Sports, in brief

The NBA on Monday named Kalshi and Polymarket its preferred prediction-market partners. [1][4]

A prediction market is an app where people buy and sell contracts that pay out if something happens, such as a team winning. [2]

These apps answer to the CFTC, the US federal regulator for futures trading, rather than to each state, so they reach all 50 states. [4]

The deals let both apps use NBA logos and the league's official game data, and advertise during broadcasts. [2][4]

In return the apps must help spot suspicious trading, share data for investigations and bar players and staff from trading. [2][4]

The NBA also gets the right to say no to any market it objects to, a power it does not have over its sportsbooks. [2]

The league has had betting cases: Jontay Porter was banned in 2024, and Terry Rozier awaits trial in February on a charge of helping bettors. [2][6]

The bets the NBA stopped its sportsbooks selling this month, such as who scores first, are banned on the apps too. [1][4]

The league also signed an agreement with the CFTC to share information about NBA markets. [1][3]

The NHL signed with both apps last October, MLS with Polymarket in January and MLB in March. [1][2]

That leaves the NFL as the biggest US league without a deal; it has asked the US Supreme Court to let states regulate the apps. [1][3]

New York, where the NBA is based, is suing both apps for running sports gambling without a licence. [2][3]

Why it matters. The next sign is whether more apps sign the same terms, with Novig expected this week, and whether the US Supreme Court takes New Jersey's case. [1][3]

Harry Kane, England's captain, won the Ballon d'Or on Monday, the yearly prize for the world's best men's footballer. [9][11] It is chosen by 100 journalists for France Football, a French magazine. [11] He is the first Englishman to win since Michael Owen in 2001. [9] Kane, 33, scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich, the German champions, and 73 in all, counting England games. [10] He won it without a Champions League or World Cup, losing both semi-finals. [10]

Why it matters. The award usually goes to a player who won one of football's two biggest trophies, so Kane's win rests on goals alone. [10] Kylian Mbappe was second and Lamine Yamal third. [10] The Guardian says the result may upset Barcelona and Real Madrid, whose players finished behind him. [12]

Alexia Putellas of Spain won the women's Ballon d'Or for a third time on Monday, equalling the record held by her teammate Aitana Bonmati. [13][15] She is the first winner from a club in the Women's Super League, England's top division. [13] She led Barcelona to the Champions League before joining London City Lionesses this summer. [14] She tore a knee ligament in 2022, an injury that can end careers. [14]

Why it matters. Spanish players have now won the prize six years running. [14] London City's American owner, Michele Kang, spent heavily this summer to sign Putellas and other stars. [13]

The official Ballon d'Or website published stories naming Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal each as the winner, hours before Monday's ceremony. [16][17] The stories appeared about two and a half hours before the start in London and were taken down. [16] A spokesperson said profiles had been written for every nominee in advance and were published by mistake. [17] The voting had closed at the end of September. [17]

Why it matters. Stories had been written for the women's nominees too, including Putellas, who did win. [17] The mistake set off hours of rumours before the ceremony. [16]

Two big Chinese companies ended their sponsorship deals with Kylian Mbappe, the French footballer, on Tuesday. [18] Dongpeng, an energy-drink maker, and Mengniu, China's biggest dairy company, said he had offended Chinese national feeling. [18] In a video, he said his favourite meme put his face on a man he called a Chinese dictator, taken to be Mao Zedong, China's founding leader. [18] AFP's fact-checkers could not yet say whether the video was real. [18]

Why it matters. Both firms said they have zero tolerance for anything that offends Chinese national feeling. [18] Mbappe had finished second in the Ballon d'Or the night before. [18]

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 on Monday to lead baseball's World Series, the best-of-seven final, by three games to none. [19][22] They scored eight runs in one inning with seven hits in a row. [19] Rookie pitcher Robert Gasser allowed one hit in six innings. [19][22] Only one of 43 teams that fell 3-0 behind has come back, the Boston Red Sox in 2004. [19] Game 4 is on Tuesday in Florida. [19]

