Sports

11:05 AM ET Bowl Season executives who oversee the operation of 43 postseason bowl games sent a letter this week to hundreds of leaders in college football asking that any future College Football Playoff games in potential expansion models be held at bowl sites instead of on campus, according to a copy of the letter

7:49 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN When COVID took hold of the world in March 2020, it also greatly hampered sports, but perhaps none more so than boxing. After all, the fight game hinges on major live gates to deliver its truly marquee events. While the other major sports leagues experienced plenty of pauses and cancellations,

5:17 PM ET In Game 1 of the 2021 World Series, the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros saw a little bit of everything. Designated hitter Jorge Soler became the first player to lead off the top of the first inning with a home run. Adam Duvall helped his team stay hot in the third with

7:00 AM ET We’re two weeks into the 2021-22 NHL season, and there have been many surprises in the early going — both positive and negative. Here is our updated ranking of all 32 clubs, plus the key takeaways that stand out most for each. How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts,

7:11 AM ET Rob Dawson Mark Ogden Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is being allowed to continue as Manchester United manager but has been told his job is still very much under threat, sources told ESPN, amid disagreements at board level over the potential hire of Antonio Conte. Solskjaer was involved in discussions with executive vice-chairman Ed

7:54 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Khamzat Chimaev will compete in his fourth UFC fight on Saturday at UFC 267 (10:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+). He is 3-0 inside the Octagon, 9-0 overall in his MMA career. He has finished every opponent, six of them in the first round. He has never seen a Round 3.

James Slipper described it as clunky; Dave Rennie said the performance was rusty and frustrating. Yet the Wallabies still made it five straight wins as they defeated Japan 32-23 to get their spring tour off on the right foot on Saturday afternoon. But no one should be reaching for the celebratory sake, particularly when far

7:14 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson drove to yet another victory, his ninth of the year and most meaningful to date in his new job with Hendrick Motorsports. Larson drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to victory lane at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, the 17th anniversary of a Hendrick plane crash

1:41 AM ET Shakur Stevenson talked up his intentions for weeks ahead of his title opportunity against Jamel Herring. He spoke about his goals to showcase his ability to be aggressive and do more than offer a second consecutive lackluster performance. On Saturday night, Stevenson backed up all of his talk and won the WBO

8:59 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — UCLA coach Mick Cronin is a winner even before the college basketball season starts next month. A 3-year-old filly co-owned by Cronin won the $63,000 feature at Santa Anita by three-quarters of a length on Friday. Sent off at 6-1 odds, So Very Smart paid $14.40, $6.40

3:14 AM ET LOS ANGELES — The Lakers‘ rocky start to the season continued with teammates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard getting involved in a heated exchange in the first half of Friday’s 115-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Amid a 27-11 run by Phoenix to take a 13-point halftime lead, Howard and Davis had

4:44 PM ET ASHBURN, Va. — One of the House Democrats who sent a letter to the NFL seeking more information about its investigation into the Washington Football Team‘s workplace culture says he fears Jon Gruden’s emails are the “tip of the iceberg.” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., told ESPN that the representatives wanted to get

7:00 AM ET NEW ORLEANS — When Texas coach Steve Sarkisian connected with one of the country’s most famous high school football players on FaceTime one afternoon in July, he couldn’t hear the prospect because of a pinging noise in the background. “Are you at an arcade?” Sarkisian asked. “Where are you?” “Coach, it’s kind

9:00 AM ET The Jack Eichel saga in Buffalo has been quite the soap opera. But nothing in that saga was as odious and contentious as when the Sabres announced they were stripping their franchise player of his captaincy. “From our perspective and my perspective, I feel the captain is the heartbeat of your team,”

12:00 AM ET BOSTON — Sisu. It’s a Finnish word that, according to Finland’s tourism website, typifies the enduring spirit of all Finns: “stoic determination, hardiness, courage, bravery, willpower, tenacity and resilience.” It’s also the word Houston Astros pitching coach Brent Strom used with his pitchers in a meeting before Game 4 of the American

6:25 PM ET MADRID — When you’re hot, you’re hot, and nobody in world football is hotter than Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah right now. Sometimes players hit such a rich vein of form that they catch every break and enjoy whatever slice of luck goes their way — and then there are those like Antoine Griezmann,

11:06 AM BST South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber had earmarked a role for flyhalf Morne Steyn at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France but respects his decision to retire from the international game. Steyn announced on Tuesday that he would no longer be available for the Springboks, bringing to an end a 12-year international

6:51 PM ET Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Larson claimed the first of four championship-contending spots in NASCAR’s season finale with a dominating victory at Texas on Sunday to start the round of eight in the playoffs. Larson led 256 of 334 laps at the 1 1/2-mile track and got his eighth win

11:42 AM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Bob Baffert can enter horses in the Breeders’ Cup next month at Del Mar, but the event’s all-time money-leading trainer has to meet certain conditions, including stricter out-of-competition testing of his horses and greater security at his barn. The conditions are the result of a review by

7:49 AM ET Last week, the UFC announced that top-10 welterweights Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal will meet on Dec. 11. This announcement was a long time coming — as in, more than 2½ years. It was way back in March 2019 that Edwards and Masvidal had a confrontation backstage after both had won bouts