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Peralta Can Finish the Job

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ST. PETERSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Starting pitcher Nick Martinez passed the baton to Drew Rasmussen. Now, it’s up to Freddy Peralta to finish the job and take the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series.

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The Rays return home to St. Petersburg, Fla., on Monday to host Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, holding a 3-2 lead over the Cleveland Guardians after two straight victories on the road.

Trade-deadline acquisition Peralta (1-0, 0.79 ERA), a right-hander, has an opportunity to win the best-of-seven set and send Tampa Bay into a matchup with the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers in the Fall Classic.

“It’s funny because our first goal when we got to Cleveland was just to get back to The Trop,” Rays closer Bryan Baker said, referring to their ballpark. “Then, to be able to go back in this position is exactly what we wanted to do.

“It’s what we worked for. It was a huge couple of games here to get to this spot, and I’m super proud of the guys to come this far.”

The Guardians boarded their flight to Florida with more questions than answers, shell-shocked after their momentum disappeared with a rainout Friday. Cleveland managed just two runs in 12 1/3 combined innings against Martinez and Rasmussen.

Peralta, who came over from the New York Mets, will make his second start and third appearance in the ALCS. He won Game 2 and pitched in relief in Game 4, tossing 6 2/3 total scoreless innings with six strikeouts and a .167 opponent batting average.

“Kudos to Freddy, he’s been awesome to have around as a human being,” Rasmussen said. “It’s not necessarily the most comfortable thing to get traded and being told we’re going to make some mechanical adjustments. But I think he’s gotten back to being an athlete and not quite so robotic.”

In ALCS history, the team that takes a 3-2 lead has advanced to the World Series 69.6% of the time (16 of 23).

Further complicating Cleveland’s comeback chances is its lack of options on the mound. All-Star Parker Messick lasted a career-low two innings in Game 5, and ace Gavin Williams is unavailable in any capacity after earning the win Thursday in Game 3.

Mercurial Joey Cantillo (0-0, 2.70) is likely, but not certain, to be the bulk reliever. The left-hander has given up one hit and two walks in 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the ALCS, but was ripped for five runs in 3 2/3 innings in a July 24 loss at Tampa Bay.

“We’ll have a plan, but we’re not sure who is going to take the ball first,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “But Gavin is not an option.

“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us, but if there’s a group I’m betting on to get this done, it’s our guys.”

Cleveland rallied from a 2-0 deficit to eliminate the Chicago White Sox in the best-of-five Division Series earlier in October. If the Guardians can survive Game 6 against the Rays, Williams and potentially Messick would be in play for the winner-take-all finale.

But it’s a steep hill for the Guardians to climb to get there.

“It will help a ton, knowing we’re able to do it when facing elimination,” Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan said. “And I think we feel better on this one, since we’ve got some wins under our belt against them.

“We’ll just have to trust our plans, turn the page and see what happens.”

–Field Level Media

Commanders Limp into MNF at 49ers

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SANTA CLARA – Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) did not practice all week and was ruled out for Monday night’s away game against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Dan Quinn told reporters.

Along with Croskey-Merritt, Quinn said quarterback Marcus Mariota (knee), edge rusher Javontae Jean-Baptiste (pectoral) and defensive lineman Charles Omenihu (groin/ankle) will not travel with the team for the game to be played at Levi’s Stadium, just north of San Francisco, California.

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Quinn said Croskey-Merritt reinjured the groin he hurt in August.

“That’s harder, on the same injury,” he said. “We’ll work really hard to get him back.”

Croskey-Merritt leads the Commanders with 239 rushing yards and has two rushing touchdowns. He missed the final two preseason games with a groin injury.

Rachaad White (shoulder) and Austin Ekeler (chest) are expected to share running back duties, though both have been limited in practice. Jeremy McNichols, who began the season on injured reserve with a quadriceps injury, will travel with the team and could be activated Monday.

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who missed last Sunday’s 27-27 tie against the New York Giants, practiced Saturday, along with Terry McLaurin (hamstring). The pair have combined for 32 receptions, 373 yards and four scores this season.

Cornerback Trey Amos (ankle) and safety Nick Cross (illness) were full participants in practice and could return Monday. Amos has been on injured reserve, while Cross has been out since Week 2.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 18

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Columbia U’s Scott Rosner Interviewing Sheikha Asmaa bint Thani A M Al-Thani (Photo by T. Peter Lyons/ Digital Sports Desk)

By TERRY LYONS

NEW YORK – Sports seminars are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

That might sound familiar to a longtime movie-goers who remember Robert Zemeckis’ “Forrest Gump” in about 1994, as dear Forrest was quoting his mother’s viewpoint on life during a crucial moment of the Academy Award winning film.

The same quote fits with the various sports marketing seminars staged by major media outlets, sports trade outlets (online and magazine form), pro sports leagues, thought-leadership think tanks or even the many colleges and universities of the world with majors or masters degrees in sports management. Those are staged by the some of the finest institutions in the land – from MIT Sloan Business School to Wharton (UPenn) to Columbia University, New York City’s IVY League entry.

In far too many cases, the seminars dance together with one or two day agendas all blending into a sports marketing blur.

Most make the attempt to cover the flavor of the month topics, such as legalized sports gambling in the USA, the NIL crush on collegiate sports, performance enhancing/monitoring wearables, advanced statistics and analysis, and the most recent – being A.I. (for artificial intelligence). They’re all interesting and worthwhile topics in an ever-changing landscape of sports business.

That is good.

Usually, the ‘grand-daddy of them all’ – the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference – blows away the competition with a two-day extravaganza that grew from a relatively small on-campus gathering to a massive and always sold-out monstrous multi-topic, multi-discipline extravaganza at one of Boston’s two large convention centers – usually the Mayor Tom Menino Center at The Seaport.

To a great extent, everyone else plays for the silver medal of sports business seminars, and that includes wonderful and informative efforts by The Sports Business Journal, its parent company (Leaders of London), and more recently Sportico. The SBJ stages the World Congress of Sports (usually in LA), Game-Changers (focusing on women in sports), Deal Makers (a one-day, rather intimate gathering of investment opportunists of sport, Sports Tech focused seminars, New Voices (U-30), the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, Forty Under Forty, Brand Innovation and a year-ending Sports Business Awards – black tie event to celebrate the very best in sports for each calendar year.

