Sports, in brief

A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled on Friday that Nevada can require Kalshi to hold a gaming licence. [1][2]

The judge wrote that Kalshi's sports event contracts were not swaps, because they were sports bets. [2]

That is the opposite of what a Philadelphia appeals court decided in April, when it said New Jersey could not regulate the same product. [1][2]

A swap is a financial contract, and only federal regulators police those. A bet is a state matter. The whole fight is which word applies. [2]

Twenty states are now in court over it. Last month 44 states signed a letter calling the platforms a new form of casino. [2][3]

The federal commodities regulator, which claims sole oversight, said the split now calls out for the Supreme Court. [1][2]

Nevada, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington have all won court orders restricting Kalshi. New Jersey has until 3 September to appeal. [1]

None of this slowed the selling. Seven major-league baseball clubs signed prediction-market sponsorships inside a month. [4]

Kalshi announced five on Tuesday, with the Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers, Padres and Giants joining the Mets and Yankees. [4]

Four of those five Kalshi clubs play in states where sports betting is still illegal. [4]

Team deals can be worth eight figures a year. One analyst said what the markets are really buying is legitimacy. [4]

Kalshi says it will seek further review. [2]

Why it matters. Watch whether New Jersey appeals by 3 September. That is the step that would put the split in front of the Supreme Court.

The Big Ten and SEC barred athletes who signed NFL, NBA or WNBA contracts. Sources told CBS Sports the penalty copies the NCAA's ghost transfer rule: a coach out for half a season, and a fine worth a fifth of the school's football budget. [5][6][7]

Why it matters. The rule cannot reach the player, so it lands on the school that wants him.

An appeals court paused a nationwide eligibility injunction, but players can still win orders in state courts. ESPN opened its Big 12 basketball projections by warning that a judge somewhere could change every roster in them. [8][9]

Why it matters. When a season preview needs a legal disclaimer, the rulebook has stopped being the rulebook.

Hillsborough County commissioners voted 5-2 on Friday for $796m, a day after Tampa's council approved $80m by 4-3. The county will own the stadium, and the Rays will pay $4m a year in rent on a 35-year lease. [10][11][12]

Why it matters. The public money goes in now; the rent comes back over three and a half decades.

Colorado signed defenceman Cale Makar to an eight-year, $163.2m extension. He becomes the first NHL player to earn more than $20m in a season. [13]

Why it matters. This is the last summer any club can offer eight years, because the next labour deal caps them at seven. [13]

MLB proposed that free agents either sign in a short December window or wait until February. The offer is conditional on players accepting a salary cap, which they reject outright. [14][15]

Why it matters. A deadline moves leverage, and the union says that is the whole point of it.

All 32 NFL clubs must cut from 90 players to 53 by 6pm on Sunday. Over 1,100 players will be released, waived or shelved with an injury designation. [16]

Why it matters. The season's first real market opens the moment the deadline passes.

According to multiple reports, the NFL has scrapped the Pro Bowl Games and will keep only the selection as an honour, naming 88 players with no alternates. Fans, players and coaches each keep a third of the vote. [17]

Why it matters. The award survived. The event it was named after did not.

England's window closes at 11pm on 1 September, later than Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Clubs get a two-hour grace period if the paperwork is already in. [18]

Why it matters. Closing last means English clubs can still buy from leagues that can no longer replace the player.

Eleven of the 20 Premier League clubs have broken their transfer record this summer. Chelsea have spent about $476m, and Tottenham broke theirs twice. [19]

Why it matters. A record eleven clubs break in one summer is not a record. It is a new baseline.

Aston Villa are closest to Monaco's one-window sales record, with Morgan Rogers' 138m euro move to Chelsea the biggest piece. UEFA fined Villa 22.5m euros in June for breaching its squad-cost rule. [20]

Why it matters. The sales are what the fine was about: the wage bill had to come down.

Nottingham Forest agreed at least 45m pounds for Chelsea's Liam Delap, rising to 50m with add-ons. It is their second club record in a month. [21][22]

Why it matters. Chelsea paid 30m pounds for him a year ago and books a 20m profit. [22]

The Athletic put Savio's Spurs fee 45.3m pounds above his estimated market value, the fifth-largest gap in Premier League history. [23]

Why it matters. With no agreed way to value a footballer, the fee is the only number anyone can point at.

A BMJ study took all 878 men who played an NFL game and died between 2016 and 2021, and found at least 25% had CTE. The lead author called that the low end, and the paper's ceiling is about 97%. [24][25]

Why it matters. Every earlier figure came from brains that players or their families chose to donate, so nobody had a population to divide by. [24][25]

UEFA has applied in Switzerland for evidence to use in criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino. It accuses him of criminal mismanagement over the scrapped plan to sell stakes in FIFA's competitions. [28]

Why it matters. Two governing bodies of the same sport are now on opposite sides of a criminal file.

The president of European Leagues said there is no future at FIFA for Infantino. A group of former players issued a statement saying enough is enough. Infantino still intends to stand again in March. [26][27]

Why it matters. He withdrew the sell-off and apologised, and the objection moved from the plan to the man.

Sports Illustrated surveyed more than 40 coaches, athletic directors and agents. Top programmes are spending two to three times the roughly $20m Ohio State spent on outside NIL deals for its 2024 title team. [29]

Why it matters. None of these figures are published, so a survey of insiders is the best number that exists.

The revenue-sharing cap is $21.3m a school this autumn, while Ohio State and Oregon are reckoned to spend north of $40m on a roster. Illinois' coach said he redesigned his defence around what he could afford. [30]

Why it matters. Money above the cap moves into NIL deals, so the cap sets the start rather than the limit.

