FILE - Jay-Z gestures from the sidelines prior to the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. Frank Franklin II/AP hide caption
October 27, 2026 • The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Monday night that Jay-Z will be the featured performer for the halftime festivities on Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Milwaukee Brewers' Garrett Mitchell, left, celebrates past Tampa Bay Rays catcher Nick Fortes after scoring during the fifth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla., between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. Ashley Landis/AP hide caption
October 27, 2026 • The Milwaukee Brewers are one victory from their first World Series title after routing the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 on Monday night thanks to a trio of young players who have shined in October.
Locals rally against Trump's potential redevelopment of East Potomac Park at a protest in early October. Runners, cyclists, birders and more worry they will lose access to the park under Trump's plan to overhaul the municipal golf course. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
October 23, 2026 • Trump's most recent rendering of East Potomac Park overtakes the D.C. peninsula with a sprawling golf course, without the grassy areas and road beloved by locals. That's prompted grassroots pushback.
Philadelphia 76ers forward LeBron James yells during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in New York. Frank Franklin II/AP hide caption
October 21, 2026 • The Sixers got a first look at the potent lineup they put together this summer in hopes of winning their first title since 1983.
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero celebrates their win against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in St. Petersburg, Fla. Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption
October 20, 2026 • The Rays will face the NL champion Milwaukee Brewers in the first matchup in which both teams are seeking their first World Series title since 1980.
The Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. Ashley Landis/AP hide caption
October 16, 2026 • Propelled by a lockdown bullpen and repeated comebacks, the Brewers swept the two-time defending champion LA Dodgers out of the playoffs Thursday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
The Trump administration abruptly cut down more than 400 trees at Washington, D.C.'s historic East Potomac Golf Links last weekend. A federal judge has ordered testimony from two high-level officials with the Interior Department; the judge plans to hold another hearing Oct. 19. Tyrone Turner/WAMU for NPR hide caption
October 13, 2026 • Locals and preservationists have long opposed Trump's plan to redevelop a municipal D.C. golf course. That legal fight escalated after the government cleared hundreds of trees on short notice.
Alabama Crimson Tide players pose with fans after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 50-36 on Sept. 19 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Jason Clark/Getty Images hide caption
September 28, 2026 • The bill's supporters, which include the NCAA, say it will tame what they call a "Wild West" era of college sports as litigation chips away at long-held rules around eligibility, transfers and pay.
Tommy Tuberville led Auburn to an undefeated season in 2004, and now the Alabama Republican senator is championing the Protect College Sports Act in Congress. He's one of a number of former collegiate athletes who are now Senators helping to shape the legislation. Doug Benc/Getty Images hide caption
September 27, 2026 • The Protect College Sports Act is on the brink of passing in the Senate, where a handful of former college athletes who are now senators on both sides of the aisle have an extra say in the debate.
Gold medal-winning Olympian and Minnesotan Jessie Diggins crosses the finish line during the Superior 100 Mile Trail Race Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026 at Caribou Highlands Lodge in Lutsen, Minn. Erica Dischino/for MPR News hide caption
September 17, 2026 • This spring Jessie Diggins retired as one of America's most successful winter Olympic athletes at age 34. She's relaxing by entering 100-mile trail running races and navigating what comes next.
September 15, 2026 • The WNBA is more popular than ever, but the growth has come with a lot of unwanted attention, like protests at games and death threats directed towards players. This week, we talk with independent journalist Frankie de la Cretaz about what brought all of this hate into the league, and NPR’s domestic extremism correspondent, Odette Yousef, about the ways the league is responding.
Colin Kaepernick kneels for the National Anthem before the San Francisco 49ers game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 23, 2016. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images hide caption
September 14, 2026 • The former 49ers quarterback created an uproar in 2016 when took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. In The Perilous Fight he explains why he still wants to play football.
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, right, drives to the basket against Sydney Taylor of the Chicago Sky on Aug. 23. Michael Reaves/Getty Images hide caption
September 10, 2026 • Sports journalist Sabreena Merchant says culture war issues related to race and trans athletes threaten to overshadow exceptional play on the WNBA court.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer sits on the sideline before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls on March 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. Ryan Sun/AP hide caption
September 2, 2026 • Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for one year by the NBA, and the team was ordered to pay $30 million for violating salary cap circumvention rules in a case involving Kawhi Leonard.
Argentina's Lionel Messi scores his team's second goal during the group F World Cup soccer match against Bosnia in Rio de Janeiro, June 15, 2014. Sergei Grits/AP hide caption
August 31, 2026 • The soccer star is ending 21 years of Argentine national-team duty but will continue to play at club level with Inter Miami in U.S. Major League Soccer.
Children wait to play football in the minor leagues of Newell's Old Boys, where Argentine football star Lionel Messi used to play in Rosario, Argentina, 2018. Eitan Abramovich/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
August 30, 2026 • Argentina has produced some of the world's greatest soccer players. Could its youth system offer lessons for the United States?
Natasha Cloud of the Chicago Sky looks on prior to the game against the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena on Aug. 23 in Chicago. Michael Reaves/Getty Images hide caption
August 29, 2026 • The WNBA's popularity has risen in recent years, but so have threats and abuse directed at its players. One team is taking a novel approach to this, by partnering with national security specialists.
While professional football and the degenerative brain disease known as CTE have long been linked, true prevalence has remained an open question. A new study finds that, among former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021, at least a quarter had CTE. Patrick Smith/Getty Images hide caption
August 25, 2026 • Playing football has long been linked to the brain disease known as CTE, but how prevalent it is is still unknown. A new study of former NFL players who died recently found that at least 25% had CTE.
Drivers take part in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar Series race in Washington, D.C., Aug. 23, 2026. Nathan Howard/Reuters hide caption
August 24, 2026 • IndyCar drivers zoomed past some of the nation's most famous landmarks this weekend. They faced novel challenges on an unconventional route.
President Trump speaks as Bud Denker, president of the Penske Corp., also in a suit and tie, applauds at a Freedom 250 Grand Prix showcase outside the White House in July. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption
August 21, 2026 • Why is the car race in this part of D.C.? Will it be streaming? Who's paying for it? Here's what to know before the Freedom 250 Grand Prix hits the National Mall this weekend.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John praises his late friend, Dr. Frank Jobe, during a 2014 memorial service at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption
August 16, 2026 • The left-handed MLB pitcher was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, an injury that had been a death knell for pitchers' careers up to that point.
Federal regulators have opened an inquiry into so-called "mention markets" on prediction market sites, where people bet millions of dollars on what a speaker may or may not utter. Erin Hooley/AP Photo/Erin Hooley/AP hide caption
August 13, 2026 • Betting on what people say is becoming an increasingly popular category of prediction market sites. Now, federal officials have opened a probe examining whether those markets are a magnet for manipulators.
The Washington Wizards play the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on March 30, 2026. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images hide caption
August 13, 2026 • NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Mike Vorkunov of the Athletic about the record-breaking sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to investor Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Netherlands' Demi Vollering celebrates on the podium after winning the Women's Tour de France cycling race in Nice, France, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. Philippe Magoni/AP hide caption
August 9, 2026 • Vollering, who first won the competition in 2023, finished the stage more than a minute ahead of Spaniard Paula Blasi Cairol and 2024 champion Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney.
