The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) of the women’s national basketball association (WNBA) in the United States is a seismic moment in sports history.

The deal, agreed in mid-March 2026 after 17 months of negotiations, reportedly includes a salary cap increase, significantly higher minimum salaries, revenue sharing, and charter flights. It is considered a huge step in the right direction for player empowerment and league growth.

More than that, though, it is the headline of a wider movement in women’s sports that is empowering players to push for better pay, conditions and a greater share of the revenue they help generate.

“This agreement is historic not just for basketball, but for the architecture of women’s professional sport globally,” Popi Sotiriadou told DW.

Sotiriadou, an associate professor at Griffith University in Australia, is an expert in the business of women’s sport. She believes the WNBA deal reflects the commercial maturity of women’s sport, that investing in stars is a precondition for commercial growth, and that there is enormous power in coordinated collective action.

“The structural shift to a revenue-sharing model that directly links player compensation to the commercial growth of the league is amazing. In essence, players are now economic co-owners of the league’s growth trajectory, not salaried employees of a static enterprise,” she said. 

“This shows a formal recognition by a professional women’s league that player value is the primary driver of commercial value. That represents a shift in philosophy, not merely in dollars.”

Women’s football ready to benefit

Women’s football also looks well-placed to benefit from this deal.

“We know women’s football has a solidarity mindset, and that extends beyond football. What the [WNBA’s] CBA does is connect women’s athletes all over the world to recognize their value, to fight for that value,” Alex Culvin, the director of women’s football at the international football players’ union FIFPRO, told DW.

Culvin believes the WNBA has benefited from seizing upon momentum since its inception in 1996. Women’s football is now in the midst of that, and Culvin believes now is the time to make sure plans are in place to strike.

“When we get to 2027, we have a World Cup in Brazil, probably the most iconic place in the world to have a World Cup. The boom is going to be inevitable, so the mindset for everybody around the sport, players, unions, stakeholders is how do we capitalize on it? And I think the WNBA’s CBA has almost shone a light on that before we get to the World Cup. It’s created a seismic shift on value,” Culvin said.

Impacts are already being felt, and they are going to be made too. The deal hands professional women’s football in the US (NWSL, the top league) a perfect opportunity to take the next step.

“The NWSL’s 2026 minimum salary of $50,500 (€43.600) sits against the WNBA’s new floor of $270,000-$300,000. That gap will be very hard for NWSL ownership to defend publicly. With a performance-based reopener built into the current agreement, and a full renegotiation due in 2030, the WNBA deal hands NWSL players a powerful reference point,” Sotiriadou said.

“The WNBA deal demonstrates what organized players and a commercially mature league can achieve together.”

While a global CBA is unlikely in football, both the WNBA’s action and the CBA’s policies can be highly impactful tools for women’s sports moving forward. Shared revenue is the obvious headline, but also improving minimum salaries, covering and improving travel, and protecting players through policies like no-release or -trade clauses during pregnancy can make an enormous difference. Culvin believes even the non-tangible impact of this deal, such as its use as a reference in pitches, should not be underestimated.

“The question for our unions and players who are members of those unions is what is the role of the unions and as custodians of the game to ensure that the revenue that’s generated is fairly distributed. You can obviously be micro and cherry-pick, saying this clause is amazing or this article is amazing. And then you can kind of be macro and ask, ‘What does this say to football as an industry?’” Culvin said.

What happens next?

Billie Jean King, Flor Isava-Fonseca, the Williams sisters, Allyson Felix, Simone Biles, Kathrine Switzer, Megan Rapinoe  the list of people who have changed women’s sports is storied. Each one has moved the needle, and reminded the next generation of what has been done before.

“You’ve got a responsibility to ensure that you maximize that opportunity and push for everything that you’re worth,” Culvin said.

Sotiriadou sees other sports, such as women’s tennis, golf and emerging rugby competitions as possible benefactors of the deal.

“In each case, the WNBA deal now stands as the benchmark: proof that a professional women’s league, at commercial scale, can sustain a revenue-linked pay model,” Sotiriadou said.

For Culvin and FIFPRO, it’s all about creating the conditions to capitalize on the growing wave of momentum in women’s football.

