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☆ The Premier League’s Fiercest Battle Is at the Bottom of the Standings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Joshua Robinson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In a single dizzying winter of soccer, U.S. men’s national team star Weston McKennie went from Italy to Qatar to figuring out life in a part of England known as West Yorkshire. McKennie had joined Leeds United on loan until the end of the season. And despite linking up with two other American players at the club, Brenden Aaronson and U.S. captain Tyler Adams, very little about the Premier League felt familiar.

☆ U.K. Economy Swings Back to Growth, Boosted by Premier League’s Return
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Premier League returned to a full schedule of games after a halt for the World Cup. The U.K. economy returned to growth in January, boosted by a busy schedule of English Premier League soccer games after a pause for the World Cup. The U.K.’s statistics agency said that economic output was 0.3% higher in January than in December, having fallen by 0.5% then. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal last week had expected a rise of 0.1%.

☆ Ivy League’s Agreement to Ban Athletic Scholarships Is Illegal, Lawsuit Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Melissa Korn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The lawsuit was filed by current and former basketball players from Brown University. The eight schools that make up the Ivy League engage in illegal price-fixing by not awarding athletic scholarships, alleges a lawsuit filed Tuesday by current and former Brown University basketball players. While all Division I athletic programs award financial aid to selected athletes, Brown, Harvard, Yale and the other Ivies have for years agreed to provide only need-based financial aid to students, including athletes. According to the suit, that agreement violates federal antitrust law, and harms recruited athletes who otherwise could have gotten scholarships covering tuition and fees, or been eligible for reimbursement on thousands of dollars of other school-related expenses under National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations.

☆ Lawsuit Alleges NFL Films Catalogs Lewd Shots of Women at Games in Database
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

As the National Football League’s official production arm, NFL Films has long generated popular content that chronicles the history of America’s most popular sport from an up-close, behind-the-scenes perspective. A new lawsuit alleges that it also created something much different in its vast archive: a catalog of lewd shots of women—fans and cheerleaders—at games. The existence of an index of such content in NFL Films’ archives was alleged in an employment discrimination lawsuit filed in New Jersey court earlier this year by a former temporary worker, Victoria Russell. Her complaint against NFL Films and the league says that NFL Films had a database of timestamps on its footage with descriptions including “cheerleaders buttocks,” “cheerleaders rear end,” “female fan in bikini top,” “naughty camera work,” “close up of cheerleader’s breasts; cleavage shot,” “shot of endowed woman” and “random woman, cleavage shot.”

☆ Fed's Mester says hot inflation data affirms case for more rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The government inflation report “is another indication that the impulse of inflation and price pressures is still with us. Mester spoke in the wake of the release of government data on incomes, spending and price pressures. “We just need to see all those prices coming back down and we haven't seen that sustainably yet,” Mester said. Since Mester called for a 50 basis point hike, jobs data has been very robust and inflation has been stronger than expected, suggesting her case for larger action remains in place. Mester reiterated in the interview that she still believes the federal funds rate, now at between 4.5% and 4.75%, needs to get above 5% and stay there to bring inflation down.

☆ The Most Patient All-Star in NBA History
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Robert O'Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A first selection to the All-Star Game is a momentous occasion for an NBA player. It signals admission to the league’s elite tier, confers peer-group respect and record-book status, gets teammates jumping around in celebration and has coaches making heartfelt speeches. A second selection, on the other hand, means a round of high-fives and a “Congrats.”Except in the case of Jrue Holiday.

☆ LeBron James Fans Spent Big to See Him Make History on Thursday. They Picked the Wrong Game.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

John Larson lives in Utah, but he really wanted to be in Los Angeles to watch LeBron James make history. Mr. Larson, 54 years old, and his 24-year-old son, Adam, had studied Mr. James’s stats and took a gamble that this week the NBA star would break the league’s all-time scoring record.

☆ The Many Ways LeBron James Can Score
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

career scoring record of 38,387 points. teams shoot nearly twice as many 3-pointers as they did when James began his career in 2003. James, in a testament to adaptability, dethroned Abdul-Jabbar by scoring in all kinds of ways and learning new skills as the game changed around him. Photographs by Bedel Saget/The New York Times “His longevity is just remarkable. This playing style earned Olajuwon the 12th spot on the N.B.A.’s career scoring list.

☆ Debt is poor fix for Italian soccer’s malaise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Top soccer league Serie A needs cash to revamp its ailing media rights business. The division, which counts Lautaro Martínez and Paulo Dybala among its few world-class champions, made revenue of 2.5 billion euros in the 2020-2021 football season, nearly half the star-studded Premier League’s 5.5 billion euros, Deloitte data shows. Its broadcasting revenue has dropped more than 20% to about 1.1 billion euros since 2018, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters Breakingviews. Club owners would be better off entrusting independent executives to look after media rights. The Deutsche Fussball Liga, which runs Germany’s football league, is due to discuss the media rights sale at a meeting on Feb. 9.

