Carver Engineering and Science’s quest for its first Public League boys’ basketball title was halted after the Engineers were disqualified following a skirmish in Thursday’s quarterfinal game, where they were 71 seconds away from winning.
E&S led visiting Constitution by 12 points in the fourth quarter when a shoving match paused the game. Video reveals players from both benches staying on the sidelines before fans stormed the court and surrounded players.
The E&S players left the bench while the majority of Constitution’s reserve players remained on the sideline. No players from either team appeared to throw punches.
The game ended with E&S leading, 61-49, but they were later informed that Constitution would advance to Tuesday’s semifinal against Imhotep Charter. James Lynch, the president of the Public League, said the league reviewed the referee’s report and video footage before disqualifying E&S.
“Several players from Constitution have also been assessed suspensions due to their involvement in the incident,” Lynch wrote in an email. “However, the entire Carver E&S team leaving the bench is what resulted in the forfeit loss for that game according to the PPL Unsportsmanlike conduct policy.”
The league’s policy says, “if an entire team leaves their bench area and steps onto the field of play during an incident, the entire team will be ejected from the game, and will serve a one-game suspension for their next contest. The ejected team will be assessed a forfeit for the current contest, and will forfeit their next contest.”
Carver E&S has been disqualified and Constitution will play Imhotep Charter in the PPL final four.
E&S coach Dustin Hardy-Moore posted on social media that his team was disqualified despite “the opposing team and fans inciting a fight.” The coach, who could not be reached for comment, posted a screenshot that showed seven Constitution players on the court when the skirmish began.
“And our bench is still on the bench,” Hardy-Moore wrote.
The Inquirer also reached out to Constitution for comment on Friday, but did not receive a response.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — One day after the Phillies released Nick Castellanos, it was business as usual in their clubhouse.
Even before the transaction was official, Castellanos’ absence had been obvious from the start of spring training. Not only because president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had repeatedly indicated over the winter that the Phillies intended to find a “change of scenery” for the right fielder for the final year of his contract, but because his usual locker at BayCare Ballpark was occupied by someone else.
Kyle Schwarber said he saw the handwritten letter that Castellanos posted on Instagram on Thursday, shortly after the Phillies announced his release. In it, Castellanos thanked several members of the organization and addressed what he described as the “Miami Incident.”
Castellanos revealed that he brought a beer into the dugout during a June road game against the Miami Marlins, upset that he had been removed for a defensive substitution in the eighth inning. He wrote that the beer was removed from his hand by teammates before he could take a sip, and his actions led to a one-game benching as punishment.
“I mean, I saw it. It is what it is, right?” Schwarber said Friday. “I think the biggest thing is that we all wish him the best. We’ve had a lot of really good memories here over the last four years, and he’s had some really big moments with us, and we wish him the best moving forward.
“Like it is what it is, but hopefully wherever he goes next, he’s able to keep going out there and keep doing his thing and keep having those big moments.”
Had the overall situation been a distraction for the team last year?
“I mean, that’s [neither] here nor there,” Schwarber said. “We did what we did. It felt like that in the Dodgers series that we played good games. There were just things that we didn’t execute. We didn’t walk away with wins at the end of the day. So it’s hard to say here or there, right? Like, you know, we put ourselves in the position of where we wanted to be, and we just got knocked out.
“So, can’t really say.”
Toward the end of his Phillies tenure, Castellanos had been openly critical of manager Rob Thomson’s communication, as his role changed from an everyday player to a platooning one.
Castellanos did not mention Thomson in the portion of the letter where he thanked members of the Phillies organization, including principal owner John Middleton, Dombrowski, outfield coach Paco Figueroa, and his teammates.
“I’m proud of him,” Thomson said Friday of the letter. “Because he owned up to what he did. And, hey, we all make mistakes. Mine are well-documented. But Nick helped us out in a lot of ways here. He’s had some big hits and big plays and helped us win a lot of ball games. So I do, I wish him all the best.”
Castellanos also wrote in his letter that he had planned to explain his actions in Miami to the media the following day but “was instructed not to by management.”
At the time, Thomson had described the reason for the benching as an “inappropriate comment.” On Friday, the manager said he wouldn’t change how the team handled that situation.
