Sports
'It's the only show in town': UCLA will face far more hostile road crowds in Big Ten
When Tyler Bilodeau, Kobe Johnson and the other UCLA starters approach center court for tipoff against Nebraska on Saturday inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, the roars from a sold-out crowd washing over them, one thing will be thunderously clear.
They’re not in Gill Coliseum, Maples Pavilion or any of the other sleepy Pac-12 arenas anymore.
Noise will be a constant companion as UCLA navigates its first Big Ten schedule. Nine conference teams are averaging at least 10,000 fans for home games, with Indiana’s average of 16,514 leading the way. Purdue ranks second with 14,876 fans per home game, followed closely by Nebraska (14,848), Michigan State (14,797) and Illinois (14,789).
“I don’t think I can name a single Big Ten stadium where their fans don’t come and, like, show out and support and they’re talking trash,” said UCLA junior guard Skyy Clark, a veteran of the experience after having spent his freshman season at Illinois. “It definitely gets loud and rowdy, so it’s a fun environment to play in.”
Well, maybe not always for the visitors.
Nebraska (11-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) has won 19 consecutive games on its home court during a streak that began in December 2023. With a victory over the No. 15 Bruins (11-2, 2-0), the Cornhuskers would tie the school record of 20 straight home wins they set twice previously.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin understands the challenge that awaits after having taken Cincinnati to Pinnacle Bank Arena in December 2014, when his Bearcats lost in double overtime. At the time, Cronin called the 15,147-seat facility “probably, outside of Louisville, the best arena I’ve ever been in.”
The atmosphere Saturday will certainly be more raucous than what the Bruins experienced in the Pac-12, where some libraries might have been louder than the basketball arenas.
Often it seemed as if the wrestling and basketball banners hanging from the rafters inside Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum outnumbered the fans.
Washington State players once made a habit of venturing into the stands to personally thank fans who showed up inside Beasley Coliseum, the goodwill gesture needing only a few minutes to complete.
UCLA guard Lazar Stefanovic looks to pass the ball during a relatively quiet game at Stanford on Feb. 7.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
At Maples Pavilion, UCLA blue often eclipsed Stanford red.
“There’s some schools — obviously we’re not in their league anymore — you go play in those places and there’s 1,000 people and it’s cold and you’re paranoid because your guys can’t get going, there’s just no energy in the building,” Cronin said this week.
Arizona was the only Pac-12 team to average at least 10,000 fans for home games during the conference’s final season. Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State averaged fewer than 4,000 fans, with California barely topping that threshold at 4,022.
There will be a carryover effect in the Big Ten given that all four newcomers from the Pac-12 rank in the bottom five in home attendance, with USC’s average of 3,872 the lowest and UCLA ranking next to last with an average of 4,830.
UCLA guards Kobe Johnson (0), Lazar Stefanovic (10), Dylan Andrews (2) and Skyy Clark (55) celebrate beating Gonzaga at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Dec. 28.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Bruins can expect more than double those figures almost every time they board a plane for the Midwest or the East Coast.
“In those college towns,” Cronin said, “it’s the only show in town, so they get great attendance. … So the energy won’t be a problem in the building in those places. You better play with toughness, you better travel your defense because teams with home crowds like that tend to play harder and I think it’s fool’s gold to think you’re going to go into those type of places and score 80 points.”
The Bruins might also want to pack their winter coats. The forecast for Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday calls for a high of 24 degrees, giving Cronin a chance to use the ski mask and gloves his brother, Dan, bought him for Christmas.
“I was like, ‘Yo, man, I live in Southern California,’ ” Mick Cronin said, “and he’s like, ‘You’re in the Big Ten.’ How about that? The guy’s a comedian.”
Injury updates
UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr., wearing a face mask, relishes the moment after making a three-pointer against Gonzaga at the Intuit Dome on Dec. 28.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Cronin said forward William Kyle III was probably out for the game against Nebraska but could return as soon as Tuesday against Michigan after undergoing surgery for an undisclosed condition.
Forward Eric Dailey Jr. is expected to wear a mask “for the foreseeable future” after absorbing a shot to the face against North Carolina last month, Cronin said.
In his first game wearing the mask, against Gonzaga, Dailey made four of five three-pointers. “He may not take it off the rest of the year,” Cronin cracked.
Etc.
Former UCLA forward Berke Buyuktuncel is averaging 7.9 points and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds in his first season at Nebraska. “I’m happy for him,” Cronin said. “He’s definitely gotten stronger and I think he fits into what they do.” Bruins forward Lazar Stefanovic said he looked forward to reuniting with his former roommate. “The thing I loved about him was when we would play video games, he would make, like, all the jokes and stuff and everybody in the apartment would have a lot of fun with it,” Stefanovic said. “And he was good at video games.” … UCLA made 42.9% of its three-pointers in December, raising its accuracy from long range for the season to 37.1%. “The advantage we have in our starting lineup,” Cronin said, “is everybody can shoot.”
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CM Punk appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” ready to take on any challenger that was ready to step to him after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
Punk entered the ring in Oklahoma City and called back to the “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 when he told Cody Rhodes he’d be ready to deliver if a championship opportunity fell “out of the sky.”
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face off during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
“When championship opportunities fall out of the sky, CM Punk catches them,” he said.