Why it matters. Jackson Chourio, 22, had four hits; in 2023 the Brewers gave him $82m over eight years before he had played a major-league game. [20] Brandon Woodruff, back from a shoulder injury in July, pitched the last inning. [21]

Game 1 of the World Series drew about 12.2 million viewers on Fox and Univision, a first estimate. [23] Last year's Game 1 averaged 13.3 million. [23] Milwaukee is the smallest TV market in baseball, yet 70% of TVs switched on there watched the game. [23] In Tampa the cheapest resale ticket for Game 3 fell 45%, to $422, and thousands of Brewers fans travelled there. [24]

Why it matters. Fox and baseball had hoped the audience would hold up despite two low-spending teams, and Milwaukee's fans are a big part of why it has. [23] Final ratings are due late on Tuesday. [23]

Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Rays' home, hosted a World Series game on Monday, two years after Hurricane Milton tore its roof off. [25] The city of St Petersburg owns the building, and it cost $60 million to repair. [25] The Rays spent the 2025 season at a spring-training ground. [25] A new owner bought the team for $1.7 billion, and a new stadium is due in 2029. [25][24]

Why it matters. The repair kept baseball in the city while the new stadium is built. [25] The Rays also had the biggest rise in crowds in the league this year. [25]

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-21 on Monday Night Football, the NFL's weekly prime-time game. [26][27] Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes and Javonte Williams ran for 155 yards. [26] The Eagles, last season's division champions, are 2-5 after five losses in a row, their worst run since 2016. [28] Their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, is expected to miss the rest of the season with blood clots in his lungs. [26]

Why it matters. Injuries are the main reason for the slide, and the Eagles' backup quarterback could not keep up. [28][26] The Cowboys, at 3-4, stay in the race for their division. [26]

Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder broke his fibula, a bone in the lower leg, and dislocated his ankle on Sunday. [29] He needs surgery and may miss the whole season. [29] Teammate Cason Wallace tore cartilage in his shoulder in the same game and needs surgery too. [29] Wallace had just signed a five-year, $139m extension. [31] The Thunder won 64 games last season, mostly without Williams. [29]

Why it matters. This summer the Thunder traded Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to stay under the second apron, the NBA's top spending line. [30] Almost a third of the league's players cannot be traded until December or January. [30]

The NFL named Jay-Z, the rapper, as the halftime act at the Super Bowl, its final, on 14 February 2027 in California. [32][33] His company, Roc Nation, has produced the halftime show with the NFL since 2019 and is in charge of choosing who performs. [32][33] This time it chose him. [33] Roger Goodell, the NFL's commissioner, said he asked for this when the deal was signed. [33]

Why it matters. Roc Nation has helped choose the act since 2019, and this is the first time Jay-Z will perform at the show. [34][33] The show carries Apple Music's name as its sponsor. [32]

INEOS, Jim Ratcliffe's company, which owns teams from cycling to football, has put Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss top-division club, up for sale. [35] INEOS bought it in 2017 and also owns nearly 29% of Manchester United. [35] Lausanne is bottom of its league and likely to lose about 5m pounds this season. [35] INEOS is also trying to sell OGC Nice in France and has cut its asking price there. [35]

Why it matters. It is the latest step back for an owner that has left sponsorships with the All Blacks and Tottenham. [35] A sale leaves Lausanne needing new sponsors as well as a new owner. [35]

Court papers in LIV Golf's bankruptcy show its chief executive, Scott O'Neil, got a $6.375m bonus to stay in June. [36] That was weeks after reports that the Saudi-funded tour might not finish its season, while vendors went unpaid. [36] On Monday Graeme McDowell, a former US Open champion, became the latest star to leave. [38] Saudi Arabia's wealth fund, its biggest creditor, decides by 30 October whether LIV carries on. [37]

