Aside from wins and losses, attendance may be the most meaningful measurement of how well a college football team is doing in a season.

Healthy ticket sales reflect a team’s on-the-field success in a given season, but they also pay the bills for a substantial share of an athletic department’s expenses.

However, a game’s reported attendance number doesn’t always tell the whole story of a program’s success or failure. Athletic department budgets vary, and a number that foots the bill for one school may not cut muster for another.

Washington State will never fit 60,000 fans in its 33,000-seat venue, but selling out Martin Stadium every game in a season will likely do more for the WSU athletic department than the same 33,000 weekly attendance figure would do for Washington or USC.

Consequently, the attendance tables below show each team’s attendance by total and as a percentage of capacity.

The tables display the stadium capacities for all 27 SuperWest region teams, along with a running summation of attendance totals and averages for the 2025 season, as well as weekly totals for each week of the season.

(Hawai’i is temporarily playing in TC Ching’s Athletic Complex until the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District is completed.)

Week 0 Attendance

Week 1 Attendance

Pakistan captain Babar Azam was not consulted about the decision to tear up his squad ahead of this week’s final Test against England, admitting the drastic cull was “news to me”.

Heavy defeats at Headingley and Lord’s were met with sweeping changes by the Pakistan Cricket Board, who reacted by sending seven players home as well as removing head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul from their positions.

A raft of replacements were summoned, including five with no Test experience, while white-ball coach Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke were drafted to take charge at Edgbaston this week.

Addressing the remarkable sequence of events for the first time on the eve of the third Test, Babar admitted decisions had been taken without his knowledge but attempted to frame it as a fresh chance for those still in Birmingham.

Speaking in Urdu, he said: “It was news to me. I found out after. The PCB decided it, so they will be able to explain better.

“The PCB’s decision must have been taken after some thought process. It’s better if you ask them why. It’s an opportunity for us as a group and a team. The series is lost but we have nothing to lose. We should play freely and believe in ourselves as a team.

“It’s an opportunity for the new boys and a chance to showcase their talent. Any young player who comes in is excited, and that excitement is visible. I believe that will be visible in the match, too.

“I firmly believe you need to grab opportunities and perform in difficult conditions. That’s why we play cricket, because we have to perform and dominate in difficult conditions. We need to forget about past failures and shift focus to the future.”

Babar offered nothing further on the internal inquiry into “discipline and conduct” which was announced by the board on Tuesday, adding in English: “No, I don’t know. I have no idea about it.”

Meanwhile, former Pakistan all-rounder Wasim Akram renewed calls for “fair treatment” for his one-time captain and ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The PCB reportedly considered refusing to let players take the field at Lord’s due to a dispute with Sky Sports over Michael Atherton’s interview with Khan’s sons Kasim and Sulaiman, in which they criticised their imprisoned father’s treatment and healthcare in the strongest terms.

Atherton was one of 14 former international captains who co-signed a letter to current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pleading for Khan to be treated humanely and with “basic human consideration”.

Akram, appearing on the ‘Old Boys, New Balls’ podcast co-hosted by another former England captain, Sir Ian Botham, said: “We would like to thank all the captains that recently signed a petition for Imran.

“I feel for skipper, I miss him as a friend, I miss him as a mentor, we miss him as a leader. We haven’t seen his picture for three years.

“What we want from this government is to give him the fair treatment, like other politicians had before.

“Fingers are crossed, Inshallah the whole nation is behind him and he’ll be out (soon).”

PA

On the football pitches of Bundesliga club Wolfsburg, the Afghanistan women’s national team is training and doing exactly what is strictly forbidden in their home country: playing football.

In the first session of the day, the coaches’ main focus is helping the players get to know each other better and have fun. That’s because, as of April of this year, these young women are now officially allowed to play football as the Afghan national team.

FIFA, the world’s football federation, has amended its regulations, allowing Afghan women to once again represent their country in official international matches and FIFA competitions.

“This was a huge victory for us, a wonderful moment, and one of the moments we’re most proud of. Because once again, the women of our country have made history and brought about change,” Khalida Popal told DW. The former captain and founder of the organization Girl Power has been a pioneer for women’s football in her country.

Karimi: ‘I’m incredibly proud’

Since the Taliban took power in 2021, the players and Popal have fought for the recognition that has now become a reality.

