LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NFL averaged 21.0 million viewers per game during the league’s opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 on record. The league and Nielsen said Wednesday morning that the per-game average on TV and digital platforms was a 12% increase over last year. Nielsen began electronic measurement of viewing in 1988. All told, 123 million people saw at least part of one game, its highest total for an opening week since 2019.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin Lux singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied after blowing a 7-3 lead to beat the Chicago Cubs 10-8 on Wednesday night and avoid a series sweep. Shohei Ohtani hit his 47th home run and stole his 48th base while three other Dodgers went deep in the first inning for the NL West leaders, whose magic number to clinch the division dropped to 11 after San Diego lost at Seattle. The Dodgers walked 10 batters, including four by starter Bobby Miller.
The Pac-12 is ready to begin its rebuild. The Conference of Champions is targeting Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State of the Mountain West, with the schools on the verge of being accepted as members as soon as this week, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the conference’s plans and discussions with possible new members were not being made public. They said, if an agreement is reached, the new schools would join in 2026. Yahoo! Sports first reported the four Mountain West schools were applying for Pac-12 membership. The Pac-12 is currently a two-school conference, with Oregon State and Washington State the only remaining members after the league was picked apart last year by other power conferences.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Rick Hendrick, the winningest owner in NASCAR history, said Tuesday “I was just tired” of the lengthy negotiations over a new charter agreement and that played into his decision to sign NASCAR’s final offer. NASCAR gave teams a deadline of last Friday night to sign and 13 teams — all but two — agreed to the deal that now runs through 2031. The two holdouts are the Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Hendrick, at a news conference to announce Kyle Larson will run the Indianapolis 500 in 2025, said that more than two years of negotiations with NASCAR over extending team charters had been draining.
WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Major League Baseball
American League
Cleveland 6, Chicago White Sox 4
NY Yankees 4, Kansas City 3 (11 inn)
Boston 5, Baltimore 3
Minnesota 5, LA Angels 4
Oakland 5, Houston 4
National League
Pittsburgh 3, Miami 1
Philadelphia 3, Tampa Bay 2
Washington 5, Atlanta 1
St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 1
San Francisco 13, Milwaukee 2
LA Dodgers 10, Chicago Cubs 8
Interleague
NY Mets 6, Toronto 2
Arizona 14, Texas 4
Detroit 7, Colorado 4
Seattle 5, San Diego 2