7-1-26 roundup: Pro football, basketball, baseball, auto racing, soccer and rodeo, Legion baseball

By Richard Walker

The National Basketball Association announced that the Salary Cap for the 2026-27 season has been set at $164.961 million. The Tax Level for the 2026-27 season is $200.428 million.

The Salary Cap and Tax Level go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 1. Teams are permitted to begin negotiating with all free agents on July 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET – six hours prior to the start of the league’s “moratorium period.” The moratorium period ends at noon ET on Monday, July 6.

For the 2026-27 season:
The Minimum Team Salary is $148.465 million; The First Apron Level is $209.015 million; and The Second Apron Level is $221.686 million.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement provides for three different Mid-Level Exceptions depending on a team’s salary level. The Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level for the 2026-27 season is $15.044 million, the Taxpayer Mid-Level is $6.064 million, and the Mid-Level for a team with room under the Salary Cap is $9.366 million.

The NBA also unveiled groups for the fourth annual Emirates NBA Cup – an in-season competition to determine a champion.

The Charlotte Hornets are in East Group C with the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.

The competition will tip off on Friday, Oct. 30 in NBA team markets and conclude on Friday, Nov. 27. The Quarterfinals (Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5) and Semifinals (Tuesday, Dec. 8 and/or Wednesday, Dec. 9) will take place in NBA team markets before the tournament concludes with the Championship at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University on Friday, Dec. 11.

The game and broadcast schedule for the Group Play stage will be announced in August.

Like the previous three in-season tournaments, this season’s Emirates NBA Cup will have two stages: Group Play for all 30 NBA teams and the single-elimination Knockout Rounds for the eight teams that advance out of Group Play (the three group winners and one wild card in each conference).

The Charlotte Hornets released their 2026 Las Vegas Summer League schedule:

July 9 Orlando Magic (7:30 PM ET, Prime)
July 11 New Orleans (4 PM ET, ESPN)
July 12 Boston Celtics (5 PM ET, ESPN2)
July 15 Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 PM ET, Prime)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junior Legion

The Area IV junior legion playoffs:
Quarterfinals (July 1-3, best of 3)
South No. 1 Burns vs. North No. 4 South Caldwell
Game 1- July 1 at Burns – SC 7-0
Game 2- July 2 at South Caldwell
Game 3 (if necessary)- July 3 at Burns

North No. 2 R-S Central vs. South No. 3 Cherryville
Game 1- July 1 at Cherryville – C 10-0 in 5
Game 2- July 2 at R-S Central
Game 3 (if necessary)- July 3 at R-S Central

North No. 1 North Wilkes vs. South No. 4 Gaston Braves Red
Game 1- July 1 at North Wilkes – NW 7-5
Game 2- July 2 at Gaston Christian
Game 3 (if necessary)- July 3 at North Wilkes

South No. 2 Shelby vs. North No. 3 Asheville
Game 1- July 1 at Shelby – Shelby 6-4
Game 2- July 2 at North Henderson
Game 3 (if necessary)- July 3 at Shelby

Semifinals (July 5-7, best of 3)
South No. 1-North No. 4 winner vs. North No. 2-South No. 3 winner
North No. 1-South No. 4 winner vs. South No. 2-North No. 3 winner

Final (July 9-11, best of 3)
Semifinal winners

N.C. state tournament (at Cherryville Fraley Field):
July 18-23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legion baseball

Recent area schedule/results:
x-non division games

Thursday, June 25
Gaston Braves at Asheville – GBraves 11-2
Rutherford County at Shelby – Shelby 2-1

Friday, June 26
Burke County at Shelby – Shelby 10-0 in 5
Gaston Braves at Cherryville – Cherryville 7-1
Gastonia at Hickory – Hickory 4-2

Saturday, June 27
Cherryville at Burke County – Cherryville 10-0 in 6

Sunday, June 28
Asheville at Cherryville – Cherryville 8-6
Gaston Braves at Burke County – GBraves 15-0 in 6
Gastonia at Caldwell County – Caldwell 8-3
Hickory at Shelby – Shelby 7-2

