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The 2025-26 NBA season is here! We’re rolling out our previews — examining the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises — from the still-rebuilding teams to the true title contenders.

2024-25 finish

• Record: 51-31 (lost to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals)

Offseason moves

• Additions: Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson

• Subtractions: Precious Achiuwa, P.J. Tucker

(Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The Big Question: Can Mike Brown improve these Knicks?

The Knicks pulled off somewhat of a stunning upset, ousting the defending champion Boston Celtics in a six-game second-round playoff series. They ran into their ceiling a round later, losing to the fifth-seeded Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. They defied expectations, only to fall short of them.

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It is a weird situation. On the one hand, nobody figured them for the league’s final four, not with two 60-win teams plying their trade in the East. On the other, they got there and had a real chance to make the Finals. For that, the Knicks decided to part ways with Tom Thibodeau, the coach who got them there.

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There is no doubt that over the course of Thibodeau’s tenure the Knicks overachieved. They reached the playoffs in four of his five seasons on the bench, winning four playoff series — more than the franchise’s 13 other coaches this century combined. And their best player, Jalen Brunson, is a 6-foot-2 point guard.

Brunson also happens to be one hell of a player. He averaged 26 points (49/38/82 shooting splits) and 7.3 assists per game at the helm of a top-five offense, garnering MVP votes for a second straight season. He was incredible in the playoffs, making clutch play after clutch play. How much longer he can maintain this pace as an undersized superstar remains to be seen, but at 29 years old he is squarely in his prime.

He is also bolstered by one of the league’s best playoff rotations, featuring Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson. The additions of Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson make the Knicks deeper. With Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton sidelined for the Celtics and Pacers, respectively, New York has as clear a view of the NBA Finals as it has had since 1999.

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The Knicks saw a chance and took it. Kind of. Upon firing Thibodeau, the Knicks sought interviews with a handful of employed coaches, all of whom turned them down. In the end, they landed on Mike Brown.

Brown is a good coach. He took what he learned offensively as an assistant for the 2022 NBA champion Golden State Warriors and applied it to the Sacramento Kings, ending the franchise’s 17-year playoff drought. They thought they were better than they were, too, and fired him in the middle of last season.

[Get more Knicks news: New York team feed]

That’s the thing. Sometimes it isn’t the coach. Sometimes it is the personnel. And the Knicks have not had the personnel to reach the Finals. They have what some might consider a fatal flaw — the defense of Brunson and Towns. Neither is a stopper. Not close to it. Only they have to be on the floor together. And together they submitted a middling defense last year. Can Brown scheme around two defensive issues?

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More likely, Brown will lean into his team’s incredible offensive prowess, using more Brunson-Towns pick-and-rolls and movement in the offense, hoping to squeeze more from what was already a top-five outfit.

With Tatum and Haliburton out of the picture and the East’s last two champions in a gap year, the path to the Finals is open for the Knicks. They think they have the personnel now, but do they have the coach?

Best-case scenario

Brown coaches the Knicks up as one of the league’s elite offenses and finds a way to field a serviceable defense, perhaps benefitting from the presence of Robinson, who missed a good chunk of last season with an injury. Brunson maintains as one of the league’s elite playmakers. Towns, who has reached the finals of both conferences the last two years, carries that confidence into this season. Bridges and Anunoby find some consistency as reliable two-way performers, and the Knicks are the class of the East.

If everything falls apart

Brunson steps back from the MVP race. He and Towns cannot scrape together a top-10 defense. Bridges and Anunoby are as inconsistent as ever. Yabusele and Clarkson are not playoff difference-makers. Brown is no better than Thibodeau. The Knicks slam their heads against a sub-Finals ceiling once again, even in a watered-down Eastern Conference, and the outlook for the 2026-27 season is no better. Maybe they take another crack at trying to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but do they have the assets to get him?

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2025-26 schedule

• Season opener: Oct. 22 vs. Cleveland

Who else but the Knicks are capable of winning 55 games in the East? The Cleveland Cavaliers? Somebody has to win games, and the road could not be clearer for New York. Take the over.

More season previews

East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards

West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • LA Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz

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Oct 12, 2025, 12:17 AM ET

NEW YORK — Matthew Schaefer won’t soon forget his first NHL goal. The 18-year-old defenseman and top overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft dove headfirst into the moment, literally.

