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By 39-22% NY’ers Say Online Sports Gambling is Bad for New York
1 in 4 NY’ers Placed a Bet on a Sporting Event in the Last Year Of Bettors: 84% Bet With Online Sportsbooks; 54% Bet With Friends or Family; 41% Bet…
Former Bayern Munich prospect on his way to Sporting CP?
Nestory Irankunda could be on the move.
Player Availability Report: #SKCvMIN
Player Availability Report is SportingKC.com’s look at the latest status updates around the team ahead of upcoming matches and is presented by Saint Luke’s. All details listed are from the league’s official Player Status Report that is submitted the day prior to the match. Sporting Kansas City returns home for
Preview: Sporting KC hosts Minnesota on Wednesday in Soccer Capital of America celebration at Sporting Park
Sporting Kansas City vs. Minnesota United FC 2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 16 Wednesday, July 22 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:40 kickoff) Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kansas Watch: Apple TV | Pub Partners Listen: 810 AM | 1340 AM | SKC App More: Know Before You Go |
Nottingham Forest in advanced talks with Sporting CP for Ousmane Diomande
The 22-year-old centre-back was included in Ivory Coast's 26-man World Cup squad.
Tarik Skubal trade prediction has Tigers frustrating most of MLB
This Tarik Skubal prediction would frustrate many contenders around MLB.
Conan O’Brien shocks fans with new hairdo: ‘Greaser Conan’
Conan O’Brien is sporting a new ’do these days, and fans are confused: ‘Are we just ignoring his hair?’
The secret to successful sports organizations? Employees who feel safe enough to speak up
With major sporting events like Wimbledon and the FIFA World Cup drawing global attention this summer, new findings from a University of Florida researcher highlight an often-overlooked factor behind their success: the well-being of the employees working behind the scenes.
Questions surround Patrick Mahomes' injury recovery for Chiefs
The superstar QB is working his way back from a torn ACL.
A quarter-century of baseball, hoops — and scaling walls of ice? Denver Sports Commission celebrates 25 years
The group responsible for bringing sporting events to Colorado says there’s more fun on the horizon.
UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
Blackhawks' Connor Bedard weighs in on Patrick Kane return
Bedard just signed a long-term contract in Chicago.
Yankees must consider trading these 5 players after Dodgers series
New York must have a busy trade deadline to keep their World Series hopes alive.
Sporting KC Weekly Schedule: July 20-25, 2026
Sporting Kansas City II News: The official source for all SKC II news, photos, videos, highlights, and more.
Why Spain cropped Donald Trump out of World Cup celebration photos
While the U.S. president was initially on stage for Spain's celebrations, the team used a picture without Trump on social media.
Draymond Green already knows his role if LeBron James decides to join the Warriors
Draymond Green has no trouble accepting his role if LeBron James does end up joining the Warriors.
NBA Reddit thinks Cooper Flagg grew 2 inches
This would be big news for the star out of Duke.
Bears' Ben Johnson gets reality check ahead of 2026 season
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is getting some advice.
At World Cup Final, Trump Seeks to Bask in Another Sports Championship
The president flew in Marine One over MetLife Stadium on Sunday ahead of his arrival. It was the second time recently that he sought to seize the spotlight at a major sporting event.
Isle Royale business prevented from transporting visitors asking to leave
“When people need the help, that’s exactly what we’re there for,” U.P. Adventure Company Owner and Captain Lacy Cygan said.
Ireland's World Cup play - Live Updates
Ireland is hoping the global sporting spotlight surrounding the World Cup will also shine on its growing sports technology industry.
Why Dodgers are shutting down Shohei Ohtani from pitching
Shohei Ohtani isn't going to pitch for a while this season.
MLB insider unveils update on Phillies' trade deadline demands
As reported by a senior MLB insider, the Phillies are looking to fill two holes in their roster before the deadline closes.
What happens when President Trump attends major sports events – and why he does it
The U.S. President has attended several major sporting events and is set to present the World Cup trophy on Sunday
Anthony Edwards has accepted that LeBron James won't be playing for the Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards knows that LeBron James has not considered the Timberwolves in his preferred landing spots.