Punk named potential SmackDown superstars he’d think might come for the title, including Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest and Trick Williams. He even said that Zayn could come back around and get his rematch if he wanted. He didn’t mention Rhodes’ name, but the “American Nightmare” came out uncalled and marched his way down to the ring.
“I don’t think you and I can run away from each other anymore,” Punk told Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes agreed and mentioned that Punk would want a match with him, just “say when.” It was a quick retort from Punk, who said, “when.” SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis, who was in the ring for the segment, booked the match for SummerSlam.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which takes place Aug. 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
First, however, Punk and Rhodes will be involved in a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City next week. Aldis made the match after Gunther demanded that Aldis put him in a match against Punk. Gunther was hoping it would be for the championship. Instead, Gunther will tag with Zayn.
Gunther didn’t take too kindly to that and attacked Aldis. Rhodes came back out to break up the calamity. He wanted to take on Gunther after the show went off air but Gunther walked away.
Gunther makes his entrance during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images)
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Punk definitely has his hands full as he moves to SmackDown to become a fighting champion.
World Cup tourists are coming to L.A. for the soccer, but they’re staying for the $21 smoothies and Double-Doubles.
As the last Los Angeles FIFA World Cup event ended Friday, soccer fans were eating like locals and famous chains from the region were cashing in.
In the weeks that L.A. has hosted the World Cup, international soccer enthusiasts have flocked to big brands from the area, often in large groups wearing their countries’ jerseys.
It is a phenomenon seen at many of the host cities. In Dallas, giant gas station Buc-ee’s is the main attraction. For people visiting New Jersey, deli shops have been a hot ticket. In L.A., the place to be between matches was Erewhon.
Thirsty international sports fans gathered for pictures outside different Erewhons, wandered their aisles smiling, and, of course, picked up pricey smoothies.
While Erewhon would not comment on its business, mobility data company Arity, which uses phone data to track consumers, said Erewhon visits at the outlets around SoFi Stadium were quadruple what they were a week earlier on June 12, the day of the U.S. national soccer team’s opening match there.
Arity looked at what stores people visited within a 10-mile radius of SoFi that day and also found surges in visitors to nearby El Pollo Loco and Trader Joe’s.
Locals have spotted groups of people in Korea jerseys huddled together, trying to decide what to order at In-N-Out.
Some complained on social media that international tourists at Trader Joe’s were buying up all the mini canvas tote bags.
Soon after the Belgium vs. Spain quarterfinal ended Friday, the In-N-Out near SoFi had a long line of soccer fans stretching out the door in bright red and yellow and black jerseys and matching striped hats and scarves.
One of the workers said he had to explain “spread” and “animal style” to foreign football fans.
“I didn’t know this place existed,” a fan from Romania said while waiting in line.
Los Angeles and other cities and states that have hosted the event need the soccer fans to spend money to make the event worth all the time, effort and money it requires.
A rosy 2024 report projected the World Cup could bring more than $800 million to the L.A. region as 180,000 people converge on the area to sleep, eat and spend.
There were early concerns people weren’t turning up for the event because of the high ticket prices and the difficulty of obtaining visas for citizens of some countries.
However, at least for some L.A. hotels, there was a surge of last-minute visitors which pushed up occupancy and room rates.
While sports fans are not in the region to shop, they do make time for it.
World Cup customer spending is also apparent in beer sales. Andrew Heritage, the chief economist at the Beer Institute said beer purchases at entertainment and attractions in L.A. – outside of World Cup spaces – were up around 10% from normal.
“That tells me that fans in the L.A. area have decided to extend their stay and take in all the other things that the area has to offer, rather than just the match itself,” he said.
On social media, the purpose of these shoppers is clear: grab a quick souvenir or local specialty and take a selfie.
The data from Arity suggests that fans are very efficient when they spend at local spots, diving in, getting what they want and getting out as soon as possible, said Jeff Schlitt, a director at the company.
“Normally you’re there for an hour. They’re going to be there for 15, 18 minutes,” he said. “Why is that? Because they were purpose-driven shoppers.”
For some travelers, the more popular American chains aren’t unfamiliar. But some of the native L.A. fare still comes as a surprise.
As one Belgium-Spain matchgoer from the Netherlands stood taking a picture of the In-N-Out sign after the game, he said he’d never had a burger like the one he’d just tried.
“We only have McDonald’s and Burger King,” he said. “It’s way better.”
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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his start on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called left knee irritation.
Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the past five seasons and made his first start in 2021.
Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 03, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The two-way phenom is on his way to winning his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons as he is hitting .290 with a .939 OPS and pitching to a minuscule 1.79 ERA, the second-lowest in the sport among pitchers with 80-plus innings. His OPS is also the seventh-best mark in the league.
The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter up until the break, but he will “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”
Ohtani dealt with knee issues earlier in the season.
It is certainly a big hit for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a fractured rib that has kept him out since late May.
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready in the on deck circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
DODGERS WILL AGAIN VISIT WHITE HOUSE TO CELEBRATE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, OFFICIAL SAYS
Ohtani hit 99 home runs combined in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS in that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery but returned to the bump last year and owned a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K/9, a figure he also put up in 2022 that led the American League.
The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have 300-plus plate appearances and 40-plus innings in six separate seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has more than excelled at both.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2026. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
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Ohtani is not hitting like he has in the past, but certainly the best pitching performance of his career will make up for it. He “only” has 20 homers and 56 RBI this season.
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