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NFL Sunday Ticket price breakdown: How much does each package cost?

The 2024-25 NFL season kicks off Thursday night with the Baltimore Ravens traveling to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

The game will air on NBC, so fans with a basic cable plan will be able to watch it, however if you are looking to watch out-of-market games throughout the NFL season, NFL Sunday Ticket is your best bet.

Since launching in 1984, the package had previously been delivered by satellite service DirecTV. Google, which owns YouTube and the YouTube TV live streaming service, won the rights to the package in December 2022 by outbidding Amazon and ESPN and paying about $2 billion annually over seven years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s what to know about the prices for each type of Sunday Ticket package, plus a few discounts to help you save this football season.

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NFL Sunday Ticket price breakdown

You have options if you are looking to get NFL Sunday Ticket. Those options include:

NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube TV: The price for NFL Sunday Ticket and a YouTube TV subscription is currently four payments of $158.99 per month, a total of $635.96. After those four months, you’ll be charged $72.99 per month for YouTube TV’s base plan. You can also add NFL RedZone for $10.99 per month, a total of $43.96 for the season.
NFL Sunday Ticket without YouTube TV: The price to watch NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube is four payments of $119.75, a total of $479 for the season. You can also add NFL RedZone for $10 per month, a total of $40 for the season.

Sunday Ticket deals and discounts

YouTube TV promo code: The first 25,000 fans who use code TICKET50 on or before Thursday, Sept. 5 get $50 off Sunday Ticket.
Verizon’s NFL Sunday Ticket free offer and discounts: New mobile and home internet customers, and existing subscribers who make certain upgrades, can get NFL Sunday Ticket for free. But the deal for home internet customers ends Thursday, Aug. 29; the mobile offer ends Sept. 11. Also: Current customers can get $100 off either NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Sunday Ticket with NFL RedZone, bringing the season-long price to $349 or $389.
Three-week free trial from FanDuel: New users who bet $5 on FanDuel get a three-week free trial for NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV (offer good until Sept. 22; once you make the bet, you will get a promo code to use on YouTube for the next three weeks). After your trial ends, the full price of NFL Sunday Ticket will be automatically charged seasonally unless you cancel. And new FanDuel customers who make their first $5 bet will also get $200 in bonus bets.

Is there a student discount for NFL Sunday Ticket?

The package usually costs $479, but students can get NFL Sunday Ticket for $199 – and they can add NFL RedZone for $10.

The discount is good for students attending colleges or universities and they can sign up on YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket website. 

Students can sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket Student Plan for $199 on the YouTube site. YouTube suggests using a personal email address to set up NFL Sunday Ticket (you watch via the NFL page on YouTube) because some university networks place restrictions on .edu accounts.

Once there, you will choose choose either to subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket ($199) or NFL Sunday Ticket with NFL RedZone ($209). The RedZone channel, hosted by Scott Hanson, tracks big plays during Sunday games over seven hours live and may show up to 8 games simultaneously via the famous ‘Octobox.’

Then, students will be directed to the SheerID site to verify student status. After that, students will need to supply a form of payment.

NFL Sunday Ticket to include new features this season

Sunday Ticket subscribers will be able to watch the games differently than they did a year ago due to the inclusion of a new ‘Fantasy View’ partner, deeper fantasy integrations and multi-view improvements, according to a blog shared by YouTube.

‘This year, you’ll see an even more personalized gameday experience for each and every fan,’ the blog says. ‘We’re excited to share the latest of many features coming your way this fall.’

Additionally, YouTube has improved the multiview feature by allowing subscribers to build any available combination of two, three, or four NFL Sunday Ticket games, according to the blog.

YouTube TV Base Plan members will also have the option to find their desired multiview streams with their local NFL games through select stations.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.

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American tennis player reaches US Open semifinal with win

Taylor Fritz is finally a Grand Slam semifinalist. 

The 26-year old American, who carried an 0-4 quarterfinal record into this US Open, finally broke through Tuesday with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fritz, the No. 12 seed, will face either fellow American Frances Tiafoe or Grigor Dimitrov in Friday’s semifinals. It has been 21 years since Andy Roddick’s US Open title, marking the last time an American man won a Grand Slam singles title. Roddick was also the last American to make a final, losing to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009. 

