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The NFL draft is an annual event that takes place over three days. But preparing for the draft starts months before as prospects attend pro days, participate in combine testing and take visits to teams interested in them.

Teams are able to make trades during or before the draft and can move up or down in the order of their pick. Each team has 10 minutes to make a draft choice in the first round, seven minutes in rounds two through five and four minutes in the final round. If a team does not make its pick within the allotted time, it can be “jumped” by the next-team in line and is subject to fines or forfeits depending on the circumstance.

Prospects can also be drafted by reaching agreement with the league to sign an offer sheet. This is often done with players who are considered to be top-tier prospects but may have concerns about signing long-term deals. Players who do not get drafted are eligible to take part in the supplemental draft, which is held after the regular draft.

This year’s draft will be held at Lambeau Field, Titletown and the Resch Center with a variety of events. Those planning to attend the event are encouraged to download the NFL OnePass app, which will include all event information and serves as a ticket through the gate. The app will be available for iPhone and Android users. Fans can also experience the Packers Everywhere Draft Haus, a dive bar-themed activation adjacent to Lambeau Field and Titletown featuring classic Wisconsin dive bar activities and an NFL-themed DJ.

Athlete endorsements leverage an athlete’s public image and influence to generate consumer trust, fostering a genuine connection with their audience. They are often seen as role models, with fans embracing their achievements and empathizing with their struggles. This authenticity creates a powerful emotional connection with consumers, influencing purchasing decisions and increasing brand loyalty.

Unlike sponsorship, which broadly associates with a sports entity, athlete endorsements focus on specific product promotion in return for compensation. They typically take the form of testimonials or direct product use, demonstrating how a brand fits into an athlete’s lifestyle and provides benefits. By focusing on product use and authentic storytelling, these campaigns establish a more personal and trustworthy relationship than traditional advertising, resulting in higher engagement rates and conversions.

Brands can maximize the impact of an athlete endorsement by leveraging diverse channels, including social media and interactive events. Social media allows athletes to engage with their audience in more intimate ways, generating high engagement rates through personalized stories and behind-the-scenes content. User-generated content (UGC) and interactive posts like quizzes, polls, and challenges are also effective at forging deeper connections between athletes and their audience.

To drive greater returns on investment, brands can also evaluate performance with comprehensive metrics. Sales analysis can measure the direct impact of an athlete’s endorsement, while tracking customer satisfaction and retention can reveal how the campaign has shifted consumers’ perception of the brand. In addition, surveying and feedback mechanisms provide qualitative data to identify opportunities for improvement.

For the best athletes in the world, there is only one place to show their stuff – the World Athletics Championship. This biennial competition – until 2019 known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, then simply as the World Athletics Championships – is the pinnacle of track and field athletics.

For decades the Olympic Games served as the World Championships for track and field athletics but, from the late 1960s, calls grew louder for an event that truly decided the top athletes of the sport. At a World Athletics Council meeting in 1976 in Puerto Rico the decision was taken to set up the new championship, which was originally scheduled to take place at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

It was held in Helsinki instead and was an instant success, launching the careers of a host of global superstars including Carl Lewis who, with golds in the 100m and 4x100m, established himself as one of the sport’s biggest stars. Other winners included British hurdling duo Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell, who took two golds each, as well as Soviet jumper Sergey Bubka.

The 2023 edition in Budapest was the first time that women competed in every single event, with several athletes winning a double. Noah Lyles clinched the men’s 100m/200m double, while Faith Kipyegon and Maria Perez secured the women’s 1500m/5000m title. In addition, Russia’s Antonina Krivoshapka won the 5000m and 10,000m but was later stripped of the latter after being found guilty of doping.

With more than 209 nations in FIFA’s global membership, there are a lot of different ways to qualify for the World Cup. Each confederation varies its qualification process to take into account continental size and membership, pedigree of member nations, and other cultural factors that play out on the football field.

Ultimately, the goal is to have 48 teams at the final tournament, a number that has doubled since the competition’s first staging in 1930. While the expansion has been widely embraced, there are some concerns about the quality of qualification. Top teams still feel the heat, but there is more room for error as the qualifying process progresses.

The first step is a round robin group stage, where nations are placed into groups of four or five and face each other twice over two legs. The winners of each group earn direct qualification to the World Cup. The second-place finishers are sorted into a mini-bracket and the winner earns passage to the intercontinental playoff.

For the 2026 cyle, the 46 members of Asia’s confederation competed in five rounds to earn one of eight direct spots at the final tournament. The continent also earned a spot in the intercontinental playoff, which was won by Saudi Arabia.

The four lowest-ranked runners-up in this round — American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga — entered a one-legged knockout format that was held in October and November of 2024. The winners of each match advanced to the second-round of the interconfederation playoffs, which were played in March of 2026.

Any sincere sports fan can at times display what might seem like an inordinate amount of emotional attachment and angst over the latest sports celebrity gossip. It’s an entertaining part of the fan experience that drives engagement and boosts ticket sales and television ratings. But how do you navigate the world of sports celebrity gossip in a way that prioritizes more substantive issues and promotes a critical mindset? On this week’s episode of Heavy Sports, Madeline and Charlotte welcome Angie Sullivan of the political pop culture podcast “I’ve Had It.” They discuss why it’s important to recognize how much sports can be politicized and how to balance the entertainment value with responsible engagement.