“I thought it was appropriate, what we did,” Thomson said.
Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter signs autographs for fans during a spring training workout on Friday in Clearwater, Fla.
Extra bases
Andrew Painter, Jesús Luzardo, Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola, and newcomer Brad Keller were among the pitchers who threw bullpen sessions on Friday. “I hate sounding like Peter Positive all the time, but we had a really good day today on the mound,” Thomson said. “Painter was really good. Luzardo. Nola. Sánchez, Keller, some of the new guys, [Kyle] Backhus and [Chase] Shugart, just really good day. I mean, they’re filling it up. Balls coming out good, shapes are good.” … Max Lazar, Nolan Hoffman, and Andrew Walling threw live batting practice Friday to several of the catchers in camp, including J.T. Realmuto, Garrett Stubbs, and Rafael Marchán.
Two university-run science summer camps that have each served Philly kids for more than two decades will not run this summer due to budget limitations.
Academy Science Camp, run through the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, is canceling its camp for just this summer. The University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is ending its Anthropology Camp for this summer as well as “the foreseeable future,” the museum wrote on its website.
Both camps, which offered science lessons and projects tailored to the museums’ exhibits, cited financial pressures as the catalyst behind the decision.
The new truncated public schedule made continuing the summer camp, which typically runs Monday through Friday, no longer feasible, the academy wrote on its website.
The academy plans to assess later in the year whether to run the camp in 2027, academy spokesperson Kaitlyn Kalosy said.
Last year, the camp served 360 kids ages 5 to 12, Kalosy said. It offered museum tours, experiments, and field trips.
“We know this may be disappointing for campers who look forward to spending their summers exploring and learning with us, and we are truly grateful for the enthusiasm they bring to the Academy each year,” the academy wrote online.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, meanwhile, is unable to afford the cost of staff to run its camp because of a university-wide hiring freeze, it wrote on its website. The camp served about 500 kids ages 6 to 13 each summer, according to a museum spokesperson. It offered workshops, expert talks, and gallery explorations.
“This decision was reached only after extensive discussion and careful consideration of multiple scenarios,” the museum wrote on its website. “It was not made lightly.”
The school first ordered a hiring freeze in the spring to prepare for anticipated federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration. Last year, Penn and its centers were asked to cut 5% of certain expenses. This year, they have been asked to cut 4% on top of that. The cuts are aimed at helping the school keep up with mounting endowment taxes, legal, insurance and employee-benefit expenses, potential losses in research funding, and changes in student loan and visa programs, Penn leaders said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro implored Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week to reconsider converting warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill counties into mass immigration detention centers, citing “real harms” to the communities.
In a Thursday letter to Noem obtained by The Inquirer, Shapiro questioned the legality of the facilities, which the governor said could hold up to 9,000 people in total.
Hinting at a possible lawsuit, Shapiro said if DHS goes through with converting the sites, his administration will “aggressively pursue every option to prevent these facilities from opening and needlessly harming the good people of Pennsylvania.”
As part of President Donald Trump’s expanding deportation agenda, the federal government has started purchasing warehouses across the country to flip into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. ICE is planning to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers, The Washington Post reported.
Shapiro slammed the department’s escalating immigration enforcement strategy, saying that ICE and other federal immigration agents “resort to unnecessary and excessive force, leading to innocent people being injured or tragically killed.”
“Your Department’s record is reason enough to oppose your plan to use warehouses in Schuylkill and Berks Counties as detention centers,” Shapiro wrote, adding that the warehouses would also negatively impact residents’ health and safety, deplete tax revenue, and put extra stress on local communities and emergency response.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, confirmed ICE’s purchase of these two warehouses and the department’s plans to use them as detention facilities in a statement to The Inquirer Friday.
She said that the sites will “undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase” and that the facilities would create economic benefits, including bringing more than 11,000 jobs to the two Pennsylvania communities in total.
“Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities,” McLaughlin said.
He’s said the Trump administration’s strategies in American cities make communities less safe, violate constitutional rights, and erode trust in law enforcement.