Fritz has been the top-ranked American for most of the last few years, peaking at No. 5 early in 2003. A couple of his previous opportunities to break through at the Grand Slams ended in heartbreak, including a fifth-set tiebreak loss to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2022 and a five-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti there earlier this year after he controlled the early portion of the match. 

This time, Fritz stayed solid and executed under pressure. He won 81 percent of the points when he made a first serve, only faced four break points in the match and played stayed mostly error-free in the two decisive tiebreaks. 

After the match, Fritz said this match felt different than his previous quarterfinals from the very beginning 

“All the other times I did it I was much happier to make the quarterfinals,” Fritz said on ESPN. “This time I felt like I’ve been there enough that I’m not even close to being happy with it anymore. It just felt different.’

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Volkswagen braces for showdown with unions after warning of possible German plant closures

German automotive giant Volkswagen is bracing for a showdown with trade unions shortly after it said it cannot rule out shutting factories in its home country for the first time in its nearly 90-year history.

Volkswagen’s management is expected to lay out its plans before about 18,000 workers at a town hall meeting in Wolfsburg on Wednesday morning, amid speculation that the carmaker could push to close sites in Osnabrueck in Lower Saxony and Dresden in Saxony.

A spokesperson for Volkswagen was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Tuesday.

In a move that underlines the challenges facing Europe’s top legacy carmakers, Volkswagen warned on Monday that it would no longer be able to rule out plant closures in Germany.

The Wolfsburg-headquartered company also said it felt compelled to bring an end to its employment protection agreement — a job security program that has been in place since 1994 — in order to secure “urgently needed structural adjustments for greater competitiveness in the short term.”

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said in a written statement on Monday that the carmaker would need to “act decisively” in order to future-proof the company.

“The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and serious situation,” Blume said.

“The economic environment became even tougher, and new competitors are entering the European market. In addition, Germany in particular as a manufacturing location is falling further behind in terms of competitiveness,” he added.

Volkswagen said that all necessary measures would be discussed with the General Works Council — a group of elected staff members that represent the interests of a company’s workforce — and with top German industrial union IG Metall. Both groups, which hold significant influence at the company, have been sharply critical of the proposals.

Daniela Cavallo of Volkswagen’s General Works Council said that the faction would “fight bitterly” against the potential plant closure measures, while a spokesperson for IG Metall described the plan as one that “shakes the foundations of Volkswagen and poses a massive threat to jobs and locations.”

Shares of Volkswagen dipped 0.8% at around 2:15 p.m. London time on Tuesday, paring gains from the previous session. Volkswagen’s stock price has fallen by more than 33% over the past five years.

The downturn comes amid a difficult economic environment for the carmaker and an influx of new rivals in Europe, as Volkswagen attempts to survive the transition to electric cars.

“The situation is extremely tense and cannot be resolved through simple cost-cutting measures,” VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer said on Monday.

“This is why we want to initiate discussions with employee representatives as soon as possible to explore the possibilities for sustainably restructuring the brand,” he added.

Volkswagen’s plans to consider unprecedented plant closures in Germany comes at a politically fraught time for Europe’s largest economy. Led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the ruling three-way coalition in Berlin was dealt a heavy blow in regional votes over the weekend.

“The German automotive industry stands for globally successful products and innovations. It is a central pillar for growth and prosperity in Germany,” a German government spokesperson told CNBC by email, without commenting specifically on Volkswagen’s planned measures.

“At the same time, it is currently in a challenging phase of transformation towards electromobility. This also requires the adaptation of traditional structures and measures for greater competitiveness,” the spokesperson added, according to a Google translation.

“A close social partnership is a hallmark of the German automotive industry. The Federal Government therefore appeals to the social partners involved to continue to fulfil this responsibility in the future.”

Thomas Besson, head of automotive research at Kepler Cheuvreux, said the problems at Volkswagen reflect an “industry-wide story.”

“We are seeing a major fragmentation story of the global automotive landscape,” Besson told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Tuesday.

“The situation … is also specific to Volkswagen, in the sense that they have put in place a number of guarantees for workers,” he added.

