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Afternoon Edition

December 12, 2025

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Former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore now faces felony and misdemeanor charges days after his firing, deepening the turmoil around the Wolverines’ program.

— Alex Schiffer [[link removed]], Annie Costabile [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

Sherrone Moore Charged With Felony Home Invasion After Michigan Firing [[link removed]]

Washtenaw County District Court

Prosecutors in Washtenaw County, Mich., charged former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore with three counts Friday: third-degree home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering. The home invasion charge is a felony.

Michigan fired Moore on Wednesday [[link removed]] after saying it had discovered an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. At Friday’s hearing, prosecutors said that the woman and Moore had been dating for two years before she broke up with him on Monday. In the days after the breakup, prosecutors say, Moore repeatedly made unwanted contact with her before she went to the university.

Prosecutors said Friday that Moore grabbed knives and scissors from a drawer in the woman’s apartment, threatened to kill himself, told the woman that “my blood is on your hands” and “you ruined my life.” He left after she called her lawyer and said she would call the police, according to prosecutors, who said the woman was “terrorized.”

Moore faces up to five years in prison for the home invasion charge and a $2,000 fine. The stalking and breaking and entering charges are both misdemeanors. The stalking charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison plus a $1,000 fine, and breaking and entering carries a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

At Friday’s arraignment, Moore’s attorney asked for him to be released on bond, arguing he was no danger to the public and that he would abide by a no-contact order.

Moore appeared from a jail cell in a white jumpsuit while Magistrate Odetalla Odetalla addressed him. Odetella ordered Moore to be released on a $25,000 bond and the condition that he could not have any contact with the woman—whom he declined to name on the record—and said that he had to comply with GPS monitoring and continue receiving mental health treatment.

On Thursday, Michigan interim president Domenico Grasso said the school’s investigation into Moore and the athletic department is ongoing and encouraged anyone with information to email a tip line.

“ When the findings [[link removed]] of a university investigation into Coach Moore’s behavior were presented on Wednesday, we immediately terminated his employment,” Grasso wrote in a letter to the university.

“There is absolutely no tolerance for this conduct at the University of Michigan. None.”

Michigan went 17–8 in two seasons under Moore after he took over for Jim Harbaugh, who left his alma mater to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. The Wolverines will play Texas in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31. Interim coach Biff Poggi [[link removed]] will coach the team in the game.

Moore’s hearing lasted roughly 15 minutes on Friday. The next one is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2026.

SPONSORED BY AT&T

Deyna Castellanos Honored at the Clios

NWSL star and She’s Connected by AT&T [[link removed]] athlete Deyna Castellanos was awarded the Clio Sports Impact Award, presented by AT&T.

This award is given to a person who has made a significant impact by channeling their platform in innovative ways that move their industry forward and bring about social change. While competing at the top of her sport, Deyna is still committed to creating opportunities for others. Deyna founded Queen Deyna Legacy to uplift and empower young women through sports, education, and leadership. Through her foundation, she has awarded 50 scholarships to girls, distributed sports equipment across Latin America, and helped young women access college athletics and personal development opportunities.

Learn more about Deyna’s work in her full She’s Connected episode here [[link removed]].

Caitlin Clark Says She’s ‘100%’ in Return to Court at USA Camp [[link removed]]

Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

DURHAM, N.C. — Caitlin Clark bound up the practice court at the K-Center (named after legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski), immediately drove left after crossing half court, and elevated from the wing. Swish.

It’s a sequence most haven’t seen much of since July, when Clark played her last games of the 2025 WNBA season. About seven weeks later, on Sept. 4, Clark announced she would be out for the remainder of the season due to injury.

Under Duke’s five national championship banners, Clark made her return to the basketball court wearing a USA senior national team practice jersey for the first time.

“I’m at 100%,” Clark told the media. “Obviously I need to knock off a little bit of rust and get my lungs back, but my body feels really good. I feel like I’m in a really good spot. So, my main goal is just staying that way.”

Clark was limited to just 13 games in 2025 after missing time early in the season due to left quad and left groin injuries. Ultimately she played her last game on July 15, when she sustained a right groin injury in the final minute of the Indiana Fever’s win over the Connecticut Sun. She averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, and 5 rebounds in 2025. The Fever were eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces in the best-of-five semifinals series that went the distance.