Rory McIlroy is a huge favorite to don the green jacket come Sunday at Augusta National after posting a six-under 66 in Round 3. The Northern Irishman struggled to end his first round on Thursday, but bounced back with a solid Friday. He remained sharp in Saturday’s third round and threw down a string of birdies and an eagle to take the lead by the turn.

The 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama is in the group just ahead of defending champion Patrick Reed, with Tommy Fleetwood and Joaquin Niemann not far behind them. All three have shot rounds of seven under so far, but have had some hiccups.

McIlroy’s birdie effort at the par-five 14th was a beauty, but he was unlucky not to make a double on the next hole as he tapped in for a birdie. He then played an excellent approach on the par-four 16th but his chip shot was a bit long, leaving him with a tough bogey putt to get to 13 under.

Justin Rose catches McIlroy in the final group, but he is a little farther aback than he wanted to be at this stage of The Masters. The Englishman is no stranger to being in the final group at a major championship, having finished that way on eight occasions, including two times as a runner-up in this tournament. He rolled in eight birdies and has a share of the lead on 12 under.

Social media is a vital tool for sports organizations and athletes to engage their fans and build their personal brands. However, the proliferation of sports content on social media also poses unique challenges that are impacting fan engagement and the overall landscape of the sport industry.

During major events, social media has a significant influence on the way people view and discuss sports. For example, rumors about trades and injuries spread rapidly. Athletes are able to use their platforms to advocate for social causes, amplifying their personal brands and strengthening the value of their endorsements. Athletes such as LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick have used their platforms to speak out against social injustices, champion equality, and contribute to positive change in society.

For young athletes, social media allows them to find role models and become inspired by athletes who share their story of overcoming obstacles or achieving success. Athletes can also see how many followers they have and feel connected to a larger audience.

On the other hand, social media exposes athletes to constant comparison. This can affect self-belief, as athletes are constantly presented with images and videos of other players who are “better” or faster than them.

In order to combat this, teams and their athletes can create a more authentic connection with fans by focusing on community-building activities. Athletes can engage with their fans by sharing real-time updates and behind-the-scenes content. They can also create conversations about their goals and achievements and encourage fans to support them. For instance, Isaac Rochell, a former NFL player, used TikTok to show his daily life and inspire his audience, many of whom weren’t traditional football fans at first. This deepened his fans’ commitment to him and to the sport of football, driving long-term engagement.

Sports technology trends are reshaping the way fans engage, athletes perform, and teams generate value. They’re driven by evolving fan expectations, a growing push for equity and sustainability, and an acceleration of technological advances.

From virtual reality (VR) to augmented reality (AR), the sports industry is using new technologies to transform both the athlete and spectator experience. For example, VR headsets can transport fans into the stadium, making them feel like they’re a part of the action. Meanwhile, AR can display real-time statistics or betting odds over the live field of play.

Moreover, AI and computer vision are enabling new types of automated video analysis, which are replacing time-consuming and often biased manual reviews. For example, an AI-based system from WSC Sports analyzed 67 000 NBA playoff games to create personalized highlight reels that aligned with individual fan preferences. The technology is also being used in the NFL, where it’s analyzing player movements and spacing to help broadcasters and analysts adjust their strategies mid-game.

Another key trend is the increasing availability of wearable devices and advanced sports data analytics, which is empowering teams and athletes at all levels to develop new skills. For example, phygital platforms like Zwift convert stationary workouts into multiplayer virtual races that combine athletic performance and gamified environments. In addition, Catapult’s Vector Core device makes advanced sports science available to semi-professional football clubs, allowing them to monitor and analyze their players’ performance at the same level as elite teams.

From pommel horse guy getting a bronze medal and a spot on “Dancing With The Stars” to a 58-year-old shooting star getting his statue reveal and everything in between, this year has been full of wacky and head-scratching sports moments. We’ve gathered some of the best ones that took social media by storm here.

Whether you’re an Olympic athlete or just trying to get to work, these wacky moments in sports will leave you laughing all the way to the bank.

Football fans have a long history of using their passion for their clubs as a powerful tool in the fight for change. Whether by marching in protest against their club owner or launching donation campaigns to support aid agencies that work with marginalized communities, fan activism is more than just a passing fad. But how exactly do fan activist groups recruit and maintain their members? What enables them to mobilize such a large and diverse group of people? And what does this say about the future of democracy and civil society?

Taking the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) as a case study, we analyze the organization’s ability to engage with different causes by drawing on a range of preexisting community structures. We find that HPA’s success depends on three emergent elements of experience: shared media experiences, a sense of community, and the wish to help.

As for the media, we find that reporting on fan activism’s role in humanizing teenagers who are targets of police surveillance can help to legitimize these protesters and their cause. However, stories that rely on allegations of criminal behavior do not have the same effect and may even detract from the credibility of these protests.

Finally, we also explore how fans hone their skills in reading and interpreting the canons that they inhabit. Through this process, they become better equipped to resist eroticization of their heroes and to critique their representations as problematically cissexist, racist, or homophobic.