Sports

Rogers has sublicensed a defined slice of its Canadian NHL rights to Prime Video for 12 years starting with the 2026-27 season: at least 26 Wednesday-night regular-season games per year plus two First Round and one Second Round playoff series annually, all included in standard Prime membership at no extra cost. The deal adds French-language production and playoff coverage that Prime Video's previous two-season Monday arrangement lacked. Sportsnet retains exclusive English rights to more than 500 national games per season and the majority of playoff series.

The Cleveland Browns extended cornerback Denzel Ward on July 28, 2026, making him the NFL's highest-paid cornerback by average annual value at $31.1 million, narrowly surpassing Trent McDuffie's $31 million AAV set in March 2026. The deal includes $52.3 million in guaranteed money and runs alongside Ward's existing contract, with the Browns carrying roughly $16 million in 2026 cap space at the time of signing. The extension also marks a shift in Cleveland's defensive identity following the June 2026 trade of Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, leaving Ward as the team's longest-tenured player and highest-paid defender.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed 25-year-old defensive tackle Jalen Carter to a four-year, $152 million extension on July 28, 2026, with $106 million guaranteed and a $38 million average annual value — both records for the position. The deal surpasses the previous benchmark set by Tennessee's Jeffery Simmons just weeks earlier in June 2026, representing the largest single-year top-of-market reset at defensive tackle in the modern extension era. Combined with Jordan Davis's $78 million extension signed in March, Philadelphia has now committed roughly $230 million in new money to its defensive tackle unit ahead of the 2026 season.

The Community of Madrid terminated Rayo Vallecano's concession to use the publicly owned Estadio de Vallecas on July 28, 2026, after a nine-month audit found failures in fire protection, electrical systems, sanitation, and emergency lighting, among other deficiencies. Emergency repairs are estimated to take two to six months, meaning Rayo's first home fixture on August 20 against Deportivo Alavés will be played at an undisclosed alternative venue, with Estadio Municipal de Butarque the leading reported candidate. LaLiga has confirmed a replacement venue is assigned and that the season will open as scheduled, but no formal agreement has been publicly confirmed, and the club's season-ticket terms cover seat equivalency at an alternative ground but do not address refunds or travel costs.

IFAB Circular no. 34, published July 27, 2026, states that the VAR mistaken identity protocol used to red-card Switzerland's Breel Embolo in the World Cup quarter-final against Argentina on July 11 was applied before it was authorized under current law. The circular clarifies that using the clause to address simulation is under review and explicitly cannot be used until that review concludes. No disciplinary action against the match officials had been announced as of July 29, 2026, and FIFA had not issued a public response to the circular.

Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme won the men's 100-meter final at the 2026 Commonwealth Games on July 28, clocking 9.83 seconds to surpass Ato Boldon's 1998 record of 9.88 and claim Cameroon's first Commonwealth Games gold in men's athletics. The race produced the deepest field in the event's history, with four athletes finishing under 10 seconds, including Australia's Lachlan Kennedy setting a new national record of 9.85. The wind reading of +1.3 m/s keeps both the Games record and Eseme's Cameroonian national record eligible for official ratification.

New Zealand sprinter Zoe Hobbs won the women's 100m at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 10.93 seconds, a time that sets both a New Zealand national record and an Oceania area record. The result ends a 64-year sprint medal drought for New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games, with the country's previous sprint medal being a silver in the women's 100 yards at the 1962 Perth Games. England's Amy Hunt took silver in 10.98 and Australia's Torrie Lewis claimed bronze in 10.99, also an Australian national record.