After capping its record seven-game international slate Sunday in Madrid, the NFL is already planning for what’s set to be an even larger presence abroad in 2026.

“It’s been spectacular,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Sunday at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium before the Dolphins beat the Commanders 16–13 in overtime in front of a crowd of 78,610 fans that watched the league’s debut game in Spain.

Goodell, speaking during an interview on NFL Network, indicated the league is exploring more new markets to play in next year, in addition to debuting in Australia—the Rams will host a to-be-determined opponent in Melbourne—and Rio de Janeiro (the second city in Brazil to host the NFL after successful showings in São Paulo).

“Australia is going to be our big learning test next year,” Goodell said. “We’re excited about that. I think we’ll be back in a lot of the markets we’ve been [in] this year. But we have a couple more that we’re thinking about right now.” Goodell said the NFL is “close” to finalizing those plans. “We’re getting there,” he said.

There could be up to nine games played outside the U.S. next season, and Goodell and many franchise owners want to expand that number to 16 per season in the near future.

This year, the NFL played games in Brazil, Ireland, England, Germany, and Spain. Goodell said the league continues to receive inbound interest from new foreign markets. “The great thing about our success is that so many other cities are reaching out and saying, ‘We want one of these,’” he said. “And that’s a great thing for us.”

The NFL will return to Spain, Goodell confirmed. “Yes, we’ll be back,” he told EFE Deportes.

There were no college football coaches fired over the weekend. But that doesn’t mean the coaching carousel took a week off from spinning.

A slew of moves, reports, and statements of intent figure to have a major impact on the upcoming hiring-and-firing cycle, as college football’s regular season now has just two weeks left.

Texas Two-Step

After Texas A&M completed a 27-point comeback to keep its undefeated season alive with a 31–30 victory over South Carolina on Saturday, coach Mike Elko signed a six-year contract extension. 

Elko is the latest Power 4 coach to get a new deal in the wake of major openings at LSU, Florida, and Penn State, following recent extensions for Nebraska’s Matt Rhule and SMU’s Rhett Lashlee. Elko will get a raise from a $7 million annual salary to $11 million, according to ESPN, which would make him one of the five highest-paid coaches in college football.

Coach Speak

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin remains the hottest candidate for the aforementioned LSU and Florida jobs. After the Rebels beat the Gators 34–24 on Saturday, Kiffin was asked in his postgame press conference if he anticipates being the coach at Ole Miss next season.

“I love what we’re doing here,” he said. “Today was awesome. I don’t talk about that stuff. To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today. We’ve got a lot of things going here. Doing really well, and I love it here.”

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, who received a five-year extension after last year’s Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff appearance, said he has no plans to pursue other jobs. 

“I was never leaving,” he said Saturday after the Sun Devils beat West Virginia to improve to 7–3 on the season. “I never said I was leaving. This is home. You have to continue to push and my job running the program is to push and push and push until you can’t push anymore. And if I didn’t do that, I’d be cheating my players. I’d be cheating my staff. I’d be cheating the fan base. I’d be cheating everybody in the city. I’d be cheating the local businesses that feed off of us winning, and then they sell more beer.”

Making Moves

Maryland athletic director Jim Smith announced football coach Mike Locksley will return in 2026, despite a six-game losing streak and 4–6 record for the Terps. Locksley would be owed a buyout of roughly $13 million if he were fired.

“We are fully committed to giving him and our student-athletes the resources and investments necessary to succeed,” Smith wrote in a letter to fans. “I have worked closely with Coach Locksley to rapidly strengthen our NIL support for 2026 and beyond, with a clear and focused effort on roster retention, recruiting, and being highly competitive in the transfer portal.”

Meanwhile, momentum is reportedly building around Virginia Tech potentially hiring James Franklin, who was fired by Penn State on Oct. 12. Franklin’s buyout was $49 million, although the school could owe him less if he immediately returns to coaching. 

In September, Virginia Tech approved $229 million of new funding for the athletic department over the next four years, after AD Whit Babcock said the school was lacking sufficient funding.

