Sports

Dec 18, 2022 ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month, 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister,

6:25 PM ET LUSAIL, Qatar — Kylian Mbappe had converted France’s first penalty in the shootout, the fourth time he’d beaten Argentina keeper Emi Martinez in the World Cup final, following his earlier hat-trick. And so Lionel Messi walked up to take Argentina’s opening penalty. – Report: Messi, Argentina win 2022 World Cup on penalties

10:36 PM ET LAS VEGAS — The UFC’s final fight of 2022 came down to the scorecards on Saturday, as former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier defeated Sean Strickland via split decision. Cannonier (16-6) out-pointed Strickland (25-5) over the course of a five-round main event that took place almost exclusively on the feet. Judges Derek

Dec 16, 2022 England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Friday approved the application by a bidder for the planned takeover of Wasps but rejected another for Worcester Warriors after an assessment by the governing body’s Club Financial Viability Group. Financially-hit Wasps and Worcester have both been suspended for going into administration and will drop from

5:24 PM ET ESPN News Services The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive hired to be the chief operating officer of LIV Golf has resigned after one year as the Saudi-backed rival circuit moves toward a league format, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. The news was first reported by The New York Times. Atul Khosla

Dec 16, 2022 2022 featured the breakout of many boxers, the retirement of others — some of them short-lived — and a few new undisputed champions. The year also included plenty of upsets, disappointing performances, and of course, controversies. What fight will be remembered as the best of 2022? Who did we select as Fighter

3:48 PM ET Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is expected to miss “a few weeks” with a left shoulder injury, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Warriors announced on Thursday that Curry suffered a left shoulder subluxation but did not provide a timeline for his return. On Off Minutes 894 503 Off. efficiency 118.9

7:00 AM ET SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers were less than 24 hours removed from their 2021 season ending in devastating fashion, and coach Kyle Shanahan’s tank was running low. In the minds of Shanahan, general manager John Lynch and the Niners coaches and players, the season ended a game too early,

Dec 15, 2022 Associated Press SANDUSKY, Ohio — Hailie Deegan will drive full time in the NASCAR Truck series next season with ThorSport Racing. ThorSport formally added Deegan to its driver lineup Thursday as it announced a manufacturer move from Toyota to Ford. Deegan, a 21-year-old California native, will race in the Truck series for

Dec 15, 2022 Associated Press LONDON — Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal were honored by the International Tennis Federation as its 2022 ITF World Champions on Thursday after each claimed two Grand Slam titles this season. The ITF determines its awards based on criteria that include all events and give special weight to the four

Dec 14, 2022 December 14, 1947 was a Sunday afternoon. Yes, most of the men who gathered in Daytona Beach, Fla. on that chilly, gray day were dressed in suits. But no, it was not a church service. Far from it. There was entirely too much brown liquor on the table and cigar smoke in

Dec 1, 2022 Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Goodyear will remain the exclusive tire for NASCAR’s top three national series under a new multiyear deal announced Thursday. Specifics of the extension weren’t included, but the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company will continue as title sponsor of the annual Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway as part

7:00 AM ET When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with the media following the first day of the board of governor meetings at the posh Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Florida, he issued a warning: There’s not much news to report. As Bettman celebrated 30 years in office at these meetings, the league is in

11:53 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a 13-year, $350 million contract, a record-long deal that is the richest ever for the position and gives the team

Dec 13, 2022 It wasn’t just any year in college football. We’re going to have a College Football Playoff for the first time that doesn’t include Alabama or Clemson and one that does include TCU. There are similar surprises on ESPN’s 2022 All-America team. Some of the players on everybody’s radar when the season began

3:41 PM ET United States midfielder Giovanni Reyna took to Instagram on Monday to call reports of him nearly being sent home from the World Cup “highly fictionalized,” adding he was disappointed that details regarding his participation in Qatar were not kept “in house.” On Sunday, comments that manager Gregg Berhalter had made at a

Dec 12, 2022 Associated Press Tony Stewart‘s Superstar Racing Experience is moving to ESPN and a new night as the network plans to use the all-star summer racing series to revitalize its “Thursday Night Thunder.” ESPN said Monday it signed a multiyear agreement with Superstar Racing Experience that begins in July. SRX will air on

2:00 AM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi Chuck Liddell. Randy Couture. Tito Ortiz. “Rampage” Jackson. Daniel Cormier. Jon Jones. The UFC light heavyweight division has been home to some of the biggest stars and best fighters in

2:31 AM ET Several major cards took place on Saturday, including a welterweight title defense for Terence Crawford, a homecoming for Teofimo Lopez and an upset loss for Josh Warrington. Mike Coppinger, Ben Baby and Nick Parkinson react to the action and try to make sense of three unique cards around the world. Well, here

3:28 PM ET If you were hoping for the venom of a Phil Mickelson–Tiger Woods showdown in previous iterations of The Match — or certainly what a rematch might bring today — then Saturday night’s made-for-TV clash featuring Woods and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy against Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas might seem more like