Of course there are others – far too many to list or even try to rank as a top ten.

That said, there is now a solid No. 2 in the ranking and it is the Columbia University School of Professional Studies Sports Management Conference – a one-day event held at Lerner Hall and the Roone Arledge Auditorium on campus at 114th Street & Broadway on the Upper West Side of New York City, also known as Morningside Heights.

The 2026 rendition was held this past Thursday, October 15 from 9am to 5pm and Columbia celebrated its 20th year in the sports management eco system.

Its agenda was wide-ranging and magnificent, to say the least. Topics ranged from “Beyond the Game: Capturing the Cultural Connection” in sports to Deloitte’s Global Sports Industry Outlook to a home grown look at some of the Columbia grads who are shaping the current sports business landscape.

There was an interesting look at the NFL’s endeavor into Flag Football, told from league office to team to participant’s point-of-view. They passed the torch to the USOC & Paralympic committee CEO, Sarah Hirshland, who ran with it, then passed off to Nielsen’s global head of sports execs.

There was a one-on-one with former New York Rangers Stanley Cup champion goalkeepers, Mike Richter, who sat with Maryland and NBA star Len Elmore (now turned TV commentator and part-time sports lawyer Len Elmore.

The final presentation was a panel discussion that, quite frankly, blew us all away as they delved into the crazy and wonderful world of sports memorabilia (as a business). Even SBJ veteran Terry Lefton, the moderator was taken back by some of the valuations of everything from traditional memorabilia such as Trading Cards to authentic and autographed merchandise and game-worn uniforms to the far reaching world of first edition Harry Potter books. It was interesting, to say the least, especially when (Fanatics) Michael Rubin clone, Josh Luber, now the CEO of ghostwrite, reached into his bag of tricks and started tossing memorabilia into the sparse crowd that was smart enough to stick around for the final presentation of the long day.

In true sense of burying the lead, there were two other key sessions.

Columbia U professor and moderator Michael Neuman led a 45-minute panel discussion entitled, The Experience Effect: Turning Moments Into Meaning. Panelists included, Bettina Garibaldi, the recent Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for FIFA World Cup 2026 and their NY/NJ Host Committee, Ed Horne, an industry veteran (a la NFL, NHL), now the Chief Operating Officer of “On Location,” Jackie Riggleman, the impressive senior project manager for Canopy Team – an agency where she recently oversaw the strategy for Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) efforts at PNC Park in Pitt, along with their Spring Training and Dominican-based facilities. In her spare time, before her time with the Pirates, Riggleman was an instrumental part of the team that opened Monongalia County Ballpark, home of the West Virginia University Mountaineers and West Virginia Black Bears. Batting clean-up was Danny Zausner, the COO of the United States Tennis Association and its National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, Queens, NY.

Neuman held the lofty title as the leader of “most interesting discussion” for all of 20 minutes, and then Columbia University’s head of the sports management program Scott Rosner took the stage to introduce a keynote speaker, Sheikha Asmaa bint Thani A M Al-Thani, ID’d as the Director of Marketing and International Cooperation Sector for the Qatar Olympic Committee.

Everyone stopped in their tracks. It was “you can hear a pin drop” territory as Rosner gradually drew-out the fact Ms. Al Thani is a Qatari mountaineer who is the first Qatari woman to summit Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Manaslu, K2 as well as the first Qatari female to climb Ama Dablam. She is also the first Qatari person to ski to the North Pole. On her ascent of Manaslu, she became the first Arab person to summit an eight-thousander (8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in elevation) without oxygen. She climbed Lhotse for the second time in May 2024, without using supplemental oxygen, becoming the first Arab to climb two 8000ers without supplemental oxygen.

All of the Earth’s eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits lie in the altitude range known as the death zone, where atmospheric oxygen pressure is insufficient to sustain human life for extended periods of time.

Give me a break, right?

It’s not gonna end there.

In 2013, Al Thani found a bucket list she had written several years before, which included the resolution of climbing a mountain. She began training shortly afterwards and in 2014 she was part of a group of climbers who were the first Qatari women to summit Kilimanjaro. In 2018 she became the first Qatari person to ski to the North Pole and she raised her country’s flag there on April 21. She was part of an all-female Euro-Arabian Polar expedition, which was led by Felicity Aston who was the first woman to travel unaided across the Antarctic mainland. As a result she was recognised as “Woman of the Year” by Grazia magazine which is published in Qatar. In 2019, Al Thani became the first Qatari woman to summit Aconcagua.

On November 8, 2021 she became the Qatari first woman to reach the summit of Ama Dablam. Earlier that year, she summited Mount Elbrus in Russia, and Dhaulagiri and the eighth highest mountain, Manaslu in Nepal. As a result of her climb on Manaslu she became the first Arab to reach the summit of one of the highest mountains (an eight-thousander) without the use of oxygen. She became the first Qatari woman to summit Ama Dablam in Nepal, and then climbed Mount Vinson in January 2022.

On May 9, 2022, she became first Arab to climb Kangchenjunga.

Al Thani reached the summit of Everest on May 27, 2022. On that journey, she and her team carried a football created by adidas for the FIFA World Cup Qatar to the summit of Everest.

Named ‘Al Rihla’ which means ‘the journey’, the ball was the World Cup’s first Arabic match’s official ball. She went on to reach the summit of Lhotse on May 28, 2022 and K2 in July 2022. Al Thani climbed Denali, her sixth of the seven summits on 17 June 17, 2022.

Add it up, and it’s 11 of the highest 14 summits in the world.

And, oh, by the way, she is also a member of the ruling family of Qatar, and in meeting her after the panel, she is about as down-to-earth a person as anyone you’ve ever met. Down-to-earth seems a bit of a common phrase for people, because – please remember – for every eight-thousander climbed, she had to get down, as well. She had to come back down to earth.

On one trip, her team leader actually thanked her for her monumental decision to stop and turn back after a couple days or horrendous weather. The team leader would’ve pushed on if it was his client’s wish.

On another, she actually called it quits … as in, she had come to the realization she was so sick and tired that she would need to simply sit down, and by doing so, she would – most likely – end her own life.