Schaefer found a loose puck after a scramble in front of the net and lunged forward, poking it past Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson at 4:28 of the third period in the Islanders’ 4-2 loss Saturday night.

“It’s crazy, I love these fans,” Schaefer said of the reaction inside UBS Arena during New York’s home opener. “Getting your name chanted out there. It’s awesome, feels like home for sure. … We want to win for the fans and we want to be there every night for them. They come out every night for us.

“We wish we could have gotten the win for them and for the team in here. We are going to keep working, keep working toward that.”

The goal cut Washington’s lead to two, but the Islanders couldn’t rally while falling to 0-2 on the season.

Still, it was a milestone for the rookie, who made the team out of training camp just months after hearing his name called first in Los Angeles at the draft.

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“He kind of took the game over to be honest with you,” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. “He was our best player tonight. He was moving, he was obviously contributing. He is just so effective out there. He is just getting more and more comfortable every single game. He is a special player, we are lucky to have him.”

Schaefer’s play has already earned the coaching staff’s full trust. After getting an assist for his first NHL point while logging 17:15 of ice time in the Islanders’ 4-3 season-opening loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday, he had a game-high 26:04 of ice time in this one. That was more than four minutes ahead of Mathew Barzal’s 21:28.

“I’m not balancing anything right now with the way he’s playing,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said of Schaefer’s workload. “He forced me to play him — he forced us to play him — so we’re going to give it to him.”

Few players have entered the draft with less recent game experience. Schaefer played just 17 games for Erie of the Ontario Hockey League in 2024-25, missing time with mononucleosis and later a broken clavicle sustained while representing Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. He still managed 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) and a plus-21 rating.

The Ontario native also captained Canada to gold medals at the 2024 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge and the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Now, just 18 and already on NHL ice, his first goal offered a glimpse of why the Islanders are looking for big things from the youngster for years to come.

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(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Fanatics)

For baseball card and collectibles fans planning ahead, you might want to block the last two weeks of next July (into early August) on your calendar.

It had already been announced that the National, the biggest convention of the year, will be taking place in Chicago from July 29 through Aug. 2. Now, Fanatics has confirmed rumors that the third-annual Fanatics Fest will be taking place weeks prior at the Javits Center in New York from July 16-19 in what is an expansion of the event from three to four days for 2026.

This year’s Fanatics Fest, which drew more than 100,000 fans across three days, took place in June—more than a month before the National. It’s rumored that the 2026 Fanatics Fest was pushed back to coincide with the World Cup soccer event, the final of which will be held at MetLife Stadium in nearby New Jersey on July 19. The July dates for Fanatics Fest not only will allow more high-profile soccer guests to appear, but will also mean a large contingent of sports fans visiting from around the world will be able to attend.

Proximity to soccer notwithstanding, the event also features a huge baseball presence. Last year’s event included autograph guests such as Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols and Mike Schmidt.

Fanatics, which owns the Topps baseball card company, says the event will feature more than 250 vendors and athletes guests from across all major sports, plus trading nights, interactive activities and more.

The two previous versions of Fanatics Fest have also offered event-exclusive trading card products. The inaugural event in 2024 featured a Fanatics Fest version of 2024 Topps Chrome, and this year’s event offered an exclusive Fanatics Fest version of 2025 Topps Series 2.

Fanatics says tickets for Fanatics Fest will go on sale this November.

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Keely Hodgkinson won the 800m to end her injury-hampered season on a high at New Yorkâ€s all-female Athlos meeting. Britainâ€s Olympic champion outclassed the field in her signature event, finishing in 1:56.53 in only her sixth race this season after missing several months of competition due to injury earlier this year.

Fellow Briton and world silver medallist Georgia Hunter Bell took second in 1:58.33 on Friday night before a thronging Icahn Stadium. St Vincentâ€s Shafiqua Maloney (1:58.57) was third.

“Iâ€ve barely raced this season so it was probably less of a struggle for me to go out there and want to give it something,†said Hodgkinson, who claimed a bronze medal at last monthâ€s World Championships in Tokyo after her campaign was marred by a hamstring injury. “The atmosphere out there is crazy so it was really, really fun.â€

Keely Hodgkinson breaks the tape to win the 800m in 1:56.53. Photograph: Ishika Samant/Getty Images for Athlos

The American Brittany Brown, the 200m bronze medallist at last yearâ€s Paris Olympics, surprised herself with the sprint double. Brown surged forward at the halfway mark and hung on through the final metres to win the 100m in 10.99sec, beating here compatriot Jacious Sears by just two hundredths of a second, with Kayla White (11.22) third.