Why it matters. Only about 15 golfers have tentatively signed up for a new version of the tour, according to the Financial Times. [37] A court hearing on 5 November should show whether it survives. [37]

On Monday 137 current players, 28 former greats and 20 national federations signed an open letter to the ATP, which runs men's tennis. [39] It asks the ATP to drop plans to shrink doubles. [39][40] The plans would halve doubles draws from 2028 and cut doubles' share of prize money from 20% to 10%. [39] The players say that moves about $20m of prize money to singles. [40] The ATP's board will vote at the ATP Finals in Turin next month. [39]

Why it matters. The ATP says its figures on costs, revenue and viewers show that big doubles events strain tournaments. [39] Doubles specialists say fewer places would end many of their careers. [40]

Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, plans to ban online sports betting and casino games across the country. [41] He made it a campaign theme, and Sunday's vote keeps him in office. [41] Brazil's betting industry was worth about $5.7 billion a year in net revenue when he announced the plan in September. [41] Firms such as Entain, Bet365 and Flutter, which owns FanDuel, would be hit. [41]

Why it matters. To undo the ban, the industry must now win in Brazil's Supreme Federal Court or its Congress. [41] An analyst said betting shares had already priced in the risk. [41]

Baylor, a Texas university, fired its football coach Dave Aranda on Sunday after a 40-40 record over six seasons. [43] He had won the Big 12, one of the top college conferences, in 2021. [42] Joe Klanderman will coach for the rest of the season. [43] Robert Griffin III, the school's only Heisman Trophy winner and now a TV analyst, said he would be interested in the job. [42][43]

Why it matters. Griffin has never coached, but Colorado hired Deion Sanders, a famous former player, and he is still there. [43] NC State, which also needs a coach, is considering its former quarterback Philip Rivers. [42]

Oregon's quarterback Dante Moore will not play again this season after a concussion from a late hit on 26 September, his coach said on Monday. [44] Moore chose to stay in college rather than enter the 2026 NFL draft, where he was tipped as a top pick. [45] A first pick gets a four-year deal worth about $54.4m. [45] At 25th, where one ranking now places him, it is $18.7m. [45] Oregon also removed its offensive coordinator's play-calling duties. [46]

Why it matters. NFL rookies are paid by the order they are picked, so a slide down the draft costs Moore about $35.7m. [45]

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 64-55 on Monday to lead the WNBA Finals three games to two. [47] Atlanta became the first team to score under 60 in a Finals game since 2021. [51] Hours before, the league moved Game 6 to 12:30pm on Thursday so Atlanta can play in a 17,000-seat NBA arena. [48] The arena's NBA team, the Hawks, has its own game there that evening. [48][50]

Why it matters. The midday start is hard for working fans to watch, though 10,000 tickets sold in two hours. [49] The Valkyries are in only their second season. [47]

England's under-15 football team walked off in the last minute against Ireland at the FIFA Under-15 World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday. [52][53] An England player said an opponent had used a racist slur. [52] The referee abandoned the game with Ireland leading 4-1. [52][53] FIFA, which runs world football, said it would send the case to its independent disciplinary committee. [53]

Why it matters. The committee will decide the result and any punishment. [53] England's Football Association said it was waiting for more information and supporting its players. [52][53]

TNT Sports is close to buying the UK rights to England's eight-match white-ball tour of Australia next month, the Guardian reports. [54] Channel 5, a free channel, is in talks to show one of the five T20 games live. [54] The first, in Melbourne on 21 November, starts at 8.15am on a Saturday in the UK. [54] No England match abroad has been on free TV since 2021. [54]

Why it matters. TNT Sports and Channel 5 are both owned by Paramount Skydance, a US media company, and the Guardian says they may work together more on sports rights. [54] Sky and DAZN had also shown interest. [54]

Austin Smotherman won the Bermuda Championship, a PGA Tour event, in a play-off against Ireland's Seamus Power on Monday. [55] Bad weather wiped out the final round, so the two leaders after 54 holes played extra holes instead. [55] Smotherman won on the third. [55] It is his second win in two starts, after his first title in Utah this month. [55]

