccer, including bets involving their own matches.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were both placed on administrative leave in October pending a review of potential violations of league rules.
MLS said the investigation concluded the players “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.” The league cited one instance where the players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card in a 2024 match, which he did. Both players were with the Columbus Crew at the time.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
Jones was playing for the Crew when he was placed on leave. Yeboah, Jones’ former teammate in Columbus, played for LAFC last season and is currently playing for Qingdao Hainiu in China.
MLS was alerted to suspicious betting through its integrity partners and retained a law firm for the subsequent investigation. The Crew cooperated with the probe.
“The Columbus Crew are proud of the reputation we’ve established in MLS and global soccer that’s rooted in respect and integrity throughout our organization,” the team said. “We fully condemn all actions and notions that aren’t aligned with these critical values for our Club and any individual’s activity contradicting the principles of fair competition that are pivotal to our team, league and sport.”
Jones, 29, played for the Philadelphia Union for four seasons starting in 2016. He later had stints in Nashville, Houston and Charlotte before joining the Crew ahead of the 2024 season.
Yeboah, 28, played for the Crew for three seasons from 2022-24.
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Wayne Rooney Sounds Alarm Over Sky-High MLS Ticket Prices
English football legend and former DC United player and coach Wayne Rooney has expressed concern about the high ticket prices for Major League Soccer games.
Rooney made a cultural comparison between what is experienced in England and in the United States and said that, to his surprise, tickets used to be more expensive in MLS than in the Premier League.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah banned for life by Major League Soccer for gambling on games
Two players were banned for life Monday by Major League Soccer for gambling on soccer, including bets involving their own matches.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were both placed on administrative leave in October pending a review of potential violations of league rules.
MLS said the investigation concluded the players “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.” The league cited one instance where the players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card in a 2024 match, which he did. Both players were with the Columbus Crew at the time.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”
Jones was playing for the Crew when he was placed on leave. Yeboah, Jones’ former teammate in Columbus, played for LAFC last season and is currently playing for Qingdao Hainiu in China.
MLS was alerted to suspicious betting through its integrity partners and retained a law firm for the subsequent investigation. The Crew cooperated with the probe.
“The Columbus Crew are proud of the reputation we’ve established in MLS and global soccer that’s rooted in respect and integrity throughout our organization,” the team said. “We fully condemn all actions and notions that aren’t aligned with these critical values for our Club and any individual’s activity contradicting the principles of fair competition that are pivotal to our team, league and sport.”
Jones, 29, played for the Philadelphia Union for four seasons starting in 2016. He later had stints in Nashville, Houston and Charlotte before joining the Crew ahead of the 2024 season.
Yeboah, 28, played for the Crew for three seasons from 2022-24.
___
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MLS bans Jones, Yeboah for life after gambling investigation
March 9 (Reuters) – Major League Soccer has handed lifetime bans to midfielder Derrick Jones and winger Yaw Yeboah for violating its gambling policy, the league announced on Monday.
Jones, 29, played 23 games for Columbus Crew in 2024 and 2025, while 28-year-old Yeboah was his teammate before joining Los Angeles FC in January 2025 after three seasons at the Crew.
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Suspicious betting alerts were investigated by the MLS who said the two players engaged in extensive gambling on matches, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The violations included Jones’ time at Columbus and Yeboah’s stints with the Crew in 2024 and LAFC in 2025.
In one instance, both players wagered on Jones receiving a yellow card during the Crew’s 3-2 win at the New York Red Bulls in an October 19, 2024 match, which he did.
Investigators also determined that the pair likely shared confidential information with other gamblers about their intent to draw bookings, though no evidence emerged that any of the activity influenced the outcome of matches.
Both players were provisionally suspended in October 2025 pending the investigation. Yeboah, who has been capped by Ghana, joined Chinese Super League side Qingdao Hainiu after a mutual agreement to terminate his contract with LAFC in January.
Ghana-born Jones, who has played for the U.S. at under-20 and under-23 level, is currently without a club after being released by the Crew in November.
Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement that the MLS
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah receive lifetime ban from MLS for betting on matches
Two soccer players received lifetime suspensions from Major League Soccer for betting on MLS matches, the league announced on Monday.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah, neither currently on an MLS roster, are accused of engaging in “extensive gambling on soccer, including placing wagers on their own teams during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, according to a statement released by the league.
Jones and Yeboah both played with the Columbus Crew in 2024 and were found to have placed a wager on Jones to receive a yellow card in a match against the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 19, 2024 and likely shared that information with outside bettors.
The activity was flagged by the league’s integrity partners and the MLS decided to place the two players on administrative leave in 2025.
By that point, Yeboah was a member of Los Angeles Football Club while Jones was still rostered by Columbus.
In the league’s statement, commissioner Don Garber pushed for reform to the markets available to bettors on MLS matches, specifically singling out the ability to bet on players receiving yellow cards.
“The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans,” Garber said.
It’s not the first time a league has pushed for betting reform regarding niche markets.
Sportsbooks placed a $200 limit on MLB pitch-level markets after the Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted on federal charges for their alleged involvement in an illegal betting scheme.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.
Two MLS players banned for life for betting on games
Former Major League Soccer players Yaw Yeboah and Derrick Jones received lifetime bans for betting on MLS matches — including their own — the league announced Monday.
Yeboah, 28, most recently played for LAFC in 2025 and is a former teammate of Jones with the Columbus Crew. Both were placed on administrative leave last October while awaiting league review of potential MLS rules violations.
MLS hired the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP to investigate after the league received suspicious betting alerts through integrity partners. The law firm found that Jones and Yeboah
Visa issues may leave Jamaican club short-handed against LA Galaxy in Champions Cup
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Mount Pleasant, a team from the Jamaican Premier League, is bracing to be without as many as 10 players on Wednesday when it takes on the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer in a CONCACAF Champions Cup matchup.
The reason: Those players, including six from Haiti, were unable to get visas to enter the U.S. for the match, Jamaican officials said.
Officials said Monday the match is still set to be played as scheduled, even while the Jamaican club — which plans to add younger players from the academy level if necessary — and CONCACAF seek a solution. The U.S. has travel restrictions on citizens from some nations, including Haiti, though there are mechanisms that can assist athletes in some cases.
The Jamaican club has been dealing with the issue since at least last week, apparently to no avail.
The match is the first of a two-leg Round of 16 matchup in the tournament, with the second leg set to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on March 19.
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Visa woes leave Jamaican side down 10 players against Galaxy
CARSON, Calif. — Mount Pleasant, a team from the Jamaican Premier League, is bracing to be without as many as 10 players on Wednesday when it takes on the LA Galaxy of MLS in a Concacaf Champions Cup matchup.
The reason: Those players, including six from Haiti, were unable to get visas to enter the U.S. for the match, Jamaican officials said.
Officials said Monday the match is still set to be played as scheduled, even while the Jamaican club — which plans to add younger players from the academy level if necessary — and Concacaf seek a solution.
The U.S. has travel restrictions on citizens from some nations, including Haiti, though there are mechanisms that can assist athletes in some cases.
The Jamaican club has been dealing with the issue since at least last week, apparently to no avail.
The match is the first of a two-leg round of 16 matchup in the tournament, with the second leg set to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on March 19.
Last year’s champion Cruz Azul beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 in the final.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Trump backs ‘powerful caps’ on college athlete pay
WASHINGTON — President Trump wants “very powerful caps” to limit college athlete salaries so that universities won’t “go out of business.”
Trump told ESPN host Pat McAfee that he fears that “lesser” sports also are being scrapped due to the newly allowed practice of directly paying athletes, which has been allowed since July on top of name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorships by companies and booster clubs permitted since 2021.
“It is a very serious problem because even football, when they give quarterbacks $12 million, $13 million, $14 million — I read a couple of them — and all of a sudden you’re going to see it’s going to be out of control, and even rich colleges are going to go bust,” Trump said in a Tuesday interview.
“They had the old way. They gave scholarships, and they did lots of good things. But there could be some form of payments, but… look, the NFL, and all of you know, all teams, they have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports,” the president said.
“When the guard comes along that weighs 350 pounds and he’s phenomenal, and they say, ‘That’s going to make the difference between having a great team and a lousy team’, and they give him $10 million — that’s going to start happening pretty soon — all of a sudden you’re going to have NFL-type payrolls.”
The reform allowing for direct payment of players by universities came through a court-approved settlement involving the NCAA, with an estimated initial annual cap of $20.5 million per player. Without changes, the salary cap is expected to rise to $33 million over the next decade, CBS Sports reported.
Trump, whose administration this year paused federal grants to prominent universities to force policy changes, added, “colleges don’t make that much money, even the most successful, so they’re not going to be able to do this. Bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out…
“And frankly, the college football, it’s very big. But as big as it is, if they don’t do some very powerful caps, these colleges are all going to go out of business no matter how rich they are.”
Trump floated Nick Saban, the retired longtime football coach at the University of Alabama, as a potential point person to lead a group to devise new salary caps.
“I don’t want to use any particular sport, because it’s, you know, degrading. But they are really terminating a lot of sports… you would call them lesser sports, but big sports, good sports, and sports where they have tremendous interest, they’re getting rid of them,” Trump added.
“A lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated. You know that? It’s a shame. It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics, and a lot of those training grounds are being lost.”
Mavs honoring VP of corporate sponsorships Billy Phillips as he retires after 33 years
A wave of emotion overcame Billy Phillips as he went through a list of acknowledgements that included his Dallas Mavericks colleagues, corporate sponsorship partners and immediate family.
Phillips, the Mavericks’ longtime vice president of corporate sponsorships, was the final voice to speak on Saturday to commemorate his retirement after 33 years of tenure with the franchise. It was a celebration inside the Executive Lounge at American Airlines Center to honor one of the most respected employees in the team’s 45-year history.
“Many of you know his Dallas Mavericks legacy and what he’s done for this community, but what he’s done for the overall sports business community in North Texas is unparalleled,” said Gina Miller, the Mavericks’ new chief communications officer.
Phillips’ storied sports legacy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area didn’t start in basketball. The Long Island, N.Y., native played soccer as a goalkeeper from 1980 to 1981 for the Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League. He played an instrumental role with the Dallas Sidekicks, both as a player from 1984 to 1987 and manager from 1987 to 1996.
Phillips helped establish soccer in North Texas in the 1970s and 1980s, and the momentum led to Dallas being the host city for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The quadrennial international men’s soccer tournament will return in 2026, with AT&T Stadium hosting nine matches in Arlington, including a semi-final game. FC Dallas president Dan Hunt said Phillips played a role in the Cup’s return.
Phillips joined the Mavericks in 1992 as a senior director of corporate sponsorship. He was promoted to vice president in 2018, the role he serves in currently until his final day on Dec. 23. As an athlete, he can’t help but reflect on the team’s lone championship in 2011 as a standout moment, but the people he worked with is what he’ll cherish the most.
“At the end of the day, it’s relationships,” Phillips said. “I have so many amazing relationships from people who work for the Mavericks and partners that I’ve worked with now…It’s always the people who’s the most important part of my job.”
Several influential people around the Mavericks spoke during Phillips’ retirement ceremony, including minority shareholder Mark Cuban and CEO Rick Welts. Co-interim general manager Michael Finley was also in attendance.
“This man can sell,” Cuban said. “Billy has been a rock, not just for the young salespeople, but for the whole organization. When things were up, when things were down, Billy was steady. Billy has this calming influence that he brings to anybody that he’s met, but he also can sell. What’s the rule, Billy?”
“If you’re talking to someone, you better have a check,” Phillips said.
The celebration didn’t stop during the pregame. Phillips was honored during halftime of Saturday’s game with a tribute video, which included cameos by Dirk Nowitzki and former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd began his pregame news conference with a congratulatory message for Phillips.
“I want to congratulate Billy Phillips,” Kidd said. “He’s retiring after 33 years with the Mavs. He’s a big influence in sports here in Dallas. Goalkeeper for the Dallas Sidekicks. He did everything and he’s a big reason why soccer is coming to Dallas for the Cup.”
Twitter/X: @MikeACurtis2
TKO Stock Slides despite Receiving a New Street-High Price Target
TKO Group Holdings (TKO) had a standout year in 2025, thanks to major media rights deals and a surge in sponsorships. In fact, the sports and entertainment company signed agreements to broadcast UFC and Zuffa Boxing with Paramount (PSKY) and licensed WWE content through Endeavor Group. These deals were big enough that TKO raised its outlook for the year, and the stock climbed by more than 50%, thereby making it one of the top performers in its sector.
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Importantly, analysts believe there’s more room to grow, even after this big run. For instance, BTIG analyst Tyler DiMatteo noted that 2026 looks promising for both the sports and entertainment industry and TKO specifically. While he does expect some short-term ups and downs due to the stock’s recent surge, he’s comfortable giving TKO a higher valuation. He points to strong consumer interest in live events and what many call the “experience economy” as key reasons why the company should keep performing well.
TKO is also betting on newer trends, such as prediction markets. It signed a multi-year deal with Polymarket that will apply to UFC and Zuffa Boxing in an attempt to increase fan engagement. Interestingly, that market was worth $1.4 billion in 2024 and could grow to $95.5 billion by 2035. As a result, DiMatteo gave TKO a Buy rating and raised his price target to a street high of $250 per share.
Is TKO Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TKO stock based on 14 Buys, one Hold, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TKO price target of $225.73 per share implies 7.9% upside potential.
See more TKO analyst ratings
How shared values drove Ferrari’s first crypto partnership: Interview with BingX
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The multi-year agreement between Formula One racing team Scuderia Ferrari and crypto exchange BingX represents the Italian team’s first partnership with a crypto exchange.
For Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at BingX, the connection is built on performance rather than just visibility. She notes that Ferrari’s “engineering excellence and uncompromising standards” mirror the platform’s own approach, stating that the goal is to demonstrate that a crypto exchange can operate with the “same discipline, transparency and ambition” as the iconic automotive brand.
In this interview, Lin sheds light on the strategic vision behind the collaboration, the maturity of the crypto landscape and how shared values with Ferrari are influencing BingX’s global roadmap.
Cointelegraph: How is the convergence of high-performance sports and financial technology reshaping global marketing strategies?
Vivien Lin: High-performance sports attract fans who are deeply committed and loyal, much like the community we’ve built at BingX with our 40 million users. In Formula 1, this engagement is clear. Recent research shows that 94% of fans plan to follow the sport five years from now, and 86% watch at least 16 races each season.
This kind of loyalty gives us a unique chance for us to build lasting relationships, not just short-term awareness. In my experience, it’s rare to find a partnership that fits so well. I also believe that sponsorship shapes how fans experience the sport.
The same research found that about three-quarters of fans think sponsors make Formula 1 better, and one in three are more likely to buy from F1 partners. For Gen Z, that number rises to 40%. For BingX, this trend means our marketing is now more focused on values, performance and long-term relevance, not just visibility.
CT: Why are elite sporting institutions increasingly looking toward the cryptocurrency sector for strategic alliances?
VL: In our experience, elite sports organizations have always focused on progress and winning. To stay ahead, they keep evolving, adopt new technologies and look to the future. The crypto sector and BingX share this forward-thinking approach, so there is a unique purpose behind these partnerships.
Furthermore, 2026 marks a change. As the industry grows, crypto is now about infrastructure, security and global access — not just experimentation. Sports organizations see this obvious shift and want to work with partners who are leading the way. These partnerships show a shared belief that responsible innovation can create lasting value for people around the world.
CT: What does the evolving relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets signal about the maturity of the crypto industry?
VL: The growing relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets is a strong signal that the crypto industry is entering a more mature phase. One that is defined less by speculation and more by credibility, infrastructure and long-term brand building.
Both Formula 1 and crypto are built on resilience. Progress is never linear. There are moments of rapid innovation, periods of pressure and times when patience matters more than speed. After seven years in this industry, I’ve seen crypto evolve through multiple cycles, shaped by both breakthroughs and hard lessons. Formula 1 understands this reality deeply.
From BingX’s perspective, Formula 1 represents the highest standards of performance, precision and trust. It is a global sport governed by rigorous regulation and scrutiny. The fact that teams and stakeholders are increasingly selective about their partners reflects how the crypto industry itself is changing.
Partnerships today are about values, governance and the ability to perform at scale. As the industry matures, we are seeing leading crypto platforms focus on compliance, security and user protection, foundational elements that are essential for long-term adoption.
The presence of digital asset companies in Formula 1 signals that these platforms are now capable of meeting the expectations of world-class institutions and global audiences. It also reflects a move away from short-term hype toward sustainable engagement and education.
CT: How does becoming a cryptocurrency partner for Ferrari differentiate BingX from its competitors?
VL: This partnership is significant not only because of Ferrari’s global brand and history, but also because it marks their first collaboration with a cryptocurrency exchange, which we do not take lightly. For BingX, it reinforces our position as a top-of-mind brand in crypto and reflects how far we’ve come as a platform.
For example, we were the first major exchange to introduce copy trading, which helped us become recognized as a top 5 derivatives platform, and today we are the first all-in-AI crypto exchange, with a $300 million commitment to implementing AI across our platform. It shows that we are seen as a long-term partner capable of meeting the standards of one of motorsport’s most iconic teams.
CT: What specific shared values between BingX and Scuderia Ferrari form the foundation of this multi-year collaboration?
VL: At the heart of this collaboration is a shared mindset of pioneering breakthroughs and redefining what’s possible. Both BingX and Scuderia Ferrari operate in environments where precision, performance and continuous innovation matter deeply.
Ferrari’s culture of constant innovation, race after race and season after season, closely mirrors how BingX approaches product innovation and platform evolution. We also share a long-term view that goes beyond short-term wins. There is a strong mutual respect for data, technology and discipline, as well as a belief that innovation should always be purposeful.
On the product side, this philosophy translates directly into action. Just as Ferrari continuously refines performance to push limits on the track, BingX is committed to helping traders go beyond their current potential through continuous platform upgrades, BingX Academy and AI-driven innovation.
CT: How do you plan to turn this partnership into tangible benefits for the BingX trading community?
VL: For us, partnerships like this are about delivering a more premium experience for our users. We are intentional about who we align with because those relationships reflect how we build our platform and our community.
Our partnerships with globally respected teams like Chelsea Football Club and Ferrari are not coincidences. They represent excellence, discipline and a commitment to performing at the highest level.
For our trading community, this translates into elevated experiences, stronger engagement and a brand they can trust and feel proud to be part of. Whether markets are moving fast or slowing down, our focus remains on quality, reliability and long-term value. These partnerships, along with racing-inspired campaigns, race-week activations and limited-edition experiences, reinforce that we are building BingX to operate at a global, premium standard.
CT: How does aligning with the most iconic team in motorsport reinforce BingX’s commitment to security and technological excellence?
VL: Ferrari’s reputation is built on precision, reliability and performance under pressure. Partnering with a team of that caliber reinforces how we think about building BingX and our own commitment to building secure, resilient and high-performing systems.
For years, we’ve focused on creating a resilient, AI-native platform, with intelligence embedded directly into the trading experience and a long-term $300 million commitment to AI.
In crypto, trust is built through infrastructure, not promises. We treat security as a foundation, supported by proof-based protections such as a $150 million Shield Fund and 100% proof-of-reserves.
This partnership reflects confidence in our technology and governance, and it sends a clear message that innovation and security are not trade-offs. They must work together to create a platform that can perform at a global, world-class standard.
CT: How will this alliance influence BingX’s strategic roadmap and expansion plans over the next few years?
VL: This partnership builds on a foundation we’ve already established. With over 40 million users globally and a position among the top five derivatives trading platforms, BingX has reached a scale where brand trust, consistency and global relevance matter more than ever.
Our multi-year partnership with Chelsea Football Club reflects that same thinking. Whether on the pitch or in the market, we align with teams that operate at the highest level of performance.
Working with Ferrari represents the next stage of that journey. It opens new opportunities for global storytelling, deeper regional engagement and innovation across markets. More importantly, it aligns with our long-term view of crypto as part of global finance and culture, not a niche industry.
CT: What role will this partnership play in BingX’s long-term goal to redefine standards within the cryptocurrency landscape?
Partnerships like this help set a new benchmark for what crypto brands can represent. They show that it’s possible to combine innovation with discipline, and ambition with responsibility.
Our goal is to help move the industry forward by building trust, raising standards and focusing on long-term value. If crypto wants to be part of global culture, it must meet the standards of the world’s most demanding institutions. This partnership is our commitment to that future.
NCAA D1 Cabinet Approves Jersey Patch Sponsorships in College Sports
If you felt that the influx of NIL and other cash influences had already thoroughly corrupted college sports, you may want to brace yourself.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet voted to approve jersey patch sponsorships in college sports. The new ruling will take effect on August 1, allowing patches to be placed on uniforms just in time for the start of the 2026 college football season.
“College sports are in an exciting new era of increased financial benefits for student-athletes, and the Cabinet’s vote today reflects the ongoing commitment of Division I members to drive additional revenues and fully fund those benefits,” said Illinois Athletics Director and D-I Cabinet chair, Josh Whitman, in a statement.
“This also continues the NCAA’s efforts to expand flexibility in areas of NCAA rules, thereby allowing schools and conferences to set standards that reflect their values and serve their unique needs. This important policy change is another step forward in advancing that philosophy and providing members with increased flexibility.”
As On3 reports, “Under the new legislation, schools will be able to place up to two additional commercial logos on uniforms and one additional logo on equipment during both the preseason and postseason. They can also add another logo on uniforms and apparel during conference championships.
“Patches are limited to a maximum of 4 square inches per logo, according to the NCAA. The legislation is in effect for non-NCAA championship competition.”
In anticipation of the rule’s passing, several schools, most notably LSU and UNLV, have already inked sponsorship deals.
The move will undoubtedly accelerate the commercialization of the game-day experience. In the last two years, fans in the stands and those watching at home have seen the emergence of company logos on the field and on the court, resulting from the House v. NCAA settlement approval.
Adding sponsorship patches to jerseys will create yet another revenue stream for college athletics, likely adding tens of millions of dollars annually.
Watch Brands Increasingly Turn to Sports for Spark
Could sports be the tonic that revives the luxury watch market?
Over the past few months, Swiss watch brands have lined up to announce multimillion-dollar deals with elite professional sports leagues and athletes, hoping to leverage their star power and the emotions of sports fandom to fire up a cooling market.
Last week, Breitling became the latest high-end brand to hitch its wagon to Formula 1, signing a deal with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, adding to a deal it announced in August to be the official timepiece partner of the National Football League (N.F.L.).
In November, Norqain became what it called the Official Luxury Sports Watch of the National Hockey League (N.H.L.), and in January Frederique Constant introduced its first sports sponsorship, connecting with the nascent Pro Padel League, in which athletes compete in padel, a game often described as a cross between squash and tennis.
Brands such as Rolex, Omega and TAG Heuer have built their profiles on ties with sports, but in today’s saturated market, can sports sponsorships really help brands achieve their goals?
Fears of foreign influence spark bipartisan crackdown on college sports funding
Student-athletes are increasingly exploring name, image and likeness contracts to benefit from their emerging stardoms. But lawmakers want to make sure those deals don’t provide loopholes for foreign adversaries to exert their influence in the United States.
Utah Rep. Blake Moore introduced the No Foreign NIL Funds Act on Tuesday that would implement a number of restrictions banning foreign governments and adversarial entities from investing in U.S. college sports. The bill would mostly apply to NIL contracts, but it would also extend to sponsorships, media rights deals, hosting amateur athletic conferences, and other joint ventures.
“College sports are woven into American campus life, local communities, and family traditions. But allowing foreign entities to funnel money and sponsorships into college athletics through NIL deals risks undermining the integrity of the game and exposing universities to unintended foreign influence or national security concerns,” Moore, a former student-athlete himself, said in a statement. “NIL should be used to support college athletes, not as a backdoor for moving foreign money into American institutions.”
Since NIL contracts have been accepted in recent years, lawmakers have struggled to adopt comprehensive laws regulating those deals. As a result, there are no federal restrictions banning foreign governments from funding those contracts so long as the agreements are cleared through a list of requirements settled in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit in 2024.
That settlement now allows each school to pay its athletes up to $20.5 million per year, which works out to about 22% of the average athletic department revenue at Power Four schools.
However, many of the organizations that coordinate NIL contracts operate as limited liability companies, or LLCs, that do not require donor lists to be made public. That has raised national security concerns among some lawmakers who said adversarial countries could quietly pour money into a university’s sports program and try to build political influence or gain leverage.
The bill would go beyond those NIL contracts to also block foreign countries from investing in collegiate athletic streams, and it would prohibit entering into contracts with individual universities, media rights distributors, bowl games or postseason football organizations.
Bill would have exceptions for foreign NIL donations
The legislation would carve out some exceptions to allow members of NATO, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland to still participate in those contracts.
Moore pointed to recent incidents in which college football coaches have engaged in foreign trips for lobbying or fundraising as well as some athletic conferences who are finalizing plans to organize tournaments in foreign countries.
The bill has garnered the support of bipartisan lawmakers, and even has the backing of Utah State University’s athletic director, who said it’s crucial “to create a safe and sustainable future.”
“Utah State Athletics firmly supports our student-athletes and their ability to seek name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities through the appropriate channels,” USU athletic director Cameron Walker said. “However, the origin of these sources is critical for NIL to function effectively and operate in the best interest of our university, state, and student-athletes. We are thankful for Congressman Moore’s work in this area and support his efforts to create a safe and sustainable future.”
Arkansas Razorback athletics announces its jersey sponsor
Recently, the Tyson Foods logo has shown up on the field at Razorback Stadium.
Now, the iconic food brand will be on the Razorback uniforms for all varsity sports beginning in 2026-27. Under the new multi-year agreement, Tyson Foods will also serve as the official protein of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Expect to see the Tyson Foods brand on things such as backdrops for press conferences, stadium branding with on field/court placements.
“This historic sponsorship is transformative for Razorback Athletics. For decades, Tyson Foods has been more than a corporate partner—they are an integral part of the Arkansas story,
How LinkSports is Democratizing the Talent Pipeline by Leveraging Data-Driven Reinvention of Sports Sponsorships
LinkSports, a Canadian technology company operating across 29 countries, is building what it calls the new infrastructure of sports sponsorship. Founded by Neissan Monadjem, LinkSports is a fintech company with sports content that combines artificial intelligence, standardized athletic challenges, and micro-sponsorship funding into a single platform designed to connect amateur athletes with corporate capital. The greater objective, however, lies in eliminating the problem of gatekeeping in sports sponsorship.
According to Monadjem, corporate budgets in sports often concentrate on elite professionals, while grassroots athletes, who may be equally driven, compete for limited visibility and even scarcer funding. The global sports sponsorship market exceeds $100 billion annually, yet he believes that the vast majority of that capital flows to a narrow section of top-tier talent.
Trump backs ‘powerful caps’ on college athlete pay
WASHINGTON — President Trump wants “very powerful caps” to limit college athlete salaries so that universities won’t “go out of business.”
Trump told ESPN host Pat McAfee that he fears that “lesser” sports also are being scrapped due to the newly allowed practice of directly paying athletes, which has been allowed since July on top of name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorships by companies and booster clubs permitted since 2021.
“It is a very serious problem because even football, when they give quarterbacks $12 million, $13 million, $14 million — I read a couple of them — and all of a sudden you’re going to see it’s going to be out of control, and even rich colleges are going to go bust,” Trump said in a Tuesday interview.
“They had the old way. They gave scholarships, and they did lots of good things. But there could be some form of payments, but… look, the NFL, and all of you know, all teams, they have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports,” the president said.
“When the guard comes along that weighs 350 pounds and he’s phenomenal, and they say, ‘That’s going to make the difference between having a great team and a lousy team’, and they give him $10 million — that’s going to start happening pretty soon — all of a sudden you’re going to have NFL-type payrolls.”
The reform allowing for direct payment of players by universities came through a court-approved settlement involving the NCAA, with an estimated initial annual cap of $20.5 million per player. Without changes, the salary cap is expected to rise to $33 million over the next decade, CBS Sports reported.
Trump, whose administration this year paused federal grants to prominent universities to force policy changes, added, “colleges don’t make that much money, even the most successful, so they’re not going to be able to do this. Bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out…
“And frankly, the college football, it’s very big. But as big as it is, if they don’t do some very powerful caps, these colleges are all going to go out of business no matter how rich they are.”
Trump floated Nick Saban, the retired longtime football coach at the University of Alabama, as a potential point person to lead a group to devise new salary caps.
“I don’t want to use any particular sport, because it’s, you know, degrading. But they are really terminating a lot of sports… you would call them lesser sports, but big sports, good sports, and sports where they have tremendous interest, they’re getting rid of them,” Trump added.
“A lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated. You know that? It’s a shame. It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics, and a lot of those training grounds are being lost.”
Mavs honoring VP of corporate sponsorships Billy Phillips as he retires after 33 years
A wave of emotion overcame Billy Phillips as he went through a list of acknowledgements that included his Dallas Mavericks colleagues, corporate sponsorship partners and immediate family.
Phillips, the Mavericks’ longtime vice president of corporate sponsorships, was the final voice to speak on Saturday to commemorate his retirement after 33 years of tenure with the franchise. It was a celebration inside the Executive Lounge at American Airlines Center to honor one of the most respected employees in the team’s 45-year history.
“Many of you know his Dallas Mavericks legacy and what he’s done for this community, but what he’s done for the overall sports business community in North Texas is unparalleled,” said Gina Miller, the Mavericks’ new chief communications officer.
Phillips’ storied sports legacy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area didn’t start in basketball. The Long Island, N.Y., native played soccer as a goalkeeper from 1980 to 1981 for the Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League. He played an instrumental role with the Dallas Sidekicks, both as a player from 1984 to 1987 and manager from 1987 to 1996.
Phillips helped establish soccer in North Texas in the 1970s and 1980s, and the momentum led to Dallas being the host city for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The quadrennial international men’s soccer tournament will return in 2026, with AT&T Stadium hosting nine matches in Arlington, including a semi-final game. FC Dallas president Dan Hunt said Phillips played a role in the Cup’s return.
Phillips joined the Mavericks in 1992 as a senior director of corporate sponsorship. He was promoted to vice president in 2018, the role he serves in currently until his final day on Dec. 23. As an athlete, he can’t help but reflect on the team’s lone championship in 2011 as a standout moment, but the people he worked with is what he’ll cherish the most.
“At the end of the day, it’s relationships,” Phillips said. “I have so many amazing relationships from people who work for the Mavericks and partners that I’ve worked with now…It’s always the people who’s the most important part of my job.”
Several influential people around the Mavericks spoke during Phillips’ retirement ceremony, including minority shareholder Mark Cuban and CEO Rick Welts. Co-interim general manager Michael Finley was also in attendance.
“This man can sell,” Cuban said. “Billy has been a rock, not just for the young salespeople, but for the whole organization. When things were up, when things were down, Billy was steady. Billy has this calming influence that he brings to anybody that he’s met, but he also can sell. What’s the rule, Billy?”
“If you’re talking to someone, you better have a check,” Phillips said.
The celebration didn’t stop during the pregame. Phillips was honored during halftime of Saturday’s game with a tribute video, which included cameos by Dirk Nowitzki and former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd began his pregame news conference with a congratulatory message for Phillips.
“I want to congratulate Billy Phillips,” Kidd said. “He’s retiring after 33 years with the Mavs. He’s a big influence in sports here in Dallas. Goalkeeper for the Dallas Sidekicks. He did everything and he’s a big reason why soccer is coming to Dallas for the Cup.”
Twitter/X: @MikeACurtis2
TKO Stock Slides despite Receiving a New Street-High Price Target
TKO Group Holdings (TKO) had a standout year in 2025, thanks to major media rights deals and a surge in sponsorships. In fact, the sports and entertainment company signed agreements to broadcast UFC and Zuffa Boxing with Paramount (PSKY) and licensed WWE content through Endeavor Group. These deals were big enough that TKO raised its outlook for the year, and the stock climbed by more than 50%, thereby making it one of the top performers in its sector.
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Importantly, analysts believe there’s more room to grow, even after this big run. For instance, BTIG analyst Tyler DiMatteo noted that 2026 looks promising for both the sports and entertainment industry and TKO specifically. While he does expect some short-term ups and downs due to the stock’s recent surge, he’s comfortable giving TKO a higher valuation. He points to strong consumer interest in live events and what many call the “experience economy” as key reasons why the company should keep performing well.
TKO is also betting on newer trends, such as prediction markets. It signed a multi-year deal with Polymarket that will apply to UFC and Zuffa Boxing in an attempt to increase fan engagement. Interestingly, that market was worth $1.4 billion in 2024 and could grow to $95.5 billion by 2035. As a result, DiMatteo gave TKO a Buy rating and raised his price target to a street high of $250 per share.
Is TKO Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TKO stock based on 14 Buys, one Hold, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TKO price target of $225.73 per share implies 7.9% upside potential.