Brown, returned to the track an hour later, dominating the longer sprint with a personal best 21.89, beating her compatriot Anavia Battle (22.21) and Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (22.65). “I was more shocked at the 100m [win] because that was only my second 100m of the year,†said Brown, who missed several months of training after undergoing laparoscopic surgery in December. “The 200m, it was more like – thatâ€s my baby – I was still shocked but it was less of a shock.â€

Brittany Brown after winning the 200m at Icahn Stadium: ‘I was still shocked but it was less of a shock.†Photograph: Emilee Chinn/Athlos/Getty Images

The womenâ€s-only event is in its second year, bringing a party atmosphere to traditional track, with live music and Tiffany & Co crowns replacing traditional winners†medals. The 23-times tennis major winner Serena Williams, who is married to the Athlos founder Alexis Ohanian, was on hand to present the winners with their crowns, adding A-list lustre to the event.

The meet also attracted some of the sportâ€s biggest names, as Kenyaâ€s three-time Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder Faith Kipyegon stormed to victory in the mile, crossing the finish in 4:17.78. She finished nearly two seconds faster than the Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, while the American Nikki Hiltz was third in 4:32.51.

The Olympic champion Masai Russell wrested the lead with two barriers to go to win the 100m hurdles in 12.52, ending her season on a positive note after a disappointing fourth-place finish last month in Tokyo. Her American compatriot Grace Stark, who took bronze at worlds, finished second in 12.60, while Alaysha Johnson (12.66) was third.

The gold medallist at the Paris Games, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, broke away down the final straight to win the 400m in 50.07, with Great Britainâ€s Amber Anning finishing a distant sixth in 52.86. In the long jump, reigning Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall won with an effort of 7.13 metres.

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Keely Hodgkinson ended her 800m season with victory at the all-female Athlos meet in New York on Friday evening.

The Olympic champion, who won bronze at the World Championships last month, cruised to an impressive win in one minute 56.53 seconds in what was only her sixth race in a season blighted by a hamstring injury.

Fellow Briton and world silver medallist Georgia Hunter Bell was second again in 1:58.33, while St Vincent’s Shafiqua Maloney (1:58.57) was third.

“I’ve barely raced this season so it was probably less of a struggle for me to go out there and want to give it something,” said Hodgkinson, 23.

“The atmosphere out there is crazy so it was really, really fun.”

The women-only meet packed Icahn Stadium in its second year, bringing a party atmosphere to traditional track, with live music and Tiffany & Co. crowns replacing traditional winners’ medals.

The 23-times tennis major winner Serena Williams, who is married to Athlos founder Alexis Ohanian, was on hand to present the winners with their crowns.

Last year’s winners took home $60,000 (£44,603) – one of the largest prize purses in athletics.

The event also attracted some of the sport’s biggest names, as Kenya’s three-time Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Faith Kipyegon won the mile, crossing the finish line in four hours 17.78 minutes.

American Brittany Brown, the 200m bronze medallist from last year’s Paris Olympics, won the 100m and 200m double.

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The feud between Jon Moxley and Darby Allin rages on.

During a New York Comic-Con discussion panel on Friday, Darby Allin interrupted a panel and asked Moxley if he really thought heâ€d quit at WrestleDream. The two quickly got into a brawl with Allin smashing a water bottle over Moxleyâ€s back.

The two are to meet in an I Quit match at WrestleDream on October 18. The two have continued to feud after they took part in a coffin match at All Out. Although Darby Allin had the upper hand towards the end of the match, a returning PAC interfered, allowing Moxley to get Allin into the coffin for the win. However, Allin retaliated by escaping from the coffin and lighting Moxley on fire.

On this weekâ€s Dynamite Title Tuesday, the program ended with Allin costing PAC a match against Orange Cassidy. As Allin taunted him in the crowd, PAC chased Allin but Allin threw something in his eyes. The rest of the Death Riders came out but Allin produced a taser to keep them away. Despite this, Moxley continued to go after Allin until he produced a molotov cocktail, apparently threatening to throw it at Moxley. Security finally came in and ended the chaos as the show went off the air.