In his letter to Noem, Shapiro said that DHS has not engaged local leaders to discuss the warehouse purchases and that both Democratic and Republican state and local officials have objected to the department’s “plans to interfere with our communities because of the chaos and harm your actions will bring.”
Some of Shapiro’s cabinet secretaries also penned an additional letter to Noem where they stressed that the facilities would be detrimental to the communities’ environment and public health and safety.
“The stress each facility will place on local infrastructure will, among other things, jeopardize Pennsylvanians’ access to safe water, deplete resources and infrastructure needed for emergencies, and overextend already strained emergency response personnel,” wrote Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra L. Bogen, Fire Commissioner Thomas Cook, Emergency Management Director Randy Padfield, Environmental Protection Secretary Jessica Shirley, and Labor Secretary Nancy A. Walker.
In addition to the warehouses, DHS is also leasing new office space throughout the country, including in the Philadelphia area. The department said back-office staff, including lawyers and analysts, will be moving into a building in Berwyn, and the department will also share space with the Department of Motor Vehicles at Eighth and Arch Streets in Center City, WIRED reported.
Despite the governor’s vocal opposition to Trump’s enforcementstrategies, Pennsylvania still cooperates with ICE. Shapiro’s administration honors some ICE detainers in state prisons and provides ICE with access to state databases that include personal identifying information for immigrants.
Immigrant rights groups have for months called on Shapiro to take more decisive action against federal immigration enforcement in Pennsylvania and end all cooperation with the agency.
South Jersey native Jordan Gershowitz is no stranger to the bright lights.
In fifth grade, he wrote, cast, and directed his first musical at WestamptonMiddle School. Named Trial of Treason, the play was a “loose” retelling of the Revolutionary War, with the kind of sci-fi elements only true ’90s kids will appreciate.
Gershowitz’s story starred two characters whobuild a machine to travel back to the time American traitor Benedict Arnold was court-martialed for abusing military power. Gershowitz gave his actors ketchup packets to smear on their shirts to act out battle scenes.
“I don’t remember how we split up the viewing audience, but it was definitely a one-day-only production,” he joked.
South Jersey Jordan Gershowitz is the story editor and co-developer of Netflix’s new kids series “Hot Wheels Let’s Race.” The show premiered on March 4, 2024.
Years later, Gershowitz became the bassist for the neon pop-rock band Rushmore. They opened for the likes of the Plain White-Ts and Justin Bieber, and were nominated for best breakout artist at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
The iconic traveling circus, billed as “The Greatest Show on Earth,” opens at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday. All eight shows will feature dancing acrobats, nimble trapeze artists, and Skylar “the human rocket” Miser, among other performers.
Gershowitz, who has previously written forNetflix’s Hot Wheels Let’s Race, Sharkdog, The Snoopy Show, and other shows, penned the script for the 148th edition of the longest-running circus in American history.
Gershowitz has written all the dialogue for the show guides and characters, including the robo-puppy named Bailey Circuit, and sequenced all the performing acts to establish the overall vibe of the show.
“Ringling Bros. is like the gold standard of family entertainment,” he said. “It was a fantastic opportunity to be a part of it.”
The man behind the newest rendition of Ringling Bros. is South Jersey native Jordan Gershowitz. The iconic touring circus opens at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday. The show runs through Feb. 16.
None of his previous writing credits transported him back to childhood in the same way as Ringling Bros., he said.
“Ringling is just one of those rare American institutions that I think everyone has a personal memory of,” Gershowitz said. “And for me, it wasn’t just an opportunity to write a circus. It was a really compelling opportunity, and something the entire team was mindful of as we went into this.”
Before starting the writing process a year ago, he remembered the days he attended Ringling Bros. circuses growing up in Westampton. With his parents, he marveled at the gravity-defying stunts and masterful crowd interactions performed by artists from all corners of the world.
“I really loved the spectacle of it. Being a kid in the early ’90s, at least in South Jersey, you had to make a lot of your own fun,” Gershowitz said. “So, getting to go to a really big communal experience like Ringling Bros. was just eye-opening.”
The man behind the newest rendition of Ringling Bros. is South Jersey native Jordan Gershowitz. The iconic touring circus opens at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday. The show runs through Feb. 16.