See more TKO analyst ratings
How shared values drove Ferrari’s first crypto partnership: Interview with BingX
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Disclaimer. This content is part of a paid partnership. The text below is a sponsored article that is not part of Cointelegraph.com editorial content. The material is written by our advertorial team and has undergone editorial review to ensure clarity and relevance, it may not reflect the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.com. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the company. Disclosure.
The multi-year agreement between Formula One racing team Scuderia Ferrari and crypto exchange BingX represents the Italian team’s first partnership with a crypto exchange.
For Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at BingX, the connection is built on performance rather than just visibility. She notes that Ferrari’s “engineering excellence and uncompromising standards” mirror the platform’s own approach, stating that the goal is to demonstrate that a crypto exchange can operate with the “same discipline, transparency and ambition” as the iconic automotive brand.
In this interview, Lin sheds light on the strategic vision behind the collaboration, the maturity of the crypto landscape and how shared values with Ferrari are influencing BingX’s global roadmap.
Cointelegraph: How is the convergence of high-performance sports and financial technology reshaping global marketing strategies?
Vivien Lin: High-performance sports attract fans who are deeply committed and loyal, much like the community we’ve built at BingX with our 40 million users. In Formula 1, this engagement is clear. Recent research shows that 94% of fans plan to follow the sport five years from now, and 86% watch at least 16 races each season.
This kind of loyalty gives us a unique chance for us to build lasting relationships, not just short-term awareness. In my experience, it’s rare to find a partnership that fits so well. I also believe that sponsorship shapes how fans experience the sport.
The same research found that about three-quarters of fans think sponsors make Formula 1 better, and one in three are more likely to buy from F1 partners. For Gen Z, that number rises to 40%. For BingX, this trend means our marketing is now more focused on values, performance and long-term relevance, not just visibility.
CT: Why are elite sporting institutions increasingly looking toward the cryptocurrency sector for strategic alliances?
VL: In our experience, elite sports organizations have always focused on progress and winning. To stay ahead, they keep evolving, adopt new technologies and look to the future. The crypto sector and BingX share this forward-thinking approach, so there is a unique purpose behind these partnerships.
Furthermore, 2026 marks a change. As the industry grows, crypto is now about infrastructure, security and global access — not just experimentation. Sports organizations see this obvious shift and want to work with partners who are leading the way. These partnerships show a shared belief that responsible innovation can create lasting value for people around the world.
CT: What does the evolving relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets signal about the maturity of the crypto industry?
VL: The growing relationship between Formula 1 and digital assets is a strong signal that the crypto industry is entering a more mature phase. One that is defined less by speculation and more by credibility, infrastructure and long-term brand building.
Both Formula 1 and crypto are built on resilience. Progress is never linear. There are moments of rapid innovation, periods of pressure and times when patience matters more than speed. After seven years in this industry, I’ve seen crypto evolve through multiple cycles, shaped by both breakthroughs and hard lessons. Formula 1 understands this reality deeply.
From BingX’s perspective, Formula 1 represents the highest standards of performance, precision and trust. It is a global sport governed by rigorous regulation and scrutiny. The fact that teams and stakeholders are increasingly selective about their partners reflects how the crypto industry itself is changing.
Partnerships today are about values, governance and the ability to perform at scale. As the industry matures, we are seeing leading crypto platforms focus on compliance, security and user protection, foundational elements that are essential for long-term adoption.
The presence of digital asset companies in Formula 1 signals that these platforms are now capable of meeting the expectations of world-class institutions and global audiences. It also reflects a move away from short-term hype toward sustainable engagement and education.
CT: How does becoming a cryptocurrency partner for Ferrari differentiate BingX from its competitors?
VL: This partnership is significant not only because of Ferrari’s global brand and history, but also because it marks their first collaboration with a cryptocurrency exchange, which we do not take lightly. For BingX, it reinforces our position as a top-of-mind brand in crypto and reflects how far we’ve come as a platform.
For example, we were the first major exchange to introduce copy trading, which helped us become recognized as a top 5 derivatives platform, and today we are the first all-in-AI crypto exchange, with a $300 million commitment to implementing AI across our platform. It shows that we are seen as a long-term partner capable of meeting the standards of one of motorsport’s most iconic teams.
CT: What specific shared values between BingX and Scuderia Ferrari form the foundation of this multi-year collaboration?
VL: At the heart of this collaboration is a shared mindset of pioneering breakthroughs and redefining what’s possible. Both BingX and Scuderia Ferrari operate in environments where precision, performance and continuous innovation matter deeply.
Ferrari’s culture of constant innovation, race after race and season after season, closely mirrors how BingX approaches product innovation and platform evolution. We also share a long-term view that goes beyond short-term wins. There is a strong mutual respect for data, technology and discipline, as well as a belief that innovation should always be purposeful.
On the product side, this philosophy translates directly into action. Just as Ferrari continuously refines performance to push limits on the track, BingX is committed to helping traders go beyond their current potential through continuous platform upgrades, BingX Academy and AI-driven innovation.
CT: How do you plan to turn this partnership into tangible benefits for the BingX trading community?
VL: For us, partnerships like this are about delivering a more premium experience for our users. We are intentional about who we align with because those relationships reflect how we build our platform and our community.
Our partnerships with globally respected teams like Chelsea Football Club and Ferrari are not coincidences. They represent excellence, discipline and a commitment to performing at the highest level.
For our trading community, this translates into elevated experiences, stronger engagement and a brand they can trust and feel proud to be part of. Whether markets are moving fast or slowing down, our focus remains on quality, reliability and long-term value. These partnerships, along with racing-inspired campaigns, race-week activations and limited-edition experiences, reinforce that we are building BingX to operate at a global, premium standard.
CT: How does aligning with the most iconic team in motorsport reinforce BingX’s commitment to security and technological excellence?
VL: Ferrari’s reputation is built on precision, reliability and performance under pressure. Partnering with a team of that caliber reinforces how we think about building BingX and our own commitment to building secure, resilient and high-performing systems.
For years, we’ve focused on creating a resilient, AI-native platform, with intelligence embedded directly into the trading experience and a long-term $300 million commitment to AI.
In crypto, trust is built through infrastructure, not promises. We treat security as a foundation, supported by proof-based protections such as a $150 million Shield Fund and 100% proof-of-reserves.
This partnership reflects confidence in our technology and governance, and it sends a clear message that innovation and security are not trade-offs. They must work together to create a platform that can perform at a global, world-class standard.
CT: How will this alliance influence BingX’s strategic roadmap and expansion plans over the next few years?
VL: This partnership builds on a foundation we’ve already established. With over 40 million users globally and a position among the top five derivatives trading platforms, BingX has reached a scale where brand trust, consistency and global relevance matter more than ever.
Our multi-year partnership with Chelsea Football Club reflects that same thinking. Whether on the pitch or in the market, we align with teams that operate at the highest level of performance.
Working with Ferrari represents the next stage of that journey. It opens new opportunities for global storytelling, deeper regional engagement and innovation across markets. More importantly, it aligns with our long-term view of crypto as part of global finance and culture, not a niche industry.
CT: What role will this partnership play in BingX’s long-term goal to redefine standards within the cryptocurrency landscape?
Partnerships like this help set a new benchmark for what crypto brands can represent. They show that it’s possible to combine innovation with discipline, and ambition with responsibility.
Our goal is to help move the industry forward by building trust, raising standards and focusing on long-term value. If crypto wants to be part of global culture, it must meet the standards of the world’s most demanding institutions. This partnership is our commitment to that future.
NCAA D1 Cabinet Approves Jersey Patch Sponsorships in College Sports
If you felt that the influx of NIL and other cash influences had already thoroughly corrupted college sports, you may want to brace yourself.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet voted to approve jersey patch sponsorships in college sports. The new ruling will take effect on August 1, allowing patches to be placed on uniforms just in time for the start of the 2026 college football season.
“College sports are in an exciting new era of increased financial benefits for student-athletes, and the Cabinet’s vote today reflects the ongoing commitment of Division I members to drive additional revenues and fully fund those benefits,” said Illinois Athletics Director and D-I Cabinet chair, Josh Whitman, in a statement.
“This also continues the NCAA’s efforts to expand flexibility in areas of NCAA rules, thereby allowing schools and conferences to set standards that reflect their values and serve their unique needs. This important policy change is another step forward in advancing that philosophy and providing members with increased flexibility.”
As On3 reports, “Under the new legislation, schools will be able to place up to two additional commercial logos on uniforms and one additional logo on equipment during both the preseason and postseason. They can also add another logo on uniforms and apparel during conference championships.
“Patches are limited to a maximum of 4 square inches per logo, according to the NCAA. The legislation is in effect for non-NCAA championship competition.”
In anticipation of the rule’s passing, several schools, most notably LSU and UNLV, have already inked sponsorship deals.
The move will undoubtedly accelerate the commercialization of the game-day experience. In the last two years, fans in the stands and those watching at home have seen the emergence of company logos on the field and on the court, resulting from the House v. NCAA settlement approval.
Adding sponsorship patches to jerseys will create yet another revenue stream for college athletics, likely adding tens of millions of dollars annually.
Watch Brands Increasingly Turn to Sports for Spark
Could sports be the tonic that revives the luxury watch market?
Over the past few months, Swiss watch brands have lined up to announce multimillion-dollar deals with elite professional sports leagues and athletes, hoping to leverage their star power and the emotions of sports fandom to fire up a cooling market.
Last week, Breitling became the latest high-end brand to hitch its wagon to Formula 1, signing a deal with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, adding to a deal it announced in August to be the official timepiece partner of the National Football League (N.F.L.).
In November, Norqain became what it called the Official Luxury Sports Watch of the National Hockey League (N.H.L.), and in January Frederique Constant introduced its first sports sponsorship, connecting with the nascent Pro Padel League, in which athletes compete in padel, a game often described as a cross between squash and tennis.
Brands such as Rolex, Omega and TAG Heuer have built their profiles on ties with sports, but in today’s saturated market, can sports sponsorships really help brands achieve their goals?
Fears of foreign influence spark bipartisan crackdown on college sports funding
Student-athletes are increasingly exploring name, image and likeness contracts to benefit from their emerging stardoms. But lawmakers want to make sure those deals don’t provide loopholes for foreign adversaries to exert their influence in the United States.
Utah Rep. Blake Moore introduced the No Foreign NIL Funds Act on Tuesday that would implement a number of restrictions banning foreign governments and adversarial entities from investing in U.S. college sports. The bill would mostly apply to NIL contracts, but it would also extend to sponsorships, media rights deals, hosting amateur athletic conferences, and other joint ventures.
“College sports are woven into American campus life, local communities, and family traditions. But allowing foreign entities to funnel money and sponsorships into college athletics through NIL deals risks undermining the integrity of the game and exposing universities to unintended foreign influence or national security concerns,” Moore, a former student-athlete himself, said in a statement. “NIL should be used to support college athletes, not as a backdoor for moving foreign money into American institutions.”
Since NIL contracts have been accepted in recent years, lawmakers have struggled to adopt comprehensive laws regulating those deals. As a result, there are no federal restrictions banning foreign governments from funding those contracts so long as the agreements are cleared through a list of requirements settled in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit in 2024.
That settlement now allows each school to pay its athletes up to $20.5 million per year, which works out to about 22% of the average athletic department revenue at Power Four schools.
However, many of the organizations that coordinate NIL contracts operate as limited liability companies, or LLCs, that do not require donor lists to be made public. That has raised national security concerns among some lawmakers who said adversarial countries could quietly pour money into a university’s sports program and try to build political influence or gain leverage.
The bill would go beyond those NIL contracts to also block foreign countries from investing in collegiate athletic streams, and it would prohibit entering into contracts with individual universities, media rights distributors, bowl games or postseason football organizations.
Bill would have exceptions for foreign NIL donations
The legislation would carve out some exceptions to allow members of NATO, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland to still participate in those contracts.
Moore pointed to recent incidents in which college football coaches have engaged in foreign trips for lobbying or fundraising as well as some athletic conferences who are finalizing plans to organize tournaments in foreign countries.
The bill has garnered the support of bipartisan lawmakers, and even has the backing of Utah State University’s athletic director, who said it’s crucial “to create a safe and sustainable future.”
“Utah State Athletics firmly supports our student-athletes and their ability to seek name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities through the appropriate channels,” USU athletic director Cameron Walker said. “However, the origin of these sources is critical for NIL to function effectively and operate in the best interest of our university, state, and student-athletes. We are thankful for Congressman Moore’s work in this area and support his efforts to create a safe and sustainable future.”
Arkansas Razorback athletics announces its jersey sponsor
Recently, the Tyson Foods logo has shown up on the field at Razorback Stadium.
Now, the iconic food brand will be on the Razorback uniforms for all varsity sports beginning in 2026-27. Under the new multi-year agreement, Tyson Foods will also serve as the official protein of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Expect to see the Tyson Foods brand on things such as backdrops for press conferences, stadium branding with on field/court placements.
“This historic sponsorship is transformative for Razorback Athletics. For decades, Tyson Foods has been more than a corporate partner—they are an integral part of the Arkansas story,
How LinkSports is Democratizing the Talent Pipeline by Leveraging Data-Driven Reinvention of Sports Sponsorships
LinkSports, a Canadian technology company operating across 29 countries, is building what it calls the new infrastructure of sports sponsorship. Founded by Neissan Monadjem, LinkSports is a fintech company with sports content that combines artificial intelligence, standardized athletic challenges, and micro-sponsorship funding into a single platform designed to connect amateur athletes with corporate capital. The greater objective, however, lies in eliminating the problem of gatekeeping in sports sponsorship.
According to Monadjem, corporate budgets in sports often concentrate on elite professionals, while grassroots athletes, who may be equally driven, compete for limited visibility and even scarcer funding. The global sports sponsorship market exceeds $100 billion annually, yet he believes that the vast majority of that capital flows to a narrow section of top-tier talent.
USC men travel uncertain path minus Chad Baker-Mazara
One more road game, one less offensive piece.
When the USC men’s basketball team takes the court against Washington in its second-to-last game of the Big Ten Conference regular season, it will do so without its leading scorer.
The Trojans announced Sunday afternoon that Chad Baker-Mazara is no longer with the team after an up-and-down season with the 6-foot-7 graduate student from the Dominican Republic.
There was no reason given for his departure, and the press release appeared carefully worded as if not meaning to place blame on either party.
“Chad Baker-Mazara is no longer a member of the USC Men’s Basketball program, the team announced Sunday,” was the only information given.
The Southern California New Group has sent requests for comments to Baker-Mazara and his management, but neither had responded as of Monday.
Baker-Mazara was scoring 18.5 points per game for USC and there were 11 games in which he had scored 20 or more points this season. He burst onto the scene this season with his non-stop energy and sharp shooting, though he missed multiple practices early in the season due to “neck pain.”
Head coach Eric Musselman also told reporters on a Zoom call in late October that Baker-Mazara sometimes took freedom within game plans.
“He has his own defensive scheme in his mind,” Musselman said. “I don’t know if he necessarily always follows the game plan or the game scheme that I’ve put out, but he’s got this knack to create loose balls and steals and fly around and he confuses me and he also confuses the offense on the other team.”
Still, Baker-Mazara’s talent was enough to earn him his second straight Maui Invitational MVP honors in November, and there were some tender moments with the team as well.
Baker-Mazara brought his teammates water in between drills at practice, and USC held a confetti-filled, post-practice ring ceremony in September when he received his Final Four ring from an NCAA Tournament run with Auburn last season.
“This is motivation. We’ve got to get ours now,” Baker-Mazara told his teammates while holding the ring.
@haleymsawyer
The USC men’s basketball team honored Chad Baker-Mazara’s Final Four run with Auburn last season with a ring ceremony at the end of practice on Tuesday. #usc #auburn #collegebasketball #teammates #finalfour
♬ original sound – Haley Sawyer
He seemed to be getting along well with Musselman, and said that the two shared a similar competitive spirit when he spoke with reporters in mid-September.
“I’m enjoying Coach Muss because me and him got that edge, that passionate edge,” he said. “That has brought me closer with him and that, to me – I’m enjoying it a little bit more.”
But by the time the Trojans had gotten into the pressures of February, the optimism was wavering. Baker-Mazara missed three games due to a knee injury and appeared to be dealing with pain against UCLA and Nebraska – USC’s two most recent games.
He played 19 minutes in the loss to the Cornhuskers on Saturday before a hard fall kept him out of the rest of the game. He sat on the bench adjacent to the team bench – where he has sat on many occasions this season – next to injured point guard Rodney Rice and an unknown woman wearing a USC basketball jersey.
Baker-Mazara continued to walk to team huddles with a limp during timeouts but never re-entered the game. Musselman gave short answers when asked about him after the game.
“He said he couldn’t go,” he said.
USC’s reserves stepped up in his absence. Jaden Brownell came off the bench to score 10 points and added five rebounds and three blocked shots – both team-highs. Freshman Alijah Arenas scored 14 points in the first of his 10 games that he wasn’t in the starting rotation.
Arenas, who missed most of this season due to injury, also had zero turnovers after giving up the ball five times against UCLA.
“A player that reclassifies and gets thrown into the middle of Big Ten play – he’s got a lot of stuff on his plate that’s getting thrown at him in the middle of the year towards the tail end of the season.”
Arenas’ dad, former NBA All-Star and podcast host Gilbert Arenas, took to social media to share frustration and disappointment in USC for parting ways with Baker-Mazara.
“When you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right,” Arenas said in a video posted to X. “Give him the ball, get the (heck) out the way. That’s the offense. Damn. We supposed to be playing in the tournament, man. Now we gotta watch this junior varsity … team.”
USC is on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, and its chances will drop even more if it loses to a struggling Washington team on Wednesday that has dealt with injuries all year. At least eight Huskies have been injured at some point this season.
“We haven’t played very well at home,” Musselman said. “We’re a better road team, which is unique. We’ve got another road game coming up, so we’ll see how we play, but we haven’t played very good down the stretch here at all.
“We gotta get ready for Washington. I don’t know what else to say.”
USC (18-11 overall, 7-11 Big Ten) at WASHINGTON (14-15, 6-12)
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle
Letters: Naming sports arenas not a hospital’s job
I agree with and applaud James L. Smith for his letter that was printed on Feb.25. I can’t imagine that the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady consider sports venue naming rights to be part of their mission to provide for the health care needs of the people they serve. In my opinion, these funds would be better spent on medical services and health care personnel.
I am a fan of OLOL, but I don’t choose to access their services because their name is on a football field. I agree that the OLOL board of trustees should reconsider its decision to compete for the naming rights to sports venues.
Washington hands USC men their 6th straight loss
SEATTLE — The USC men’s basketball team continued its late-season fade with a 19-point loss to Washington on Wednesday night.
Zoom Diallo scored a career-high 26 points, Hannes Steinbach added 22 with a career-best 24 rebounds, and Washington rolled past USC, 91-72, handing the Trojans their sixth consecutive loss and the 11th in their past 17 games.
Washington took the lead for good with 12:31 remaining. A 13-0 run that started with 4:33 to play pushed the Huskies’ lead to 85-65 with about two minutes left. Diallo scored on a dunk and Nikola Dzepina added a 3-pointer to end the surge.
The Huskies (15-15 overall, 7-12 Big Ten) swept the season series against USC, and have won three of their past five games.
Alijah Arenas had 19 points and seven rebounds and Ezra Ausar finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for USC (18-12, 7-12), which was playing its first game since leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara was dismissed from the program on Sunday. Jacob Cofie and Jordan Marsh added 14 points apiece.
Diallo shot 11 for 19 overall and grabbed nine rebounds. His previous career high was 24 points against Utah on Dec. 29. Steinbach surpassed his 16-rebound game against Utah on Feb. 24. He shot 9 for 12 from the field against the Trojans.
Quimari Peterson added 13 points, while former Trojan Wesley Yates III scored 11 for the Huskies, who outscored the Trojans by 21 points over the final 13-plus minutes.
Washington shot 48.1% from the field overall but just 7 for 30 from 3-point range. The Huskies held a 46-37 rebounding edge.
“I thought the zone was good from a 3-point percentage to deal with Washington,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “They went 7 for 30. I thought the zone forced them to take more threes than they usually do.”
The Trojans shot just 37.5% overall and 4 for 19 from behind the arc.
The Huskies led for only 48 seconds in the first half, but a 3-pointer by Peterson and a driving layup by Yates tied the score at 52-all with 13:18 left in the second.
The Trojans went back ahead on a basket by Arenas seven seconds later before Washington began its crushing run.
It began with 10 consecutive points. Diallo scored the next six and Yates drove for a layup. Diallo then hit a jumper to give the Huskies an eight-point lead with 9:35 to play.
USC cut that deficit in half before Steinbach converted a three-point play to give Washington a 67-60 lead with 7:21 left.
A short time later, Peterson buried a corner 3-pointer and Steinbach followed his own miss to push the lead to 11 with 6:07 remaining.
The Trojans were later within seven before Washington’s Courtland Muldrew converted two three-point plays during a 13-0 burst. The Huskies increased their lead to 17 on Diallo’s dunk with 2:54 left and Nikola Dzepina added a 3-pointer 38 seconds later to make it 85-65.
USC will close its regular season on Saturday night with a home game against UCLA before preparing for next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
“We have to put 40 minutes together,” Musselman said. “We can’t play 20 minutes or 24 minutes, and certainly the second half was not anything we needed from a scoring standpoint or defensively.”
NOTES
Arenas scored 13 points in the first half as the Trojans held a 43-40 lead at the break. … Steinbach set a Big Ten freshman record with 19 double-doubles, surpassing the mark set by former Ohio State standout Jared Sullinger (2010-11). Steinbach reached the milestone double-double record with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the first half.
UP NEXT
USC hosts UCLA in a regular-season finale on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Audit of Anchorage hockey arenas finds major contract violations and over $500K owed to city
A recent audit uncovered significant contract violations amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to the Municipality of Anchorage.
“This level of noncompliance is unusual and is going to precipitate a meaningful response from us,” said Bill Falsey, chief administrative officer for the municipality, during an interview this week.
At issue are three city-owned facilities and the private company contracted to manage them a few years ago. Beginning in 2022 and 2023, O’Malley Ice and Sports Center took over operations at the Ben Boeke, Dempsey Anderson and George M. Sullivan arenas. All three facilities have ice rinks and are pillars of Anchorage’s ice hockey community. Returning them to normal use was a priority for the Bronson administration after several tumultuous years of pandemic closures, financial precarity and, in the case of the Sullivan, prolonged use as a large homeless shelter.
Beginning in 2025, however, members of Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s administration became aware of major financial problems with how O’Malley was executing its contract. Falsey told a group of Anchorage Assembly members during a work session last week that those initial concerns culminated in an extensive report from the municipality’s Office of Internal Audit, which was published in February.
The head of O’Malley, Steve Agni, said the company has had to spend huge sums of money handling repairs at the aging facilities while keeping them open and available to user groups. But according to the audit, they did so without following basic financial protocols, overpaying themselves in the process and misusing taxpayer subsidies.
Several Anchorage Assembly members at the Feb. 27 meeting appeared genuinely surprised by the degree to which O’Malley is alleged to have ignored contract terms, amounting to potential mismanagement “in excess of half a million” taxpayer dollars, Falsey told them.
“That is a lot of public money going out the door in a way that it was certainly not intended,” Assembly member Zac Johnson, who represents South Anchorage, said during the meeting.
Johnson asked the administration whether there was any chance of recovering those funds. Falsey said it’s too early to know, given the range of outstanding variables and questions.
In light of the ongoing disagreements with O’Malley and the audit findings, Falsey said the municipality issued a notice of default in February, and this month put out a new request for proposals to firms that may have plans for how to run the arenas.
A contract with ‘strange peculiarities’
The contract between the city and O’Malley was criticized from the start, in part because it broke with several norms in the municipal procurement process that Falsey at one point called “strange peculiarities.”
For one thing, in July 2023 it was signed by Mayor Dave Bronson himself, a formality in officiating public contracts that’s usually handled by the purchasing director.
The deal did not go before the Assembly or its typical public process for reviewing and approving multimillion-dollar lease agreements with contractors. Months later, in November 2023, the Assembly passed a measure that changed official procurement rules because members believed the Bronson administration had circumvented those requirements in its contract with O’Malley. According to a memorandum filed with that resolution, the sponsors said part of the reason the code revisions were merited was because of how the Bronson administration had handled the arenas arrangement with O’Malley.
“This already-executed transaction continues to roll forward in effect and without the required Assembly approval or public process,” wrote Assembly Chair Christopher Constant and then-Vice Chair Meg Zaletel in the memorandum.
February’s audit concluded that however fair or unfair the initial contract was, many of its most important terms have not been followed in the intervening years.
“Alterations on financial statements without justification raise questions on the reliability and integrity of the Contractor’s financial reporting, and the actual financial standing of the facility is unclear,” wrote auditor Dalton Benson.
Among the significant findings in the report:
• O’Malley “has not submitted audited financials for Boeke and Dempsey since the start of the original contract in August 2022 and has not submitted audited financials for Sullivan since it was added in the revised contract in July 2023.”
• The company appears to have overcompensated itself by retaining a share of revenues that were supposed to be sent to the municipality: “Overall, we estimate the Contractor overpaid themselves for Boeke and Dempsey incentives by $164,112. We were not able to accurately determine Sullivan incentives since they had not always collected or separated ticket surcharge revenues.”
• The auditors found differing figures in O’Malley’s internal accounting system than what was reported to the municipality.
• Instead of retaining revenues in a “capital reserve account” to pay for repairs, O’Malley requested of the city “$217,418 in operating fund expenditures that outlined various major and minor repairs, renovations, and purchases for Sullivan completed in 2024.” The majority of that repair work, auditors concluded, should have been paid out of the reserve fund.
• O’Malley retained money from the municipality that was supposed to pay for maintenance, according to the audit findings. According to the audit, “Contractor kept the facility maintenance subsidies as an allowance towards their own repairs of the facilities. As of August 31, 2025, the Contractor currently owes the Municipality $360,000 in unpaid maintenance and repair subsidies for the three contracted years.”
• Under the terms of the contract, O’Malley was supposed to begin paying for utilities at Sullivan Arena in August 2025. But the company “has refused to accept the transfer of the utilities into their name, and as of November 30, 2025 the Municipality has incurred $127,445 in Sullivan utility costs that should have been paid from operating revenue by the Contractor,” according to the audit.
Falsey said the other novelty in the contract was that it was signed without the municipality’s purchasing department ever receiving a performance bond, a chunk of money the city would retain if a contractor failed to deliver on its side of the deal —something it still doesn’t have from O’Malley. Typically, Falsey said, the purchasing department does not sign a contract if it doesn’t have the performance bond in hand.
“I don’t know what that was about,” Falsey said. “And nobody here knows why.”
‘Private-sector approach to problems’
It was never going to be easy to make Sullivan Arena profitable coming out of the COVID era and its tenure as a low-barrier shelter for hundreds of people a night.
“We knew it was not going to be a moneymaker,” said Agni, head of O’Malley Ice and Sports Center and former co-owner of the Alaska Aces, as he answered questions during the Assembly’s work session. “We did not know the extent of the deferred maintenance.”
Agni told members that the company’s main priority was bringing Sullivan Arena back online, and keeping it, as well as the other two ice arenas, available to the community of regular users. But the structure was severely damaged and in need of repairs both big and small.
“We have not missed an operating day in those buildings despite the need to always complete exigent repairs,” Agni said. “I believe that O’Malley performed its fundamental duties.”
He defended the company’s record against some of the audit’s more critical findings, pointing out that the investigation’s scope is confined to analyzing the narrow parameters of the contracts’ terms, without taking the full context of management considerations into account.
“There’s a lot of things that were either missed in the municipal files or, we believe, mischaracterized,” Agni said in an interview this week.
He noted that there were repeated instances where major systems at the aging ice rinks were in trouble, and rather than going through the protracted steps of getting city employees to come fix them, the company quickly stepped in and spent the money to get it done as soon as they could.
“We took a private-sector approach to problems,” Agni said. “We’d hear from municipal Maintenance and Operations that they didn’t have people available or people qualified. So we were confronted with shutting buildings down or not achieving the opening of the Sullivan.”
Agni said he and his company had managed the facilities in good faith and opened their records to auditors, but felt that relatively benign discrepancies were now being wielded as “a cudgel” against the company.
“Nobody’s hiding anything,” he said.
As for refusing to pay for utilities, he said, it just doesn’t pencil out. After more than a year of facilitating events, Agni said, the company realized that passing additional utility costs over to customers like the Anchorage Wolverines or UAA ice hockey team would make things unaffordable for patrons.
“They would have to double and triple their ticket prices,” Agni said.
Both O’Malley and the municipality are asking whether the Sullivan can operate without a generous public subsidy. Included in that request was the option to propose an operating subsidy to ensure financial stability.
Even before the pandemic and mass shelter era, city officials were alarmed by just how big a money pit the arena was becoming. The last profitable year was 2015, right around the time the Alaska Airlines Center began siphoning clients and just before the Alaska Aces hockey franchise left. In 2016, the Sullivan ran a deficit of $588,999, according to the audit.
Agni said O’Malley intends to bid on this new RFP. Both the Boeke and Dempsey Anderson facilities are turning a profit, he said, though Sullivan Arena is a different animal.
SeatGeek Offered ‘Retaliation Insurance’ to Win Ticketmaster Clients
Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s Ticketmaster was so dominant in the US live concert business that rival SeatGeek Inc. was offering arenas “retaliation insurance” for any events they lost by switching ticket sellers, according to testimony at a landmark antitrust trial.
Almost every hockey and basketball arena using Ticketmaster “expressed extreme levels of concern” that Live Nation would shut them out of lucrative concerts if they used another ticketing service, SeatGeek Chief Executive Jack Groetzinger testified Friday in New York.
Letters: Chad Baker-Mazara and Gilbert Arenas have it wrong
Chad Baker-Mazara is the poster child for 2026 college athletics. A 26-year-old basketball mercenary at his fifth school, Baker-Mazara is the average age of an NBA player. Dismissed from USC for disciplinary reasons, Mazara makes the “student athlete” moniker laughable. He is obviously nothing more than a professional basketball player not good enough to play in the NBA.
Mark S. Roth
Playa Vista
So Gilbert Arenas says “when you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right.”
So in other words you can be disruptive, not hustle, ignore your coach, etc., because you’re the “star” of the team.
Alijah Arenas, please do not listen to your father.
Oscar Rosalez
Diamond Bar
I just read Bill Shaikin’s column on the Angels and Zach Neto. In it, Angels owner Arte Moreno was quoted as saying that among Angels fans’ priorities for the organization “winning is not in their top five.”
I almost dropped my coffee on my lap reading that one. Who did he poll to get that ridiculous response? Dodgers fans at a Dodgers game? If winning was not even in their “top five” what was?
Speaking as a very long-suffering Angels fan, I can tell you what my No. 1 priority is for the organization. Somehow get Arte Moreno to sell the team to a serious owner who does want to make winning the priority and not just an apparent tax writeoff for himself.
Chuck Lucero
Thousand Oaks
Bill Shaikin’s column on Zach Neto and the Angels says all there is to know about the Angels poorly run organization. The owner says the fans do not care much about winning, and obviously neither does he. The GM refuses to talk, but the failure to sign or even offer a good young infielder speaks volumes. Will the Angels owner and front office ever wake up?
Bill Francis
Pasadena
There’s no doubt that the Angels’ Zach Neto is talented and a cornerstone for the team to build around. But in Bill Shaikin’s article, he’s quoted as saying, “I am going to be where my feet are every day, and that is here, with the city of Los Angeles and with the Angels.”
It seems like he has Arte Moreno disease, wanting to be in L.A., but living in the Orange County. Zach, if you don’t know where you are, you won’t know when you get there.
Bob Kargenian
Yorba Linda
The Kings’ future is very dim with ownership (AEG) that doesn’t care about the success of the team and management that is clearly misguided. If only there was a partnership (Guggenheim) out there (Guggenheim) with a proven local team ownership record (Guggenheim) that could step in and begin the top to bottom house cleaning this organization desperately needs!
Nick Rose
Newport Coast
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Email: sports@latimes.com
UCLA men pick up 2nd win over USC to finish Big Ten regular season
LOS ANGELES — It was Galen Center, according to the sign out front, but the UCLA men’s basketball team had turned USC’s home court into Pauley Pavilion South on Saturday night — just as Bruins head coach Mick Cronin had asked for.
“We’re taking it over. Galen Center is going to be Pauley Pavilion South,” Cronin said in a video posted to the UCLA student section, The Den’s, Instagram.
The Bruins weathered an early offensive burst from the Trojans before going on to win 89-68 for their second straight victory after beating No. 9 Nebraska. It’s setting them up nicely for next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
“We’re excited,” senior forward Tyler Bilodeau said. “This is what college basketball is all about. Next week will be fun. We’re excited for sure.”
UCLA also moves its road record to 4-6 this season, and USC ends the Big Ten Conference regular season on a seven-game losing streak after an injury-riddled season that kept out point guard Rodney Rice, guard Amarion Dickerson, and, for most of the season, guard Alijah Arenas.