— CNBC’s Annette Weisbach contributed to this report.

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With 2 days until voting starts, ‘election season’ kicks off sooner than you think

There are 62 days until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

But if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

Early voting starts as soon as Sept. 6 for eligible voters, with seven battleground states sending out ballots to at least some voters the same month.

It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of ‘election season.’

States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. 

In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.

Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.

Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.

Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption. 

The difference between ‘early in-person’ and ‘mail’ or ‘absentee’ voting.

There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.

The first is , where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.

The second is , where the process and eligibility varies by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.

In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on Election Day.

States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.

Voting begins on Sept. 6 in North Carolina, with six more battleground states starting that month

This list of early voting deadlines is for guidance only. In some areas, early voting may begin before the dates listed. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes, and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

The first voters to be sent absentee ballots will be in North Carolina, which begins mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.

Six more battleground states begin early voting the same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

September deadlines

In-person early voting in bold.

Sept. 6

North Carolina – Absentee ballots sent to voters

Sept. 16

Pennsylvania – Mail-in ballots sent to voters

Sept. 17

Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 19

Wisconsin – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 20

Virginia – In-person early voting begins
Minnesota, South Dakota – In-person absentee voting begins
Idaho, Kentucky, West Virginia – Absentee ballots sent
Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 21

Maryland, New Jersey – Mail-in ballots sent
Indiana, New Mexico – Absentee ballots sent
Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 23

Mississippi – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
Oregon – Absentee ballots sent
Vermont – Mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 26

Illinois – In-person early voting begins & mail-in ballots sent
Michigan – Absentee ballots sent
Florida – Mail-in ballots sent
North Dakota – Absentee & mail-in ballots sent
Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent to voters outside the state

Sept. 30

Nebraska – Mail-in ballots sent

October deadlines

Oct. 4

Connecticut – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 6

Maine – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 7

California – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
Nebraska – In-person early voting begins 
Georgia – Absentee ballots sent
Massachusetts – Mail-in ballots sent
Montana – In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 8

California – Ballot drop-offs open
New Mexico, Ohio – In-person absentee voting begins
Indiana – In-person early voting begins
Wyoming – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent

Oct. 9

Arizona – In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 11

Colorado – Mail-in ballots sent
Arkansas, Alaska – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 15

Georgia – In-person early voting begins
Utah – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 16

Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee – In-person early voting begins
Iowa – In-person absentee voting begins
Oregon, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 17

North Carolina – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 18

Louisiana – In-person early voting begins
Washington – Mail-in ballots sent
Hawaii – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 19

Nevada, Massachusetts – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 21

Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas – In-person early voting begins 
Colorado – Ballot drop-offs open

Oct. 22

Hawaii, Utah – In-person early voting begins 
Missouri, Wisconsin – In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 23

West Virginia – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 24

Maryland – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

Delaware – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 30

Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 31

Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins

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NBC ripped up its Olympics playbook for 2024 — so far, the new strategy paid off

Comcast’s NBCUniversal has a longstanding bet on the Olympics, but this summer the company threw all of its resources at the Games in a bid to grab more viewership — especially for its growing streaming platform, Peacock.

It appears to have paid off so far — more than 30 million people tuned in to NBC’s TV and streaming platforms to watch the games, and a record $1.2 billion in advertising revenue was generated.

NBC executives, having touted the Olympics as a growth driver and differentiator in the increasingly crowded landscape of streaming and live sports, are now looking to extend the benefit beyond the Games and into future live sports.

“We completely changed the game plan internally. We ripped up the playbook two years ago,” said Jenny Storms, chief marketing officer of entertainment and sports at NBCUniversal. “It was very scary at the time to take the institutional knowledge that we had for so long and rip it up and start over. We really started new and fresh in totality, from production to company wide counterparts.”

The Olympics have long been key to NBCUniversal. Paris marked the 18th Olympic Games broadcast by NBC in the U.S. The company renewed the rights in 2014, agreeing to pay $7.65 billion for the Games between 2022 and 2032, amounting to more than $1.2 billion for each.

Just before Paris, efforts had fallen flat. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Olympics drew the lowest-ever audiences for Summer and Winter Games, respectively.