The new head of the NBA players' union said the planned European league is being built on current and former players' names, and that they share none of its economics. [31]

Why it matters. The current labour deal does not cover it, which is why the union wants the next one to.

Jamie Vardy's YouTube channel will show Bundesliga matches in the UK and Ireland this season, taking the slot The Overlap held. The league started selling live rights to creators in 2025. [32]

Why it matters. A free agent striker is now one of the league's broadcasters.

Sky spends around 2bn pounds a year on sports rights, against an estimated 200m for ITV this year. ITV says the combined business would account for about a fifth of all in-home viewing in the UK. [33]

Why it matters. One fewer bidder at the table changes what the next Premier League auction looks like.

The NHL could award a franchise to Austin or Houston by the end of the year, after agreeing a $2bn expansion fee. Seattle paid $650m to join in 2021. [34]

Why it matters. The timing is set by the league's next media-rights talks, and a bigger footprint sells for more.

Oklahoma City signed with local broadcaster Griffin Media and launched Thunder+, a subscription service carrying every non-national game with no blackouts. Its previous TV partner shut down in the spring. [35]

Why it matters. The club now sells straight to the fan as well as through a broadcaster.

The Timberwolves sale was the 25th change-of-control deal in the NBA since 2010, and the 11th since 2020. Those eleven are worth $54.1bn together. [36]

Why it matters. Nearly half the churn of fifteen years happened in the last six.

Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones were introduced as Padres owners after a record $3.9bn valuation, and promised to spend ambitiously but within their means. [37]

Why it matters. Payroll sits ninth in baseball at about $220m, so the promise has a number to be measured against.

Boston Legacy will play the 2027 NWSL season in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, because White Stadium is not ready. The rebuild's cost has nearly tripled, and the city's share is now about $135m. [38]

Why it matters. A club without a finished building plays where somebody else already has one.

Super League owners rejected the NRL's offer of 7m pounds a year for a 10% stake. The RFL floated a 50m pound loan instead, held centrally rather than shared out to clubs, though a source says that is no longer its preferred option. [39]

Why it matters. The clubs' objection is not the amount. It is who ends up holding it.

The AFL added a wildcard round, the first change to its finals structure in 25 years. It leaves more clubs still playing after the regular season. [40]

Why it matters. Every previous format change drew the same complaint about rewarding mediocrity.

Entry-level tickets for AFL qualifying, elimination and semi finals are frozen at A$35, while other categories rise 2-4% and the cheapest grand final seat goes to A$172. [41]

Why it matters. A sold-out event that does not raise its cheapest price is buying the next generation of fans.

College football dropped the carry-over suspension for a player's first targeting foul. Replay must now confirm every element of the call, or it is overturned. [42]

Why it matters. Only six players in the top division had two or more targeting fouls last season.

St Louis City is close to paying about $12m to Colorado for Rafael Navarro, which would be the biggest fee ever between MLS clubs. [43]

Why it matters. The record it would beat is FC Cincinnati's $12m for Evander, so the margin is one nobody has published. [43]

NFL owners did not discuss Roger Goodell's extension at Wednesday's meeting but expect to close one. His current contract runs to March 2027. [44]

Why it matters. They want him in place for the next labour deal and the next broadcast talks.

Releasing Deshaun Watson this year would leave Cleveland with a record $127m dead cap charge. Waiting until next spring splits $86m across two seasons instead. [45]

Why it matters. Cap rules explain why he is still on the roster at all.

The Big Ten extended Tony Petitti through the summer of 2033, with unanimous approval from its 18 members. [50]

Why it matters. The conference is writing its own eligibility rules, and has just locked in who writes them.

Amanda Vandervort left the USL Super League, the women's first division she has led since it was founded five years ago. A search for her successor is under way. [46]

Why it matters. A five-year-old league changing its only leader is a real moment for it.

Sources told ESPN that Enes Kanter Freedom is not eligible for the WNBA draft. Its labour deal says only players who are women may play, and does not define the word further. The Chicago Sky banned him from its arena after a courtside incident. [47][48]

Why it matters. A rule with an undefined term holds only until somebody tests it.

The EFL and the Scottish Professional Football League found their games broadcast in Russia by a subscription service, and are weighing legal action. Both stopped selling rights there in March 2022. [49]

Why it matters. A right only exists where somebody can be stopped from taking it.

Newcastle signed Nico Gonzalez from Manchester City, having sold Sandro Tonali to Tottenham and Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal this summer. [51]

Why it matters. The sales are what paid for the rebuild, and the midfield was the hole they left.

Tennessee's NIL collective is opening a roughly 800 square foot retail store before the home opener on 5 September, which its founders believe is a first for a college collective. [52]

Why it matters. The money now needs a business behind it, not just donors.

Lucas Herrington moved from Brisbane Roar to Colorado for $800,000 in 2025, then to Hull City this month for a fee that broke the Rapids' record. [53]

Why it matters. The league that developed him saw the first fee, not the second.

Sixty-three million Americans watched the 2026 World Cup final, and 38% of them watched Telemundo's Spanish coverage rather than Fox. [54]

Why it matters. The same match sold in several languages is worth more than the same match sold once.

Chantelle Cameron, the only fighter to have beaten Katie Taylor, meets Mikaela Mayer with the WBO, WBC and WBA titles at stake. [55]

Why it matters. Cameron has won four straight since losing the Taylor rematch. [55]

Audrey Werro's 1:53.80 in Paris is the fastest 800m since 1983, and leaves her a little more than half a second from the longest-standing record in athletics. [56]

Why it matters. That record has survived four decades of everything else in the sport getting faster.