With a project as historic as Ringling Bros., Gershowitz said the challenge was reimagining the circus for modern audiences.
“I didn’t approach it necessarily trying to replace what came before,” he said. “I tried to look at what made it meaningful in the first place to so many people, and then worked with director Michael Schwandt to look at what does that mean for a new generation with social media and TikTok clips.”
Gershowitz lined up a series of electrifying acts back-to-back, making audiences question which direction the show would go next. He also incorporated more audience engagement, ensuring it felt more like the “Greatest Party on Earth” than a standard circus act.
The goal, he said, is to keep people off their cellphones and to fully immerse them into the music, the movements, and visual art illuminating the show’s 60-foot screen.
“You’re weaving all these amazing acts together, so you’re always thinking about pacing, emotion, and how each moment flows into the next,” he said. “It’s a really unique puzzle that you don’t get in other formats, so hopefully the audience is coming away feeling energized and connected.”
The man behind the newest rendition of Ringling Bros. is South Jersey native Jordan Gershowitz. The iconic touring circus opens at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday. The show runs through Feb. 16.
Gershowitz’s script has transformed the circus into a more-interactive and “fun-filled” experience for generations of crowd-goers to enjoy, said Ringling Bros. DJ Lucky Malatsi.
“He made sure that we were able to connect with the audience, not only with the slang, but with all the conversation pieces,“ Malatsi said. ”It’s not your traditional, ‘Welcome to the circus.’ It’s more, ‘Come vibe with us. We’re having a party.’”
Since the tour opened Jan. 2, Gershowitz has enjoyed seeing audiences react to his work in real-time. He still loves writing for TV, but he said there’s nothing like seeing an arena filled with families cheering and dancing to a show like the Ringling Bros.
“When you’re writing for television, it takes a really long time for the audience to watch. Watching TV is also very solitary,” he said. “But the cool thing about Ringling, you’re watching the show along with the audience, and you can feel the energy.”
The man behind the newest rendition of Ringling Bros. is South Jersey native Jordan Gershowitz. The iconic touring circus opens at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday. The show runs through Feb. 16.
Their reactions remind him of his own as a young circus fan, which later inspired his own performances in school plays and at music venues as one-fifth of Rushmore.
With the production’s Philly tour stop, he hopes to forge similar memories for young crowd-goers, and remind longtime circus fans of the magic that first struck them in their youth.
“Ideally, everyone is going to leave post-show talking to each other about what they saw and how it made them feel,” he said. “[Ringling] opened my eyes to larger possibilities, so hopefully it does the same for kids in the area. Whether they’re a future performer, or they start to see the world is much larger than their neighborhood.”
The Ringling Bros. tour stop runs through Feb. 16, Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., Phila. Tickets at ringling.com.
While countries around the world strive to protect their citizens from climate change, the U.S. government is attacking its citizens through climate regulations. Repealing the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding” hits Americans where it hurts: their health.
This all started last year, when the Trump administration convened a group of five “climate contrarians” who have profited from their fringe views denying climate change and called it a “Climate Working Group.” The group quickly threw together a report full of cherry-picked data and other bad science. It was soon disbanded in the face of widespread scientific criticism, but the damage was done. The EPA — or a gutted version of it — used this sham Climate Working Group’s conclusions to propose a repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding, the foundation of our ability to regulate the polluting emissions that cause climate change and endanger human health.
Instead, it wants environmental regulation to be based solely on costs to businesses — effectively valuing human health at $0 in its scientific models.
This battle of reports and regulations might seem abstract, but it threatens real people. In the nearly two decades since the endangerment finding was issued, the impacts of climate change on health have only become clearer. Air pollution and extreme weather cause hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in the U.S. every year, impacting everyone from newborns to working-age people to older adults — and it’s only getting worse.
Doctors understand this reality beyond the science. Pretending health has no economic value passes the cost of climate change and air pollution onto people who are sick.
In this 2023 file photo, buildings in downtown Erie, normally visible from West Grandview Boulevard, are shrouded in a smoky haze caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.
