College sports has entered a new era with a recent court ruling that allows the schools to make direct payments to athletes. For the upcoming school year, up to $20.5 million can be distributed to football, basketball, baseball, volleyball players and more. This is in addition to scholarships and payments for name, image and likeness.

How are schools handling this new approach? On SportsBeat KC, The Star’s sports podcast, college beat writers Kellis Robinett and Shreyas Laddha break down the structure and apply it to the schools they cover, Kansas State and Kansas.

The schools also look to regulate NIL, preventing it from becoming a recruiting tool, by creating an enforcement organization outside the NCAA. That could be the biggest challenge to the changed sports world.

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The greatest Royal of ‘em all, George Brett, can’t wait to watch Jac Caglianone’s major-league debut on Tuesday. Neither can golf icon and Royals fan Tom Watson.

At an annual fundraising event for The ALS Association in Overland Park Monday, half of Kansas City’s sports Mount Rushmore weighed in on the Royals’ decision to elevate their top prospect to Major League Baseball.

Caglianone will make his MLB debut Tuesday in St. Louis.

What can Caglianone expect in the bigs? Brett and Watson agree, and their answer may surprise you: Caglianone’s best approach, they say, will be to do less: “Try to do less when the pressure is on,” Brett said. “He’s got to breathe.”

Brett and Watson join Star sports columnist Vahe Gregorian and podcast host Blair Kerkhoff in this special installment of the SportsBeat KC show, presented by Underdog.

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Say this for the Royals, they’ve been consistent this season. Through about two months of 2025, pitching has been excellent. Hitting hasn’t come around. But a few things are happening to keep hope alive for another playoff season.

First, the Royals remain a contending team. Despite losing 11 of their past 16 games they’re over .500 for May.

Also, the promotion of slugger Jac Caglianone looms. His hot hitting has continued after arriving at Class AAA Ohama.

On today’s SportsBeat KC, Royals beat writer Jaylon Thompson breaks down the Royals and takes a guess at when Caglianone will make his big league debut.

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The next step in determining the future playing venues of the Chiefs and Royals rest with the Missouri statehouse.

After the state Senate failed to pass a state funding measure that could provide up to 50 percent of a new stadium for the Royals and a renovated Arrowhead State for the Chiefs, Gov. Mike Kehoe has called a special session to debate providing tax breaks that would keep the teams in Missouri.

On SportsBeat KC, The Star’s sports podcast, columnists Sam McDowell and Vahe Gregorian discuss the latest stadium developments and project what may happen with the Chiefs and Royals.

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The Chiefs effectively hired a couple of dozen new employees last week, seven of them through the NFL Draft and the remaining through subsequent undrafted free agency deals.

Their start date: How about now?

They all took part in a three-day rookie minicamp over the weekend, concluding Monday. As part of it, each of the seven draft picks, along with a couple of intriguing other names, spoke to the media.

I’ll apologize for the one-week reprieve you have from Blair Kerkhoff, our usual host, which leaves it to myself, Chiefs beat writer Jesse Newell and sports columnist Vahe Gregorian to cycle through our observations from the Chiefs’ rookie camp.

We follow with a conversation about the record-breaking barrage of home runs from the Kansas City Royals. Which Royals hitter needed a slump-busting blast the most?

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How did the Chiefs fare in the NFL Draft? Star columnist Sam McDowell and beat writer Jesse Newell break it down on SportsBeat KC, The Star’s sports podcast presented by Underdog.

The Chiefs entered the draft with eight picks, and after trades, finished with seven. Their first round pick, offensive tackle Josh Simmons of Ohio State at No. 32 overall, was the product of a trade.

The Chiefs addressed their biggest needs early, and took best available players with later picks. We discuss the best moves, the questionable ones and who can make the earliest impact.

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A year ago this month, Jackson County voters sent an emphatic message to the Royals and Chiefs: They didn’t want their taxes to help pay for a new stadium for the Royals and improvements for the Chiefs.

Since then, the teams have considered several options for their future homes but haven’t landed on one. Their Truman Sports Complex lease is expiring in 2031.

On SportsBeat KC, The Star’s sports podcast, columnists Sam McDowell and Vahe Gregorian share their thoughts about where things stand, what concerns have arisen since the doomed vote and where the Royals and Chiefs may end up.

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The NFL Draft spectacle grows near. Next week in Green Bay, Wis., 32 teams will look to improve their roster and once again the Chiefs will be among the last teams scheduled to select in the first round.

On SportsBeat KC, The Star’s sports podcast beat writer Jesse Newell and columnists Sam McDowell and Vahe Gregorian go inside the Chiefs draft room to determine the path of the NFL’s perennial power.

Which way to the Chiefs go in the first round? Defensive line? Tackle? What are the trade prospects with general manager Brett Veach?

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The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is over but not transfer portal madness. Players are spinning through the transfer mechanism in the new order of college hoops roster building, and Kansas and Kansas State are among those looking to reshape their teams.

On SportsBeat KC, The Star’s sports podcast, college beat writers Gary Bedore, Kellis Robinett and Shreyas Laddha discuss the portal’s impact on KU and K-State and provide the latest updates.

We open by breaking down Florida’s comeback victory over Houston in a thrilling title game, and wrap up with some spring football talk. But mostly...portal madness.

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