Storms noted there were factors at play in those last two Olympic Games that were largely out of NBCUniversal’s control.

Both of the Games were shrouded by the early stage of the pandemic. Tokyo was postponed by a year, and fans and families weren’t present at either games. The time zone difference from Asia worked against the U.S. broadcast, too.

NBC microphones sit on the field on July 30 in Marseille, France.Brad Smith / ISI / Getty Images file

But notably the strategy for Peacock during those Games appeared to be the biggest misstep. In Tokyo, very few events were available to stream live on Peacock. In Beijing, the live content was there, but fans had trouble finding what they wanted to watch.

“We made a claim that Peacock would be the home of the Olympics, and we didn’t exactly deliver,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. “We were nervous about how much content to put on there, how to program it and how to cross-deliver it [with traditional TV]. And we were rightly told by the fanbase that we didn’t deliver what we said we would.”

Executives across the company have credited Paris as a part of the success of this year’s Olympics, between the eye-catching scenery — with the Opening Ceremony on the Seine River and beach volleyball played in front of the Eiffel Tower, to name a couple — and favorable time zone working in NBC’s favor.

The company also began marketing the Olympics much earlier this time around, employing various parts of NBCUniversal to get the word out, from news programs and talk shows, to various forms of advertising, Storms said.

Both Storms and Lazarus also noted the success of airing the Olympic trials in the weeks before the games.

“We never really pushed hard with the trials before,” Storms said. “But it was the most streamed trials ever, and it was important to warm America up.”

And then there was the star factor of NBCUniversal’s internal roster.

The company used its own talent more strategically in 2024, executives said. Besides airing promos for content, NBC A-listers were integrated into the events themselves, co-hosting and reporting from the sidelines. Fan favorite Snoop Dogg, a special correspondent for NBC Olympics, generated social media buzz and drew more eyes to the live events. And, his stand-out presence in Paris helped promote his upcoming role with NBC’s “The Voice” this fall.

Snoop Dogg at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Aug. 9.Odd Andersen / Getty Images file

“We had a great experience with Snoop, we are definitely in the Snoop business with ‘The Voice,’ and hope to be in the Snoop business in the future,” said Lazarus, adding NBCUniversal doesn’t have a commitment yet with Snoop Dogg for future Olympics.

Other NBC talent attended the Games to promote their projects, too. Mariska Hargitay, who’s played the character Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” since 1999, was in Paris promoting the show’s 26th season. A variety of “Saturday Night Live” cast members were present, including Colin Jost, who covered surfing in Tahiti and had to make an early exit due to health issues.

Shows from both NBC and Peacock were also promoted at the Games, and Universal’s upcoming film, “Wicked,” was highlighted often, with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo appearing on the Opening Ceremony red carpet.

The “Wicked” actors also voiced a promotional piece for U.S. gymnastics powerhouse Simone Biles, and an exclusive clip of the film was aired during the “Today” show from Paris. NBC said among moviegoers, ”‘Wicked’ gained ground across measures during the Olympics, doubling our level of top of mind awareness, and increasing total awareness,” according to polling.

Arguably no NBC property shined brighter during the Olympics than streaming platform, Peacock.

Due in large part to Peacock, 23.5 billion minutes of the Olympics were streamed, up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined, according to a release.

“Peacock delivered in every way that we hadn’t before,” said Lazarus.

Besides having all live coverage, exclusive shows like “Gold Zone,” hosted by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone,” gave fans more options for all-day viewing. There were also features built solely for the Olympics, such as an artificial intelligence function featuring daily recaps in the voice of Al Michaels, a longtime voice of marquee NFL games.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande attend the red carpet at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26.Matthew Stockman / Getty Images file

An estimated 2.8 million consumers signed up for Peacock during the first week of the Summer Games, averaging nearly 400,000 additions daily, according to data provider Antenna. This nearly matched the sign ups driven by Peacock’s exclusive NFL Wild Card game in January, according to Antenna. The game is considered the most streamed live event in history with 27.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

While Comcast recently reported Peacock had 33 million paid customers as of June 30 — 500,000 less than the prior period, and widely attributed to the loss of customers exiting after the Wild Card game —analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson said it’s worth noting the customers that remained since the Wild Card game.

