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March Madness tournaments will expand to 76 teams each starting next season

The NCAA will expand its March Madness tournaments by eight teams each next season. It will add more early-round games in the first week without altering the overall format. The new 76-team brackets for men and women will feature 12 games involving 24 teams. The winners will join the main 64-team bracket starting Thursday for men and Friday for women. Most new slots are expected to go to power conference teams.

A Knicks takeover in Philadelphia? Embiid’s plea to 76ers fans meets the resale market for Game 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid has urged 76ers fans not to sell their playoff tickets to Knicks supporters. The Sixers need Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, who missed Game 2 against the Knicks due to injuries. The Knicks lead the series 2-0, with Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia on Friday and Sunday. The Sixers tried to limit ticket sales to local fans through geo-fencing, but resale platforms make it easy for Knicks fans to buy tickets. This strategy isn’t new; other teams have tried it. The effectiveness will be seen in the crowd’s colors on Friday night.

Yankees’ Jasson Domínguez has left shoulder sprain after crashing into left-field wall in 1st inning

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees left fielder Jasson Domínguez sprained his left shoulder while crashing into the wall as he caught Brandon Nimmo’s drive leading off the first inning of Thursday’s game against Texas. After the game, the team said Domínguez has a low grade AC sprain of his left shoulder, and will be put on the injured list. Concussion tests thus far were negative. Domínguez, playing outfield for the Yankees for the second time this season, ran 81 feet to catch Nimmo’s 101 mph shot. He gloved the ball 375 feet from the plate as his left shoulder hit hard against the video advertising board. Domínguez fell to the warning track, prompting manager Aaron Boone and head athletic trainer Tim Lentych to come out to check him.

The World Cup will be missing some star players as injuries mount before the big kickoff

Kylian Mbappe is sidelined by a hamstring injury. Lamine Yamal is out for the rest of the club season and so is Brazil star Estevao. Injuries to some of soccer’s biggest names are mounting ahead of the World Cup which starts in five weeks. Mbappe is expected to play again for Real Madrid this month and there is no suggestion his issue will rule him out of the World Cup. But every setback to France’s best player will be of concern to the national team. Barcelona’s teenage sensation Yamal is recuperating from a leg muscle injury and is also expected to be part of Spain’s squad and appear at his first World Cup. Others however have not been so fortunate.

Sinner adds his voice to French Open prize money protests and awaits Wimbledon response

ROME (AP) — The top tennis players are already upset that they are not receiving a bigger share of tournament revenues at the French Open. Now Jannik Sinner says they’re hoping Wimbledon and the U.S. Open respond to their demands. Fellow No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said this week that players should consider a boycott. Sinner says “It’s more about respect. Because I think we give much more than what we are getting back.” Sinner wouldn’t commit to a boycott. He says “I think in the next couple of weeks we know also the prize money we’re going to have in Wimbledon. We truly hope that it’s going to be better. Then, of course, U.S. Open.”

Grisham leads Yankees over Rangers 9-2 for 16th win in 19 games but Domínguez hurt hitting wall

NEW YORK (AP) — Trent Grisham hit a go-ahead, three-run double in a six-run sixth inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Texas 9-2 for their 16th win in 19 games on an afternoon the Rangers misplayed four balls in a difficult sun. Yankees left fielder Jasson Domínguez left in a cart after crashing into the wall while catching Brandon Nimmo’s drive leading off the first. After the game, the Yankees said Domínguez has a low grade AC sprain of his left shoulder, and will be put on the injured list. Concussion tests thus far were negative. AL-best New York won its sixth straight series while sending the Rangers to their seventh loss in 10 games.

WNBA’s new CBA sets blueprint as emerging women’s leagues chart their own path

The WNBA’s landmark new collective bargaining agreement is setting a higher standard for player pay and benefits, offering a roadmap for emerging women’s leagues like the WPBL, PWHL and WER. The deal, which includes revenue sharing, a sharp rise in the salary cap and improved travel and health benefits, reflects years of player advocacy and growing commercial success. Leaders in newer leagues are studying those gains, particularly the role of player unity in driving change. Still, they caution that differences in funding, structure and league maturity mean reaching similar milestones will take time, patience and sustained investment.

Tigers’ Triple-A manager says he was fired after sending ‘inappropriate’ text to female colleague

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The Detroit Tigers’ Triple-A manager says he was fired this week after sending an “inappropriate” text message to a female colleague. The Tigers announced Tuesday that Gabe Alvarez had been fired for what they called a “violation of club policy,” but they did not specify the violation. Alvarez told ESPN on Wednesday that he sent “a single text message to a colleague that I intended as a lighthearted joke. The 52-year-old Alvarez played parts of three big league seasons as a third baseman for Detroit and the San Diego Padres before working as an assistant coach with USC. He was hired as a minor league hitting coordinator by Detroit in 2021, began managing Double-A Erie in 2022 and was promoted to managing Triple-A Toledo in 2025.

OG Anunoby is questionable for Game 3 and day to day with a strained hamstring, AP source says

NEW YORK (AP) — A person with knowledge of the details tells The Associated Press that OG Anunoby has a strained right hamstring. Anunoby will be listed as questionable to play in Game 3 at Philadelphia on Friday, the person says. Anunoby will be considered day to day and appears to have avoided a serious injury after leaving late in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, a 108-102 New York victory for a 2-0 lead in the series. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there had been no announcement about Anunoby.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd has surgery on knee that he injured playing with his kids

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd has had surgery to repair a partial meniscus tear that he suffered in his left knee while playing with his children. Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Thursday he expected Boyd to miss about six weeks. The 35-year-old left-hander injured the knee on Wednesday. He joins starters Cade Horton, Justin Steele and Jordan Wicks on the injured list. Horton is out for the season while Steele is not expected back until the second half. Counsell said he had yet to decide how to fill the the scheduled start for Boyd on Friday at the Texas Rangers.