Monday, June 29
Shelby at Cherryville – Cherryville 15-0 in 5

Tuesday, June 30
Asheville vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston) – GBraves 7-3
Cherryville at Shelby – Cherryville 8-4
Gastonia at Burke County – Gastonia 14-4 in 5

Wednesday July 1
x-Anderson, S.C. at Shelby (canceled)
Shelby at Rutherford County – Shelby 4-2

Thursday, July 2
Hickory at Cherryville
Shelby at Gastonia
-END REGULAR SEASON

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro soccer

The 2026 Charlotte FC schedule:

(6-6-3 record)
Saturday, Feb. 21 at St. Louis (T 1-1)
Saturday, Feb. 28 at L.A. Galaxy (L 0-3)
Saturday, March 7 Austin (W 3-1)
Saturday, March 14 Miami (T 0-0)
Saturday, March 21 New York Red Bulls (W 6-1)
Saturday, Apr. 4 Philadelphia (W 2-1)
Saturday, Apr. 11 Nashville (L 1-2)
Saturday, Apr. 18 at New York (W 2-1)
Wednesday, Apr. 22 at Orlando (L 1-4)
Saturday, Apr. 25 at Nashville (L 2-4)
Saturday, May 2 at New England (L 0-1)
Saturday, May 9 Cincinnati (T 2-2)
Wednesday, May 13 New York (L 0-1)
Saturday, May 16 Toronto (W 3-1)
Saturday, May 23 New England (W 1-0)
Wednesday, July 22 Atlanta, 8:00 PM
Saturday, July 25 at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 1 at Chicago, 8:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 15 Columbus, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Aug. 19 at Toronto, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 22 DC, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 29 at Atlanta, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 5 Houston, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Sept. 9 at Montreal, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 12 at Cincinnati, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 19 at DC, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 26 Chicago, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 10 Dallas, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Columbus, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 17 at Philadelphia, 2:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 24 at Portland, 10:30 PM
Wednesday, Oct. 28 Montreal, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 31 Orlando, 1:00 PM
Saturday, Nov. 7 at Miami, 4:00 PM

(U.S. Open Cup)
Wednesday, Apr. 15 Charlotte Independence (W 6-0)
…at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex
Tuesday, Apr. 28 Atlanta United FC (L 0-2)
…at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro football

Here is the Panthers’ full 2026 schedule:

(preseason)
Aug. 6 – Arizona (at Canton, Ohio), 8 p.m.
Aug. 15 – at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Aug. 21 – at Jacksonville, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 28 – Houston, 7 p.m.
(regular season)
Sept. 13 – Chicago, 1 p.m.
Sept. 20 – at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Sept. 27 – at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Oct. 4 – Detroit, 8:20 p.m.
Oct. 8-12 – BYE week
Oct. 18 – at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Oct. 25 – Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oct. 29 – at Green Bay, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 8 – Denver, 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 – at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Nov. 22 – Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Nov. 30 – at Tampa Bay, 8:15 p.m.
Dec. 6 – at Minnesota, 4:25 p.m.
Dec. 13 – New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Dec. 20 – Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Dec. 24-28 TBA – at Pittsburgh, TBA
Jan. 3 – Seattle, 1 p.m.
Jan. 9-10 TBA – Atlanta, TBA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro baseball

Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2026 schedule:

(44-37 record, 42-33 1st half, 2-4 2nd half)
-1st half
March 27-29 Durham 3-0 (W 19-2, W 2-1 in 11, W 4-3)
March 31-April 5 at Nashville 1-4 (L 3-7, W 9-3, L 0-4, L 6-7, ppd, L 5-7)
April 7-12 Memphis 3-3 (L 4-9, W 7-3, L 1-4, W 9-8 in 10, L 4-6, W 13-4)
April 14-19 at Jacksonville 2-4 (L 0-3, L 2-3, L 3-5, L 1-4, W 2-0, W 9-4)
April 21-26 Nashville 4-3 (L 1-5, W 9-4, W 3-2 in 10, W 11-9, L 5-12, W 16-6, L 1-5)
April 28-May 3 Gwinnett 3-3 (L 7-10, W 10-9, L 5-9, L 3-4, W 21-1, W 10-9)
May 5-10 at Jacksonville 3-3 (W 5-3, L 6-8, W 16-1, W 8-5, L 5-6, L 1-6)
May 12-17 Norfolk 3-3 (L 6-9, L 8-9, W 4-1, W 4-1, L 10-11, W 15-3)
May 19-24 at Gwinnett 4-2 (W 5-4, W 4-3, L 3-7, W 4-3 in 10, L 1-5, W 3-2)
May 26-31 Jacksonville 3-3 (W 4-0, susp, L 3-6, W 12-5, W 12-4, L 6-15, L 5-6)
June 2-7 at Durham 6-0 (W 6-1, W 18-7, W 11-6, W 4-3, W 7-5, W 12-5)
June 9-14 Oklahoma City 3-3 (L 3-6, L 1-10, W 9-8, W 12-7, L 7-11, W 4-3)
June 16-21 at Buffalo 4-2 (L 5-9, W 5-1, W 4-0, W 10-5, L 2-4, W 5-0)
-2nd half
June 23-28 Rochester 2-4 (L 9-10, W 10-2, W 7-6 in 11, L 2-6, L 1-3, L 4-9)
June 30-July 5 at Memphis
July 7-12 Nashville
July 17-19 at Durham
July 21-26 Norfolk
July 28-August 2 at Nashville
August 4-9 Durham
August 11-16 at Rochester
August 18-23 at Scranton-WB
August 25-30 Memphis
September 1-6 at Gwinnett
September 8-13 Buffalo
September 15-20 at Norfolk

 

Here is the full Gastonia Ghost Peppers’ 2026 schedule:

(39-23 record, 39-23 1st half, 0-0 2nd half)
-1st half
April 21-23 at High Point 1-2 (W 3-1, L 5-6, L 0-5)
April 24-26 High Point 3-0 (W 4-3, W 18-8, W 9-2)
April 28-May 3 at York 4-2 (W 14-2, ppd, W 2-1, W 5-4, L 4-5, W 10-2, L 3-9)
May 5-10 Southern Maryland 1-5 (L 2-3, L 11-18, L 2-12, L 4-5, W 7-3, L 1-14)
May 12-17 at Long Island 3-3 (L 3-6, L 3-11, W 10-0, L 4-6, W 8-6, W 6-5)
May 19-20 Charleston, W.Va. 3-0 (W 9-4, W 6-2, W 9-6)
May 22-24 at Charleston, W.Va. 3-0 (W 17-4, W 8-4, W 12-4)
May 26-28 at Lexington 3-0 (W 10-6, W 3-2, W 3-1)
May 29-31 Charleston, W.Va. 3-0 (W 6-3, W 10-7, W 9-2)
June 2-7 Lancaster 2-4 (W 11-2, L 1-3, W 14-3, L 3-4, L 8-9, L 5-17)
June 9-14 at Lexington 3-3 (L 13-15, L 6-8, W 7-5, L 9-10, W 7-1, W 12-8)
June 16-21 Staten Island 6-0 (W 10-4, W 9-6, W 26-3, W 11-4, W 12-3, W 13-8)
June 23-28 at Lexington 4-2 (W 4-3, W 6-3, W 7-4, W 8-6, L 5-12, L 4-9)
June 30-July 2 Lexington 0-2 (L 7-9, L 1-11)
-2nd half
July 3-5 Charleston, W.Va.
July 7-12 at Hagerstown
July 14-19 Lexington
July 21-26 at Charleston, W.Va.
July 28, 30-31-Aug. 2 Hagerstown
Aug. 4-6 Southern Maryland
Aug. 7-9 at Lexington
Aug. 11-16 at High Point
Aug. 18-23 Charleston, W.Va.
Aug. 25-30 at Southern Maryland
Sept. 1-6 High Point
Sept. 8-10 Lexington
Sept. 11-13 at High Point

