Sports, in brief

Formula One published its 2027 calendar on Wednesday: 24 races, opening in Bahrain on 14 March and ending in Abu Dhabi on 12 December. [1][4]

Sprint weekends will rise from six this year to a record ten next year. [2][4]

On a sprint weekend, an extra qualifying session and a short race replace two practice sessions. [4] The sprint race is one third of the length of a normal grand prix. [3]

So a normal weekend has three practice sessions and two that count, qualifying and the race. A sprint weekend has one practice session and four that count. [3][4]

F1 says total viewing on sprint weekends is 12% higher than on normal weekends. [3] It says sprint qualifying is up to three times more popular with fans than practice. [2][3]

Monaco gets its first sprint, although cars can almost never pass each other on its narrow streets. [1][2] F1's case is that Monaco's best moment is qualifying, and a sprint weekend has two of them. [2][3]

A sprint win is worth 8 points, so a driver who wins both races on one weekend can take 33 points instead of 25. [2] F1 has put sprints on the last two races of the year, where they could decide the title. [4]

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia open the season, although both of their 2026 races were called off after war broke out in Iran in February. [1][5] This year's Bahrain Grand Prix will be run in Malaysia on 4 October under Bahrain's name. [5]

The Gulf races pay F1 large hosting fees, and Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco and Qatar Airways are big sponsors of the series. [1] F1 pays around half of its income back to the teams as prize money, partly funded by those fees. [5]

F1 has not said whether Qatar on 29 November and Abu Dhabi on 6 December will go ahead. [1][5] Its chief executive Stefano Domenicali had pointed to mid-September for a decision. [5] Imola in Italy is the likely back-up, and tickets for both Gulf races are still on sale. [1][5]

Domenicali said he would not replace them with a race in the US, because F1 would be up against the NFL, the top American football league. [6]

Portugal and Turkey return next year, while the Dutch race and the Barcelona race drop off. [1][3] Madrid keeps its September date after a first race on 13 September that drivers called hard to overtake on, and that F1 says drew 353,000 people over the weekend. [4][11][7]

The season ends a week later than this year, leaving F1's staff about 11 days between the last test and Christmas. [4]

Why it matters. Watch whether F1 confirms Qatar and Abu Dhabi or moves the last race to Imola, because the same Gulf hosts are due to open next season in March. [1][5]

The Asian Games open on Saturday in Nagoya and the Aichi region of Japan and run to 4 October. [13] More than 11,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions have entered, against 10,700 at the Paris Olympics. [14] Organisers planned for 15,000 athletes and officials, but about 17,000 are coming because new sports were added. [12][13] A planned athletes' village was scrapped to control costs, so people stay in hotels, container huts and a cruise ship. [12] The Olympic Council of Asia, which runs the Games, said on Friday a village would have been left with no use afterwards. [12]

Why it matters. Japan last hosted the Games in 1994, and its Tokyo Olympics were held without fans because of COVID. [15] Athletes in archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon can also win places at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics here. [13]

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans, an American football team, stopped talks on a new contract before the season. [16] Stroud will play the last year of his $36.28m rookie deal, with $25.9m already guaranteed for 2027. [16] The top new-money deal is Patrick Mahomes' $63m a year, and a $70m deal is possible next spring. [16] Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens also has no deal. [17] His contract counts $84.3m against Baltimore's spending limit in 2027. [17]

Why it matters. Baker Mayfield's new deal this month, $55m a year in new money, set a bar that every quarterback due a contract can point to. [18] Jackson's contract also bars Baltimore from using a tag to stop him leaving as a free agent in 2028. [18]

Tucker Kraft agreed a four-year extension with the Green Bay Packers worth $75m, rising to $92m with bonuses, and a $26.5m signing bonus. [19][20] He is 25 and tore a knee ligament last November, eight games into his best season. [19][20] The Las Vegas Raiders gave Michael Mayer a three-year deal worth $45m, with $30m guaranteed. [21] That makes Mayer the fifth-best-paid tight end in the league. [21]