She described one harrowing experience.

“After seven days in base camp, we pushed on,” she began. “I had a team with me, a very strong team. We had a rotation, as the weather was not favorable. The weather was providing two days, but my body was not ‘doing well.’ I was very sick, but I still wanted to push to get to that summit.

“As I was going up, our push was taking longer than expected. The rope team decided and turned around, so my team had to help fix the ropes. As we climbed, I was getting sicker and sicker, and the weather was beginning to turn.

“I told my guide, he should turn around, but he said, ‘We need to go,’ and you need to push. We continued to climb, but the sickness was causing (vomit) and stomach pain. About 100 metres from the summit, I sat down. My guide told me, if I sit down, I would begin to lose body function. I told my guide, he needed to go.”

I said, “No, I don’t think I’m going to go and, if you stay here with me, you’re going to die.

“For a moment there, it seemed easier to stay than to continue down that mountain. It was about 19 hours, non-stop. No food. In my head, I figured it was 14 hours down. I didn’t think I had it in me. I will just go here and it will be easier.

“My guide looked at me, and I said to him, ‘I’m tired,’ and he simply said, ‘I’m tired, too.’ At that moment, I realized he’s tired, I’m tired, so we must do this together. I got back up and we continued to go back down the mountain.

“After that time, I did not climb for a year. I asked myself, ‘Why should I push myself beyond my capabilities. Why should I push myself to the extent that I was ready to stay on that mountain?

“Once I realized that, I returned to the point and I was ready to climb again. And, that I needed to do it in the right way. I realized that I was not climbing to get to the summit. I was climbing to get to know who I am.

“I knew I had to get myself in the right physical condition and the right mental condition, but I will not push myself beyond that point.”

Amazing.

Come August 27 to September 12, 2027, Sheikha Asmaa bint Thani A M Al-Thani will be welcoming the USA Basketball senior national team and the other 31 men’s national teams who qualify for the 2027 FIBA World Cup basketball tournament in Qatar. It will be the first FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in the Arab/Middle East world, and the third straight to be held in Asia as Qatar is under FIBA’s Asian region.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The Boston Celtics announced the signing of an extension for their 2024 NBA Champion and 2024-25 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the deal was widely reported as being a two-year extension for $44.2 million. His current, four-year deal was for $30m.

“Payton’s a very good player who has put in the time and added to his game each season that he’s been in Boston,” said President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens. “He’s just a flat-out winner, whose toughness, commitment to team, and work ethic are all elite. We’re thrilled that he’s chosen to extend with the C’s.”

Pritchard, the Celtics’ second-longest-tenured player, is entering his seventh NBA season after averaging career highs of 17.0 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game across 79 appearances (50 starts) during the 2025-26 campaign. The 28-year-old tallied 27 20-point games last season, including six games with 30+ points, while shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 37.7 percent from 3-point range, and 89.0 percent from the free-throw line. Pritchard has appeared in 426 career games (67 starts) across six seasons with the Celtics.

In breaking news, Pope Leo has left the hospital (in Rome) and will be back in action to root on his Villanova Wildcats of the BIG EAST.

SPALKING HEADS: In sports-biz news, Spalk, a cloud-based commentary and technology platform scaling multilingual commentary for teams, leagues and broadcast partners, announced its largest North American sports expansion, adding more non-English global partnerships with the NFL and the NBA as the fall progresses. The NBA expansion will include the first-ever remote broadcasts in seven languages for NBA on Prime, while the NFL expansion now includes live commentary in five additional languages never offered before.

“We have come a long way from launching the business in a New Zealand dorm room in 2015, and there is no better proof of concept than what we are now doing with a growing number of North American leagues, particularly the NFL and the NBA,” said Ben Reynolds oo-founder and CEO at Spalk. “The best way to reach consumers and make them fans on a global level is to give them the excitement of the live event in their own language, and we have refined the technology so that delivery, consistency and professionalism of talent is at a premium. By employing the largest group of multilingual talent literally everywhere in the world, we can assure that the leagues, our growing list of broadcast partners and most importantly the fans, are literally being heard and enjoying real-time multilingual broadcasts every day, with more to come.”

This season, Spalk will provide NBA broadcasts in Greek, Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Korean using their qualifying list of talent. For NBA on Prime, coverage will cover Friday doubleheaders with 28 different commentators on one night across the two games. Twice this season there will be triple header broadcasts. That will require 42 commentators in one day across three games.

TID-BITS & NUGGETS: Attention all NBA prop people: The NBA will be restricting player props via sportsbook partners such as Draft Kings and Fan Duel. The league-mandated restrictions will include bets on players who will score the first basket of a game and parlays built around statistical unders for players expected to see limited playing time. The player prop prohibitions, which take effect this season, were outlined in a letter to sportsbook operators and a memo to all NBA teams. The restrictions will also apply to the WNBA next season. … The prop that’s more fun in gaming is the “last basket” (FG or 3-point FG – no FTs). … Same goes for “last touchdown,” with credit to receivers not QBs and no field goals or extra point action at all.

NEXT SUNDAY: The famed Spanish soccer matchup El Clásico, featuring Real Madrid vs. F.C. Barcelona will be on next Sunday, October 25th. To their credit, the MLS schedule-maker has home team LA Galaxy vs. LAFC on the very same date (25 October) at 9:00pm (ET/6:00pm (local) at BMO Stadium.. That matchup? El Trafico.

THE NBA POWER RANKINGS: Heading into the NBA regular season openers (this Tuesday, October 20) with (3pm Boston at Detroit), (7pm Philadelphia at New York complete with Ring Ceremony and banner raising pregame at Madison Square Garden), and (9:30pm OKC at San Antonio), there’s a consensus study of media predictions for the best teams in the league. VSiN compiled a bunch for its preseason NBA guide. Here are the results:

NBA Team, Power Ranking #

OKLAHOMA CITY 104.0

SAN ANTONIO 103.5

NEW YORK 103.0

PHILADELPHIA 101.5

BOSTON 101.0

DENVER 101.0

DETROIT 101.0

MINNESOTA 101.0

CLEVELAND 100.5

LA LAKERS 100.5

KEEP AN 👀 ON: The Atlanta Hawks, the return of the Indiana Pacers and the new and improved Utah Jazz.

