After the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders relocated from Connecticut, the New York Islanders AHL affiliate will begin a new chapter in Hamilton under a new name, the Hamilton Hammers. The Hammers will play their inaugural season at TD Coliseum, giving Hamilton a professional hockey team of its own for the first time since the city’s previous professional team left in 2015.
It has been a long season for Blue Jays fans watching the Jays struggle to find consistency in their game, but they have started to turn things around at the best time.
For Brock’s women’s flag football team, competing at the university level comes with a cost that often falls directly on the athletes. The team is primarily self-funded, with athletes paying a significant portion of their expenses out of pocket while also relying on fundraisers and outside sponsorships for additional support.
2025-26 was a rollercoaster of a season for the Brock men’s basketball team. Defying the odds after numerous key players departed, they made it all the way to the OUA semi-final where they would fall to the eventual champion, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold. Although bringing home a trophy was the goal, this season was a success overall for a Badger squad that showed there’s a lot to look forward to in years to come. With little to no expectations around the league, the Badgers proved why they have one of the most consistent groups of coaches and players in the province, turning heads each year since their coveted OUA title season.
The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is approaching its end and with just a few weeks left in the schedule, we’ve seen some of the most polarizing stories to come out of it in the past month. Whether it’s one of the tightest A.L. wildcard races there’s been in years, the most shocking falls from grace or one unexpected National League team gearing up to make another historic run, let’s dive into some of the most compelling storylines as the MLB playoffs approach.
Aug. 31 brought one of the most bizarre moments of the baseball season during a standard regular-season game that featured two teams battling it out for a second-place wildcard finish in the American League. This moment didn’t directly involve any players, managers or even umpires, but the broadcast crew of the Boston Red Sox — specifically Will Flemming.
We’re approaching a month into the 2026 MLB season and to say the beginning stretch has been a rollercoaster is an understatement. Slow starts in baseball are expected no matter the year, but the number of projected good teams that haven’t been able to put it together so far is astounding. As the weeks go by, there is no doubt that we will see many of these teams climb back up the standings and regain their form, but as of now, it’s interesting to see which teams got the jump on some others and began the season on a good note.
March Madness never really belongs to the games alone. Every year, the NCAA tournament becomes something bigger — part basketball, part spectacle, part controversy — and in 2026, that reality felt impossible to ignore.
Debates about the relationship between politics and sports are not new in the United States, but recent comments from U.S. President Donald Trump have once again placed athletics at the centre of national policy discussions.
Social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have changed how athletes are introduced to fans. For decades, fans typically discovered athletes through televised games, newspaper coverages or highlight shows. Today, athletes can reach large audiences directly through short videos, training clips and everyday content posted on social media. This shift has changed how sports visibility works, particularly for younger athletes and those competing in sports that traditionally receive limited media coverage.
Professional athletes increasingly find themselves navigating two influential forces that shape their public image: political expression and commercial partnerships. In recent years, athletes across multiple sports have used their platforms to speak about political and social issues while simultaneously maintaining relationships with corporate sponsors. Balancing these two interests has become an important part of modern sports culture, as athletes attempt to remain authentic to their beliefs without jeopardizing their brand partnerships.
The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association have reached a landmark collective bargaining agreement (CBA) following months of intense negotiations, marking one of the most significant turning points in the league’s history.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has delayed a decision that could potentially impact Donald Trump’s presence at major international sporting events, pushing any outcome until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Sports gambling might feel like a recent surge in the sports world, especially with its constant presence across broadcasts and social media, but it has been embedded in organized sport for well over a century. What has changed is not its existence, but how visible, accessible and regulated it has become.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has introduced one of the most significant and controversial policy shifts in modern sport, announcing that transgender women will be barred from competing in the female category at future Olympic Games. The decision, which is expected to take full effect at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, marks a clear departure from the IOC’s previous approach, where individual sports federations were left to determine their own eligibility rules.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is closer than it has ever been to expanding in over two decades , with two cities — Las Vegas and Seattle — firmly at the centre of those plans. But despite the headlines, the league has not officially added teams yet. What it has done is take a major step toward making it happen.
The halftime show is supposed to be a break. A pause. A moment for players to catch their breath and for coaches to make adjustments that might actually decide the outcome of the game. Instead, it has turned into a full-scale concert that just happens to interrupt a sporting event.
Owen Paquette’s return to the national stage didn’t come easy. After two years away from boxing due to a shoulder surgery, the Brock University student fought his way back to the top, capturing gold at the 2026 Canadian U23 National Championships in Calgary, Alberta.
In a league where careers usually end from injury or decline in play from age or lack of skill, Jaden Ivey’s recent situation will undoubtedly go down as one of the strangest in NBA history.
The 2026 MLB season has been incredibly entertaining thus far. The first two weeks of the campaign have delivered some of the most bizarre and interesting storylines that the baseball world has ever seen. Teams that were supposed to be good are on the struggle bus, the new ABS system has put umpires under even more of a microscope and some pitchers are proving that Father Time may be a fraud.
Brock Badger athletes are defined by their dedication, hunger to win and their connection to the school’s community. Whether it’s willing their team to the playoffs each year or taking the time out of their day to say hi to someone in the halls, the school has countless role models who make an impact both on and off the court. In recent years, nobody has done all of those things quite like Michael Matas.
