📰🏟️ Elimination day
Plus: Historic WNBA playoff upset...
Good afternoon. Today’s edition brings you the top news from around the sports world. Just keep scrolling.
—Kyle
1) MLB Wild Card field could be halved today
All 4 Wild Card series enter Game 2 today with one of the teams facing elimination, after an action-packed Day 1.
- In the NL: The Braves won 5-3 over the Phillies on 3B Austin Riley’s go-ahead 3-run HR in the 8th, while the Padres blanked the Cubs 8-0 behind SP Michael King (7IP, 1H).
- In the AL: The White Sox beat the Astros 6-3 behind SS Colson Montgomery’s postseason-debut HR, while DH Ben Rice drove in 6 as the Yankees rolled the Red Sox 9-0.
Stay up to date on Wild Card Day 2
📣 FULL-COURT PRESS
Headlines across the sports world
- 🎰 NBA narrows to 3 finalists in bidding process over a new franchise in Las Vegas, which is expected to cost “at least” $12B-$13B and debut as early as 2028-29, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
- 📺 Amazon Prime Video agrees to extension with Kirk Herbstreit to remain color analyst of Thursday Night Football beyond the 2026 season, per The Athletic; the terms reportedly allow Amazon to drop Herbstreit if top targets like Rams coach Sean McVay become available.
- 🏀 G D’Angelo Russell, 30, the #2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, is leaving the NBA to sign with the Shanghai Sharks of the China Basketball Association.
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2) #8-seed NY Liberty make WNBA history with playoff upset
Liberty completed a stunning 1st-round sweep of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx last night, winning Game 2 87-71 to become the first # 8 seed in WNBA history to eliminate a #1.
- New York never trailed in the game, while stars Jonquel Jones (21 PTS, 13 REB), Breanna Stewart (21 PTS), and Sabrina Ionescu (18 PTS) delivered on offense.
- In other WNBA playoff news: the Fever beat the Aces last night to force a deciding Game 3, while the Dream-Mystics and Valkyries-Wings face off in Game 2s tonight.
Can the Mystics and Wings survive?
🌐 WEB GEMS
Interesting things to click
🏆 Dark horse CFP contenders: Which former long-shot schools are now in position to crash the playoff party?
🏀 ‘Jimmy ain’t got no championship’...Karl-Anthony Towns’ father takes a victory lap on Jimmy Butler following contentious Minnesota tenure.
🧠🏈 Head in the game: Today’s NFL players grew up knowing about CTE: Here’s why they risk it to play.
3) NFL’s Rio game draws record viewership
CBS averaged 24.9M viewers for the Ravens-Cowboys showdown in Rio, with viewership peaking at 30M+ when Baltimore’s Tyler Loop nailed a 56-yd field goal to win as time expired.
- It marks the most-watched NFL international game in history, and CBS’ most-watched Week 3 game since 2014.
- The big audience gives momentum to the NFL’s global push, with 7 more international games still on this season’s schedule—including stops in London, Munich, and Mexico City.
- Overall, NFL viewership is down ~4% through Week 2 compared to last year, though numbers have trended upwards following a 13% annual decline in Week 1.