June 2026
Saturday, 13 June 2026
The Chiefs gave Mahomes a half-billion dollars — and locked themselves in
Patrick Mahomes became the NFL's first $500m player this week. The deal's real story isn't the number — it's how the guarantees make him almost impossible for Kansas City to ever release.
Friday, 12 June 2026
The favorite who had to beat the pressure first
Mirra Andreeva won her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros not by out-hitting a 500-1 qualifier, but by handling the weight of being expected to win — the load that grows heavier the more talent you carry. Plus Serena's one-match comeback and a wave of managers sacked.
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Everton must pay a relegated rival £35m — for a rule it broke four years ago
A tribunal ruled Everton's overspending in 2021/22 helped relegate Burnley, and ordered Everton to pay the harmed club directly. Plus Real Madrid's record bid and the World Cup's automated offside.
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
The weekend the favourites lost
Duplantis dropped his first competition in three years, an Olympic 800m champion ran a personal best and still lost, and the French Open crowned two first-time winners after the top seeds fell early. A clustered run of upsets — and a reminder of how thin the gap at the top really is.
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
The referee who was supposed to be neutral couldn't get into the country
One of Africa's best referees was turned away at the US border days before the World Cup. The story of who gets to officiate is also the story of who gets to decide what's fair.
Monday, 8 June 2026
Baseball's owners want a salary cap. It could cost them a whole season.
MLB's owners proposed the sport's first salary cap; the union says it cuts player pay by over half a billion dollars, and the commissioner admits he fears a 1994-style strike. The same money machinery runs under the NFL's date in Congress, the NBA's Clippers probe, and a $176,000 Knicks ticket.
Sunday, 7 June 2026
The week sport fought over who controls the money
A baseball salary-cap showdown, an NFL streaming hearing in Congress, and a college-sports bill all turned on one question — when can a league limit competition? Here's the machine behind the headlines.
Saturday, 6 June 2026
The biggest World Cup ever, and the money machine behind it
The 2026 World Cup expanded to 48 teams for a reason — more teams means more matches to sell. That logic, and the fights over who controls the money, run under almost every sports story this week.
Friday, 5 June 2026
College sports started paying its players — now it wants Washington to cap the cost
A century-old rule kept college athletes unpaid while the games earned billions. A court settlement broke it, money flooded in, and this week the people losing control of the bill asked Congress for a cap. Plus: a quarterback's $90,000 betting case, the NFL dodging Congress over streaming, and who really pays for a stadium.
Thursday, 4 June 2026
Women's sport just crossed a money line — and the machine behind it is finally spinning
A record US TV deal for England's top women's football league, the highest-paid woman footballer in the world, and a rookie's jersey selling for $64,720 are the same story: the money flywheel that built men's sport is, at last, turning for women's. Plus why Congress wants the NFL's TV deals explained, how a trade can quietly cost a player millions in tax, and a $90,000 betting case that shows the cost of the betting boom.
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Baseball reaches for a cap, and the value of every team keeps climbing
MLB owners proposed the salary cap they've chased for 30 years, the union says it's a pay cut in disguise, and Forbes put soccer clubs at $87bn — here's the machinery underneath.