Putting the “W” in Wednesday

The GIST: The inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup semis kick off tonight with two must-see matches between four regional powers from San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium.

• As a refresher, this first-ever tourney pits the continent’s best against each other as a tuneup for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. Fan-footy-tastic.

No. 11 Brazil vs. No. 35 Mexico — Tonight at 7 p.m. ET: Brazil is learning to fly even without their fearless leader, Marta, who retired from international competition after the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. As Canarinhas have been displaying their famous footwork all tourney long, seriously outscoring their opponents along the way.

• Meanwhile, Mexico is demanding attention as they thrive on the cheers of their large fanbase and capitalize on their competition’s mistakes. But their defense will have their hands full against a flourishing Brazilian offense.

No. 2 USWNT vs. No. 10 CanWNT — Tonight at 10:15 p.m. ET: While the Americans boast the historic edge, having won 53 (!!!) of their 64 previous games against Canada, anything can happen when these two transitioning squads take the pitch tonight.

• The USWNT expects this game to be physical, especially considering CanWNT’s strong defense, meaning they’ll need to play with their recently-reignited fire (particularly on offense) to top the rebuilding Canucks.

• That said, the red, white, and blue can come in confident that their own rock-solid backline will stymy our neighbors to the north, who notoriously have trouble scoring. LFG.

The GIST: Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum is reportedly working to bring a WNBA franchise to Toronto after previous efforts stalled last year. Tanenbaum is chairman of the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment sports group — owner of Toronto’s NHL, NBA, and MLS franchises — and is hoping to add women’s basketball to his sports portfolio. This that new Toronto.

The details: Per a CBC report, Tanenbaum wants to acquire the new franchise through his holding company, the Kilmer Group, and is expected to meet with WNBA leadership soon. If Tanenbaum succeeds, he will likely propose the 8K-seater Coca-Cola Coliseum as the team’s home venue.

The backstory: There’s a long history of WNBA talks up north, but the first major step was last May’s WNBA preseason game hosted in front of a sold-out crowd at the NBA’s Toronto Raptors’ Scotiabank Arena. At the time, commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed that Toronto was on a shortlist of potential expansion sites, but the city surprisingly withdrew from the running last October.

Zooming out: If Toronto revives its bid, the Canadian city will still have to compete with other markets like Denver and Portland, an expected favorite if it also rekindles interest. There’s definitely an appetite for women’s sports in Toronto, but cross-border complications like travel and tax rates might make an American city more appealing.

• Toronto does have a renewed edge after landing PWHL Toronto, the city’s first pro women’s sports team, which also recently sold out Scotiabank. Something to think aboat.

The GIST: Move aside, Love is Blind altar day — yesterday marked NFL franchise tag deadline day, bringing with it a flurry of massive decisions as teams prepare for free agency to open one week from today.

Denver Broncos will release Russell Wilson: Broncos country, let’s ride hide. On Monday, Denver announced they’ll release their much-hyped quarterback (QB), ending his dismal two-year tenure in the Mile High City. The Broncos signed Mr. Unlimited to a hefty — like, nearly $250M hefty — contract back in 2022, but Wilson has struggled mightily since signing on the dotted line.

• Speaking of hefty, Denver will incur an NFL-record $85M dead cap hit for releasing Wilson. Dead money refers to salary cap space allocated to a player that’s no longer on the team’s roster — essentially, releasing Wilson and taking the hit makes it harder for the Broncos to sign other players. No cap.

Eight players receive franchise tag: Elsewhere, eight NFL teams used their one franchise tag on players about to enter unrestricted free agency, keeping them around for one year and ensuring they’ll have the right to match any contract offers from other squads.

• That said, the biggest news might be who didn’t receive the tag. That list includes NY Giants running back (RB) Saquon Barkley, who’ll now hit free agency and headline a stacked RB class.

What’s next: An anticipated free agency frenzy when the new league year (as in their business year) begins next Wednesday. With Wilson, Barkley, and a whole host of other stars set to hit the open market, the chaos is just getting started.