Sports + Recreation

Last night’s Super Bowl featured a familiar mix of celebrity cameos, inside jokes and, of course, Clydesdales. Less familiar, perhaps? A choir of singing toilets.

Former Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was at the center of an international controversy in 2022, when Russian officials sentenced her to nine years in prison for a minor drug offense. She was released later that year and returned to the U.S. in a high-profile prisoner swap.

Women from eight universities are scheduled to compete in a flag football tournament held in metro Phoenix in April.

Luis Rivera-Figueroa is a post-doctoral fellow at Arizona State University, and he’s written extensively about Bad Bunny. He says it’s important to examine the artist through many lenses: music, ethnicity and gender.

The annual Waste Management Phoenix Open has officially teed off and is in full swing. The projected 700,000 attendees can expect a ramped up police presence aside from all the fun and activities.

In Gov. Katie Hobbs’ proposed budget, she’s calling for the taxable rate on sports betting to be raised to 45% in order to add another $150 million to the state

Portions of the North Kaibab Trail is set to reopen in early March. The trail remained closed after the Dragon Bravo Fire destroyed parts of the North Rim.

The Fiesta Bowl says metro Phoenix will host quarterfinal games of the College Football Playoff for the next two years.

Play starts Thursday and will feature changes in its lineup, too, with Brooks Koepka playing in his second PGA tournament after a stint with LIV Golf.

It’s still winter, but the Phoenix Fire Department is already responding to heat-related emergency calls.