ON THE COLLEGE FRONT: Longtime readers know, WWYI has gone to the length of picking a full NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket in the preseason. That has become increasingly harder with the fact the vast amount of Top 25 college basketball teams turnover their rosters via the transfer portal, adding veteran international players and – now – rarely landing a great high school prospect. Most coaches prefer the veteran 22-year old over an 18-year old first year, right out of the State high school tournaments and AAU summer ball.

Rather than a full bracket, how about a basic college basketball preseason …

Top 10

  1. Florida
  2. Duke
  3. UConn
  4. Illinois
  5. Texas
  6. Michigan St.
  7. Arizona
  8. Miami
  9. Louisville
  10. Virginia

Worth watching: Kansas, Houston, St. John’s, Michigan, UCLA, Kentucky, Alabama, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Iowa St.

Pat LaFontaine raises $millions for his Companions in Courage fund

PEACE OUT: The Nobel Prizes are among the world’s most prestigious honors. There are honors for Laureates in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, economics and peace. Why isn’t there a prize for sports? … It would not be a typical community relations or most valuable player type award, as the respective leagues take care of that with all kinds of different honors. … The very first Nobel Prize for Sports might go to:

  • Dikembe Mutombo (posthumously)
  • Roberto Clemente (posthumously)
  • Serena Williams
  • Neymar
  • David Beckham
  • Jordan Spieth
  • Pat LaFontaine

Proposed MLB Changes for 2027

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NEW YORK – (Major League Baseball proposed changes to both the regular season and playoffs to the MLB Players Association on Thursday.

MLB offered a revised regular-season schedule of 154 games, down from 162, that provides a standard off-day every week, beginning in the 2029 campaign. The altered slate — which was used almost exclusively between 1904-60 — would then allow for the AL and NL Division Series to expand from best-of-five to best-of-seven sets, thereby adding as many as eight more postseason games.

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The expanded playoffs would allow for more off-days, thereby reducing weekday daytime postseason games.

Also, the proposal allows for higher-seeded clubs in the wild-card and division series to be able to select their opponents, beginning in the 2027 season. The No. 3 seed in each league would choose its foe among the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds for its wild-card series, while the No. 1 seed in each league would select its opponent in the next round.

“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off-day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said. “A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans — with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer division series and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage. And allowing the top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones.

The scheduled off-day would be every Monday with the exception of a few games that would be shown in an exclusive national broadcast window. Per MLB, the teams that play on Monday would then have an off-day on Thursday.

“The league made multiple scheduling proposals today,” MLBPA said in a statement. “We are reviewing these materials, including the proposed changes to the playoff format. Players will weigh in on these proposals and we will respond at the bargaining table.

“Unfortunately, the league once again made clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap, a system that guts player rights and compensation, as well as its other anti-player proposals.”

–Field Level Media

“It Comes Down to Reality”

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“Some folks like to get away
Take a holiday from the neighborhood
Hop a flight to Miami Beach
Or to Hollywood
But the Sox are taking a Greyhound
Up the Hudson River Line
They’re in a New York state of mind,” – Apologies to Billy Joel

BRONX – (Wire Service Report) – New York’s Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer during a six-run sixth inning and finished with four RBIs as the Yankees pulled away for a 9-2 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday and a two-game sweep of an American League wild-card series.

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The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the wild-card round for the second straight year and were significantly more prolific at the plate than last year, when they needed three games to advance.

Despite the absence of Aaron Judge, who has a strained right calf, New York scored 18 runs and totaled 26 hits in the series to advance to the AL Division Series against the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays. The best-of-five ALDS begins Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“That was very satisfying to play that well in these two games,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the win. “ … Just really pleased with how we played. Obviously, we’re really going to enjoy that and excited to get our shot at a really good Tampa club.”

Bellinger capped New York’s big inning by hitting a 1-0 changeup from Garrett Whitlock into the right-center-field seats after the Red Sox opted to intentionally walk Ben Rice. The blast pushed New York’s lead to 8-1.

“That was a cool moment. I feel like I was able to enjoy that one,” Bellinger said. “Just a home game in Yankee Stadium, it’s a really fun atmosphere, it’s fun to play (here) and hopefully we get many, many more this month.”

In the fifth, Bellinger chopped an RBI single against left-hander Erik Miller over second baseman Nick Sogard’s head to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

New York’s Max Fried (1-0) followed Cam Schlittler’s dominance in the series opener by allowing one run on three hits in six innings on Wednesday. Fried struck out six and walked one.

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“Being able to celebrate with your teammates after a playoff series win, it doesn’t get old,” Fried said. “This is what we start practicing in February for. This is where we want to be. So just about playing our game, having fun and hopefully we’ve got a couple more of these that we can do.”

Luis Garcia Jr. also homered for the Yankees, connecting against Sonny Gray’s 1-2 sweeper while leading off the fourth to open the scoring.

The Yankees sent 10 to the plate against Garrett Crochet and Whitlock in their big inning, getting things started with rookie Spencer Jones hustling around the bases.

Jones started things by reaching on a wild-pitch strikeout when he beat catcher Adley Rutschman’s throw by a step on a call that was overturned on replay after the Yankees challenged. Jones then stole second, advanced to third on Rutschman’s throwing error and scored on George Lombard Jr.’s single.

After singles by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham loaded the bases, Whitlock replaced Crochet. Austin Wells lifted a sacrifice fly, and Ryan McMahon followed with a soft RBI groundout for a 5-1 lead.

“They swung the bats extremely well. You’ve got to give them credit. It was frustrating,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. “ … Both nights it kind of started to accumulate late in the game.”

Willson Contreras homered off Fried in the sixth, and Nick Sogard homered off Will Warren in the seventh for Boston’s only runs of the season.

Wells added an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

Gray (0-1) allowed two runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, with five strikeouts and no walks. Crochet made his first appearance since April 25, having recovered from a shoulder ailment, and was charged with four runs without recording an out.

The Red Sox finished with seven hits in the series and experienced a disappointing end to a season where they overcame firing their manager in April and having a 32-46 record in late June. Boston vaulted into playoff contention with a 32-5 surge that included a 15-game winning streak but struggled at the plate in the final month.