Perhaps most tellingly of all, though, is what this deal tells us. This is certainly about women’s sport being good and smart business, but it is also about the message. The women of the WNBA recognized their value, organized themselves and worked tirelessly to seize on long-developed momentum to get paid what they deserved. The deal is bound to change their sport forever. It will likely be remembered as a watershed moment in all of women’s sports, many of which will be asking the same questions as Culvin.

“It’s about lighting that spark a little bit more,” she said. “We’re here. What got us here won’t get us there. Where do we want to go to next?”

Edited by: Chuck Penfold

There will be 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup, and travel distances will vary depending on group location and knockout pathways.

While Fifa has regionalised some group-stage fixtures to limit coast-to-coast journeys, deep runs into the knockout rounds are likely to generate travel distances well beyond 12,000 miles for some fanbases.

The biggest group-stage travel burden will fall on the Uefa play-off qualifier in Group B, which could be Wales or Northern Ireland. Fans travelling to all three group games – in Toronto, Inglewood and Seattle – face clocking up more than 3,140 miles.

When return flights from the competing country are included, South Africa fans face the largest travel burden – both for the group stage and an admittedly unlikely run to the final:

The associated emissions for those flights are 4.7 tonnes CO2e per fan for the group stage, rising to as much as 5.9 tonnes CO2e per fan in the group-runner-up-to-final scenario.

The average South African’s expected CO2 emission for a whole year is 5.8 tonnes CO2e, according to the International Energy Agency.

The seeded team with the greatest projected travel burden for fans is Germany:

At the other end of the scale, France’s group travel – excluding international flights – is estimated at just 370 miles, and train travel is possible between two of their host cities.

Tiger Woods says he is “trying to play” in next month’s Masters after returning to action for the first time in more than a year as his team lost in the final round of the TGL season.

The 50-year-old, who has had a series of operations in the last two years, had been sidelined since having an operation in October to replace a disc in his back.

Woods’ previous appearance was also in TGL – an indoor team league his company co-founded – in February 2025.

His Jupiter Links team lost 9-2 against Los Angeles Golf Club in his return to competitive action.

The 15-time major-winner looked in good physical shape as he hit a couple of drives more than 300 yards and he said playing in the Masters will depend on how his body recovers.

The tournament, which Woods has won five times, begins on 9 April at Augusta National.

“I’ve been trying, this body doesn’t recover like it did when I was 24, 25,” said Woods.

“It doesn’t mean I’m not trying; I’ve been trying for a while. I’ve had a couple of bad injuries last year that I’ve had to fight through and has taken some time. I keep trying – I want to play.

“I’ve loved the Masters tournament, I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old, so it’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years and I’m going to be there either way.”

Woods has held a non-playing role with Jupiter Links GC throughout the 2026 TGL season, the PGA Tour-backed league that uses a huge screen in a purpose-built venue in Florida.

Woods’ side beat Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common in last week’s semi-final to set up a meeting with Los Angeles in the best-of-three final.

Los Angeles, featuring England’s Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, won the opening match, before Woods replaced Kevin Kisner for Tuesday’s season finale.

Jupiter Links, which also has Max Homa and Tom Kim in the team, went 2-0 up in the second game of the finals but Woods missed a three-foot putt on the seventh hole and the momentum switched to Los Angeles.

They made three eagles in a row before Jupiter conceded the match and the tournament on the 10th hole.

“It was fine physically,” added Woods.

“We got our ass kicked at the end. Three eagles in a row, we didn’t respond. I missed a short one to kind of get it started and give them momentum and we never got it back.”

Moses Itauma v Jermaine Franklin, Deontay Wilder v Derek Chisora and Fabio Wardley v Daniel Dubois will all be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Itauma’s fight with Franklin on Saturday in Manchester will kick off the heavyweight streak on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Wilder and Chisora collide in London on 4 April before Wardley defends his WBO heavyweight world title against Dubois on 9 May in Manchester.

There will be live text commentary of each fight night on the BBC Sport website and app, with video highlights available the next day.

Itauma defends his unbeaten and electric start to his professional career at Co-op Live arena as he takes on experienced operator Franklin.

The American has just two defeats on his record – to Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua – and comes into the contest off the back of a big upset win over Ivan Dychko in September.