“I suspect they’ll have the same experience with the Olympics,” Moffett said. “Sure, some of those customers will leave but they will probably end up keeping a lot more than not.”

Still, traditional TV made up the bulk of viewership during the Paris Games — nearly 90% of viewers watched on broadcast and cable channels, Lazarus said. Aided by the more favorable time zone, NBC aired live events on TV and Peacock during the day and rebranded the evening broadcast as “Primetime in Paris,” replaying big events with sidecar programming and interviews.

The strategy used in Paris will serve as the roadmap for future Olympics — the Milan Winter Olympics in 2026 and Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028 — as well as other live sports aired on NBC’s TV networks and Peacock, executives said.

Shortly after the 2024 Olympics comes the new seasons of English Premier League soccer, American college football and National Football League. NBC will also be the rights holder of National Basketball Association games beginning in the 2025-2026 season.

“I think Peacock is getting much more sophisticated, as we’ve seen with the Olympics, in how they can do sports coverage,” said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at Perkins Coie.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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Fantasy football rankings: Our guide to setting your Week 1 lineup

The NFL season is finally here. And fantasy football managers will finally get to see the fruits of their draft-day labor play out on the field.

Of course, this is probably the most difficult week to set an optimal lineup. So the best advice is to start your studs and let the chips (and salsa) fall where they may.

Fantasy football rankings for Week 1 are based on the point-per-reception (PPR) scoring used in most seasonal and daily fantasy football formats. One point is awarded for every 10 rushing and receiving yards and one point for every 20 passing yards. Six points are awarded for touchdowns scored, four points for passing TDs and one point for receptions.

Rankings are compiled by Daniel Dobish, TheHuddle.com. 

(*-check status before kickoff)

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Fantasy football Week 1 quarterback rankings

Fantasy football Week 1 running back rankings

Fantasy football Week 1 wide receiver rankings

Fantasy football Week 1 tight end rankings

Fantasy football Week 1 kicker rankings

Fantasy football Week 1 defense/special teams rankings

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DOJ charges Hamas leaders over ‘terrorist atrocities’ in Oct 7 Israel attack

The Department of Justice on Tuesday unsealed criminal charges against Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and other leaders of the brutal organization over the ‘terrorist atrocities’ of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.

The criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction resulting in death. 

It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, that were used in the attack.

The complaint marks the first time that U.S. prosecutors have formally called out the masterminds of the Oct. 7 massacre. 

‘The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations,’ Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video address. ‘These actions will not be our last. The Justice Department has a long memory. We will pursue the terrorists responsible for murdering Americans – and those who illegally provide them with material support – for the rest of their lives.’

Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds more hostage. 

Tuesday’s charges come days after Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six hostages – including 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin – in the tunnels beneath Rafah in the Gaza Strip.  

Hamas chief Sinwar is believed to be hiding out somewhere in Hamas’ vast tunnel network beneath Gaza. It’s unclear how much contact he has with the outside world.

Sinwar was appointed the overall head of Hamas after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and sits atop Israel’s most-wanted list. 

Other Hamas leaders charged include Haniyeh; Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza who helped plan last year’s attack and who Israel says was killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza in March; Khaled Mashaal, another Haniyeh deputy and a former leader of the group; Mohammed Deif, Hamas’ longtime shadowy military leader who is thought to be dead after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza in July; and Ali Baraka, Hamas’ head of external relations.

The DOJ said at least one person – whose name they did not specify in the complaint – is ‘expected to be first brought to and arrested in the Southern District of New York.’

Fox News’ David Spunt and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Week 1 overreactions: USC to win Big Ten? Notre Dame in playoff?

For those of you who are new to this feature, the bold statements you see below are not our opinions. They are quick takes that have been expressed by fans or pundits, on air or on the web, or perhaps just shouted in living rooms. (Yes, we can hear you, trust us.)

Ultimately, some of these immediate reactions might prove accurate, but even those will still require a wait-and-see approach.

Here are the top five overreactions from the first full set of games.