–Field Level Media

NFL Sunday Night Football Preview

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Dallas Cowboys (2-3) at Green Bay Packers (3-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Packers -1.5. Total: 52.5.

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Series Rewind: These non-divisional rivals played to a 40-40 tie in overtime last season in Texas, racking up a combined 925 yards of offense. Including the playoffs, the Cowboys have lost five of their last six games at Lambeau Field.

The Cowboys have alternated wins and losses through five games this season. They are 0-2 in prime time, losing on Sunday night in Week 1 to the Giants and on Thursday night in Week 5 to the Buccaneers. Dak Prescott is just 1-3-1 against Green Bay in the regular season despite racking up 16 total touchdowns (14 passing, two rushing). CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are facing a Packers defense that ranks No. 5 against the pass, allowing 181 yards per game with more interceptions (seven) than TD passes allowed (six). Running back Javonte Williams has scored 20 touchdowns in his first 21 games with Dallas. Green Bay has bogged down in the red zone with TDs on only nine of 18 trips inside the 20. Jordan Love threw for 337 yards and three scores last season at Dallas, while Christian Watson set a career high with three TD catches in his only prior meeting against the Cowboys back in 2022. Discipline has been an issue for coach Matt LaFleur’s club with 46 penalties for 369 yards.

–Field Level Media

NFL Week 6 Previews: 4pm Games

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Arizona Cardinals (1-4) at Los Angeles Rams (2-3)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Rams -12.5. Total: 51.5.

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Series Rewind: The Rams have won three consecutive games over Arizona. Matthew Stafford threw four TD passes in the 37-20 victory to end the 2025 regular season.

Another hard-luck defeat, 37-34 to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, sends the Rams into Week 6. They’ve played well in the second half of late — LA scored 14 fourth-quarter points to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-20 in Week 4 and forced overtime against the Bills with 20 fourth-quarter points — but a complete game has been fleeting. Matthew Stafford has started to hit his stride after a slow start, completing 74.1% of his passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns against the Bills. He did not throw an interception for the first time this season. Puka Nacua had a career-high 17 receptions that went for 138 yards and a touchdown. Davante Adams had two TD receptions of his own. But the Rams’ kicking game proved costly. They signed Blake Grupe off the New York Jets’ practice squad. In 50 career NFL games over three seasons, mostly for the New Orleans Saints, Grupe has made 81.9% of his field goals. The Cardinals arrive on a four-game losing streak after a 45-21 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. The next day, the Cardinals traded Marvin Harrison Jr. to Houston. Jacoby Brissett completed 61.7% of his passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns, but the Cardinals’ defense gave up 412 total yards, including 163 on the ground. The Lions put the game away with three second-half touchdowns. Arizona now heads back to the Los Angeles area, where they got their season off to what appeared to be a promising start with a 26-14 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Arizona gave up an average of 37 points over their last four games and former Rams assistant Mike LaFleur, in his first season coaching the Cardinals, might limit Jeremiyah Love this week because of an ankle injury. The Rams will be without left tackle Alaric Jackson, who was suspended for an altercation after Monday’s loss.

Los Angeles Chargers (0-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (4-0)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Chiefs -7.5. Total 41.5.

Series Rewind: In their most recent meeting in Week 15 last season, the Chargers completed their first sweep of the Chiefs since 2013, eliminated Kansas City from playoff contention and left Patrick Mahomes with a torn left ACL.

Coming off a bye week, the Chiefs are looking for their fifth 5-0 start since head coach Andy Reid arrived in 2013. Including his 5-0 start with the Eagles in 2004, he can become the third coach in NFL history with six such starts (George Halas, Paul Brown). Mahomes is 10-4 against the Chargers with 28 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Running back Kenneth Walker is off to a sizzling start with 621 scrimmage yards and six TDs in his first four games with Kansas City, which is playing at home for the first time in nearly a month (Sept. 20 win over the Colts). Travis Kelce needs six catches to pass Cris Carter (1,101) for sixth place in NFL history. Off to their worst start since 2003, the Chargers rank 30th with just 16.8 points per game. Justin Herbert has thrown at least one touchdown — and at least one pick — in every contest this season. Outside linebacker Khalil Mack has 10 sacks in 17 career games against the Chiefs.Buy Game Tickets

Buffalo Bills (4-1) at Las Vegas Raiders (3-2)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
Fan Duel odds: Bills -5.5. Total: 53.5.

Series Rewind: Buffalo has won the past three meetings and five of seven. The series dates back to 1960 when both teams were part of the American Football League. One forgettable meeting for the Raiders is when the Bills rolled to a 51-3 victory in the 1990 season AFC title game to reach the Super Bowl.

The Bills can move the ball at will and score often but they also can’t seem to slow down opposing offenses. That means a high-scoring affair could be on tap with Buffalo tied for the league lead in scoring at 32.8 points and Las Vegas checking in ninth at 26.4. The Bills stand 28th in scoring defense (28.2) and 30th in total defense (388.6). Monday’s 37-34 overtime road win over the Los Angeles Rams marked the third time this season Buffalo has scored more than 30 points and given up more than 30 in the same game. Running back James Cook III lost two fumbles – one in overtime with the Bills in field-goal range – and that takes the shine off him ranking third in the NFL with 532 rushing yards. Quarterback Josh Allen leads the NFL with eight rushing scores and he rushed for 121 yards against the Rams while passing the ball just 19 times. Receiver DJ Moore (shoulder) and defensive tackle Ed Oliver (knee) both look likely to miss their second consecutive games. The Raiders have dropped two straight contests and were whipped 45-17 by the host New England Patriots last week. Quarterback Kirk Cousins is playing well with 1,269 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions while tight end Brock Bowers had eight receptions for 110 yards and one score against New England. Running back Ashton Jeanty had just 27 yards on 10 carries and has a paltry 3.3 average with 291 rushing yards. The Raiders entered the week tied for the NFL lead in turnover margin (+10).

 

NFL Week 6 Previews: 1pm Games

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New York Jets (2-3) at New England Patriots (3-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Patriots -7.5. Total: 43.5.

Series Rewind: The Patriots have won 18 of the past 20 meetings.