These are our patients — the truck driver in Cleveland having an asthma attack because of smoke from the Canadian wildfires, the gig worker who wiped out on her e-bike in a torrential storm, the day laborer who gets kidney failure working day after day in extreme heat — and they are sacrificing their health to pay their rent and feed their families. It’s no surprise that 120 leading patient care organizations (including Doctors for America) signed a letter urging the EPA to save the endangerment finding.
None of this seems to matter to the Trump administration.
A geyser of runoff rain water spouts from the sidewalk along 12th Street outside Reading Terminal Market as storms with damaging winds and significant flash flooding, as well as localized rainfall in amounts as high as seven inches, impacted the Philadelphia region last July.
The EPA officially repealed the endangerment finding Thursday. As doctors, we can’t believe we’re having this conversation again. The evidence is clear: Climate change is making us sicker and sicker, but we can limit that harm with better policy and regulations. This government is trading our health for the interests of big business.
We’re tired and angry, but we’re also scared. We’re doctors, but we’re also people.
We’ve been the new mom afraid to bring her newborn home from the NICU under skies turned orange by wildfire smoke. We’ve sat in our driveways during a flash flood warning, wondering if it’s worth risking our safety to get to work on time. We stay up at night worrying about an America where a livable environment is a luxury.
The America we want puts its citizens over politics. It cares more about people than dollars. Repeal of the endangerment finding has made that America a pipe dream. Only real science, a government that protects its people, and strong climate regulations can get us there.
Madhury “Didi” Ray is a public health physician, a Drexel Med alum, and a Copello Fellow in Health Advocacy with Doctors for America. Olivia Rizzo is a pulmonologist from northeast Ohio and the cochair of the Public Health Taskforce for Doctors for America.
The Abington School District has placed Abington Senior High School Principal Alice Swift on administrative leave amid an investigation into social media posts.
“I am writing to inform you that, effective Feb. 12, 2026, Dr. Alice Swift has been placed on administrative leave,” Superintendent Jeffrey Fecher wrote in a message to parents Thursday. “The district received allegations of inappropriate social media posts and is investigating the matter.”
It was not immediately clear what Swift had posted on social media that led to the district’s action. Attempts to reach Swift for comment Friday were unsuccessful.
Fecher declined to comment further Friday, calling the issue a personnel matter. He said support was in place at the high school to ensure stability for students.
Swift, a 1983 Abington graduate and former teacher and administrator in Maryland schools, became principal of Abington Senior High School in 2024.
Fecher said the district “will share additional updates regarding Dr. Swift’s return as more information becomes available.”
The daughter of a Northeast Philadelphia man who prosecutors say ran a human-trafficking ring for years that trapped vulnerable women, supplied them with drugs, then forced them to have sex with men across the region pleaded guilty Friday to helping manage the finances of the criminal organization.
Natoria Jones, 30, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution after prosecutors with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said she helped her father, Terrance Jones, manage the payments of his sex-trafficking scheme for at least three weeks in 2023.
In exchange for Jones’ plea, Senior Deputy Attorney General Zachary Wynkoop withdrew felony charges of conspiracy, participating in a corrupt organization, and promoting unlawful activities.
Wynkoop asked Common Pleas Court Judge Zachary Shaffer to defer Jones’ sentencing until after the June trial of her father, Terrance Jones — the alleged ringleader of the criminal enterprise — and three of his associates.
The plea marks the latest development in the sweeping indictment brought by the attorney general’s office in 2024 in which officials charged Terrance Jones, 54, and several of his associates with operating a human-trafficking ring across the region for more than a decade.
For 12 years, Terrance Jones, of Lawndale, marketed what he called “GFE” or “the Girlfriend Experience” online and recruited women in their 20s — many battling addiction and struggling to find stable housing or income, authorities said.
When women contacted the operation, prosecutors said, Terrance Jones would impersonate a woman, raising the pitch of his voice and introducing himself as “Julie” or “Julia” to build trust. He promised to send a driver to pick them up for “dates” where they could earn more than $250 and obtain drugs, officials said. He used the women to lure other victims who were addicted to drugs into the scheme, telling one confidant that he “could ‘wash em up’ and make money with them,” according to the affidavit of probable cause for Jones’ arrest.