Southern California is going to win the Big Ten

OK, maybe no one’s come right out and said that just yet. The Trojans weren’t perfect by any stretch, but coming up with the win against LSU clearly ranks among the most significant results of opening weekend that could absolutely carry weight later in the campaign. It was definitely the best performance among the league’s new west coast contingent, as Oregon had a hard time putting away FCS member Idaho.

There is, of course, a long way to go, and USC was hardly the only Big Ten member to impress in Week 1. But the Trojans appear to have an actual defense now, capable of getting a stop when it needs one, and a quarterback in Miller Moss who can lead a drive with the game on the line. So title favorite? No. But team to watch? Definitely.

Notre Dame is a playoff team

We won’t pencil the Fighting Irish into the field of 12 just yet, but we will say their chances have improved. They have a path to be sure, and they cleared their first hurdle with the triumph at Texas A&M.

But a couple of dates on Notre Dame’s remaining calendar might be more challenging than it first appeared when the schedule came out. There’s that Oct. 26 encounter with a suddenly feisty Georgia Tech, for example, and that season-ending road tilt with aforementioned Southern California now looks even more significant. In the expansion era, the Irish can probably sustain a setback and still have a spot in the at-large pool. But as Han Solo famously put it, ‘Great, kid, don’t get cocky.”

HIGHS AND LOWS: Week 1 winners and losers start with Georgia, Clemson

MISERY INDEX: Florida is flailing but it isn’t all Billy Napier’s fault

The ACC is cooked

The early returns for the league aren’t good. The league’s recent standard bearers, Florida State and Clemson, have already taken two and one ‘L’s, possible dark horse Virginia Tech was tripped up by Vanderbilt, and league newcomer Stanford put up a good fight but ultimately came up a touchdown short against TCU. Even among the squads that won there are concerns. North Carolina State got all it could handle from FCS challenger Western Carolina, North Carolina held on at Minnesota but lost its starting quarterback, and, as good as Miami looked in the Swamp, that result might say more about the state of the Florida program than that of The U.

Right. Now everyone breathe. Just breathe. No, I don’t think Anna Nalick is an ACC fan – but we digress.

The fact is the ACC is going to have a seat at the playoff table now thanks to expansion, and a whole lot can and will change in this sport between now and December. Perhaps nobody in the conference looks championship ready at the moment, but with just one – and in a couple of cases two – data points to evaluate, let’s not write off the whole league yet.

Ashton Jeanty is winning the Heisman

One week does not a trophy campaign make, but if you didn’t know the standout Boise State running back’s name before, you certainly do now after Saturday’s 267-yard, six touchdown outing at Georgia Southern. He gets another chance to shine on the big stage next week when he and his Broncos visit Oregon.

He has an uphill battle from here to claim the award, however, starting with his position. Three non-quarterbacks have won the statue in the last 15 years – but they all played at Alabama. That leads to the other issue, that the big-name programs will have many more opportunities to spotlight their top players.

But again, this is the expansion era. IF Boise State can stay in the mix for the Mountain West title, which might subsequently result in a playoff bid with a few breaks, Jeanty will at least remain in the conversation. He still might not win it, but you might see him at the ceremony in the Big Apple. Those are all big ifs, naturally, so for now Broncos’ fans should enjoy having him around for another year.

Two-minute timeout? Really?

The addition of another stoppage in each half – we’re apparently not supposed to call it a warning – caused a bit of a stir among watchers of the sport, amateur and professional alike. Yes, it’s essentially made for TV, and some coaches are clearly still trying to figure out how to plan for it.

Ultimately, though, we think after a while most observers will simply forget about it as it becomes part of the game’s routine. Sure, some coaches with questionable clock management skills will get do-overs – and perhaps still find ways to mess things up –, but in truth viewers probably won’t find it all that intrusive given all the end-of-half interruptions that often occur anyway.

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Sports

US wheelchair basketball team routs France before raucous fans

PARIS — Success has followed Steve Serio throughout his U.S. Paralympic career. He’s earned two gold medals and a bronze over his four Paralympic Games playing for the wheelchair basketball team. 