“I’m incredibly proud that we can now officially play as a national team,” said midfielder Maryam Karimi.

For Karimi, who has been living in Portugal since fleeing Afghanistan, FIFA’s decision is more than just a formality.

“I hope that one day we’ll be able to play in Afghanistan again with this team.”

Until then, however, Afghanistan remains a national team without a home.

“We’ll probably be one of the first national teams in history that has no home and no country in which to play,” said Popal. “We’ll compete from exile and represent our country.”

Today, the players are scattered across the world. Many have traveled from England, Italy, Portugal or Germany, but some have also found refuge in Australia.

“We come from different countries and can’t play together regularly. But when I see the players, they’re incredibly united. They keep going and push each other forward,” said Karimi.

Gaining More Visibility Through Football

The 39-year-old Popal wants to use her experience to help the players and advance their athletic development. She wants the national team to be known not only for what was taken from them, but also for what it achieves on the field.

“The first goal, of course, is to build a strong team that performs well on the field,” said Popal. “Because the better we play, the better we can represent our country, and the more visible we’ll become.”

But that is precisely where the biggest challenge currently lies. In Afghanistan itself, a regular system for women’s football cannot be established at this time. As long as the Taliban are in power, women are not allowed to play sports.

So there is nowhere for young talent to be nurtured; there is no funding and no support from the country the players represent. This is because the Afghan Football Federation — unlike FIFA — does not recognize the women’s team. For the time being, therefore, the team’s future must be built outside the country.

“We have no federation and no country where talent can develop,” said Popal. That is why the team relies heavily on the Afghan diaspora. There, the team is looking for players who may never have played for a club in Afghanistan, but who could represent their parents’ country in the future.

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Popal: ‘The Taliban are erasing women from society’

To organize football camps like these, the women rely on outside support. The summer 2026 camp was made possible by an invitation from Volkswagen and Wolfsburg, but Popal and her organization still have a lot of work ahead of them. 

Giving players who have fled Afghanistan a place back in international football is one part of the challenge, but so is creating structures and a foundation on which Afghan women’s football can be built.

“It will be a team that stands up to the Taliban. Because the Taliban are erasing women from society,” said Popal.

“We will play football to stand up for the women of our country. When the players take the field, they’re also playing for those women in Afghanistan who aren’t allowed to.”

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Just like the former captain, the other young women on the team feel the same way. Midfielder Karimi wants to use football to draw more attention to her friends and all the women in her homeland.

“I can make my voice heard through the way I play football,” Karimi said. “I can make my voice heard from the field.”

Popal: “These girls are our future”

Despite a long battle for the human rights taken away from women by the Taliban, Popal keeps pushing because she wants to make sure that the women wearing the national team’s jersey today are not the last generation to do so.

“I believe that Afghanistan won’t stay this way forever. These dark days will pass. These girls will be the next coaches of the Afghan women’s national team, the next directors of football academies, the next president, or the next ministers of our country,” said Popal.

“And that is exactly why we are investing in these girls: because they are the future.”

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This article was originally published in German.

Edited by: Matt Pearson

The Vikings’ draft class is going to be under ample scrutiny in the 2026 season, a cluster of games that gets rolling on Sunday.

Already, the nine-person draft class has been brought down to eight players with the departure of C Gavin Gerhardt. There’s then the broader outlook for the UDFAs among those draftees, all of whom will be looking to make their NFL debut on Sunday. Of those drafted young fellas, though, who is trending well going into the Week 1 game?

The Vikings’ Draft Class
Optimism and Pessimism Ahead of Week 1

Oddly enough, the Vikings’ draft class is working through what could be described as a near even split in degrees of optimism. Consider a chart to simplify (obfuscate?) how things look right now:

Now, a quick word to clarify the purpose of the chart. The point above is not to make any predictive claims about who is going to play well or not as well. Rather, the idea is merely to highlight a very general, very insufficient sense of the overall hype surrounding each player rolling into the upcoming season. Some guys have been generating lots of hype while others haven’t been so successful early on.

