Sports

3:26 AM ET Losing a top player on a free transfer was once identified as pure mismanagement: a boardroom-level failure of planning, negotiation and foresight triggering ire among fans. Arsenal are one club to face heavy criticism in this way, so much so that in October 2018, the club’s then-newly installed director of football, Raul

4:48 PM ET Associated Press Lisa Lazarus walked around the backstretch at Belmont Park nine days before the final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, selling as much as observing. The CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority talked with trainers, riders and other horsemen about the sport’s federally mandated new governing body that

10:49 AM ET Naoya Inoue can’t be denied any longer. In the wake of Canelo Alvarez’s loss to Dmitry Bivol, and now, Inoue’s second-round TKO of future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire on Tuesday in Saitama, Japan, there’s little doubt in my opinion that “Monster” is the now the pound-for-pound king. While the Japanese star

9:17 AM ET Kelsey Puckett LAS VEGAS — It’s Dec. 28, 2020, and UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is invited to a Roaring ’20s-themed party to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Kyrgyzstan. “I’m like, oh my god, it’s three days before the New Year and I don’t have a dress,” Shevchenko recalled to ESPN two

3:13 PM ET After a four-month hiatus, Phil Mickelson is returning to competitive golf on the new LIV Golf Invitational Series. Mickelson, a six-time major champion winner, was added to the field on Monday for LIV Golf’s first event, which is scheduled to start Thursday at Centurion Club outside London. “Phil Mickelson is unequivocally one

4:47 PM BST England coach Eddie Jones has called up another five uncapped players as part of a training camp squad in preparation for next weekend’s non-cap match against the Barbarians and July’s tour of Australia. Prop Kyle Sinckler, however, will miss the trip to Australia after being ruled out with a back injury. The

11:58 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry, who said he lost sleep after the Golden State Warriors‘ Game 1 collapse, can toss and turn less when he goes to bed Sunday night following the Warriors’ 107-88 win in Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals. Coming off a 34-point outing in Game 1, Curry

6:00 AM ET FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A look at what’s happening around the New York Jets: 1. Disappearing draft: By the time they line up to face the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 11, the Jets probably will have only one member of their 2020 draft class in the starting lineup — tackle Mekhi Becton.

3:23 PM ET PARIS — After two weeks of twists and turns, it all ended as intended. Iga Swiatek, the world’s best player, won the women’s singles after coming to Paris as the overwhelming favorite. And then it was the legend’s turn on Sunday, as Rafael Nadal won his 14th French Open title and his

1:15 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Rafael Nadal didn’t fall to the ground in celebration on Sunday. There was perhaps no need for such theatrics. Instead, he raised his arms over his head and gave an emphatic fistpump to the adoring crowd. For much of the championship match he had left little doubt about what the

1:52 AM ET The Tampa Bay Lightning entered their Eastern Conference finals matchup against the New York Rangers after a well-executed sweep of the Florida Panthers and as a well-rested team, getting nine days off between series. Two games into this series, the Lightning have failed to execute offensively, looking rusty and out of sync

1:18 PM ET Slugger Yordan Álvarez and the Houston Astros agreed to a six-year, $115 million contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal will begin next season and buys out three of Álvarez’s free-agent years, sources said. It represents the biggest contract ever for a player whose primary position is designated hitter and

3:02 PM ET Up to that point, everything was going perfectly well. Didier Deschamps had welcomed 23 very happy France players to camp on Saturday ahead of four UEFA Nations League games over the next two weeks. There was Kylian Mbappe, who recently shocked the soccer world by extending his stay at Paris Saint-Germain. There

7:00 AM ET CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Over the past five years, every now and then, Mack Brown would ask Gene Chizik a version of the same question. “Are you ready to coach again?” Brown asked it four years ago, before he got back into coaching at North Carolina. At the time, Chizik told him

May 31, 2022 Less than 2½ years ago, Jairzinho Rozenstruik was an undefeated UFC heavyweight on the rise. At that same time, Alexander Volkov was on a hot run during which he won seven of eight fights. Since then, both have lost several bouts against the division’s top contenders. They each are coming off a

7:01 AM BST Israel Folau will be a prized addition to Tongan rugby but will have restrictions on what he posts on social media, along with all his teammates, coach Toutai Kefu said. Folau, an evangelical Christian, will soon make his return to international rugby, three years on from the termination of his Wallabies contract

Sydney boxing promoter Paul Nasari knew early on he had a good fighter in George Kambosos Jr. “George had his first professional fight on one of my cards, and then he won his NSW and Australian titles on [another one of my shows],” Nasari told ESPN. “And after he won his NSW title I said

4:29 PM ET COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jack Nicklaus said he met with the organizers of a Saudi Arabian-financed golf league but has no interest in being the face of a rival circuit to the PGA Tour. “I did it out of courtesy to them because we’re doing a golf course for them,” Nicklaus said Tuesday

8:00 AM ET After three rounds of upsets, thrillers, blowouts and everything in between, the NBA Finals are here — and it’s a series that will pin some familiar faces against a group with zero experience on the league’s biggest stage. The Golden State Warriors, led by three-time champions Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay

11:24 AM ET Simon Cambers PARIS — Here we go. Again. The 59th installment of the Novak Djokovic–Rafael Nadal rivalry takes place at the French Open under the lights Tuesday night — a quarterfinal match so hotly anticipated that organizers have ensured it will be played free to air, removing the usual paywall. No two