Happy MLB postseason to all who celebrate. That’s right, the playoffs begin today at 1:08 p.m. ET with 12 of the league’s 30 teams swinging to hoist the World Series trophy. Today’s newsletter has everything you need to know before the first pitch — and to help complete your pro baseball playoff bracket challenge. Play ball.

This Saturday, England’s Red Roses won the Women’s Rugby World Cup at home, but the wins extend beyond the field. Global interest in women’s rugby is reaching a fever pitch and rising, setting it up as the next Olympic sport ripe for commercialization. But is rugby ready for its close-up in the U.S.?

Even with one WNBA semifinal done and dusted and the other heading for a winner-take-all Game 5, officiating continues to dominate headlines. From the buckets to the blown calls, let’s get into it.

If there’s one thing we know about the NFL, it’s to expect the unexpected — like Bad Bunny performing at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show and the Sunday Night Football showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers ending in a tie.

Grab your clubs because the fan-favorite Ryder Cup tees off today, a biennial three-day tournament featuring 12 of the best American men’s golfers against Europe’s top 12. Unlike most golf competitions, this one is a team sport, making it a uniquely electric event both players and fans have circled on their calendars months in advance.

Thirty thrilling matches later, the record-breaking stage is set for tomorrow’s 11 a.m. ET Women’s Rugby World Cup championship match between world No. 1 England and No. 2 Canada. An immovable object meeting an unstoppable force? We’re so ready to ruck and roll.

Forget the Jo Bros, this weekend is all about WNBA hoops. Game 3s will grace our screens tonight, followed by a double dose of Game 4s on Sunday. Yes, with both best-of-five series knotted at one, that means the Finals matchup could be set before our next newsletter. Burnin’ up.

The X Games — ESPN’s iconic action sports competition that made sports like snowboarding and BMX mainstream and drove their Olympic inclusion — is ready for its glow-up. After its private equity acquisition in 2022, the X Games unveiled new branding and shared details about its forthcoming X Games League this week.

This week, Sports Business Journal shared details on how USA Volleyball is approaching a key opportunity in the women’s game. Along with Canada, the governing body is reportedly submitting a bid to FIVB to host the 2027 women’s world indoor volleyball championship. If chosen, it would be the first time the tournament has taken place stateside.

The still-chaotic push for the MLB playoffs — and toward our men’s pro baseball bracket challenge — continues ahead of Sunday’s regular-season finale. That said, a different race is grabbing headlines, with Seattle Mariners superstar Cal Raleigh chasing NY Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s single-season American League (AL) home run record.

It seems like everyone has a podcast these days — last week, Front Office Sports pointed out that Billie Jean King, Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, Sophie Cunningham, and the Williams sisters have all recently launched pods, not to mention Men In Blazers’ expanded slate. But how many is too many? In women’s sports, we may still have a ways to go to reach the peak.

The Red Roses did so much more than trounce France in the Women’s Rugby World Cup semis — they reached a record 3.3M peak audience across domestic broadcaster BBC Sport’s platforms. As the tournament continues in the UK, let’s review the viewership, attendance, and social media wins so far as we consider the women’s rugby opportunity ahead.