On Friday, 17 players from the WNBA and collegiate ranks were in attendance for USA Basketball Women’s National Team training camp as the federation’s new managing director, Sue Bird, begins evaluating talent for the 2026 FIBA World Cup in September. Clark was among a class of senior national team first-timers that included Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Veronica Burton, Lauren Betts, and JuJu Watkins.

“I was thinking about it last night, and my main goal for today was to smile and have fun,” Clark said. “You take for granted getting to play basketball. You always say that you don’t want to, but then when you get hurt you realize you probably did. For myself, obviously the year was pretty challenging. I missed being on the court and playing. I would have taken 10 bad games in a row just to be out there playing because that’s how much I love it and how much I love competing with my teammates.”

Among the veteran stars were 2024 Olympic gold medalists Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and Kelsey Plum.

Brittney Griner was absent after initially being listed as a camp attendee back in November. A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Alyssa Thomas, and Jewell Loyd were among the Olympic gold medal winners also missing from camp.

The Bigger Picture

“We sent out a lot of invites,” Bird said. “These were the players that were able to come. I understand in the landscape of women’s basketball which is ever-changing, you have to be a little more strategic when you have camps, best practice, best timing. I don’t think any player that you might think would have been here not being here has a larger meaning.”

Bird added that she doesn’t foresee the women’s national team having the same issue as the men’s when it comes to getting the team’s best players to attend camp.

“That hasn’t been my experience in the past,” Bird said. “It’s not my experience right now.”

Team USA will play for its fifth consecutive World Cup gold medal in Berlin this fall and its ninth consecutive Olympic gold medal in 2028 at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The women’s national team has collectively won 10 Olympic gold medals, which includes its historic run from 1996 to 2024 during which the team won a record-breaking eight straight. Bird was there for five of them.

Now she shoulders the weight of putting a roster together that can uphold the same winning standard, which will require finding the right balance between the old guard and the new.

“One big difference is the lack of control that I now have,” Bird said. “When you’re a player, of course, there’s pressure, but you’re doing it. So there’s some sense of control. You’re the one out there …

“Even though I don’t have the control that I had as a player, the carryover—in terms of how I feel, handle, operate pressure—that, so far, has felt similar.”

MLS Cup Surges to Record 4.6M Viewers As Nielsen Sorts Data Issues [[link removed]]

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Even in a crowded sports weekend led in part by college football’s conference championships, Major League Soccer found its own sizable audience.

The league said Tuesday that it posted an aggregate audience of 4.6 million viewers globally across linear and streaming on Dec. 6 for its MLS Cup, won by Inter Miami over the Vancouver Whitecaps—representing the largest-ever audience for the championship match.

That figure combined coverage from Fox and Apple TV, as well as on a series of other international distribution partners including TSN, RDS, and TNT. On Apple TV specifically, MLS Cup aired for free in more than 100 countries.

The average panel-only TV audience in the U.S. of 994,000 on Fox and Fox Deportes more than doubled last year’s comparable figure of 468,000 for a match between the L.A. Galaxy and New York Red Bulls.

MLS did not specifically break down the total viewership further, but said the majority of the audience came from the U.S. The league, however, said that more than 70% of the Apple TV viewers for MLS Cup were under the age of 45, further showing the younger audiences that streaming can provide sports leagues. Social impressions around the match grew 532% to a record of 798 million.

Nielsen Issues

The MLS Cup viewership numbers arrived after a three-day delay with Nielsen, as the measurement agency continues to sort through issues with its data collection. Even as many sports audiences have reached record levels this fall, particularly in the NFL [[link removed]] and college football [[link removed]], the new Big Data + Panel methodology [[link removed]] continues to run into occasional problems.

MLS said that Nielsen was “reviewing a potential issue in its updated Big Data + Panel sample that may have underreported viewership on Fox.” Updated figures are expected once a review of the data collection issue is complete.

This year’s title, won by Inter Miami [[link removed]], completed a storybook season for the club and Argentine star Lionel Messi, who had a league record 15 goal contributions during the postseason. On Tuesday, Messi also claimed a repeat win as the MLS Most Valuable Player, becoming the first player in league history to claim the honor in consecutive years.