Why it matters. Officials scrapped the final round because more bad weather was forecast, so three rounds decided the title. [55]

The NFL used its flex rule, which lets it move games to better TV slots, for four games on Monday. [56] Raiders against 49ers moves from CBS to Fox's late-afternoon national slot on 8 November. [56] Lions against Dolphins also moves to Fox. [56] On 22 November the Buffalo Bills move from Fox to CBS. [56] It is only the second time this season the league has done this. [56]

Why it matters. The NFL sells its Sunday games to two networks, and the flex rule lets it send the bigger matchups where the most people will see them. [56]

Jannik Sinner, the world number one in men's tennis, will return at the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 27 December. [57] He has not played since winning Wimbledon because of a knee injury. [57] The event was moved from October after a Houthi attack on Riyadh's airport killed 12 people. [57] Sinner won $6m there last year. [57]

Why it matters. He had said earlier this month that his 2026 season was over so his knee could be treated. [57]

Tom Brady, a Fox commentator and a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, strongly criticised several referees' calls during Sunday's Packers against Lions game. [58] He said one roughing-the-passer penalty was wrong. [58] Fox's rules expert, Dean Blandino, agreed. [58] As an owner, Brady works under limits on what he may say about officials. [58]

Why it matters. The rules for owners limit what Brady may say on air, which is why his words stood out. [58]

Lorenzo Musetti, an Italian tennis player, had to ask for his phone during a match at 1am in Lyon, France. [59] He had set a one-hour slot for drug testers to find him at his hotel. [59] Players must say where they will be each day, and three missed tests bring a ban. [59] The International Tennis Integrity Agency says the rules get stricter for top players from 2027. [59]

Why it matters. Musetti updated his slot in time, won the match and then the tournament, his first title since 2022. [59]

Sedgefield racecourse in County Durham, England, was fined 6,500 pounds after a hurt jockey was taken to hospital in a horsebox. [60] All the ambulances had left by the time a doctor sent him to hospital. [60] The British Horseracing Authority, which runs the sport, found five breaches of its rules. [60] The jockey had hurt his collarbone and shoulder in a fall in March. [60]

Why it matters. The rules say an injured rider must go to hospital with trained medical staff, not be followed by a car. [60] An inspection in April found significant progress. [60]

Gareth Batty has left Surrey, the English county cricket club, to be an assistant coach at Chennai Super Kings. [61] Chennai play in the Indian Premier League, a T20 competition. [61] As head coach, Batty led Surrey to three County Championship titles in a row, the first team to do so in nearly 60 years. [61]

Why it matters. His move ends a 21-year link with Surrey, as a player and then a coach. [61]

Tadhg Furlong, Ireland's prop, has been cited over an alleged groin grab during Leinster's win over Munster on Saturday. [62] The video referee could not find the incident during the match. [62] A citing means a disciplinary panel will review it. [62] In 2025 a South African player was banned for nine matches for the same offence. [62]

Why it matters. A ban could keep Furlong out of Ireland's matches against Argentina, Fiji and South Africa. [62]

Bristol Bears have signed Totoa Auvaa, a 21-year-old Samoan forward, two weeks after Saracens sacked him. [63] He had been in a nightclub fight with England cricketers Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson in June. [63] Police are investigating a later incident. [63] Bristol's coach, Pat Lam, said Auvaa deserves a second chance. [63]

Why it matters. Lam says the club will give him mentoring and structure off the pitch. [63]

Paul Smith, a former British boxer, says fighters are being hurt and forgotten by a failing system. [64] He is part of the Global Fighters' Association, set up last year to act like a union. [64] It plans the biggest inquiry yet into health and safety in combat sports. [64] It wants fair contracts, insurance and pensions. [64]

Why it matters. The group calls it a failing that fighters such as Lee Reeves have had to raise money to pay for care after serious injuries. [64]