Amazon just got a lump of coal for Christmas, courtesy of the Chiefs.

Kansas City, now 6–8, was officially eliminated from the 2025 National Football League playoffs after falling Sunday to the Chargers, 16–13, its fifth loss in the last six games. The Chiefs will be out of the postseason for the first time since 2014, a dynasty-level run that has included three Super Bowl wins, two other conference titles, and seven straight trips to the American Football Conference championship game. The playoff run was the second-longest in modern league history behind the 2009–19 Patriots.

Additionally, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who arrived in Kansas City two years after the playoff run began, tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in the Chargers game. He is done for the rest of this season, and much of the 2026 campaign is also potentially in doubt.  The Chiefs said late Sunday that they and Mahomes are exploring surgical options.

“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes said. “And not going to lie it hurts. But all we can do now is trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs Kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I will be back stronger than ever.”

What Could’ve Been

The loss diminishes the luster for an upcoming Christmas night game between the Chiefs and division rival Broncos. The game will be the first on the holiday for Amazon, adding to the streaming giant’s recent success on Black Friday, and then a record-setting audience on Thursday Night Football for a game between the Cowboys and Lions. The primetime Christmas game will be the first in a newly expanded footprint for the league on Christmas.

Denver will still be pushing for playoff seeding, but that game is no longer what Amazon and the NFL hoped it would be when it was first unveiled in May. Netflix also returns on Christmas with another doubleheader of their own, beginning the afternoon with a Cowboys–Commanders game, and then one with the Lions and Vikings. 

The Chiefs’ fall, however, is both particularly pronounced and potentially impactful, as the team has been involved in four of the NFL’s five most-watched games through Week 13 of the season. 

Amazon’s Christmas broadcast with the Chiefs is not eligible for flexible scheduling in league rules, as it’s outside the part of the season in which changes to the streamer’s lineup could be made, and too close to the game itself. A change in a holiday showcase like this would be even further outside NFL norms.

Weeks in the Making

Even before the Chargers game, the situation had quickly grown bleak in Kansas City as a series of losses to teams including the Bills, Broncos, Cowboys, and Texans in recent weeks sullied what had been a strong comeback from an 0-2 start. 

Kansas City is the NFL’s most-watched team, and was part of a Thanksgiving Day clash against the Cowboys that averaged 57.2 million viewers and set a league record for the regular season. At that point, though, both teams remained in playoff contention. 

The Chiefs, meanwhile, are in the midst of a high-stakes deliberation regarding their facility future. The team is weighing whether to renovate its current home, Arrowhead Stadium, or build a new stadium in either Missouri or neighboring Kansas.

There are also heavy financial and roster decisions coming for the Chiefs. After several years of aggressive spending to retain key players, the team is projected to be more than $34 million over the salary cap for 2026, better than only the Cowboys.

The University of Michigan has initiated an investigation to uncover the full depth of potential issues within its athletic department.

The embattled school has hired Jenner & Block, a large, Chicago-based law firm, to lead the probe into the athletic department’s culture and practices, including how various scandals developed and were handled. 

Michigan’s move to open the investigation closely follows the dismissal and arrest last week of head football coach Sherrone Moore. The firing happened after Moore had an improper relationship with a staff member, and then he was charged Friday with felony home invasion by prosecutors in Washtenaw County, Mich., describing a deeply troubling situation in which Moore broke into the staffer’s house and threatened to kill himself after the firing.  

Bigger Trend

The Wolverines, however, have grappled with a far larger set of issues, particularly during the nine-year tenure of current athletic director Warde Manuel, including coaches fighting and mistreating staffers, a computer-hacking scandal involving a former football co-offensive coordinator, and recruiting violations.

Arguably most notable in the litany of situations, though, is a 2023 sign-sealing scandal involving a former assistant on the football staff. After another investigation by the NCAA and Big Ten Conference, penalties included 14 years’ worth of bans on now-departed coach Jim Harbaugh, and penalties that could cost more than $30 million. Michigan initially appealed that NCAA ruling, but later withdrew that effort.

Jenner & Block has worked with Michigan before, including looking into the inappropriate relationship between Moore and the staff member.

“Like so many Michiganders, fans, and alumni, I was shocked and disgusted by the revelations this week,” wrote university regent Jordan Acker in a social media post. “As I’ve taken more time to gather facts and understand the failures that led to this moment, one thing is clear: The University of Michigan must be a leader and best in all areas, including ethics, accountability, and transparency.