Saints urged to sign 6-time Pro Bowl weapon for Tyler Shough in 2026
The Saints saw some positive developments from Tyler Shough in 2025, so the team should surround him with as many weapons as possible in 2026.
Giants' Cam Skattebo keeps doing reckless things in injury recovery
Skattebo needs to figure this out a bit better.
Eagles' rookie partakes in Phillies pregame ceremony
Eagles' rookie Makai Lemon was spotted at the Phillies game on Saturday afternoon.
Cowboys’ left tackle battle could change the entire 2026 season
Tyler Guyton enters Cowboys training camp with the inside track to the starting left tackle job, but nothing is guaranteed. With Nate Thomas pushing for snaps and injuries remaining a concern, the former first-round pick faces a career-defining opportunity to prove he’s the long-term answer protecting Dallas’ blind side.
Kool-Aid McKinstry is about to silence every doubter
Kool-Aid McKinstry flashed elite playmaking ability in 2025, but inconsistency kept him from reaching the next level. With Brandon Staley’s new defensive system in place, the young Saints cornerback could be on the verge of becoming one of the NFL’s premier shutdown defenders in 2026.
Tickets For World Cup Final—The Most Expensive U.S. Sporting Event Ever—Rise 46%
The cheapest tickets for the final on the secondary market were just shy of $7,000 on Wednesday, with an average ticket price of $11,327, which marked the most expensive sporting event in U.S. history.
Where to watch AVP beach volleyball today: TV schedule, channel, live stream for New York Central Park tournament
Here's everything you need to know about AVP beach volleyball today, including TV channel and streaming options for the Central Park meet.
Isle Royale business prevented from transporting visitors asking to leave
The visitors want to leave due to poor air quality conditions at the park.
Sporting KC acquires two 2026 international roster slots
Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has acquired two 2026 international roster slots in a pair of trades with the Philadelphia Union and the Seattle Sounders. Sporting has acquired an international roster slot and the 22nd spot in the Waiver Order from Philadelphia in exchange for the first
Cody Bellinger says Call of Duty brings athletes together as sports and gaming collide at Fanatics Fest
NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger has played for baseball's biggest brands over his career.
Yankees have obvious 'glaring weakness' before MLB trade deadline
This has been an issue during the entire season for the Yankees.
World Cup final on track to be most expensive sporting event ever
The average price of World Cup final tickets is $12,751, more than $2,000 higher than the previous record set by the 2024 Super Bowl.
World Cup winners to be presented with championship rings in tournament first
FIFA described it as "bringing one of the most recognisable American sporting traditions to the global game".
All hail the World Cup town of East Rutherford, a deserving center of the universe
The small borough in northern New Jersey is about to host the biggest sporting event in the world.
Recap: Sporting KC falls 3-2 to rivals St. Louis
Sporting Kansas City (3-10-2, 11 pts.) fell to a late 3-2 defeat against rivals St. Louis City SC (5-6-4, 19 pts.) at Energizer Park on Thursday night. After falling behind by two goals, Sporting responded well with goals from Capita Capemba and Dejan Joveljic, only for a late penalty to
Donovan Mitchell recruits LeBron James to Cleveland Cavaliers
James is still deciding where he plans to continue his career.
Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it
From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.
Player Availability Report: #STLvSKC
Player Availability Report is SportingKC.com’s look at the latest status updates around the team ahead of upcoming matches and is presented by Saint Luke’s. All details listed are from the league’s official Player Status Report that is submitted the day prior to the match. Sporting Kansas City resumes the 2026
Wildfire smoke and bad air quality threatens sports: Yankees, Blue Jays, World Cup Final, Phillies-Mets and more games to watch closely
The haze is noticeable in a number of cities.
Maple Leafs, Sabres both want 1400-point free agent
Toronto and Buffalo are both interested in a logical free agent target.
I’ve attended 1,000+ sporting events. Here are my top five stadium essentials
What you take with you, or leave at home, can have a big influence on how much you enjoy the experience
Warriors discussing Bronny James-Lakers trade, per report
The Golden State Warriors are reportedly considering a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.
