⚾️ Y! Sports AM: Seasons on the brink

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⚽️ EPL drops bombshell: The Premier League confirmed that an independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league's financial rules. That includes the arrangement of "sham" contracts with commercial partners that artificially inflated the club's revenues and reduced costs by $1.2 billion over nine seasons. Prepare for some potentially serious sanctions.

🏀 Winning Vegas bid coming soon: The NBA is expected to announce the winning bid for a Las Vegas expansion team " in the very near future ." The deal is expected to be worth at least $12 billion, and the three finalist groups are Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie, Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry, and Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo.

💵 MJ jersey sets record: The jersey Michael Jordan wore during Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold at auction for $12.3 million , the most ever paid for an NBA jersey. The record it broke? $10.1 million… for a different jersey of his worn during the same Finals.

🏈 Prices slashed: The NFL slashed ticket prices down to just over $100 for this weekend's Commanders-Colts game in London in an effort to fill the 62,000-seat Tottenham Stadium, which still had about 2,000 seats available 10 days before the game.

🔥 One relay, 50 states: The Olympic Torch Relay in the lead-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Games will visit all 50 states for the first time ever. Its first stop? Atlanta , which hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics and is the last U.S. city to do so.

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports .

The MLB postseason kicked off on Tuesday, and while these four series are far from over, history suggests the Braves, White Sox , Yankees and Padres are in very good shape.

15-1: Since the best-of-three Wild Card Round was introduced in 2022, Game 1 winners have gone on to win 15 of the 16 series . The lone exception? Last year's Yankees, who rallied to win Games 2 and 3 against the Red Sox . Can Boston return the favor this year?

Braves 5, Phillies 3: Atlanta trailed 3-2 with two on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth when Austin Riley — who's endured the worst season of his career (.654 OPS) — came to the plate. One pitch later he played the hero, hitting a game-winning, three-run homer to completely change the narrative of his disappointing campaign.

White Sox 6, Astros 3: Chicago outlasted Houston in this two-sided bullpen game that featured 13 pitchers throwing a combined 305 pitches. It can't have hurt that the White Sox received a letter before the game from their most famous fan, as Pope Leo XIV invoked "the Almighty's abundant blessings" upon team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Yankees 9, Red Sox 0: No Aaron Judge , no problem. After their ailing captain was left off the Wild Card roster, the Yanks got everything they needed and more from presumptive AL Cy Young Cam Schlittler (6.1 IP, 10 K, 2 H) and lefty slugger Ben Rice (4-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI), who capped off the rout with a grand slam that electrified Yankee Stadium.

Padres 8, Cubs 0: San Diego ended the season as the hottest team in baseball and clearly lost no momentum as the playoffs began, dominating the Cubs behind a masterpiece from Michael King (7 IP, 8 K, 1 H) — who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning — and home runs from Fernando Tatis Jr , Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts .

What to watch: All four Game 2's are today, as the Phillies , Astros, Red Sox and Cubs will attempt to keep their seasons alive and force a decisive Game 3.

🎓 COLLEGE SPORTS ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO PROTECTIVE CUSTODY

Politicians on both sides of the Senate aisle have declared their overwhelming belief that college sports require protection from Congress. But theirs is only one vote of support in a process that could become even more turbulent.

ICYMI: The Protect College Sports Act passed the Senate on Monday night , with remarkably bipartisan support delivering a lopsided 77-22 vote in favor.

What does it say: The bill aims to codify long-term solutions to the myriad hot-button issues that have sown chaos across the college sports landscape.

Revenue-share cap: On top of the approximately $21 million in revenue sharing allowed under the House settlement, schools will have an additional $22.5 million retention fund for existing players and a $5 million pool for women's and non-revenue sports.

Third parties: Multimedia rights companies and third parties (i.e. apparel sponsors) must certify that the school did not fund NIL compensation for athletes, nor negotiate or determine the amount paid to athletes.

Eligibility: Codifies the NCAA's policy allowing athletes to compete for five calendar years beginning at the sooner of the date of enrollment or the start of the academic year following the athlete's 19th birthday.

Transfers: Undergraduate athletes can transfer only once without sitting out a year (graduate students can transfer without delay). All players can transfer without restriction if, for example, there is a head coaching change or their school discontinues their sport.

Antitrust exemption: The NCAA receives a limited antitrust exemption to enforce the compensation, transfer, and eligibility rules.

Conference expansion: Power conferences can't expand beyond 20 schools, and schools must go independent for three years before switching conferences. The latter provision sunsets in six years (conveniently coinciding with the expiration of existing media deals).

Media rights: Schools can pool their media rights, provided 75% of FBS schools agree to participate. This cannot happen until existing deals expire.

Coaches: Coaches cannot change jobs mid-season, though they can accept a new job. An amendment to cap their compensation and further restrict their movement failed.

Don't bet the House: The bill now moves to the House, where there is abundant uncertainty both about the timing of a vote and the prospects of passage. A vote is unlikely before the midterms, and results at the ballot box could impact the appetite for one. As one Democratic House staff member told Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger: "That bill is dead."

This was written by Dylan Dittrich for today's edition of Yahoo Sports Biz, landing in inboxes in a few hours. Sign up here for a deeper dive into the business behind your favorite sports.

