sports

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How an Experimental Drug Quietly Took Over Elite Sports

Banned performance enhancer ostarine complicates doping rules, athletes' careers

(Newser) - A quarter-century after a lab breakthrough that thrilled its creator, a drug designed to help sick patients build muscle is better known today as one of the sporting world's most persistent headaches. In 2000, pharmacologist James Dalton was testing a new compound that would later be called ostarine, part...

Ticket Prices Are Skyrocketing for Sports, Led by the High End

Premium seating, smaller stadiums can leave many fans out

(Newser) - Taking the family to a ballgame is looking less like a casual outing and more like a luxury purchase. Ticketing platform Gametime tells Axios that average ticket prices across major US sporting events have surged well beyond inflation over the past decade, with the steepest increases showing up in the...

Take a Sneak Peek at Some of the Olympics' New Events
Get Ready for Some
'Skimo' at the Winter Games
2026 OLYMPICS
Feb 7, 2026 6:30 AM CST

Get Ready for Some 'Skimo' at the Winter Games

Ski mountaineering is one of 8 new medal events to broaden competition, boost women's participation

(Newser) - Olympic viewers who think they've seen it all are about to meet "skimo." For the first time since skeleton returned in 2002, the Winter Games are adding a brand-new sport: ski mountaineering. The discipline—popularly shortened to skimo—will debut with three medal events: men's sprint,...

Pope Urges Global Truce During Winter Games
Pope Urges Truce During
Games, Adds Warnings
2026 Olympics
Feb 6, 2026 4:45 PM CST

Pope Urges Truce During Games, Adds Warnings

Glory of sports shouldn't be used for nationalism, Leo writes

(Newser) - Pope Leo XIV used the occasion of the Winter Olympics' opening in northern Italy on Friday to urge a halt to warfare and to caution governments against turning sports into a political tool. In a formal papal letter, he called for military conflicts to be suspended as they used to...

These 'Athletes' Hurl Cast-Iron Pans on Ice

This year's charity 'skillet curling' tournament raised $90K for Chattanooga food bank

(Newser) - Olympic curling it isn't, but in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the hottest thing on ice right now is a flying cast-iron pan. NPR dropped in on the city's Annual Skillet Curling Championship , where 32 costumed teams spend three days sliding frying pans toward a moving target they call "the...

For Figure Skaters, AI Is Now Watching

OOFSkate is an AI-driven system that can catch tiny athlete errors that the human eye might not

(Newser) - American figure skater Andrew Torgashev was at an invitation-only camp organized by US Figure Skating not long ago, prepping for the Grand Prix season to work out any flaws in his performance. To the naked eye, Torgashev landed one of his more challenging moves perfectly. To the camera watching him,...

Meet 'the Most Dominant Athlete in the Brady Family'

Tom Brady's niece, Maya Brady, goes No. 1 in AUSL softball draft

(Newser) - Maya Brady has been selected as the No. 1 pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League expansion draft, living up to her reputation as " the most dominant athlete in the Brady family." Brady, the niece of NFL legend Tom Brady, is a former star at UCLA. The shortstop/outfielder...

Study Reveals Just How Much Childhood Is Changing

There's a sharp drop in the number of kids who read for pleasure

(Newser) - Social media is altering childhood in extreme ways, suggests a major new study out of Australia. In a press release that calls it "one of the world's largest studies of after-school activities," researchers at the University of South Australia collected data on how more than 14,000...

Why Parents Are Worried About Artificial Turf

Injuries and chemical worries fuel debate over the safety of synthetic fields

(Newser) - When the field itself becomes the opponent, it's not just part of the game. NBC News reports that concerns over artificial turf are escalating as more young athletes report injuries and communities question the health risks of chemicals found in synthetic fields. Natalie Silva, a Massachusetts high school senior,...

Tom Brady: From Deflategate to Boothgate?

Tom Brady's Raiders stake collides with his TV analyst gig

(Newser) - For fans still reeling from Deflategate , Tom Brady's reputation as far as cheating never ballooned back to full size. Now the seven-time Super Bowl champ finds himself in another ethically gray area—this time as both a Raiders minority owner and Fox's top NFL analyst. The Athletic reports...

