TKO Group revealed Friday in an earnings call with investors that Saudi Arabia will continue its financial partnership with UFC and WWE owners.

“Our partners in Saudi Arabia have confirmed that (a financial divestment) will not be the case with TKO,” president and COO Mark Shapiro of TKO holdings said to Sports Business Journal. “Their commitment to our properties in 2026 and beyond is unwavering.”

Questions about Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sports-related entities arose amid the news that the country’s Public Investment Fund had elected to stop funding its LIV Golf league following the 2026 season.

Saudi Arabia is scheduled to move forward with multiple UFC and WWE events in the region.

According to Yahoo Sports, TKO has six events scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia between UFC, Zuffa Boxing and WWE.

WWE events have taken place in Saudi Arabia since 2018, with that partnership set to continue at least through 2027.

–Field Level Media

The Carolina Hurricanes will aim for their second straight series sweep to start the Stanley Cup playoffs when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference second-round matchup on Saturday evening.

The Hurricanes own a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after winning the first two games in Raleigh, N.C., and then posting a 4-1 win in Game 3 on Thursday night in Philadelphia.

The seven straight playoff wins tied a franchise record set in 2006.

Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen had 18 saves in Game 3 to improve to 7-0 in the playoffs with two shutouts. He has a 1.02 goals-against average, a .957 save percentage and said preparation for this time of year begins on the first day of training camp.

“We establish how we want to play right away,” he said. “So much is second nature to everyone.”

Carolina was locked in a 1-1 tie with the Flyers on Thursday when Jalen Chatfield scored short-handed at 15:59 of the second period to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. They cemented the win with two more unanswered goals in the third.

“Tonight was a bit of a messy game until the third,” Andersen said. “We kind of just got back on our game a little bit and, obviously, scored a few to close it out.”

Jordan Staal scored his first goal of the 2026 playoffs for Carolina and contributed an assist on Chatfield’s goal.

Andersen said their team captain the past seven seasons leads in a number of ways.

“If you want to see how we want to play, that’s the model right there,” Andersen said of Staal. “He’s such a strong skater, such a strong body out there, and he doesn’t try to do extra. He’s just trying to be reliable and be a calm presence in the room, too. I think that’s where he’s underrated.”

The Flyers have struggled on the power play throughout the playoffs, but especially against the Hurricanes.

They went 0-for-5 with the man-advantage in Game 3, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:15 in the second period, and the power-play unit surrendered the short-handed goal to Chatfield. Philadelphia fell to 1-for-16 with the man-advantage in the series and 3-for-33 in the playoffs.

“There’s reads and plays you’ve got to make to be on the power play,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “In all fairness, we got some guys that are playing power play that probably wouldn’t play a lot of minutes on a power play, and we’re trying to get these guys to understand certain things.”

Part of the problem is the Flyers have been without their leading goal scorer from the regular season, Owen Tippett, who is day-to-day with an unspecified injury.

He has been practicing with the Flyers but has yet to appear in the series.

Philadelphia also lost center Noah Cates to a lower-body in Game 2 and he won’t return this series.

The Flyers were up 3-0 in their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, lost Games 4 and 5, then closed it out at home in Game 6.

They know anything can happen.

“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “We were just in a series where it was the opposite.”

–Field Level Media

Seattle Mariners infielder Brendan Donovan was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Friday after recovering from a left groin strain.

As a member of the St. Louis Cardinals last August, Donovan went on the IL with a left groin strain and missed nearly a month, and he underwent sports hernia surgery last October. Donovan and Mariners manager Dan Wilson have indicated the current groin issue needs to be closely monitored and is likely related to the October surgery.

Donovan went 1-for-3 with one double and two walks in a one-game rehab assignment with Double-A Arkansas on Tuesday.

In a corresponding move, the Mariners optioned catcher Jhonny Pereda to Triple-A Tacoma.

Out since April 20, Donovan is batting .304 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 18 games this season, his first since coming over from the Cardinals in a three-team trade in the offseason.

Two of his home runs this season are leadoff home runs, including the first Opening Day leadoff homer in Mariners’ history on March 26 against the Cleveland Guardians.

The versatile Donovan, 29, earned an All-Star spot last season as a second baseman, but he appeared at every position except pitcher, catcher and center field during his four-year run with the Cardinals that featured a slash line of .283/.364/.414. He earned a Gold Glove for his utility work during his rookie year in 2022.

St. Louis selected Donovan in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He is a career .283 hitter with 43 homers and 210 RBIs in 510 regular-season games.

Pereda appeared in two games after being called up Saturday when infielder Will Wilson was placed on the 10-day IL with a fractured left thumb. The 30-year-old has a career batting average of .241 with eight RBIs in 48 games with the Miami Marlins (2024), Athletics (2025) and Minnesota Twins (2025).

Pereda achieved a level of fame on May 15, 2025 when he pitched the bottom of the eighth inning of the Athletics’ 19-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers and struck out Shohei Ohtani, who hit two homers earlier in the game.

–Field Level Media