Celtic starting XI to face Sporting CP
Celtic are in action tonight when they take on Sporting CP in the latest of their pre-season matches.The game follows a week at a training camp in Portugal, and Martin O’Neill’s side will be hopin...
Spurs rookie reveals simple habit that keeps his confidence high
Spurs rookie Carter Bryant shared the simple habit that boosts his confidence, explaining why getting a fresh haircut helps him feel his best.
Dak Prescott's viral transformation has one major problem
A viral photo made Dak Prescott appear far more muscular than he is. The edited image spread fast before fans learned it was digitally altered.
Maple Leafs have painful similarities to England's World Cup history
Neither storied entity can get over the hump.
Don't forget about Yang Hansen with Trail Blazers
The second-year big fella still has a lot of potential.
Kelsey Mitchell is all business
LOS ANGELES -- The Indiana Fever visited Los Angeles to play the Sparks last Wednesday.
Sporting KC Weekly Schedule: July 13-19, 2026
Sporting Kansas City II News: The official source for all SKC II news, photos, videos, highlights, and more.
Who is pitching to Bryce Harper in the Home Run Derby? Why Dodgers coach Dino Ebel is paired with Phillies star
Harper is aiming to put on a show for his home fans with a non-Phillies coach throwing pitches.
49ers' 2017 draft pick retires after 80 games in NFL
He did his best to stick around the league.
Ben Johnson already getting slack for Bears offseason move
The Chicago Bears could regret this decision.
Broncos' 2026 offense considered average under poor reasoning
The Denver Broncos have a chance to be much better on offense in 2026 for exactly the opposite reason that one analyst feels they won't be.
Nationals part ways with former Yankees 14.73 ERA reliever
The left-hander lasted just three games with the Nationals.
The secret to becoming a sporting superpower - Live Updates
Norway’s minister responsible for sports reveals her country’s recipe for success.
Knicks linked to Lakers' former $157 million veteran center target
The New York Knicks are reportedly pursuing a 34-year-old veteran big man whom the Los Angeles Lakers previously targeted.
Chiefs and Sporting KC leaders say World Cup brought Kansas City to international stage
The top executives of the Kansas City Chiefs and Sporting KC said local residents and the thousands of domestic and international visitors will remember Kansas City's role in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Dak Prescott gets positive George Pickens update before Cowboys camp
Jerry Jones received an encouraging sign as George Pickens joined Dak Prescott's offseason workout before Cowboys training camp begins.
FIFA is not an independent sporting organisation; it is a political tool.
Football fans around the world are only now finding out what Palestinians have long known.
Jayden Adams dies at 25: Sports world mourns sudden passing of South Africa midfielder after World Cup
Here is what's known about Adams' death following his appearances for South Africa at the 2026 World Cup.
Lakers have perfect target that no one is talking about
This would be a great addition for the Lakers.
Screen time: grab the remote and embrace this remarkable sporting smorgasbord
With content-stacking and spoiler-avoiding, a fan with the right subscriptions can expect to enjoy 13 uninterrupted hours on the sofa on Saturday
Michael Edwards’ exit leaves Liverpool mired in uncertainty. It’s a bad look for FSG
U.S. owners worked ferociously to bring back Liverpool's former sporting director. His exit now has created huge upheaval
Dolphins setting Malik Willis up to fail in 2026 season
The Miami Dolphins have a new quarterback in Malik Willis, but it's fair to question if he has enough talent around him.
Sporting KC emerges as top MLS suitor for Mohamed Salah amid club’s ambitious summer: Sources
Salah's club future is very much at the forefront after Egypt's elimination from the World Cup
Michael Edwards quits as football chief for Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group
Michael Edwards has stepped down with a year on his contract and Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, could leave after the transfer window shuts
Michael Edwards steps down as Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football
The former Liverpool sporting director leaves with one year remaining on the contract he signed in 2024.
Pavin Smith DFA'd by Diamondbacks, Ryan Waldschmidt recalled
Smith was hitting .141 (11-for-78) this season for the Diamondbacks while sporting a .236 on-base percentage and .428 OPS.
Tigers' Framber Valdez delivers needed outing against Athletics
Detroit's No. 2 starter rebounded from two tough starts.
