📍 Y! Sports AM: Let’s talk expansion

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🏈 The wrong team won: The FBS Oversight Committee said Wednesday that instant replay protocols were not followed in the waning seconds of Michigan's 13-12 win over Western Michigan earlier this month. Had they been followed, the committee says the Broncos would have won the game, but the result cannot be changed.

🏒 Ovechkin ad sparks backlash: Alex Ovechkin, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, appeared in an ad for Putin's ruling party, prompting widespread criticism. The Capitals responded with a statement saying their longtime captain was asked to participate while visiting his home country this summer.

🇺🇸 Cavan in, Christian out: USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino reportedly plans to call up 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan (who we profiled this week) for the upcoming international window. Christian Pulisic, who's still working his way back to full strength after suffering an injury during the World Cup, will reportedly not be included on the squad.

🎓 Seats on the house: UCLA students will receive free admission to all regular-season home football and basketball games, the school announced . The policy goes into effect on Saturday when the Bruins host Purdue at the Rose Bowl, the 90,000-seat stadium they've been struggling to fill for years. $0 tickets should help.

⚽️ Walter sells another team: Mark Walter has sold his shares in Chelsea Football Club , roughly a month after selling his majority stake in the Lakers amid a federal investigation into possible fraud. He still owns the Dodgers … at least for now.

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports .

Amid the acceleration of the sports business and the appetite to own a piece of it, North American leagues are preparing to put more pins on the map in their quests for domestic and even global domination.

Catch up quick: Expansion talk is heating up across several major professional leagues, as existing owners prepare to clip healthy expansion fees from prospective newcomers in exchange for a slice of league revenues.

🏀 NBA: Adam Silver confirmed this week that the league hopes to reach expansion decisions by the end of the year, with the next round of bids due shortly. Discussion at the Board of Governors meetings centered on Las Vegas, where questions remain about a potential arena site. The Seattle process is more straightforward thanks to infrastructure at Climate Pledge Arena (home of the NHL's Kraken and WNBA's Storm).

🏒 NHL: Though nothing is finalized, league officials are currently working with the Friedkin family (owners of AS Roma and Everton) to determine whether a 33rd team should be placed in Houston or Austin. There is also interest in Atlanta and Phoenix, both of which previously lost franchises to relocation ( this time will be different! ), for a 34th team if the league pursues another after Texas.

⚾️ MLB: Once the battle over a new CBA concludes, MLB is expected to begin its own expansion process, per ESPN's Jeff Passan , who reports that Salt Lake City currently has the most "compelling case." Other potential contenders in the pursuit of one East Coast and one West Coast team include Nashville, Raleigh, Portland, Orlando, and Montreal.

🏀 WNBA: Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia will take the court in 2028, 2029, and 2030, respectively. But the W isn't stopping at 18 teams. The latest buzz? A group in Vancouver is laying the groundwork for a future bid that would give the Toronto Tempo (debuted this season) a Canadian counterpart. In 2025, Vancouver's Rogers Arena hosted a sellout crowd for the first WNBA game played outside the U.S.

The winning formula: The recipe for securing a successful bid begins with the expansion fee. NBA fees, for example, could exceed $10 billion in Vegas and land near $7 billion in Seattle, per ESPN's Shams Charania . But it's not just about who can say the biggest number, to paraphrase Logan Roy. Groups also need a credible ownership structure, a feasible site or a path to one, and a market that can grow the pie. In many cases, clearing the arena hurdle requires public advocacy and financial support from the government.

Extending abroad: The NBA also has ambitious European aspirations, as it continues negotiating with the EuroLeague over a potential new competition. And you'll notice the NFL has no domestic expansion in the offing. Could it expand across the Atlantic instead? Roger Goodell has "no doubt" there will eventually be a team based outside the U.S. — though perhaps not until the league finishes expanding to Wednesday and every other day of the week first. Today, the calendar. Tomorrow, the world.

This story was written in collaboration with Dylan Dittrich, who authors our new sports business newsletter, Yahoo Sports Biz. Sign up here to get on the list.

National League MVP favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong launched his 43rd and 44th homers of the season in Wednesday's 8-4 win over the Braves, pulling him within one of Kyle Schwarber (45) for the MLB lead.

Adding to the intrigue: PCA's Cubs (85-68) and Schwarber's Phillies (84-68) are battling for the NL's top wild-card spot. Game on.

Max Verstappen stormed from the back of a 101-kart grid on Wednesday to win Red Bull's "Max vs. 100" event at Silverstone. The four-time F1 world champion needed just 14 laps (and 35 minutes) to overtake a field made up of content creators, athletes and motorsport fans.

What he's saying: "When I went to the grid and I saw where I had to start, with 100 karts in front of me, I was a little bit worried," said Verstappen. Those concerns didn't last long: He surged from 101st to 37th on the opening lap alone.

The E1 World Championship (electric powerboat racing) rolled into southern Africa for the fifth race of the season. Among those in attendance: Team owners LeBron James and Will Smith .

Speaking of LeBron: Polymarket will pay him $15 million per year under his new endorsement deal with the prediction-market platform, FOS reports. That's $11.2 million more than the 76ers will pay him to play basketball this season ($3.8 million).

The MLB regular season ends in just 10 short days, and as has been the case all summer, the final edition of our power rankings illustrates the National League's superiority over the American League, with seven of the top 10 teams hailing from the Senior Circuit.

