Subscribe to Scoreboard by clicking here! Read the archive here.
Happy Friday to all of you wonderful readers, as we arrive at the end of a great sports week that could have even greater things in store this weekend. Wimbledon’s men are in the middle of fighting for spots in Sunday’s final — we’re excited for Linda Nosková and Karolína Muchová in the women’s final, too — Spain is trying to become the first World Cup champion ever to go an entire tournament without conceding a goal, and baseball’s top prospects are about to learn where their pro careers will begin as the MLB draft arrives on network TV for the first time. Oh, and Conor McGregor is fighting again, England and Norway have a must-watch World Cup date on Saturday evening, the Tour de France is on flat-ground but headed for the hills, and MLB is readying for its All-Star festivities in Philly. With the weekend in sight, here’s everything we’re watching over the next three days:
🗓️ THE WEEKEND DANCE
The Main Events
All listed times are Eastern. 🚨= Elimination game
Friday (7/10)
⚽ World Cup: Spain (75%) vs. Belgium (25%)* - 3 p.m. (FOX/Tele/Peacock) 🚨
⚽ World Cup odds: France 42% to win
⚾ MLB: Phillies (46%) at Tigers (54%) - 6:40 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾ MLB: Yankees (60%) at Nationals (40%) - 6:45 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾ MLB: D-Backs (29%) at Dodgers (71%) - 10:10 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾ Championship check-in: Dodgers 32% to win World Series
🏀 WNBA: Wings (73%) at Tempo (27%) - 7:30 p.m. (ION)
🏀 WNBA: Valkyries (72%) at Sun (28%) - 7:30 p.m. (ION)
🏀 Championship check-in: Lynx 36% to win WNBA title
🏀 NBA: LeBron James’ next team - Cavaliers favored at 60% - Feel free to leave LeBron a voice memo
🎾 Tennis: Wimbledon, Men’s Semifinals - Jannik Sinner 64% to win
⛳ Golf: Genesis Scottish Open, Round 2 - Rory McIlroy 21% to win
🚲 Cycling: Tour de France, Stage 7 - Tadej Pogacar 91% to win
Saturday (7/11)
⚽ World Cup: Norway (36%) vs. England (64%) - 5 p.m. (FOX/Tele/Peacock) 🚨
⚽ World Cup: Argentina (73%) vs. Switzerland (27%) - 9 p.m. (FOX/Tele/Peacock) 🚨
⚾ MLB: Yankees at Nationals - 4:05 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾ MLB: Red Sox at Mets - 4:10 p.m. (FS1)
⚾ MLB: Braves at Cardinals - 7:15 p.m. (Apple TV)
⚾🎓 MLB: 2026 MLB Draft (Rounds 1-4) - 1 p.m. (NBC/Peacock/MLB Network)
🏀 WNBA: Liberty (42%) at Lynx (58%) - 1 p.m. (WNBA League Pass) - WNBA Finals preview?
🎾 Tennis: Wimbledon, Ladies’ Singles Final - 11 a.m. (ESPN) - Karolína Muchová (52%) vs. Linda Nosková (48%) 🚨
⛳ Golf: Genesis Scottish Open - Round 3 (CBS/Paramount+)
🥊 UFC 329: Conor McGregor (34%) vs. Max Holloway (66%) - 9 p.m. (ESPN+ PPV)
🚲 Cycling: Tour de France - Stage 8 (Peacock)
Sunday (7/12)
⚽ World Cup: No games.
⚾ MLB: Brewers at Pirates - 12:15 p.m. (Peacock)
⚾ MLB: Phillies at Tigers - 1:40 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾ MLB: D-Backs at Dodgers - 4:10 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾🎓 MLB: 2026 MLB Draft (Rounds 5-20) - 11:30 a.m. (MLB.com)
🏀 WNBA: Liberty (57%) at Tempo (43%) - 3 p.m. (NBA TV)
🏀 WNBA: Fever (44%) at Aces (56%) - 9 p.m. (ESPN)
🎾 Tennis: Wimbledon, Men’s Singles Final - 9 a.m. (ESPN) 🚨
⛳ Golf: Genesis Scottish Open - Final Round (CBS/Paramount+)
🏁 NASCAR: Quaker State 400 (EchoPark Speedway) - 7 p.m. (TNT/HBO Max), Denny Hamlin/Ryan Blaney/Tyler Reddick 8% to win
🚲 Cycling: Tour de France - Stage 9 (Peacock)
🔍 FIND THE EDGE
Roch on the clock
Interest in the MLB draft has traditionally lagged behind that of its cousins in the NFL and NBA — in part because college baseball is less of a national obsession than either football or basketball, and in part because it takes years for baseball prospects to make an impact in the majors. But MLB is trying to change that this season.