“We feel this is an NCAA Tournament team, if we were healthy,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “We have no doubt that it would be. We didn’t win tonight, so we understand where we are.”
Donovan Dent thrived again against the Trojans, hitting 11 of his 15 shots to score 25 points after putting up 30 in the previous rivalry matchup. He also dished out seven assists on Saturday.
Eric Dailey, Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds and Bilodeau scored 16 points while pulling down eight boards. Eric Freeny led the charge off the bench with a season-high 10 points.
“After that (last rivalry) game, I had a feeling we were going to win this game,” Freeny said. “As a group, we knew. We’ve just got to keep on winning. We had a feeling. You could feel it.”
Alijah Arenas was USC’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7 for 18 shooting from the field. Ezra Ausar recorded a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the game.
USC’s offense flowed in the opening minutes of the first half. Kam Woods made a no-look pass to Alijah Arenas, who graced the hoop with a 3-pointer for a 5-0 lead and the Trojans stayed out front until UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau hit his stride.
Bilodeau made a 3 to tie the game at 7-all at the 15:44 mark and banked in another shot from long range two minutes later to get the Bruins a 15-12 lead.
The Trojans tied the game twice when Jerry Easter II made a layup and again when Jacob Cofie sent a pass from the top of the key to Jordan Marsh for a corner 3.
The Victory Bell, won by USC during football season, clanged until UCLA’s 14-2 scoring run in the final 10 minutes all but buried USC.
“It shows a lot of character,” Bilodeau said. “It’s a game of runs. We knew they were going to have their runs, we’re going to have ours, but just staying together there, keep rebounding, keep playing our defense, and it showed.”
A bad pass by Easter II was picked up by Freeny, who took the ball in for a breakaway layup that gave the Bruins a 31-22 advantage and a 6-0 run that they could build on.
Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward, had 16 points and seven rebounds when the first half came to a close, and UCLA was leading 45-30.
“Somebody’s gotta score,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “We got guys who can score. Tyler can shoot. Tyler’s gonna get a chance to play in the NBA. He’s one of the best shooters in the country.”
USC had thrived in the paint earlier this season, but was outscored 20-12 under the basket in the first half on Saturday night. The Trojans were missing Chad Baker-Mazara’s blocking ability on defense and efficient shooting on offense in their second game without the former leading scorer after he and the team had split up.
UCLA fans had started to chant “we want Chad,” adding salt into the wound.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” 6-foot-7 senior forward Terrence Williams II said. “Sadly, he’s not part of the team anymore, and we know that, and we’ve just got to figure it out together. We got the right pieces. Muss recruited all of us to play together, so we’ve just got to figure out what we’ve got right now.”
FS1 showed an in-game graphic during the broadcast with the title “what could have been” and showed headshots of Baker-Mazara, an injured Rodney Rice and previously-injured Arenas.
Baker-Mazara posted a photo of the graphic to his Instagram story with the caption “Swear Big 10 would’ve been in trouble.”
Meanwhile, on the court, USC was looking undisciplined among the refined style of play that UCLA had settled into. Eric Dailey poked the ball away from the Trojans’ defense and dribbled around until he found a comfortable spot for a jumper that pulled his team ahead 57-42 five minutes into the second half.
UCLA outscored USC 44-38 in the second half and was the more accurate team from the field and beyond the arc overall, shooting 57.6% and 52.9%, respectively. The Bruins also won the rebounding battle, 37-26.
“There’s a first for everything,” Cronin said. “Rebounding is about positioning, which takes effort to hit position and then toughness to get the ball. And then the effort to get the ball. Rebounding is all heart, desire, effort, competitive spirit.”
Both teams will advance to the Big Ten Tournament, which is slated to begin on Tuesday, March 10.
Alertan por arenas movedizas en un parque cerca de Chicago: el suelo puede atrapar a visitantes
Los guardaparques del Indiana Dunes National Park, ubicado en el estado de Indiana y a lo largo de la costa sur del Lago Michigan, emitieron una advertencia para quienes visitan el área. El parque, que se encuentra aproximadamente a una hora de Chicago, es conocido por sus grandes dunas de arena, playas y senderos naturales. Cada año recibe millones de visitantes, especialmente durante la primavera y el verano.
Sin embargo, las autoridades recordaron que en algunos sectores pueden aparecer zonas de arena inestable, especialmente cerca de áreas húmedas o donde el agua se mezcla con sedimentos.
Por qué pueden aparecer arenas inestables en Indiana Dunes
Este fenómeno ocurre cuando la arena queda saturada de agua y pierde su estructura sólida. El resultado es una superficie que puede parecer firme, pero que se vuelve blanda cuando alguien pisa el lugar.
En parques como Indiana Dunes esto puede suceder en:
Zonas cercanas a lagunas o ríos.
Áreas de arena húmeda cerca del lago.
Sectores donde el agua subterránea aflora a la superficie.
Cuando el suelo pierde estabilidad, puede atrapar parcialmente las piernas de una persona, dificultando moverse o salir sin ayuda.
Un fenómeno poco común pero posible
Los guardaparques explican que los casos de personas atrapadas son raros, pero el fenómeno existe y puede presentarse en entornos donde hay arena fina y agua.
A diferencia de lo que muestran las películas, las arenas movedizas generalmente no hunden completamente a una persona, pero sí pueden inmovilizarla y generar una situación de riesgo si el visitante está solo o lejos de ayuda.
Por eso las autoridades insisten en la importancia de mantenerse dentro de las áreas señalizadas.
Recomendaciones para quienes visitan el parque
Para reducir riesgos, los guardaparques recomiendan a los visitantes seguir algunas normas básicas:
Permanecer en senderos marcados.
Evitar caminar sobre arena húmeda cerca del agua.
No explorar zonas pantanosas o inestables.
Prestar atención a las indicaciones del parque.
La mayoría de los incidentes en áreas naturales ocurre cuando los turistas abandonan los caminos oficiales.
Un parque famoso por sus dunas
Indiana Dunes National Park es uno de los espacios naturales más visitados del Medio Oeste de Estados Unidos.
Sus dunas pueden alcanzar más de 50 metros de altura, y el parque combina playas, bosques, humedales y rutas de senderismo que atraen a excursionistas, fotógrafos y familias durante todo el año.
Justamente por su geografía basada en arena, los especialistas explican que el terreno puede cambiar con el tiempo y crear zonas donde el suelo se vuelve menos estable.
Seguir leyendo:
Atención a los dueños de perros: un estado endurece las leyes tras ataques graves
Ataques de tiburón: el mapa que todos miran antes de entrar al mar en EE.UU.
Support Rick Bennett as Maine’s next governor | Letter
I would like to share my enthusiastic support for Rick Bennett’s campaign as an independent candidate for governor.
As someone who has been successful in both the legislative and business arenas, Rick is uniquely qualified to solve problems including the need for better management and use of state government resources while keeping the costs of living and working in Maine, including taxes, down, expanding education and economic opportunity across the state and moving beyond the hyperpartisan nonsense that often distracts us from what is most important.
One of my first jobs out of college was at the state Legislature, where I got to see Rick work as Senate president in a divided chamber. I was impressed with his ability to lead that body toward bipartisan solutions for many of the problems of the day, including what was starting to look like a very bitter fight over workers’ compensation benefits and protections.
I would be proud to call Rick governor, and I hope that the readers of this letter will strongly consider giving him their vote too.
Tapping unclaimed funds for sports venues, including Browns stadium, blocked with lawsuit pending
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Franklin County Court of Common Pleas magistrate put on hold the state’s plan to transfer billions of dollars in unclaimed funds for sports arenas, including the Browns’ new stadium.
Magistrate Jennifer D. Hunt determined Monday, March 9, that the plaintiffs demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on their claims. They argue that provisions in last year’s budget violate both the takings and due process clauses of the Ohio Constitution.
Hunt’s preliminary injunction means the state can’t tap funds held in the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund while a lawsuit over using unclaimed funds is ongoing.
The Ohio attorney general’s office is “reviewing the decision and determining next steps,” said spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle.
Cleveland.com | The Plain Dealer reached out to a Browns spokesman for comment on the Monday order.
Related: Lawsuit alleges corruption in Browns’ stadium $600 million funding deal
The suit was filed last summer on behalf of three unnamed Cuyahoga County residents and other Ohioans with unclaimed funds by attorneys Jeff Crossman and Marc Dann. They argue Ohioans who have assets in the unclaimed trust fund weren’t offered sufficient time to get their money out.
“This is a victory for everyday Ohioans and their constitutional rights,” Crossman said. “The court recognized that the State cannot simply declare private property abandoned and take title to it without constitutional safeguards.”
Dann said the state long has failed to reunite property owners with their funds while sitting on nearly $5 billion in private property.
“Instead of fulfilling its fiduciary obligations, the legislature tried to permanently confiscate this money for a private sports project. The court’s ruling confirms that private property rights cannot be swept aside for economic development schemes, no matter how they are packaged. This is a significant day for constitutional protections in Ohio.”
Crossman and Dann’s class-action suit challenges a section of the two-year budget lawmakers passed last summer that allows the unclaimed funds to be deemed abandoned and transferred to the state.
Approximately $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion was scheduled to be transferred from the unclaimed trust fund to a new sports facilities account on Jan. 1, 2026 – including $600 million which was for construction of the Browns’ stadium in Brook Park.
Before Monday’s decision, judges issued two temporary orders halting the funds transfer.
Hunt said the budget law fails to require any notice be given to owners that the State will take title to their funds, violating due process requirements. Additionally, she said the economic or financial benefits of the sports stadiums are insufficient to satisfy constitutional requirements that taking people’s funds is for “public use,” as required by the Ohio Constitution.
It’s unclear whether the injunction will delay the beginning of construction on the new Browns stadium.
Delays could increase construction costs. The Haslam Sports Group might need to cover additional expenses in the meantime, potentially paying interest on loans or using money currently held in investments.”
The Browns have already started excavation work on the new stadium, which is designed to have the field 80 feet below ground level so as not to disrupt air traffic at nearby Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. An official groundbreaking ceremony for the new stadium is scheduled for April 30.
Meantime, the Ohio Division of Unclaimed Funds can continue administering the trust fund in a custodial capacity, including routine processing and payment of approved claims and ordinary administrative expenses.
Myatt Snider Recalls COTA Shock as Chad Knaus Turned Pit Road Chat Into Cup Series Debut
Myatt Snider has been in the headlines recently for his NASCAR debut with Hendrick Motorsports at COTA. Snider replaced Alex Bowman mid-race, as the latter fell ill. This was an opportunity that arrived out of the blue, thanks to Snider’s conversation with Chad Knaus, which the former recalled recently.
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Myatt Snider recalls his lucky day
In a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Snider recalled the day when he spoke to Knaus, the Vice President of Competition at Hendrick Motorsports. While addressing it, the 31-year-old driver from Charlotte revealed how Knaus had inquired about him moments before asking him to fill in for Bowman.
“I get a tap on the shoulder, and I look back, and it’s Chad Knauss, and he’s motioning me to come back to the garage, and he’s like, yeah, come on. And he tells me, do you have your gear? And I’m like, yeah, I do. And he’s like, just hang on a second; Alex might be stepping out of the car.” And I’m like, okay. And a couple of minutes later, he said, all right, he’s stepping out of the car; go get your gear, you’ve been approved.”
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Following this, Snider shed light on how he embarked on the opportunity, changed the firesuit, and geared up to race in the final 19 laps of the race in a Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series car. Here’s what he further added:
“And I have never run faster in my life. So I get back to the TV trailer, and I make an absolute mess, throwing my crap about the entire place and changing as quickly as I possibly can. And by the time I got back, Blake Harris and the entire 48 crew had swapped out everything in the interior and had it ready for me to go. And they were just such professionals in that, in that time.”
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Notably, Alex Bowman fell ill during the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix last Sunday, and after diagnosis, doctors found it to be a vertigo issue. Drivers with vertigo issues risk fatal accidents, and as a consequence, HMS needed a driver who could fit in for Bowman immediately.
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Snider, however, was no common name in the Cup Series fraternity. Despite this, NASCAR allowed him to race in Cup after considering his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, where he picked up a win and a pole in 112 outings. As Snider stepped up, he raced till the 95th lap, but NASCAR handed the 37th-place finish to Bowman since the latter started the race.
While Myatt Snider replaced Bowman at COTA, he will no longer be the same driver at Phoenix. Instead, Anthony Alfredo will replace Bowman at the upcoming race this weekend.
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Alex Bowman’s substitute opens up ahead of the Phoenix race
Anthony Alfredo will replace Bowman at the upcoming Phoenix Raceway Cup Series race on Sunday. With 43 Cup Series races under his belt, Alfredo comes with formidable experience to tame the #48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
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“First and foremost, I hate it for Alex,” Alfredo said on his Hendrick Motorsports opportunity. “No race car driver wants to be in the position where they have to give up their seat for a weekend to someone else. His health is definitely the most important thing, and I hope he gets back on track soon.”
This will be the third time Bowman has missed a NASCAR race after 2022 and 2023. In 2022, he sustained a concussion, leading to five missed races, and in 2023, he sustained a compression fracture, leading to three missed races.
On those two occasions, Noah Gragson and Josh Berry filled in for Alex Bowman. As Bowman is set to miss the Phoenix race and might miss the upcoming races too, Hendrick Motorsports will request a medical waiver to keep the #48 driver alive in the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
For better or worse, Tony Stewart vows to keep his competitive edge while racing against his wife
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Joey Logano wins pole for NASCAR race at Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Joey Logano completed a Team Penske qualifying sweep at Phoenix Raceway, where the team is celebrating its 60th anniversary in motorsports.
Logano’s run at 135.537 mph put him on the pole for the NASCAR race on Sunday. David Malukas, in his first season with the storied organization, started on the pole Saturday for the IndyCar race.
NASCAR and IndyCar are bundled together this weekend for a doubleheader in the desert, and Roger Penske used the opportunity to assemble his six drivers spanning the two series for the 60th anniversary celebration.
Through qualifying, they have delivered: Austin Cindric qualified his Penske Ford third — behind reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson — and Ryan Blaney, who won last year’s finale, qualified fifth.
Blaney is the BetMGM betting favorite to win the race with 10 top-five finishes in 20 career starts at Phoenix.
Tyler Reddick set a NASCAR record by winning the first three races of the season and will start fourth Sunday as he seeks a fourth consecutive victory.
Anthony Alfredo, the fill-in driver at Hendrick Motorsports as Alex Bowman battles vertigo, qualified 31st.
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Carson Hocevar Enters “The Double” Conversation as He Eyes Tony Stewart’s Legacy in NASCAR
Very few drivers have a legacy as versatile as Tony Stewart. The three-time Cup Series champion famously attempted “The Double,” where he raced in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Carson Hocevar’s recent words might have hinted that. Having raced in all three NASCAR national series races, the Spire man could enter the NASCAR and IndyCar double race weekend and follow Smoke’s footsteps.
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Could Hocevar attempt The Double?
In a recent interview with NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck, Hocevar opened up about his interest in racing in the IndyCar 500, the equivalent of NASCAR’s Daytona 500, the most important stock car race of the season. Being from Michigan, a state where all sorts of motorsport is quite popular, the #77 driver said:
“I would love to. I would love to do the 500, obviously. You know, being from Michigan and racing USAC sprint cars, that would be something I would love to do, but try to be successful at the day job first.”
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Following this, Hocevar shed light on how Spire Motorsports, the team he races for, has a deep connection with Andretti Global, one of the teams competing in the IndyCar championship. Here’s what he said on this:
“Better shot than most others could say when, you got similar bosses or same bosses, basically. But I would love to do it. We’ll see.”
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Notably, NASCAR team Spire Motorsports is co-owned by Dan Towriss-led holding company called TWG Motorsports. The company has an impressive portfolio that includes IndyCar outfit Andretti Global, NASCAR team Spire Motorsports, the Cadillac F1 team, and IMSA team Wayne Taylor Racing.
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Towriss brought all the teams under the TWG umbrella in late 2024, and this was when Andretti Global and Spire Motorsports came under the same owner. As a consequence, Carson Hocevar will now have the opportunity to race in the Indy 500.
That being said, Hocevar could have also tried his luck for the double header this weekend at Phoenix, where NASCAR and IndyCar will shake hands — IndyCar will have its NTT IndyCar race on Saturday, just hours before the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.
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If Hocevar had locked in, the Spire man could have followed Tony Stewart’s legacy, as the former NASCAR driver is still the only driver to race simultaneously in both competitions and come out successfully. Drivers like John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson have attempted it but didn’t succeed as Stewart did.
Stewart made two attempts at the 1999 and 2001 Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600. In his 1999 attempt, he finished 9th at Indianapolis and 4th at Charlotte. In 2001, he placed 6th at Indianapolis and 3rd at Charlotte, completing all 1100 miles.
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To this day, Stewart’s result in the doubleheader is considered the benchmark. Even though Kyle Larson tried the double header twice, he could not succeed like Stewart, who has now embarked on a new journey.
Tony Stewart wants absolute competitiveness at NHRA
As Tony Stewart is all set to start his NHRA journey with Elite Motorsports, the 54-year-old wants to be immensely competitive, even if he has to race directly against his wife and the mother of his child, Leah Pruett. Speaking about this, Stewart recently said in an interview:
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“First off, at the end of the year, no matter who wins or loses, we’ll still be married. You can put that in ink. I’m a race car driver,” Stewart said. “I drive race cars. I’m not a trophy wife. For the first two years we met, I kind of leaned in the doorway and didn’t do a very good job of being pretty enough to be a trophy wife. So I figured I’d better do what I do best and put a helmet on.”
Leah Pruett, Stewart’s wife, is a long-time NHRA Hot Rod racing driver. She stepped away from racing for several months after becoming pregnant with their son, Dominic. However, as she returned last year, Stewart handed her the ride and switched to Elite Motorsports for the 2026 season.
NASCAR Dishes Out Penalties to Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Team
Following the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR issued penalties to Zane Smith and his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team. According to NASCAR, the penalties were assessed after the sanctioning body discovered unapproved adjustments to the No. 38 Ford Mustang Dark Horse following inspection, which took place prior to practice.
In an update, the NASCAR Communications department said officials observed the No. 38 team making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody of their car during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments.
As a result of the unapproved adjustments between practice and qualifying, Smith, who was 25th-fastest in practice and qualified 24th for Sunday’s race, will have to drop to the rear of the field prior to the green flag, and after taking the green flag in Sunday’s race, Smith will have to perform a pass-thru penalty on pit road.
Additionally, Will Norris, the car chief of Smith’s No. 38 Ford, has been ejected for the remainder of the race weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
The penalties will put Smith in a tough spot to open the fourth race of the season, and the penalties come after a solid start to the 2026 campaign, which has the driver sitting 14th in the championship standings. Smith finished sixth in the season-opening Daytona 500 and seventh the following weekend at EchoPark Speedway.
Smith was running near the front of the field late in the day at Circuit of the Americas until he was swept up in an incident with 20 laps to go, which cut his tire down, and resulted in a 33rd-place finish.
If Smith doesn’t get an early-race caution Sunday at Phoenix, he could find himself trapped a lap down if additional drivers fall a lap down to the leaders before he can get a free pass on Sunday.
The 26-year-old racer has one top-10 finish in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 1-mile oval in Avondale, AZ. If he hopes to tally a second top-10 finish on Sunday, he’ll have to overcome some obstacles.
NASCAR Penalty: 26-YO Ford Driver’s Phoenix Weekend Unravels as Officials Bar Crew Chief
Life as a NASCAR driver can be pretty grueling and full of unpredictability. Two races in, and you’re having the best start you’ve ever had to a season in your career. Two races further from that, it turns into a bleak nightmare. Such is the case with 26-year-old Zane Smith at the moment.
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Zane Smith and the #38 FRM team face the wrath of NASCAR
The Front Row Motorsports driver had a promising start to his season in the first two races at Daytona and Atlanta. He ended up finishing inside the top 10 in both races, a career first for the young driver. With a 6th-place finish in the Daytona 500 and 7th in Atlanta, Smith was soaring high.
However, at COTA, all of Smith’s high flying and momentum came undone as a late crash left him with a result pretty far from the top 10. It was a 33rd-place finish for the FRM driver.
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But somehow, a week from that, it is shaping up to be an even worse weekend for Smith at Phoenix.
During inspection on Saturday, the #38 team was observed “making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments,” per a NASCAR release.
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The car failed the test again when it was checked, leading to a massive penalty.
Zane Smith would be starting Sunday’s Cup race from the rear. He would also have to perform a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag. On top of all of that, Smith also had his crew chief ejected as part of the penalty.
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Smith is currently ranked 14th in the points table. Unless he gets a good finish at Phoenix, he could potentially lose his spot and fall in the standings.
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Smith is quietly finding his feet at the Cup level
Having wowed everyone on the Truck level, Zane Smith earned his first full-time season on the Cup level in 2024 with Spire Motorsports. In his rookie year, Smith faced a string of poor results in the first half of the season. However, a runner-up finish at Nashville saw him finish the season with another top 5 and a couple of top 10s.
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For 2025, Smith joined Front Row Motorsports. In his second season in the Cup, Smith found more consistency in the first half of the season with a run of finishes inside the top 20. He finished the season with four top 10 finishes and a single top 5.
But his performance and results in the 2025 season were enough for his team to offer him a multi-year extension to his contract. It was announced towards the end of 2025. Speaking about his contract extension, Smith said, as per NASCAR, “We’ve had an up-and-down year, but heading into the offseason, I feel like we’ve put our program in a great position to hit the ground running in 2026.”
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He claimed that FRM has ‘always felt like home,’ be it the people or the shop. Smith expressed his excitement for the 2026 season, which had gone quite well for the first two races. And even if there was a speed bump at COTA, it was due to a late crash.
But now with a penalty and losing his crew chief at Phoenix, Zane Smith could be in for a pretty grueling race on Sunday.
Kyle Larson Breaks Silence on HMS Prodigy’s Controversy After Getting an Earful From Rick Hendrick
Following two controversial races, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson addressed his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series teammate Corey Day with a strong message ahead of the Phoenix race. The #17 Chevy driver had drawn attention after his finish in Atlanta and was involved in another similar incident at Circuit of the Americas. But even amid the setbacks, Larson continues to stand by him.
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Kyle “mentor” Larson steps up for Corey Day
In a recent interview with Jeff Gluck, Larson opened up on how he spoke to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver, who is under a full-time obligation with HMS. Addressing Day, Larson, who played an instrumental role in bringing him to HMS, asked him to fight his battles, get going, and not give up.
“I haven’t really talked to him a whole lot, but just like, ‘Hey man, you’re doing great. Obviously, you’ve had a rough couple of weeks and all that, and you’ve taken in a lot of advice, but keep your head up,” Larson said.
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Following this, the #5 driver highlighted how the young days as a racing driver are mostly spent learning and gathering experience. Larson asked him to keep his chin up and learn on the go.
“I think that’s important to do when you’re 20, and you’re getting a lot of advice, and you’re beating yourself down, I’m sure, for how you’ve handled things. So, just trying to be like, ‘Hey, we all believe in you. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t. And keep your head up. You’re a great race car driver. You’ll figure it out,” Larson added.
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Larson’s appreciation for Day amid tough times comes days after Rick Hendrick, the owner of HMS, personally met Day at the track. As also mentioned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Mr. Hendrick pulled the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver aside after back-to-back incidents at Daytona, Atlanta, and COTA.
Dale Jr. also added how he and Mr. Hendrick had a conversation with Day, where he said,
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“We all got together, and we all sat down. Rick [Hendrick] had a conversation with Corey, and we’re all trying to help him understand, ‘Look, man, we want you here. We believe in you; we believe you’re a winner. We want to see you succeed. But we have to do this without being detrimental to each other.’”
Right from the start of the season, the rookie driver created a poor reputation for his name following his irrational and aggressive moves in back-to-back races in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. At Daytona, he was involved in a wreck with William Sawalich.
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In Atlanta, Day was also involved in a multi-car wreck after his collision with Ryan Sieg. At COTA, Corey Day wrecked fan favorite Connor Zilisch while battling for a top-five finish. Besides reckless moves, the lack of accountability and controversial excuses also led fans not to like him.
As a consequence, the NASCAR fans were unimpressed with the Hendrick Motorsports prodigy, as they shared stern criticism. Denny Hamlin, one of NASCAR’s most experienced drivers, also voiced a similar concern.
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Denny Hamlin calls out Hendrick Motorsports amid Corey Day row
Hendrick Motorsports brought in Corey Day, the shining Truck Series driver, and put him on an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride. However, weeks after the said move, numerous NASCAR figures, including Denny Hamlin, called Rick Hendrick’s team out over Day’s reckless and meaningless driving.
“I mean, you’ve seen good runs out of him,” Hamlin said in the Actions Detrimental podcast. “I haven’t seen a lot of great runs out of him. You’ve seen more mistakes than you’ve seen great runs. And like when I say mistakes, I mean big old blatant mistakes. And every weekend, some guys are upset.”
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With this, Hamlin, a longtime NASCAR driver and a co-owner of a Cup Series team, raised serious questions about Hendrick Motorsports and how they handle developing drivers. Especially after he spoke about Day’s attitude after wrecking Zilisch at COTA.
With that said, it will be interesting to see if Corey Day puts his chin up, takes note, and can steer himself away from wrecks and controversies.
Joey Logano Reveals the Secret Behind Roger Penske’s Successful Racing Empire With Bold 3-Word Verdict
For a person to dominate in three different racing categories at the same time is not only a hard nut to crack, but also a rare sight. That’s where Roger Penske enters, one of the foundational figures of modern motorsports in America. As Penske’s contribution in the country’s automotive and racing sector is unparalleled, his team’s driver, Joey Logano, recently reiterated the same with a fascinating take and unraveled the secret behind it.
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Logano’s bold appreciation for his team owner
In a recent interview with Cup Scene on YouTube, the Penske star opened up about his team owner and how Mr. Penske rose above the ordinary and made a place for himself.
“As a competitor, no matter what your position is on a team, you want to be with the best, right?” Logano said, revealing the secret. “You can’t soar like an eagle when you’re working with turkeys, you know? And he’s an eagle, right? And it’s those are the ones you want to attach to, right? You want to fly together. And I’ve been very fortunate to drive for him for the last 14-15 years.”
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Logano’s eagle reference for his boss also resonates with the spirit of the national bird of the United States of America (bald eagle), which symbolizes power, leadership, and keen vision. Soon after this, the #22 driver reflected on his time at the team and shed light on how Team Penske has had impactful retention over the years, where sponsors, engineers, crew chiefs, and other major shareholders remained at the team.
Speaking about this, here’s Logano further added, “I think when you look at the tenure of the employees, the sponsors, the drivers, no one really moves that often, right? Like once you’re in, you want to be there. Nobody wants to leave. Because you’re going to see success eventually, one way or another. Everyone works hard. Everyone has the same culture and the same thought process. It’s something I’m really proud of. Like I take a lot of pride in saying that I drive for Team Penske.”
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Logano’s words about longevity at Team Penske are proven by his own tenure there. Since 2013, he has continued to drive the No. 22 for the team. Ryan Blaney has been with the team since 2018. All of this shows the culture that Roger Penske has built at Team Penske over the decades. Stability has been a defining trait of the organization.
Notably, Roger Penske leads a massive billion-dollar empire in motorsports. With over $3.8 billion in fortune, he heads Team Penske (a team that fields three different outfits in three different racing categories, such as NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA Championship.
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Besides this, he also owns the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar competition. Because of his contribution to American motorsport, Penske received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump in 2019.
Penske’s success story is not just limited to his ownership, as the 89-year-old won the Indy 500 recently in 2023 and 2024, Cup Series championship in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and three consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
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Particularly in NASCAR, Team Penske has five Cup Series and two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championships. Statistically, Roger Penske’s team has been one of the best teams in the early 2020s. Keeping the momentum intact, Joey Logano’s teammate wants to succeed at Phoenix, despite a slow start to the season.
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Ryan Blaney boosted up ahead of Phoenix Cup race
NASCAR is all set to host the fourth Cup Series race of the season at Phoenix, a track regarded as a happy hunting ground for Team Penske. In recent years, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have won three titles on this track in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Besides this, the Penske duo also claimed six wins altogether. Banking on such impressive statistics, Blaney shared his thoughts ahead of this weekend’s race on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:
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“I feel like I have a decent understanding of what I take, what it takes to go fast around there, and kind of what I need my car to do. But Penske’s always brought really fast cars there. It was nice to finally get a win there last year in the fall. We’ve run second there a lot of times, and it was nice to finally win. So I’m looking forward to it this weekend.”
The start of the season has not been ideal for Team Penske drivers as Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Cindric failed to match 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who won three back-to-back races at Daytona, Atlanta, and COTA. With that said, it will be interesting to see if Blaney and Co. manage to break this streak on Sunday at a track that they are used to taming.
IndyCar Champion Teases NASCAR Debut Days After Rival Driver’s Backhanded Comments
Being a phenomenon in IndyCar is not enough for Alex Palou. After winning four straight championships and defending the title in 2026, Palou now wants to test his limits. Not only is he looking prepared for the IndyCar 2026 season with a victory at St. Pete, but he is also ready to utilize their latest partnership with one of the biggest names in American motorsports.
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Alex Palou aims for NASCAR entry in 2026
It is clear that IndyCar and NASCAR have a set plan for the 2026 season. With multiple double-header weekends, they are aiming to provide more racing action to the fans. Palou’s rival, Pato O’Ward, didn’t appreciate the idea a few days back, as he felt like IndyCar doesn’t get the limelight it deserves when clubbed together with NASCAR.
“Already tired of IndyCar being like the support race. We are always the sideshow. It’s great for the fans, but not for us,” he said.
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However, after Kevin Harvick and Will Buxton doubled down on the argument on why they are better, O’Ward later tweeted sarcastically, “I stand corrected, i’m so happy to be here with NASCAR this weekend🤝😆.”
But the popular opinion is positive, and like Palou, many others are supporting this move. “Hope we have more of these,” said the Phoenix winner Josef Newgarden recently.
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On the topic of NASCAR and IndyCar racing together on weekends, Palou says, “If I knew they (NASCAR) were racing with us this weekend, I would have done it. But in my opinion I would have to do a road course first.”
Palou is yet to take part in any stock car racing. However, he has considerable experience in driving outside the open-wheel discipline. Using his time with other racing series as a foundation, Palou wants to drive in NASCAR. And just like other drivers, he wants to test his skills out on a road course first.
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Even though both IndyCar and NASCAR run ovals, drivers from different disciplines generally like to race on road courses to have a fighting chance against the other veterans in the sport. But Palou is not the only driver from his discipline to think of trying out NASCAR.
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Earlier, IndyCar veterans Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe took advantage of the NASCAR Truck Series and IndyCar doubleheader by trying their luck in the race. Hinchcliffe even posted a top 10 finish, looking forward to more racing in NASCAR.
While Palou regrets not taking part in NASCAR this weekend, Phoenix has left him sour with a massive points deficit.
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Alex Palou gets crashed out of Phoenix
With a victory at St. Pete, it was clear that Alex Palou is very serious about the 2026 season. It already looked like the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was ahead of the competition. Starting at the Phoenix oval in P10, Palou was looking stable and fast enough for the weekend. As the race progressed, he would slot himself into P3, running behind David Malukas and Josef Newgarden.
Unfortunately, his runaway performance came to a brutal halt when he made a grave misjudgment and drove into Rinus VeeKay. While VeeKay was trying to make a move on Palou as he took the top lane, Palou closed the door on him suddenly, causing him to make contact with his car.
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And with that, the infallible Alex Palou was out of the race in a wreck. “I haven’t been able to see it,” Palou said, noting a replay. “I just, I don’t know if I just squeezed someone or someone was trying to get there. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t think there was anybody there.
“I need to see if there was really that space or not, but yeah, it’s unfortunate that we ended up in the wall so early and not even trying, but it’s racing.” Not only that, his actions also left VeeKay fuming about potential suspension damage.
It’s unfortunate, but Alex Palou did not become a four-time champion for nothing. He should bounce back soon and definitely make up the points deficit from Phoenix. And who knows, maybe he might also do it with a subsequent top-10 finish in a NASCAR race that weekend.
Denny Hamlin Calls Out Rick Hendrick & Co.’s Struggles in Phoenix Amid Kyle Larson’s Grind
Just three months after winning the title, Kyle Larson came back to his championship arena. And the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion performed better than any of his teammates. Nevertheless, the scope for doing more at Phoenix Raceway was a lot, as even rival Denny Hamlin saw. The latter dissected the struggles faced by Rick Hendrick’s team as a collective.
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Denny Hamlin’s rival stood out
“Larson, Cliff Daniels, you got to give them credit. They take a 15th-place car every Phoenix and finish in the top five with it,” Denny Hamlin said in an ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode. “Larson did an amazing job on restarts, like gaining chunks of spots, like two or three cautions come out. And it was like if it ever just went green, like his pace, his actual pace was not good.”