☆ Manchester City Accused of Financial Breaches by English Premier League
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Gareth Vipers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON—The English Premier League accused Manchester City Football Club, the league’s current champion and one of its most-storied teams, of breaching the league’s financial regulations over almost a decade, in a sweeping critique of the club’s financial management. Representatives for Manchester City, the league’s current champions, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Premier League has a number of financial rules in place, including requirements for clubs to submit annual accounts and disclose payments made to agents. Clubs found to have breached the league’s governing rules can face expulsion from the competition, fines and points deductions. The league said Monday that it would appoint an independent commission to consider the charges against Manchester City.

☆ Tom Brady Retires: The Revised Edition
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Ben Shpigel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is retiring from football. His seven Super Bowl titles are more than any single organization has won. He was twice foiled in the Super Bowl by the New York Giants. Brady racked up yardage but Tampa Bay fired its offensive coordinator, Byron Leftwich. Look again, though, at the piercing final play from that game: A 30-yard Rams field goal, the ball snapped from the Tampa Bay 12-yard line.

☆ Cubans signed with MLB teams will for first time play on national team at World Classic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA — Cubans signed with Major League Baseball organizations and other foreign clubs will for the first time join domestic stars on the national team that will play in the World Baseball Classic, officials announced Wednesday evening. The Cuban Baseball Federation long defended the idea of amateurism and punished those who left the island to seek their fortunes in professional baseball. But that changed when a program on state television announced the roster of 30 players for Cuba’s national team that will play in the international tournament that begins March 8 in Taiwan. To arrange participation of the MLB players, Cuba had to get special permission from the United States because Washington maintains sanctions on Cuba. Under the agreement, those players are barred from coming to Cuba to work with the team.

☆ Gucci and Louis Vuitton Need New Designers. Inside the Open Tryouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jacob Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS—Men’s fashion week, which concluded Sunday, simmered with the speculative atmosphere of an NBA locker room just before the league’s trade deadline. In front rows and corner brasseries, buyers and critics eagerly discussed who will fill two of the industry’s most significant open design positions: that of Louis Vuitton ‘s men’s creative director, previously held by Virgil Abloh, who died at 41 in November 2021, and Gucci’s creative directorship, from which eccentric Italian designer Alessandro Michele stepped down in November 2022. Beyond those vacancies, it’s an open question which current designers will renew their contracts at the major luxury houses. It’s looking to be, to borrow a sports term, a silly season ahead.

NFL Hall of Famer and NBC Sports analyst Tony Dungy is facing renewed criticism for his history of anti-LGBTQ statements after he tweeted an anti-transgender conspiracy theory last week. That’s the criteria for avoiding hell.”In another tweet from 2020, Dungy wrote that being “LGBTQ is a lifestyle,” a sentiment that suggests being queer is a choice. . . things will happen.’’Cyd Zeigler, an LGBTQ advocate and a co-founder of the LGBTQ sports site Outsports.com, has been raising the alarm bells on Dungy’s anti-LGBTQ sentiments for years. “I’ve never called for Tony Dungy to be fired or lose his job or his ability to provide for his family,” Zeigler said. Zeigler said he isn’t convinced that Dungy’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric would stop anytime soon.

☆ Two of Fashion’s Biggest Jobs Are Unfilled. Inside the Open Tryouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jacob Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren to Depart for the NFL’s Chicago Bears
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren , one of the chief drivers of the consolidation that is rapidly transforming college football’s most powerful conferences, will return to the NFL as the president and chief executive of the Chicago Bears. Warren made a big impact in only about three years after taking over at the Big Ten from longtime commissioner Jim Delaney in 2020. He saw the conference through a period of rapid change, spearheaded a dramatic move west with the addition of UCLA and Southern California and shored up his league’s financial future by striking the largest television deal for an athletic conference in college sports.

☆ Draymond Green Sets Us Straight on the Real N.B.A.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk Draymond Green Sets Us Straight on the Real N.B.A. Celtics have a die-hard fan base that’s going to root hard for the Celtics. But when I’ve listened to it, it’s not as if you’re saying things that are all that far away from what pundits or analysts are saying. I don’t think it affected who I was, who I am, because my mom never allowed it to. So when I say what he said is irrelevant, I’m saying that from the standpoint of, Let me not deflect.