“He made these women feel worthless. He controlled them, manipulated them, and, in a way, programmed them to feel like this was their only option,” then-Attorney General Michelle Henry said in announcing the charges.
Prosecutors and Pennsylvania State Police began investigating in 2021 after a woman who they said had been trafficked by Terrance Jones reported the abuse.
After meeting with the woman, officials conducted wiretaps, acted as undercover sex workers and buyers, and tracked down his clients, the affidavit said. Across the three-year investigation, officials said they found that the operation crossed through the Philadelphia suburbs and into New Jersey, and that over just 10 days in 2023, Terrance Jones arranged 78 “dates” — and pocketed most of the funds.
He was charged with trafficking individuals, involuntary servitude, running a corrupt organization, conspiracy, and related crimes. He remains in custody, held on $2 million bail.
Three of Terrance Jones’ business partners — Thomas Reilly, Joseph Franklin, and Raheem Smith — are charged with running a corrupt organization, conspiracy, and related crimes, and are scheduled to go to trial with him in June.
Another associate, James Rudolph, a driver who officials said transported women to their “dates,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to promote a house of prostitution last year. He’s scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
In a rare move, prosecutors as part of the indictment also criminally charged 16 men who paid Terrance Jones for sex with the women. While the charges against some of the men have been dismissed, at least nine have pleaded guilty to promoting or patronizing prostitution and are scheduled to be sentenced next month.
Among Terrance Jones’ business partners, was also his daughter, Natoria, who handled some of the financials and payments between the women and customers. Her attorney Jonathan D. Consadene declined to comment Friday.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Erik Olsen said several factors influenced the plea agreement.
“There’s some mitigation as to how she got pulled into this,” Olsen said, adding that more details would emerge at trial in June.
We knew that Roger Goodell was serious about pushing the NFL internationally, but we didn’t know he was this serious.
The NFL is considering beginning the 2026 season on a Wednesday night, bucking a two-decade trend of holding the annual NFL Kickoff game on a Thursday night.
After winning the Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks would traditionally host the kickoff game Thursday. But the NFL has also announced that its first game in Melbourne, Australia — featuring the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams — will take place in Week 1, and sources confirm the report from Puck’s John Ourand that the NFL is considering having it be the first game of the season.
The league could also decide to hold the traditional Seahawks-hosted kickoff game Wednesday and the Australia game Thursday. Either way, we’re looking at the 2026 season beginning on a Wednesday night for just the second time in nearly eight decades.
The last time the NFL kicked the season off on a Wednesday was 2012, when the league shifted its schedule to avoid going up against President Barack Obama’s speech during the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Prior to that, the NFL hadn’t opened the season on a Wednesday since 1948.
So why doesn’t the NFL just schedule its new Australian game on Friday, as they’ve done the past two years with their Brazil games? Because under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, the NFL is prohibited from scheduling games on Friday nights from mid-September to mid-December to protect high school and college sports.
With some help from the calendar, the NFL was able to squeeze in a Week 1 Friday night game the past two seasons. This year they league isn’t so lucky, with kickoff Thursday falling on Sept. 10.
Whether it happens Wednesday or Thursday, the Seattle Seahawks will begin to defend their Super Bowl championship title at home to start the season, likely against the Chicago Bears.
Two big question marks remain: The first is where will the Australia game air? The NFL is negotiating broadcast rights with streaming companies, and the favorite has to be YouTube, which streamed last year’s Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers matchup from Brazil.
There’s also Netflix, which is entering the final year of streaming NFL Christmas day games and looks for big events to stream on its platform. The league’s first-ever game in Australia airing in primetime in the U.S. would certainly quality.
But Peacock could also be a possibility. NBC’s subscription streaming service had the rights to the NFL’s first Brazilian game, and last year it had the rights to a Week 17 Saturday night game between the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens.
Another unanswered question is when the game will air in the United States. Airing the game in prime time on the East Coast means dealing with a 16-hour time difference. An 8 p.m. kickoff time in Philadelphia on a Wednesday would mean the game was starting at noon Thursday in Melbourne.
Eagles likely to play in an international game?
