Weekend Preview: WNBA Viewership Soars, Nic Cage As John Madden + The Premier League Begins

Who wants to talk about the weather? Spoiler: it's hot everywhere. Spice up the conversation with us when we cover the WNBA’s return from the Olympic break (and their monumental ratings), NFL updates, including Nicolas Cage’s new role as John Madden and what are those funny pads players are wearing on their helmets, the Premier League kickoff and the MLB Little League Classic. Stay informed and join the sports conversation this weekend!

 

Other episodes you might enjoy:

• Secrets of Champions: Where Olympians Safeguard Their Medals
• The World of Obscure Sports: From Pillow Fighting to Extreme Ironing
• Trailblazers in Sports: Kickass Moms in Sports

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning, Sunshine.
It is our weekend preview edition of the Sports Curious podcast and it's Friday, August16th.
Here's what you need to know to join the sports conversation this weekend.
The WNBA returns from Olympic break where Team USA won their eighth straight gold medaland they're looking to continue momentum of viewership numbers.
ESPN and ABC have at least doubled their viewership through the first half of this season,which concluded on July 17th.

(00:29):
That's right, the WNBA averaged 1 .2 million viewers through 20 games, nearly tripling thenetwork's full season average last year.
Now tune in because the regular season ends September 19th.
Moving on to the NFL, news broke that Nicolas Cage will portray John Madden, the legendaryNFL coach and sports commentator and director David O.

(00:50):
Russell's upcoming biographical drama, Madden.
Now, if you're watching football and preseason football,
Right now, you might notice interesting looking pads on the players' helmets.
That's called a Guardian Cap.
Now, League Research, when the Guardian Caps debuted in 2022, said that they can reducehead contact force by 10 % if one player is wearing them, 20 % if all players are wearing

(01:12):
them.
In 2024, every position, excluding quarterbacks and specialists, have been mandated towear the Guardian Cap in training camp.
But we've seen our first players wearing the Guardian Caps during games.
We saw them during the Steelers game,
We've seen the Colts had five players wearing them, including one of the best players inthe NFL Colts running back, Jonathan Taylor.

(01:34):
Now the league has approved to let players wear these guardian caps during in -seasongames this season.
So tune in for more on that as we get closer to the NFL season, which starts on September6th.
Moving on to a different kind of football, soccer.
The Premier League, well, it starts today.

(01:57):
with a kickoff game between Manchester United and Fulham at 3pm Eastern Time.
Each team plays 38 games across the same number of match days and they wrap on Sunday, May25th, 2025.
Now, JJ Watts' Burnley team was relegated from the Premier League to the EFL Championship,the second tier of English football.

(02:18):
Don't worry, I'll dive into that really quickly after this.
In case you're wondering, Wrexham FC, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney team is in LeagueOne, which is the third tier.
of English Soccer Pyramid, which is one lower.
Their Welsh club earned a promotion to League One in April 2024.
So not to get too deep, but a one -on -one on English Soccer.
The top tier is the Premier League, 20 teams competing to be the English champions.

(02:41):
Then the second through fourth tiers of English football are made up of the ChampionshipLeague One and League Two.
Each division has 24 clubs, and the top two teams in the Championship are automaticallypromoted to be in the Premier League each season.
gives you a little bit of idea what's happening in the world of soccer on the other sideof the pond.
Last but certainly not least, Major League Baseball.

(03:03):
Fresh off the heels of his record breaker of fastest player to reach 300 home runs inMajor League Baseball history, Aaron Judge and his teammates will play in the Little
League Classic in Williamsport for the Little League World Series.
The day of action before this game begins with.

(03:36):
Ahead of the Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the New YorkYankees begins with a day of action across the Little League World Series where players
from the two Major League Baseball teams get to spend the morning and early afternoonwatching these kids play.
How cool is that?
Your hero is watching you play baseball and then rolls reverse at night and the LittleLeaguers and their families sit in the stands and watch the two big league clubs square

(04:00):
off.
It also happens to be Players Weekend in baseball, which is a weekend to celebrate playerspersonalities.
charitable efforts and the people who help them become major leaguers.
So look for some customization on some of their gear this weekend.
That's what we have for your weekend ahead.
Have a wonderful one.
Check us out at lastnightsgame .com and of course follow us on social media for all thingssports conversation because no one wants to talk about politics or the weather.

(04:24):
Have a great weekend.