☆ Why the NFL will barely lose any money from canceling the Bills-Bengals game
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The average ticket price for a non-premium seat to a Bengals game is about $88, the cheapest in the NFL, according to Team Marketing Reports, which tracks ticket prices. TMR estimates that the cost of all the tickets, both regular and premium seats, for the game came to about $6.7 million. If it opted to replay or continue the postponed game, the NFL almost certainly would have needed to push back the playoffs that are set to start next weekend. That game likely would have received enormous fan interest and ratings approximating those of a playoff game or Super Bowl. That means that ticketholders will lose the profit they might have received from selling the tickets, but those who bought the tickets won’t be hit with the difference between what they paid, and what they could get in a refund.

Millions of football fans held their breath for close to 20 long minutes Monday night when Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin had a cardiac arrest after making a routine tackle. In the largest study conducted on the subject, 99% of former NFL players showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a devastating neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma. Another key study showed that 40% of retired NFL players have traumatic brain injury, with no correlation between the number of concussions and the severity of the injury. Seau’s death brought the issue of traumatic brain injury to a boiling point, and yet the league’s steps to address the issue appear to be little more than Band-Aids. He raised his hands in an unnatural movement that can be a sign of traumatic brain injury.

☆ Cambodia Casino Fire Death Toll Rises to 25 as Search for Bodies Continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Sun Narin | Jon Emont | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

POIPET, Cambodia—As the flames closed in, Ing Bunleng rushed to the closest window carrying a colleague’s 6-year-old daughter in his arms. A fire was tearing through the casino hotel where he was employed as a bar manager. They needed to find a way down from the workers’ dormitory on the third floor. Looking out from the window, Mr. Ing saw a ladder rescuers had put up. The child’s mother, who was working on a higher floor, is still missing.

☆ Soccer giants’ new owners may get tiny returns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Streisand Neto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Financial Times reported that PSG’s Qatari owners wanted to offload 15% of the French champions. Recent deals valued the National Football League’s Denver Broncos and basketball’s Utah Jazz at over 9 times revenue, according to Forbes. Possible Man United, Liverpool and PSG owners might hope that the teams will eventually reach such valuation heights. Fenway Sports Group would consider new shareholders for Liverpool, having frequently received expressions of interest from third parties, the English Premier League club’s owners said on Nov. 7. The Financial Times reported on Nov. 28 that Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari owners were considering selling 15% of the club.

☆ Denver Broncos fire rookie head coach before the season ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos fired first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday with two games left in the season. Firing Hackett with two games left in a lost season allows Penner to begin his search for a replacement immediately. The Broncos scheduled a news conference for Tuesday, when they’re expected to name their interim head coach for games at Kansas City next weekend and at home against the Chargers in Week 18. Hackett is the third NFL head coach fired during the 2022 season. The Carolina Panthers replaced Matt Rhule with interim head coach Steve Wilks and the Indianapolis Colts fired Frank Reich and replaced him with coaching novice Jeff Saturday.

☆ Trevor Bauer reinstated by MLB’s independent arbitrator
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Trevor Bauer was reinstated Thursday by Major League Baseball’s independent arbitrator, allowing the pitcher to resume his career at the start of the 2023 season. Bauer named the woman and one of her attorneys, Niranjan Fred Thiagarajah, as defendants in the lawsuit. After winning his first Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020, Bauer agreed to join his hometown Dodgers. Bauer was placed on administrative leave on July 2, 2021, under the domestic violence policy, a leave extended 13 times. None of the players previously disciplined under the policy appear to have challenged the penalty before an arbitrator.

YouTube TV will pay roughly $2 billion a year for the rights of the Sunday Ticket package, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon secured the rights to “Thursday Night Football,” making it the first streaming-only platform to air NFL games, paying about $1 billion per year. YouTube TV is an internet bundle of broadcast and cable networks that mirrors a traditional linear pay-TV operator. The company has been expanding its sports footprint for its Apple TV+ streaming service. DirecTV is interested in delivering Sunday Ticket games in a similar capacity, people familiar with the matter have said.

☆ Trevor Bauer’s Record Suspension Reduced by Arbitrator, Making Him Eligible to Return to Baseball
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Lindsey Adler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Major League Baseball arbitrator validated a 194-game suspension for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer under the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, paring back a 324-game penalty the league had issued and making Bauer eligible to return to baseball immediately. Major League Baseball had handed down the two-year suspension for Bauer in late April, following an investigation that began after a California woman accused Bauer of sexually assaulting her, and which later expanded to include other accusations. Bauer has not pitched in a game since June 28, 2021, shortly before that claim against him emerged, but was on paid leave during the league investigation.

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