Super Bowl

Drake and Jas Prince held auditions for their new Super Bowl week pop-up "club" -- The Ballet -- and while Drake's insisted it's "not about no strip club s***" ... it sure as hell looks like it is.

We got a bunch of girls who flocked to Houston Tuesday night for a round of auditions, and just at first glance, we have a feeling about what kind of chicks Drizzy's in the market for.

The girls showed off their moves, and their impressive bods, to our camera guy -- who got treated to some ice cream at the end of it all by Jas ... the talent judge.

BTW ... turns out the term "Canadian Ballet" means strip club up north. So ... nice try Drake, but this is definitely on some strip club sh**. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The guys from Migos have a message for Lady Gaga -- PUT US IN THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW!!!

They've got the #1 song in the country and a Change.org petition with 60,000 signatures trying to get them in the show ... so, we asked Quavo, Takeoff and Offset straight-up if there are secret plans in the works.

They didn't exactly say "no" during an appearance on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs on FS1).

They DID flash two MASSIVE stacks of cash -- $100,000 each -- and say they plan on making it thunderstorm all over Houston when they show up for the Super Bowl festivities this week.

The guy who took the Atlanta Falcons game plan is adamant ... HE'S NOT A PATRIOTS SPY!!!

By now you've heard the story ... Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan lost his backpack with the game plans in it during Super Bowl Media Night on Monday.

Turns out, the bag was taken by longtime sportswriter Art Spander (he's covered 40 Super Bowls) who returned the bag a short time later.

Spander says the whole thing was just an innocent mistake ... but some hardcore conspiracy theorists aren't buying it ... suggesting the whole thing was a Patriots plot.

We spoke with Spander who says he ain't no double agent.

ATL Falcons stud receiver Mohamed Sanu has one hell of an expert helping to guide his career ... NFL Hall of Famer Andre Reed.

The Buffalo Bills legend just touched down in Houston where he'll cheer on his 27-year-old protege -- so we had to ask how he felt about Sanu, who is Muslim, refusing to answer questions about Trump at Super Bowl Media Day.

It got all "Field of Dreams" at Super Bowl Media Day on Monday ... when Tom Brady fought back tears talking about how much he loves his father.

Brady was taking questions from reporters when he was asked to name his personal hero. What ensued was emotional.

"Well, I think my dad is my hero," Brady said with his voice starting to crack ... "Because he's the one I look up to every day ... and uh ... my dad."

It's interesting considering the anti-Roger Goodell comments Tom's father made over the weekend. Tom says he put a media ban on his dad ... but clearly, he ain't mad about it.

Now, go watch Ray Kinsella have a catch with his father and try not to lose it.

Bad guys, beware ... 51 teams of elite police dogs have been deployed to Houston from PDs all over the country to help their human counterparts keep fans safe, officials say.

In fact, the L.A. Sheriff's Dept. just announced it sent 8 trained K9 teams over to the Super Bowl to assist in explosive detection with the TSA and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The LASD officer dogs were even sworn in as Deputy U.S. Marshals so they could work with the Marshal teams.

LASD Lieutenant Richard Hoffman issued a statement saying, "Our K9 teams are constantly training and are used to crowds as large as those attending the Super Bowl."

Attention, Patriots fans ... Tom Brady has given specific marching orders to ALL OF YOU to get ready for the big day.

The QB took the stage at a massive pep rally at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Monday and told fans how they should prepare for Sunday.

Thousands of people showed up to the event ... including the Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums group, which provided the tunes.

Meanwhile, over in Atlanta ... thousands of Falcons fans packed Atlantic Station to see the team buses off.

It was a crazy scene -- and it's clear both cities are FIRED UP!!!!

NFL stars, rappers, actors and rich people in general have all reached out to one of Houston's TOP jewelers to reserve MILLIONS of dollars in bling for Super Bowl weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Super Bowl week isn't just big for the NFL, it's HUGE for strippers -- with the top dancers in the world flying to Houston for 6 FIGURE PAYOUTS ... so says one of the greatest ever, Maliah Michel.

Michel is one of the ELITE -- a top tier dancer who also famously dated Drake (he even name dropped her in a song!).

She says the money during big events like the Super Bowl is real -- she made $120k during NBA All-Star weekend in Houston in 2013 and says this week WILL be just as big.

And who's throwing the biggest stacks? It ain't rappers or NBA players.

Maliah says the biggest ballers are the athletes from a particular sport who may have something to prove.

Can't afford Houston this week? Check out the Maliah gallery below ... you can see why she's worth the money.

Tom Brady's Patriots are the favorite to win the Super Bowl over Matt Ryan's Falcons ... but who would win a wrestling match in the 6-sided ring?

Ex-NFLer and current TNA wrestler Quinn "Moose" Ojinnaka, who played with both Super Bowl LI QB's during his career, thinks it would be a close fight ... but says Matt Ryan would come out on top.

Moose also predicts who would win in a REAL fight and talks about Brady's tough side.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has been putting his 74-year-old dance moves on display lately ... but can he shake it better than his 75-year-old Super Bowl opponent Robert Kraft??

We took the liberty of cutting the best dance moves from the two BILLIONAIRES and put 'em head-to-head ... in what could be the richest, oldest dance battle EVER!!

Kelly Rowland is nothing but excited for Lady Gaga's upcoming Super Bowl halftime show ... but knows it will be the runner-up compared to the Destiny's Child show.

We got Kelly leaving Serafina in L.A. Saturday night, and we ask her if she's stoked about Lady Gaga doing the Pepsi halftime show at Super Bowl LI.

She definitely is ... but the DC alum clearly thinks Gaga's won't touch the one she did with Beyoncé. A wink and smile says a lot here.

While the New England Patriots battle it out on the field for a spot in Super Bowl LI, their sexy significant others are battling it out off the field in the ultimate showdown ... the title of hottest WAG.

Rush through the gallery and vote for the gal you wouldn’t mind scoring with.

NFL commish Roger Goodell tells TMZ Sports ... the NFL is officially looking into the Antonio Brown locker room video incident.

Goodell was leaving a media event for the Los Angeles Chargers when he decided to mingle with the fans ... signing autographs, posing for selfies and even talking a little football.

At one point, Roger asked the crowd who they liked in the Super Bowl ... one fan said, "Not the Patriots!" Someone added, "Cheaters!"

Two cities are gonna be real upset ... 'cause TV super boss Les Moonves -- the guy who runs CBS -- is telling TMZ Sports which two teams are the best Super Bowl matchup for TV ratings.

We got Moonves in L.A. with wife Julie Chen when we asked him which two teams mean the biggest bucks for the network broadcasting the game this year (it's FOX).

It's tough ... GB has a red-hot Aaron Rodgers, ATL has the best offense in the league, New England has this pretty boy QB people like ... and the Steelers give you unprecedented locker room access.

The NFL tells TMZ Sports ... Lady Gaga has NOT been instructed to keep her mouth shut about politics and Donald Trump during the Super Bowl halftime show ... despite reports to the contrary.

A report surfaced earlier Tuesday that Gaga -- who's famously outspoken about social issues and politics (and is anti-Trump) -- was specifically told to keep politics out of her performance.

But an NFL spokesperson is calling B.S. -- telling us, "This is unsourced nonsense from people trying to stir up controversy where there is none."

"The Super Bowl is a time when people really come together. Lady Gaga is focused on putting together an amazing show for fans and we love working with her on it; we aren’t going to be distracted by this."