“The decision to retain Jenner & Block as an independent third party to thoroughly investigate what happened and how it was allowed to happen is a necessary first step. My expectations are clear: the findings of that investigation must be made public. Transparency is essential to restoring trust and meeting the expectations of the people of this state, our students, our faculty, our alumni, and everyone who believes in the values this university is supposed to represent. Anything less would fall short of who we claim to be,” Acker said.

Manuel is still in his post, despite fast scrutiny around him. Moore, meanwhile, is out on a $25,000 bond and has received a monitoring system and an order to undergo counseling. 

Soccer fans are flocking to buy tickets for the FIFA 2026 men’s World Cup, despite eye-popping prices and rising complaints from around the world over those costs.

FIFA said that it received 5 million ticket requests during its third phase of ticket sales for the upcoming tournament, with the latest deluge happening just in the first 24 hours after this part of the sales process began Thursday. That figure adds to the nearly 2 million tickets sold during the two prior phases, and further showcases the demand for the global event, to be held next June and July in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

That demand, however, arrives as ticket prices have increased about fivefold compared to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to data from Football Supporters Europe. Prices for the final match, to be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, begin at $4,000, and FSE said it would cost at least $6,900 for a fan to follow their team from the start of group-stage play to the final.

FIFA has additionally implemented dynamic pricing for much of the event’s ticketing, further amplifying both the costs and confusion around the upcoming World Cup.

“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,” FSE said in a statement.

The governing body, however, said that “demand from around the world reached extraordinary levels.”

Demand Factors

This latest phase of ticket sales is a lottery-based one in which fans can submit requests to specific games until Jan. 13, and those requests have arrived from more than 200 countries. 

The most sought-after match in the group stage among fans thus far is a June 27 one between Colombia and Portugal in Miami, a contest that will involve international superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Not surprisingly, the trio of host nations was the source of the largest number of ticket requests, followed by Colombia, England, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Scotland, Germany, Australia, France, and Panama. 

Despite the presence of Scotland on that list of ticket requests, a result of that country’s first World Cup appearance since 1998, a prominent fan group from that country also lamented the event costs.

“This is going to price out many of our fans,” said the Association of Tartan Army Clubs. “FIFA has killed the dream of our young fans, desperate to get a World Cup.”

FIFA noted the strong presence of several South American countries in this list, saying it shows how the tournament is “capturing the imagination across the Americas.” The 2026 World Cup will be the first with a 48-team format. 

The South American fan interest is also critical for FIFA as the 2030 World Cup will be a shared event in part involving Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. 

Just before FIFA began this part of ticket sales, it held a glitzy event in Washington, D.C., to finalize the draw for the World Cup.

The return of a basketball phenom helped dethrone the reigning NBA superpower and reshape the final of Tuesday’s NBA Cup.

The Spurs reached the tournament final, thanks to a standout performance from star center Victor Wembanyama, beating the defending league champion Thunder, 111–109. The loss was just the second of the season for Oklahoma City, but Wembanyama returned from missing 12 games with a left calf strain, spanning nearly a month, by scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just 21 minutes of play off the bench.

“This is not a typical regular-season game,” Wembanyama said. “We knew that if we lose, we’re out. You know, some people are built for these moments. Some aren’t. But we definitely are, and it shows.”

New York Up Next

San Antonio will face the Knicks in the NBA Cup final Tuesday night, with New York writing its own storybook narrative, in part through a semifinal win over the Magic. Each player of the tournament-winning team will earn $530,933, and despite a resurgence of some operational issues with the special floors, the NBA Cup continues to establish itself as a fixture of the NBA calendar.

The Knicks, meanwhile, were led in their victory over Orlando by a 40-point performance from guard Jalen Brunson, who is putting a push for Most Valuable Player Award consideration—despite competing against a collection of more heralded players. Brunson has scored at least 30 points in four straight games.

“He makes the game easier for everybody,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown after the team’s 132–120 win over Orlando in the NBA Cup semifinals. “That’s what MVPs are supposed to do, and he definitely did that. … It’s beautiful to be able to see him do what he’s more than capable of doing on a national stage like this, in an environment like this.”

Amazon will show the game, with the contest forming a key part of the streaming giant’s NBA rights as it begins an 11-year contract with the league. 

Still Chasing a Record

Before the game with the Spurs, Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said the team is actively seeking to break the NBA record for regular-season wins, set by the 2015–16 Warriors with 73. Oklahoma City would need to go at least 50–6 for the rest of the season to set a new standard, but that’s a slightly worse winning percentage than their current 24–2 mark.

“Absolutely,” Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked if the wins record mattered. “Winning matters. And no matter what form it looks like to me. So absolutely.”

Notably, that Warriors team that broke the league record previously held by the 1995–96 Bulls ultimately lost to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals in a seven-game thriller.