Bally Sports owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The move came after it missed a $140 million interest payment last month.

Diamond owns 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner. Those networks have the rights to 42 professional teams — 14 baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL.

The company said in a release Tuesday night that it expects to continue to operate during the bankruptcy process and that coverage of games should not be affected.

Grandson of Iditarod co-founder wins race

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA>> Ryan Redington on Tuesday won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, bringing his six dogs off the Bering Sea ice to the finish line on Nome’s main street.

Redington, 40, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., who helped co-found the arduous race across Alaska that was first held in 1973 and is known as the “Father of the Iditarod.”

“My grandpa, dad and Uncle Joee are all in the Mushing Hall of Fame. I got big footsteps to follow,” Ryan Redington wrote in his race biography.

FIFA expands 2026 World Cup again to 104 games

The expanded World Cup in North America got even more supersized on Tuesday.

The governing body of soccer increased the size of the 2026 tournament for the second time — six years after the first — by approving a bigger group stage for the inaugural 48-team event.

By retaining groups of four teams instead of moving to three, FIFA has created a 104game schedule that will last nearly six weeks in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The final is scheduled for July 19.

USA Swimming offers cash for Olympic relay sweep

COLORADO SPRINGS>> USA Swimming will reward its athletes financially if the Americans sweep all seven relays at this summer’s world championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

If the U.S. wins all seven of relays at the world meet in Fukuoka, Japan, this summer, team members will split $500,000. If the Americans finish first, second or third in all the relays, they will split $150,000.

At the Paris Olympics, if the U.S. sweeps the relays, all the swimmers will split $1 million. If the team medals in every relay, the athletes will share $250,000.

Johnson adds COTA, Coca-cola 600 to sked

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson said Tuesday he will drive the No. 84 Chevrolet in the March 26 race at the Circuit of the Americas and the May 28 Coca-cola 600 as part of his limited race lineup this season.

Johnson returned to NASCAR this season after a two-year hiatus when he bought into the ownership group of Legacy Motor Club and signed on as a parttime driver.

Céspedes leaves Cuban team for personal reasons

TOKYO>> Former major leaguer Yoenis Céspedes has left the Cuban team at the World Baseball Classic for unspecified personal reasons. The Cuban Baseball Federation, in a statement from Havana, gave few details about his departure for the United States but said he might rejoin the team if Cuba reaches the semifinals in Miami.