As pickleball continues to surge in popularity, Major League Pickleball — the buzzy pro circuit that counts LeBron James, Tom Brady and Kevin Durant among its team owners — is gearing up to make a splash.

Driving the news: MLP has finalized the format and schedule for 2023, which will see the league double its number of teams (12 to 24) and events (three to six), while ushering in promotion and relegation, Axios has learned.

• MLP will announce today that Brian Levine, a former Goldman Sachs partner and top senior pickleball player, has been hired to serve as interim CEO and lead the search for a permanent CEO and exec team.
• Just two years after being founded by billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Kuhn, MLP will offer up to $5 million in prize money and payouts to its players in 2023, Levine tells me.

The intrigue: MLP will implement a promotion and relegation system in 2024, with 12 teams in the Premier Level and 12 teams in the Challenger Level. The 2023 results will determine where each team starts in 2024.

How it works: The 2023 campaign will be divided into two "seasons," each with three events. Prior to each "season," teams will draft their rosters, which consist of two men and two women.

• In "Season One," 12 teams will compete in the Premier Level (the first 48 drafted players) and 12 will compete in the Challenger Level (the next 48 drafted players). Teams will then flip levels and re-draft.
• The 12 best teams from 2023 (across both "seasons" and levels) will start in the Premier Level in 2024 and the other 12 will start in the Challenger Level.

2023 schedule: MLP's six stops in 2023 will feature both Premier and Challenger matches. Life Time, a health club chain, will host each season's championship at their Orange County pickleball facility.

• Jan. 26–29: Legacy Sports USA (Mesa, Arizona)
• March 23–26: Pictona at Holy Hill (Daytona Beach, Florida)
• June 15–18: Life Time (San Clemente, California) … Concludes with the Season One Championship (top two teams) on Monday, June 19.

-- Teams flip levels and re-draft --

• Sept. 21–24: Life Time (Peachtree Corners, Georgia)
• Nov. 2–5: La Quinta Resort & Club (La Quinta, California)
• Dec. 7–10: Life Time (San Clemente, California) ... Concludes with the Season Two Championship (top two teams) on Monday, December 11.

State of play: Pickleball became a massive hit during the pandemic, growing from 3.4 million U.S. players in 2019 to 4.8 million in 2021.

• What began as a safe, outdoor activity has evolved into a booming industry, with an average of three new pickleball facilities opening each day.
• That growth has led to peripheral business opportunities in areas like apparel, equipment, real estate and media.

The big picture: Some question whether pickleball can succeed as a spectator sport. MLP, which merged with the Professional Pickleball Association's VIBE League last month in a move that unified team-based pickleball under one brand, is out to prove that it can.

• "It's incredibly exciting to watch and there's constant action because of the smaller court," says Levine. "When you watch 60 minutes of pickleball, the ball is being played for 29 minutes. In tennis, it's 11."
• "There are an estimated 5 million pickleball players in the U.S., and the expectation is 40 million by 2030," adds Levine, who's confident that every new player is a potential new fan of the pro game.

What to watch: MLP will unveil team names and the remaining ownership groups set to join James, Brady, Durant, Anheuser-Busch and others ahead of Thursday's draft in Las Vegas (9pm ET, Tennis Channel).

The World Cup semifinals are set following an incredible weekend of soccer, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

• Croatia 1, Brazil 1 (CRO wins 4-2 on penalties): Neymar put Brazil up in extra time in what briefly appeared to be a career-defining moment, but Croatia scored a late equalizer before winning their second straight shootout.
• Argentina 2, Netherlands 2 (ARG wins 4-3 on penalties): Lionel Messi's dream of winning a World Cup survived this wild affair that saw a record 17 players and coaches receive yellow cards, due mostly to the late-game scrum.
• Morocco 1, Portugal 0: Youssef En-Nesyri's 42nd-minute header was all Morocco needed in what may have been Cristiano Ronaldo's final international match. They're the first African nation — and third country outside Europe and South America — to reach the semis.
• France 2, England 1: Harry Kane's first penalty tied the game but his second sailed over the crossbar, as France became the first defending champion to reach the semifinals since Brazil in 1998.

Looking ahead: The semifinals are tomorrow (Argentina-Croatia) and Wednesday (Morocco-France).

