📰🏟️ A bold strategy
Plus: UTSA football's sneaky link…
Good morning. In today’s edition: UTSA football allegedly had a helpful sneaky link, EA Sports releases Madden ‘26’s “99 Club,” and much more.
—Peter & Kyle
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📺 MEDIA
ESPN8: The Ocho is back
In a move that would make Patches O'Houlihan proud, ESPN networks are once-again transforming into ESPN8: The Ocho, a group of channels that broadcast competitive activities that are almost sports.
What began in 2017 as ten hours of fun games on TV to fill time—inspired by a gag in the 2004 film Dodgeball—is now a four-day event that kicks off today and runs through Sunday. And probably in large part thanks to Obscure Sports Quarterly, it’s turned into one of the major sporting draws of the year, with nearly a dozen competitions held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida in front of real, live fans.
Just how obscure are the games?
- In Slippery Stairs, competitors race to the top of a set of lubricated steps.
- The Bubble Gum Blowing Championships pits contestants against each other to see who can blow the biggest bubble.
- It’s not so simple to move your knight to E5 in Diving Chess, which matches wits and lung capacity against the clock to crown an aquatic Chess Master.
- More of a cubicle guy? The Microsoft Excel World Championship may be your speed.
A bold strategy, Cotton
As ESPN8: The Ocho kicks off, its parent network is in the midst of a broader programming shuffle. After recently letting the MLB walk and its F1 rights drive away, ESPN is nearing a deal to sell 10% of its company to the NFL, potentially tying together two powerhouse brands in sports.
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⏱️ CATCH UP QUICK
Headlines de la semaine
⚾ It’s “Deadline Day” in the MLB. Baseball’s trading season is rounding third and headed for home, with the deadline set for 5 pm CT this afternoon. And while this year's deals have been slow to develop, there are a few notable acquisitions so far: the Mariners landed 1B Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks, the Yankees snagged 3B Ryan McMahon from the Rockies, and the Phillies traded for Twins reliever Jhoan Durán.
🏈 An ex-Memphis football player reportedly sent the team’s playbook to an opponent. Tahj Ra-El, a former Memphis safety who left the team last October, leaked elements of their defensive playbook to UTSA ahead of the teams’ matchup in November, per multiple sources and messages obtained by TigerSportsReport. In a series of alleged Insta DMs to UTSA QB Owen McCown, his former high-school teammate, Ra-El shared pictures of Memphis’ defensive playcalling sheets, and told McCown to target Memphis’ safety because “his hamstring hurting.” Unranked UTSA ultimately upset #25 Memphis, with one Memphis player telling Tiger Sports Report: “We’re on the field, and their offense has a check for every single one of our defenses’ checks.”
🏊 Katie Ledecky continues to be the gold standard in 1,500m freestyle. The 28-year-old swimming legend took home yet another gold medal in that particular race at the World Swimming Championships in Singapore on Tuesday, keeping alive her 15-year unbeaten streak in the women’s 1,500m freestyle. Ledecky now owns 24 of the top 26 times in the race’s history, while her victory on Tuesday also broke career world championship medal ties with Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
💬 WORD ON THE STREET
Overheard
“I repeat it and I said it before: we don’t need a new league. We are doing really good.”
The EuroLeague, long considered the world’s second-best basketball league, could soon have its 1-on-1 skills put to the test against the top dog.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has consistently pushed the idea of a new independent basketball league in Europe, and is reportedly meeting this week with potential stakeholders across the continent (as well as UK PM Keir Starmer).
- The NBA’s proposed league would involve existing franchises and some new ones, likely tied to local soccer powerhouses like Man City or PSG, according to Silver.
- There would be 12 permanent members and four rotating wild-card spots based on performance.
The EuroLeague is on the defensive: In a recent sit-down with The Athletic ($), EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas stressed that a new league isn’t “something that would help the market,” saying it would create confusion for viewers and sponsors over which competition is better.
Looking ahead…The NBA’s proposed European league is still “at least a couple years away” if everything comes together, per Silver.
📰 NEWS
What else is happening
- The gunman who killed four people in Manhattan on Monday was targeting the NFL's headquarters, which the league has now temporarily closed. Police reportedly found a note on the gunman's body that claimed he had CTE and wanted his brain studied.
- The WNBA is averaging 794k viewers through 56 games this year across all national networks, Front Office Sports reports. That number is 21% higher than the league 2024 full-season viewership average, despite big draw Caitlin Clark missing many of her team’s nationally televised games.
- The 2025-26 Los Angeles Clippers are on track to be the oldest team in NBA history, with an average age of 33.2 years old.
- NFL training camps are in full swing; click the link for live news and updates.
- Gilbert Arenas, aka Agent Zero, was arrested by fellow agents (the federal kind) for allegedly running an illegal poker ring out of his house in California.
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🤔 TRIVIA
99-rated players on the wall
EA Sports just released the “99 Club” for Madden NFL 26, or all the players that received a 99-overall rating in the game (the highest possible).
How many of these seven players can you name?
Hint: Positions are—2 WRs, 2 QBs, 1 RE, 1 RT, 1 HB
🌐 WEB GEMS
Interesting things to click
😳 Built different: Follow along as J.J. Watt dominates the 9-9-9 Challenge at a recent Brewers game (eating 9 hot dogs and drinking 9 beers over the course of the 9-inning game)...and somehow still leaves room for a postgame meal.
👀 See: Luka Dončić show off his new physique in Men's Health. For the article, of course.
💪 Inspiration awaits: Chris Bey hopes his comeback after paralysis is the greatest story ever told.
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🤔 ANSWERS
WR Ja'Marr Chase; Cincinnati Bengals
QB Josh Allen; Buffalo Bills
WR Justin Jefferson; Minnesota Vikings
QB Lamar Jackson; Baltimore Ravens
RT Lane Johnson; Philadelphia Eagles
RE Myles Garrett; Cleveland Browns
HB Saquon Barkley; Philadelphia Eagles