By the numbers: The National League's dominance is hardly just subjective. NL teams are 43 games over .500 this season (1,165-1,122) while AL teams are 43 games under .500 (1,120-1,163). Nine NL teams have a positive run differential (compared to five in the AL) and eight NL teams are over .500 against AL competition (compared to five such AL teams ).

The messy middle: With the NL owning the top 10, the American League has taken up residence in the messy middle, representing nine of the 13 teams ranked from 11-23 — including all five ranked from 11-15.

Parting thought: All 30 teams might not have something to play for, but they all have the same 10 days left. So a word to the wise for fans of eliminated clubs: Don't take these final games for granted. Come mid-January, when the only baseball storyline is, "How much of the 2027 season could the lockout potentially cost us?" you'll be glad you stuck it out for all 162.

🏈 TOO PRO FOR COLLEGE, TOO COLLEGE FOR THE PROS

Zxavian Harris and Dae'Quan Wright are stuck between football worlds: barred from college and now ineligible for the NFL .

How we got here: The two former Ole Miss players went undrafted this past spring before signing with NFL teams. Harris, a defensive tackle, joined the Saints. Wright, a tight end, spent time with the Eagles and Browns. Both were eventually waived, prompting their attempted return to college and igniting an eligibility fight that ultimately left them in football limbo.

Back to campus: A Louisiana judge ruled in favor of players seeking a fifth year of eligibility , opening a pathway for athletes who signed professional contracts to play college football in 2026. That same day, Harris and Wright said they intended to join their former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin at LSU.

A firestorm erupts: In response to the ruling, the four power conferences adopted policies barring professionals from joining their respective leagues. Kiffin pressed ahead anyway, spurring the SEC to sue LSU and reportedly consider expelling the school.

LSU stands down: Amid the backlash, the Tigers left Harris and Wright off the roster for their opener against Clemson. Four days later, they added two different players to complete their 105-man squad, eliminating the possibility of adding Harris or Wright.

The NFL shuts the door: The league informed teams on Wednesday that because Harris and Wright returned to college after training camps opened, they are ineligible to visit, try out or sign with any club this season .

To recap: Harris and Wright lost their college eligibility by turning pro, then lost their NFL eligibility by trying to return to college. Caught between competing rulebooks, both are sidelined until 2027… at least on this side of the border. I hear the 0-12 Ottawa Redblacks are in the market for reinforcements.

"Thursday Night Football" returns tonight (8:15pm ET, Prime) in Buffalo, where Josh Allen and the Bills host Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions in the first regular-season game at the new $2 billion Highmark Stadium.

Familiar voice: This will mark the 10th time* in Al Michaels' legendary broadcasting career that he's been on the mic for an NFL stadium's regular-season debut.

The DP World Tour's flagship event tees off today (7am, Golf) at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, where a stacked 144-player field is competing for $9 million.

Stacked, you say? Rory McIlroy is the headliner alongside Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and more .

⚾️ MLB: Phillies at Mets (7:15pm, Fox) ; Royals at Astros (7:15pm, Fox) … Philly (84-67) and Houston (76-76) are among those battling for playoff spots in today's nine-game slate .

🏀 WNBA: Sparks at Wings (8pm, USA) ; Aces at Storm (10pm, USA) … Play resumes after a three-week break for the FIBA World Cup.

🏈 NCAAF: Syracuse at Pitt (7:30pm, ESPN) … Pitt is off to a 2-0 start behind sophomore QB Mason Heintschel (49/70, 665 yards, 7 TD).

⛳️ PGA: Biltmore Championship (7am, ESPN+; 3pm, Golf) … Jackson Koivun headlines the field in Asheville as the eight-event Fall Series begins.

⚾️ WPBL Championship: Los Angeles (up 1-0) vs. San Francisco (7pm, ESPN+) … The Queens won Wednesday's opener in the best-of-five series.

*The other nine: Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High (2001), New England's Gillette Stadium (2002), Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field (2003), Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium (2008), Dallas' AT&T Stadium (2009), San Francisco's Levi's Stadium (2014), Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium (2016), Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium (2017) and Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium (2020).

ESPN broadcaster Joe Buck has agreed to a six-year extension that will see him call "Monday Night Football" into the next decade, as well as Super Bowls in 2027 and 2031.

Question: How much will Buck earn annually under his new deal?

On Sept. 17, 1920, representatives from 11 pro football clubs met at Canton Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's automobile showroom and formed the American Professional Football Association . Two years later, that league was renamed the NFL.

Humble beginnings: In 1920, pro football lived in the shadow of the college game and was confined mostly to small Midwestern industrial cities. The teams present at the meeting:

Ohio: Akron Professionals, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, Dayton Triangles, Massillon Tigers, Racine Cardinals

Illinois: Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents

Rounding out the league: The Massillon Tigers withdrew before the league officially formed while four other clubs (Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, Detroit Heralds) joined later that fall, giving the APFA 14 teams for its inaugural 1920 season.

Still standings: Only two of the original franchises exist today: the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Racine Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals).

Answer: (C) $18 million. Buck's extension is worth $108 million over six years , per The Athletic. That matches broadcast partner Troy Aikman's annual salary under his current five-year, $90 million deal, which expires after this season.

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