🇺🇸 Developing story ... We're finally getting answers about why Gio Reyna barely played for the USMNT in Qatar: He showed "an alarming lack of effort in training" and was nearly sent home.

Grant Wahl, one of the most well-known soccer writers in the U.S., died Saturday in Qatar while covering the World Cup match between Argentina and Netherlands.

Join us: Grant was scheduled to speak at our "Future of Sports" event with the Aspen Institute this Thursday. We've adjusted the event and will now be honoring Grant's legacy instead. Register here.

The Eagles walloped the Giants, 48-22, becoming the first team to clinch a playoff spot as Jalen Hurts bolstered his MVP résumé, Jeff writes.

More from Sunday:

• Mr. Relevant: Rookie Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 draft (aka "Mr. Irrelevant"), became the first QB to beat Tom Brady in his first career start, leading the 49ers to a 35-7 rout.
• Detroit is surging: The Lions beat the Vikings, 34-23, winning for the fifth time in six games to keep their playoff hopes alive at 6-7.
• 14 straight: The Chiefs notched their 14th straight win over the Broncos, tied for the longest active winning streak by one team over another (Patriots over Jets).
• 13,056 yards: Justin Herbert showed out on "Sunday Night Football" (39/51, 367 yds, TD) and passed Andrew Luck for most passing yards through a QB's first three NFL seasons.
• Burrow beats Browns: The Bengals' 23-10 win over the Browns snapped Ohio native Joe Burrow's 0-4 career record against Cleveland.

Scoreboard: Bills 20, Jets 12; Bengals 23, Browns 10; Cowboys 27, Texans 23; Lions 34, Vikings 23; Jaguars 36, Titans 22; Eagles 48, Giants 22; Ravens 16, Steelers 14; Chiefs 34, Broncos 28; 49ers 35, Buccaneers 7; Panthers 30, Seahawks 24; Chargers 23, Dolphins 17

Go deeper: Winners and losers (The Ringer)

🥊 Historic debut: Raul Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter in UFC history when he debuted at UFC 282 on Saturday night, defeating Jay Perrin via submission in the first round.

🏀 Giant killer: Alabama beat No. 1 Houston on Saturday, becoming the first team since 1965-66 Duke with multiple wins over AP No. 1 teams prior to the new year. They also beat former No. 1 UNC last month.

🏀 Another 50: Joel Embiid exploded for 53 points on Sunday in a win over the Hornets, his second 50-point game of the season.

🏐 Four teams left: Two No. 1 seeds (Louisville, Texas) and two No. 2 seeds (San Diego, Pittsburgh) advanced to the NCAA women's volleyball semifinals, which begin Thursday. ... ICYMI: Volleyball is booming.

🥊 Still perfect: Fighting for the first time in over a year, unbeaten world champion Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KO) knocked out David Avanesyan on Saturday to retain his WBO welterweight belt.

💔 RIP, Paul: Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams as a player and LeBron James' first coach in the league, died Sunday at age 79.

When Steve Cohen bought the Mets in 2020 and became by far MLB's richest owner, everyone knew he would splurge on talent. But few could have predicted quite this level of spending, Jeff writes.

By the numbers: Cohen has doled out 23 years worth of contracts to six players this offseason for a total of $461.7 million, including nearly $360 million last week alone.

• Last year was more of the same, with Francisco Lindor, Max Scherzer and Starling Marte getting $549 combined across 17 years.
• All told, the Mets have 12 players who are set to make a base salary of $10+ million next season; no other team has more than eight.

Why it matters: The Mets' 2023 payroll has already swollen to a record $345 million, plus an additional $76.2 million in luxury tax. Those tax payments alone exceed what about a dozen teams are expected to spend on their entire rosters next season.

The backdrop: Cohen's gargantuan tax bill is partly the product of his own wealth: the new CBA signed last spring featured a new competitive balance tax threshold so high it was nicknamed the "Cohen Tax."

• How it works: Teams are taxed for having payrolls that exceed four specific thresholds, with penalties increasing at each threshold.
• The highest threshold was aimed at Cohen, who's worth almost three times ($17.5 billion) as much as the next-richest owner ($6.2 billion). But so far, he's been undeterred by the tax penalties.