Whereas TV coverage for the MLB Draft was previously limited to cable channels (like ESPN and the MLB Network) and streaming on MLB.com, the 2026 draft marks the first time ever that the event will air live on a major national over-the-air broadcast network, NBC, as part of the NBC Universal partnership that brought baseball back to the network this season.
That means it’ll be easy to watch the top prospects get called to their next teams — and it also means you can trade on what order those prospects will go in as well. According to the prediction markets, here are the players most likely to go with pick Nos. 1-5 in the ‘26 draft:
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is the market favorite to go No. 1 overall to the Chicago White Sox, and he’s been called the best college SS prospect in more than two decades. MLB Pipeline gives him 60+ grades for his contact hitting, power, arm and fielding. But he has some competition in the form of 18-year-old high school SS Grady Emerson — who actually ranks No. 1 in the Pipeline rankings — and catcher Vahn Lackey of Georgia Tech (my alma mater!). It’s surprisingly unclear which will go first, and that could have a big ripple effect on the rest of the draft from there.
So while the football and basketball drafts usually get all the attention, baseball actually has a draft worth watching live, too — especially because this year, nobody seems very sure how the first few picks will fall into place.
📊 CHART OF THE DAY
Delicious Spanish goose-eggs
As one of this year’s quartet of powerful favorites at the World Cup, Spain is just three wins away from winning its second-ever title in the world’s most prestigious soccer tournament. Along the way, they also have a chance to do something truly historic: Go through the entire tournament without conceding a single goal. Through five matches, Spanish opponents have yet to crack their defensive armor for a score, though traders in today’s Belgium game give the Red Devils a 61% to hit the “over” on 0.5 goals (essentially, they think at least 1 goal is more likely than not). Even if Spain does concede, though, they have some wiggle room — they could give up 1 goal over the next three games and still be the best defensive champ ever if they go on to win the title:
❄️ STAY FROSTY
What else we’re reading
Smart, short reads we liked while building today’s odds.
⚾ “The Worst Players in Baseball Might Be Pretty Good (Or They Used to Be, At Least)” by me
⚽ “What’s Next for the USMNT? A golden generation’s early exit, and the four-year sprint to 2030” by Austin Cornilles
🎾 “Coco Gauff and What Could Have Been” by Ben Rothenberg
🏒 “The Skinny: Darren Raddysh” by Vinh Cao
⚾ “Pitchers who got better after the Year of the Pitcher” by ritmica
👀 EYES UP
Next on deck…
Monday (7/13)
⚽ World Cup: No games.
⚾ MLB: Home Run Derby (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia)
🏀 WNBA: Mercury at Lynx
🚲 Cycling: Tour de France, Rest day
Tuesday (7/14)
⚽ World Cup: Semifinal - France vs. Spain/Belgium 🚨
⚾ MLB: 96th All-Star Game (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia)
🏀 WNBA: Mystics at Tempo
🚲 Cycling: Tour de France, Stage 10
Wednesday (7/15)
⚽ World Cup: Semifinal - Norway/England vs. Argentina/Switzerland 🚨
⚾ MLB: No games.
🏀 WNBA: Valkyries at Fever
🚲 Cycling: Tour de France, Stage 11
🧠 Looking ahead
Stay tuned for more updates and in-depth analysis of these events and more as they unfold. We’ll be bringing you all the scores, highlights, and expert commentary.
Got a favorite team or sport you want us to cover more? Let us know!
All data current as of time of send.
— by Neil Paine
*Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.