Becoming a collegiate athlete is one thing. Making an all-star team is another. But, becoming arguably the greatest player in Canadian university basketball history is something of a legend.
The 2025-26 NHL season started with a lot of promise for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mitch Marner had just left the team after years of falling short in the playoffs, ending an era in Leafs history that will be looked back upon with some distaste from their fans. Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander remained on the squad, maintaining the base from previous years. The rest of the roster still featured many of the same faces as years past but had a few notable shakeups.
Thursday, March 26, has been circled on the calendars of baseball fans around the world for one reason: opening day. After a long winter with no baseball and some underwhelming spring training weeks, it’s finally time to preview the next season and look at who ranks amongst the top teams.
The United States Women's National Ice Hockey team found itself at the centre of an unexpected political controversy following remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump during celebrations surrounding the 2026 Winter Olympics.
In recent years, podcasts have become one of the most powerful tools that athletes can use to communicate with fans and shape how their careers are understood. Rather than relying entirely on journalists, television networks or post-game press conferences, many athletes now host their own shows where they control the format, topics and tone of the conversation. This shift has fundamentally changed how sports narratives are created and who gets to shape them.
Gender categories remain one of the most debated issues in modern sport. While most athletic competitions are divided into men’s and women’s categories to create competitive balance, growing discussions around biology, gender identity and fairness have made the structure of those divisions increasingly complex. As governing bodies attempt to respond to new scientific research and evolving social attitudes, sport has become one of the most visible arenas where these debates unfold.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, the TMU Bold hosted the Brock Badgers in a men’s basketball semi-final that featured one of the best individual playoff performances in recent OUA history. This game not only featured some great highlights but also some fan affairs in the days leading up to the event.
When All-NBA talent Jayson Tatum unexpectedly tore his Achilles in game four of the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2025, the consensus was that the team’s next season would be a wash. After all, the Celtics had to replace 72 points per game and 132 minutes from that roster after losing out on five rotational players. That kind of player movement is almost unheard of in the association.
The Brock Badgers women’s volleyball team hosted the Queen’s Gales on Feb. 27 at the Bob Davis Gymnasium in a rematch of last year’s semi-final. The Gales were the underdogs coming into the contest, having lost both of their regular-season games to the Badgers in October (3-2 and 3-2).
The WNBA’s 2026 season has not been officially delayed, but the league has warned teams and the WNBPA that the May 8 tip-off is at risk if collective bargaining talks do not reach a workable framework by March 10.
Sports documentaries have changed the way audiences interpret athletes, but their influence also runs in the opposite direction. The presence of cameras, long-form storytelling and controlled narratives does not just shape how viewers see players — it can shape how players see themselves and how they move through their careers.
Athlete activism and league branding increasingly exist in the same public space though they do not always move in the same direction. As professional sport has become more global and commercially sophisticated, leagues have invested heavily in carefully managed brand identities built around unity, entertainment value and broad market appeal. At the same time, athletes have used their platforms to speak on social justice, labour rights, gender equity and political issues. When those impulses align, the result can strengthen both parties. When they diverge, the tension becomes visible.
Since the pandemic shut down sports around the world, All-Star games in all four major sports leagues have taken a hit in terms of player participation and overall draw. NBA players have treated the weekend like a joke, turning an event that is supposed to showcase the league's best players into a train wreck. Fast forward to 2026, many considered this past event to be the best in years. However, it didn’t come without its flaws. Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2026 NBA All-Star weekend.
Another year called for another OUA playoff appearance for the Brock women’s volleyball team, as they took on the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the first round on Feb. 20 in the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
While the Winter Olympics feature a smaller field of athletes competing across fewer disciplines, there’s something about the cold-weather Games that makes them uniquely susceptible to drama, scandal and unforgettable cultural moments.
As Selection Sunday nears on March 15, women’s college basketball fans are gearing up for one of the most compelling March Madness tournaments in recent memory. The 68-team field will be revealed that night, officially kicking off the road to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and ultimately the National Championship.
For more than a decade, the NBA All-Star Game has been fighting slow, but noticeable, rating declines. What was once a guaranteed television draw — regularly pulling between eight and 10 million viewers in the early 2010s — gradually lost traction as fan frustration grew over lackluster effort, inflated scores and minimal defence. By 2023 and 2024, the number had fallen to roughly 4.6 to 4.7 million viewers, marking some of the lowest audiences in the event’s history.
Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who became an Olympic champion in 2024, continues to be at the centre of one of the most contentious and widely covered sports eligibility stories in recent years. While she remains celebrated for her achievements in the ring, the conversation around her eligibility and future competence career has significantly evolved since her gold medal run at the Paris Olympics.
The Brock Badgers men’s basketball team hosted the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a quarter-final matchup on Feb. 21 in a game holding major stakes for both teams.
On Monday, Feb. 3, the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) woke up to groundbreaking news, sending shockwaves through the world of Canadian basketball. Head Coach and General Manager of the Niagara River Lions, Victor Raso, was stepping away from coaching and entering an advisory position ahead of the 2026 season.
As MLB free agency slowly comes to an end, there are still major moves being made. While some are bigger than others, many names have been swept under the rug or have failed to receive much attention, especially considering the current landscape of the league and how much drama there was in January.
