The U.S. Olympic flag football Dream Team can now be assembled.

NFL owners unanimously approved a provision Tuesday to allow active players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a highly anticipated move that will bring pro football stars into international competition. The decision, actively discussed for nearly two years, arrived after the development of a leaguewide insurance plan to protect players participating in the Olympics.

Additionally, the approval carried a series of other provisions, including the limit of one player per NFL team on each national team participating, and salary cap credits for any player who is injured at the Olympics. 

In addition to the safety and injury concerns, some owners, such as the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, previously expressed worries about the late July timing of the 2028 Olympics and preparation for the NFL season that year.

Long before the owners’ vote at the league’s spring meeting in Minnesota, many individual stars publicly mentioned their interest in playing in the Olympics, meaning that Team USA will not have any problem fielding a team full of stars. 

The NFL players’ participation in the Olympics is fundamentally intertwined with the league’s interest in advancing grassroots play of the sport, as well as developing professional flag leagues for both men and women. That latter consideration has included some of the biggest names in sports.

“I know first-hand that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage. We are thrilled that they will now have that chance,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.

Flag football formally became part of the program for the Los Angeles Games in 2023. The move, at last, provided the beginning of a path for NFL players to be part of the Olympics. NBA and NHL players have been Olympic competitors for decades. Major League Baseball operates its own World Baseball Classic in partnership with the MLB Players Association, and it also has had ongoing dialogue with LA28 organizers about its players participating there. 

It’s a new WNBA season, but the results remain the same: Caitlin Clark continues to set ratings records.

The season opener between the Clark-led Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky drew 2.7 million viewers Saturday on ABC, the most-watched game on ESPN platforms (regular season or playoffs), the network announced. The game peaked at 3.1 million viewers. Clark’s pro debut last year against the Connecticut Sun averaged 2.1 million, though that game aired on ESPN2. 

The Fever vs. Sky game Saturday tipped off at 3 p.m. ET following a matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty, a 2023 Finals rematch, which also aired on ABC. That game drew 1.3 million viewers, bringing the total average of the Sunday afternoon ABC doubleheader to 2 million viewers—the most-watched WNBA opening weekend on ESPN platforms.

The record ratings come despite the Fever blowing out the Sky by 35 points, the second-largest margin of victory in franchise history. Last year’s most-watched regular-season game between the same two teams, which drew 2.3 million viewers, was a one-point win for Chicago. 

Saturday’s game, however, was not without significant moments, including Clark’s third career triple-double and Fever newcomer DeWanna Bonner passing Tina Thompson to move to third all-time in career points.

The game also featured an incident between Clark and Angel Reese in the third quarter. Clark was issued a flagrant foul after shoving Reese, who had just pushed the Fever’s Natasha Howard as she was trying to go for a rebound. Reese received a verbal technical foul.

The WNBA announced Sunday that it’s investigating alleged racist comments made toward Reese inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The two teams will meet four more times this season, all of which will air nationally. Their next meeting is June 7 at 7 p.m. ET on CBS and will be played at the United Center in Chicago, home of the NBA’s Bulls.

The Mets are tied for the National League’s second-best record, the club has by far the largest attendance increase in Major League Baseball, and first baseman Pete Alonso is enjoying a resurgent year after a difficult free agency in the offseason. All is not necessarily well, however, in Flushing, N.Y., particularly around star acquisition Juan Soto.

The last two days have been marked by two separate incidents, one Sunday against the Yankees and another Monday against the Red Sox, in which Soto was criticized for not hustling out of the batter’s box. The first resulted in an out, while the second turned a potential extra-base hit into a single. 

Those situations were joined by extensive commentary across sports media about Soto, his record-setting $765 million contract, and whether he’s living up to that financial largesse. WFAN personality Boomer Esiason wrongly suggested that Soto doesn’t fly with the rest of the Mets on road trips, an assertion quickly debunked by the Mets. Yankees TV play-by-play man Michael Kay then said on his ESPN radio show that he believes Soto wanted to stay with that team.

“People that I talked to on the Mets side, and they can deny it publicly, because, of course, that’s what they have to do, he is very, very glum around the clubhouse,” Kay said. “He does not have a hop in his step. He does not smile much. I’m not going to say he is unhappy. Because how can you be unhappy with a $765 million contract? But money is not a guarantee that you are going to be comfortable somewhere. 

“Why isn’t he happy? It comes down to this: I’ll say it now, and it will be denied. Of course, it has to be denied. But I have talked to people that I respect. He wanted to return to the Yankees. That was his preference,” Kay said, suggesting that Soto’s family proved heavily influential in his choosing to sign with the Mets.

Soto additionally made a late decision Sunday to not wear a microphone during the ESPN national broadcast of the team’s series finale against the Yankees after previously agreeing to do so. Such last-minute player changes on that in-game element are not necessarily unusual, but given the spectacle of Soto and the teams involved, it was particularly noteworthy. 

All of the current drama around Soto may be short-lived, particularly given the Mets’ ongoing success this season and the day-to-day nature of baseball. Soto, however, faced a new level of scrutiny from reporters after the team’s Monday loss to the Red Sox. He is hitting .246 with a .376 on-base percentage, eight home runs, and 20 runs batted in so far this season, and while more than two-thirds of the season remains and leaves plenty of time for a turnaround, he is well below his usual standards. 

The Mets, meanwhile, have fallen a half-game behind the Phillies in the National League East division after spending nearly the entire season so far in first place.

“It’s a game of failure,” Soto said. “Sometimes, you’re going to fail.”