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Lionel Messi said that MLS must loosen its spending restrictions in order to become a top league in the world of soccer and said that he is hopeful that he will be physically able to contribute to Argentina at next summerâ€s World Cup.

In a rare interview with an American outlet, Messi sat down with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the interview, Messi was asked if he felt that soccer could become as popular in the US as American sports like football, baseball, and basketball. Messi said he thinks the sport could get there, but that teams need to have more freedom first.

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“Every team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants — without limitations or rules for players to bring them in,†Messi said. “I donâ€t think that today all teams in the United States, all clubs, have the power to do that, and I think that if they were given the freedom, many more important players would come and help the growth of the United States.â€

MLS has operated for its entire existence with an arcane rulebook governing player signings, with the intent to control spending, promote competitive balance between teams, and in its earliest days, to prevent teams from bidding against each other for players. Many of the original rules that formed this structure have been done away with or modified, but MLS teams today still must approach roster-building strategically while navigating myriad rules and roster categories.

Each team in MLS is permitted up to three designated player (DP) spots, allowing them to acquire players like Messi, whom they may pay whatever they want while only counting against the salary cap at that seasonâ€s maximum annual salary ($743,750 in 2025). Teams may also “buy down†the cap hit of players using various forms of allocation money. The leagueâ€s U-22 initiatives provides financial incentives for teams to sign young players they can sell on later.

Discussions about modifying or jettisoning these rules altogether have circulated for years, but they have kicked into higher gear since Messiâ€s arrival and Inter Miamiâ€s success on and off the field. Messiâ€s voice, then, will carry some weight – but the ultimate decision will come down to MLS owners.

Elsewhere in the interview, Messi said that he does intend to play in the 2026 World Cup with Argentina, while acknowledging that his age will be a factor.

“I would like to be there, to be well and be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there,†he said. “Iâ€m going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter [Miami] and see if I can really be 100%, if I can be useful to the group, to the national team, and then make a decision.â€

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The New York Jets lost another opportunity to remove themselves from the winless ranks in Week 7.

After Sunday’s home loss to Carolina, the Jets might be doomed to long wait for a victory.

Only four teams in the NFL have one win, one of which is the Baltimore Ravens, who seem poised to go on a run with Lamar Jackson back from injury.

The top spot in the 2026 NFL draft order seems to be the Jets’ spot to lose now and the opportunities to get out of that position are drying up.

Updated 2026 NFL Draft Order

The Jets’ schedule looks much tougher after Week 7’s results across the NFL.

Joe Flacco reinvigorated the Cincinnati Bengals offense and there’s now hope in Cincinnati that a win over the Jets in Week 8 will be the continuation of the team’s resurgence.

Drake Maye and the New England Patriots look better by the week and the Cleveland Browns have found something with Quinshon Judkins at running back.

The Jets’ next three games come against Cincinnati, New England and Cleveland. There’s a real possibility that the December 7 clash with the Miami Dolphins is the next real chance for them to earn their first victory.

Miami feels like New York’s true competition for the No. 1 overall pick. The Dolphins look like a team ready to get rid of head coach Mike McDaniel and start another rebuild.

Miami has a four-game swing before the bye against Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo and Washington that could easily put it at 1-10.

The Dolphins’ draft position will likely be decided by back-to-back games against the New Orleans Saints after their Week 12 bye.

New Orleans still has five NFC South games to play, but it also faces Miami, New York and the Tennessee Titans. A 2-1 record in those games would be plenty enough to keep the Saints away from the top selection.

Tennessee doesn’t have many easy games on its remaining schedule outside of the Week 17 clash with the Saints.

The Titans looked good for a quarter-and-a-half against New England on Sunday, but it’s too early to tell if firing Brian Callahan will have an impact on the current season’s results.

One thing is for sure, though, Baltimore is about to pull itself out of the AFC North basement. The results with Lamar Jackson in the fold have to get better, which is why the Ravens aren’t considered a true contender for the No. 1 overall pick.

The top pick race is likely down to the Jets, Dolphins, Saints and Titans.

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AEW/Lee South

AEW WrestleDream 2025 is upon us, and with 13 matches between the “Tailgate Brawl” and the main card, there has been a lot of talk as to what match will potentially main event the show in St. Louis, Missouri. That talk has seemingly been put to rest according to a new report from Fightful Select as the match order has reportedly been revealed.

According to the Fightful report, the main event of WrestleDream is going to be the “I Quit” match between Darby Allin and Jon Moxley. Their feud has been closing several episodes of “AEW Dynamite” in the lead up to WrestleDream, and given that a number of fans are genuinely terrified of what the two men will do to each other, it was only natural that WrestleDream goes off the air in the most brutal way imaginable.

