General Sports 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: March 13, 2026, 10:54 PM ET
ENERGY & COMMODITIES
Oil futures dropped 1.3% in early Asian trade following OPEC+ signals of potential output increases, while gold held near $2,340 as a weakening dollar offset risk-on sentiment. A surge in aluminum prices pushed China Hongqiao's Zhang Bo past the $48 billion mark, cementing his position among Asia's wealthiest industrialists. Meanwhile, U.S. airline bonds weakened after jet fuel costs spiked 8% on Middle East supply fears, and Chicago's planned muni bond sale is testing investor appetite amid geopolitical uncertainty.
FIXED INCOME & SPORTS FINANCE
Japanese government bonds extended gains tracking overnight Treasury rallies as traders increasingly price in a September Fed rate cut. The Big 12 tournament switched to hardwood after the innovative LED glass court caused slipping issues, while C-USA and the Sun Belt double-booked Louisiana Tech for 2026 amid a league standoff. Cincinnati fired coach Wes Miller after five seasons (, while Jeff Capel secured a ninth season at Pitt despite a campaign that "fell well short" of expectations (.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS & LEAGUES
A superb second-half performance earned Ulster a bonus-point victory at Edinburgh, damaging the hosts' top-eight hopes (, and Wakefield Trinity fought back to beat Leeds Rhinos 24-14 in the Challenge Cup (. Scotland's Six Nations resurgence saw them labeled "to hell and back" contenders by Sione Tuipulotu (, while France will wear a special pale blue shirt against England to mark 120 years of rivalry (. Georgia rugby players and a team official faced sanctions for doping violations in an "orchestrated scheme" (.
TOURNAMENTS & INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
Jaden Bradley hit a fall-away jumper at the buzzer to send No. 2 Arizona to the Big 12 tournament finals with an 82-80 win over Iowa State (. Glasgow Warriors' Ulster wing Rob Baloucoune experienced a rapid ascent to key player status following a breakthrough Six Nations campaign (. England bowler Mark Wood admitted to thinking about life after cricket despite improving knee injuries (, while Scotland's first Winter Paralympian, Ralf Etienne, overcame a 2016 earthquake that cost him his leg (.
BOXING, GOLF & OTHER EVENTS
A surge in aluminum prices also propelled China Hongqiao's Zhang Bo past $48 billion. In boxing, Khamzat Chimaev will defend his UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland in May (, while Graeme McDowell created LIV Golf history with a second consecutive hole-in-one (. Lewis Hamilton stated Ferrari is losing "a lot of time" to Mercedes due to a power unit deficit after the Chinese Grand Prix (.