The Eagles played in São Paulo, Brazil in Week 1 of the 2024 season.
The expansion into Australia is one of a record nine NFL games being held outside the United States this season.
Here’s a quick recap of what we know:
Melbourne, Australia: 49ers at Rams
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: TBA at Dallas Cowboys
Paris, France: TBA at New Orleans Saints
Munich, Germany: TBA at TBA
Mexico City, Mexico: TBA at 49ers
Madrid, Spain: TBA at TBA
London, England (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium): TBA at TBA
London, England (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium): TBA at TBA
The Eagles have a ninth home game in 2026 thanks to the NFL’s 17-week season, and season-ticket holders have been notified that all will be played at the Linc. But the Birds remain in the mix to play an international game as an away team.
First, there’s Rio de Janeiro, where the Eagles could face the Cowboys. The Birds have marketing rights in Brazil and played there two seasons ago, but the NFL generally avoids scheduling divisional matchups in international games (though it’s already bucking that trend with 49ers-Rams in Australia, plus the Chiefs have played the Chargers, an AFC West foe, twice on foreign soil).
Still, this year’s Brazil game will take place on a Sunday afternoon — during daylight saving time, there is a one-hour difference between the East Coast and Rio de Janeiro. While the NFL likely won’t want to move such a marquee matchup into an international venue, Eagles-Cowboys at 4:25 p.m. on a Sunday does feel right.
Mexico City is also in play, because the Eagles face the 49ers on the road next season. So is London, because the Birds are scheduled to play a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the home teams in the two remaining games have yet to be announced. But it doesn’t seem likely the NFL would want to waste the ratings potential of the Eagles on a game with a 9:30 a.m. Philly kickoff.
The NFL also hasn’t announced which teams will host games at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, and Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain.
Quick hits
Two puppies go at it during Puppy Bowl XXII Sunday.
The Super Bowl averaged 124.9 million viewers Sunday, down from last year but still good enough for the second-highest audience in the game’s history. But we should be talking about this year’s Puppy Bowl, which featured three Pennsylvania pups and drew 15.3 million viewers on Animal Planet and across Warner Bros. Discovery properties earlier in the day, the show’s biggest audience since 2018.
Just a point of annoyance: Yeah, Nick Castellanos confirmed the beer-in-the-dugout story. But the real credit goes to @MattGelb, who had it & went to Castellanos & his agent for comment. Only then did Castellanos put it out there. Good reporting forced his hand.#Phillies
Kudos to the Baltimore Banner, the successful digital news start up down in Charm City, which announced plans to expand its sports coverage to Washington after the Washington Post eliminated its entire sports desk. Banner editor in chief Audrey Cooper said the outlet plans to start by hiring beat reporters to cover the Washington Nationals and Washington Commanders, calling it “part of our unwavering commitment to serve Maryland with honest, independent journalism.”
Sports podcaster Josh Shapiro, who also happens to be the governor of Pennsylvania, got former Sixers general manager Billy King discussing a wild, four-team trade that nearly sent Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons ahead of the 2000-01 season. Of course, Iverson went on to be named NBA MVP that season and led that iconic Sixers team to the NBA Finals. They haven’t been back since.
I asked Billy King to give us a glimpse into the front office during one of the defining moments for the @sixers franchise — when Allen Iverson almost left Philadelphia. Check out the full conversation on my YouTube: https://t.co/8OT8LIicgKpic.twitter.com/O6w4T8esBU
Tower Health had an operating loss of $16 million in the first six month of fiscal 2026, according to its report to bondholders Friday. In the same period a year ago, the Berks County nonprofit’s loss was $16.1 million.
Here are some details:
Revenue: Revenue from patient care rose less than 1% to $889.3 million, while total revenue climbed 4.3% to $1.03 billion, thanks to a 34% increase in other revenue.
Cash reserves: Tower reported $244 million in cash reserves on Dec. 31. That translates into enough money to keep operating for 44 days without any new revenue. Both of those figures were at their highest levels since 2022.
The quarterly low was in March 2024, when Tower reported $153 million in cash. That amounted to 30 days of cash on hand. Financially strong systems often have 200 days in reserve.