After dominating the regular season, the top-seeded Lynx are out of the playoffs without winning a game, losing 87-71 to the Liberty on Tuesday as New York became the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in WNBA history.

Meanwhile, in Indianapolis: The Fever forced a Game 3 against the Aces with a 99-89 victory behind Caitlin Clark's monster performance (27-7-15) — the first 25-point, 15-assist game in WNBA history.

The NHL season began with the defending champion Hurricanes raising their Stanley Cup banner, but the visiting Panthers spoiled the celebration after Gustav Forsling lit the lamp with just four seconds left in overtime for a 1-0 win .

Elsewhere: The Canucks outlasted the Oilers, 6-5 (OT) , in a slugfest; the Canadiens beat the Maple Leafs, 3-2 ; the Bruins shut out the Rangers, 3-0 ; the Golden Knights crushed the Blackhawks, 5-2 .

The USMNT came back to beat Chile, 4-2 , in Tuesday's friendly behind a flurry of second-half goals including one in stoppage time from Mathis Albert, who at 17 years and four months became the youngest scorer in program history .

Farewell, Tim: Before the game, World Cup captain Tim Ream announced his retirement from international soccer. The St. Louis native was then honored with a pregame ceremony in his hometown, celebrating the 86 appearances he made for the USMNT over the last 16 years.

We're roughly one-quarter of the way through the college football season, and thus far three players stand above the rest as favorites for the Heisman Trophy.

Jeremiah Smith (WR, Ohio State): The Buckeyes junior is the betting favorite (+275), leading the nation in receiving yards (617) and touchdowns (7), while ranking fourth in receptions (33).

On Saturday he became the fifth player in Big Ten history with at least 3,000 career receiving yards and 30 receiving touchdowns, and he's on pace to break Jaxon Smith-Njigba's school record for receiving yards in a season (1,606 in 2021).

If he keeps up this pace, he could become the fifth wide receiver* ever to win the Heisman, and just the second in the past 35 years.

Darian Mensah (QB, Miami ): The sensational signal-caller (+400) has been worth every penny Miami gave him to transfer from Duke, throwing for 1,211 yards and an FBS-best 14 touchdowns against zero interceptions for the fourth-ranked Hurricanes.

How's this for a wild stat: He's thrown more touchdowns (14) than incompletions (12), becoming the first FBS player to do that through four games in the last 30 years.

He'll slow down eventually (right?), but as it stands his 228.2 passing efficiency rating would shatter the single-season record (208.0, set by LSU's Jayden Daniels in 2023).

Kamario Taylor (QB, Mississippi State): The first two players were expected to be near the top of this list, but Taylor (+700) has elbowed his way into the race with four otherworldly games after opening the season at 150-1.

The 6-foot-4 gunslinger has thrown for 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns (tied with Mensah atop the leaderboard) against just two interceptions, while adding 185 yards and a score on the ground, too.

Last year as a true freshman he was the backup on a team that went 5-8; now he's the starter for the undefeated Bulldogs, who at No. 16 are ranked for the first time since 2022.

*The others: Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers (1972), Notre Dame's Tim Brown (1987), Michigan's Desmond Howard (1991) and Alabama's Devonta Smith (2020). Colorado 's Travis Hunter also won in 2024, but he played as both a receiver and cornerback.

All four best-of-three series continue today, meaning as many as four teams could punch their ticket to the next round: Phillies (down 1-0) at Braves (2pm ET, NBC) ; White Sox (up 1-0) at Astros (5pm, Peacock) ; Red Sox (down 1-0) at Yankees (8pm, NBC) ; Cubs (down 1-0) at Padres (10pm, Peacock) .

Right guy for the job: The Phillies will turn to Cristopher Sánchez tonight with their season on the line, and they've got to like their chances. The lefty tied for the most wins (18) and quality starts (22) in the majors this year, and led all pitchers with 8.1 WAR.

Different sport, same stakes, as two teams could clinch a spot in the semifinals while the other two will try to force a decisive Game 3: Dream (up 1-0) at Mystics (7pm, ESPN) ; Valkyries (up 1-0) at Wings (9pm, ESPN) .

Queen of the glass: Atlanta's Angel Reese led the league with 12.12 rebounds per game this season. The only marks better than that in WNBA history? Reese last year (12.57) and Reese the year before as a rookie (13.12). Decent.

🏒 NHL: Penguins at Flyers (7:30pm, TNT) ; Kings at Avalanche (10pm, TNT) … The Battle of Pennsylvania headlines the second day of the NHL season.

⚽️ Women's Champions League: Roma vs. Barcelona (12:45pm, CBSSN) … One of five games to open Matchday 2.

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!

Question: Can you name the only five active MLB franchises that have never won a World Series?

Hint: Three are in this year's postseason.

With his victory for the Bears on "Monday Night Football," Case Keenum has now won a game as the starting QB for seven different teams, tying Ryan Fitzpatrick for the most in NFL history.

The list: Keenum's wins have come with the Bears, Browns, Broncos, Commanders, Vikings, Rams and Texans. Fitzpatrick's came with the Bengals, Bills, Titans, Texans, Jets, Buccaneers and Dolphins.

Trivia answer: Rays , Brewers, Padres, Mariners , Rockies

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