As for the full match other, the “Tailgate Brawl” portion of the show that will air on TNT will kick off with The Conglomeration taking on the Death Riders in an eight man tag team match. That will be followed by Eddie Kingston and Hook teaming up for a tag team match of their own, with Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford taking on Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale immediately after. “Tailgate Brawl” is set to be headlined by the match between FTR and JetSpeed.

The main card will reportedly open with a major grudge match as Jamie Hayter will take on Thekla, which will then be followed by The Young Bucks and the Jurassic Express fighting over $500,000, and the Tornado Trios match between The Demand and The Hurt Syndicate will go on third. The five title matches of the night will then take place one after another, with Kyle Fletcher defending the AEW TNT Championship against Mark Briscoe, which will be followed by Kris Statlander defending the AEW Women’s World Championship against “Timeless” Toni Storm.

Immediately after the first women’s title match of the night will be the second women’s title match of the night as Mercedes Mone will issue an open challenge to any champion in the world for a “Champion vs. Champion” match. Brodido will then take on Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW Tag Team Championships, and the AEW Men’s World Championship match between Hangman Page and Samoa Joe will be the penultimate match of the night. All of that will be followed by the aforementioned “I Quit” match between Allin and Moxley.

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(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

With the 2025 MLB regular season complete, we have a clearer picture of the lottery odds for the 2026 draft.

Since 2023, the MLB Draft has been determined by a lottery that includes each of the 18 teams that didnâ€t make the postseason. Any eligible non-posteason teams have a chance to get the first overall pick, or one of the top six picks determined by the draft lottery.

The White Sox are solely positioned for the best odds to get the No. 1 overall pick.

Below are each of the 18 non-postseason teams with their draft lottery odds.

2026 MLB Draft Lottery Odds

PickTeamRecordWin%Original OddsFinal Odds*1White Sox60-102.37016.5%27.73%2Twins70-92.43213.2%22.18%3Pirates71-91.43810.0%16.81%4Orioles75-87.4635.5%9.24%5Athletics76-86.4693.9%6.55%6Braves76-86.4692.7%4.54%7Rays77-85.4751.80%3.03%8Cardinals78-84.4811.4%2.35%9Marlins79-83.4881.1%1.85%10Rockies43-119.26516.5%—11Nationals66-96.40716.5%—12Angels72-90.4447.5%—13D-backs80-82.4940.9%1.51%14Rangers81-81.5000.8%1.34%15Giants81-81.5000.6%1.01%16Royals82-80.5060.5%0.84%17Mets83-79.5120.4%0.67%18Astros87-75.5370.2%0.34%

*We are currently presenting Baseball America’s final odds calculations, but will update with final odds from MLB when we confirm them.

Why Are The Rockies, Nationals & Angels Out Of The Draft Lottery?

In a typical year, the bottom three teams would have an equal shot to win the first overall pick. However, Both the Rockies and Nationals are ineligible for the lottery this year—leaving the White Sox with best overall odds of any team.

The new system is a tough blow in particular for the Rockies, who finished with the worst overall record in baseball and would have been a lock for the top overall pick in the upcoming draft under the old system. Now, because they picked in the lottery in 2023 and 2024 theyâ€ll have to settle for just the 10th overall pick.

The Rockies are ineligible as a revenue payee that has picked in the lottery in each of the past two drafts, while the Nationals are ineligible as a revenue payor that picked in the lottery last year.

Under the current draft lottery rules, teams that receive revenue sharing (IE the Rockies) canâ€t pick in the lottery in three consecutive years, while teams that pay into revenue sharing (IE the Nationals) canâ€t pick in the lottery in consecutive years.

The Angels are the third ineligible team for the lottery this year. They are a revenue payor like the Nationals and picked in the lottery last year.

Teams ineligible from receiving a lottery pick can pick no sooner than 10th overall.

The remaining 15 eligible teams will have a chance for a lottery pick. After the first six selections are determined the rest of the order for non-postseason teams is determined by reverse order of regular season winning percentage. Ties are determined by winning percentage of the prior season.

How Is The Draft Order For Postseason Teams Determined?

Teams who make the postseason have their draft order determined by a combination of postseason finish, regular season standings and revenue sharing status as follows:

• Clubs that lose in the Wild Card Series will select before clubs that lose in the Division Series, and clubs that lose in the Division Series will select before clubs that lose in the League Championship Series, and so on. Each year the team that wins the World Series will receive the last pick of the first round, as well as all subsequent rounds.
• Within each group of postseason rounds, draft order will be determined first by revenue sharing status (payee clubs will pick before non-payee clubs) and then in reverse order of regular season winning percentage.

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