📰🏟️ Beep boop
Plus: FCS football playoff going private?…
Good evening. Ready for the top five sports stories of the day? Let’s roll.
—Peter, Kyle
1) Robot umps are coming to the MLB next season
The MLB officially approved a new automated balls and strikes (ABS) Challenge System for the 2026 season following several years of experimentation in the minors and spring training. Next year, teams will start each game with two challenges of the home plate umpire’s strike zone, which can only be initiated by the pitcher, catcher, or batter. If a team challenges successfully they keep all remaining challenges—but if they lose, one challenge is removed. In MLB spring training this season, the ABS system led to 4.1 challenges/game on average, with calls being overturned 52.2% of the time.
2) Pro Football Hall of Fame nominees unveiled
Just 13 players in their first year of eligibility—including Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Philip Rivers, LeSean McCoy, and Jason Witten—were picked among the 128 modern-era nominees for the Class of 2026. They join a list of HoF hopefuls that includes Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri, Eli Manning, and Terrell Suggs. Over the next few months, a series of committees will Wittenle whittle the 128 HoF candidates down to 15 finalists, who will be voted on by the selection meeting before the Super Bowl in February.
3) World’s top tennis players once again push for reform
The world’s top tennis players have sent a second letter to the Grand Slam tournaments—dated July 30, but first reported today—pushing for major reforms to the sport. Such as: 1) Increased player benefits; 2) More prize money as a proportion of revenue (from 12%-15% currently to 22% by 2030); and 3) Establishing a players council to be consulted for major tournament decisions. The latest letter was signed by nearly all of the top-10 men’s and women’s players, including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka, and Coco Gauff.
4) Oklahoma State fires Mike Gundy after 21 years
The longtime Cowboys head football coach—who’s still a man, but is no longer 40—was ousted on Tuesday after a 1-2 start to the 2025 season, which came on the heels of the program’s worst record in decades last season (3-9). Since he first took over in 2005, Gundy led Oklahoma State to eight double-digit win seasons, a Big 12 title in 2011, and 18 bowl appearances—including five New Year's Six bowls—en route to becoming the winningest coach in program history. He's now owed a buyout of $15 million, while OK State’s players now have a 30-day window to transfer if they wish.
5) PE firm reportedly pitches taking FCS football playoff private
Private-equity firm Sequence Equity this week presented a plan to FCS commissioners to privatize their playoffs, per Front Office Sports. According to the proposal, the FCS playoff would be run by a new private entity in which the 13 FCS conferences have a combined majority stake, while Sequence Equity would take a minority stake and provide “tens of millions of dollars in investment.” The FCS postseason is currently owned and operated by the NCAA, which hosts a 24-team bracket capped by a championship game in January. Sources say the next step for the new private FCS playoff proposal is to send the plan to the NCAA for discussion.
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