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Wide receiver A.J. Brown could be back for the first time since he hurt his right ankle in a 13-10 Week 1 loss to Seattle. The Patriots are waiting until at least Saturday to gauge whether Brown is fully ready. The Jets snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Cleveland 17-12 last week. The Jets have committed just three turnovers through five games, with quarterback Geno Smith throwing six touchdown passes and no interceptions on 147 attempts. New York wide receiver Garrett Wilson has 31 receptions for 374 yards and three touchdowns. New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez practiced Friday and could be back for another showdown with Wilson. In three head-to-head meetings, Gonzalez limited Wilson to eight receptions for 72 yards on 51 total routes. The Jets have the NFL’s fifth-best scoring defense (19.2 ppg) and will be facing a New England offense that may not have running back TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) or starting left tackle Will Campbell (knee). Henderson and Campbell were both injured against the Raiders, and, like Brown and Gonzalez, were limited in Wednesday’s practice. New England quarterback Drake Maye was intercepted seven times during New England’s first four games, but completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns without an interception during the Patriots’ 45-17 victory over Las Vegas last week.

Chicago Bears (3-2) at Atlanta Falcons (2-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Bears -1.5. Total: 51.5.

Series Rewind: The Bears demolished the Falcons, 37-17, in the last game between these teams in 2023. Four different Bears scored TDs in a matchup of quarterbacks Justin Fields (Bears) and Taylor Heinicke (Falcons).

Caleb Williams and Michael Penix Jr. were drafted seven picks apart in the 2023 draft. Health willing, they’ll play on the field again Sunday for the first time since the ’23 college season. That Top 25 matchup ended a 52-42 victory for Penix and the No. 5 Washington Huskies over Williams and No. 24 USC. If either team wants to hit that level this NFL season, protection in the pocket has to become a higher priority. That’s why head coach Ben Johnson said he’s bringing a meat-and-potatoes approach to the offense with a focus on a timeshare at running back and controlling time of possession. The Falcons have less cause for concern this week after Chicago lost top pass rusher Montez Sweat to a two-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Atlanta never needs an invitation to pound the rock with running back Bijan Robinson. He’s second in the NFL with 732 total yards this season.

Tennessee Titans (0-5) at Indianapolis Colts (2-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Colts -6.5. Total: 44.5.

Series Rewind: The Colts have swept the season series from the Titans three consecutive seasons. Tennessee’s last win was in 2022, a 19-10 victory in which the lone touchdown for the Titans was Andrew Adams’ 76-yard interception return.

The Colts ran into plenty of problems last week in Pittsburgh, specifically 188 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns from the Steelers’ Jaylen Warren and 235 passing yards and three TD passes from Aaron Rodgers. That was too much to overcome for an Indianapolis offense looking to regain the form that carried the team to an 8-2 start last year. Indianapolis is scoring 24.8 points per game this season (11th in the NFL) but ranks in the bottom half of the league in rushing, passing, total yards and third-down conversion percentage. Although Jonathan Taylor has rushed for 398 yards and six touchdowns in five games, quarterback Daniel Jones hasn’t been quite as efficient. Losing No. 1 wide receiver Alec Pierce hasn’t helped, but Jones has averaged 5.8 yards per attempt. Tennessee could help Jones find the explosive plays the offense has been missing. The Titans are allowing opponents to complete 74% of their passes, a rate surpassed only by the Miami Dolphins’ 76.6%. Tennessee’s offense has been consistently ineffective, averaging a league-low 11.6 points per game. The Titans suffered a 26-3 home loss to the previously winless Houston Texans last week. Tennessee ranks last in total offense, 31st in passing, 27th in rushing and last in average time of possession. Second-year quarterback Cam Ward is averaging 5.8 yards per attempt, the same as Jones. Since the start of the 2024 season, the Titans have lost 33 of 39 games, with four of the defeats coming against the Colts.

New Orleans Saints (1-4) at New York Giants (3-1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Saints -1.5. Total: 45.5.

Series Rewind: New Orleans has won three consecutive games against the Giants. The all-time series (regular-season games only) between the teams is tied 17-17.

Jameis Winston played four seasons in New Orleans and made 10 starts for the Saints. Now he’s the Giants’ starter after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury. Winston is 2-0-1 as the starter in potentially his most extended opportunity since being Tampa Bay’s No. 1 quarterback from 2015-19. The Giants leaned more heavily on Winston last week than they had previously and he responded by passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns in leading the team back from a 14-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to escape Washington with a 27-27 tie. He passed for 254 yards and all three touchdowns after halftime. New York is 3-0 at home, including a 28-20 season-opening win vs. the Cowboys, the only full game Dart played. The Saints played their last three games at home and lost all three, prompting owner Gayle Benson to publicly call the team’s performance “not acceptable to me” and to say she was committed “to making the decisions necessary to improve this team.” After the game Sunday, the Saints will fly to Paris to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 25, then have their bye week, meaning they won’t play at home again until Nov. 8 against the Cleveland Browns. During the final nine quarters of the three-game homestand, New Orleans turned the ball over eight times, including three interceptions and two fumbles by Shough.

Baltimore Ravens (4-1) at Cleveland Browns (3-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Ravens -3.0. Total: 39.5

Series Rewind: Baltimore swept last season’s two meetings and has won the past three. The Browns have started Dillon Gabriel, Joe Flacco, Bailey Zappe, Jameis Winston, Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback in the past six meetings.

The Ravens will see former offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who’s now on the enemy side as Cleveland’s first-year coach. Watson has received another chance with Monken around and he’s been productive early with 1,010 yards and seven touchdowns against two interceptions. Wideout Denzel Boston has been an immediate hit, leading all rookies with 330 receiving yards and leading the NFL with a 20.6 average per catch. The Browns are improved but the old warts were back during last week’s 17-12 loss to the New York Jets. Cleveland had just 198 yards in the contest. Overall, the Browns are struggling offensively and rank 29th in total offense (273.6) and are tied for 27th in scoring offense (18.6). Cleveland defensive tackle Mason Graham (knee/ankle) practiced Friday after missing last week. The Ravens are hoping that quarterback Lamar Jackson (ankle) will be ready after he missed last week’s 30-23 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons. But he missed his second consecutive full week of practice. Tyler “Snoop” Huntley could land another start. Huntley scored the game-winning points on a 1-yard run against the Falcons and completed 24 of 32 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Derrick Henry rushed for 102 yards against Atlanta. He ranks fifth in the NFL in rushing yards (476) and is tied for second with seven rushing touchdowns.

Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
Fan Duel odds: Steelers -2.5. Total: 38.5.

Series Rewind: Pittsburgh has won six of the past seven meetings and 10 of 12 all-time. Tom Brady was Tampa Bay’s quarterback the last time these teams met in 2022 and the Buccaneers fell 20-18 after Brady’s two-point conversion throw was broken up by Devin Bush with 4:38 remaining.

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown three touchdown passes in three consecutive games and completed a season-best 71% of his throws in last week’s 34-22 home win over the Indianapolis Colts. Rodgers has overall passed for 1,234 yards and 10 touchdowns against four interceptions. But the MVP of the offense has been 5-foot-8 Jaylen Warren, who became the sixth player in NFL history to have a rushing touchdown of 50 or more yards and a receiving score of 80 or more yards in the same game. Warren had a career-high 188 scrimmage yards (101 rush, career-best 87 receiving yards) against the Colts and is tied for sixth in the NFL with 410 rushing yards. Steelers star linebacker T.J. Watt continues to excel and has 4.5 sacks and an interception return for touchdown. Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels is in line to make his third straight start with Baker Mayfield still recovering from a dislocated right thumb. Mayfield missed practice again Thursday. Daniels guided the Buccaneers to a 24-16 victory over the host Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 8 as he completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown. But the biggest contributor was running back Bucky Irving, who had a career-best 165 rushing yards to go with two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) to fuel a ground attack that rolled up 241 yards. Irving ranks eighth in the NFL with 406 rushing yards.

Carolina Panthers (2-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (2-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Panthers -3.5. Total 38.5.

Series Rewind: The Eagles are 9-4 against the Panthers in the regular season. The last four meetings have been decided by six or fewer points, including Carolina’s 22-16 loss at Philadelphia the last time they met in Week 14 in 2024.

Philadelphia has lost three straight games and is playing without Jalen Hurts and possibly Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith. Fourth-year backup quarterback Tanner McKee is poised to make just his third NFL start after drawing Week 18 assignments in each of the past two seasons. He will need help from wideouts Darius Cooper (four touchdowns on seven catches this season) and Dontayvion Wicks, who has averaged just 37.7 yards during the losing streak. Coordinator Vic Fangio’s defense ranks 29th in the NFL with only three takeaways, including zero fumble recoveries. The Panthers are rested after a bye week and looking to climb above .500 for the first time this season. Bryce Young leads the NFL with 317 passing yards per game and has thrown three TD passes in each of his past two starts. Running back Chuba Hubbard has had success in the past against Philadelphia with a combined 241 yards from scrimmage and one score in two meetings. The defense ranks 31st against the run (156.5 yards

NFL Thursday Night Football Preview

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – With a home matchup Thursday night against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and their “Dark Side” defense looming, Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix made an admission: “I just have to remind myself not to play hero ball.”

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“We want to be aggressive, and then you see stats and see, well, this team is causing the most turnovers in the league,” Nix said. “And then it’s like, well, OK, I can’t put my team in a position where I’m turning the football over and putting our defense in a bad spot and giving them a short field.”

“Just play the play and if the play’s there, hit it,” Nix continued. “And if it’s not there, check it down, throw it away, punt.”

It’s an approach the Seahawks (3-2) might want to adapt as well, especially after Sunday’s 32-29 loss to visiting San Francisco in which they committed four turnovers. Three of them led to 49ers touchdowns in the first half, with the longest drive being 18 yards.

“There needs to be a sense of urgency to get better and have ball security,” said Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, who was 18-for-29 for 195 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. “For me personally, I’m going to try to be as decisive as I can be and go through my reads and trust what I see, trust my feet, all those things. But (we) can’t have turnovers, got to protect the football in this league. And if you don’t, you’ll pay.”

In the Seahawks’ other defeat this season, 33-31 on Sept. 27 at Washington, they committed three turnovers that led to 21 Commanders points.

“It’s not like we are getting blown out …” said Brian Fleury, the Seahawks’ first-year offensive coordinator. “They made some plays when we didn’t and we’re just going to keep focusing on our process, make sure that we’re getting better each week and let the outcomes take care of themselves.”

The Broncos (3-2) defeated the host Los Angeles Chargers 23-17 on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif. J.K. Dobbins rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown against his former team.

Nix was 16-of-27 passing for 123 yards and a score. He threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton. Wil Lutz kicked a pair of field goals as the Broncos rallied from a 17-10 deficit in the fourth quarter to win despite amassing just 224 yards of total offense.

“I heard long ago, I don’t know where it came from, it may have been from my parents, but if you stop enjoying the wins, you need to just go on and do something else because it’s not going to be fun for you anymore,” Nix said. “In a way, I’ve felt that a little bit.

“We’re sitting here at 3-2 and we’re having a good start to our season. There’s things we want to clean up. There’s things we want to fix. We’re leaving some things out there on the field, but we’re finding ways to win like we did last year. I feel strongly that we’re going to continue to do that, so the most important thing is winning, obviously.”

Broncos coach Sean Payton said there will be chances to “find plays that are clean” for Nix against the Seahawks, who rank first in the league in total defense (251.2 yards per game), passing defense (150.8 yards per game) and takeaways (11).

Both teams are relatively healthy. The Broncos had just safety Talanoa Hufanga (ankle) and cornerback Pat Surtain II (ankle) listed as not participating in practice on Tuesday, which was an estimation as the team held a walk-through. For the Seahawks, linebackers Drake Thomas (ankle) and Chazz Surratt (calf) did not participate, per the estimation. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (ankle) was listed as limited for a second consecutive day. Guard Beau Stephens (shoulder) was upgraded from limited to a full participant.

–Field Level Media

ACC Football: Pitt Faces Test at BC

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CHESTNUT HILL – The undefeated run is over, but Pitt’s Atlantic Coast Conference journey continues with a Saturday test at Boston College.

