Sporting contests in level backstreet (6)

I believe the answer is:

events

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sporting contests' is the definition.
'events' can be an answer for 'contests' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'sporting' bit.

'level backstreet' is the wordplay.
'level' becomes 'even' (synonyms).
'backstreet' becomes 'ts' ('st' backwards).
'even'+'ts'='EVENTS'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for events that I've seen before include "Things that happen" , "Significant incidents" , "Occurences, happenings" , "matters" , "Occurrences, happenings" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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