Macron's sports protectionism - Live Updates
It’s not just about soccer. Follow live reporting on the politics, diplomacy, business and power plays surrounding the world’s biggest sporting event.
Belgium’s Zeno Debast to miss World Cup quarter-final as country and club clash over injury
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) claimed Sporting had told Debast he was not ready to feature in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Everything you need to know about Yahoo Sports College Fantasy Football
Yahoo Sports makes an impactful fantasy football announcement
Scrimmage Recap: Sporting KC plays to 3-2 defeat at Atlanta United
Sporting Kansas City fell to a 3-2 defeat against Atlanta United in a 90-minute tune-up scrimmage at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground on Thursday morning. Sporting started brightly and took the lead in the 14th minute when Dejan Joveljic was brought down inside the penalty area before stepping up
MLS’ Newest Billionaire Owner Thinks Investors Can Do Better Than Buying A Sports Team
Months after spending hundreds of millions of his own cash to buy Sporting Kansas City, wealth advisor Peter Mallouk says he still prefers stocks as an investment.
Shanksville-Stonycreek takes 3rd at state sporting clays competition
"We were all pleasantly surprised. I was shocked we did that well. They all performed well that day."
Mookie Betts' go-ahead single lifts Dodgers past Rockies
LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts looked like the hitter the Dodgers have been waiting to see all season.
World Cup feeds Seattle's appetite for international sports
The World Cup broke visitation and hotel revenue records in Seattle. Officials hope the games made the city a destination for future international sporting events.
Celtics send clear message over Jayson Tatum trade rumors
Boston Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to 76ers but reject Jayson Tatum trade inquiries, keeping the injured star on his $314M supermax deal as their cornerstone.
The curse of Donald Trump: where he goes, sporting defeat follows
The USMNT’s World Cup crashout is the latest episode to suggest the support and intervention of Donald J Trump brings bad luck
Chelsea’s Jesse Derry set to join Sporting CP on season-long loan
The 19-year-old has signed a new six-year deal at Stamford Bridge but is finalising a loan move to Portugal for the 2026-27 campaign.
Shohei Ohtani hits No. 300 as Dodgers' bullpen struggles
LOS ANGELES — Justin Wrobleski deserved better.
Jake Cronenworth shakes off scare, powers Padres past Diamondbacks
The Sporting Tribune's Fernando Ramirez writes about Jake Cronenworth and two returning Padres pitchers help the team avoid a second straight loss to Arizona.
Identifying real reasons LeBron James could sign with Timberwolves
LeBron James is once again looking for a new team, and the Timberwolves are reportedly in the running.
How Lionel Messi and Argentina sent the World Cup into a state of sporting nirvana
A fighting underdog spirit and the steely resolve of champions came together to create the highest possible drama.
Yankees' Austin Wells problem needs immediate fix at trade deadline
The Yankees need to make a move at the catcher's position.
Seattle lives up to its reputation as soccer city during World Cup run
Seattle hosted the World Cup for 22 days. Few cities experienced the full scope of the world’s largest sporting event, on and off the field, as the Emerald City did.
Lakers linked to one of NBA's most polarizing young players
Los Angeles has some figuring out still to do.
Maple Leafs still have Morgan Rielly because of Darnell Nurse
Toronto's defensive situation still includes Rielly.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s new contract being finalized
In addition to the various signings requested by Gasperini, new sporting director Tony D’Amico is also focusing on the renewal situation. In addition to Celik and Dybala, the issue of Lorenzo Pelleg...
Sparks come out flat against Storm, lose third straight
LOS ANGELES -- At some point, this gets real old.
Golden Knights sign last remaining RFA with NHL opportunity
While any business outside the organization is still up in the air, the Vegas Golden Knights have succeeded in getting all of their internal affairs in order.
Cardinals make noise in power rankings after another impressive week
St. Louis really turned some heads last week.
Warriors now know asking price for Bronny James-Lakers trade
The Golden State Warriors should feel confident about their chances of landing a 21-year-old Los Angeles Lakers guard if need be.
Atlanta Braves announce wave of roster moves during Mets series
The Atlanta Braves are doing a lot of roster shuffling during their series with the New York Mets.