11:06 AM ET SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers are making George Kittle the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. By a lot. The Niners and Kittle agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract on Thursday, league sources confirmed to ESPN. The deal was first reported by Barstool Sports, which reports Kittle received
6:18 PM ET Associated Press Robert Ryland, the first Black professional tennis player and later a coach to such stars as Arthur Ashe and Serena and Venus Williams, has died. He was 100. Ryland died Aug. 2 at his stepson’s home in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, his wife, Nancy Ingersoll, confirmed to The New
6:26 PM BST Hosting rights for the next two men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups will be awarded within the same process as World Rugby attempt to build on the success of Japan 2019, the governing body announced on Thursday. The announcement means the 2025 and 2029 women’s and 2027 and 2021 men’s World Cup
4:29 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Serena Williams came back and won the last four games to beat her older sister, Venus, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a hard-hitting, back-and-forth, second-round matchup at the Top Seed Open on Thursday. It was the 31st meeting of their careers — 22 1/2 years after the first.
1:41 PM ET Steve KimESPN For two years, IBF lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez Jr. and his outspoken father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., have been asking for a fight against unified champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. After extensive negotiations and public comments regarding an impasse, a deal was finally reached on Wednesday night and the two will fight on
4:11 PM BST All 12 top-flight clubs will take a stand against racism with different gestures as Premiership Rugby committed itself to making the sport more diverse and inclusive, on Wednesday. Harlequins, Leicester and Wasps players will take a knee to support the “Black Lives Matter” movement when the Premiership season resumes this weekend. 1
2:51 PM ET Associated Press GREENSBORO, N.C. — Harold Varner III tied his career low round with an 8-under 62 to grab the early lead at the Wyndham Championship on Thursday. Varner was three shots in front of Wesley Bryan and Brian Harman among the early starters at the Sedgefield Country Club. Varner had eight
1:49 PM ET More than seven out of 10 sports fans support teams and athletes speaking out on issues of social justice and racial equality, according to an online survey of 837 sports fans conducted for ESPN. Of the 71% of fans who supported athletes speaking out, 44% strongly supported it. Nearly half of the
6:55 AM ET NFL NationESPN As 2020 NFL training camps move from strength and conditioning work to padded practice over the next week, the competition for starting jobs will heat up across the league. There will be a maximum of 14 padded practices per team and, with no preseason games due to the coronavirus pandemic,
2:30 PM ET Associated Press Top-seeded Simona Halep came from a set down to defeat Barbora Krejcikova 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the quarterfinals of the Prague open on Thursday. Down 2-0 in the final set, Halep replied by winning six consecutive games, converting her first match point when the 118th-ranked Krejcikova double-faulted. “She played
9:17 AM ET In a football sphere defined and dominated by super clubs — whether legacy institutions, or generously bankrolled nouveau riche — it’s tempting see the tale of Atalanta as the classic underdog story, using ingenuity, creativity and, above all, fearlessness to shake up the established order in both the Champions League and Serie
England great James Anderson returned to form with two wickets against Pakistan at Southampton on Thursday as Fawad Alam’s long wait for a Test recall ended with a duck. Pakistan were 126-5 at stumps after a combination of rain and bad light cut short play on the first day of the second Test. Anderson had
1:27 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Kentucky Derby winner, is recovering after recently testing positive for COVID-19. His condition was disclosed in a tweet posted by grandson Brady Wayne Lukas. “Wayne recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has since been isolating at home and
8:18 AM ET It was Sept. 11, 2017, a beautiful day in the Cleveland suburb of Valley View, and fire chief Ken Papesh was anxiously awaiting a visitor. UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was headed to the firehouse to interview heavyweight champ — and part-time firefighter/paramedic — Stipe Miocic for the FS1 show “In
7:10 AM ET NBA Insiders Thursday is the biggest day of the NBA restart, as we reach the conclusion of the red-hot Western Conference play-in battle. The Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns will all be in action, and only two will advance to face off on Saturday. We asked
Chris Froome lost more time to Egan Bernal during the brutal mountainous second stage of the Tour de Dauphine. The four-time Tour de France winner is now nearly 14 minutes behind Team Ineos team-mate Bernal, who is fourth in the overall standings, led by Jumbo-Visma’s Primoz Roglic. Roglic won the 135km stage, with Bernal 10th
7:25 AM ET Associated Press NEWPORT, Wales — French golfer Alex Levy has been withdrawn from the Celtic Classic, which started on Thursday. Levy came into contact with a friend who has since tested positive for the coronavirus, the European Tour said in a statement. The contact occurred while Levy was at home in France
Lewis Hamilton has no concerns about the introduction of a rule that appears to be aimed at slowing Mercedes down. F1 bosses are considering a rule that would prevent the use of high-power modes in qualifying, with which rivals believe Mercedes have an advantage. But Hamilton said: “It is obviously to slow us down but