Brad Fittler, Andrew Johns and Danika Mason are back for another week! The boys debate who Laurie Daley will select in the halves for NSW. Trent Robinson & Ivan Cleary have swung the axe over some key players ahead of Round 6. We look at Danika’s modelling career (and the boys). Plus, what is the greatest sports movie of all time? The trio rank their top 3. Read...

Fifty years ago, Lee Elder broke one of last colour lines in US sports. Read...

Anyone who owns a Roku streaming player is familiar with the Roku remote, the one with the four “shortcut” buttons in the bottom third of the device.  The buttons are marked with a revolving door of streaming service logos, from Netflix and Hulu to Max and Apple TV+. Press one of the buttons, and you’ll jump directly to that streaming service.  That’s great if you happen to be subscribed to those four particular streaming services, but if you’re not—and I’d wager most of us don’t subscribe to four streaming services at a time—you’re stuck with one or more useless buttons on your Roku remote. (And no, you can’t reprogram those buttons.)  Luckily, the other big streaming device players don’t put shortcut buttons on their remotes… oh wait, they do. (The Siri remote that ships with an Apple TV doesn’t have them, or at least not yet.)  These TV remote shortcut buttons are nothing new, but now Google is upping the ante with a “Free TV” button for Google TV devices made by third parties (a story that was broken by Android Authority.)  We’ve already seen an example on Walmart’s Onn Google TV 4K Pro, which sports a big blue “Free TV” button right in the middle of the remote. Press it, and you’ll jump to Google “Freeplay” selection of live streaming channels, or to an equivalent live streaming guide in regions where Google doesn’t offer Freeplay.  While only a few Google TV devices have a Free TV button at the moment, Google is now requiring its OEM partners to put a “Free TV” or “Live TV” button on their upcoming Google TV remotes, as Android Authority reports. (Google hasn’t revealed the mandated specifications for the button, including its size and color.)  Now, if you happen to love these FAST (short for “free ad-supported TV”) channels, the “Free TV” button will come in handy. If not, you’ve got a big blue button on your remote that you’ll need to avoid.  It should be pointed out that unlike typical TV shortcut buttons, Google’s Free TV button can be reprogrammed, although doing so requires a third-party app.  Still, it’s galling that TV and streaming media player manufacturers are sticking more and more of these shortcuts buttons on their remotes, and of course, it’s a practice that’s more focused on generating revenue than it serving the customer. (Google, for its part, told Android Authority that the button “will help provide a consistent experience with quick access at users’ fingertips.”)  Streaming services pay the likes of Roku, Amazon, and Google for getting prime shortcut placement on their remotes, while the Google’s new Free TV buttons will help draw more eyeballs to its collection of FAST channels, which means more advertising dollars.  For most of us, these shortcut buttons are the opposite of convenience—they’re actively annoying, falling in the same bucket as TV screensaver advertisements and auto-playing video ads.  On the opposite end of the spectrum was Logitech’s line of Harmony universal remotes, which you could customize to your heart’s content. Sadly, Logitech discontinued its Harmony remotes years ago, and it recently nixed support for its oldest Harmoney models.  So yes, these streaming remote shortcut buttons are a collective pain, and we can expect more of them in the future. Read...

The Hall of Fame tennis player became the first woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the new sports entertainment category. Read...

News that a cameraman was bloodied after a misplaced punt from Peter Dutton is just the latest political sports mishap Read...

Becoming the youngest person ever to run a sub-four minute mile has caught the attention of the sporting brand made famous by Michael Jordan. Read...

The 2025 NBA postseason is just around the corner, with the regular season set to wrap up on April 13 and the Play-In Tournament tipping off two days later. As in previous years, playoff broadcasting will be shared across four networks: ABC, TNT, ESPN, and NBA TV. Cord-cutters don’t have to miss out on the thrilling dunks, buzzer-beaters, and high-stakes drama. With a variety of streaming services now offering live sports, hoop heads have more options than ever to catch all the playoff action without the need for a traditional cable subscription. This guide will walk you through the best streaming platforms that ensure you don’t miss a single shot of the NBA postseason tournament. Sling TV offers one of the least-expensive alternatives to cable, but you’ll need a TV antenna to watch your local broadcast channels. Over the air Winegard’s Flatwave Amped antenna (model number FL-5500A) is one of our favorite indoor antennas. Martyn Williams/IDG ABC has the exclusive rights to air the NBA Finals, so you’ll be able to watch the championship series for free if you have an over-the-air TV antenna that’s capable of pulling in your local ABC broadcast affiliate; otherwise, you’ll need need a streaming subscription if you’ve ditched cable. You’ll find our top antenna picks here. Read on for your other cable-free options. DirecTV Stream DirecTV Stream will give you access to ESPN, TNT, TBS, ABC and NBA TV through its Choice package for $114.99 per month. Currently, the service is offering $25 off the monthly rate for the first three months of your subscription. You can try the service for free for five days. Fubo Fubo‘s $94.99-per-month Elite package includes ABC and ESPN, and NBA TV. None of its packages include TNT or TBS, though. A 7-day free trial is available. Hulu + Live TV Hulu + Live TV gives you access to ABC, ESPN, and TNT. As with most other streaming services, however, the exact channel lineup varies by market. The service costs $82.99 per month with ads or $95.99 a month without ads. There’s a 3-day free trial available. Sling TV The easiest way to watch all the postseason action with Sling TV is to sign up for the Sling Orange + Blue package for $65.99 a month, with a 50-percent discount for your first month. That will give you ABC, TNT, and ESPN and you can get NBA TV with the Sports Extra add-on for an additional $11 a month. If you have an antenna to pull in your local ABC affiliate, then all you need it the Sling Orange package for $45.99 a month, which gives you TNT and ESPN; plus, the Sports Extra add-on for NBA TV, bringing your total to about $57 per month. YouTube TV YouTube TV is our top pick in TV-streaming services overall, and it includes local ABC stations (in 99.5 percent of the homes in the U.S.), ESPN, TNT, TBS, and NBA TV. Subscriptions are $82.99 per month, but the service is currently offering the first three months for just $69.99. A 5-day free trial is available. Read...