The panel on Friday was on the upcoming Justice League comic book crossover special between AEW and DC Comics.

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NEW YORK — Statistically speaking, Aaron Judge had a nice day.

In Game 4 of the ALDS, he went 2-for-4 with an intentional walk. His two outs were a strikeout and a 112-mph liner smoked right at the second baseman. He made a few nice plays in the field. Judge did not send one flying to the heavens — not every day is Christmas — but it was a productive trip to the office.

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Yet he finished the evening in the same scattered fashion he has finished every year of his career. Disappointed, downtrodden, his eyes puffy and distant with the remnants of tears, his words low and tired. Once more, Judgeâ€s Yankees did not win the World Series. The “October in the Bronx†dream is dead yet again.

[Get more New York news: Yankees team feed]

And as the current face of this institution, as the living emblem of all that Yankeedom represents, as the captain forced to shoulder the 16-year championship drought, Judge was once again left to explain his clubâ€s failures on Wednesday, after a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays ended the Yankees’ season.

“It’s tough to say right now,†Judge replied when asked whether there’s anything the Yankees were missing to get them over the hump. “I gotta review this season, kind of go through it. I might have a better answer for you.â€

The scene around Judge in the Yankees†locker room featured all the typical sights and sounds of a group understanding it will never be together again. Hugs, thank-yous, handshakes, make-sure-you-text-mes. There were fewer tears than a November goodbye but more than a September goodbye. The weepiest person in the room was Paul Goldschmidtâ€s 10-year-old son, Jake, who received consolations from what seemed like the entire Yankees roster.

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At one point, Andy Pettite strolled in, making him the only one in the room who’d won a World Series in pinstripes. Meanwhile, clubhouse attendants unfolded scores of cardboard boxes, filling them with the various bric-a-brac one finds in a clubhouse. The loud screeches of packing tape being unspooled were often louder than the humbled mumbles of Yankees players conducting postmortems with the media.

“Very disappointed,†second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “Everyone in here believed that we had such a great team, and we were the team to beat. We believe so much in each other. It’s heartbreaking.”

“We didn’t do our job, didn’t finish the goal,†Judge lamented. “Had a special group in here. Lotta special players that made this year fun. But didn’t get the ultimate prize.”

That ultimate prize, a World Series championship, continues to elude and define Judge. Even though he ended all doubts about his postseason fortitude with that unforgettable swing in Game 3, he knows the expectations that come with wearing the pinstripes. He is already, far and away, the greatest Yankee of all time without a ring.

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He did his best Wednesday, delivering a commendable performance that also served to reinforce baseballâ€s limitations in legacy creation. This sport, more than any other, restricts the myth of the lone hero. Itâ€s in the gameâ€s DNA, both frustrating and beautiful. One player can dominate, inspire, ignite, but he cannot do it all alone. Every at-bat is a solitary experience, but the end result is a collaboration.

And while the outcome of Game 4 was compelling, the game itself was not, especially compared to the thrill ride that transpired the night before. This contest was much quieter, a slow burning away of the Yankees†season, a gradual realization in the Jays dugout that the Bronx dragon would be slayed. But while the evening was light on drama, this result will linger sourly in New York and stand the test of time in Toronto.

“The ending’s the worst, right?†Yankees manager Aaron Boone commiserated afterward.

Aaron Judge did his part, but the Yankees came up short in the ALDS against the Blue Jays. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

(Al Bello via Getty Images)

The beginning wasnâ€t so good, either. The game started with the Jays striking quickly against Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler, fresh off that magnificent wild-card performance last week against Boston. Toronto plated a single run in the top of the first courtesy of — who else? — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. With a runner on second, Torontoâ€s top bat sliced a liner over the first-base bag for an RBI knock. New York punched back in the third with a solo home run from nine-hole hitter Ryan McMahon, a glove-first veteran acquired at the deadline from the baseball backwater that is Denver.

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The Jays retook a one-run lead in the fifth on a pair of singles and a sac fly. Meanwhile, a carousel of Toronto relievers continued to silence the Yankees†bats. Then Toronto broke it open in the seventh, the crucial moment a brutal error from Chisholm. A soft one-hopper that wouldâ€ve been a double play caromed off the heel of his glove and trickled into the outfield. A few batters later, outfielder Nathan Lukes shot an elevated Devin Williams fastball into center for a two-RBI single.

