In today’s fragmented, AI-infused media world, sports’ value and relative importance keep growing. But fans actively speak their minds now, have myriad entertainment options and expect more from their sports experiences. Time to think bigger. Some ideas:

Quadrennials — The 2028 Summer Olympics will include cricket, flag football and women’s softball. Over 17 days, it’s so jam-packed with amazing events that basketball will start before the opening ceremony. Why not extend future Games to three weeks over four weekends? Also, stage quadrennial events, such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cups, biannually — for the Olympics, in even years (summer) and odd years (winter). Also, how about flipping the Paralympics to precede the main event, providing a testing ground for the operations and additional pre-Games awareness/promotion?

Tennis — This year, the U.S. Open added mixed doubles in its first week and started the rest of the tournament on Sunday instead of Monday. What about commencing on Saturdays? All tennis slams should take advantage of three full weekends of play.

College Basketball/Football — The drama of presenting ultimate men’s and women’s competitions together, whether at the Olympics or the tennis majors, has prompted us to call for combining the men’s and women’s NCAA Final Fours. Kudos on the overdue move of the 2028 Women’s Final Four to Lucas Oil Stadium! We also recommend opening the tournaments (a national holiday) on Saturday and Sunday, not Thursday and........

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