Wilder v Chisora at the O2 Arena is part of a packed weekend of boxing action on the BBC, with Lauren Price defending her welterweight world titles against Stephanie Pineiro in Wales on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

The main events for both fight nights will not clash, and you will be able to follow all the action from both events on the BBC Sport website and app.

Wilder and Chisora are both fighting in their 50th bout and, despite promising to retire before, Chisora has insisted he will hang up his gloves whether he wins or loses.

Wardley and Dubois bring an all-British world title fight to Manchester’s Co-op Live arena.

Londoner Dubois is aiming to become a two-time heavyweight world champion while Ipswich’s Wardley remains unbeaten in 21 bouts.

France’s elite endurance event has earned ‘win and you’re in’ status for the prestigious Australian showpiece, the Melbourne Cup.

The Group 2 Prix Kergorlay over 3000m aligns with America’s Belmont Gold Cup and the Ebor Handicap as qualifiers exempting winners from the ballot for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Flemington’s first Tuesday of November.

Historically, the Prix Kergorlay has been an excellent guide to prospective Melbourne Cup winners.

Americain dominated both races in 2010, Dunaden lined up in the Prix Kergorlay in 2011 before conquering the Melbourne Cup.

Protectionist, trained in Germany, followed suit by winning the pair in 2014.

Victoria Racing Club Chief Executive Kylie Rogers highlighted the France Galop tie-up as a nod to two of racing’s greatest countries.

“France has a storied history and connection with the Melbourne Cup, and we are delighted to formalise our partnership with France Galop by introducing the Prix Kergorlay as a Golden Ticket race,” Rogers said in a statement.

“The Melbourne Cup attracts the best stayers from across the world, and this new partnership both incentivises and ensures that the strongest international contenders are competing on the first Tuesday in November.

“We look forward to building on this partnership and the long-shared bond between our two racing nations.”

Saturday’s Flemington card launches the quest for Melbourne Cup berths, with the Roy Higgins (2600m) providing exemption to its champion.

Victorian ‘win and you’re in’ fixtures also feature the Andrew Ramsden (2800m), Bart Cummings (2500m), Archer Stakes (2500m) all hosted at Flemington, together with Caulfield Cup (2400m), Moonee Valley Gold Cup, Geelong Cup, and Cox Plate (2040m).

Find competitive racing betting markets ahead of the Melbourne Cup on top betting sites.

Michael Carrick has lost just one of his 10 games in charge at Man Utd and there is a reason he is now the odds-on favourite to get the job permanently.

What started out in January as a long list of potential Manchester United head coaches for next season should have shrunk considerably over the previous three months, thanks to the man currently sitting in the hot seat.

Michael Carrick’s run of 23 points from a possible 30, with just one defeat in his 10 games in charge, has significantly strengthened his own candidacy to the extent that it should have ruled plenty of others out.

When Carrick was handed the reins until the end of the season just over two months ago, there were numerous potential targets and several current Premier League bosses in the frame.

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Now, it feels like Carrick has seen off those potential challengers. Oliver Glasner remains second or third favourite with most bookmakers, but his time at Crystal Palace isn’t ending particularly positively. He has already been beaten by Carrick, and his back-three system is an obvious sticking point.

So impressive has Carrick’s reign been, featuring wins over potential rivals for the job in Glasner, Marco Silva and Unai Emery and a draw with Andoni Iraola, that it’s difficult to see the sense in promoting someone from a mid-ranking Premier League club now.

Thomas Frank’s experiences at Tottenham show how difficult it is to make the leap from an upwardly mobile but ultimately under-the-radar club to one of the league’s supposed elite. At least Carrick has shown he can deal with the Old Trafford pressures, has the players on his side and can get results.

That counts for an awful lot when there are so many unknowns about other potential candidates, such as Glasner and Iraola, or even Gareth Southgate, who somehow still features highly in the betting.

Carrick has stabilised United and has them on course for a return to the Champions League. His approach to the job has delivered a sense of calm to Old Trafford that has been absent for an awful long time and that will count for a lot among the club’s executives.

Old Trafford insiders continue to insist that the process to recruit a new head coach will be a thorough one and that there is no rush to make a decision. Although United have only seven games remaining, there is plenty of time left in the season and there isn’t likely to be an early coronation of the kind bestowed on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seven years ago.

