a particularly busy global sports day: the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are driving activity across athletics, swimming, gymnastics, combat sports, volleyball and esports; MLB enters its final regular-season stretch with several playoff races unresolved; the WNBA is entering the final days of its regular season with postseason seeding still unsettled; Formula 1 begins its Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend in Baku; college football moves toward a major Week 4 slate; the UCI Road World Championships continue in Montreal; and women’s soccer has U-20 World Cup semifinal and UEFA Champions League action. Several major leagues, including the NBA, NHL and NCAA basketball, are primarily in preseason/offseason phases today.
- NFL: The NFL is between its Week 3 and Week 4 schedules today, with the focus shifting toward preparation for the upcoming weekend rather than a Wednesday game slate.
- NCAAF / College Football: Week 4 is becoming a major conference-play weekend, featuring six Top-25 matchups. No. 1 Texas visits No. 14 Tennessee, No. 4 Ole Miss travels to No. 21 Florida, No. 17 Iowa faces No. 18 Michigan, No. 23 Texas A&M meets No. 10 LSU, No. 20 Oregon plays No. 12 USC, and Missouri faces Mississippi State.
- NBA: The league remains in its offseason/preseason transition; there is no major regular-season NBA slate today.
- WNBA: With only two days remaining in the regular season, playoff positioning remains unsettled. Indiana defeated Minnesota 96-77 on September 22, while Las Vegas defeated Los Angeles 89-79.
- NCAAB / WNCAAB: College basketball is still in the offseason, with the next season approaching rather than a major regular-season game slate today.
- NHL: The preseason is underway. Toronto visits Ottawa today, one of the NHL preseason games on the September 23 schedule.
- MLB: The postseason race is the dominant baseball story with five regular-season days remaining. Tampa Bay has secured the AL East, while Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Atlanta have clinched NL division titles. The AL Central and AL West remain contested, while the NL Wild Card race involves Chicago, San Diego and Philadelphia.
- MLS: The regular season continues, with Real Salt Lake hosting Seattle among today’s listed fixtures.
- EPL / Global Soccer: Domestic European leagues are between major weekend rounds, while UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifying/playoff action continues today, including Servette Chênois–OL Lyonnes and Chelsea–FK Austria Wien.
- Women’s Soccer / U-20 Women’s World Cup: The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup reaches its semifinal stage today, with both semifinal matches scheduled. Colombia previously eliminated Nigeria with a stoppage-time goal to reach the final four.
- World Cup contexts: The senior men’s FIFA World Cup was completed earlier this year, so current World Cup-related attention is centered on youth and women’s competitions and preparations for future cycles.
- ATP / WTA / Grand Slams: The Grand Slam calendar has concluded for 2026, while ATP and WTA tours have moved into the post-US Open portion of the season. September tournaments and international team competition continue.
- Global tours and golf majors: The 2026 Presidents Cup begins Thursday at Medinah Country Club, with practice continuing today before four days of competition from September 24-27.
- ICC / Cricket: Cricket is among the sports being contested at the Asian Games in Japan, adding an international multi-sport dimension to the current cricket calendar. The Asian Games feature 43 sports and 469 medal events.
- NASCAR: The NASCAR Cup Series heads toward Kansas Speedway this weekend for another Chase round. The recent Bristol controversy remains in the news after NASCAR decided not to penalize Ryan Blaney or Carson Hocevar for their post-race fight.
- NASCAR Xfinity: Xfinity teams are in the lead-up period for the Kansas weekend, while the broader NASCAR postseason picture continues to take shape.
- Formula 1: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend begins in Baku today, with the event running September 23-26. Red Bull has also confirmed Isack Hadjar for its 2027 F1 lineup.
- IndyCar: The 2026 season has concluded, with the series now focused on offseason developments and 2027 planning.
- MotoGP: MotoGP is between race weekends, with attention shifting toward the next round while the series also undergoes organizational changes ahead of future seasons.
- Rugby Union: The new WXV Global Series is underway across September and October. The six-team WXV Global Series Challenger in Hong Kong concludes September 26, while the wider women’s international series begins its next phase this weekend.
- Rugby League: The international and club calendars continue, but there is no single global rugby-league event dominating September 23 comparable with the Asian Games or MLB postseason race.
- Boxing: The professional boxing calendar is building toward weekend action; former Olympic champion Henry Cejudo is scheduled to make his professional boxing debut September 26 against Javon Walton.
- MMA — UFC / PFL / ONE: UFC is preparing for UFC Fight Night 289 this weekend in Las Vegas, while PFL has announced its October 16 Chicago card.
- Track & Field / Athletics: The Asian Games are providing major international athletics competition today, including men’s and women’s half-marathon race walking finals.
- Swimming: Asian Games swimming is a major focus, following early performances that included Chinese teenager Yu Zidi setting a Games record in the women’s 200m butterfly and Pan Zhanle defending his men’s 100m freestyle title.
- Cycling: The 2026 UCI Road World Championships are underway in Montreal, running September 20-27 with elite, U23 and junior championship races, including time trials and road races.
- Volleyball: Indoor volleyball is part of the ongoing Asian Games program, alongside the broader international volleyball calendar. Today’s Asian Games schedule includes numerous competitions across the 43-sport program.
- Gymnastics: Artistic gymnastics is among the sports contested at Aichi-Nagoya, making the Asian Games a major current international event for the discipline.
- Combat Sports — Judo, Taekwondo, Karate: Multiple combat disciplines are being contested at the Asian Games, which also provide an important international multi-sport platform ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle.
- Esports: Asian Games esports competition begins September 23, with 11 medal events scheduled across the program.
- Overall international picture: The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, running September 19–October 4, are currently the broadest concentration of simultaneous elite international competition, spanning traditional Olympic sports, combat sports, cricket, volleyball and esports.