Starting off with Caleb Banks makes sense given his status as the very surprising opening selection of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Part of the problem for Banks has been health, or lack thereof. What’s encouraging is that he’s been out there for all of training camp and the preseason. What’s discouraging is that he looks raw and in need of further polish. To a certain extent, that’s to be expected for any newcomer, but seeing the 325-pound defensive tackle get pushed around by NFL backups at various points in the preseason isn’t going to be met with applause around the Vikings.

Caleb Banks needs to ensure his compete reaches a rabid level as he works on refining the finer details of being an NFL d-lineman.

In contrast, Domonique Orange appears to have created plenty of believers among Vikings fans.

Most see the young nose tackle as merely a run stuffer. He disagrees. Better yet, Orange has shown some nice wiggle in his still-young NFL career, creating optimism about his capacity to chase down NFL passers. Gobbling up blockers, runners, and passers would mean that Minnesota crushed that 3rd-Round selection.

Golday, Bredeson, and Demmings all appear poised to dress in Week 1. Better yet, the first two names — Golday and Bredeson — are going to earn snaps on their side of the ball. Meanwhile, Demmings is going to be a special teams player who looks like a true CB4 instead of a Dwight McGlothern CB4.

Neither Tiernan nor Thomas have had pain free offseasons. These depth options have each had to overcome injuries (the lineman had an ankle issue and the safety a back problem), so some grace is required. Still, neither ventures into Week 1 with massive momentum. Tiernan looks like he won’t dress while Thomas is probably a special teams option.

Running back Demond Claiborne is healthy but isn’t yet a finished product. Where he shines is as a remarkably fast runner. Where he struggles is in the passing game and with ball security. Best guess is that he has a negligible role on offense while possibly earning some reps on specials.

The Vikings’ draft class will take on the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season. Watch for DT Caleb Banks, DT Domonique Orange, and various the various other rookies in that early NFC North showdown.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Manchester United identified the Newcastle United left-back as a target in the summer transfer window

Lewis Hall is reportedly closing in on an agreement with Newcastle United over a new deal in a blow to Manchester United. The club identified the left-back as a transfer target in the summer window.

United were keen to strengthen their left-back options before the end of the window, with Hall one of the key targets. However, having already sold three key players in Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, Newcastle were not willing to let the defender go without a huge fee.

talkSPORT now report that Hall is ‘set to sign’ a new contract at St. James’ Park, after being impressed by new manager Matthias Jaissle. The Magpies are unbeaten under the new boss, drawing two and winning one of their opening three Premier League games, as well as overcoming West Brom in the Carabao Cup.

Hall’s current deal with Newcastle runs until 2029, but it is not clear how much the new contract will extend it by, if any. The 22-year-old has been with the club since completing a move from Chelsea in the summer of 2024, he spent the previous season on loan with the Magpies.

Amid the reports over Hall’s long-term future, it appears that United could already be looking at alternative options ahead of the January transfer window. The club are one of a few clubs to be linked with an interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Daniel Svensson.

The 24-year-old is able to play left-back as well as several other positions. So far this season he has already played at left-back, centre-back, left midfield and right midfield.

The left side of defence is expected to be a priority area for Michael Carrick when the transfer window re-opens in the new year. As it stands, Luke Shaw is the only natural left-back in the squad.

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While he was able to play every game in the Premier League last season, the introduction of Champions League football will put more demand on the 31-year-old.

United made a deadline day enquiry for Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde, as well as Manchester City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri. Checks were also made on Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen and Brighton’s Ferdi Kadioglu.

Despite being linked with a move away in the final days of the transfer window, 19-year-old Harry Amass remained with the club. He could step in should Shaw become unavailable in the first six months of the campaign.

United could also potentially turn to Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui or Patrick Dorgu, who have all previously filled in at left-back.

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Papatchaya Phontham of Thailand’s EST Cola in the PVL Invitational Conference MVP. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Papatchaya Phontham capped EST Cola’s PVL Invitational title run with the Most Valuable Player award.

Phontham dropped 15 points to deliver EST Cola’s crown with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 sweep of Nxled on Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Thai became the first international player to win the PVL MVP.

Phontham was also the Best Opposite Spiker. She was the No.2 Best Scorer with 97 points, third in spiking with a 35.74 percent attack rate and fourth in service with 0.37 aces per frame.

Gel Cayuna earned her sixth Conference Best Setter award, moving closer to Jia De Guzman’s eight.