Indeed, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team gritted their teeth for the Straight Talk 500 race. Starting from a front row spot, Larson overcame an early pit road miscue and dodged a lot of debilitating cautions. He ran side-by-side with Ty Gibbs for the lead as the day’s final caution flew with 19 laps to go. And with a two-tire call from crew chief Cliff Daniels, Larson could salvage a third-place result.
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In comparison, Kyle Larson’s teammates did not look so good. William Byron, driving the No. 24 Chevy, suffered a cut tire early in the race. He lacked the pace to win the race and instead relied on restarts to fetch a 7th-place result, his first top ten of the season. Chase Elliott was mired in traffic throughout the race, with his No. 9 Chevy getting caught in two crashes before a 23rd-place finish. Alex Bowman, sidelined due to vertigo, had his No. 48 driven by Anthony Alfredo – the latter finished 33rd.
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“It just seemed like Hendrick in general were not as strong as they usually were, and Penske was good. Gibbs was good,” Denny Hamlin continued. “I thought William Byron was less than exciting compared to where he’s been there at that track in the past. So, he was kind of an underperformer compared to what I would say is the status quo Phoenix race. Um, I guess we can talk Chase Elliott was not good either, right? He was involved in an accident early.”
Kyle Larson himself was not satisfied with his team’s effort. “It’s concerning,” he said. “William’s had his moments of being pretty strong. I feel like the rest of us three have always been really bad. We just were worse today.”
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Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin scrutinized his own efforts in Phoenix in a dim light.
Persevering through many mishaps
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Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs waved Joe Gibbs Racing‘s colors in Phoenix. Yet Denny Hamlin was also right there, finishing 5th. He overcame immense trouble for that result. The No. 11 team faced problems on pit road that limited their ability to stay near the front. Although it showed steady speed, the team did not have the pace needed to match the leaders who controlled the race in the closing laps.
Denny Hamlin reflected critically, “Not enough. That’s a good overall summary. We just didn’t have the ‘it’ that we needed. I felt like I was always just a little behind the 20 and the 12. I thought we were kind of the next tier of cars, but we didn’t have anything more than that.”
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“We had some issues when we did have track position. We didn’t have a great day on pit road. They had a great day when we were kind of in the middle of the pack. But those are the ebbs and flows. Everyone is trying to get reps and rhythm for the season. We’ve just got to work on it and get a little better for sure.”
Clearly, a number of Cup Series stars need to work on their pace. Let’s wait and see how Denny Hamlin and his HMS rivals perform in the upcoming races.
Sin tax hike for stadiums? Most people we heard from say no: The Readers Write
More than 450 readers responded after I asked whether they would vote to quadruple Cuyahoga County’s sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol to help cover maintenance costs at Progressive Field, Rocket Arena and eventually the new football stadium.
The volume of responses was striking. So was the intensity.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has proposed creating a taxing district around the Gateway complex so that those who attend games and spend money nearby would shoulder the burden. The teams would contribute under that plan, though they have declined to sign off. As a fallback, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has suggested quadrupling the sin tax — a move that would require voter approval. Without either, maintenance costs would fall to the general fund.
Readers clearly are fed up with being asked to pay for these facilities. They are weary of the debate. They resent that public money subsidizes billionaire team owners. But the responses also show divisions over fairness, public health, regionalism and Cleveland’s future.
Here’s a breakdown of the responses.
“Let the billionaires pay”
The dominant theme was frustration — even outrage — that taxpayers are repeatedly asked to shoulder costs associated with professional sports teams.
“I would not support any increase in taxes to support the billionaires who own these teams. I don’t like the taxing district around the facilities, but that’s better than penalizing everyone in Cuyahoga County.”
Many readers questioned why owners refuse to contribute more.
“I think it is pitiful that the sports teams, whose owners are BILLIONAIRES, won’t pony up money to support the teams that keep them rolling in dough. Pathetic! All taxpayers should NOT have to continue to subsidize these greedy owners. If they won’t pay and support their own team, why should we all be stuck paying their maintenance and upkeep? Typical: keep the poor and middle class in their place and make them pay, even if they don’t have the money, or the inclination, to do so.”
Another reader wrote:
“No!!! The teams and those that attend the games should bear all the costs. I feel strongly that taxpayers should not be supplementing the teams, who make millions. Why should taxpayers give the billionaires that own the teams money? Yes I feel very strongly about this. If they refuse to pay, let them leave. I just do not see the economics on supplementing sports teams and their owners.”
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User fees over sin taxes
A second major theme: if money must be raised, it should come from those who attend games, not from smokers and drinkers across the county.
“Let those who attend sports events pay for their venues either through sales tax or increasing the price of admission. Are there any other leisure activities we ask everyone to pay for? Those of us who attend concerts pay our share through ticket prices. Rock climbing, gym memberships, same. I’ve never understood why football, baseball, and basketball are somehow communal responsibilities.”
One reader laid out a business-minded approach:
“I can’t help but feel that who should pay for the maintenance of the stadium would come from the lease payments, a tax on the tickets, consider taking something from the vendors and even the parking lots and restaurants in the area. Forget having to pass sin taxes, or the methods that would tax us all. Get the money from the users of the property not the folks that just drive by wishing they could afford to go to events. It just seems like common business sense to me!!!”
A $5 ticket surcharge idea surfaced repeatedly. Others suggested concession taxes, merchandise fees or sports-betting taxes.
Regressive and unfair
Many objected specifically to the sin tax as regressive — a tax that falls hardest on lower-income residents.
“Absolutely not! It is a tax on mostly low income Clevelanders, many of whom cannot afford to attend sports events. It’s wildly inequitable.”
A smoker offered a pointed critique, referring to a cigarette tax that pays for the arts in Cuyahoga County as well as the stadium issue:
“Hell no. I’m a smoker. Every time I see an Arts & Culture credit that claims funding is supported by “the people of Cuyahoga County” I want to scream “No, that’s a lie! It’s ONLY paid for by smokers!” We don’t mind not smoking inside A&C-sponsored events or institutions, but in most cases we can’t even smoke outside them. So you take my money, then ban me from the things I’ve paid for. As I’ve said to Chris Ronayne many many times, the least they could do is be honest and say “Cuyahoga Arts & Culture is funded by the cigarette smokers of Cuyahoga County.”
Others warned that tobacco and alcohol consumption are declining, making the tax unstable long-term.
“It seems foolish to continue pursuing increases in the “sin tax”. As fewer and fewer people indulge in the “sins” taxed, it cannot provide the funds needed.”
Public health and pragmatism
A smaller group supported the increase, arguing that higher taxes could reduce harmful behaviors.
“We’ve known for decades cigarettes kill people. New evidence is proving alcohol does too. Both are nuisance vices that have negative externalities like second hand smoke and drunk driving. And they are also stubbornly hard for people to abandon for reasons of both culture and addiction… I have ZERO sympathy for the people who buy this stuff regularly paying a little more, especially since there’s significant overlap between those people and fans of all these teams. Put the tax on the ballot. I’ll vote yes. My partner says she would too.”
Another reader framed it more simply:
“Yes. Increasing taxes on cigarettes decreases the rate of smoking in teens.”
Some supporters acknowledged their position was easier because they do not smoke or drink.
Go regional
Many readers argued the burden should extend beyond Cuyahoga County, since fans come from across Northeast Ohio.
“I support it and also think it should be expanded to surrounding counties as many of the folks who attend games do not live in Cuyahoga – myself included.”
One reader wrote:
“7 county regional tax is the right solution as all residents in those counties benefit from the 3 teams. All should share the costs. Pretty simple, right?”
Others asked why Lake, Lorain, Geauga and Summit residents — who attend games and identify as Browns, Cavs and Guardians fans — should get to use the facilities without contributing to them.
The Browns complication
The potential new football stadium in Brook Park loomed large in the responses. The covered stadium that the Browns plan to build there would not get sin taxes for repairs for some years, as it would be a new stadium that doesn’t need extra money for maintenance yet. But the move to Brook Park has been controversial. Several people said their vote would depend on whether the Browns get any money.
“Not if it pays for the Brook Park Billionaire Bowl.”
“If the sin tax goes to Browns, NO.”
Weariness with the debate
Perhaps most telling was the fatigue.
“No. I have honestly voted for that several times in the past. But it is getting so old that these teams aren’t agreeing to help pay some of these costs. And we continue to go back to the sin tax over and over again. There needs to be a more sustainable option.”
That sentiment — exhaustion with repeated stadium funding fights — ran through the responses.
Bills fans can’t get enough of Highmark Stadium collectibles
Want to bring home a memento from the current Buffalo Bills stadium before it’s torn down? You’ll soon get your chance, but be prepared to really open your wallet.
The Erie County Sheriff’s Office says police will be on alert at Sunday’s final regular-season game at Highmark Stadium for Buffalo Bills fans trying to snag an illegal souvenir.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts
Sure, Buffalo Bills fans can buy seats, pieces of the turf and goal post sections from the old Highmark Stadium. But the keepsake getting the most attention is the urinal troughs.
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Teenager Samra swaps snowy Canada for Mumbai heat with IPL dream
Bengaluru, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Yuvraj Samra honed his batting skills in indoor stadiums back home in snowy Canada and the gifted teenager is now ready to test himself in the heat of Mumbai as he chases an Indian Premier League deal after an impressive Twenty20 World Cup.
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While his World Cup adventure ended after Canada’s exit, Samra is eager to get used to Indian conditions and has shifted base to Mumbai to train under India international Yashasvi Jaiswal’s childhood coach Jwala Singh.
Konnor Griffin was featured on ‘You Got Mossed’
Konnor Griffin is only 19 years old and already turning heads as MLB’s top prospect, flexing his muscle by launching spring dingers out of stadiums. But the Pirates phenom is no stranger to jaw-dropping feats of athleticism. In fact, he’s been doing so since the ninth grade (that’s only something like five years ago for him, of course).
Griffin is a multi-sport athlete who excelled in football as well, and there’s video proof of perhaps his peak moment on the gridiron. As a middle school wide receiver, he was featured on the popular ESPN segment
Iron Maiden Sets ‘Run For Your Lives’ Tour of Australia
Iron Maiden will bring their brand of heavy metal thunder down under later this year.
The British heavy metal legends today (Feb. 27) announce the Australia dates of their Run For Your Lives World Tour, where they’ll play stadiums for the first time in both Melbourne and Sydney, and arenas in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Megadeth are special guests on the four-date run, which will get underway Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, before hitting Melbourne’s AAMI Park (Nov. 13), Sydney’s Allianz Stadium (Nov. 15), and wrapping up Nov. 18 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
The Australia visit will mark Iron Maiden’s eighth, dating back to November 1982. Australians can’t get enough of them; Iron Maiden was here fewer than two years ago, in September 2024.
“This will be Iron Maiden’s biggest tour of Australia ever,” explains TEG Dainty president Paul Dainty, producer of the forthcoming run. “Headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their 50-year history is a massive moment. And with Megadeth joining the tour, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal — two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show Australian fans won’t know what hit them.”
Iron Maiden has had a solid week. On Wednesday, the band’s name was called out for nomination into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. And earlier, on Tuesday, Universal Pictures International (UPI) unveiled Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, a feature film that’s said to trace the rockers’ “remarkable five‑decade journey” with “unprecedented access” to the rockers’ official archives.
Formed in East London in 1975, Iron Maiden are titans of the heavy genre, with 17 studio albums, over 100 million records sold, and more than 2,500 performances across 64 countries. In September 2021, Iron Maiden earned its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 as Senjutsu debuted at No. 3.
General public tickets for the Australia shows go on sale Friday, March 6.
Run For Your Lives Australia Dates
Nov. 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Nov. 13 — AAMI Park, Melbourne
Nov. 15 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Nov. 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
The Case for Expanding Great American Ballpark’s Outfield
Since its opening in 2003, Great American Ballpark has been considered one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the majors.
Although the park’s dimensions are very similar to the Reds’ former home, Riverfront Stadium, it still plays differently in practice. It is a hitter’s paradise, but a pitcher’s nightmare.
Part of what makes Great American so unique is its home run rate. Over the years, the ballpark has consistently ranked near the top of Major League Baseball in home runs allowed, especially down the left- and right-field lines.
In fact, from 2020-2024, it led the league with 1,031 home runs allowed. The next closest was Yankee Stadium at 981.
However, some of the best insight into this quirky ballpark comes from players who spent years in Cincinnati, and few know it better than Joey Votto.
In an interview with Jim Day on the Jim Day Podcast, Votto said that he’d
2026 World Cup schedule: Dates, times, stadiums all confirmed – Full details
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup has been confirmed, with the kick off times, dates and venues for all 104 games now confirmed.
There are 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, and you can watch every single game live on Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol. Check out the latest on the superstars and how they’re shaping up ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
We now know where you can watch each team play across the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and you can start making your plans.
MORE — World Cup base camps for every team | 2026 World Cup hub | 2026 World Cup venues
This is what it is all about, as we’ve been waiting years for the schedule for this 48-team tournament to be revealed.
Below are all the details you need.
2026 World Cup schedule, dates, times, stadiums, full details
Group A schedule
June 11: Mexico vs South Africa – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 3pm ET
June 11: South Korea vs UEFA playoff D – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm
June 18: UEFA playoff D vs South Africa – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 18: Mexico vs South Korea – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 9pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff D vs Mexico – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
June 24: South Africa vs South Korea – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
Group B schedule
June 12: Canada vs UEFA playoff A – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
June 13: Qatar vs Switzerland – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 3pm ET
June 18: Switzerland vs UEFA playoff A – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 18: Canada vs Qatar – BC Place, Vancouver – 6pm ET
June 24: Switzerland vs Canada – BC Place, Vancouver – 3pm ET
June 24: UEFA playoff A vs Qatar – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
Group C schedule
June 13: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 6pm ET
June 13: Haiti vs Scotland – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 9pm ET
June 19: Scotland vs Morocco – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 19: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 9pm ET
June 24: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 24: Morocco vs Haiti – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 6pm ET
Group D schedule
June 12: USA vs Paraguay – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 13: Australia vs UEFA playoff C – BC Place, Vancouver – Midnight ET
June 19: USA vs Australia – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 19: UEFA playoff C vs Paraguay – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 25: UEFA playoff C vs USA – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 10pm ET
June 25: Paraguay vs Australia – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 10pm ET
Group E schedule
June 14: Germany vs Curacao – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 14: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 7pm ET
June 20: Germany vs Ivory Coast – BMO Field, Toronto – 4pm ET
June 20: Ecuador vs Curacao – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 8pm ET
June 25: Ecuador vs Germany – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
June 25: Curacao vs Ivory Coast – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 4pm ET
Group F schedule
June 14: Netherlands vs Japan – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 14: UEFA playoff B vs Tunisia – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 10pm ET
June 20: Netherlands vs UEFA playoff B – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 20: Tunisia vs Japan – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – Midnight ET
June 25: Japan vs UEFA playoff B – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 7pm ET
June 25: Tunisia vs Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 7pm ET
Group G schedule
June 15: Iran vs New Zealand – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 9pm ET
June 15: Belgium vs Egypt – Lumen Field, Seattle – 3pm ET
June 21: Belgium vs Iran – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 21: New Zealand vs Egypt – BC Place, Vancouver – 9pm ET
June 26: Egypt vs Iran – Lumen Field, Seattle – 11pm ET
June 26: New Zealand vs Belgium – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
Group H schedule
June 15: Spain vs Cape Verde – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 15: Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 21: Spain vs Saudi Arabia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
June 21: Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
June 26: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – NRG Stadium, Houston – 8pm ET
June 26: Uruguay vs Spain – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 8pm ET
Group I schedule
June 16: France vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
June 16: Inter-confederation playoff 2 vs Norway – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 6pm ET
June 22: France vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
June 22: Norway vs Senegal – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 8pm ET
June 26: Norway vs France – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 3pm ET
June 26: Senegal vs Inter-confederation playoff 2 – BMO Field, Toronto – 3pm ET
Group J schedule
June 16: Argentina vs Algeria – Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City – 9pm ET
June 16: Austria vs Jordan – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – Midnight ET
June 22: Argentina vs Austria – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 22: Jordan vs Algeria – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 11pm ET
June 27: Algeria vs Austria – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 10pm ET
June 27: Jordan vs Argentina – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 10pm ET
Group K schedule
June 17: Portugal vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 17: Uzbekistan vs Colombia – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 10pm ET
June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 23: Colombia vs Inter-confederation playoff 1 – Estadio Akron, Guadalajara – 10pm ET
June 27: Colombia vs Portugal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 7:30pm ET
June 27: Inter-confederation playoff 1 vs Uzbekistan – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 7:30pm ET
Group L schedule
June 17: England vs Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 4pm ET
June 17: Ghana vs Panama – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 23: England vs Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
June 23: Panama vs Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
June 27: Panama vs England – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 27: Croatia vs Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
Round of 32 schedule
June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET
June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET
June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET
June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET
June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET
July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET
July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET
July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET
July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET
July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET
July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET
July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET
Round of 16 schedule
July 4: Match 90 – Winner Match 73 vs Winner Match 75 – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET
July 4: Match 89 – Winner Match 74 vs Winner Match 77 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 5pm ET
July 5: Match 91 – Winner Match 76 vs Winner Match 78 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 4pm ET
July 5: Match 92 – Winner Match 79 vs Winner Match 80 – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 8pm ET
July 6: Match 93 – Winner Match 83 vs Winner Match 84 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 6: Match 94 – Winner Match 81 vs Winner Match 82 – Lumen Field, Seattle – 8pm ET
July 7: Match 95 – Winner Match 86 vs Winner Match 88 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET
July 7: Match 96 – Winner Match 85 vs Winner Match 87 – BC Place, Vancouver – 4pm ET
Quarterfinal schedule
July 9: Match 97 – Winner Match 89 vs Winner Match 90 – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4pm ET
July 10: Match 98 – Winner Match 93 vs Winner Match 94 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET
July 11: Match 99 – Winner Match 91 vs Winner Match 92 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
July 11: Match 100 – Winner Match 95 vs Winner Match 96 – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9pm ET
Semifinal schedule
July 14: Match 101 – Winner Match 97 vs Winner Match 98 – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 3pm ET
July 15: Match 102 – Winner Match 99 vs Winner Match 100 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 3pm ET
Third-place game
July 18: Match 103 – Loser Match 101 vs Loser Match 102 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 5pm ET
Final
July 19: Match 104 – Winner Match 101 vs Winner Match 102 – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 3pm ET
Liga MX stadiums to host Leagues Cup phase one matches in 2026
The 2026 edition of Leagues Cup will see Liga MX teams host phase one matches in Mexico for the first time since the intraleague tournament debuted the modern format three years ago.
Phase one of the competition kicks off on Aug. 4, seeing 54 games between the 18 participating Major League Soccer clubs and all Liga MX teams. The current format will mirror the 2025 edition of Leagues Cup, as clubs compete in three matches in an attempt to qualify to the knockout rounds.
Like the previous year, all 54 phase one matches are set to be played between Liga MX and MLS clubs.
Four phase one matches will be played in Mexico: highest ranked Club Toluca hosts two matches, while Tigres UANL and Club América host one match each.
Toluca welcomes the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas at the Estadio Nemesio Díez for Phase One games, as Club América hosts San Diego FC at the Estadio Banorte and Tigres UANL faces the Vancouver Whitecaps at Estadio Universitario.
The first phase of the tournament will also see Inter Miami CF meet CF Monterrey, seeing new Designated Player Germán Berterame face off against his previous Liga MX club for the first time since departing during the January transfer window.
– Inter Miami invited to White House to mark MLS Cup win – source
– Vancouver Whitecaps, MLS settle suit in missed Lionel Messi game
– Atlético Madrid’s Griezmann pauses plans for MLS move – sources
Teams that qualify to the knockout stage will then be paired with counterparts of the opposing league based on each performance from the first round. The upcoming edition of Leagues Cup will maintain the no draws format, meaning any game that concludes regulation time with a tie will go directly to penalties.
According to Leagues Cup rules:
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Locations for tournament
Where is the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Pool play for the baseball tournament featuring 20 nations is underway at four different sites.
Here’s what to know about where each nation is playing in pool play and the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds of the 2026 WBC tournament.
The tournament runs through March 17.
Most games can be streamed on FUBO, which offers a free trial. Check the schedule for the complete World Baseball Classic schedule with TV channels and streaming information.
Watch World Baseball Classic games on FUBO (free trial)
World Baseball Classic pool play locations
Pool A of the World Baseball Classic is being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico competing in that pool at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Pool B is being held in Houston with Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and the United States playing at Daikin Park.
Pool C in Tokyo consists of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan and Korea facing off at the Tokyo Dome.
The Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela comprise Pool D at loanDepot park in Miami.
Pool play runs through March 11.
World Baseball Classic quarterfinal locations
Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinal games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on March 13 and March 14.
World Baseball Classic semifinal locations
Miami will host both World Baseball Classic semifinal matchups on March 15 and March 16.
World Baseball Classic championship location
Miami will also host the WBC championship game on March 17.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
Reader photo pick of the week: Sports stadiums
This week, we asked our readers to toss on their jerseys and root for their favorite sports teams while commemorating a few of the amazing stadiums they’ve visited. From all-star rivals to historic landmarks, our readers did not disappoint this week!
The winner this week is Angela Carbonetti of Baltimore, Md., with a wide shot of a ball game at Camden Yards.
Honorable mentions go to William Hine of Mount Pleasant with a photo of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams at batting practice and Robert Peterson of Summerville with rafter seats at Madison Square Garden to see Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier duke it out.
Next week’s topic is
Where to watch Carlos Alcaraz vs. Arthur Rinderknech Paribas Open tennis tonight on free streams, TV
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz returns to the court Monday night at the 2026 Paribas Open tennis tournament with a third-round matchup against No. 26 Arthur Rinderknech. The match is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) with Tennis Channel and streaming on-demand.
How to watch: Live streams of the Alcaraz vs. Rinderknech match are available with offers from FuboTV (free trial), DirecTV (free trial) and SlingTV (low intro rate).
Alcaraz breezed through the second round at Indian Wells with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov (6-2, 6-3) after advancing with a first-round bye. The 22-year-old is seeking his third straight tournament win to open the 2026 season after beating Novak Djokovic to win the Australian Open and taking the Qatar ExxonMobil Open to improve to 12-0 on the season. Alcaraz already claims seven Grand Slam wins and 26 ATP Tour events overall.
#1 Carlos Alcaraz vs. #26 Arthur Rinderknech
Paribas Open Tennis 2026
Third-round match at a glance
When: Monday, March 9 at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)
Where: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells, Calif.
TV channel: Tennis Channel
Live streams: FuboTV (free trial) | DirecTV (free trial) | Sling (low intro rate)
Rinderknech is a 30-year-old pro from France who advanced into the third round by way of a bye and a walkover victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. He and Alcaraz also met in Qatar in February in a first-round match that Alcaraz took in straight sets, but with ample resistance from Rinderknech in a 4-6, 6-7 (5-7) final.
Paribas Open Tennis 2026: Live Streaming Options
FuboTV (free trial): FuboTV offers the most extensive package of live sports with rates competitive with DirecTV. The FuboTV Pro ($48.99 first month), Elite ($53.99) and Deluxe ($73.99) all come with first-month discounts. Monthly rates rise to $73.99, $83.99 and $103.99 after the first-month discount.
DirecTV (free trial): FuboTV offers the most extensive package of live sports with rates competitive with DirecTV. The FuboTV Pro ($48.99 first month), Elite ($53.99) and Deluxe ($73.99) all come with first-month discounts. Monthly rates rise to $73.99, $83.99 and $103.99 after the first-month discount.
Lily Collins Amongst Hollywood Names at Desert Smash 2026 Tennis Event
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When Desert Smash hits, Hollywood sure knows how to rally.
As is tradition, the 2026 philanthropic celebrity tennis and pickleball event was held the first week of March at La Quinta Resort & Club. Serving as an unofficial kickoff to the BNP Paribas Open, Desert Smash unites actors, musicians, entertainers and athletes for a cause — this year, the USTA Foundation, which brings tennis, education and mentorship to young people from under-resourced communities.
A week after Lily Collins announced her role as Audrey Hepburn in an upcoming movie project based on Sam Wasson’s book Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M, the Emily in Paris lead packed her bags for the desert in support of both the GO Campaign, for which she’s an official ambassador, and her husband, film director and screenwriter Charlie McDowell, who played in this year’s 3rd Annual Desert Smash Celebrity Pickleball Challenge.
Collins’ in-laws, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, were also in attendance at the pickleball and tennis matches alongside participants and guests Naomi Osaka, Yvonne Orji, Nick Kyrgios, Pete Wentz, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Zverev, Gavin Rossdale and Lance Bass, to name a few.
Amidst heated matches and exhilarating live auctions, celebrity chefs Masaharu Morimoto and Robbie Felice whipped up enviable eats for stars, athletes and guests in partnership with HexClad Cookware, one of this year’s long list of sponsors. Joining HexClad at the 2026 Desert Smash Sponsor Village were David Beckham’s science-backed wellness brand IM8, sustainable fine jewelry brand John Hardy, stylish tennis label Boast, Lucid Motors, Cîroc Vodka and Dobel Tequila (who teamed with No. 1 women’s tennis player Aryna Sabalenka to create her signature cocktail, the Marg-Aryna), amongst others.
For additional fine dining favorites, many guests, star athletes included, headed to nearby resort Grand Hyatt Indian Wells for Taste of Tennis, where dozens of local chefs dished up Michelin-worthy bites. And as always, Desert Smash concluded in celebratory fashion with Smash Bash, the two-day event’s exclusive afterparty hosted at nearby Zenyara, a 70 acre private estate with its very own man-made white-sand beach, that counts Rihanna, Post Malone, Blackpink and Idris Elba as past guests.
What To Know Before Going
If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I love tennis. If you ask any of my friends, they would probably tell you that at one point or another I have accidentally held them hostage during a conversation where I talk about how much I love tennis, or how the speed of the hard courts impact different players, or which male tennis players have openly stated that they don’t believe in equal pay for women’s players.* You know, we all have our hobbies, and tennis is one of mine.
So, because I really, really like tennis, every year I drive 2.5 hours outside of Los Angeles, where I reside, to the desert of Indian Wells, CA, to attend the BNP Paribas Open.
This year, 2026, marks my sixth consecutive year attending the BNP Paribas Open. As a 1000-tour level event for both the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), it is one of the largest professional tennis tournaments in the world. It is also often dubbed
Vote for Blue FCU’s Fort Collins Girls Athlete of Week (March 9)
The Coloradoan is again proud to present our weekly Athlete of the Week series, partnering with Blue Federal Credit Union to honor the best Fort Collins-area high school athletes in the 2025-26 school year.
There are five nominees every week, and fans can vote every Monday through Thursday at coloradoan.com/sports.
This is the 24th week of the 2025-26 sports season and the first that will incorporate spring sports as the final portion of the athletics calendar got underway to start March.
You can find the nominees and the ballot below. Voting is open this week until 11:59 a.m. on March 12, with the winner announced later that same day.
Fans can nominate their favorite athletes (deadline: 11:59 p.m. every Sunday) and the Coloradoan sports staff will ultimately select the nominees each week.
If you have nominations for a future Athlete of the Week, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.
Meet the Blue FCU Girls Athlete of the Week nominees
The following Fort Collins-area girls athletes are nominated for their performances from March 2-7:
Kiana Cumings, Windsor track: The reigning Class 4A state sprinting champion is right back at the top to start her senior season. Cumings sailed to 100- and 200-meter titles at Fort Collins’ John Martin Early Bird Invite and helped the Wizards 4×400 relay squad win by a whopping seven seconds.
Addison Geraets, Timnath track: The Cubs senior is an elite hurdler and showed that again right off the bat this spring. Geraets won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the John Martin by nearly four seconds combined, including a MileSplit
Tennis Star Panna Udvardy’s Family Threatened Via Text
Hungarian tennis pro Panna Udvardy says she received threatening messages via WhatsApp to her personal phone from an unknown number, threatening her family if she did not throw a match.
Recounting the ordeal in a disturbing Instagram post on Friday, March 6, Udvardy, 27, shared screenshots of the alleged threats and explained how she responded.
“Last night around midnight I received several very disturbing messages on WhatsApp from an unknown number on my personal phone,” she wrote in the caption.
She continued, “The person told me that if I didn’t lose my match today, they would harm members of my family. They said they knew where my family lives, what cars they drive and that they had their phone numbers. They even sent photos of my family members and a picture of a gun.”
The photos Udvardy shared with the post showed someone off camera holding a gun as well as what appears to be photos of Udvardy’s family members.
“It was honestly very scary to receive something like this,” she admitted. “I immediately contacted the WTA supervisor, sent the screenshots, and informed my parents. My parents then contacted the consulate, and when I woke up this morning I also spoke again with the WTA supervisor. I was told that similar threats have recently happened to other players and that they believe personal information may have leaked from the WTA database, which is currently being investigated.”
The WTA later sent an email to players saying there had been no data breach and the FBI is investigating why Udvardy and other players have been receiving threats, according to a story from The Athletic on Saturday, March 7.
Udvardy added that the consulate responded “very quickly” and sent three officers to her match. Police also went to her parents’ and grandmother’s homes, and she filed a police report.
However, Udvardy told The Athletic that it felt like the WTA was trying to “downplay” the threats.
“I didn’t see any extra security being placed or any kind of real concern,” she told the outlet. “The supervisor told me, ‘Oh, it happened to other players, so don’t worry.’”
She added, “OK, but I am worried — it’s my phone number, my personal data, who knows what else they have?”
Udvardy concluded her post by thanking followers who reached out to show their support, before taking a firm stand.
“But I want to say something clearly: this is not normal,” she wrote. “Even as athletes or public figures, it’s not acceptable to receive threats against our families, especially not on our private phone numbers and alongside disturbing images. We should not normalize abuse like this in sport.”
“I hope the WTA continues investigating this situation seriously and takes stronger steps to protect players personal data and safety and to inform players immediately if there is a breach in their system,” she added. “No player should have to deal with something like this.”
Us Weekly has reached out to the WTA for comment.
State College boys tennis defeats Cedar Cliff in season opener
State College boys tennis starts the season off right with a sweep over Mid-Penn foe Cedar Cliff.
Here are the results from Monday’s match.
State College 5, Cedar Cliff 0
No. 1 Singles
Eric Liu (SC) d. A. Wilson (CC); 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 Singles
Frank Hsu (SC) d. A. Hintzel (CC); 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 Singles
Jude Cessna (SC) d. M. Cordoro (CC); 6-1, 6-1
No. 1 Doubles
Dash Nealon/Henry Poole (SC) d. R. Tiwari/D. Dietterick (CC); 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 Doubles
Luke Cessna/Aidan Le (SC) d. S. Bitting/L. Govelovich (CC); 6-2, 6-1
District Doubles
Max Doran/Rishi Patel (SC) d. V. Taylor/Z. Taylor (CC); 8-1
Matteo Canepari/Yan Xu (SC) d. G. Boyer/D. Candioto (CC); 8-1
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Follow Rymir Vaughn on X —@RymirVaughn
Jimmy Butler Calls Out Miami Heat During Convo With Coco Gauff
NBA star Jimmy Butler revealed he’s still not fully over leaving the Miami Heat during a conversation with tennis great Coco Gauff. The two sports superstars were having a fun chat on camera when Butler started talking about his time in Miami. Gauff is a Florida native and roots for the Heat. Butler revealed that Miami “hurt” him by not offering a contract extension he desired to set up the Golden State Warriors trade.
The following conversation occurred on camera:
Butler: Your team hurt me, by the way. The Heat hurt me. The Heat hurt me. I just want to say. I’m just sayin’.
Coco: I know they did and I’m sorry about that. To be fair, I haven’t been to a game since.
Butler: Great! Switch alliances!
Coco: I can’t do that, though.
Butler: And remember Steph is on my team now, so like everyone loves Steph.
Coco: I do love Steph. He’s very nice.
Butler: Coco’s a Warriors fan! She said it! Coco loves the Warriors.
Coco: I’ll never betray my team. I’ll root for you, though.
Butler joked about Gauff switching fandoms and rooting for the Warriors instead of the Heat. Stephen Curry was used as a bargaining chip by Butler to get Coco rooting for Golden State. However, the tennis player revealed she’ll stay loyal to Miami, while wishing the best for Butler.
How Did The Heat Hurt Jimmy Butler?
Butler hoped to finish his career in Miami after a few epic seasons of success together. The Heat reached two NBA Finals with unexpected deep runs and fell one game short of a third Eastern Conference Championship in four years.
Miami’s head honcho Pat Riley did not want to pay Butler a max contract extension due to his older age and injuries forcing him to miss regular season games. Butler was among the best players in the world during the playoffs, but the regular season limitations saw the Heat rarely having a great seed.
Riley’s strong stance hurt Butler, who felt his playoff success and commitment to the franchise warranted an expensive extension. Butler started behaving in a manner that Miami disliked and demanded the trade that landed him in Golden State to get a new contract.