The ATP season came to a fitting end: Another battle between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

At the ATP Finals in Turin on Sunday, world No. 2 Sinner triumphed over No. 1 Alcaraz to win the $5.1 million prize for the second year in a row. By going undefeated in the tournament, Sinner secured the largest prize on the 2025 men’s tennis calendar, slightly more than the $5 million Alcaraz won at the US Open by defeating Sinner in the final.

It was the sixth official battle of the season between the two rivals, with Alcaraz winning four times and Sinner taking two. 

With the win, Sinner, 24, set the second-largest single-season record with $19.1 million, surpassing his own personal best mark of $16.9 million last year. On top of the ATP Final, Sinner made the finals at all four Grand Slams, winning two of them (Australian Open and Wimbledon). He also won the Paris Masters, an ATP 1000 tournament.

He still fell short of the single-season record set by Novak Djokovic in 2015 ($21.15 million).

Despite the loss, Alcaraz, who won $2.7 million, moved to fifth all-time in career earnings ($57.5 million), ahead of world No. 3 Alexander Zverev ($56.7 million). Zverev won about $730,000 in Turin after being eliminated in the group stages. 

Sinner is right behind Zverev in seventh ($56.6 million), though he took home the $6 million prize at the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia last month, which is not considered in the official ATP earnings count.

The Italian also beat Alcaraz in the final of that tournament, though it’s also not considered in their official head-to-head standings.

If the two young stars replicate their 2025 seasons next year, they will both pass Andy Murray ($64.7 million) for fourth in career earnings. But they are a long way from catching tennis’ Big Three of Roger Federer ($130.6 million), Rafael Nadal ($134.9 million), and Djokovic ($191.3 million).

Steph Curry and Under Armour broke up Thursday after a dozen years together. By Friday night, he made clear he’s open for business elsewhere.

The internet immediately noticed the two-time NBA MVP was warming up in a pair of Nikes ahead of Friday night’s matchup between the Warriors and Spurs. Specifically, he was wearing Nike Kobe 6 Protro “Mambacita” sneakers—unveiled in 2022, meant to recognize Bryant’s relationship with his daughter, Gigi.

By tipoff, he had changed into Curry 12s. The shoes served him well—Curry erupted for 49 points and sank game-winning free throws in a 109-108 victory over San Antonio. And on Sunday night, he was wearing the Curry Series 7 shoes.

But the sneaker world has been officially put on notice.

“I’m a free agent,” he said when asked about warming up in Nikes after the game. “New beginnings.”

Curry was originally a Nike athlete for four years before signing with Under Armour in 2013. He famously fled the checkmark for the scrappy Baltimore apparel brand after Nike executives—including newly fired Nico Harrison—botched a pitch meeting that offended Curry and his father, Dell Curry.

Curry quickly rose to stardom and helped turn Under Armour into a relevant competitor. Before long, the brand had an athlete endorser lineup that included Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Michael Phelps, Lindsey Vonn, Bryce Harper, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

Now, Under Armour is without its brightest star and trying to turn around a long-lasting slump in performance. Its stock is down 52% in the past year and down 91% since its all-time high of just above $53 per share in 2015 (it closed Friday below $5 per share).

The timing of the separation was intriguing because Under Armour and Curry had announced a “long-term contract extension” just two years ago. That announcement also named Curry president of his brand.

Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour, said in the press release announcing their breakup that working with Curry has “been an incredible privilege,” and looked toward the future: “For Under Armour, this moment is about discipline and focus on the core UA brand during a critical stage of our turnaround.”

Under Armour will release one last Curry sneaker, the Curry 13, in February. By next October, Curry will be gone—and he’s taking his brand and signature logo with him. He owns all his IP, a spokesperson for Curry told Front Office Sports this week.

Under the separation agreement, Curry—who is 36 years old, still playing excellent basketball, and remains one of basketball’s most marketable stars—does not need to wait until October to sign with another brand. He is free to sign elsewhere immediately.

A representative for Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.