The first half of 2024 has provided sports fans with some unforgettable moments, whether it was the Kansas City Chiefs winning their second straight Super Bowl, the skyrocketing popularity in women’s basketball or the Boston Celtics cruising to their 18th NBA title. A high bar has been set for the rest of the year.
Fortunately, the second half of 2024 has no shortage of highly intriguing storylines. Take the Chiefs, for instance. They have the opportunity to become the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowls, and while that game won’t be played until 2025, how Patrick Mahomes & Co. do during the remainder of this calendar year may answer a lot of questions there.
Elsewhere in sports, the New York Yankees will try to end their 15-year World Series drought with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto leading the way. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are vying for WNBA Rookie of the Year honors. And we’ll get on-campus playoff games for the first time ever as the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams.
Before all that, the best athletes in the world will come together to compete in the Paris Olympics. Can the United States clean up and run away with the medal count this year? We’re about to find out.
Here are the top 10 sports stories to watch in the second half of 2024:
Will the Chiefs set themselves up for a three-peat?
Is it crazy to say that the back-to-back Super Bowl champions got better? Well, on the offensive side of the ball Kansas City certainly set itself up this offseason for a possible three-peat. After the wide receiver room was plagued by drops, the Chiefs double-dipped at the position this offseason bringing aboard Marquise Brown in free agency and using their first-round pick on Xavier Worthy. Not only does that raise the ceiling of the wideout room, but both pass catchers are flat-out burners. That re-injects an element to the K.C. offense that hasn’t been felt since the days of Tyreek Hill. Pair that upgrade with the fact that the Chiefs retained defensive tackle Chris Jones and you’re looking at this team continuing to be in the thick of the Super Bowl conversation. — Tyler Sullivan
Will Aaron Rodgers stay healthy long enough to live up to the hype with the Jets?
If everything goes right, the Jets have the structure of a team that can go on a deep playoff run. However, the elephant in the room is that they have a 40-year-old quarterback coming off of a season-ending Achilles injury. How Rodgers bounces back (or doesn’t) could end up being a defining note of the 2024 season. New York did a splendid job this offseason solidifying arguably its biggest weakness along the offensive line, adding three starting-caliber tackles. If they create a wall in front of Rodgers, the four-time MVP has weapons in place to pick apart defenses. And even if Rodgers is only 80% of his former self, that’s better than any quarterback the Jets have had in decades. If he can’t recreate the magic, it’s the latest chapter in what has been a sad state of affairs for the franchise at the position. — Tyler Sullivan
College Football’s New Look: Who stands tall in all of the realigned conferences?
An expanded field and the conference realignment waves finally settling (for now) create what should be a heated race for the College Football Playoff.
Traditional powers like Georgia and Ohio State stand tall amongst the competitors, but there are teams playing in new leagues worth watching. Texas has the talent to push for a national title as it moves to the SEC. The Longhorns would love to build off of 2023’s CFP appearance. Utah should be in the running for the Big 12 title as it transitions from the now-defunct Pac-12, a conference it won twice in the last three seasons. Speaking of Pac-12 expats, Oregon can push Ohio State for Big Ten supremacy. Even if they can’t make a run at the conference title in their first year, the Ducks should be in good shape for an at-large bid.
The ACC, despite welcoming three new teams, should see its traditional powers battle it out at the top. Clemson and Florida State appear to be the early favorites, though dark horses like Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech shouldn’t be discounted. — Will Backus
Will the Yankees finally make it back to the World Series after a hot start? And will Juan Soto get his extension?
We’ll start with the second question first, and that’s almost definitely a hard no. No matter how great this Yankees run is and how well he may love the clubhouse, there’s no reason for Soto and agent Scott Boras not to go to market and explore free agency with all 30 teams. Does he go back to the Yankees anyway? Sure, maybe. But he’s going to take his good sweet time, and he’s earned it. Check back in December. As for the Yankees’ World Series odds, the playoffs are anyone’s game, as we all know. But the Yankees have set themselves up really well to make a run as either the AL East winner or a strong wild-card contender. Gerrit Cole is back, Aaron Judge is on track for yet another record home run season and the aforementioned Soto is playing like an MVP. Anything short of the postseason would be a disappointment and a surprise. — Kate Feldman
Dodgers had a $1 billion offseason and Ohtani is chasing the NL Triple Crown, but is it enough for a title?
Once again, the postseason is a total crapshoot, but it’s hard to have done any more to get there than what Andrew Friedman and crew did this offseason, and it’s harder to imagine they won’t fill in the holes at the trade deadline (we can’t be the only ones picturing Luis Robert Jr. in Dodger blue). Injuries have hurt the starting rotation too, meaning they could and should be on the hunt for some pitching. And yet here we stand, with the Dodgers up 7 1/2 games in the NL West as of this writing. They were the World Series favorites going into the season and not enough has changed for that to be any different today. — Kate Feldman
Will Scottie Scheffler beat Tiger Woods’ record for most PGA Tour wins in a single season?
Scottie Scheffler has put together the first six-win season on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods in 2009, and now he’s aiming for the most since 1983, which is co-held by Vijay Singh (2004) and Tiger Woods (2000), both with nine. The problem for Scheffler? He’s running out of tournaments. With his next start expected at the Open Championship and then three FedEx Cup Playoff events after that, he would likely have to win out to get to 10 and reset the modern record. That’s not impossible, especially since he’ll start the Tour Championship with a lead on the field, but it is improbable given his mild record at The Open and how tough it will be to win the first two playoff events at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship. I think Scottie can get to seven or maybe even eight, but nine or 10 are likely beyond his reach. — Kyle Porter
LeBron James now has Bronny James as a teammate and JJ Redick as the Lakers’ head coach — but will it actually work?
LeBron James has always been at the mercy of his front offices far more than his coaching staffs. His first tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers ended without a ring because they couldn’t put the right team around him. The Lakers have similarly bungled the roster since winning their 2020 championship. That has put both James and new coach JJ Redick in an awkward position. This is the highest-profile team in the NBA … but perhaps not even in the top half of Western Conference rosters. Bronny James won’t mean much on that front. He’s a fun story and a developmental project, but No. 55 overall picks don’t immediately contribute to winning. The James-Redick duo’s success or failure will come down to the talent that Rob Pelinka surrounds them with. Lately, he hasn’t given James enough. This summer, James has reportedly offered a pay cut to the team in order to make it easier. He’s done his part. It’s up to Pelinka to do his. — Sam Quinn
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics
The United States is projected to top the medal count for the eighth conservative time, but on the way to the podium there are multiple unique storylines to follow.
The women’s gymnastics team is on a
Will Chiefs three-peat? Will Yankees end World Series drought? Top sports stories for the rest of 2024
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