The championship figure also extends a run of audience growth [[link removed]] for MLS this year, with playoff audiences through the conference finals rising 23% to an average of 711,000 per match, and a regular season [[link removed]] that reached 3.7 million gross live match viewers across linear and streaming, up 29% from 2024.

“This puts a real exclamation point on the season and sets us up really well going into next year,” MLS EVP of media Seth Bacon tells Front Office Sports.

The MLS Cup audience, meanwhile, also compares favorably to an average viewership of 1.184 million [[link removed]] for the National Women’s Soccer League title game on Nov. 22, setting a record for that league.

MLS will go into next season with a reworked rights agreement with Apple [[link removed]] that will place its matches within the main Apple TV streaming service.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Could Dave Portnoy Help Decide Michigan’s Next Head Coach?

FOS illustration

In the aftermath of Sherrone Moore’s dismissal as head football coach at the University of Michigan, Barstool Sports CEO and infamous school alum Dave Portnoy has become the face of Michigan fandom, utilizing his mega-platform to discuss the scandal that has engulfed the school while pitching current Barstool employee and former NFL head coach Jon Gruden for the head coach position. In a world where rich donors and personalities influence NIL (name, image, and likeness) collectives and athletic budgets, just how powerful and influential is Portnoy at Michigan? FOS media and entertainment reporter Ryan Glasspiegel joins Baker Machado to discuss.

Meanwhile, the Emirates NBA Cup heads to Las Vegas to crown a new champion as the Knicks, Magic, Thunder, and Spurs all advanced to the semifinals set for this weekend. FOS reporter Colin Salao breaks down the matchups and whether the in-season tournament has met Adam Silver’s lofty expectations and whether the inclusion of NBA European league teams could be in its future.

Plus, the youngest mentalist, Nevo Abutbul, tells us if he’s a sports betting ace and if he can beat the sportsbooks by predicting the biggest sporting events in 2026.

Watch the full episode here. [[link removed]]

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Detroit Free Press

Tom Izzo ⬆ The Michigan State men’s basketball head coach will receive a $1 million raise in his five-year contract, bringing his salary to $7.2 million, the largest in the Big Ten. The 70-year-old coach is in his 31st season with the No. 9 Spartans, who are 8–1 this season.

Arsenal ⬆ The soccer club announced that Deel, a payroll and HR platform, will be its new shirt sleeve sponsor for the 2026–27 season. The team has had a partnership with Visit Rwanda [[link removed]], the tourism arm of the East African nation, since 2018. The club has received criticism for its partnership with the country, given its current administration has been accused of several human-rights atrocities.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem ⬆ The controversial head of the FIA, the governing body of motorsports, including Formula One, was reelected to another four-year term Friday after running unopposed. Four other candidates had previously announced a bid, but Ben Sulayem was the only one eligible for the vote [[link removed]].

Lululemon ⬇ CEO Calvin McDonald is stepping down following a difficult year for the athleisure wear giant. Lululemon stock is down 45% in 2025, but it has jumped up more than 10% on Friday following the announcement.

Conversation Starters Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards went head-to-head with table tennis champion Lily Zhang. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Nebraska is making major upgrades [[link removed]] to its volleyball arena, increasing the capacity to 10,000 Cornhuskers fans. Every seat will be replaced, and club space will be added. Lindsey Vonn retired from skiing for five years, got titanium implants in her knee, and turned 41 two months ago. Today, she won her first World Cup downhill in seven years [[link removed]] and the first since her surgery. Editors’ Picks NWSL Offers Players Rule Change to Pay Stars Over Cap [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The league previously vetoed a deal she made with the Spirit. The Private Equity ‘Boogeyman’ Shows Up at Utah [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Lawmakers are skeptical of the University of Utah’s groundbreaking agreement. Here’s How Many People Streamed Pat McAfee’s Debut Single ‘Dookie’ [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]McAfee’s debut single “Dookie” pulled surprising early streaming numbers across platforms. DAILY TRIVIA Factle Sports

Can you list the last five women’s tennis players to win the French Open?

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