The Panthers (5-1, 2-1) trek north to Chestnut Hill, Mass., in search of their sixth straight ACC road win dating back to last season after suffering a 21-17 defeat at home against North Carolina last week.

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Fifth-year quarterback Holden Geriner will continue to start after sophomore Mason Heintschel tore his ACL at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. Heintschel and the Panthers racked up 503 yards in a 48-7 win over Boston College on Oct. 4, 2025.

Against North Carolina, Geriner completed 71% of his passes with no turnovers in the first half for 99 yards. But he threw two interceptions following intermission in finishing 27 of 44 for a career-high 219 yards. Pitt also turned the ball over on downs in three straight drives at the end of the game and lost despite forcing two turnovers and allowing only 20 rushing yards.

“(Starting Geriner is) still the plan moving forward,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “You get too much rotation, then you’ve got problems. We got a ton of confidence in Holden. … I didn’t quite see what I wanted to see in the second half, but that’s football.”

Boston College (2-3, 0-2) had a bye week after letting a slight first-half lead slip in its 25-16 loss at then-No. 21 SMU on Oct. 3.

The recent time off helped the Eagles get healthier after 53 players had the flu the week of the trip to Dallas, while Notre Dame transfer Bodie Kahoun, a linebacker, has returned to the depth chart for the first time since leaving the Week 2 game against Rutgers.

“I think he probably has a good chance to play,” Boston College coach Bill O’Brien said of Kahoun.

The Eagles stayed in it against SMU thanks to Mason McKenzie passing for 208 yards in his first two-touchdown effort of the season, but five sacks helped neutralize his dual-threat ability (80.7 rushing yards per game). He finished with 74 yards on 21 carries, including a 40-yarder.

Before his injury, Kahoun quickly emerged on a Boston College defense that has eight takeaways and ranks second in the ACC with 164.6 passing yards allowed per game.

Pitt, meanwhile, averages 459.8 total yards per game and has thrown for 17 touchdowns.

–Field Level Media

Tune In: To the “Spalking” Heads

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Spalk, a cloud-based commentary and technology platform scaling multilingual commentary for teams, leagues and broadcast partners, announced its largest North American sports expansion, adding more non-English global partnerships with the NFL and the NBA as the fall progresses. The NBA expansion will include the first-ever remote broadcasts in seven languages for NBA on Prime, while the NFL expansion now includes live commentary in five additional languages never offered before.

“We have come a long way from launching the business in a New Zealand dorm room in 2015, and there is no better proof of concept than what we are now doing with a growing number of North American leagues, particularly the NFL and the NBA,” said Ben Reynolds Co-founder and CEO at Spalk. “The best way to reach consumers and make them fans on a global level is to give them the excitement of the live event in their own language, and we have refined the technology so that delivery, consistency and professionalism of talent is at a premium. By employing the largest group of multilingual talent literally everywhere in the world, we can assure that the leagues, our growing list of broadcast partners and most importantly the fans, are literally being heard and enjoying real-time multilingual broadcasts every day, with more to come.”

This coming season, Spalk will provide NBA broadcasts in Greek, Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Korean using their qualifying list of talent. For NBA on Prime, coverage will cover Friday doubleheaders with 28 different commentators on one night across the two games. Twice this season there will be a triple header broadcast. That will have 42 commentators in one day across three games. For the NFL, Spalk is now delivering broadcasts in French, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Italian, a clear reflection of the global growth of the league.

Through the agreements, Spalk will provide its proprietary cloud-based streaming and AI-powered production technology to support enhanced live game coverage, multilingual commentary capabilities, and deeper fan interaction across digital platforms as well as remote real-time commentary in languages that the properties were not able to offer before. This month, Spalk will have over 5,500 announcers on their roster in 52 languages, the latest of which is Mongolian, which will be heard covering the Japanese basketball championships (in English and Spanish as well).

The 2026-27 season is the first European Football Season where Spalk is being used to produce multilingual coverage across all of the top five leagues in Europe (EPL, Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga & Ligue 1), which includes production in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian for various rights holders around the world. Recent highlights include producing commentary in 22 languages of coverage on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2026 being the first year Spalk has localized coverage for marquee properties like the Tour de France, the NBA and F1.

Broadcasters using Spalk’s Virtual Commentary Studio report savings of up to 85% compared with on-site production, which has helped make localized, multilingual coverage affordable for both the biggest leagues and niche sports. In turn, they are able to better commercialize their broadcast coverage and build fanbases around the world.

Patriots Roll on Vegas, 45-17

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FOXBOROUGH – New England quarterback Drake Maye completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for a TD to help the Patriots defeat the visiting Las Vegas Raiders 45-17 Sunday in Massachusetts.

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Rhamondre Stevenson added a 5-yard touchdown run for New England, which outgained Las Vegas 536-306. DeMario Douglas had two TD catches for the Patriots.

The Raiders (3-2) received a touchdown catch from tight end Brock Bowers (eight receptions, 110 yards) and a TD run from running back Dylan Laube.

Maye tossed two touchdown passes in the first half, when New England (3-2) built a 21-7 lead.

The Patriots struck first on a 35-yard pass from Maye to Douglas with 11:23 left in the first quarter, but Las Vegas tied the game 7-7 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kirk Cousins to Bowers with 8:19 to go in the period. Stevenson’s touchdown run gave New England a 14-7 lead with 1:30 left in the first.

Maye’s second touchdown pass was an 11-yard completion to tight end Hunter Henry with 24 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Patriots extended their lead to 28-7 on a 34-yard scoring pass from Maye to Kyle Williams with 12:58 left in the third quarter.

Las Vegas’ Matt Gay made a 46-yard field goal with 8:30 left in the third to make it 28-10, but Maye responded with a 3-yard scoring run to push the lead to 35-10 with 3:10 remaining in the period. Andy Borregales’ 28-yard field goal 48 seconds into the fourth quarter extended the margin to 38-10.

Laube scored his first NFL touchdown on a 2-yard run with 10:49 to play to trim New England’s lead to 38-17. The Patriots answered with an 8-yard scoring pass from Maye to Douglas with 6:06 on the clock.

New England lost two key offensive players to injuries in the first half. Running back TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) and left tackle Will Campbell (knee) both went down in the second quarter. Neither returned to the game.

–Field Level Media