 

 

 

 

 

Auto racing

Here is the full 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule with race winners in parentheses:

Feb. 4 — Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (Ryan Preece)
Feb. 15 — Daytona 500 (Tyler Reddick)
Feb. 22 — Atlanta (Reddick-2)
March 1 — Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (Reddick-3)
March 8 — Phoenix (Ryan Blaney)
March 15 — Las Vegas (Denny Hamlin)
March 22 — Darlington, South Carolina (Reddick-4)
March 29 — Martinsville, Virginia (Chase Elliott)
April 5 — off weekend
April 12 — Bristol, Tennessee (Ty Gibbs)
April 19 — Kansas (Reddick-5)
April 26 — Talladega, Alabama (Carson Hocevar)
May 3 — Texas (Elliott-2)
May 10 — Watkins Glen, New York (Shane van Gisbergen)
May 17 — All-Star Race (Dover) (Hamlin-2)
May 24 — Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte) (Daniel Suarez)
May 31 — Nashville, Tennessee (Hamlin-3)
June 7 — Michigan (Hamlin-4)
June 14 — Pocono in Long Pond, Pennsylvania (Hamlin-5)
June 21 — San Diego (Corey Heim)
June 28 — Sonoma, California (Shane van Gisbergen)
July 5 — Chicagoland
July 12 — Atlanta
July 19 — North Wilkesboro
July 26 — Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)
Aug. 2 — off weekend
Aug. 9 — Iowa
Aug. 15 — Richmond, Virginia
Aug. 23 — New Hampshire
Aug. 29 — Daytona, Florida
Sept. 6 — Darlington
Sept. 13 — Gateway in Madison, Illinois
Sept. 19 — Bristol
Sept. 27 — Kansas
Oct. 4 — Las Vegas
Oct. 11 — Charlotte Roval
Oct. 18 — Phoenix
Oct. 25 — Talladega
Nov. 1 — Martinsville
Nov. 8 — Homestead, Florida

 

 

 

 

Rodeo

Professional Bull Riding Unleash the Beast tour schedule for Greensboro-based Carolina Cowboys:

Feb. 1 – Golden 1 Center Sacramento- Austin Gamblers (L 173.90-256.90)
Feb. 21 – Progressive PBR Jacksonville- Florida Freedom (L 158.70-169.25)
March 22 – Ram Trucks PBR Indianapolis- Nashville Stampede (W 88.70- 0.00)
(DNQ for playoffs)

Team Challenge playoff results
March 29 at Albuquerque: Semifinal- (No. 1 Missouri Thunder def. No. 4 Florida Freedom 83.65-0.00)
April 17 at Billings: Semifinal- (No. 2 Austin Gamblers def. No. 3 Kansas City Outlaws 87.10-84.50)
April 26 at Tacoma: Championship- (No. 1 Missouri Thunder def. No. 2 Austin Gamblers 254.75-171.35)

Upcoming events:
Sept. 18-20 – Greensboro First Horizon Coliseum Complex

 

 

 

 

Golf

The Rutherford County Sports Hall Of Fame (RCSHOF), presented by Hardin’s Drug, in conjunction with Golf Sponsors Forest City Honda and Chick-fil-A of Forest City, is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 2026 T. Max Champion Memorial Golf Tournament.

The tournament will be held on Friday, July 31 at the Apple Vally Golf Course in Lake Luke, with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Registration fee is $100.00 per player or $400.00 for a team of four and covers the green fee, cart usage and lunch.

First prize for Gross and Net Winners is $600.00 per team. Other prizes will be awarded based on the number of entries. Proceeds from the event go to support the RCSHOF Scholarship Fund and registration deadline is July 21.

For information or to register, please visit the RCSHOF website: https://www.rcshof.org/ or call Randy Page at 828-429-7773.