Cayuna just signed with the Chameleons last May after Cignal filed a leave of absence and shone in her second tournament with her new team with 5.50 excellent sets per frame, third in the Invitational, and nailed 0.25 aces per set, ninth in service.

Nxled Chameleons’ Gel Cayuna during the PVL Invitational Final vs Thailand’s EST Cola. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Jonah Sabete-Escamillan won her first-ever PVL Best Outside Spiker award after showing her well-rounded game.

Escamillan was sixth in scoring with a total of 84 points, sixth in blocking with 0.65 kill blocks per set, fifth in service with 0.35 aces per set, fifth in digging with 3.15 per set, and third in receptions with 47.62 percent efficiency.

Last year’s MVP Savi Davison won her third Best Outside Spiker despite PLDT’s failed title defense.

The Filipino-Canadian spiker tallied three 30-point games in the preliminaries and topped all scorers with 135 points. She was the No.2 Best Spiker with a 37.97 percent attack rate, sixth in receptions with a 41.92 percent efficiency, and seventh in digs with 3.00 per set.

Davison dropped 29 points to win bronze for PLDT, beating Creamline in four sets.

Jaja Santiago-Minowa won her second Best Middle Blocker award after joining Creamline. She was the top blocker with 0.86 blocks per set, and third in scoring with 92 points.

MJ Phillips earned her third Conference Best Middle Blocker award, the first time since 2023. She tallied 79 points as the seventh-best scorer, fourth in blocking with 0.70 blocks per set, and second in service with 0.45 aces per set.

Kath Arado won her seventh Conference Best Libero, still the winningest in the league. She was the top digger of the tournament with 5.70 digs per set.

Rumble streamer John “Tectone” recently challenged left-wing political commentator, streamer, and Twitch Partner Mike from PA, or “Central_Committee” on Twitch, to a boxing match. For context, Mike was suspended from Twitch for three days after he appeared to make a death threat against his fellow platform member and political commentator, Hutch.

In his alleged threat, Mike from PA suggested Hutch was an “enemy” of the state, and proceeded to explain what typically happened in “ancient Rome” to these enemies of the state:

“I don’t think a word exists in the dictionary for how much antipathy, malevolence, malice, hatred, just the way you should feel towards this person. In ancient Rome, they would declare someone an enemy of Rome as an act in the Senate, and they would say it was a moral obligation for every Roman to do them harm in any way they are…”

On September 4, 2026, following these comments, Mike was banned for three days. His suspension was revoked on September 7, and soon after, Tectone took to his X page and voiced his discontent with Twitch’s decision to unban him:

“This guy threatened to kill a man and got 1/10th the ban I got for calling a 400-pound hippo fat. Twitch is morally bankrupt.”

Mike then clapped back, bringing up John’s court case:

“I thought they banned you for being adjudicated a sexual assaulter with a 10-year protective order against you so severe that a Texas Judge took away your guns.”

Hours after Mike from PA’s message, Tectone challenged him to a boxing match, bringing up the drama with Hutch, and also a November 2024 incident where Mike allegedly put out a $100,000 hit on Destiny:

“Mike from PA has now made over 98 calls to violence on other streamers. Twitch has responded by banning him for 2 days. From putting a 100k hit on Destiny. To asking his chat to kill Hutch and his wife. This man sure is violent. @Mike_from_PA if you want violence so bad, why don’t we box in a ring?”

“If I lose, I’ll give $50,000 to Frogan’s court funds”: Tectone claims he will donate to Frogan’s legal battle against Ethan Klein if he beats Mike from PA

Twitch streamer Morgan “Frogan” was sued in June 2025 by Ethan Klein for copyright infringement over her livestream reaction/watch-along of Ethan’s “Content Nuke: Hasan Piker.”

As of this writing, the case is still active, and Frogan has created a GoFundMe page called “Frogan’s Lawsuit Defense Fund.” Tectone referenced the GoFundMe while he called out Mike from PA, saying that if he lost the boxing match, he would donate $50,000 to Frogan’s cause:

“If I lose, I’ll give 50k to Frogan’s court funds (or McDonald’s gift card).”

In other news, Tectone claimed doctors told him his unborn child would grow to 6’4, saying “genetics for their baby are insane.”