Did Jimmy Butler Prove Miami Right?
Unfortunately, the torn ACL suffered by Butler puts his future in doubt for the Warriors. Golden State extended Butler for two full seasons on a massive contract, but he will miss more than half of this season and a large percentage of next season.
The best-case scenario sees Butler back at some point in the first half of next season, if things break perfectly. However, even a return won’t confirm that Butler will ever be the All-Star caliber player fans and peers expect from him on the court.
Middletown boys tennis narrowly edges James Buchanan in season opener
Middletown boys tennis secured a close victory against Mid-Penn Colonial Division rival James Buchanan on Monday.
Middletown benefitted from a No. 3 singles win, No. 1 doubles victory and a No. 2 doubles forfeit.
Here’s the full results.
Middletown 3, James Buchanan 2
No. 1 Singles
Zack Stoner (JB) def Landen Young (MT) 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 Singles
Eli Oberholzer (JB) def Chasen Yospa (MT) 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 Singles
Kyle Kinsey (MT) def Brady Crone (JB) 6-3, 6-1
Greydon Young/Zach Dinger (MT) def Nick Rawlings/ Leighton Bard (JB) 6-0, 6-0
Adrick Conrad/Miles Young (MT) won by forfeit
Gabe Yuan, Hershey boys tennis sweep CD East to open season
Hershey boys tennis secured a sweep against CD East to start the season.
Here are the results from the Trojans’ victory over their Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division foe.
Hershey 5, CD East 0
No. 1 Singles
Gabriel Yuan (HER) d. Leo Fure (CDE); 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 Singles
Max Laurore (HER) d. Aiden Cooper (CDE); 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 Singles
Alexander Camp (HER) d. Deepjal Rai (CDE); 6-0, 6-2
No. 1 Doubles
Jason Lyn-Sue/Brayden Ernest (HER) d. Timmy Pitzner/Alex Melendrez (CDE); 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 Doubles
Erik Wingert/Kyle Joo (HER) d. Ashan Pondel/Kishal Gaihre (CDE); 6-0, 6-0
District Doubles
Yuan/Laurore (HER) d. Fure/Cooper (CDE); 8-1
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Follow Rymir Vaughn on X —@RymirVaughn
Minky Couture Week 32 high school star athletes of the week
Baseball
Sammy Dart, Spanish Fork (Jr.)
The defending 5A state champion Dons raced out to a 5-0 record in the opening week of the season, and junior Sammy Dart was a big reason why.
In five games last week, he hit .583 with seven hits, four RBIs and a .722 on-base percentage. He also earned a win on the mound against Jordan, striking out three batters and not allowing a walk in five innings.
“Sammy gave our team a huge offensive boost this week. He consistently put together quality at-bats and found ways to get on base, setting the table for the hitters behind him,” said Spanish Fork coach Hadley Thorpe. “Defensively, he played an excellent first base, and he also made his first start on the mound, holding a strong Jordan lineup to just one run over five innings. Sammy led our team with seven hits and reached base six additional times with five walks and one hit by pitch.”
Dart played a key role in Spanish Fork’s unlikely run to a state title last year, and big things are expected of him again this season.
Softball
Aspyn Hawes, Herriman (Jr.)
A 4.0 student and a .750 hitter, Aspyn Hawes is amazing on and off the diamond.
The Herriman junior had a great opening week of the 2026 season last week and she played a key role in leading the Mustangs a 6-0 record, which included five wins at the March Warm-up tournament in St. George.
She finished the week with a .750 batting average and a .722 on-base percentage to go along with her four home runs, four doubles and nine RBIs. She batted 1.000 in two of those six games.
“Aspyn’s defense is rock solid and she makes every play look effortless. She is a selfless, supportive teammate who leads by example,” said Herriman coach Heidi McKissick.
As a sophomore last year, Hawes split time at the plate and hit .250, but already she’s poised for a much bigger role in 2026.
Boys Soccer
PJ Busk, Crimson Cliffs (Sr.)
Whether playing up top or along the backline at center back, Crimson Cliffs senior PJ Busk was a force for the Mustangs as they opened the season with three straight wins last week.
In wins over Lehi, Viewmont and Northridge, Busk tallied three combined goals and also helped his team earn shutouts over Lehi and Viewmont.
“PJ is an absolute beast. He dominated his matchups and created problems for the opposition all over the field this weekend,” said Crimson Cliffs coach Isaac Klingonsmith, whose team entered the season as the defending 4A state champs.
During that championship season a year ago, Busk recorded six goals and five assists and was voted a 4A all-state honorable mention.
Boys Volleyball
JJ Faiivae, Bingham (Jr.)
Defending 6A state champ Bingham opened its title defense with a strong opening week of the season. Led by junior JJ Faiivae, the Miners went 5-0, including four wins at the Maple Mountain Invitational.
So far this year, Faiivae has averaged 6.7 kills per set with a .633 hitting percentage in helping Bingham to wins over Park City, Wasatch and Maple Mountain, and then two wins over Orem.
An opposite hitter, Faiivae was a 6A first team all-stater last year with big expectations again this season.
Boys Track
Johnny Parker, Davis (Jr.)
Johnny Parker swept his two events in a strong start to the track season at the Snow Canyon Invitational last weekend.
Parker won the shot put with a put of 54’05.50 and then won the discus with a throw of 174.09.25. Both marks were already better than his performances at the 6A state meet a year ago.
“The kind of marks Johnny is putting up don’t just happen. What people see on meet day is a result of thousands of hours of work when nobody is watching. He’s an athlete that consistently shows up, puts in the effort, and keeps grinding even when things aren’t easy. This past weekend is just a glimpse into what he is capable of,” said Davis coach Duren Montgomery.
A year ago at that state meet as a sophomore, Parker finished fourth in the shot put and seventh in the discus.
This past fall during the football season, Parker was a key member of the Darts’ defensive line.
Girls Track
Skylee Guymon, Emery (Jr.)
Skylee Guymon was back in her element during the opening track meet of the season last week at the Snow Canyon Invitational.
The junior swept the 100 and 300 hurdle titles with strong performances just a couple weeks removed from wrapping up the girls basketball season. Guymon won the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.54 and the 300 hurdles with a 42.45.
“Skylee is one of the most dedicated and naturally gifted athletes I have had the opportunity to work with. She loves track and field. She is constantly looking for ways to improve and put in the work whether it is early morning weights, or an extra interval at the end of practice. Her natural ability makes her good, but it’s her work ethic and attitude that makes her elite,” said Emery coach Brett Guymon.
A year ago, Guymon won 3A titles in both hurdles events, including setting a new 3A state record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 42.69.
Boys Lacrosse
Isaac Roylance, Wasatch (Jr.)
A year later, Isaac Roylance is picking up right where he left off.
In wins over Orem and Cedar Valley last week, the junior combined for 12 points (eight goals, four assists), eight ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Coming off a year in which he led Wasatch in scoring last year with 55 points, he’s already showing that he’s poised for an even bigger year in 2026.
“Our first goal of 2026 was Isaac causing a turnover, picking up a ground ball, and then scoring behind the back and that is pretty representative of the way he has dominated in multiple ways during the first two games,” said Wasatch coach Kevin Wallace.
The Wasps have a difficult week ahead with games against 6A squads Mountain Ridge and Lone Peak.
Girls Lacrosse
Maddie Mckay, Weber (Jr.)
Weber opened the season with a 3-1 record last week, and junior Maddie Mckay found a way to impact the game in a variety of different ways.
The attacker combined for 11 goals and four assists, and then played a key role in defending with five caused turnovers and nine ground balls.
“She may be an attacker but she is one our strongest defenders,” said Weber coach Krista Call. “She’s a strong leader that never gives up and has a high lacrosse IQ, helping us run our offense. She is one of many players helping to turn our Weber program into a more competitive team.”
Mckay had her most productive game in the 18-3 win over Roy as she notched four goals and four assists for a career-high eight points.
Boys Tennis
Tanner Peterson, American Heritage (Sr.)
A 3A quarterfinalist a year ago, Tanner Peterson has made huge strides over the past year and opened the 2026 season in a big way last weekend.
Playing in a tournament in St. George, Peterson won all five of his matches at No. 1 singles, including wins over players from Bingham, Crimson Cliffs, Skyridge and Desert Hills.
“This had a huge impact on the team, resulting in an overall second place finish among the eight teams in our division. He is also a great teammate and shows good sportsmanship in his matches,” said American Heritage coach Chris Beckstead.
A year ago Peterson qualified for the 3A tournament as the No. 5 seed and lost to the No. 4 seed from Rowland Hall in the quarterfinals.
Girls Golf
Catherine Cook, Brighton (Sr.)
It didn’t take Catherine Cook long to card her first region win of the season.
In harsh rainy and windy conditions last week at Glendale Golf Course, the senior still carded a 68 to win the opening Region 6 match of the season.
“As miserable as it happened to be, Cate was able to stay focused and do a remarkable job,” said Brighton golf coach Ron Meyer.
Cook finished fourth at last year’s 5A state tournament, and heading into her senior year she’s playing the best golf of her career.
“The way Cate treats her coaches, teammates, and opponents with such genuine respect is a true testament to her character. Her work ethic and commitment to her game have made her an invaluable part of our golf team,” said Meyer.
“Cate Cook is a phenomenal academic student and a great leader who always finds time to help others, not only at her school, but also within her community. Whether on the golf course or the tennis court, she is the definition of a true scholar-athlete.”
Players Championship odds, picks and PGA Tour predictions
While it’s not a major championship, the 2026 Players Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the schedule. It takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring a full field that includes the game’s top players – including 2-time champion and favorite Scottie Scheffler. The first round from Sawgrass begins Thursday morning.
Below, we look at Players Championship odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler has the shortest odds of anyone at +450, entering the week as the No. 1 player in the world and as a back-to-back winner at Sawgrass in 2023-24. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Saturday with a back injury, has the second-shortest odds at +1400. Collin Morikawa (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Ludvig Aberg (+2500) are among the other favorites at Sawgrass.
The Players is one of the most volatile events on Tour because of how challenging Sawgrass can be, especially when the wind picks up, which creates some difficult conditions. The Stadium Course is 7,352 yards long and is a par 72, featuring water hazards on most holes – though some don’t always come into play. It forces players to shape the ball from left to right and vice versa, positioning themselves properly off the tee so that they have proper angles into greens.
McIlroy’s winning score was 12-under last year, keeping the trend of the winner being between 10-under and 20-under each year since 2010.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:06 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
I was admittedly out on Morikawa early in the year after seeing him struggle badly with his irons, but he’s clearly back now. He’s sixth among players in the field in strokes gained the last 3 months and has a win, a T-7 and a solo fifth on his resume in his last 3 starts. Plus, he’s finished 13th, 45th and 10th in his last 3 appearances at the Players. With his iron play, he’s a real threat to win this week.
Si Woo Kim (+2500)
Kim has already won at Sawgrass in the past, taking home the golden trophy in 2017. He’s also finished top-10 twice since then, including a sixth-place showing in 2024. No player has gained more strokes from tee to green in the last 3 months than Kim, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball. Unfortunately, he’s lowing a half-stroke on the greens, which has limited his upside.
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
We don’t know if McIlroy will be fully healthy this week after shockingly withdrawing from the API on Saturday due to a back injury, but he’s primed to play well again at the Players if he is good to go. The defending champion is fourth in the field in SG: tee-to-green in the last 3 months and is gaining strokes in every department. Pairing his recent form with his course experience makes him a good pick this week – provided he’s healthy.
Players Championship picks – Contenders
Sepp Straka (+4500)
Back to Straka we go after another promising showing at the API. He tumbled to 13th after a final-round 76 to fall out of contention, but he was near the top of the leaderboard from Saturday into Sunday. He has 3 top-20s in his last 4 starts, including a T-2 at Pebble Beach. He’s a signature event afficionado, and it’s worth going back to him at Sawgrass after he finished ninth in 2022, 16th in 2024 and 14th last year.
Akshay Bhatia (+4000)
Bhatia missed the cut in 2024, which was his tournament debut, but rebounded with a third-place finish last year. He’s playing the best golf of his career right now, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sunday after coming in third, sixth and 16th in his previous 3 starts. His drive can get a bit wayward at times, as it’s the only place he’s losing strokes right now, but his putter has been red hot and his approach game is great, too.
Sahith Theegala (+6600)
Theegala once again looks like the player he was a couple of years ago when he was contending often. He roared back to finish sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a T-22 at Riviera, his fourth top-22 finish in his last 5 starts. His best finish at Sawgrass was in 2024 when he came in ninth.
Players Championship picks – Long shots
Aaron Rai (+9000)
It’s been a fairly slow start to the year for Rai, but he’s showing signs of life after a T-28 at the Genesis and T-23 at Bay Hill last week. His track record at Sawgrass is quite good, finishing 19th, 35th and 14th in 3 career starts, all in the last 3 years.
Ricky Castillo (+10000)
Castillo is making his second start at the Players this week after missing the cut last year. He just won the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after notching a solo fifth at the Cognizant Classic, continuing to trend in the right direction. Additionally, he’s fourth among players in this week’s field in SG: tee-to-green in the last month.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
The Old Course in St. Andrews for $60? It’s true, but there’s a catch
Players Championship weather: Rain expected for crucial rounds
Players Championship odds, picks and PGA Tour predictions
While it’s not a major championship, the 2026 Players Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the schedule. It takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring a full field that includes the game’s top players – including 2-time champion and favorite Scottie Scheffler. The first round from Sawgrass begins Thursday morning.
Below, we look at Players Championship odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler has the shortest odds of anyone at +450, entering the week as the No. 1 player in the world and as a back-to-back winner at Sawgrass in 2023-24. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Saturday with a back injury, has the second-shortest odds at +1400. Collin Morikawa (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Ludvig Aberg (+2500) are among the other favorites at Sawgrass.
The Players is one of the most volatile events on Tour because of how challenging Sawgrass can be, especially when the wind picks up, which creates some difficult conditions. The Stadium Course is 7,352 yards long and is a par 72, featuring water hazards on most holes – though some don’t always come into play. It forces players to shape the ball from left to right and vice versa, positioning themselves properly off the tee so that they have proper angles into greens.
McIlroy’s winning score was 12-under last year, keeping the trend of the winner being between 10-under and 20-under each year since 2010.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:06 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
I was admittedly out on Morikawa early in the year after seeing him struggle badly with his irons, but he’s clearly back now. He’s sixth among players in the field in strokes gained the last 3 months and has a win, a T-7 and a solo fifth on his resume in his last 3 starts. Plus, he’s finished 13th, 45th and 10th in his last 3 appearances at the Players. With his iron play, he’s a real threat to win this week.
Si Woo Kim (+2500)
Kim has already won at Sawgrass in the past, taking home the golden trophy in 2017. He’s also finished top-10 twice since then, including a sixth-place showing in 2024. No player has gained more strokes from tee to green in the last 3 months than Kim, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball. Unfortunately, he’s lowing a half-stroke on the greens, which has limited his upside.
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
We don’t know if McIlroy will be fully healthy this week after shockingly withdrawing from the API on Saturday due to a back injury, but he’s primed to play well again at the Players if he is good to go. The defending champion is fourth in the field in SG: tee-to-green in the last 3 months and is gaining strokes in every department. Pairing his recent form with his course experience makes him a good pick this week – provided he’s healthy.
Players Championship picks – Contenders
Sepp Straka (+4500)
Back to Straka we go after another promising showing at the API. He tumbled to 13th after a final-round 76 to fall out of contention, but he was near the top of the leaderboard from Saturday into Sunday. He has 3 top-20s in his last 4 starts, including a T-2 at Pebble Beach. He’s a signature event afficionado, and it’s worth going back to him at Sawgrass after he finished ninth in 2022, 16th in 2024 and 14th last year.
Akshay Bhatia (+4000)
Bhatia missed the cut in 2024, which was his tournament debut, but rebounded with a third-place finish last year. He’s playing the best golf of his career right now, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sunday after coming in third, sixth and 16th in his previous 3 starts. His drive can get a bit wayward at times, as it’s the only place he’s losing strokes right now, but his putter has been red hot and his approach game is great, too.
Sahith Theegala (+6600)
Theegala once again looks like the player he was a couple of years ago when he was contending often. He roared back to finish sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a T-22 at Riviera, his fourth top-22 finish in his last 5 starts. His best finish at Sawgrass was in 2024 when he came in ninth.
Players Championship picks – Long shots
Aaron Rai (+9000)
It’s been a fairly slow start to the year for Rai, but he’s showing signs of life after a T-28 at the Genesis and T-23 at Bay Hill last week. His track record at Sawgrass is quite good, finishing 19th, 35th and 14th in 3 career starts, all in the last 3 years.
Ricky Castillo (+10000)
Castillo is making his second start at the Players this week after missing the cut last year. He just won the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after notching a solo fifth at the Cognizant Classic, continuing to trend in the right direction. Additionally, he’s fourth among players in this week’s field in SG: tee-to-green in the last month.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
The Old Course in St. Andrews for $60? It’s true, but there’s a catch
Players Championship weather: Rain expected for crucial rounds
Players Championship odds, picks and PGA Tour predictions
While it’s not a major championship, the 2026 Players Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the schedule. It takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring a full field that includes the game’s top players – including 2-time champion and favorite Scottie Scheffler. The first round from Sawgrass begins Thursday morning.
Below, we look at Players Championship odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler has the shortest odds of anyone at +450, entering the week as the No. 1 player in the world and as a back-to-back winner at Sawgrass in 2023-24. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Saturday with a back injury, has the second-shortest odds at +1400. Collin Morikawa (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Ludvig Aberg (+2500) are among the other favorites at Sawgrass.
The Players is one of the most volatile events on Tour because of how challenging Sawgrass can be, especially when the wind picks up, which creates some difficult conditions. The Stadium Course is 7,352 yards long and is a par 72, featuring water hazards on most holes – though some don’t always come into play. It forces players to shape the ball from left to right and vice versa, positioning themselves properly off the tee so that they have proper angles into greens.
McIlroy’s winning score was 12-under last year, keeping the trend of the winner being between 10-under and 20-under each year since 2010.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:06 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
I was admittedly out on Morikawa early in the year after seeing him struggle badly with his irons, but he’s clearly back now. He’s sixth among players in the field in strokes gained the last 3 months and has a win, a T-7 and a solo fifth on his resume in his last 3 starts. Plus, he’s finished 13th, 45th and 10th in his last 3 appearances at the Players. With his iron play, he’s a real threat to win this week.
Si Woo Kim (+2500)
Kim has already won at Sawgrass in the past, taking home the golden trophy in 2017. He’s also finished top-10 twice since then, including a sixth-place showing in 2024. No player has gained more strokes from tee to green in the last 3 months than Kim, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball. Unfortunately, he’s lowing a half-stroke on the greens, which has limited his upside.
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
We don’t know if McIlroy will be fully healthy this week after shockingly withdrawing from the API on Saturday due to a back injury, but he’s primed to play well again at the Players if he is good to go. The defending champion is fourth in the field in SG: tee-to-green in the last 3 months and is gaining strokes in every department. Pairing his recent form with his course experience makes him a good pick this week – provided he’s healthy.
Players Championship picks – Contenders
Sepp Straka (+4500)
Back to Straka we go after another promising showing at the API. He tumbled to 13th after a final-round 76 to fall out of contention, but he was near the top of the leaderboard from Saturday into Sunday. He has 3 top-20s in his last 4 starts, including a T-2 at Pebble Beach. He’s a signature event afficionado, and it’s worth going back to him at Sawgrass after he finished ninth in 2022, 16th in 2024 and 14th last year.
Akshay Bhatia (+4000)
Bhatia missed the cut in 2024, which was his tournament debut, but rebounded with a third-place finish last year. He’s playing the best golf of his career right now, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sunday after coming in third, sixth and 16th in his previous 3 starts. His drive can get a bit wayward at times, as it’s the only place he’s losing strokes right now, but his putter has been red hot and his approach game is great, too.
Sahith Theegala (+6600)
Theegala once again looks like the player he was a couple of years ago when he was contending often. He roared back to finish sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a T-22 at Riviera, his fourth top-22 finish in his last 5 starts. His best finish at Sawgrass was in 2024 when he came in ninth.
Players Championship picks – Long shots
Aaron Rai (+9000)
It’s been a fairly slow start to the year for Rai, but he’s showing signs of life after a T-28 at the Genesis and T-23 at Bay Hill last week. His track record at Sawgrass is quite good, finishing 19th, 35th and 14th in 3 career starts, all in the last 3 years.
Ricky Castillo (+10000)
Castillo is making his second start at the Players this week after missing the cut last year. He just won the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after notching a solo fifth at the Cognizant Classic, continuing to trend in the right direction. Additionally, he’s fourth among players in this week’s field in SG: tee-to-green in the last month.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
The Old Course in St. Andrews for $60? It’s true, but there’s a catch
Players Championship weather: Rain expected for crucial rounds
Players Championship odds, picks and PGA Tour predictions
While it’s not a major championship, the 2026 Players Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the schedule. It takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring a full field that includes the game’s top players – including 2-time champion and favorite Scottie Scheffler. The first round from Sawgrass begins Thursday morning.
Below, we look at Players Championship odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler has the shortest odds of anyone at +450, entering the week as the No. 1 player in the world and as a back-to-back winner at Sawgrass in 2023-24. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Saturday with a back injury, has the second-shortest odds at +1400. Collin Morikawa (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Ludvig Aberg (+2500) are among the other favorites at Sawgrass.
The Players is one of the most volatile events on Tour because of how challenging Sawgrass can be, especially when the wind picks up, which creates some difficult conditions. The Stadium Course is 7,352 yards long and is a par 72, featuring water hazards on most holes – though some don’t always come into play. It forces players to shape the ball from left to right and vice versa, positioning themselves properly off the tee so that they have proper angles into greens.
McIlroy’s winning score was 12-under last year, keeping the trend of the winner being between 10-under and 20-under each year since 2010.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:06 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
I was admittedly out on Morikawa early in the year after seeing him struggle badly with his irons, but he’s clearly back now. He’s sixth among players in the field in strokes gained the last 3 months and has a win, a T-7 and a solo fifth on his resume in his last 3 starts. Plus, he’s finished 13th, 45th and 10th in his last 3 appearances at the Players. With his iron play, he’s a real threat to win this week.
Si Woo Kim (+2500)
Kim has already won at Sawgrass in the past, taking home the golden trophy in 2017. He’s also finished top-10 twice since then, including a sixth-place showing in 2024. No player has gained more strokes from tee to green in the last 3 months than Kim, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball. Unfortunately, he’s lowing a half-stroke on the greens, which has limited his upside.
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
We don’t know if McIlroy will be fully healthy this week after shockingly withdrawing from the API on Saturday due to a back injury, but he’s primed to play well again at the Players if he is good to go. The defending champion is fourth in the field in SG: tee-to-green in the last 3 months and is gaining strokes in every department. Pairing his recent form with his course experience makes him a good pick this week – provided he’s healthy.
Players Championship picks – Contenders
Sepp Straka (+4500)
Back to Straka we go after another promising showing at the API. He tumbled to 13th after a final-round 76 to fall out of contention, but he was near the top of the leaderboard from Saturday into Sunday. He has 3 top-20s in his last 4 starts, including a T-2 at Pebble Beach. He’s a signature event afficionado, and it’s worth going back to him at Sawgrass after he finished ninth in 2022, 16th in 2024 and 14th last year.
Akshay Bhatia (+4000)
Bhatia missed the cut in 2024, which was his tournament debut, but rebounded with a third-place finish last year. He’s playing the best golf of his career right now, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sunday after coming in third, sixth and 16th in his previous 3 starts. His drive can get a bit wayward at times, as it’s the only place he’s losing strokes right now, but his putter has been red hot and his approach game is great, too.
Sahith Theegala (+6600)
Theegala once again looks like the player he was a couple of years ago when he was contending often. He roared back to finish sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a T-22 at Riviera, his fourth top-22 finish in his last 5 starts. His best finish at Sawgrass was in 2024 when he came in ninth.
Players Championship picks – Long shots
Aaron Rai (+9000)
It’s been a fairly slow start to the year for Rai, but he’s showing signs of life after a T-28 at the Genesis and T-23 at Bay Hill last week. His track record at Sawgrass is quite good, finishing 19th, 35th and 14th in 3 career starts, all in the last 3 years.
Ricky Castillo (+10000)
Castillo is making his second start at the Players this week after missing the cut last year. He just won the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after notching a solo fifth at the Cognizant Classic, continuing to trend in the right direction. Additionally, he’s fourth among players in this week’s field in SG: tee-to-green in the last month.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
The Old Course in St. Andrews for $60? It’s true, but there’s a catch
Players Championship weather: Rain expected for crucial rounds
Players Championship odds, picks and PGA Tour predictions
While it’s not a major championship, the 2026 Players Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the schedule. It takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring a full field that includes the game’s top players – including 2-time champion and favorite Scottie Scheffler. The first round from Sawgrass begins Thursday morning.
Below, we look at Players Championship odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler has the shortest odds of anyone at +450, entering the week as the No. 1 player in the world and as a back-to-back winner at Sawgrass in 2023-24. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Saturday with a back injury, has the second-shortest odds at +1400. Collin Morikawa (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Ludvig Aberg (+2500) are among the other favorites at Sawgrass.
The Players is one of the most volatile events on Tour because of how challenging Sawgrass can be, especially when the wind picks up, which creates some difficult conditions. The Stadium Course is 7,352 yards long and is a par 72, featuring water hazards on most holes – though some don’t always come into play. It forces players to shape the ball from left to right and vice versa, positioning themselves properly off the tee so that they have proper angles into greens.
McIlroy’s winning score was 12-under last year, keeping the trend of the winner being between 10-under and 20-under each year since 2010.
Watch the PGA Tour on Fubo!
Players Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:06 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
I was admittedly out on Morikawa early in the year after seeing him struggle badly with his irons, but he’s clearly back now. He’s sixth among players in the field in strokes gained the last 3 months and has a win, a T-7 and a solo fifth on his resume in his last 3 starts. Plus, he’s finished 13th, 45th and 10th in his last 3 appearances at the Players. With his iron play, he’s a real threat to win this week.
Si Woo Kim (+2500)
Kim has already won at Sawgrass in the past, taking home the golden trophy in 2017. He’s also finished top-10 twice since then, including a sixth-place showing in 2024. No player has gained more strokes from tee to green in the last 3 months than Kim, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball. Unfortunately, he’s lowing a half-stroke on the greens, which has limited his upside.
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
We don’t know if McIlroy will be fully healthy this week after shockingly withdrawing from the API on Saturday due to a back injury, but he’s primed to play well again at the Players if he is good to go. The defending champion is fourth in the field in SG: tee-to-green in the last 3 months and is gaining strokes in every department. Pairing his recent form with his course experience makes him a good pick this week – provided he’s healthy.
Players Championship picks – Contenders
Sepp Straka (+4500)
Back to Straka we go after another promising showing at the API. He tumbled to 13th after a final-round 76 to fall out of contention, but he was near the top of the leaderboard from Saturday into Sunday. He has 3 top-20s in his last 4 starts, including a T-2 at Pebble Beach. He’s a signature event afficionado, and it’s worth going back to him at Sawgrass after he finished ninth in 2022, 16th in 2024 and 14th last year.
Akshay Bhatia (+4000)
Bhatia missed the cut in 2024, which was his tournament debut, but rebounded with a third-place finish last year. He’s playing the best golf of his career right now, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sunday after coming in third, sixth and 16th in his previous 3 starts. His drive can get a bit wayward at times, as it’s the only place he’s losing strokes right now, but his putter has been red hot and his approach game is great, too.
Sahith Theegala (+6600)
Theegala once again looks like the player he was a couple of years ago when he was contending often. He roared back to finish sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a T-22 at Riviera, his fourth top-22 finish in his last 5 starts. His best finish at Sawgrass was in 2024 when he came in ninth.
Players Championship picks – Long shots
Aaron Rai (+9000)
It’s been a fairly slow start to the year for Rai, but he’s showing signs of life after a T-28 at the Genesis and T-23 at Bay Hill last week. His track record at Sawgrass is quite good, finishing 19th, 35th and 14th in 3 career starts, all in the last 3 years.
Ricky Castillo (+10000)
Castillo is making his second start at the Players this week after missing the cut last year. He just won the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after notching a solo fifth at the Cognizant Classic, continuing to trend in the right direction. Additionally, he’s fourth among players in this week’s field in SG: tee-to-green in the last month.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
The Old Course in St. Andrews for $60? It’s true, but there’s a catch
Players Championship weather: Rain expected for crucial rounds
2026 Players Championship storylines: Change in the air? Collin Morikawa surging?
This Players Championship feels particularly monumental. Not just due to the top-level play that will transpire over the course of 72 holes at TPC Sawgrass but because of what will transpire before the tournament even kicks off. All signs point to PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp making a major announcement Wednesday morning as he takes the stand for the first extended address of his tenure.
Unlike those before him, Rolapp will not speak from the media center at TPC Sawgrass. Instead, he will hold court from inside the moat that surrounds PGA Tour headquarters, something many believe is a symbolic move to usher in a new era of the circuit.
As for what Rolapp will announce and its long-term effects, that remains to be seen. Some have pontificated a tiered PGA Tour, while others have suggested moving at least a portion of the FedEx Cup Playoffs to the West Coast. These are fun theories and talking points, but nothing will be known for sure until Rolapp bangs his gavel and gives his official ruling.
Regardless of what Rolapp says, golf will take center stage over the final four days of the week. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, reining champion Rory McIlroy, red-hot Collin Morikawa and a crop of budding, young talent quietly taking over the PGA Tour will all be on hand in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
All of that and more will be covered as we dive into the biggest storylines of the 2026 Players Championship.
Major push
The Players recently released a video teaser for the tournament that ended with the slogan,
2026 Players Championship odds, picks: Surprising predictions from model that’s called 16 majors
The PGA Florida Swing continues with the 2026 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., beginning on Thursday. Often referred to as the unofficial fifth major on the PGA Tour, this event always features a high-end field, and it now has a $25 million purse, surpassing even the Signature Events with that number. The latest 2026 Players Championship odds from FanDuel Sportsbook have Scottie Scheffler atop the board as the +500 favorite (risk $100 to win $500), with Rory McIlroy behind him at +1600.
Collin Morikawa is +1800, with Si Woo Kim and Ludvig Aberg at +2200. Before locking in any 2026 Players Championship picks, entering any Players Championship Invitational one and done contests, or making any PGA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters — its fourth Masters in a row — as well as last year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
New users can bet the 2026 Players Championship with the latest DraftKings promo code, which offers $200 in bonus bets instantly after any $5+ bet:
Now that the 2026 Players Championship field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, which you can use for PGA picks, one and done contests or golf DFS lineups.
2026 Players Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at The Players Championship 2026: Schauffele barely cracks the top 10 of the projected leaderboard. He’s a golfer to fade this week. The 32-year-old only has one top-10 finish this season. He also really struggled over the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shooting a 73 and 74, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. He finished T2 at this event in 2024, but had a three-year run of missing the cut from 2021-23, and he finished 72nd last year. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: The model says Aberg is one of the top values. After a disappointing start to the season, Aberg is rounding into form. He’s improved his finish position in his past four events, and his T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week signals that he’s ready to contend against a strong field. He missed the cut in this event last year, but did finish solo eighth at TPC Sawgrass in 2024. See who else to pick here.
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How to make 2026 Players Championship picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of +3000 or higher who make a run for the top of the leaderboard. You can only see the model’s picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Players Championship, and which massive longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Players Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Players Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Players Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
Four storylines for the Players Championship: What to think of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler
The PGA Tour heads to TPC Sawgrass this week for the Players Championship, the
Justin Thomas Gives Cryptic Update About Tiger Woods’s Stance on PGA of America’s Ryder Cup Request
For months, American golf has been overshadowed by the question: Who will captain Team USA at the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor? Tiger Woods remains the name they want, but no decision has been made yet. Justin Thomas, perhaps closest to Woods on Tour, is not offering any certainty either.
“I think it’s just kind of waiting. We wait and see,” Thomas said when asked during the PLAYERS Championship presser whether formal discussions had taken place about the next captaincy.
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Justin Thomas is part of those conversations through his seat on the Ryder Cup committee, and he acknowledged that internal talks are underway but kept the specifics private, as is standard for committee proceedings. What his response did signal, though, is that no timeline is set in stone, and the decision is still very much open.
This response carries weight precisely because Thomas and Tiger Woods are close. Tiger Woods has openly referred to Thomas as his “little brother,” and their relationship extends beyond just playing together. The two practice together and spend time with each other’s families, and Thomas has built a strong rapport with Woods’s son Charlie, too.
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So when Thomas mentioned Woods will not take something on unless he can fully commit, it comes from firsthand knowledge of how Woods operates. Woods is juggling two board seats and a seat on the PGA Tour’s policy committee, and JT has made clear that Woods himself believes a half-committed captaincy would be a disservice to the team.