Why it matters. Kraft is now the third-best-paid tight end in the league, behind George Kittle and Trey McBride. [20] Mayer's deal is the biggest three-year extension ever for the position. [21]

The Cleveland Browns are starting Deshaun Watson in week two, in the final year of a five-year, $230m contract that was fully guaranteed. [22] The Browns traded three first-round draft picks to get him from Houston in 2022. [22] In week one they trailed Jacksonville 31-0 at one point and Watson was sacked five times. [22] Their next opponent is Tampa Bay, led by Baker Mayfield, the quarterback Cleveland traded away to make room for Watson. [22][18]

Why it matters. CBS Sports calls it a textbook case of carrying on because of money already spent, since the $230m is owed whether he plays or not. [22] Coach Todd Monken says starting him is not a debate. [22]

The Los Angeles Rams' Myles Garrett, last season's best defensive player in the NFL, needs knee surgery after one game. [23] He had swelling in the knee through most of training camp. [23] A.J. Brown, the New England Patriots' new top receiver, sprained an ankle in his first game for them, at Seattle. [23] Both are on injured reserve, which keeps a player out for at least four games. [23]

Why it matters. They were the two biggest-name arrivals of the summer, and neither team will have them for a month. [23] New England's passing attack looked lost without Brown. [23]

The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 6-2 on Friday and made the playoffs for the eighth time in nine years. [25] They did it after three planned starting pitchers began the season injured. [24] Ronald Acuna Jr. missed 49 games and Jurickson Profar was suspended for a banned substance. [24] They need three more wins or Philadelphia losses to win their division. [24][25]

Why it matters. Twelve teams make the playoffs, and Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, the Yankees and the Dodgers had already clinched. [26] In the American League, the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland were level for one division. [26][27]

Joe Buck, the lead voice of American football on ESPN, agreed a six-year deal worth about $108m. [28] His pay rises from $15m to about $18m a year. [28] He will call ESPN's first Super Bowl in February and its next one in 2031. [28] His partner Troy Aikman has not yet signed a new deal. [28]

Why it matters. Five years ago Fox replaced him with Tom Brady on a 10-year, $375m deal. [28] ESPN's Stephen A. Smith earns $21m a year, and Pat McAfee is in talks that could pay him up to $65m a year. [28]

The US Open men's final, won by Alexander Zverev against Ben Shelton, averaged 3.2 million viewers on ABC. [29] That is the most for that match since ESPN's networks began showing the tournament in 2009. [29] The women's final, won by Elena Rybakina, averaged 2.7 million, up 13% on last year. [29] A match that ended at 3:40 in the morning still held 967,000 viewers at the finish. [29]

Why it matters. ESPN's full coverage of the tournament averaged 1.2 million viewers, the most since 2022. [29] An all-American semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Shelton drew 3.1 million. [29]

The Winnipeg Jets, an ice hockey team, suspended goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck for not reporting to training camp. [30] He is 33 and in the third year of a seven-year deal worth $8.5m a year. [30] He asked in public to be traded on 27 August, and a trade with Buffalo fell through before the summer draft. [30] While suspended he is not paid, and his salary does not count against the team's spending limit. [30]

Why it matters. Winnipeg has already signed Stuart Skinner, another goalkeeper, on a two-year deal. [30] Hellebuyck has said his only goal left is to win the Stanley Cup, the league's trophy. [30]

The Utah Jazz agreed a five-year extension worth about $157.5m with Keyonte George, 22. [31] It starts in the 2027-28 season. [31] George averaged 23.6 points a game last season, when the Jazz won 22 games and lost 60. [31] Players from his draft year have until 19 October to sign such extensions. [31]

Why it matters. The deal pays him like a regular starter, not a star, which protects Utah if he stays a fourth option behind older players. [31]

Newcastle United gave Lewis Hall, a 22-year-old England left-back, a new contract to 2031. [32] He already had three years left, and the club says there is no set price at which he can leave. [32] Manchester United asked about him this summer and were told he was not for sale. [32]