United have been impressed with the work Carrick has done. While there is no guarantee he will get the job, it now feels like it’s either Carrick or one of the very few elite managers the club might be able to attract to Old Trafford.

Top of that list will be Luis Enrique, the Paris St-Germain boss who has a glittering CV and an attractive style of play. He has previously expressed an interest in working in the Premier League and speaks excellent English. The question is whether the rebuilding project at United would be attractive enough to Enrique, whose PSG side look to be coming to the boil at the perfect time again this season.

Another ‘elite-level’ contender is Julian Nagelsmann. He is leading Germany into the World Cup this summer and has a contract with the German Football Association that runs until 2028, which would make it a difficult appointment, but he has a long-standing relationship with the director of recruitment, Christopher Vivell, and experience managing a super club in Bayern Munich.

For many, the choice of head coach is now down to these three. There could be more twists and turns to come, but with every passing week, Carrick is doing his bit to rule others out.

Tulsa and New Mexico both advanced to the NIT semifinals with victories Tuesday and will face each other on April 2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. 

No. 1 seed Tulsa advanced with an 83-79 win over Wichita State behind a standout performance from guard Tylen Riley. He finished with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists in the win over the Shockers. 

No. 1 seed New Mexico moved on to the semifinals after defeating Saint Joseph’s 84-69 behind 27 points from Tomislav Bulijan.

Wednesday will see the other side of the bracket get filled out. No. 1 seed Auburn hosts No. 2 seed Nevada, while No. 2 seed Dayton will face No. 4 seed Illinois State. Auburn, the only remaining high-major team in the field, has never reached the semifinals of the NIT. The Tigers’ last appearance in the NIT came in 2009, when they lost to Baylor in the quarterfinals.

Only four power conference teams are competing in the NIT this year: Auburn, Cal, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State. Multiple programs — such as Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Belmont and San Diego State — declined an invitation to the NIT after missing out on the NCAA Tournament.

Here is a look at the full bracket.

2026 NIT schedule 

Games in the first three rounds to be played at the higher-seeded team’s home arena. All times ET

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, March 24 

• No. 1 Tulsa 83, No. 3 Wichita State 79 | Recap
• No. 1 New Mexico 84, Saint Joseph’s 69 | Recap

Wednesday, March 25 

• No. 2 Dayton vs. No. 4 Illinois State, 7 p.m. | ESPN2
• No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 2 Nevada, 9 p.m. | ESPN2

Semifinals

Thursday, April 2 

Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis

• No. 1 Tulsa vs. No. 1 New Mexico, TBD | ESPN
• TBD vs. TBD | ESPN

Championship

Sunday, April 5

Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis

• Semifinal winners |  8 p.m. | ESPN2

Auburn Region

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Auburn 78, South Alabama 67 | Recap
No. 2  Nevada 89, Murray State 75 | Recap
Liberty 77, No. 3 George Mason 71 | Recap
No. 4 Seattle U 67, St. Thomas (MN) 52 | Recap

SECOND ROUND

No. 1 Auburn 91, No. 4 Seattle U 85 | Recap
No. 2 Nevada 73, Liberty 63 | Recap

Albuquerque Region

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 New Mexico 107, Sam Houston 83 | Recap
No. 2  Cal 91, UIC 73 | Recap
No. 3 Colorado State vs. Saint Joseph’s | Recap
George Washington 79, No. 4 Utah Valley 78 | Recap

SECOND ROUND

No. 1 New Mexico 86, George Washington 61 | Recap
Saint Joseph’s 76, No. 2 Cal 75 | Recap

Winston-Salem Region

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Wake Forest 82, Navy 72 | Recap
No. 2 Dayton 80, Bradley 66 | Recap
UNCW 68, No. 3 Yale 67 | Recap
No. 4 Illinois State vs. Kent State | Recap

SECOND ROUND

No. 4 Illinois State 78, No. 1 Wake Forest 75 | Recap
No. 2 Dayton 80, UNC-Wilmington 61 | Recap

Tulsa Region

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Tulsa 89, Stephen F. Austin 84 (OT) | Recap
No. 2 Oklahoma State 84, Davidson 80 | Recap
No. 3 Wichita State 74, Wyoming 70 | Recap
UNLV 75, No. 4 UC Irvine 72 | Recap

SECOND ROUND

No. 1 Tulsa 77, UNLV 66 | Recap
No. 3 Wichita State 96, No. 2 Oklahoma State 70 | Recap

The Pittsburgh Steelers are unofficially being held hostage by Aaron Rodgers’s gruesomely unpunctual decision-making, and if Rodgers ultimately decides to retire, Kirk Cousins could be the Steelers’ fallback plan.