She Found Her Niche as Caitlin Clark's Enforcer

Sophie Cunningham's viral takedown turned into followers, sponsorships, and political buzz

(Newser) - When Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham dragged an opposing player to the floor during the final minute of a physical game in June, it did more than get her ejected from that WNBA game—it propelled her into an entirely new level of fame. The New York Times reports that...

Malcolm Gladwell Does a 180 on Trans Athletes

Tipping Point author now says he was 'cowed' into offering his support for them, feels 'ashamed'

(Newser) - Three years ago, Malcolm Gladwell made an appearance at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, where he moderated a panel that discussed a "path forward for the inclusion" of transgender athletes in sports. Now, the 62-year-old Tipping Point author is flipping that narrative, revealing on a podcast this week...

Why NHL Games Suddenly Feel Like Casinos

Gambling ads are flooding sports broadcasts, especially for hockey

(Newser) - If this year's Stanley Cup finals seemed like one big sportsbook ad, you're not wrong. The hockey fans watching the six games between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers in June were hit with a gambling ad or logo as often as every 13 seconds, reports the Guardian ...

NFL Kickoffs Are About to Get Weird
NFL Kickoffs Are
About to Get Weird
Aug 23, 2025 7:02 AM CDT

NFL Kickoffs Are About to Get Weird

New rules make ugly kicks pay off big

(Newser) - No, the kicker didn't stumble. That kick was supposed to be terrible. In the NFL, ugly kickoffs are a strategy now. Instead of just one straight into the end zone, teams have used this preseason to experiment with low, bouncing squib kicks that wobble and veer like knuckleballs. The...

Stalkers Don't Shy Away From Sports Stars
When Sports
'Fans' Take
Things to a
Dark Place
longform
Aug 17, 2025 6:39 AM CDT

When Sports 'Fans' Take Things to a Dark Place

The Athletic takes a deep dive into how stalking has infiltrated the world of college, pro athletes

(Newser) - Actors, singers, and other artists often end up being stalked by their "fans"—but what about famous athletes? That's a big issue, too, per the Athletic , which reports on the spiking trend of stalking incidents in the sports arena. The outlet counts 50-plus athlete stalking cases since...

Fox Has a Brand-New Offering Coming Next Week

Fox One streaming service will bundle live sports, news, on-demand Fox programming

(Newser) - Fox Corp. is set to debut its new streaming service, Fox One, on Thursday, marking the company's first major push into the direct-to-consumer streaming market. For $19.99 a month, or $199 annually, subscribers will get access to live local Fox TV channels—including NFL games—along with...

NFL Grabs Stake in ESPN as Disney Hands Over Key Assets

Move puts NFL Network, RedZone under sports channel's umbrella

(Newser) - The NFL is set to acquire a 10% stake in ESPN as part of a sweeping partnership with Disney, giving the league significant influence over the sports network while handing ESPN control of key NFL media assets, including the NFL Network. While the value of the transaction remains undisclosed,...

The Streaming Wars Ruined Live Sports
How the Streaming Wars
Ruined Live Sports
OPINION
Jun 16, 2025 10:32 AM CDT

How the Streaming Wars Ruined Live Sports

Journalist Joon Lee says leagues are mining fans by selling broadcast rights to highest bidder

(Newser) - Sen. Ted Cruz asked an audience last month, "Why does it seem to be getting harder and more expensive to just watch the game?" Sports journalist Joon Lee has pondered the same question, but unlike Cruz, he's offering up solutions. In a New York Times op-ed, Lee argues...

'Torpedo Bats' Are Taking Over Baseball

Who knew baseball bats needed a reboot?

(Newser) - Baseball isn't exactly known as eager to embrace change, but Major League Baseball is also a copycat league. So when the New York Yankees shot out of the gate this season by setting a new single-game team record with nine home runs in a 20-9 drubbing of the Milwaukee...

The Best Sports Moments of This Century

There's been no shortage of highlights since Y2K

(Newser) - Few things can elicit more excitement, frustration, and fury than sports, and one of those things is a list of rankings about sports. But the folks at the Ringer have tackled an especially evocative topic by attempting to rank the 100 best sports moments of the century so far. Although...

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