The big picture: MLB teams handed out a record $1.6 billion to 20 free agents at last week's Winter Meetings.

Go deeper: Inside MLB's $1.6 billion spending spree (ESPN+)

Two FCS schools played college football's game of the year late Friday night/early Saturday morning.

Quick recap: No. 7 seed Incarnate Word rallied to beat No. 2 seed Sacramento State, 66-63, in the FCS quarterfinals — the highest-scoring game in FCS playoff history.

• The teams combined for 1,317 yards of offense, with Sacramento State piling up 738 and Incarnate Word gaining 579. Sac State had 49 first downs — and lost.
• The fourth quarter was absurd, featuring 57 points (28 for Incarnate Word, 27 for Sacramento State) and two successful onside kicks.

Star of the night: Incarnate Word QB Lindsey Scott — who appeared in our "Weekend Top Plays" last week — threw four TDs and rushed for 166 yards and two more scores.

• The seventh-year senior broke the FCS record for TD passes in a season (59) and is just three shy of catching NCAA all-time leader Bailey Zappe, who threw 62 for Western Kentucky in 2021.
• The game-winner: 21-yard strike with 27 seconds left.

What's next: Incarnate Word will join North Dakota State (def. Samford), Montana State (def. William & Mary) and South Dakota State (def. Holy Cross) in this weekend's FCS semifinals.

• Friday: No. 7 Incarnate Word at No. 3 North Dakota State
• Saturday: No. 4 Montana State at No. 1 South Dakota State

Context: Both head coaches will be in the FBS next season, with Sac State's Troy Taylor taking over at Stanford and Incarnate Word's G.J. Klinne headed to Texas State once his team's playoff run ends.

PHILADELPHIA — Army beat Navy, 20-17 (2OT), in their 123rd meeting on Saturday — the first to ever to go overtime. With an over/under of 32, it was also the first Army-Navy game to hit the over since 2005.

• Go deeper: Navy's Ken Niumatalolo out as head coach (WashPost)

NEW YORK — USC QB Caleb Williams (2,031 points) won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, beating out TCU QB Max Duggan (1,420), Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud (539) and Georgia QB Stetson Bennett (349).

• Go deeper: Early 2023 Heisman watchlist (247 Sports)

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors beat the Celtics, 123-107, on Saturday in a Finals rematch. They remain a perfect 14-0 in regular-season games when Klay Thompson (34 points) and Steph Curry (32) each score 30.

• Go deeper: The move that might have saved Golden State's season (ESPN)

BELLEAIR, Fla. — Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas beat Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the seventh edition of "The Match," played under the lights at Pelican Golf Club.

• Go deeper: Most memorable moments (Golf)

No World Cup today, no problem: You can still get your soccer fix when Indiana takes on Syracuse in the College Cup Final (6pm ET, ESPNU).

• Indiana: This is the 17th College Cup Final appearance for the Hoosiers, who have eight national titles (second-most).
• Syracuse: This is the first College Cup Final appearance for the Orange, who haven't lost since Oct. 4.

More to watch:

• 🏈 NFL: Patriots at Cardinals (8:15pm, ESPN)
• 🏀 NBA: Hawks at Grizzlies (8pm, NBA); Celtics at Clippers (10:30pm, NBA)
• 🏒 NHL: Devils at Rangers (7pm, NHL)
• 🏀 NCAAM: Arizona State at No. 21 Creighton (9pm, FS1)
• 🏀 High School Basketball: Christ the King at Sierra Canyon (11:30pm, ESPN2) ... Bronny James vs. Carmelo Anthony's son, Kiyan, on the 20th anniversary of LeBron's ESPN debut.

Lincoln Riley, Nick Saban and Pete Carroll have coached 10 of the past 21 Heisman Trophy winners.

• Question: Can you name all 10?
• Hint: Four for Saban. Three each for Riley and Carroll.

Answer at the bottom.

1. 🏀 Buzzer-beater!!!
2. 🏈 How'd he catch this?
3. 🏈 Mahomes!!!
4. ⚽️ Perfect execution
5. 🏀 Zion windmill
6. 🏒 Wow, that's filthy
7. 🏀 Andre does it all
8. 🏀 Insane final seconds
9. 🏈 The Willie Gay play
10. 🏀 Luka posterizes Jrue

Watch all 10.