A round-up of sports news from around the region, including Auckland City FC on song to defend the OFC Men`s Champions League title. Football Defending champions Auckland City FC have... Read...

After US president Donald Trump unveiled his new trade tariffs, BBC sports editor Dan Roan looks at what impact the move could have on the world of sport. Read...

As a Yankees fan living in Cincinnati who also sort of roots for the Reds, I have a unique window into two baseball streaming worlds. One is run by MLB.TV, whose out-of-market coverage lets me watch every Yankees game except those that are nationally televised. The other is run by Main Street Sports Group, whose FanDuel Sports Network app streams local Reds games. The two services ought to be comparable, but there’s really no contest. The MLB app is by far the better way to watch baseball, but you can only use it under two conditions: Either your favorite team doesn’t play where you live (like the Yankees, in my case), or your local team is one of the 10 clubs that partners with the league for in-market streaming. Otherwise, you’re stuck with whichever regional sports network operates in your area for standalone streaming, and the experience will probably be worse. Why the MLB app is better The MLB app can sync radio broadcasts perfectly with the video feed.Jared Newman / Foundry The differences between MLB.TV and FanDuel Sports Network are apparent as soon as I start streaming. MLB.TV’s streams are always smoother out of the gate for me. While video quality can be blurry at the outset, within seconds the stream pops into clear HD quality. On my smart TV—a Hisense set running Google TV—FanDuel’s streams tend to stutter for the first 30 seconds or so, and while they eventually settle down, it’s initially more distracting to watch. Catching up on games is also easier in the MLB app, which shows the inning count in its video player and overlays the score as you fast forward or rewind. That’s helpful for jumping directly to scoring plays, but FanDuel’s app offers nothing similar. And after the game, MLB’s app offers condensed games and recaps, whereas FanDuel’s app offers full replays only. The MLB app’s video player helps you home in on scoring plays.Jared Newman / Foundry MLB’s app has some other neat features that make watching games more enjoyable. My favorite is the option to play the local radio broadcast in sync with the video telecast. (No disrespect to Michael Kay, but I want to hear how Dave Sims is acclimating to his new job.) There’s a statistical overlay for pitch sequences as well, though to be fair FanDuel’s app offers a similar feature. Because MLB.TV’s service also streams other out-of-market games, you also can use its multiview feature to watch more than one game at a time on Apple TV, Fire TV, and Google TV devices. That’s not an option in FanDuel’s app, which doesn’t have much else to watch anyway. The MLB app can stream up to four games at once.Jared Newman / Foundry All told, the MLB app just feels like a more lively place to watch baseball. You open the app and are instantly greeted with scores, schedules, and highlights. The FanDuel Sports Network app feels barren and overly utilitarian by comparison. The FanDuel Sports Network app offers little beyond a pitching stat overlay.Jared Newman / Foundry The FanDuel Sports Network app’s home screen doesn’t have much going on.Jared Newman / Foundry What should be done about it No matter how you pay for the games, you should be able to watch them in the MLB app, where the experience is just better, though that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. As of 2025, five MLB teams (the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Rockies, Twins, and Padres) partner directly with the league to distribute in-market games, priced at $100 for the season or $200 when bundled with MLB.TV’s out-of-market coverage. For five additional teams, the league partners with their respective regional sports networks to offer in-market streaming through the MLB app. That leaves 20 teams whose in-market games aren’t available through the MLB app. Local fans of those teams who don’t want an entire live TV streaming package must instead rely on whatever standalone streaming service their nearest regional sports network offers. In the case of the Reds and eight other teams, that’s FanDuel Sports Network. (A few teams don’t offer standalone options at all.) Even with a FanDuel Sports Network subscription, you can’t use the MLB app to watch live games.Jared Newman / Foundry In the near term, it’d be great if those networks could partner with the league on authenticated access to the MLB app. The technical capability to stream any game already exists—Reds fans who live outside of Ohio can watch them with an MLB.TV subscription—and the MLB app already offers authenticated access for Mets and Dodgers fans who get SNY or SportsNet LA as part of a pay TV package respectively. There should be a system where subscribers to FanDuel Sports Network, Gotham Sports, and other standalone regional sports services could sign into the MLB app as well. Over the long term, the league should just offer in-market streaming access nationwide, with no blackouts. That’s reportedly been the plan for years—here’s a rumor from 2021, and here’s one from last week that says the league wants to partner with a larger streamer on such an offering—but commandeering the rights from regional sports networks has been a slog. CNBC’s Alex Sherman says not to expect any significant moves until 2028, when the league’s major media rights deals expire. In the meantime, the 2025 season is another reminder of how baseball streaming is a case of haves and have nots. Here in Cincinnati, I’m a little of both. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...