That was, effectively, the ballgame. The Jays added a run in the eighth to stretch their lead to four. New York threatened in the bottom of that frame, loading the bases with two outs to bring the tying run to the dish in Austin Wells. He flew out weakly on the first pitch of his at-bat to end the threat. Judge clobbered one off the wall in the ninth, an RBI single that trimmed the lead to three, but the game never seriously felt within reach for the Yankees.

“I’m confident we’ll break through,†Boone asserted afterward. “I have been every year, and I believe in so many of the people in that room. That hasn’t changed. The fire hasn’t changed. It’s hard to win the World Series. Been chasing it all my life.â€

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And as Boone well knows, he canâ€t do it alone. Nobody can, not even the greatest hitter on the planet. Both Aarons are likely to be back next season — Boone, when asked, stated that heâ€s under contract and expects to return as manager — to do it all over again. Theyâ€ll have as good a shot as anybody else. The Yankees wield enormous financial might and boast a formidable pitching rotation. They also have Judge, a player so brilliant he makes anything seem possible.

Even winning a World Series.

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Aaron Judge just put together what should have been remembered as a legendary run through the ALDS.

Emphatically shutting up everyone who questioned his clutch gene in recent Octobers, Judge went 9-for-15 at the dish in the plate appearances in which Toronto didn’t intentionally walk him, including that instant classic of a game-tying three-run home run off the foul pole in Game 3.

Nevertheless, Judge’s inevitable march to the Hall of Fame continues without a World Series ring, as the Hal Steinbrenner-owned, Brian Cashman-assembled and Aaron Boone-managed Yankees squandered yet another year of Judge’s prime by simply not caring about winning like they used to.

Here are some cold, hard cash facts to chew on as the Yankees shift into offseason mode.

From 1999-2013, the Yankees ranked No. 1 in payroll for 15 consecutive years, per The Baseball Cube. Usually, it was by a laughable margin. Their 2005 payroll of $208M wasn’t far off from equaling the combined total of the second-most (Boston Red Sox at $123.5M) and third-most (New York Mets at $101.3M) aggressive spenders.

George Steinbrenner repeatedly laughed in the face of the competitive balance (luxury) tax.

Since 2013, however, the Yankees have assembled the largest payroll just once in 12 years, doing so in 2020. That one-off year came two seasons after they ranked seventh in spending in 2018, behind even the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. Seventh!

This goes well beyond the fact that others, such as the Mets and Dodgers, have stepped up their spending.

The Yankees have become content with being “good enough to contend” while turning a profit, which comes in stark contrast to the decades in which they were obsessedwith being the best, trying/spending to win it all every year.

Mark Blinch/Getty Images

In the final season of that 15-year run of No. 1 payrolls, they were at $229M. That represented 7.2 percent of the MLB-wide payroll ($3.2B) and almost 10 percent of their Forbes valuation of $2.3B in 2013. Multiple years during that decade-and-a-half run they were responsible for eight percent of all league payroll.

Fast-forward to 2025 and the Yankees had an Opening Day payroll of $287.5M. That’s down to 5.6 percent of league-wide payroll ($5.1B) and just 3.5 percent of their Forbes valuation of $8.2B.

In other words, they’ve increased spending by 25 percent since 2013, but league-wide payroll has gone up almost 60 percent during that time and the franchise’s value has gone up over 250 percent.

If Steinbrenner the Younger cared about rings as much as his father did, the Yankees’ payroll would be well north of $400M, probably pushing $700M.

And I’ll tell you one thing for sure: They wouldn’t have gotten outbid by the freaking Mets for Juan Soto last winter.

They wouldn’t have settled for a well-past-his-prime first baseman in Paul Goldschmidt for an umpteenth consecutive season, while Pete Alonso just sat there as a free agent for months.

When Gerrit Cole went down for the count in spring training, George Steinbrenner would have gone out and demanded someone who could actually help them win, as opposed to shrugging shoulders and hoping for the best with a 38-year-old Carlos Carrasco.

With each passing year, it becomes increasingly clear that this is no longer the Evil Empire it once was.

Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Heck, look no further than the incredible job security for the Yankees manager.

When the Yankees failed to win the World Series even once in 16 tries from 1979-1995, they churned through 11 different managers, plus several cycles of hiring and firing Billy Martin. Buck Showalter was the only one to survive three full seasons, and even he was let go after four years with a .539 winning percentage.

When “The Boss” was in his prime, managers existed almost for the express purpose of becoming the sacrificial lamb when times got tough.

Joe Girardi sputtered through eight championship-less seasons (2010-17), even missing the playoffs three times before they finally shifted gears to Boone.

Incredibly, the general consensus seems to be that Boone will return in 2026 for a ninth season, because he’s good enough, because the players like him and because they extended him through 2027 back in February.

Cashman’s probably going to be back, too, despite what is now a 25-year stretch with just the one ring in 2009.

Heads would have rolled long ago and multiple times over if George Steinbrenner were still alive and calling the shots. And then he would have gone out this winter and signed Kyle Tucker and/or Munetaka Murakami for a few hundred million to ensure they do better next year.

But the current era Yankees will probably more or less just run it back again with mostly the same players, manager and GM to waste another year of one of the best sluggers to ever walk the earth.

At least Judge has won some playoff games. More than 30 of them, in fact. That’s certainly more than three-time AL MVP Mike Trout can claim.

However, as we wait to find out whether Judge is also a three-time AL MVP or merely a four-time top-two finisher in that vote, he is absolutely lapping the field for the title of best Yankee ever without a ring.

If his contract ends in 2031 while still fitting that ringless description, what a colossal failure and waste of greatness that would be for a franchise that can buy a championship every now and then.

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Sep 27, 2025, 08:56 PM ET

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the quality of MLS and said the league will continue to grow in the next five years, while visiting with the New York Red Bulls this week.

Klopp, who was appointed head of global soccer with Red Bull after leaving Liverpool last year, took in training with the MLS club ahead of Saturday’s Hudson River derby against rivals New York City FC.

And the German coach said he has been impressed with the level of play in MLS.

– MLS spends record $336M on transfers in 2025
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– Messi, Ramos lead tributes to retiring Busquets

“I’m 100% sure, in five years time, we [will] speak completely differently,” Klopp said before he attended Saturday’s rivalry match Harrison, New Jersey. “I’m really sure it will grow and grow and grow.

“The kids coming up, starting playing soccer earlier, training, getting better. Obviously, the place where you can play and train getting better. Everywhere.

“I can tell you, the quality is really, really good. Good players, a lot of talent, high intensity. All these things you want to see when you watch it in a stadium or in television. I think [MLS] found its spot and now let’s work with it.”

Jurgen Klopp watches New York Red Bulls training ahead of the Hudson River derby. Courtesy of New York Red Bulls

MLS clubs spent a record total of close to $336 million on transfers in 2025, nearly doubling the previous record spend in a calendar year, as the league looks to close to gap to the top competitions in Europe.

The league’s reputation has grown since the arrival of record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi to Inter Miami in 2023. South Korea star Son Heung-Min was the most high-profile arrival in 2025, joining for an MLS-record $26 million fee from Premier League Tottenham Hotspur.

The New York Red Bulls are one of several clubs owned by the energy drink brand that Klopp now helps oversee, along with RB Leipzig in Germany, Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg and Bragantino in Brazil.

The New York team went into Saturday’s derby in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, one place below the playoff line as it looks to extend its record streak of 15 straight postseason appearances.

“I don’t think we played exactly the season we wanted to play, but that’s OK, that happens, but we are still in a position to fight for it,” Klopp said. And that’s exactly the vibe I realized. That’s the mood. … What I saw now gives me a really positive feeling.”

Klopp also declared gave a big thumbs up to the Red Bulls’ new training facility in Morris Township, New Jersey.

“Massively, massively impressed,” he said. “This is outstanding. It’s something you never really can dream of, because you cannot win when you win or whatever you do in football and soccer.

“But then you think guys that possibly, this is fine. This is fine. This fine. This is a completely next level. It’s really it’s really cool. It’s really well thought through. It’s so many opportunities. It’s easy to say we will not be successful in the future. This is not the reason”

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  Jorge CastilloSep 21, 2025, 07:43 PM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

NEW YORK — For nearly six months, almost the duration of an entire Major League Baseball regular season, the New York Mets occupied a spot in the National League playoff picture. That changed Sunday after a brutal loss that concluded an ugly weekend and prolonged a baffling three-plus-month swoon with a week remaining on their schedule.