Serio plans to wrap up his Paralympic career in Paris. He had no shame in sharing that news, either. He’s helped lead the Americans to a semifinal berth — one win away from the gold-medal game. But it won’t be the medals or the wins that Serio remembers, it will be the little things. 

Spending time with teammates in the cafeteria, enjoying the Paralympic village, having fun on team bus rides and building relationships with his teammates. Those are the things he will miss when his Paralympic career is over. 

“I’ve actually taken the time to appreciate living in the moment a little bit more than I have in the past,” Serio said. 

Serio’s final Paralympic Games are off to a great start. The Americans solidified themselves as the top team in Group B after going undefeated. It continued with a quarterfinal win on Wednesday.

2024 Paris Olympics: Follow USA TODAY’s coverage of the biggest names and stories of the Games.

Serio dropped 13 points on 43% shooting from the field as the U.S. defeated France 82-47, on Tuesday night. It was Serio’s younger counterparts who have stolen the show in the Paris Games. 

Jake Williams led the way on Tuesday with 23 points followed by Brian Bell’s 20 points. Both are two-time Paralympians, flanked by rookies like Jorge Salazar who scored 13. The future is bright for the U.S. wheelchair basketball program, and it is exciting for Serio. 

“I’m very jealous that those athletes get a chance to compete in L.A.,” Serio said. “I would love to compete on my home soil, but it’s an honor to share the court with them and to watch them grow over the course of these Paralympics.”

Enjoying a host-country crowd 

Trevon Jenifer, a four-time Paralympian for the U.S., got visible goosebumps just talking about the French crowd on Tuesday. Despite a dominating, blowout victory for the Americans, the crowd remaining loud and lively over the entire 40 minutes. 

“It gets you rocking and rolling,” Jenifer said. “In my four quads that I’ve been in, I’ve had the opportunity to play each country in their home and it is the best, best feeling ever.”

It was an environment that rivaled the best that Jenifer and Serio played in. 

“When you’re in an environment like that, you have to feed off of it,” Serio said. “That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I want to thank the people of Paris for coming out and supporting the Paralympic athletes. That arena was one of the most fun arenas I’ve ever played in.”

The U.S. jumped out to an early 6-0 lead to open the game, allowing for some room for error. The French responded with a 7-0 run to open the second quarter, igniting an already raucous crowd and forcing a U.S. timeout at the 6:55 mark. From there, it was all America the rest of the way. 

Serio called Tuesday the world’s coming out party, noting the strangeness of the Tokyo Games without the crowd. The coming-out party doubles as his last Games, one that features his loved ones in the stands. 

“Every [Paralympic] Games has their own personality,” Serio said. “… This is the chance for friends and family to be in the stands and share this moment with us, and we’re not taking it for granted. It’s been a real honor to play in front of them.”

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Politics

Trump plans to plead not guilty to Jack Smith’s revised federal election interference charges

Former President Trump plans to plead not guilty to the revised charges in the federal election inference case against him, a new court document shows.

According to a court filing obtained by Fox News, Trump signed an entry of not guilty plea. In the document, which was filed on Tuesday, Trump also waived his right to be present at his arraignment.

‘I authorize my attorneys to enter a plea of not guilty on my behalf to each and every count of the superseding indictment, Doc. 226,’ the document says. ‘I further state that I have received a copy of the superseding indictment and reviewed it with my counsel.’

The case pertains to Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Last week, the former president was indicted and given revised criminal charges by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who alleges that the Republican candidate pressured former Vice President Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes, in addition to mounting fake electors in key states that went to President Biden, to attest to Trump’s electoral victory.

Smith revised the charges after a recent Supreme Court ruling extended presidential immunity for official White House acts in a 6-3 decision. 

The recent indictment retains the criminal charges against Trump, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump had previously pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Speaking with Shannon Bream during Sunday’s episode of ‘Fox News Sunday,’ Trump said he had ‘every right’ to do what he did after the 2020 presidential election.

‘Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it?’ Trump said.

Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign released a statement blasting Trump on Monday and claimed that the Republican candidate’s recent comments ‘make it clear that he believes he is above the law.’

‘Now, Trump is claiming he had ‘every right’ to interfere in the 2020 election. He did not,’ a Harris campaign spokesperson said in the statement.

Reuters and Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

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