Sports

1:25 PM BST DUBLIN, Ireland — Expect to hear the word “runway” a lot over the next decade in and around rugby corridors. That’s the crux of why World Rugby announced the hosts of the next five Rugby World Cups on Thursday — to give the sport enough time to plan their next global gatherings

7:09 AM ET There is no denying the PGA Championship, which starts Thursday at Southern Hills, has its headliners. That would be the 9:11 a.m. time on Thursday: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. But there are others worth discussing, from world No. 1 and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, to previous No. 1

7:55 AM ET Editor’s note: Chantelle Cameron will defend her WBC and IBF junior welterweight world titles on Saturday, and she hopes victory will lead to a showdown with Kali Reis, who holds the other two world titles in the weight division. Cameron (15-0, 8 KOs), 30, from Northampton, England, will fight Victoria Bustos (23-6,

7:43 AM ET NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS looking for something. It is Orthodox Easter Sunday in Belgrade. Djokovic is playing the final of the Serbia Open, a crowd of 8,000-plus bellowing behind him. Down one set to Andrey Rublev of Russia, he rallies back in the second to force a tiebreak. But late in the set,

8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN To understand the depths of animosity between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics entering this year’s NBA Eastern Conference finals, you have to go back to an otherwise nondescript regular-season night in March 2013. That night in New Orleans, a Heat public relations official approached the team’s traveling media contingent

10:51 AM BST England coach Eddie Jones has included 10 uncapped players, including in-form London Irish duo Henry Arundell and Will Joseph, in a 36-man training squad to prepare for the summer tour of Australia. Joe Cokanasiga, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson and Jack Willis return following injury, while prop Mako Vunipola has also

3:49 PM ET KENNER, La. – Chances are, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was just having a little fun on social media Sunday night when he threw out the phrase “I may play football again” while responding to a report about his broadcasting future. But when you are one of the most prolific

5:41 PM ET Associated Press BALTIMORE — Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter was set Monday as the 6-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness Stakes, which will be run without Rich Strike. The surprise Derby winner at 80-1 is not in the field of nine for Saturday’s $1.65 million race at Pimlico. Rich Strike’s owner felt

8:00 AM ET College football can be cyclical, and the pendulum swung back toward defense in 2021. Georgia won its first national title in 41 years behind a historically good defense that produced eight picks in last month’s NFL draft, including a record five in the first round. The Big 12, long both celebrated and

1:20 AM ET ESPN staff The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs represent a return to normalcy, after a bubble-encased postseason in 2020 and a 2021 tournament that featured realigned intradivisional play, followed by a rebracketing for the final two rounds. Sixteen teams have qualified for a shot, but only one will get to skate the sacred

1:17 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Right-hander Tylor Megill was placed on the 15-day injured list by the New York Mets on Sunday because of an inflamed right biceps, four days after he allowed eight runs over 1⅓ innings during a defeat at Washington. Mets manager Buck Showalter did not mention the injury

5:30 PM ET Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has said Jurgen Klopp generates public support for Liverpool because he is “the master of being the underdog.” Tuchel’s side face Liverpool in Saturday’s FA Cup Final ker’s future is “not the situation you want” on the eve of an FA Cup final against Liverpool on Saturday

3:42 PM BST Kathleen McNamee DUBLIN, Ireland — Building a lasting impact is something World Rugby has struggled with when it comes to the women’s game. But the word ‘legacy’ was central to its messaging as the organisation looks ahead to the next decade of the sport as the hosts for the World Cups in

2:28 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a welterweight matchup between Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal for Aug. 5, sources told ESPN Thursday. Contracts have not been signed but the bout has been verbally agreed to. The UFC has not announced an official location for the UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 6. Luque (21-8-1)

1:09 PM ET Naomi Osaka has left IMG to start her own agency, she told Sportico. Osaka’s sports agency, Evolve, will be stylized in all capital letters as EVOLVE. She is forming the agency with agent Stuart Duguid, who also is leaving IMG. Osaka’s contract with IMG expired at the end of last year and

8:29 AM ET Most of golf’s young superstars will be heading to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next week for the PGA Championship, the second major of the season. But all eyes will be on two aging former champions — Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods — and also on London. 2 Related On

7:50 AM ET Dmitry Bivol has officially entered the pound-for-pound conversation. Bivol scored a big upset on Saturday in Las Vegas, defeating former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Canelo Alvarez. He retained his WBA “super” light heavyweight world title and also earned a spot in ESPN’s top-10 list for the first time in his career. Alvarez

1:09 AM ET When the definitive history of the Process-Era Philadelphia 76ers is written someday, there will be many moments and decisions to revisit. Without the benefit of hindsight yet, it’s impossible to know which were the most consequential. But it’s impossible to watch what Jimmy Butler did to the Sixers Tuesday night in the

7:00 AM ET NFL experts We’re now over a week removed from the 2022 NFL draft, and rookie camps have just started to kick off. So it is a good time to ask our NFL expert panel to weigh in on some of the biggest lingering questions. That includes what our writers and analysts liked,

8:00 AM ET IT’S ROUND 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Boston Bruins are facing the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tensions flare early, as Boston winger David Pastrnak collides with Carolina goalie Antti Raanta, knocking him out of the game with a bloody face. Scrums (and more) form