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“He is not going to do anything if he cannot fully be into it and give it his full attention,” Thomas also said.
When Tiger Woods captained the United States at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne, the Americans won in a close finish, and Thomas said it was the best golf he had personally seen Woods play. He gave his players simple instructions: just put it into play. Justin Thomas recalled that Woods’s intensity on the course during those matches had a visible effect on the younger players in the team room.
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Justin Thomas might be okay with seeing how things pan out, but outside voices about the captaincy decision are growing louder.
Former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher has been less patient about the delay. He pointed to Nicklaus, Palmer, and Ben Hogan, who agreed to captain the team without deliberating.
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“It was a big shock to me that Tiger said he felt he couldn’t do it,” Gallacher said.
The PGA of America wants a decision before the 2026 Masters in April. Tiger Woods has confirmed his Achilles is no longer a concern, but his back remains unresolved, and that uncertainty is hanging over both a potential Augusta return and the captaincy call. Until there is a change in circumstances, Thomas’s response remains unchanged: we must wait and observe.
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But if he chooses to deny, then who will be next in line? Well, the analyst has already weighed in.
Move on from Tiger Woods: Chamblee makes the case for a different U.S. captain
While the Woods captaincy debate dominates headlines, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee thinks American golf is fixating on the wrong name. His pick for Adare Manor is Justin Leonard, arguing that Woods has plenty of time to captain future teams and is currently too consumed by PGA Tour governance work.
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Chamblee also pointed to Tiger Woods’s personal circumstances, noting his desire to spend time with Charlie at home and a likely interest in competing on the PGA Tour Champions. In his view, the Big Cat simply has bigger priorities right now than absorbing the full weight of a Ryder Cup captaincy.
The argument has practical logic behind it. The captaincy is not a ceremonial role. It demands months of preparation, player relationship-building, and strategic planning. A captain who cannot fully commit to that process puts the team at a disadvantage before competition even begins.
Bradley’s 2025 defeat at Bethpage Black has intensified the pressure. With the United States looking to reclaim the trophy in Ireland, Chamblee’s broader point is straightforward: find the person most able to do the job now, rather than waiting on a decision that may never come.
Collin Morikawa Calls THE PLAYERS Venue a ‘Weird Golf Course’ Ahead of Tee Time
Fresh off a hot start to the season, Collin Morikawa is pumping the brakes ahead of THE PLAYERS Championship. Speaking about the TPC Sawgrass ahead of the PGA Tour event, he expressed his caution.
As he gets ready for his sixth appearance at TPC Sawgrass, the 2026 Pebble Beach winner is well aware of the course’s unique difficulties.
“Yeah, it’s a weird golf course because there’s so much that you have to do right,” Collin Morikawa said during the March 9 press conference.
“And there’s not one shot that you could just practice on the range and say, like that’s going to get me through the week,” he added at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
The 29-year-old observed that no single practice range shot can prepare a player for the course’s layout, designed by Pete Dye.
“There is not one chip shot that you can go to,” Morikawa said when asked about the challenges presented by the specific types of lies that can be found around the greens.
He reiterated that players must adjust during the week to how the winds are blowing and how thick the rough is, as it often requires them to play from the fairway to maneuver around the obstacles.
However, that doesn’t mean Morikawa is nervous about competing. “I love it. I think it’s a ball-striking golf course,” he said during the press conference.
Collin Morikawa Is Chasing a Career Milestone
Morikawa ranks winning THE PLAYERS Championship among his top career objectives, stating that tournaments of this caliber have “very, very high” prestige for hopeful winners.
“I want to finish off my career in a way that I can look back and say I won THE PLAYERS Championship,” noted the American star on his professional goals.
His T10 finish last year was his first top-10 result at the demanding Florida course.
As Morikawa observed, although the golfers at junior and collegiate levels aspire to the four majors, the glory of winning at TPC Sawgrass is an aspect that no player looks down upon.
Despite the normally “light” feel of the first day of a tournament, Morikawa assured that it will shift as the players take to the “grind” for a trophy starting Thursday.
His eye, along with everyone else’s, will firmly remain set on TPC Sawgrass from the 12th to the 15th of March as he attempts to win the coveted trophy.
NASCAR Fans Left Praying for FOX Broadcaster’s Health as Worrying Image Comes to Light
Fans have been hearing Larry McReynolds’ voice in FOX’s NASCAR booth for over two decades now. So, it’s not surprising that they can notice even the slightest changes in his tone. That’s what happened in the booth during the Cup race at Phoenix that gained some attention for a very different reason. Many seemed worried upon looking at McReynolds, as some fear he’s dealing with a serious health issue.
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NASCAR reporter suspects major health scare for Larry McReynolds
There was a wave of reactions on social media after Kyle Dalton pointed out something eerie about Larry McReynolds’ appearance in the NASCAR booth last Sunday. Taking his real-life example, he claimed that Larry could’ve had a stroke, looking at the weird twitching of his facial muscles.
While this does happen to someone when they have a stroke, it is not necessarily the only health scare one can have. There could be multiple reasons. Moreover, there hasn’t been any official statement from McReynolds or his acquaintances. Yet, it seemed to be a scary hint of something dire, and the fans were most worried for him.
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Larry McReynolds isn’t just another pundit. He was involved in NASCAR for a long time as a crew chief before eventually starting his work with FOX in 2001. As a crew chief, he won 23 races in the 1980s, including two Daytona 500 victories. This was, and still is, a major feat to accomplish. After that, he also served as an advisor to Petty Enterprises in 2002, working closely with The King.
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Furthermore, he was a minority owner of a Truck Series team, Bang! Racing, for one year in 2004. His immense experience in the field made him the perfect candidate to take up the role with FOX Sports.
Today, his insights are greatly valued, with FOX becoming one of the biggest broadcasters for the sport. Even though the fans haven’t exactly been satisfied with FOX’s booth, they still care deeply for McReynolds’ health, and it showed in their reactions.
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Fans show concern for McReynolds
Many fans noticed a slight difference in his voice when he spoke on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: “I’ve noticed that on Ch. 90 that he sounded different the last couple weeks.”
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At the same time, many suggested not to spread any rumors unless there is an official comment from McReynolds. “What ever happened with him let’s just all pray he is well and please no rumors!!”
Another comment read: “Not sure it’s cool to relate your experiences with someone else, especially before they make a public statement about it. If anything, just pray for him and hope he’s doing okay!” Understandably, any rumors or even speculations can raise panic amongst the people, which can escalate the situation.
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Meanwhile, a few suggested that it could be a different issue altogether, pointing out that it could be a possible issue of Bell’s Palsy. This is less scary and sometimes even temporary.
“Could be Bell’s palsy, I had it in 2022 and it was scary. Looks like a stroke but it’s not, but half your face basically goes numb, can’t even close your eye. It lasted about 3 weeks for me,” wrote a fan, sharing their personal experience.
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At the same time, however, some suggested that perhaps it was the best time for McReynolds to consider retirement to take care of himself. Citing his age and the time he has spent behind the booth, the fan wrote: “Larry mac hes been doing the broadcasting for a while but maybe its time he needs to retire n step down hes earned it hes great at his job but if this is happening id rather him retire n take care of himself then struggle.”
However, it is important to note that there has been no official comment on this. Whatever the fans have said on social media is pure speculation. Officially, there has been no mention of Larry McReynolds’ health in general. However, it is hard to argue that he did sound a little odd during the race, but that could be because of something completely different.
NASCAR Schedule Las Vegas: Where to Watch, TV Timings, Lineup, Purse & More
After the chaos at Phoenix, where we finally saw a second winner, the NASCAR Cup Series now heads to the final track of the West Coast swing. The Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the first intermediate-track test of the 2026 season, set to host events from March 14 to 15. Let’s take a complete look at the schedule, lineup, purse, and more.
The main event, the Pennzoil 400, is going to be a three-stage event covering 400 miles in total. The event’s support race is going to be the NASCAR O’Reilly Series, The LiUNA! The racing action begins on Saturday, March 14.
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The first event of the day is the O’Reilly Series practice session, which starts at noon, followed by the qualifying. The NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying will take place midway through the day, eventually giving way to Saturday’s race, The LiUNA! On Sunday, the final event of the race week takes place as the Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts the Pennzoil 400 event.
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Where to watch the Pennzoil 400 weekend in 2026?
The Pennzoil 400 race will be broadcast by FOX on FS1. Meanwhile, the practice and qualifying sessions for the same will be handled by Amazon Prime. The entire O’Reilly series sessions, including the practice, qualifying, and race, will be broadcast solely by The CW.
NASCAR Pennzoil 400: TV timings for each session
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The timings for the sessions with the scheduled number of laps in each stage are as follows:
Saturday: 12:00 p.m. ET – O’Reilly Series practice; 1:05 p.m. ET – O’Reilly Series qualifying; 2:30 p.m. ET – Cup Series practice; 3:40 p.m. ET – Cup Series qualifying; 5:30 p.m. ET – The LiUNA (45-45-110 laps)
Sunday: 4:00 p.m. ET – Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (80-85-102 laps)
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Josh Berry won the Las in 2025 for Wood Brothers Racing. The 1.5-mile-long intermediate speedway is widely known among drivers for featuring a lot of traditional racing action. Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano are tied for the most wins here (4), while the track is home to two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch.
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NASCAR Pennzoil 400: Driver lineup
NASCAR Pennzoil 400 purse
While the purse for the NASCAR Pennzoil 400 in 2026 has not been officially released yet, it should easily be similar to last year’s purse, which was $11,055,250 in total for the Cup Series. Meanwhile, the O’Reilly Series had a purse of $1,651,939.
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The odds for the race are not released yet. However, based on the results at the track, Hendrick Motorsports is one of the strongest contenders. As for conditions, tire falloff is going to be a very important factor this weekend.
How Fast NASCAR Pit Stops Really Are
If you watch a NASCAR race closely, one moment always stands out for how quickly it happens: the pit stop.
Cars dive onto pit road, a crew of specialists jumps over the wall, and seconds later the driver is back on track. For fans watching at home, it can look almost chaotic. But NASCAR pit stops are one of the most important and finely tuned parts of a race.
Teams practice them constantly, and even a fraction of a second can determine whether a driver gains or loses valuable track position.
So how fast are NASCAR pit stops, and what actually happens during those brief moments on pit road?
How Long a NASCAR Pit Stop Takes
A typical NASCAR pit stop takes about 11 to 13 seconds when a team changes all four tires and fills the car with fuel.
At the Cup Series level, elite pit crews regularly complete four-tire stops in roughly 12 seconds, an extraordinary pace considering the amount of work happening around the car.
That time can vary depending on the situation during the race.
For example:
Four tires and fuel: typically about 11–13 seconds for top NASCAR Cup Series teams with 12 seconds being the average
Two tires and fuel: usually around 8–10 seconds
Fuel only: usually about 7–9 seconds, depending on how much fuel the team adds
Because the car cannot leave pit road until fueling is complete, the amount of fuel being added often determines how fast a NASCAR pit stop can be.
Teams sometimes choose to change only two tires late in a race to save time and gain positions on pit road. While that strategy can give a driver better track position, it may also leave the car with less grip than competitors who took four fresh tires.
Because pit stops are so quick, small mistakes can be costly. A slow tire change or a missed lug nut can drop a driver several positions before they even return to the racetrack.
What Happens During a NASCAR Pit Stop
A NASCAR pit stop is carefully choreographed and involves several crew members performing different roles at the same time.
Each member of the crew has a specific job:
Jackman: lifts the car using a hydraulic jack so tires can be changed
Tire changers: remove old lug nuts and secure the new tires
Tire carriers: bring fresh tires over the wall and position them for installation
Fueler: fills the car’s fuel cell using large gas cans
Utility crew member: helps clear tires and assist where needed
Once the car stops in its pit stall, the crew jumps over the wall and immediately begins working. Tire changers remove five lug nuts from each wheel while tire carriers position the new tires.
Meanwhile, the fueler connects the gas can and begins refueling the car. Because NASCAR races still allow refueling during pit stops, the car must remain stationary until fueling is complete.
The entire process happens simultaneously, which is why pit stops can be completed so quickly.
Why NASCAR Pit Crews Are Made Up of Elite Athletes
Many NASCAR pit crew members are former college athletes, particularly football players. Teams recruit athletes for their speed, strength and explosive movement: qualities that translate well to the fast, physical work required during pit stops. Over the past two decades, NASCAR organizations have increasingly built pit crews the way professional sports teams build rosters, focusing on athletic training and specialized roles.
Why Pit Stops Matter So Much
Pit stops are not just about replacing tires or adding fuel. They are often one of the most critical strategic moments in a NASCAR race.
A fast stop can allow a driver to gain several positions on pit road. A slow stop can drop them deep into traffic, where passing may be difficult due to aerodynamic factors like dirty air.
Crew chiefs also use pit stops to make adjustments to the car’s handling. During a stop, the team may adjust tire pressure, add or remove tape from the grille, or make small suspension changes to help the driver improve performance.
Because track position is so important in modern NASCAR, teams treat pit stops almost like a separate competition within the race itself. Strategy on pit road can influence stage finishes, which are an important part of how points are awarded in the NASCAR Cup Series.
How NASCAR Pit Stops Compare to Other Racing Series
NASCAR pit stops are fast, but they are very different from pit stops in other forms of motorsport.
In Formula 1, pit stops often take less than three seconds. However, those stops involve only changing tires. Refueling has been banned in Formula 1 since 2010, which allows teams to complete stops much more quickly.
In NASCAR, refueling is still part of the pit stop process. Because the fueler must empty a large gas can into the car, the stop cannot be completed until fueling is finished.
As a result, NASCAR pit stops typically take longer than Formula 1 stops, but they involve more tasks being performed at the same time.
Precision and Practice Behind the Speed
The speed of NASCAR pit stops does not happen by accident. Teams practice pit stops repeatedly throughout the season, sometimes performing dozens of repetitions during training sessions.
Pit crew members are often former college athletes who train year-round to improve their speed, strength, and coordination.
During a race, the goal is to execute the same precise movements every time. Even the smallest mistake can cost valuable seconds.
For NASCAR teams competing at the highest level, those seconds can determine whether a driver gains the lead or watches a potential victory slip away on pit road.
Denny Hamlin Writes Off Rick Hendrick’s Cup Star as Ruthless NASCAR Format Shift Destroys Playoff Safety Net
As NASCAR brings the Chase back this season, the new format leaves very little margin for error, especially for those who miss races early in the season. And that’s exactly why Denny Hamlin is sure that Alex Bowman‘s chances of making the Chase are already over. The Hendrick Motorsports Cup star is recovering from his vertigo diagnosis and is expected to stay away from racing at least until April. Missing that many races this early in the season could be a blow big enough to put him out of contention for the championship.
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Denny Hamlin gives a stern reality check to Bowman
On his podcast, Actions Detrimental, the JGR driver argues that Bowman’s averages from last year are nowhere near enough to make it to the Chase only based on points.
“It’s over. I think if you took his median performance over the last regular season, you would say that it’s over. If he comes back and runs better than his averages, he can make it. If it’s normal Alex, then I think he is going to have a tough time making the playoffs.”
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The only way Bowman can recover from the after-effects of his absence from the Cup Series is through wins and hoarding of points from the stages themselves. As SVG noted earlier, the stage points are crucial for the long run and help a driver stay consistent throughout the race.
“If he comes back and he runs up front, that means you’ve got to get a lot of stage points. He’s going to need to probably win a race; then I think he has a shot. Simply because a lot of points can be made up. He’s going to have to run good and finish good, and there’s a difference.”
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While Hamlin is sympathetic towards Bowman, he is more than happy that NASCAR got rid of its controversial playoff format with the win-and-in system. The argument he gives is that even if a driver misses races for 10 weeks and just wins at the Daytona Summer Race, he has an equal chance of making the playoffs as any other consistent driver, according to the old system.
“That doesn’t feel right to me, so I’m looking at the points now. Knowing how awesome it is that we’re looking at one set of points, knowing that 16 is 16. There’s nothing else to look at. I think that’s going to be a dogfight the entire year that I am really looking forward to.”
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Hamlin went as far as calling last year’s standings a hoax that did not represent the real situation of the racing.
“Last year, it was just TBD. These are the as-they-run standings, even though it’s after the race. You know that those standings are not real in the sense of, well, somebody wins and all of a sudden you’re going to change your seating and all of that stuff. So, this is much better. Really happy with that.”
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While he is critical of Bowman’s performance owing to his inconsistencies in previous seasons, how does his own season look?
Can Denny Hamlin make it to the Chase?
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Denny Hamlin did not start the Cup Series season on a good note in 2026. Neither Daytona nor Atlanta was kind to him. However, he did start picking up points from the third race. With top-10 finishes at COTA and Phoenix, it seems like the JGR driver has started to find his bearings.
With a P5 finish at Phoenix, for the first time, Hamlin looked like he had race-winning pace at some point. However, the No. 11 driver stays real about his performance at Phoenix. “Yeah, just the fringe top three to four car all day; that’s kind of all we had.”
“We’ll download and figure out how we can be a little better, but it seemed like a couple of our teammates were really good there that we can learn from,” he said. “Good top five, and we’ll move on.” It is a clear upward trajectory for Hamlin. Based on his performance in 2025, it is very likely that Hamlin will make it to the Chase. The upcoming tracks are some of his strongest ones.
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However, being in the top 5 in the regular season is another story. Denny Hamlin sits in P12 currently with 107 points. He needs a lot of wins and stage wins to overcome this behemoth of a gap.
Roger Penske to Go Neck-to-Neck With France Family as $300M Series Eyes New Schedule to Rival NASCAR
For years, IndyCar fans have had one major complaint with the series — the extremely long offseason. The series ends in early or mid-September each year. So far, it has done that to avoid competition from NASCAR and football. But not anymore. Thanks to FOX, the scenes could change, and we could see Roger Penske’s $300 million organization directly challenge Jim France and co.’s dominance in American motorsports.
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IndyCar targeting NASCAR?
According to recent reports, IndyCar is looking to extend its season into the fall, similar to Formula 1 or NASCAR, if it manages to strike an agreement with the NFL. FOX tends to conclude IndyCar mutually to avoid clashing with the NFL and college football season. NFL and college football are enormously popular in the United States, and IndyCar does not want to risk its viewership. However, FOX’s stake in American open-wheel racing has changed the dynamic altogether.
According to IndyCar President Doug Boles, IndyCar will look to arrange lead-ins to races after college football or NFL games to attract more audience. This is similar to how they attracted a record audience last year with the NHRA, their biggest viewership in recent times.
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In a recent interview with the Sports Business Journal, Boles said, “Had a really good event last year where they worked with FOX and had a football game that was a lead-in, and I think we’re open to that if it’s the right event. We can have that kind of lead-in, but I still don’t think as a series we want to go too far into the fall.”
Following this, Boles pin-pointed on what IndyCar will look to target in case of the extension. For Boles and IndyCar, September to November seems too far-fetched, as it includes eight race weeks.
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“You’re not going to see us going into the season like you see Formula 1 or NASCAR. But if it’s the right event, I could see where we push a week or two or even three beyond where we are right now, but not much beyond that.”
FOX, the group that recently bought a stake in Roger Penske’s IndyCar, broadcasts both IndyCar and the NFL. To avoid the clash, IndyCar usually concludes before the NFL, which starts in the second week of September and runs until late January.
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While there is a competitive line between IndyCar and NASCAR, Roger Penske’s team made sure they succeeded on both fronts.
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Roger Penske’s team claimed double success at Phoenix
In the recently concluded doubleheader at Phoenix, Roger Penske’s Team Penske shone brightest, as it claimed the IndyCar and the NASCAR wins. Josef Newgarden led the Penske battalion and threw the challenge to Penske’s NASCAR drivers, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Austin Cindric.
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In the end, it was Blaney who emerged victorious, and in doing so, he stopped Tyler Reddick from claiming four consecutive wins. Reacting to the doubleheader wins, Team Penske NASCAR operations president Michael Nelson said:
“As most people know, Roger Penske does this to win races. That’s what he loves to do. To give him something he hasn’t achieved before, to give him race wins twice in one weekend [with] two different series, means the world to all of us. It was exciting to pull that off—very proud of our people, to have both poles and both race wins.”
Thanks to the victory, Blaney moved to second place with 165 points in the Drivers’ Standings after four races. He is leading Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing. Wallace’s teammate, Reddick, is leading the championship with 225 points, 60 points ahead of second-placed Blaney.
New York Times Analysts Demand Change in NASCAR Schedule After Phoenix Doubleheader Debacle
Usually, when two very different forms of racing series come together, it is expected that they won’t work very well, that they will clash. But at Phoenix, NASCAR and IndyCar came together, co-existed in harmony, and teased a future where the two having a race on the same track could be more frequent. One subscriber to that vision of the future is Jordan Bianchi, while his colleague Jeff Gluck shared a big concern from the weekend.
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NASCAR analysts talk about an important fix needed
During the latest episode of the Teardown podcast, Bianchi opened up about his thoughts on NASCAR and IndyCar racing together at Phoenix. While the two series have shared the concept of doubleheaders in the past, especially since Roger Penske’s IndyCar takeover in 2020, they had never shared an oval before.
But it’s worth emphasizing that the Phoenix weekend was largely positive, and not entirely. Adding to Bianchi’s point, the show’s co-host, Jeff Gluck, stated that the doubleheader makes sense from a fan’s perspective. But he then pointed out one big slip-up from the organizer’s standpoint from the weekend, which soured his experience.
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“If you had a ticket yesterday and you come out and you watch IndyCar and you get a full day of working. But in terms of intermingling, I didn’t realise you have to have an ImdyCar separate credential. My NASCAR hard card could not get me into the IndyCar garage,” Gluck revealed. “When they were qualifying and practicing, I could not go on pit road.”
Having said that, Gluck claimed that it’d be cool if the track could do a waiver for the weekend where a reporter can go into both NASCAR and IndyCar events, especially when the point is to have that intermingling.
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Other than this debacle, the response at Phoenix was positive. This was also the sentiment shared by Jordan Bianchi as he said, “I really felt this was a great celebration of motorsports. I’d like to see this on the schedule in some facet regularly, where you have IndyCar and NASCAR come together. And it can just be this intermingling of these two series, and just a celebration of motorsports in this country.”
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The key figure behind the doubleheader at Phoenix got the most unique reward
Roger Penske was a key figure in making the IndyCar and NASCAR doubleheader happen. The owner of Team Penske, who also owns IndyCar, chose Phoenix as an early March bridge between the season-opener and the second race. Penske also turned out to be the person who ended up having not one, not two, but three reasons to celebrate over the weekend.
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First of all, Team Penske has been celebrating its 60 years in racing. The team was founded in 1966 as Roger Penske decided to focus on the business side of racing over his own driving ambitions.
The second reason for Penske to celebrate came in the form of Josef Newgarden, as the 2x Indy 500 winning driver won the race on Saturday at Phoenix. Joey Logano also ended up winning the pole for Sunday’s Cup race. And at last, on Sunday, Ryan Blaney brought home Penske’s second win of the weekend.
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This ensured that for the first time in his racing career, which stretches across six decades, Penske had two teams win on the same weekend at the same track.
Do you think Penske should consider making the doubleheader a regular fixture in future NASCAR-IndyCar calendars? Let us know in the comments below.
Michael Jordan Spotted Wearing Air Jordan 4
Red hits appear on the tongue lining and branding creating subtle pops of color. The heel tab showcases special Flight Club branding honoring the iconic sneaker consignment shop.
Air Jordan 4
NASCAR Veterans Raise Red Flags Over Richard Childress’ Rockingham Gamble With Brutal Cleetus McFarland Verdict
Granted, NASCAR runs on performance as well as visibility. While the finest Cup Series drivers spend hours perfecting their high-octane craft, they also work on their camera skills. And Cleetus McFarland scores big on the second factor. The 30-year-old became a YouTube sensation first, before foraying into the world of motorsports. And some NASCAR veterans believe that his racing journey may be going too fast with recent developments.
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Cleetus McFarland’s lightning-fast rise raises concerns
“He’s not ready for Xfinity here,” Freddie Kraft said on ‘Door, Bumper, Clear.’ “He’s like, he’s going to go to Rockingham, and the best thing that’s going to happen to him is run last and not wreck. That’s the only win that comes out of that race, is he’s not going to go up and contend at all. You know, he’s just hoping to get through that race without any incident so he can go run Talladega.”
These comments were made on Cleetus McFarland, aka Garrett Mitchell, who is gearing up for his next racing feat. Last week, Richard Childress Racing announced that he will wheel the No. 33 Chevrolet in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. And he will do so on one of the trickiest ovals of the sport – Rockingham Speedway. That is what concerns the people on the DBC podcast. The three-race deal also includes excursions at Daytona and Talladega.
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Cleetus McFarland broke into NASCAR just last year – making his ARCA Menards Series debut in Daytona. That ended in a crash, yet McFarland fetched top ten finishes at Talladega and at Charlotte. In February 2026, he made his Craftsman Truck Series debut, but crashed from inside the top ten just six laps into the race, finishing 37th after starting 12th. DBC hosts believe scaling him up to OAPS is too fast, despite McFarland’s almost 5 million fans.
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“He can still bring those followers. But why don’t you bring those followers eight months later, right when you are a little bit more vested,” Tommy Baldwin Jr. said. “I mean, the guy don’t even know the difference between a pro late model and a super late model, there’s two different divisions. It’s like, this is what you need to be driving, this is how you need to be starting, these are the things that you need to be doing. It’s like trust the process, man. You’re only going to hurt yourself. I’m sorry.”
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Karsyn Elledge, the granddaughter of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and a CARS Tour official, also called out Cleetus McFarland’s focus on the glamor. “I just don’t understand doing it just for the sake of doing it. Like to say that you went and ran a NASCAR race. Call me different, but I would want to go do that and put my best foot towards it and know that something could come out of it rather than just getting to make a YouTube video and say I ran a f—— NASCAR race.”
Clearly, Cleetus McFarland is not drumming up a lot of hype about his fresh NASCAR ventures. Nevertheless, he has solid support for his new efforts.
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A big sponsor for the big debut
RCR is a legendary Cup Series team boasting six Cup Series titles and a lengthy tenure with the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. Securing a ride with this team was no mean feat – but Cleetus McFarland did not stop there. His NASCAR OAPS starts will have support from Tommy’s Express, a national carwash chain with more than 270 locations across the U.S., Canada, and France.
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“We could not be more excited about hitting the track with Richard Childress Racing and Cleetus McFarland,” said Alex Lemmen, CEO of Tommy’s Express. “We could not think of a better fit. When you add Cleetus McFarland as our driver, you truly have a dream team. Cleetus is not only a skilled driver and motorsports enthusiast, but also a genius marketer with an authentic connection to millions of his fans. We can’t wait to bring our shared energy, purpose, and execution to the racing world. Let’s go.”
Besides this solid backing from a dedicated sponsor, Mark Martin’s words also endorsed Cleetus McFarland. “Cleetus has made a name for himself doing really fun videos,” said the 40-time Cup Series race winner. “And I personally don’t know Cleetus, but I have seen some of his racing in the Crown Vicks, and I’m going to tell you, Cleetus can drive.”
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This divide in stances regarding Cleetus McFarland’s ambitions is notable. Let’s wait and see how the YouTuber actually performs in his NASCAR endeavor.
NASCAR Fans Torch FOX Coverage as “Childish” Broadcaster’s Booth Antics Spark Calls for Serious Change
A big part of the NASCAR fan experience is watching the race on television and having the broadcasting team take over and take you through the proceedings of the day. However, when the broadcaster is FOX Sports, things can get a bit different. Over the years, the broadcaster has attracted a lot of criticism from fans for a variety of reasons, the most recent of which is against one figure in the booth.
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NASCAR fans aren’t happy with Clint Bowyer in the FOX booth
One of the most loved and admired personalities within the garage and among his colleagues is Clint Bowyer. But on the NASCAR Reddit page, a fan wondered if they’re the only person who wants Clint Bowyer gone from the FOX booth. “Pretty sure I’m not the only one who’s tired of Clint’s shenanigans and bias in the booth,” the question read.
That question received a lot of responses, with one major common theme being fans being in agreement over the future of Clint Bowyer in the booth.
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“I didn’t think anyone actually wanted him in the booth,” one fan wrote, while another claimed, “Yes, it doesn’t feel like a serious motorsport with Clint in the booth. He’d be better on pit road rather than full-time in the booth.”
One big feature of Clint Bowyer’s personality is his candidness and his easy-to-be-around, fun-loving, and chaotic personality. However, one fan believed that isn’t exactly what NASCAR needs right now.
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“He’s childish/immature and constantly interrupts. The entire Fox booth does not take this sport seriously, and it’s the last thing preventing our sport from really entering a new era,” the fan wrote.
But while some fans had an issue with Bowyer in particular, there were those who believed the former NASCAR driver was part of a bigger problem. “Fox needs to completely overhaul its coverage or just get out,” one fan remarked, while another wrote, “Clint Bowyer is just one small part of a huge problem. FOX needs to reevaluate everything about its coverage.”
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Clint Bowyer’s retirement seemed less daunting because of the FOX opportunity
The former SHR and RCR driver has remained a big part of the sport despite his retirement in 2020. Bowyer announced at the end of the 2020 season that he’d be joining the FOX Sports booth as an analyst. This came after a year of Bowyer appearing multiple times on the Xfinity Series races as an analyst.
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During that time, he revealed how the opportunity of working with FOX made the prospect of his retiring from driving seem less daunting. Bowyer spoke about how he wanted ‘one more year’ out of his career. But then something changed.
“I love being a part of this sport. I mean, that was so important for me. I didn’t want to just retire,” Bowyer said, as per ESPN. “If this opportunity with Fox didn’t come to the table, I was going to be in a car somewhere somehow.”
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In his very first year in the booth, Bowyer got to work alongside legends like Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon. But while Gordon quit his broadcasting duties, Joy remained as dependable as ever alongside Bowyer. A few years later, the FOX booth still consists of Clint Bowyer and Mike Joy.
For a few years in the middle, the concept of a rotating broadcasting team panel was explored until a permanent hiring was made in 2024. The new addition for the pair turned out to be Bowyer’s former teammate, Kevin Harvick, who joined the booth following his retirement in 2023.
But while the three have their roles cut out for them, along with them having pretty unique personalities, FOX Sports has still been the center of criticism from fans over the years. The broadcaster’s treatment of race coverage, the decisions to cut to the wrong shots during high-intensity moments, and their out-of-touch graphics at times are some of the few recurring complaints fans have against FOX.
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With that said, it’ll be interesting to see if FOX Sports pays any attention to the demands of fans regarding their booth personalities and criticisms. Do you think Clint Bowyer will be dropped from the booth in the near future?
Daniel Suarez Gets Real on NASCAR’s 750HP Gamble After Heartbreaking Phoenix Exit
Back in October, officials from NASCAR announced that engines on road courses and oval tracks shorter than 1.5 miles would run at 750 horsepower, up from the previous 670 HP used in the sport’s top tier starting in the 2026 season. The move was considered a bold step to make racing more competitive. So, just like most drivers, Daniel Suárez was enjoying the extra power during the race at Phoenix Raceway. But it was only until he was suddenly caught up in a wreck during the final stage. After his race came to an abrupt end, Suárez shared his thoughts on the incident and the impact of the horsepower increase.
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Daniel Suarez details his Phoenix crash
“I had no idea it was happening.” Seemingly, Suárez was carrying so much speed that he didn’t have enough time to notice the wreck unfolding ahead of him.
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Well, that is what spotters are for, right? But apparently, by the time he saw it, it was already too late. “By the time I saw the 22, I just got up the way I was coming. I had no idea that was happening. I was able to see it before my spotter, so it was tough to react to that one.”
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The crash, involving pole sitter Joey Logano, happened so quickly that Suarez could not see it. This wasn’t very weird. The Phoenix Raceway is only 1 mile in length, and the surge in horsepower allowed him to accelerate fast enough to actually not have enough time to react to the crash ahead of him. This is what the horsepower limiter was previously used for.
On short tracks like the Phoenix Raceway, the rapid acceleration out of a corner can be quite hazardous, as it proved to be in Suarez’s case. He also mentioned that the power boost caused the tires to wear out earlier. This was an issue with many drivers during the race.
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“I feel like it made a difference for sure,” he said. “I think you made the rear tires definitely wear out more, and you have to take care of them a little bit more than before.”
While NASCAR’s gamble to increase the horsepower played out well in terms of overall competitiveness, it also made the overall race a bit more dangerous, as the likes of Daniel Suarez struggled for safety. But even though that was the case, some felt that this change was needed to keep NASCAR’s competition alive.
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JGR driver reflects how the horsepower increase was needed
While NASCAR decreased the overall engine power on short tracks for safety, it came with a major hindrance. The low engine output made the cars more predictable. Drivers had more time to react to situations and come out of corners, essentially destroying a large part of racing.