The Mets’ 3-2 loss to the last-place Washington Nationals at Citi Field — a sloppy, toothless showing cemented with two jaw-dropping catches by Nationals center fielder Jacob Young — combined with the Cincinnati Reds’ 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs dropped them from postseason position for the first time since April 5 when their season was eight games old.

“It’s the way it’s gone,” Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “I can believe it because I’ve watched it. We’ve been watching it happen right in front of us.”

While both teams have an 80-76 record with six games remaining, the Reds hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series between the clubs. The Mets, who have lost 11 of their past 15 games, finish the regular season with a road trip against the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins starting Tuesday. Cincinnati hosts the Pittsburgh Pirates for three games before concluding its schedule on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are also looming just one game behind the Reds and Mets in the standings for the third NL wild-card spot. Arizona owns the tiebreaker over both clubs.

“We just got to win,” Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said. “It’s simple. Winning solves everything at this point. We just got to do it. That’s it. We got to solve our issues between the lines. That’s the simple fact.”

The Mets, at 45-24, boasted the best record in the majors through June 12. They looked like a club that would sail into October after clawing their way into the playoffs and defying expectations with a trip to the 2024 National League Championship Series through 69 games.

But this year’s team has produced inverse results from the 2024 version that stumbled early before a magical summer pushed them deep into October. These Mets, with the second-most expensive roster in the majors, have gone 35-52 since June 13. That is tied for the fourth-worst record over that stretch with the Chicago White Sox. Only the Nationals, Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies have been worse over the 87-game span.

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They enter their final two series with a 50.1% chance of reaching the postseason, according to FanGraphs. They were given a 96.2% chance on June 12.

“I can’t put my finger quite on it other than we just haven’t been able to put it together as a team for an extended period of time,” Nimmo said.

The Mets, coming off an encouraging series victory over the playoff-bound San Diego Padres, took the series opener Friday behind an offensive outburst. But they fell on Saturday in 11 innings on an inside-the-park home run before early mistakes, coupled with Young’s defense, buried them on Sunday.

In the first inning, Juan Soto, who went 1-for-2 with two walks, was picked off at first base. In the second, Francisco Lindor committed a throwing error that allowed the game’s first run to score.

“If we want to be where we want to be, those things can’t happen,” Lindor said. “Full accountability on that. I have to be better.”

And in the third inning, Cedric Mullins failed to take second base on a line drive that he hit down the left-field line, a decision that potentially cost the Mets a run.

Mullins said he thought the ball was caught by Daylen Lile as he crashed into the wall. Meanwhile, first base coach Antoan Richardson thought it was ruled foul. But the ball was ruled fair and bounced out of Lile’s glove.

Luis Torrens, who was on second base, was unsure if Lile made the catch so he retreated to tag up and scored on the play as Lile writhed in pain. Mullins, despite teammates yelling and signaling to him to run to second base, remained at first base. He was doubled off moments later when Lindor cracked a line drive to first base. Soto then lined what would’ve been an RBI double.

“You just got to go,” Mendoza said.

On the mound, the Mets deployed Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes as a piggyback for the second time in the past week after both veterans struggled to effectively pitch deep into games in the second half. The duo combined to give up just three runs — all in the second inning off Manaea — over six innings, with the biggest damage coming from the light-hitting Nasim Nunez swatting a two-run home run.

In the end, the Mets’ $38 million tandem was outpitched by the Nationals’ $1.4 million piggyback of Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker, who entered Sunday with the highest ERAs in the majors among qualified pitchers this season.

They were buoyed by two highlight-reel catches from Young in center field. The first, a circus grab in which he kicked the ball to himself, robbed Brett Baty of extra bases in the fifth inning. The second took away a potential tying home run for Francisco Alvarez in the ninth.

“Those were crazy plays,” Mullins said. “In the stretch we’re in, every win matters. To see plays like that made, definitely deflates [you] a little bit. [We’ve taken] some tough losses on the chin. We have a week left. We’re going to do some damage so that’s what we’re focused on.”

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