Recreation and leisure
Virtual slime cannons go off in the end zone after a touchdown during Nickelodeon's kid-focused broadcast of the NFL wild-card playoff game between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints at the Superdome, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021 in New Orleans. The positive reviews for Nickelodeon's kids-focused broadcast of last Sunday's NFL playoff game showed the potential of alternate broadcasts of sporting events. The success of that broadcast has led to many wondering what other sports it could expand to and when we might see it again in the NFL? (CBS/Viacom via AP)
NFL wild-card games show potential for alternate broadcasts

By Joe Reedy Jan. 14, 2021 03:17 AM EST

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill runs down the sideline after evading a tackle by Atlanta Falcons A.J. Terrell during an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Kansas City. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Chiefs enter playoffs favored for rare Super Bowl repeat

By Dave Skretta Jan. 07, 2021 01:24 PM EST

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski looks on from the sidelines during an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Pittsburgh. Positive COVID-19 tests have knocked Stefanski out of Cleveland's wild-card game at Pittsburgh on Sunday night — the Browns' first playoff appearance since the 2002 season. (AP Photo/Justin Berl, File)
The Latest: Packers to allow 6,000 fans at playoff game

By The Associated Press Jan. 07, 2021 10:19 AM EST

El quarterback de los Browns de Cleveland Baker Mayfield celebra la victoria ante los Steelers de Pittsburgh, el domingo 3 de enero de 2021. (AP Foto/David Richard)
Cruel twist: Browns lose coach for playoffs due to COVID-19

By Tom Withers Jan. 05, 2021 11:28 AM EST

FILE - In this October 1984 file photo, a groundskeeper at Jack Murphy Stadium paints the logo for the 1984 World Series between San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers in San Diego. The biggest piece of San Diego's sports history is slowly being knocked down and ground to bits. Now the stadium is coming to an unceremonious end, leaving generations of fans feeling melancholy because, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they didn't get to say a proper goodbye to the place where they tailgated with gusto in the massive parking lot before cheering on the Chargers, Padres and Aztecs, or watched myriad other events and concerts. (AP Photo,File)
San Diegans left feeling sad as 'The Murph' comes down

By Bernie Wilson Dec. 22, 2020 05:24 PM EST

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson adjusting his facemask before the start of an NFL football game against the Washington Football Team, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Seattle Seahawks at Washington Football Team 12/20/2020

Dec. 20, 2020 11:30 AM EST

SpongeBob, slime, football: Nickelodeon ready for NFL game

By Joe Reedy Dec. 15, 2020 10:27 AM EST
Get ready for SpongeBob SquarePants running out of the tunnel, players being covered with digital slime after touchdowns and commentary from the cast of “All...

AP Sportlight

By The Associated Press Dec. 15, 2020 10:00 AM EST
Dec. 16 1918 — Jack Dempsey knocks out Carl Morris in 14 seconds in a heavyweight bout in New Orleans. 1930 — Golfer...

AP-Sportlight-Week Ahead

By The Associated Press Dec. 10, 2020 04:27 PM EST
Dec. 13 1942 — The Washington Redskins win the NFL Championship with a 14-6 victory over the Chicago Bears. 1958 —...

FILE - Baltimore Ravens lineman and math scholar John Urschel, left, hands out ice cream to Chelsy Valerio, 14, of Baltimore, during a lesson at Dundalk High School during the launch of Texas Instruments' STEM Behind Cool Careers series in Baltimore, in this Tuesday, July 18, 2017, file photo. John Urschel has found that a master's degree in mathematics, his stature as an accomplished author and his pending PhD at MIT isn't necessarily enough to sell young students on the benefit of crunching numbers. What really makes him interesting to most kids is that he's a former NFL player who opted to immerse himself in math. (Steve Ruark/AP Images for Texas Instruments, File)
Former NFL player Urschel sells virtue of math to youngsters

By David Ginsburg Dec. 07, 2020 11:18 AM EST

This Sept. 5, 2019 photo shows a gambler making a sports bet at Bally's casino in Atlantic City N.J. Participants in a national sports betting conference on Dec. 1, 2020, agreed that huge holes in state budgets due to the coronavirus outbreak, and the demonstrated eagerness of fans to bet on sports are likely to spur a further expansion of sports betting and online casino gambling in the U.S. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
NFL betting lines in season of COVID-19 are moving targets

By Wayne Parry Dec. 05, 2020 01:56 PM EST

In this image provided by WaV Sports & Entertainment + The NFL Alumni Academy, Mike Tice, second from left, coaches at the NFL Alumni Academy at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio on Nov. 4, 2020. In normal times, NFL teams sometimes must scramble to find players during the season when a wave of injuries or other issues hit. In 2020, multiply those needs exponentially because of the coronavirus pandemic. Helping out the 32 teams on a limited scale, for now, is the NFL Alumni Academy. (Devon Dalton/WaV Sports & Entertainment + The NFL Alumni Academy via AP)
NFL prospects getting second chance through Alumni Academy

By Barry Wilner Nov. 20, 2020 03:16 PM EST

Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford celebrates his touchdown during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against East Carolina, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Latest: Pac-12 cancels Washington State-Stanford game

By The Associated Press Nov. 20, 2020 11:18 AM EST

Virtual Pro Bowl: Game will play out on Madden NFL 21

Nov. 17, 2020 05:14 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) — The Pro Bowl will play out on the EA Sports Madden NFL 21 video game after the real-life version of football’s all-star game was canceled. ...

New York Jets' Bennett Jackson, left, celebrates a tackle during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Sports game simulator says press pause on Jets going 0-16

By Dennis Waszak Jr. Nov. 17, 2020 12:34 PM EST

Louisville fans sit socially distant during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Charlottesville, Va. (Erin Edgerton/The Daily Progress via AP)
The Latest: No. 15 Marshall postpones game vs Charlotte

By The Associated Press Nov. 16, 2020 11:18 AM EST

FILE — In this Nov. 10, 2020 file photo, Ohio Bobcats wide receiver Isiah Cox (6) runs the ball past Akron Zips linebacker Julian Richardson (7) during an NCAA football game in Athens, Ohio. An NCAA official voiced concern, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, over sports betting on the performance of individual student athletes, and suggested that gambling regulators consider restrictions on such wagers to protect the integrity of the games. (AP Photo/Emilee Chinn, FIle)
Akron at Ohio 11/10/2020

Nov. 12, 2020 01:14 PM EST

FILE — In this Nov. 11, 2020 file photo, Western Michigan's Nick Mihalic (39) grabs the onside kick against Toledo during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Kalamazoo, Mich. An NCAA official voiced concern, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, over sports betting on the performance of individual student athletes, and suggested that gambling regulators consider restrictions on such wagers to protect the integrity of the games. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Toledo at Western Michigan 11/11/2020

Nov. 12, 2020 01:14 PM EST

Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) carries the ball against Chicago Bears strong safety Tashaun Gipson (38) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Titans' A.J. Brown working to be physical wide receiver

By Teresa M. Walker Nov. 10, 2020 07:13 PM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017, file photo, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks walks behind the end zone during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Tampa, Fla. This has been a year for Tampa Bay sports like no other, though the area's three successful professional teams haven't had a chance to truly capitalize on the boom and connect with re-energized fan bases. Derrick Brooks says he feels for the fans not being able to go to the games and celebrate their teams victories and success.(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
Missed opportunity: Tampa teams soar, fans watch from afar

By Fred Goodall Nov. 03, 2020 02:54 PM EST