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Hence, the races did not feel as competitive. But once it was removed, the event was more skill-based. Christopher Bell even said, “The horsepower is really, really necessary. I would love to keep bumping it up. It just really puts it in the driver’s and the team’s hands,” comparing the car to his previous setup with 600 horsepower.
“It just really puts it in the driver’s hands and the team’s hands. You saw Blaney make it back up through there after his mishap. A couple of times, I ended up back in the field, and the cream can rise to the top, so more horsepower is definitely a lot better.”
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Joey Wentz To Miss 2026 Season Due To Torn ACL
Braves left-hander Joey Wentz has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will miss the entire 2026 season. Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to relay the news. Wentz will be transferred to the 60-day injured list whenever the club needs a roster spot, though their 40-man count is currently at 39 due to outfielder Jurickson Profar landing on the restricted list for a PED suspension.
Wentz, 28, was covering first base on a bunt attempt in yesterday’s game when he appeared to injure his right leg. Though he was carted off the field, initial tests seemed to suggest he may have avoided serious injury. It seems that further testing contradicted the first reports.
The lefty was claimed off waivers in July of last year and was effectively in the rotation from that point on. He made 13 starts and one relief appearance for Atlanta, allowing 4.92 earned runs per nine. His 23% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate were both close to league average. He qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player and the club felt good enough about that performance to tender him a contract. The two sides avoided arbitration in November by agreeing to a $900K salary for 2026.
As of a few weeks ago, Wentz was a bit buried in the depth chart but the Atlanta rotation has been hit hard since camp has opened. Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep each required surgery a few weeks ago, as both pitchers had loose bodies in their elbows that needed removing. Their specific timelines aren’t clear but each is slated to miss months.
After those two surgeries, Atlanta projected to have a rotation with four spots going to Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López and Grant Holmes. That left Wentz, Bryce Elder and José Suarez battling for the final spot. Since all three are out of options, one of them was probably going to break camp in a long relief role.
Even before this recent spate of injuries, there was an argument for Atlanta to add more rotation depth, as even the guys who aren’t currently hurt have question marks. Sale has been injury prone in recent years, making more than 2o starts just once in the past six years. Strider returned from internal brace surgery last year but posted a lackluster 4.45 ERA. López only made one start last year due to shoulder surgery. Holmes was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament last year and is currently trying to pitch in 2026 without surgery. Elder had a 5.30 ERA last year. Suarez is a fringe roster guy who rode the DFA carousel this winter.
Despite all of that uncertainty, the front office hasn’t shown much urgency in adding more arms. It was reported in mid-February, as the Schwellenbach and Waldrep injuries were coming to light, that Atlanta didn’t have much interest in Chris Bassitt before he signed with the Orioles and had not been involved with free agent Lucas Giolito. Up until yesterday, Zack Littell was still out there but he now has an agreement in place with the Nationals.
It’s possible that recent events make the club more likely to make an addition. If the budget was the problem, the Profar suspension helped them out, as he won’t be paid his $15MM salary this year. Atlanta saved about $18MM in total when factoring in tax savings. With the freed-up cash and now yet another injury, perhaps president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos does turn to free agency. In addition to Giolito, guys like Tyler Anderson and Patrick Corbin are still unsigned. More arms could shake loose as Opening Day approaches and other teams make cuts.
For now, the top depth options include Didier Fuentes, JR Ritchie, Martín Pérez, Carlos Carrasco and Elieser Hernández. Fuentes was hastily promoted last year at the age of 20 and was lit up in his first four big league starts. Ritchie is one of the club’s best pitching prospects but he has no major league experience and just 11 Triple-A starts under his belt. The other three are veterans who haven’t had much big league success in recent years.
As for Wentz, it’s a frustrating setback as he had a real chance to earn a rotation gig. Instead, he’ll spend the season on the shelf. If there’s one small silver lining, he’ll earn a full year of service time while on the IL, but he’ll be a non-tender candidate going into 2027.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow ready for MLB opening day
PHOENIX –– After Joe Ryan was scratched from Team USA’s roster for the group stage of the World Baseball Classic last week, one Dodgers player glanced toward Tyler Glasnow’s locker at Camelback Ranch and wondered aloud:
Why wasn’t the Dodgers’ All-Star right-hander picked to be a replacement?
The answer: He had other priorities this spring.
Late last season, Glasnow found a comfort level that had eluded him for much of his first two years in the Dodgers organization, when injuries and inconsistent performance marred his acclimation to the team.
For starters, he was healthy, returning from an early-season shoulder issue (as well as the elbow problem that ended his 2024 campaign early) to pitch the second half of the year without any significant disruptions.
But more importantly, he was convinced in his mechanics; embracing delivery tweaks that pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness suggested ahead of the postseason, en route to what became a dominant October performance.
In six playoff outings, Glasnow did it all for the Dodgers, posting a 1.69 ERA that (among teammates with more than five postseason innings) was bested only by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
The team went 3-0 in his three starts, highlighted by his scoreless six-inning gem in their National League Division Series clincher against the Philadelphia Phillies. Three other times, he pitched in relief, including a first-career save in Game 6 of the World Series and 2 ⅓ crucial innings in Game 7 the following night.
By the end of the team’s title run, the 32-year-old was described by manager Dave Roberts as the player who “grew as much as anyone” over the course of the season.
And going into the winter, Glasnow felt he’d finally formed a stable foundation –– one he saw a chance to build upon entering 2026.
“I’ve been in such a good spot since last year,” he said this spring. “It feels natural to me now, to where I’m not thinking about it. I’m just pitching.”
Thus, as he told the California Post recently, Glasnow expressed to Team USA officials early in the WBC selection process that his preference this spring was to stay in Dodgers camp.
He wanted to build on the progress he made at the end of last year. And he wanted to lean into the trust he had built with the team.
“I have so much trust in them, to where I don’t feel like I have to do everything on my own,” Glasnow said. “Now, it’s just like, ‘What do you guys got?’ And then I go out and just do whatever they tell me. It’s not as much tinkering. I can rely on them.”
Tinkering, of course, has long been one of Glasnow’s biggest internal impediments.
The 10-year veteran is a notorious “overthinker” and self-described “perfectionist.” His lanky 6-foot-8 frame gives his delivery many moving pieces. And a long history of injuries has often forced him to seek health-conscious adjustments.
That meant, when Glasnow first arrived on his $136.5 million contract three offseasons ago, he and the Dodgers’ coaches needed time to acquaint themselves.
“I think it’s taken us a couple years to kind of understand the nuances of his delivery, and really matching his feel versus the output (of what he’s doing),” Prior said. “With a lot of guys, we’re trying to get things narrowed down to one or two things that we can really hit somebody between the eyes with. But I joke with him, like, ‘Hey man, you got 50.’”
That’s why, near the end of last year, Prior and McGuiness tried to hone in on a few specific tweaks. They adjusted the alignment of Glasnow’s feet and hips. They crafted a mental cue with how his glove arm leads his body through his throwing motion. They tried to simplify the sequence of his release to the plate.
Now, Glasnow said his throw feels more consistent than it has at any point in the previous four years.
“It has just allowed me to go out and pitch and be athletic,” he said. “It’s not like you’re thinking of something and trying to limit where my body’s going or this or that.”
It helps, Glasnow noted, that this is the first time he has pitched under a long-term contract, with his Dodgers deal still containing two years (plus a team option for another).
“Having a contract and knowing you’ll be somewhere for quite a while, maybe allows you to trust a bit more,” he said.
But mainly, his faith comes from recognizing that he is surrounded by “really good staff members.”
“I will run whatever they tell me through the gauntlet of a lot of questions,” he said. “And when you get to understand everyone is telling you something for a reason, and it’s really thought through and not just words, it really means something. It’s easier for me to decide, ‘Alright, I trust you.’”
Prior gave much of that credit back to Glasnow, noting how he has learned to give himself more grace as he goes through starts.
“Those guys don’t want to face him,” Prior said. “So he’s got room for error, where a lot of pitchers don’t, even when he’s not dialed in.”
This spring, however, Glasnow has looked dialed in more often than not.
His changes from last year have been further cemented. His confidence from the playoffs has given him a new edge. When things do feel off, he waits for a bullpen session, when Prior or McGuiness can identify a fix. And after a long acclimation period with the Dodgers, he seemed primed for maybe his best season yet.
“I think now, for the first time, I’m allowing everyone else to just be like, ‘What do you got?’” Glasnow said. “Everything is so buttoned up here. It’s nice to know a bunch of people have your back.”
Phillies Extend Jesús Luzardo, Signal Possible Trend Before MLB Lockout
Jesús Luzardo was fantastic in year one with the Philadelphia Phillies, and the club didn’t want to see him head to free agency on schedule.
Before what was scheduled to be his walk year, the Phillies made sure Luzardo would become part of their long-term rotation core. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Phillies and Luzardo agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension that will keep him under contract through the 2031 season.
With the impending threat of a lockout after this season, there’s definitely an incentive for pitchers scheduled for free agency to find similar deals, if they exist. Those sorts of deals won’t be offered to most pitchers in the class, of course, but there may be a few on the table.
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Freddy Peralta, New York Mets
The easiest name to speculate about is New York Mets starter Freddy Peralta. Having recently told the New York Post that he’s looking for a seven- or eight-year extension, Peralta effectively laid down the gauntlet for the Mets to keep him around after acquiring him in a blockbuster from the Milwaukee Brewers.
The only issue? The Mets haven’t handed out any starting pitching contracts of more than three years since David Stearns took over as president of baseball operations. Will the team’s rotation inconsistencies and the spectre of a lockout change that calculus?
Trevor Rogers, Baltimore Orioles
Rogers has a much more inconsistent track record than Peralta and even slightly less than Luzardo. But he was so good last season, and the Orioles’ starting pitching has been so iffy over the last few seasons, that there might be a world where a pre-free agency extension makes sense.
Is Rogers so convinced that he can come close to replicating his 1.81-ERA, 5.5-WAR season from last year that he wouldn’t think about locking in a deal before the lockout?
Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
Technically, Ryan is a year farther away from free agency than anyone else here. But in this case, it’s the team that might have incentive to get a deal done rather than risking Ryan’s value, both on the mound or in possible trades, dropping due to the lockout affecting his walk year.
The Twins’ also seem the least likely of any team discussed here to hand out a $100 million-plus starting pitching deal, but there’s always hope that a team will step up to keep a homegrown All-Star.
Kevin McGonigle, Tigers top prospect, belts first Grapefruit League home run
Six days after the Tigers’ top prospect – and MLB’s No. 2 prospect overall – started off the Tigers’ visit to the Dominican Republic by turning on Luis Severino’s 98 mph fastball for a Statcast-projected 461-foot leadoff home run, he slugged his first homer of Grapefruit League play in somewhat similar fashion. It was the seventh inning, not the first, but when Rays reliever Jake Woodford started the inning with a 90.2 mph heater, McGonigle crushed it a projected 391 feet to right field.
It turned out to be the tying run in the Tigers’ latest draw Monday, this one a 4-4 deadlock to bring Detroit’s record to 3-8-4.
Though McGonigle’s latest home run began the inning, it ended his day. He began the game at third base and was one of the last members of the starting lineup still playing, batting eighth. The Rays had kept him hitless at that point with a steady dose of offspeed and breaking pitches.
Rays starter Shane McClanahan threw McGonigle one fastball in a six-pitch at-bat his first time up, and the heater was well out of the zone. McClanahan recovered from a 3-1 count with back-to-back changeups – one that McGonigle fouled off at the bottom of the zone, the other that McGonigle chased below the zone for the strikeout.
McGonigle was much more patient in his second at-bat against veteran reliever Bryan Baker, working the count full without swinging the bat. Again, the only fastball McGonigle saw was well out of the zone. Baker challenged McGonigle on the 3-2 pitch with a changeup over the plate. McGonigle made hard contact but got under it for a flyout to center.
Manager A.J. Hinch stuck with McGonigle and second baseman John Peck after others had left in hopes of getting them a third at-bat.
The first-pitch fastball was that good fortune. But so was the short memory that McGonigle continues to show, declining to carry a bad result into his next time up.
“Every at-bat for him is a singular event against a pitcher with a plan,” Hinch said. “That’s the maturity that I know we have seen in the Minor Leagues. We’re seeing it in big league camp. It’s one of the reasons he’s beloved.”
McGonigle has already seen a wide mix of pitches (eight), even with opposing pitchers still working into their regular-season form. Four of his seven hits in Grapefruit League play have come off four-seam fastballs, off which he’s batting .800 according to Statcast. He entered Monday with a 12.5 percent whiff rate on four-seamers and an average exit velocity of 98.3 mph.
Brewers No. 1 Prospect Turns Heads in First MLB Camp
The Milwaukee Brewers are steadily constructing a captivating prospect pipeline, and this spring provided a sneak peek at what the organization envisions as its future franchise cornerstone. As noted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Curt Hogg, top prospect Jesús Made made a significant impact during his initial stint in big-league camp, demonstrating impressive physical growth and keen baseball instincts at just 19 years old.
Made’s tenure with the major-league team concluded today when the Brewers sent him back to minor-league camp. However, his brief experience with the big-league squad could be seen as one of the most promising highlights of Milwaukee’s spring season.
Brewers Prospect Impresses During Initial MLB Camp
Manager Pat Murphy was quick to share his thoughts on the promising young infielder.
“He’s a specimen,” Murphy told Hogg, a statement that swiftly drew the focus of scouts observing Made during the Cactus League games.
That label holds true without any embellishment. Made has now reached a height of 6-foot-1 and weighs in at 221 pounds, having packed on approximately 27 pounds of muscle over the last year. Upon his arrival in the U.S. in 2024, he was recorded at 194 pounds on the Class A Carolina roster. The enhanced strength was evident right away in camp, especially when combined with the bat speed and raw power that have already established him as one of the most thrilling young talents in the game.
The outcomes confirmed the excitement. In 10 spring games, Made recorded 8 hits in 25 at-bats, resulting in a .320 batting average and a .770 OPS, while also driving in six runs. He displayed moments of athletic prowess that highlight his potential as a formidable offensive player, swiping two bases and continually applying pressure on rival defenses.
For a player still shy of his 20th birthday, this performance further solidifies why scouts throughout the league are eyeing Made as a potential future standout.
His minor-league track record clearly showcases that potential. In his first two years as a pro, Made has posted a .298 batting average and an impressive .854 OPS, amassing 187 hits over 166 games. In 2025, he showcased his speed on the bases by swiping 47 bags while advancing through three tiers of the Brewers’ organization, capping off the season with a short stint at Double-A Biloxi.
Progress Continues to Take Center Stage
Even with a standout performance this spring, the Brewers are prioritizing Made’s long-term growth over a hasty promotion to the big leagues.
The promising infielder will open the season playing multiple infield positions, primarily shortstop, while also seeing time at second and third base to showcase his versatility.
His defensive skills are clear, yet the Brewers see potential for growth as he accumulates more experience.
Equally important, Made said his most valuable takeaway from major-league camp had less to do with the statistics he produced.
The experience revealed the significant rise in intensity that comes with competing at the pinnacle of the sport.
Drills intensify, strategies sharpen, and the room for mistakes diminishes. For a teenager navigating the complexities of professional baseball, the opportunity to be in the presence of seasoned major leaguers offered an invaluable lesson in the game.
The maturity displayed has consistently been a standout trait for Milwaukee’s coaching staff. Despite being one of the youngest players in camp, Made showcased a level of professionalism that solidified the organization’s confidence in his potential.
The timeline for that future in Milwaukee, whether it unfolds in 2026 or beyond, is still up in the air. However, if his initial experience at big-league camp demonstrated anything, it’s that the Brewers’ leading prospect could be on the verge of his long-awaited debut.
Yankees Make Spencer Jones Decision Ahead of MLB Season
The New York Yankees have made an important decision on top prospect Spencer Jones. On Monday, the team announced before its spring training game that they have optioned OF Spencer Jones and RHP Elmer Rodríguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and reassigned them to minor league camp.
Spencer Jones was already considered a long shot to break camp with the big-league club, but this deal pretty much seals his fate as having to be a mid-season call-up. The moves signal that the Yankees believe in both players’ futures, but the start of 2026 isn’t going to be the time for their big-league debuts.
More MLB on Heavy: Phillies Make $135 Million Decision on Southpaw Jesus Luzardo
Spencer Jones Likely to Not Open 2026 Season with the Yankees
Unless the New York Yankees deal with some catastrophic injuries in the next two and a half weeks, Spencer Jones will start the 2026 season in the minor leagues.
While this decision likely hurts Spencer Jones, he still has to rid his game of too many swings and misses, which he will look to figure out with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
EmpireSportsMedia.com has covered this Spencer Jones situation closely and has intel on why he’s not going to be on the Opening Day roster:
“Jones came into spring training with a clear mission: force his way onto the Opening Day roster as the fourth outfielder. What he showed in nine Grapefruit League games was both tantalizing and terrifying.”
“Jones came into spring training with a clear mission: force his way onto the Opening Day roster as the fourth outfielder. What he showed in nine Grapefruit League games was both tantalizing and terrifying.”
Over 67 games in Triple-A last season, Jones hit 19 home runs, but still struck out at a high clip.
More MLB on Heavy: Tarik Skubal Announces Team USA Pitching Decision
Yankees’ 2026 Outfield Outlook
There’s a chance that Spencer Jones gets a mid-season call-up, but two things will have to happen: Jones will have to continue hitting well in Triple-A, while improving his contact rate, and a current Yankees outfielder will have to fall out of the fold.
The ladder of those two things is where things get tricky for Jones, because most would consider Jasson Dominguez to be ahead of him as well. And New York has Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, and Trent Grisham as everyday guys in the outfield.
Maybe the Yankees find another spot for Jones, but for now, he will have to work out his issues in the minor leagues before getting a MLB chance.
Altafiber announces Cincinnati Reds’ TV update
Altafiber announced March 9 it is actively negotiating with Major League Baseball to broadcast the Cincinnati Reds’ games for the upcoming 2026 season.
MLB announced in February that it would produce and distribute Reds’ game broadcasts in 2026. At the time, Reds’ officials said fans will be able to access Reds games via cable and satellite providers, or stream digitally on Reds.TV with no blackouts.
In 2025, Altafiber announced it reached an agreement with Main Street Sports Group (owner of FanDuel Sports Network, the Reds’ former broadcast carrier) to carry FanDuel Sports Network Ohio.
Main Street Sports Group reportedly was on the verge of bankruptcy for several years.
Two-Time MLB All-Star Julio Teheran Announces Retirement at WBC
Two days after a shoulder impingement derailed him from making one final appearance at the World Baseball Classic, Julio Teheran called it quits on a brilliant professional baseball career.
After Team Colombia defeated Team Panama in its final game of the WBC to finish 1-3, Teheran announced his retirement from professional baseball, concluding a 13-year Major League Baseball career that included two National League All-Star selections.
World Baseball Classic: The Tarik Skubal drama shows the WBC has finally arrived – and has created a new challenge for MLB
Major League Baseball might be finding out that it has created a monster – a glorious, wonderful monster – that has outgrown its tidy enclosure.
Every three years, MLB and the Major league Baseball Players Association host the World Baseball Classic, baseball’s answer to the FIFA World Cup. While it remains a relatively youthful tournament, having only started in 2006, it is growing up fast. But if the experience of Tarik Skubal at this year’s tournament is any indication, baseball is facing a new reality: a wildly entertaining exhibition has become actually important.
Skubal, the ace pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, went into this year‘s tournament expecting to pitch one game for Team USA before he would leave and head back to spring training to get ready for the regular season. After just a few innings of pitching for Team USA against Great Britain on Saturday, Skubal appeared to be moved. When asked by Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal if he plan to make another start, Skubal couldn’t quite bring himself to say no. It’s suddenly seemed like deviating from the plan in the name of competing for the Stars and Stripes was a real possibility.
It is such a sea change moment in the history of the WBC, that it is sort of hard to explain.
First, you have to know why the WBC is a complicated endeavor for teams and players as it is.
Players participating in the tournament must leave their Major League clubs during spring training to compete for their national teams. It’s a sacrifice some franchises are willing to make to boost baseball’s international popularity and satisfy their own players happy.
However, it also takes away from crucial time that they would otherwise be spending jelling with the teammates who they will rely on for the next six months. It also takes them away from the trainers and team doctors who monitor their health and preparation as they ramp up for the grueling regular season.
For many American players – especially pitchers – the tournament has long viewed as too high a risk. Pitchers are especially injury prone when they throw too hard and too much early in the spring. As a result, the game’s top American arms usually stay in spring training, leaving Team USA to fill its rotation wuth and some of the baseball’s lesser lights toeing the rubber for the American team.
This has rarely been the case for the rest of the nations in the tournament, who put out their best nine players in every game that they can. For years, this has meant that the American team was made up of some big stars and some average players, because a sizable contingent of the best American players were more concerned about protecting their regular season for the big league club. After all, that’s who pays the bills.
This lack of consistency has largely led to Team USA underperforming relative to expectations. The Americans have won it once, in 2017, and made the finals in 2023. Otherwise, it’s a series of second round and semifinal knockouts for the country that actually invented the game.
But, this year‘s team was different from the start.
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge was the first player to agree to play for Team USA, and he helped recruit a sort of baseball Dream Team as the Americans look to avenge their loss in the final three years ago to Team Japan. That included bringing two of the games best pitchers, Paul Skenes and Skubal, who would come and participate in some form. It was expected that Skubal would throw three innings against Great Britain and then head back to Lakeland, Florida, where the rest of his Tigers teammates are getting ready for the season.
But, there seemed to be a moment of realization for Skubal about exactly what it means to play for one’s country. The pure agony on his face as he contemplated whether to stick with his plan or suit up again for the American team was obvious. And he wasn’t going to make the decision quickly, instead waiting until the emotion of the moment wore off to make a final call.
That Skubal would even consider playing again with the Americans with all he has to lose is testament to the growing importance of this tournament. The Tigers ace is set to be a free agent after this season and could be in line to get one of the biggest contracts in MLB history. His team is attempting to win a World Series after a disappointing end to the 2025 campaign. He has won the Cy Young award as the American League’s best pitcher for the last two years, and is easily the betting favorite to do it a third time.
An injury sustained while pitching for Team USA would be catastrophic for Skubal’s bottom line and the Tigers’ World Series aspirations. But on Saturday, Skubal discovered what so many other players from other nations had already learned: There is simply no substitute for representing your country.
Scenes from across the tournament have illustrated exactly what this competition means to players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Japan, Taiwan, and so many others. Tears have been shed, throats have been screamed hoarse. The global passion for this tournament is only growing, and it appears the game’s elite American stars are fully on board.
So, why would this be a problem?
The timing of the tournament means that the WBC will always run into the preparation period for the coming season. Pitchers are not allowed, by the rules of the tournament, to fully extend themselves in search of victory. Instead, they are limited to a certain amount of innings per game, so they do not injure themselves and hurt their professional employers.
This creates a frustrating half-in, half-out dynamic. It’s hard to imagine the FIFA World Cup being played when the some of the biggest players in the world can only play 30 minutes at a time. And for competitors like Skubal, the desire to treat a WBC game like a playoff game is obvious.
Now that stars like Skubal are facing the realization that they might be willing to risk hundreds of millions of dollars to compete for their country, Major League Baseball might find itself needing to reassess how the WBC is scheduled and played. Putting it in spring training was always a neat solution, but don’t the game’s best players deserve to give their all in a competition that will bring glory and pride to their home nations?
Some have suggested moving the two-week tournament to the middle of the summer to replace the All-Star break. Others have suggested splitting it up and having pool play in spring training and the knockout rounds later on in the summer.
Regardless, the tournament can no longer be dismissed as a mere exhibition designed to market the sport abroad. While the WBC was initial conceived as a way to spread the sport abroad, make no mistake, other nations are not showing up to the WBC for exhibitions. The passion on display makes it clear that they are playing to win and they are approaching these games with a fervor that rivals, and perhaps surpasses, a playoff game and maybe even a World Series game.
That intensity is a direct challenge to the Americans. It’s as if the rest of the baseball world is asking, “We’re all in. Are you?”
El Clásico Mundial de Béisbol gana importancia y genera un nuevo desafío para la MLB
Análisis por Kyle Feldscher, CNN
Puede que la Major League Baseball esté descubriendo que ha creado un monstruo —un monstruo glorioso y maravilloso— que ha superado los límites de su ordenado recinto.
Cada tres años, la MLB y la Asociación de Jugadores de las Grandes Ligas organizan el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol, la respuesta del béisbol a la Copa Mundial de la FIFA. Si bien sigue siendo un torneo relativamente joven —habiendo comenzado apenas en 2006—, está madurando a pasos agigantados. Pero si la experiencia de Tarik Skubal en el torneo de este año sirve de indicio, el béisbol se enfrenta a una nueva realidad: lo que solía ser una exhibición sumamente entretenida se ha vuelto, en la práctica, algo verdaderamente importante.
Skubal, el principal lanzador de los Detroit Tigers, llegó al torneo de este año con la expectativa de lanzar un solo partido para la selección de Estados Unidos antes de marcharse y regresar a los entrenamientos de primavera para prepararse de cara a la temporada regular de las Grandes Ligas. Tras lanzar apenas unas pocas entradas para el equipo estadounidense contra Gran Bretaña el sábado, Skubal pareció profundamente conmovido. Cuando Ken Rosenthal, de Fox Sports, le preguntó si tenía planes de abrir otro partido, Skubal no fue capaz de decir que no. De repente, pareció que desviarse del plan original —en aras de competir bajo la bandera de las barras y las estrellas— era una posibilidad real.
Se trata de un momento de cambio tan trascendental en la historia del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol (WBC) que resulta, en cierto modo, difícil de explicar.
En primer lugar, es necesario comprender por qué el WBC constituye, de por sí, una empresa tan compleja tanto para los equipos como para los jugadores.
Los beisbolistas que participan en el torneo deben abandonar sus clubes de las Grandes Ligas durante los entrenamientos de primavera para competir con sus respectivas selecciones nacionales. Es un sacrificio que algunas franquicias están dispuestas a hacer con el fin de impulsar la popularidad internacional del béisbol y mantener contentos a sus propios jugadores.
Sin embargo, esta participación también les resta un tiempo crucial que, de otro modo, dedicarían a afianzar la química con los compañeros de equipo en quienes deberán confiar durante los siguientes seis meses. Asimismo, los aleja de los preparadores físicos y los médicos del equipo, quienes se encargan de monitorear su salud y su preparación a medida que intensifican su puesta a punto para la extenuante temporada regular.
Para muchos jugadores estadounidenses —especialmente para los lanzadores—, este torneo ha sido considerado durante mucho tiempo como un riesgo excesivo. Los lanzadores son particularmente propensos a sufrir lesiones cuando lanzan con demasiada potencia y frecuencia en las etapas iniciales de la primavera. Como resultado, los mejores lanzadores estadounidenses del deporte suelen quedarse en los entrenamientos de primavera, lo que obliga al seleccionado de EE.UU. a completar su rotación con algunas de las figuras menos destacadas del béisbol, quienes terminan subiéndose al montículo para el equipo nacional.
Rara vez ha sucedido esto con el resto de las naciones participantes en el torneo, las cuales alinean a sus nueve mejores jugadores en cada partido que pueden. Durante años, esto ha significado que el equipo estadounidense estuviera compuesto por una mezcla de grandes estrellas y jugadores promedio, dado que un contingente considerable de los mejores peloteros de EE.UU. estaba más preocupado por salvaguardar su temporada regular con sus respectivos clubes de las Grandes Ligas. Al fin y al cabo, son ellos quienes pagan las facturas.
Esta falta de consistencia ha provocado, en gran medida, que EE.UU. rinda por debajo de las expectativas. Los estadounidenses han ganado el título en una sola ocasión —en 2017— y llegaron a la final en 2023. Aparte de eso, su historial se reduce a una serie de eliminaciones en la segunda ronda o en las semifinales para el país que, irónicamente, inventó este deporte.
Sin embargo, el equipo de este año fue diferente desde el principio.
La estrella de los New York Yankees Aaron Judge fue el primer jugador en aceptar jugar para EE.UU., y contribuyó a reclutar una especie de “Dream Team” del béisbol, con el objetivo de que los estadounidenses pudieran vengar la derrota sufrida en la final de hace tres años ante Japón. Esto incluyó la incorporación de dos de los mejores lanzadores del momento: Paul Skenes y Skubal, quienes se unieron al equipo para participar de alguna manera. Se esperaba que Skubal lanzara tres entradas contra Gran Bretaña y luego regresara a Lakeland, Florida, donde el resto de sus compañeros de los Tigers se preparan para el inicio de la temporada.
No obstante, pareció haber un momento de revelación para Skubal respecto a lo que significa, exactamente, jugar para su propio país. La pura angustia reflejada en su rostro —mientras sopesaba si apegarse a su plan original o volver a enfundarse el uniforme del equipo estadounidense— resultaba evidente. Y no iba a tomar la decisión a la ligera; optó, en cambio, por esperar a que la intensidad emocional del momento amainara antes de emitir su veredicto final.
El mero hecho de que Skubal se planteara siquiera volver a jugar con el equipo estadounidense —a pesar de todo lo que tiene en juego— constituye un testimonio de la creciente importancia que ha adquirido este torneo. El as de los Tigers se convertirá en agente libre al finalizar la presente temporada y podría estar en posición de firmar uno de los contratos más lucrativos en la historia de las Grandes Ligas. Su equipo aspira a ganar una Serie Mundial tras un decepcionante final de la temporada 2025. Ha ganado el premio Cy Young como el mejor lanzador de la Liga Americana durante los últimos dos años y es, con gran diferencia, el favorito en las apuestas para conseguirlo por tercera vez.
Una lesión sufrida mientras lanza para la selección de Estados Unidos sería catastrófica tanto para la situación económica de Skubal como para las aspiraciones de los Tigers de ganar la Serie Mundial. Pero, el sábado, Skubal descubrió lo que tantos otros jugadores de otras naciones ya habían aprendido: simplemente no existe nada como representar a tu país.
Las escenas vividas a lo largo del torneo han ilustrado con exactitud lo que esta competición significa para los jugadores de República Dominicana, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Japón, Taiwán y tantos otros lugares. Se han derramado lágrimas y se han desgastado las gargantas a fuerza de gritar. La pasión global por este torneo no hace más que crecer, y parece que las estrellas estadounidenses de élite de este deporte se han sumado a la causa con total entusiasmo.
Entonces, ¿por qué podría esto suponer un problema?
El momento en que se celebra el torneo implica que el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol (WBC, por sus siglas en inglés) coincidirá siempre con el periodo de preparación para la temporada venidera. Las reglas del torneo impiden a los lanzadores exigirse al máximo en su afán por conseguir la victoria. En su lugar, se ven limitados a un número determinado de entradas por partido, con el fin de evitar lesiones que pudieran perjudicar a sus equipos profesionales.
Esto genera una dinámica frustrante, a medio camino entre la participación plena y la contención. Resulta difícil imaginar que la Copa Mundial de la FIFA se disputara en un contexto en el que algunas de las mayores estrellas del fútbol mundial solo pudieran jugar 30 minutos por encuentro. Y para competidores como Skubal, resulta evidente el deseo de afrontar un partido del WBC con la misma intensidad que si se tratara de un encuentro de playoffs.
Ahora que estrellas como Skubal se enfrentan a la realidad de que podrían estar dispuestos a arriesgar cientos de millones de dólares con tal de competir por su país, la Major League Baseball (MLB) podría verse en la necesidad de replantearse la forma en que se programa y se disputa el WBC. Ubicarlo durante los entrenamientos de primavera siempre pareció una solución práctica; sin embargo, ¿acaso los mejores jugadores de este deporte no merecen entregarse por completo en una competición destinada a brindar gloria y orgullo a sus naciones de origen?
Algunos han sugerido trasladar este torneo de dos semanas de duración a pleno verano, para que ocupe el espacio que actualmente corresponde a la pausa del Juego de Estrellas. Otros han propuesto dividir su estructura: celebrar la fase de grupos durante los entrenamientos de primavera y reservar las rondas eliminatorias para una fecha posterior, ya entrado el verano.
Sea como fuere, el torneo ya no puede ser desestimado como una mera exhibición diseñada para promocionar el deporte en el extranjero. Si bien el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol (WBC) fue concebido inicialmente como una forma de difundir el deporte más allá de sus fronteras, no nos equivoquemos: las otras naciones no acuden al WBC simplemente para participar en exhibiciones. La pasión que se manifiesta deja claro que juegan para ganar y que afrontan estos partidos con un fervor que rivaliza —y tal vez incluso supera— al de un partido de postemporada, e incluso al de un encuentro de la Serie Mundial.
Esa intensidad constituye un desafío directo para los estadounidenses. Es como si el resto del mundo del béisbol les estuviera preguntando: “Nosotros vamos con todo. ¿Y ustedes?”.