Pittsburgh may need a contingency plan, and Cousins is firmly in the conversation.

That’s the word recently from NFL insider Jason La Canfora, who claimed that Cousins is Pittsburgh’s current insurance policy.

The Steelers Continue Weighing Cousins as a Backup Plan

Cousins could start after all in 2026.

La Canfora: Steelers Keeping an Eye on Cousins

In article explaining that Cousins may not find a new team until after the NFL draft, La Canfora mentioned, “While several GMs told me they believe the Falcons would have been far better off keeping Cousins as their starter for this season, Atlanta did not attempt to bring him back, the sources said, and at this point it might make the most sense for him to wait until inevitable injuries occur, rather than make a decision now.”

“Cousins is not going to be signing anywhere for the veteran minimum, and there are fewer options available to him now. Pittsburgh is monitoring Cousins and view him as a viable alternative if Aaron Rodgers opts to retire.”

If not Cousins as the contingency plan, the Steelers are down to Joe Flacco, Russell Wilson, and Jimmy Garoppolo from free agency, in addition to their incumbent second-year passer, Will Howard.

Rodgers’s Cringeworthy Delay

Before the 2025 regular season began, reporters naturally asked Rodgers if the campaign was his final, and he hinted affirmatively. The first year in Pittsburgh lined up as his final season in the pros, per his lips.

Then, after the Steelers lost in Round 1 of the postseason, he told the media that he wouldn’t make a rushed decision about his future, waiting for the raw emotion to burn off before locking in his return or retirement. That was 2.5 months ago.

Fast forward to late March, and Rodgers continues to lollygag, refusing to notify the public of his plans, despite fearlessness over appearing on national programming like ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show. It’s also worth noting that Rodgers and his predecessor for the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre, are the only two NFLers to do this — get to the offseason for multiple years during their career twilight and then just have everyone guess about what they might do.

It’s utterly bizarre.

Raiders as a Bridge Spot for Kirk

On Cousins, suppose Rodgers returns, postponing retirement and guaranteeing the 2027 offseason brings another “Will he or won’t he?” regarding retirement. Cousins would look for a new landing spot, and the Las Vegas Raiders might make sense if probable first overall pick Fernando Mendoza isn’t quite ready to start Week 1.

La Canfora noted on Vegas an option for Cousins, “Las Vegas is still looking for a more established quarterback to buy them time if they need it, if presumptive first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza is not ready to start Week 1.”

The Raiders’ new skipper is Klint Kubiak, and he crossed paths with Cousins in Minnesota. The only quarterback — at all — on Las Vegas’s roster at this very moment is Aidan O’Connell. The Raiders traded Geno Smith to the New York Jets. Some teams, like the Vikings, have four quarterbacks in March. The Raiders have one.

The Other Teams?

If it’s not the Steelers or Raiders, Cousins might be down this list of destinations:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Cleveland Browns
• Indianapolis Colts
• San Francisco 49ers

The Cardinals have Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew ready to do battle for the QB1 job this summer — not an ideal combo unless a team is outwardly tanking. The Browns have three quarterbacks — which means they could have none in a practical sense — in Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel.

Colts quarterback and former Viking Daniel Jones is recovering from a busted Achilles, and Indianapolis may trade Anthony Richardson to a team like the Green Bay Packers. The San Francisco 49ers? Why not trade Mac Jones to a team like the Arizona Cardinals for a 2nd-Rounder and sign Cousins for cheap as the QB2?

La Canfora on the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams as landing spots for Cousins: “Several executives have noted Cousins’s past ties to head coach Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco) and Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams), and believe Cousins could be a welcome addition as a back-up there (or perhaps with Andy Reid in Kansas City), but at this point it seems unlikely Cousins would go that route without exhausting any opportunity to start.”

Cousins will turn 38 in August and ranked as the NFL’s 10th-worst quarterback last season per EPA/Play.