Sports
Expect ever-evolving NFL to make many changes for next season. Here's what to expect
Roger Goodell is always looking for a new way to shake up the status quo.
That doesn’t mean making changes for the sake of making changes, but the NFL commissioner encourages alterations that push the envelope. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.
Put the draft in prime time, and move it from city to city…
Allow choreographed touchdown/turnover celebrations, speed up pace of play, move back PAT kicks…
Shrink the preseason and expand the regular season…
Change kickoffs, dramatically expand the international schedule, play games on Black Friday, Christmas Day and the first Friday of the season…
Goodell’s philosophy is that success inhibits innovation. He doesn’t want to hear, “This is how we’ve always done it,” or, “What did we do on that day last season? Let’s do it again.”
So, on the heels of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl victory, and as the league heads into another offseason, it’s safe to say more changes are afoot, even if they have yet to fully take shape.
First, the changes that are built into the game, the reshuffling of rosters. Among the star players who almost certainly will be changing teams are All-Pro receiver Cooper Kupp — the Rams have been looking for a trade partner — defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, and quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons.
What other changes could be in store?
The Pittsburgh Steelers will play host to a game in Dublin, which is fitting considering the late Dan Rooney, the longtime team president and owner, was a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
The Indianapolis Colts will play in Berlin and the Miami Dolphins are headed to Madrid. Expected to be announced is a second consecutive game in Sao Paulo, likely another Friday game after the Thursday Kickoff Opener.
Saquon Barkley and the Eagles opened their season last fall with a victory over the Packers in Brazil.
(Fernando Llano / Associated Press)
The Eagles were the home team for an opener in Sao Paulo last fall, and look how their season finished. And remember the 2007 New York Giants, the ones who stunned the then-undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl? They played a London game that season.
International games are no longer viewed as exotic or disruptive. The NFL ultimately could wind up playing a full slate of 17 games beyond the U.S. borders, a globe-trotting barnstorming tour possibly instead of a fixed international franchise. We already know the Rams will be playing a 2026 game in Melbourne almost certainly as a season opener.
Another Mexico City game is in the works, but there are stadium issues that need to be resolved.
It used to be that the NFL would never have teams play multiple short weeks in a season — a club playing a Monday game followed by a Sunday game, more than once per year. Now, it happens all the time. Watch for one or more teams to play three games in 11 days — Monday, Sunday then Thursday.
The Baltimore Ravens played three games in 11 days last season — Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday — and went 3-0.
In terms of scheduling, remember that now every game is a “free agent,” meaning the visiting team doesn’t determine the network, as it did forever in the NFL.
For instance, think back to those years when Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning was the “best” game of the regular season. That alternated back and forth between CBS and NBC. Now many people consider that game to be Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen. It’s eligible for Fox, too. The NFL also has put some big games on ESPN and it’s continuing to grow Amazon Prime as an showcase as well, so don’t be shocked if one of those huge games winds up on a streaming platform.
The NFL won’t be going to an 18-game schedule in 2025. That will require a lot of negotiations between the league and the NFL Players Assn., but the concept will percolate throughout the season as will a further reduction of the preseason, probably landing on 18 regular-season games and two weeks of preseason games.
Officiating was under particular scrutiny this season, with a widely pervasive feeling that the Kansas City Chiefs, who won every close game in 2024, seemed to get all the breaks from the team in stripes. Watch for the league to expand the list of reviewable plays, possibly to include facemask calls or non-calls.
“This game has gotten so much faster,” Goodell said in his annual Super Bowl news conference. “You’re seeing so much that you didn’t even six years ago. I challenge all of you — go back and look at an NFL game from 2000 — the quality of what you see, the cameras, the angles, the number of cameras, you see an awful lot more.
“So we want to use technology to supplement and to assist and support the officials getting it right. Replay assists this year, I think, was a big step forward for us. I see in the future us adding more plays, and we’ll look at that with the competition committee.”
The new kickoff format was adopted on a one-year basis, and the likelihood is that will be made permanent this spring. There could be some tweaks, though, such as moving touchbacks from the 30-yard line to the 35.
The league liked the numbers it saw out of the so-called dynamic kickoffs, including returns increasing 57% from 2023. Even with 332 plays added back into the game, the league said, there were fewer injuries on kickoffs than incurred the previous season with the traditional format.
Look for the league to make permanent the concept of flexing games into the Thursday Night Football window. The NFL did that once in two years — Denver at the Chargers in Week 16 last season — and was happy with the results. The process wasn’t as disruptive as many people had feared. Still, those types of scheduling adjustments figure to be rare.
NFL games on Christmas Day, streamed on Netflix, were a big hit last season. Watch for the league to do that again, as Christmas falls on a Thursday, and to expand the Dec. 25 schedule from two games to three, matching Thanksgiving Day.
Green Bay will play host to the draft this year, a major event for that city, which doesn’t have the hotels (or weather) to play host to a Super Bowl. Some of Lambeau Field will be used for the draft, as will the surrounding tailgating areas.
The following year, the draft will be in Pittsburgh, another historic NFL city that’s unlikely to get a Super Bowl but that the league feels is deserving of a major event.
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After a slow first round at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia on Thursday, pace of play was a point of emphasis at the PGA Championship on Friday.
However, when an official approached Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, they became animated.
Thomas, a longtime Team USA Ryder Cup member, and Bradley, last year’s United States captain, were on the fourth hole when they were approached by an official in a cart, and the conversation quickly turned into finger-pointing.
Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley watch from the tenth green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thomas said after the round that he, Bradley and fellow USA Ryder Cupper Cameron Young, who won the Cadillac Championship earlier this month, were put on the clock, with the official telling them to pick up the pace. However, both Bradley and Thomas appeared to point at the group in front of them.
“We just didn’t really agree with it,” Thomas said, citing course conditions, high winds and tough pins. “We were behind. That wasn’t our issue… It’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us.”
Thomas said they were caught up with the pace on the very next hole.
Justin Thomas plays his shot on the 15th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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Thomas had a lengthy conversation with the official, while Bradley appeared to make his point short and sweet — though he was definitely not happy with the call.
It is a large PGA Championship field, with 156 golfers at the course and groups even starting their rounds on the back nine. The scores have also been rather high, with just 25 players below par at the time of publishing.
Aronimink also features a shared tee box on 1 and 10, holes 9 and 17 crossing paths, and a lengthy par-3 eighth hole that’s causing problems. Three par-3s are over 200 yards on the course, and there is also a 457-yard par 4 on the fourth.
Keegan Bradley prepares to putt on the 14th green during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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As Chris Gotterup put it on Friday, “You’re not going to get any four-and-a-half hour rounds out here.”
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The Sparks are finally in the win column, but the outcome was in doubt late Friday night.
Behind double-digit scoring from all five starters, the Sparks had by far their best offensive showing of the season, shooting 63.8% during a 99-95 win over the expansion Toronto Tempo.
The Tempo didn’t make things easy, cutting the deficit to two points late and later trailing by just three with 31 seconds remaining and possession of the ball. Marina Mabrey missed a three-point attempt before late Tempo fouls gave the Sparks enough of a cushion to win.
Kelsey Plum nearly claimed a double-double with 27 points and nine assists, while Dearica Hamby had 19 points with seven rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike scored 20 points.
Erica Wheeler, who started in place of Ariel Atkins (concussion), scored 10 points with seven assists and was a plus-16 as the primary ball handler after starting the season two for 16 from the field. That freed up Plum to be in position to score, setting up a much more efficient Sparks offense.
Toronto was shorthanded in the frontcourt without starting center Temi Fagbenle (right shoulder), and the Sparks trio of bigs had a field day with 54 points in the paint.
The Sparks came out firing on Friday, opening with a 17-2 run.
The Tempo went on a 10-0 burst heading into the second quarter but the Sparks countered to maintain momentum and led 46-38 at halftime.
A Wheeler three-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Sparks a 20-point lead. The Tempo cut it to three midway through the fourth while Brittany Sykes (27 points, seven assists) sparked Toronto’s rally. The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
Cameron Brink’s 10 points were the only ones provided by the Sparks’ bench, while the Tempo got 42 points from reserves.
Toronto was coming off its first win in franchise history on Wednesday when it defeated Seattle but struggled against a more complete offensive team in the Sparks.
In her return to Los Angeles after winning a national championship with UCLA this spring, Tempo rookie Kiki Rice netted 11 points.
Kate Martin made her Sparks debut as a developmental player with Atkins and Sania Feagin (lower left leg) unavailable and picked up one rebound in six minutes.
The Sparks will face Toronto again on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
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The WNBA season has been in session for about a week, so it is far too early to make assumptions about teams. That doesn’t mean we won’t make them; it’s just too early to really believe it. I lost my first WNBA bet this season, so I’m hoping to avenge that loss here as the Sky take on the Mercury.
The Chicago Sky are one of the most poorly run franchises in basketball. They have had some great names on their team and only one championship to show for it.
Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner shoots over Indiana Fever guard Aerial Powers in the first half at PHX Arena. (Rick Scuteri/Imagn Images)
There really isn’t a clear indication of what is wrong with the franchise, but they’ve never been able to retain their talent. Aside from Kamilla Cardoso, I can’t name a player on this team that they’ve actually drafted. They just seem to get good players and then show them the door.
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Even though they’ve had questionable front office decisions, they seem to have put together a solid team for this season – something I didn’t expect before the season started.
They are 2-0, which is too early to really say they are a good team. I also want to reserve judgment until they face a team with a longer history than last year. The Portland Tempo played their first-ever game against the Sky, and Golden State was good last year, but still is in just their second season of existence.
The Phoenix Mercury are actually considered one of the best franchises in the league. I’m sure there are issues that people have reported, but for the most part, they have good facilities, and people want to play for their team. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals last season before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. This year, they are looking to restart that journey and see if they can win the last game of the year.
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper dribbles the ball in the second half at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
It will need to come with some better play than they’ve shown through three games this year. They are just 1-2 for the year with a 0-1 home record. The lone win was a blowout victory over the Aces (a clear revenge game if we’ve ever seen one). Then they lost the next two games against Golden State and Minnesota. Losing to the Lynx wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t have Napheesa Collier, who still has an ankle injury.
I expect the Mercury to make some adjustments for this game. They haven’t looked very crisp to begin the year, but they’ve been strong on offense, averaging 87 points per game.
The Sky are going to keep relying on their offense to do just enough and their defense to lock in. The Sky do have an edge on the interior, so they can get buckets fairly easily down low. I like the over 166.5 in this game.
Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins chases the ball during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 13, 2026. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
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I also think it is worth betting on Kahleah Copper to go over her point total. Copper had two rough games before she broke out in the last game. Now she has the same sight lines and can attack the bigs from the Sky with her athleticism. Since going to Phoenix, she has scored 29, 7, 16, 25 and 28 points in five games against them.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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