Quizás la difícil decisión de Skubal —quien finalmente optó por ceñirse al plan y abandonará la selección de EE.UU. para regresar a Detroit tras el partido de este lunes contra México— sea una señal de que los jugadores estadounidenses están, por fin, listos para poner todas sus fichas sobre la mesa. Y, ante la inminencia de las negociaciones laborales entre la MLB y la MLBPA tras la temporada de 2026, pueden apostar a que algunos de los jugadores más destacados del WBC exigirán a la Major League Baseball que les facilite la tarea de entregar hasta la última gota de energía a este torneo en pleno auge.
Chicago Bears Release Tremaine Edmunds as 2026 Free Agency Nears
The Chicago Bears continued reshaping their roster ahead of the 2026 season with another major move, this time on defense.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears are releasing linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, ending his tenure in Chicago after three seasons as a full-time starter.
“Bears are releasing former Pro-Bowl LB Tremaine Edmunds,
Rams, Tyler Higbee reach two-year contract extension
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will have one of his favorite targets for at least one more season — and possibly longer.
Tight end Tyler Higbee, a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft who played at Western Kentucky, and the Rams have agreed to a two-year contract extension, according to multiple reports.
The deal is worth up to $8 million, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
Higbee, 6-foot-6 and 253 pounds, was a pending free agent and pondering retirement, but Rams coach Sean McVay said the team was open to bringing him back for another go-around.
The veteran, who has spent 10 seasons with the Rams, is the franchise’s all-time leading tight end for receiving yards (3,949) and ranks first at the position in team history with 27 touchdown catches.
Higbee played for the Rams during their Super Bowl 56 season, but he did not see action in the NFL title game.
During the playoffs that season, Higbee set personal postseason highs for receptions (nine) and yards (115). In the 2022 NFC Championship Game against the 49ers, Higbee suffered a knee injury in the first quarter after catching two passes for 18 yards and missed the rest of the game.
He later was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 12, 2022, the day before Super Bowl 56. Though he did not play in the game, Higbee became a world champion when the Rams defeated the Bengals, 23-20.
Higbee, 33, is the longest-tenured player on the roster. In 2025, he missed seven games due to injury but still caught 25 passes for 281 yards and three TDs.
In 2024, he missed the first 14 games after tearing an ACL in the Rams’ playoff loss to the Lions the previous season.
In his career, Higbee has caught 386 passes and has been effective in short-yardage situations.
Ravens Named Fit for No. 4 Pick to Backup Lamar Jackson
The Baltimore Ravens are set at quarterback as long as Lamar Jackson stays in town, but that doesn’t mean the team shouldn’t shake up the rest of the depth chart, particularly if general manager Eric DeCosta can put a former fourth-overall NFL draft pick behind Jackson, all for the modest cost of a single late-round pick this year.
It’s a scenario mapped out by The Ringer’s Diante Lee when assessing the trade market for deposed Indianapolis Colts starter Anthony Richardson. The mobile signal-caller drafted in the top five three years ago finds himself on the block, and Lee believes “Richardson likely wants a team that can commit to his development for the next two years, but I’m not certain any team would give him a clear runway to becoming a starter. It would probably be best for him to land with the Bills, Packers, or Ravens—all spots where he could serve as a backup to an established starter and get the time he needs to develop behind the scenes.”
This possibility should appeal to a Ravens front office tipped to be bargain conscious during 2026 NFL free agency. Lee expects Richardson would be dealt “for a sixth-round pick, similar to Zach Wilson in 2024 or Justin Fields in 2024.”
Engineering a trade for Richardson would put a young and dynamic playmaker among a position group woefully thin behind Jackson at football’s most important position.
Anthony Richardson a Low-Cost Risk for Ravens
Richardson still has a lot to do to prove he can refine his game to navigate the nuances of the pros with something other than his obvious athletic gifts. He needs to display more comfort diagnosing pressure, making quick post-snap reads and delivering consistent ball placement.
It’s a fairly hefty to-do list, but 23-year-old Richardson is still young enough to develop sharper processing instincts and more polished mechanics. The challenge is similar to what Jackson once faced as a dual-threat QB who needed to defy his critics, so the two-time NFL MVP would provide the ideal inspiration for Richardson’s next career arc, provided the latter can stay healthy.
An orbital fracture and subsequent surgery cost him 12 games last season, while Richardson missed as many contests as a rookie thanks to a sprained shoulder. Getting back to 100 percent at M&T Bank Stadium would let Richardson show the Ravens the talents they tried to identify during a pre-draft visit in 2023.
Richardson meeting those expectations would make him a more exciting QB2 than dependable veteran deputy Tyler Huntley. The latter is somebody the Ravens are encouraged to bring back in free agency because of his Pro Bowl credentials and history of clutch cameos, but Richardson has greater upside than the 28-year-old.
Upside is something DeCosta and the Ravens may value more than reliability when Jackson’s own longterm future is far from certain.
Lamar Jackson’s Next Contract Still a Problem
Sorting out a lucrative new deal for Jackson is an issue DeCosta can’t ignore. The issue will likely dominate offseason headlines for a franchise expected by ESPN’s Seth Walder to “be quiet with signing other teams’ free agents.”
Walder also pointed out how “the Ravens have the third-least amount of 2027 cap space currently.” It’s a far from ideal situation when key players, three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and move tight end Isaiah Likely are free agents.
NFL Insider Provides Insight on Potential Bears Trade for Maxx Crosby
Apparently it’s going to cost the Bears if they want Maxx Crosby, and there’s no uncertainty to this.
The uncertainty is whether they, or anyone else, would pay the Raiders’ asking price.
Numerous NFL insiders have linked the Bears to trade interest in the Las Vegas defensive end but all have said nothing has changed in terms of the Raiders’ demands in such a deal. Those demands were two first-round picks and a player and still are.
At the combine, Raiders GM John Spytek had said he wasn’t trading Crosby, and then explained why.
Cowboys Working on a Plan B if Maxx Crosby Trade Falls Through
Of all of the teams courting Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, the Dallas Cowboys are the one perhaps best equipped to pay the massive asking price of two first-round picks.
The team has its own first-round pick (No. 12 overall) and the Green Bay Packers’ first-rounder (No. 20 overall), plus Green Bay’s first-round pick in 2027 as well that it could use as ammunition to close a deal for the 28-year-old Pro Bowl pass-rusher.
But if the Cowboys don’t want to pay the hefty price to acquire Crosby, a five-time Pro Bowler, they are reportedly working through two potential contingency plans to upgrade their pass-rush.
Cowboys Working Through Crosby Backup Plans
SI.com’s Albert Breer is one of the more plugged in NFL insiders in the industry, so when he reports on something, most take notice.
Breer was recently discussing the logistics of a Crosby-Cowboys trade, and he revealed that if that deal doesn’t materialize, there are two players Dallas could turn to that would cost significantly less.
“My sense is they’ll at least kick the tires on Crosby,” Breer said. “Trey Hendrickson is older, but is a year removed from back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons, and wouldn’t cost draft picks. Jaelan Phillips would be another option at edge and who was with new coordinator Christian Parker last year in Philly.”
Breer also noted that it will be difficult for the Raiders to actually get what they’re asking for in return for Crosby given his age, his contract, and the fact that teams don’t typically part with multiple first-round picks unless they feel they’re getting a sure-fire superstar.
“I also believe, though, that it’d be difficult to find the haul that the Raiders got for Khalil Mack eight years ago, or what Dallas got for Micah Parsons last year, or what the Dolphins received for Laremy Tunsil in 2019,” Breer added. “All of those guys were traded for packages fronted by two first-round picks. All of those guys were also much younger, nearing the ends of their rookie deals.”
Cowboys Insider Casts Doubt on Crosby Trade
Pulling off the kind of monster trade the Raiders are looking for in return for Crosby is difficult in itself given the draft compensation involved.
Many believe the Raiders are asking way too much, which is throwing up a serious road block in finding another team for the two-time All-Pro.
ESPN’s Jane Slater also reported most teams interested in Crosby — including the Cowboys — just aren’t willing to part with multiple first-rounders.
“On Maxx Crosby and the Cowboys being at play here….here is what I’m being told from a team source,” Slater wrote. “‘Raiders are talking to a lot of people. But we would not give up two first rounders.’ That’s the situation now. Will that change? I don’t know but I checked for those of you interested.
“I also believe that while Cowboys would and have parted with a 1st rounder. 2? Last time they did that was for Joey Galloway, I believe? That didn’t go so well. No water gif bc things can always change esp when they seem very motivated this year but 2 1st rounders after restructuring deals and two guys looking to get paid not to mention a lot of holes on defense? Feels a little risky. Just my sense/cents.”
Russell Wilson escalates Sean Payton feud, weighs NFL future
Russell Wilson and Sean Payton spent just one NFL season together, but tension lingered after a rocky year.
And it appears the tension that built up from that tumultuous stretch continues to linger.
Wilson’s interview on the
Texans signing Danielle Hunter to $40.1 million contract extension
Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter will be back in Houston for another year.
The Texans and Hunter agreed to terms on a one-year, $40.1 million extension that includes a $30.7 million signing bonus, NFL Network reported Thursday night.
The deal keeps Hunter with the Texans through 2027.
Hunter, 31, made the jump to Houston in 2024 after spending the first eight seasons of his NFL career with the Vikings.
He signed a two-year, $49 million deal as a free agent and then he signed a one-year, $35.6 million extension during the offseason in 2025.
Hunter, who has been a Pro Bowler five times in his career, is coming off a season where he had 54 tackles, 15 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits as Houston’s defense allowed the fewest yards per game (277.2) and ranked second in points yielded (17.4) in the NFL.
He started all 17 games for the Texans, while also recording three forced fumbles and three passes defended.
Rod Wright, the Texans’ defensive line coach, praised Hunter’s play in an interview with KPRC2 last season.
“He’s also physical and relentless, but a little bit more methodical, a little bit more unorthodox,” Wright said. “Hard to guess what he’s going to do from play to play when it comes to rushing. Both are very disciplined when it comes to the run game. And both guys obviously present a challenge to any opposing lineman they’re going against.
“With D-Hunt, he’s been there, done that. Seen it all, doesn’t overreact to anything. Very calm demeanor, kind of the Yin and Yang type of deal. Both have a presence about them, but it’s very different. Don’t sleep on Danielle’s personality. Really funny guy, likes to have fun as well. Got to behind closed doors, though. If you don’t really know him, he’s kind of a more reserved type of guy.”
Hunter has 114.5 sacks and 562 tackles in his 10-year career.
Browns Star Myles Garrett Gets $1 Million Challenge From Logan Paul
Logan Paul doesn’t just think he could beat up Cleveland Browns superstar Myles Garrett in a fight. The polarizing influencer and boxer doesn’t think it would be close.
Paul has been going back and forth with Tom Brady in recent weeks ahead of the Fanatics Flag Football Classic on March 21, and things boiled over on the March 4 episode of his “IMPAULSIVE” podcast.
When co-host Mike Majlak brought up Garrett — the reigning Defensive Player of the Year who just broke the NFL’s single-season sack record — Paul didn’t flinch.
“Not a single football player could beat me in a boxing match,” Paul said. “I would throttle Myles Garrett. Come to the gym and let’s see how it goes. I will throw hands with any of you (expletive).”
Paul also called out other NFL names, including Puka Nacua, Sam Darnold and Brady himself, before doubling down on the wager and making it clear the offer was open to anyone in the league.
“A million dollars. You come to the gym, we put on boxing gloves, we’ll see how it goes,” Paul said. “Not a single one. There’s levels to this (expletive).”
Garrett Is the NFL’s Most Dominant Defensive Force
Garrett isn’t exactly the guy most people would want to pick a fight with. The Browns’ defensive end stands 6-foot-4, 272 pounds, and just wrapped up one of the most dominant individual seasons in NFL history.
Garrett broke the NFL’s single-season sack record last year, finishing with 23 sacks to surpass the previous mark of 22.5 shared by Michael Strahan (2001) and T.J. Watt (2021). He also led the league with 33 tackles for loss.
Garrett earned his second career Defensive Player of the Year award — this time unanimously — and his seventh Pro Bowl selection for the historic campaign. He’s widely considered one of the most physically imposing athletes in all of professional sports and has already set his sights on Bruce Smith’s all-time sack record.
The 30-year-old signed a four-year, $160 million extension with the Browns last March, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. He is expected to continue to be the centerpiece of the defense in Cleveland, though trade rumors continue to swirl. Garrett has not publicly responded to Paul’s challenge.
Logan Paul Called Out for ‘Ducking’ Fights
Paul’s challenge quickly drew responses from across the football world. Former NFL running back Le’Veon Bell — who holds a 2-1 professional boxing record with additional exhibition wins — wasted no time calling Paul out.
“STOP DUCKING Logan Paul,” Bell wrote on X. “Bro tryna fight an NFL player that’s never fought before. Let’s set it up bro, we all heard you say you can beat any NFL player. We can fight in April, the NFL draft is in PITTSBURGH. We can fight NFL draft weekend!”
Paul did not entertain Bell. He responded on X, writing: “A.) you’re not in the NFL B.) you can actually fight so I’d have to properly train, meaning I’d have to step away from WWE (which I won’t do, especially not for you) C.) There’s no money here because you’re not a draw.”
Bell wasn’t having it, accusing Paul of ducking the fight entirely.
“Bro said ‘you can actually fight’ so he’s telling everyone he wants to fight someone who he feels can’t fight,” Bell said. “That’s what we call DUCKING.”
Chiefs Predicted to Cut 2 Starters in $50 Million Move
The Kansas City Chiefs are getting their ducks in a row before free agency officially starts on March 11.
After entering the offseason $52.7 million over the cap, the Chiefs started to clear space by restructuring quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract for the fourth consecutive year, freeing up $43.6 million.
They cleared another $20 million by releasing veteran right tackle Jawaan Taylor, and releasing defensive Mike Danna saved another $9 million.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach then pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade to send All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams. Kansas City not only piled up four draft picks, but they also saved $13.6 million against the cap.
While the Chiefs have $24.88 million in cap space, per Over the Cap, there are numerous gaps in the roster to fill. They also need money for the nine picks they have in the 2026 NFL draft.
If the Chiefs plan to make a big swing in free agency and sign a new slate of rookies, Veach is likely planning a few more cuts and restructures.
The Chiefs Can Clear $50 Million By Releasing TE Noah Gray, LB Drue Tranquill & Restructuring Chris Jones’ Contract
Tight end Noah Gray, linebacker Drue Tranquill, and defensive tackle Chris Jones all signed extensions ahead of the 2024 season. While Gray inked a three-year, $18 million contract, Tranquill signed a three-year, $19 million deal. As for superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones, he signed a five-year, $158.75 million deal.
ESPN’s Nate Taylor believes these three may play into the Chiefs’ next move. “The Chiefs can create even more cap space — having more than $50 million available to them next week when free agency starts — by releasing linebacker Drue Tranquill and tight end Noah Gray while restructuring Jones’ contract,” Taylor wrote on March 5.
And what will they do with the extra cash?
“The Chiefs are expected to target signing one of the top running back options, candidates such as Kenneth Walker III (Seattle Seahawks), Travis Etienne Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons),” Taylor added.
“On defensive line, the Chiefs could target players such as defensive ends Boye Mafe (Seahawks), Bradley Chubb (Dolphins), Jaelan Phillips (Philadelphia Eagles), Kwity Paye (Indianapolis Colts) and defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers (Denver Broncos).”
The Chiefs are in ‘Rebuild’ Mode After ‘The Most Difficult’ Trade in Brett Veach’s Career
Saying goodbye to McDuffie was no easy feat. Taylor reported, “According to a team source with knowledge of the process, the trade was one of the most difficult decisions in Veach’s tenure, which began in 2017.”
However, McDuffie, entering the final year of his rookie contract, is expected to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. Speaking to reporters at the NFL Combine last week, Veach strongly hinted big moves were on the horizon.
“The last few years, we were kind of just, like, in a maintenance stage,” Veach said. “Now we’re trying to rebuild this thing again. I think for a GM and a personnel staff, that’s exciting…
“We know we have to execute an efficient game plan in free agency and then we’ve got to nail these picks. That’ll be important for us to keep this run going.”
Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes Hit With Legal News
Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are in the offseason, but it’s already heating up with NFL trades and free agency up ahead.
Now, Kelce and Mahomes are getting hit with an update about some legal news they’ve been dealing with for a while.
Backstory on Legal News About 1587 Prime and Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes
Back in February, according to a report from ESPN, a sneaker company sued both Mahomes and Kelce, as well as their restaurant partners, alleging trademark infringement. The suit came from the two using the numbers specific to 1587 Prime, the name of their restaurant in Kansas City, court records stated.
Mahomes, Kelce and business partner Noble 33 open their steakhouse last year, and the name comes from putting together Mahomes and Kelce’s jersey numbers. In the suit, the sneaker company 1587 Sneakers states that the restaurant’s name infringes its usage of the same number combination.
In the report, Michael Rothstein states, “The legal question revolves around the unregistered rights that the sneaker company claimed before it filed its trademark applications last year, said trademark attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben IP, who doesn’t represent either party.”
Rothstein adds that “the suit alleges that the 1587 Sneakers brand started selling its shoes April 13, 2023, and thus has first use of the number and markings.”
The shoe company didn’t apply for the “1587” trademark until October 2025, according to ESPN, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is still reviewing the application. Also, Mahomes and Kelce applied for the “1587 Prime” trademark in December 2023.
Good News for Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes
On Thursday, March 5, both Kelce and Mahomes got good news on the lawsuit. According to a report from KMBC, “A federal judge has refused an emergency request to temporarily shut down a Kansas City restaurant owned by Chiefs stars Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes in a trademark dispute over the name ‘1587.’”
They add that in an order filed March 2, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald” declined to sign a proposed temporary restraining order sought by 1587 Sneakers Inc., which claims it owns trademark rights to the mark ‘1587.’”
So, it’s great news that a federal judge has denied 1587 Sneakers’ proposed emergency request to temporarily shut down 1587 Prime.
In the suit, the company alleges the defendants launched a restaurant and clothing line using the names “1587 PRIME” and “1587,” which they states causes confusion amid customers and infringes on its brand.
It’s worth noting that the ruling does not dismiss the lawsuit. “Instead, the judge said the court may consider future motions once the defendants are properly served and if jurisdiction and venue issues are resolved,” KMBC notes.
In other news, Kelce is expected to announce his retirement decision soon. During the Wednesday, March 4 episode his podcast “New Heights” with his brother Jason, he talked about what he’ll miss most about the NFL.
NHL Trade: Red Wings Reunite With $8 Million Winger
With several buyers around the NHL making trades this deadline week, the Detroit Red Wings have been quiet. It is a bit surprising, as the Red Wings should be one of the NHL’s most aggressive teams right now. They not only have a ton of cap space to work with, but they are also looking to successfully break their nine-year playoff drought.
The Red Wings have multiple trade needs that they should be looking to address by 3 p.m. ET on Friday. Their two biggest needs are another top-six center and a top-four right-shot defenseman. However, they would benefit by adding to their forward depth.
Now, the Red Wings have done just that, as they have struck a deal with the Ottawa Senators to reunite with one of their former players.
Red Wings Acquire Forward David Perron from the Ottawa Senators
The Red Wings have announced that they have acquired forward David Perron from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a conditional 2026 fourth-round pick.
Perron is undoubtedly a player who the Red Wings know well, as the 37-year-old winger spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons as a member of the Original Six club. Now, with this trade, Perron will be heading back to Detroit and will look to be a key part of their roster in the process.
When looking at the Red Wings’ current roster, Perron should slot very nicely in their top nine. The 19-year veteran is still an impactful forward at this stage in his career, and the truth is in his stats this campaign. In 49 games with the Senators this season before the trade, the veteran forward recorded 10 goals, 15 assists, 25 points, 64 hits, and a plus-2 rating. With numbers like these, he should provide Detroit with some solid secondary offensive production as they push for the playoffs.
While the Red Wings bringing in Perron is not a big splash, he certainly has the potential to give their forward group a boost. This is because he not only chips in offensively and throws the body, but he is also a well-known leader who should serve well as a mentor for Detroit’s younger players.
As for the Senators, they have landed a draft pick for a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) in Perron. With the Senators being on the wrong side of the playoff line, it makes sense that they have decided to move on from Perron. They have now also gained some cap space if they want to make a move elsewhere.
Red Wings Can’t Be Done Making Moves Yet
Now that the Red Wings have made a solid move in acquiring Perron, they should continue to stay busy. As noted above, they still have two major needs in a top-six center and a top-four right-shot defenseman that they should be looking to address.
Robert Thomas and Vincent Trocheck are two big-name centers the Red Wings have been linked to. As for defenseman, a few potential options for Detroit to consider include Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, and Zach Whitecloud.
Yet, for now, the Red Wings should be happy that they have added Perron to the mix.
Hurricanes Trade Pitch Lands Rangers’ $39 Million Forward
One of the biggest questions surrounding this NHL trade deadline is what the New York Rangers will do with their top forward, Vincent Trocheck, ahead of the 3:00 p.m. deadline on Friday. On Thursday, the Rangers decided to give Trocheck the night off, which might signal that a trade is imminent. There is less than 24 hours to make a deal, so teams will have to act quickly, but the Carolina Hurricanes have been linked to the $39.375 million center.
The Rangers are going to be asking for a haul in return, but the Hurricanes can not remain stagnant at tomorrow’s deadline, and a trade for Trocheck would make them firm favorites in the Eastern Conference.
More NHL on Heavy: NHL Trade: Senators Acquire Struggling Forward in Deal with Los Angeles Kings
Will the Hurricanes Trade for Vincent Trocheck?
Vincent Trocheck made it clear the other day about his trade demands. He has a no-trade clause in his contract and wants to be dealt to a contender ahead of the trade deadline to give himself the best chance at winning a Stanley Cup.
In this trade idea, the Carolina Hurricanes land one of the biggest trade targets this deadline season, Vincent Trocheck, from the New York Rangers in exchange for prospects Bradly Nadeau, defenseman Dominik Bandinka, a 2026 second-round draft pick, and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft.
It’s a big haul, but Trocheck is the caliber of player that can take the Hurricanes over the top come June.
Trocheck has 39 points (12 goals, 27 assists) over 46 games on a very underwhelming Rangers team. He spent a brief three-year stint in Carolina before signing a seven-year, $39.325 million deal.
More NHL on Heavy: Hurricanes Rumors: Predicted to Trade for Canucks’ $11.9 Million Forward
Vincent Trocheck’s Fit with Carolina
Trocheck offers a lot of different specialties on offense, which makes him a versatile forward fit for this Carolina team. Sitting atop the Metro Division and Eastern Conference, the Canes are in a great spot, but still need another forward who can provide ample ice time. And considering the Hurricanes are in a win-now mindset, they could offer the Rangers the haul they are looking for to make a deal work.
It would hurt to lose a strong prospect like Bradly Nadeau, but one of the arguments about Nadeau is his lack of production during his time with the Hurricanes. Does that make him a top trade candidate? That’s undecided, but Carolina would almost certainly have to give up a top prospect to make this deal work.
Either way, the Rangers are in a clear rebuild mode, and they should at least really consider trading Vincent Trocheck.
Why the Blue Jackets’ win vs. the Panthers puts the pressure on Don Waddell ahead of Friday’s trade deadline
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Blue Jackets have managed to regain their footing after a slow start from the Olympic break, winning their third in a row by beating the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, 4-2, on Thursday night.
The win almost didn’t come after Gustav Forsling looked like he had the tying goal with 2:55 to go. But after a Blue Jackets challenge, the officials deemed that Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist interfered with goaltender Jet Greaves and overturned the goal.
Mathieu Olivier put the game away with an empty netter for his second goal of the night at 18:18. Greaves had 26 saves.
But this game was notable for another reason: it’s the Blue Jackets’ last one before the trade deadline.
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After losing their first two out of the Olympic break, they have won three straight and took seven points out of a possible 10 in the five games between the break and Friday’s deadline.
Now, all eyes are on the front office and general manager Don Waddell to see if he will make moves to strengthen the team’s chance to get to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
Ivan Provorov scored on the powerplay for the Blue Jackets at 5:08 of the first period when his point shot deflected off Panthers defenseman Dmitri Kulikov and past Tarasov. Provorov also denied the Panthers a goal early in the second when he got down into the crease after a puck bounced away from Jet Greaves and denied Panthers forward Tomas Nosek.
Olivier made it 2-0 at 10:58 of the second when he deflected an Egor Zamula shot by Tarasov for his 10th goal of the season.
In the third, Kent Johnson’s backhand pass to the slot found Boone Jenner, who beat Tarasov to give the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead.
Florida clawed back within one in the third on back-to-back goals by Niko Mikkola and Sam Bennett. Forsling looked to have the tying goal before the Blue Jackets’ challenge led to the review and overturn.
The Panthers came into Thursday night’s game on an eight-game winning streak vs. the Blue Jackets.
It’s unclear what this year’s deadline, which is at 3 p.m. Friday, will look like for Columbus, but the Blue Jackets have to have last season in their minds a little bit.
They were in the playoffs by a point at the deadline, but they didn’t do much with the only additions being a waiver claim for forward Christian Fischer and a trade for veteran forward Luke Kunin.
Those moves did very little as they combined for no points in 13 games.
The lack of reinforcements played a role in the Blue Jackets having a nightmarish March last season in which they went just 4-9, recording only nine points and getting shut out four times.
Columbus missed the playoffs by two points with its dismal March playing a massive role.
The Blue Jackets ended Thursday with wins in 14 of their last 17 games. Only twice since hiring Rick Bowness have they failed to get a point in a game.
They’re still on the outside looking at the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
This isn’t to say they need to make a blockbuster move before 3 p.m.
However, to give themselves the best chance to get to playoffs for the first time since the 2020 bubble in Toronto, they should be trying to find more impact that they got a year ago.
Columbus played Thursday night without defensemen Zach Werenski (illness) and Dante Fabbro (lower-body injury). Werenski has missed three consecutive games.
NHL’s best in the West load up on the eve of the trade deadline
With less than 24 hours left before the NHL trade deadline, a few Stanley Cup contenders in the Western Conference are not waiting until the last minute to get deals done.
The league-best Colorado Avalanche acquired center Nicolas Roy from Toronto, and the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights got center Nic Dowd from Washington. The Dallas Stars filled their final big need of a forward by acquiring Michael Bunting from Nashville, while the Minnesota Wild added veteran defenseman Jeff Petry in a swap with back-to-back defending champion Florida.
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Chmelar scores 1st NHL goal, Rangers pull away from Maple Leafs with 4 in 3rd
Chmelar, playing in his seventh NHL game, was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. His goal in the third period was also his first NHL point.
Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and two assists in the third period. Will Cuylle scored two goals, and Vladislav Gavrikov got one on the power play. Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves for the Rangers (24-29-8).
It was their first regulation win at home since a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 24, a span of 19 games.
New York played without centers Vincent Trocheck and Sam Carrick. They were scratched for roster management purposes with the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m ET Friday.
Matias Maccelli and Easton Cowan scored, and Joseph Woll made 19 saves for the Maple Leafs (27-25-11), who have lost six consecutive games (0-4-2).
Toronto traded center Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche earlier Thursday. Forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton, and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson were scratched for the second straight game for roster management purposes.
Maccelli scored 13 seconds into the game to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.
Cuylle made it 1-1 with a netfront tip of Braden Schneider’s one-timer from the right point at 6:45.
Toronto regained the lead at 5:27 of the second, when Cowan scored from the top of the left face-off circle to make it 2-1.
The Rangers tied it 2-2 with Gavrikov scoring a power-play goal off a rebound of Taylor Raddysh’s shot at 7:29.
Lafreniere gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead at 5:38 of the third period by getting a piece of Zibanejad’s shot from the point, knocking it down and past Woll.
Chmelar extended the lead to 4-2, scoring on a breakaway off a Maple Leafs’ turnover at 10:27.
Zibanejad made it 5-2 at 11:19.
Cuylle scored an empty-net goal to make it 6-2 at 17:09.
Maple Leafs Could Be Hurt by Sharks Overpay
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially begun selling off pieces at this year’s NHL trade deadline. The club jettisoned Nic Roy on Thursday for a handsome return.
With Roy out of the picture, all eyes in Leafs land turn to Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. But it’s McMann, in particular, that may become the pebble in Toronto’s shoe.
The Maple Leafs have been actively trying to re-sign McMann despite ongoing trade rumors. The 29-year-old will be a UFA at the end of the season, and, well, the idea is to keep him or trade him.
The desire is for both sides to remain together. But the Leafs are balking at McMann’s asking price. Meanwhile, a recent overpay by the San Jose Sharks hasn’t helped matters, either.
The Sharks extended winger Kiefer Sherwood to a five-year, $28.75 million deal. The contract carries an AAV of $5.75 million.
That sounds eerily similar to what chatter has posited McMann’s camp is looking for. Insider Pierre LeBrun confirmed that McMann’s camp wants a deal around five-years, and $5 million AAV. And Sherwood’s contract has just helped his case.
And it makes sense. Sherwood is a year older than McMann and has pretty much the same numbers. He’s notched 18 goals and 25 points in 49 games this season. While Sherwood has missed some time with injuries, his production has held up. It’s consistent with a middle-six winger, exactly the role that McMann plays. That’s why the Sharks overpaid for Sherwood. They wanted to keep Sherwood since acquiring him from the Vancouver Canucks in January. Thus, the deal made sense for both Sherwood and the Sharks.
Maple Leafs May Be Better Off Trading McMann
Unless McMann is willing to give the Maple Leafs a break, Toronto may be better off trading him. The Leafs got a first-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche for Nic Roy on Thursday. So, there’s no reason why the Leafs couldn’t get a first for McMann. Alternatively, the Leafs could get two seconds, like what the Sharks paid for Sherwood.
In that situation, the Maple Leafs stand to make a better profit by moving McMann. Then, the undrafted forward would have to figure out if he wants to hit the open market or re-sign with his new team. That’s a bridge McMann and his people will have to cross when they get to it.
Could McMann and Leafs Remain Together Post Deadline?
Another possibility could be for both the Maple Leafs and McMann to remain together after the trade deadline, even without a deal. That situation brings about an interesting scenario. The purpose of such a situation would be for both parties to agree to a handshake deal. Then, they could work out the details throughout the rest of the season.
It’s certainly a big gamble for both sides. The Maple Leafs would risk missing the boat on a valuable trade chip. Meanwhile, McMann could overplay his hand. Instead of heading to a contender at the deadline, he could be stuck in Toronto, hoping to get the deal he wants.
NHL Trade Deadline: Panthers Jump into Fray Amid Various Deals
The NHL trade deadline looks to be going down to the wire with multiple trades going down on Thursday. Three interesting swaps took place, with various contenders loading up on depth pieces. Another playoff hopeful continues to sell off despite claims they’re still in the postseason hunt.
So, let’s jump in.
Florida Panthers Jump into NHL Trade Deadline
The Florida Panthers made their first deal of this year’s NHL trade deadline. The Cats haven’t officially waived the white flag, but are pretty much there.
As such, the club has begun moving veteran pieces, with the first being depth defenseman Jeff Petry. The Panthers sent the 38-year-old to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The condition attached to the piece states that if the Wild win at least two playoff rounds this year, the pick converts to a fifth-round selection. Also, Petry must play at least half of the Wild’s games during those two rounds.
In short, this deal may fly under the radar at this season’s NHL trade deadline. But it has the potential to become a sneaky-good deal with Petry becoming a solid depth piece for Minnesota.
Dallas Stocks Up on Offensive Depth
A day after landing Tyler Myers from the Vancouver Canucks, the Dallas Stars continue to make waves at the NHL trade deadline. This time, the Stars added some much-needed offensive depth. The club landed winger Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators. In return, the Predators acquired a third-round pick in this year’s draft. The pick originally belonged to the Seattle Kraken and went to the Stars in the Mason Marchment trade.
Now, the Stars have another middle-six forward the team can use to offset the absence of Tyler Seguin. It’s worth pointing out that Seguin is out for the remainder of the season. There was no retention involved in this deal, hence the reason for the mid-round pick instead of a higher one.
Senators Overpay for Depth Forward
In what has become an ongoing trend at this year’s NHL trade deadline, the Ottawa Senators overpaid for a depth forward. This time, it was LA Kings’ winger Warren Foegele heading to the Canadian capital, along with a 2026 third-rounder, in return for a 2026 second-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick. The second rounder belonged to the Buffalo Sabres. Ottawa landed the pick in the Dylan Cozens trade last season.
Meanwhile, both third-round picks are conditional. The Kings will send either their own pick or the Stars’ third-rounder, depending on which one is worse. Under those circumstances, the Sens likely get Dallas’ pick.
As for the Kings, they’ll either get the Senators’ or the Washington Capitals’ third-rounder, depending on which one is better. But if both Washington and Ottawa fail to make the postseason, the Kings will get the worst one. That situation means that this NHL trade deadline deal will see the Kings get the third-rounder of the club with the better record when the season is over.
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out, as keeping track of all of these conditions can make NHL trade deadline deals confusing at times.