Why it matters. With no release clause, Newcastle can turn down offers or demand a higher fee next summer. [32] Four of its best players asked to leave over the past 13 months. [32]

Clemson, a US university with a top college football team, lost 51-10 at LSU in week one and starts a freshman at quarterback on Saturday. [33] Coach Dabo Swinney's contract runs to 2031, and firing him would cost at least $57m. [33] The athletics department took in $198.6m last year but kept only $900,000 after costs. [33] Its debt rose by $74.9m. [33]

Why it matters. Colleges now also share money with players, which leaves less to pay off a coach. [33] Sources say a change of coach is still highly unlikely. [33]

Manchester United lost 3-2 at home to Brighton in the League Cup on Wednesday after leading 2-0. [34] That had not happened at Old Trafford in 50 years. [34] The club has won two of its first six games, and the crowd booed the team off. [34] INEOS, the company of Jim Ratcliffe that runs the football side of the club, made cuts to stop it losing money. [34]

Why it matters. The club still carries a large debt from the Glazer family's takeover, while its rivals have none. [34] United say they are rebuilding slowly after years of overspending. [34]

Middlesbrough beat Norwich 4-3 with a goal in the 91st minute. [35] It came weeks after seven people, including two police officers, died in a car crash a mile from the stadium. [35] The club was formed 150 years ago next month, and a home win over Millwall days later could put it top of the Championship, England's second division. [35]

Why it matters. Cleveland Police gets 139m pounds less funding than a force with a similar population. [35] Teesside, once a centre of iron and steel, has the highest crime rate outside London. [35]

Wolves and West Brom meet on Sunday at Molineux in their first league match against each other in five years. [36] When they met in the FA Cup in 2024, 43 people were arrested and five were banned by the clubs for life. [36] Former players Steve Bull and Jody Craddock asked fans not to fight or run on the pitch. [36]

Why it matters. The clubs promise more stewards and police at the match. [36]

Rassie Erasmus coached his 100th match for South Africa's rugby team when it beat New Zealand on 12 September. [37] He took over in 2018 with the team sixth in the world. [37] South Africa won 74% of those matches, and two World Cups. [37] Australia picked Jordan Petaia, back after a failed move to the NFL, for their Test against South Africa in Perth on 27 September. [38]

Why it matters. Erasmus has now coached South Africa in more matches than anyone else. [37] Australia's coach Les Kiss says he wanted to see Petaia with the new coaching staff. [38]

Wales played South Africa in Cardiff on Friday, both teams' first match in the new WXV Global Series. [39] The series is new this season and brings together the top 12 women's national teams, playing home and away in September and October. [39] Wales have lost nine Tests in a row and fallen to 13th in the world. [39] South Africa are 10th after their first World Cup quarter-final. [39]

Why it matters. The series feeds qualification for the 2029 World Cup in Australia, with no relegation until 2028. [39]

Juan Cruz Mallia, an Argentina rugby player, is on the bench for Toulouse on Saturday. [40] It is 300 days since he badly hurt his knee in a Test against England in London in November 2025. [40] Tomas Albornoz is also back for Toulon after serving a four-match ban. [41]

Why it matters. Argentina's coach Felipe Contepomi gets two players back about a year before the next World Cup. [40][41]

Next weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku will be held on Saturday 26 September, the first time the race has not been on a Sunday. [9] The change avoids a national day of mourning on the Sunday for those who died in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. [9] Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes leads the championship by 81 points. [9]

Why it matters. Azerbaijan shares a land border with Iran, so F1 will be closer to the war than at any race since it began. [1] Lewis Hamilton has said there is no stopping Antonelli and Mercedes this year. [10]

Four-time champion Max Verstappen started at the back of a 101-kart field at Silverstone for a Disney+ programme called Max vs 100. [42] He had 30 laps to pass everyone. [42] He passed 64 drivers on the first lap and needed 13 more laps for the rest. [42]

Why it matters. The race was filmed for Disney+ between two grand prix weekends. [42] Verstappen enjoyed it enough to joke about taking on 200 next time. [42]