On Friday, just hours before President Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s latest joint briefing in the White House, the MGM Resorts group in Las Vegas received a courtesy correspondence. It came from FIFA. It was a short and generic email. It said, essentially: Thank you, but no thank you. The expectation of many…
A season’s worth of NFL games will be shown on UK free-to-air television for the first time with Channel 5 picking up the rights to one of the league’s early Sunday kick-offs, sources with knowledge of the new multi-year deal have told The Athletic. The American-owned broadcaster has a history of showing live NFL games…
After months of lead-up — and years of planning, strategic acquisitions and seismic changes to a consumer foundation it is built on — ESPN will launch its new direct-to-consumer streaming service Thursday, along with a reconfigured app to get customers to live sports and programming they have paid for. The network going direct-to-consumer reflects a…
Should FIFA, football’s global governing body, allow domestic matches to be played overseas? What appears a simple question is actually fairly complex. Many football fans, particularly the so-called “legacy fans” who regularly attend matches, are naturally appalled by the idea of Villarreal and Barcelona playing their La Liga match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami,…
Villarreal president Fernando Roig has claimed supporters will be able to fly to Miami for free or have a 20 per cent discount on their season-ticket if the proposed La Liga game against Barcelona in the United States gets the go ahead. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved La Liga’s request for Villarreal’s…
Jim Frevola, Bournemouth’s president of business and a director on the Premier League club’s board, places his hands theatrically over his ears. Frevola, a New Yorker who has previously worked in MLB, the NFL, the NHL and the UFC, joins The Athletic on a video call to discuss Bournemouth’s attempts to grow their brand in the…
If you thought there has been an increase in Premier League-to-Premier League transfers, you could be forgiven. This summer, there have been numerous Premier League players who have moved clubs within England’s top flight, but the sense that intra-Premier League transfers are increasing is only a fallacy. At the time of writing, these moves have…
When Barcelona face FC Seoul in their second friendly of pre-season in the South Korean capital on Thursday, fans will notice the La Liga champions wearing a unique new kit. Barca’s away strip for the coming season is a collaboration with Kobe Bryant’s brand, which is part of the Nike empire. The late NBA icon’s…
An agreement is being finalized for Michigan and Western Michigan to open the 2026 college football season in Frankfurt, Germany. The Week 0 matchup would be the first FBS college football game played on German soil. Both schools issued statements Friday confirming the planned game at Deutsche Bank Park, a 55,000-seat venue that is home…
Wimbledon secured a major victory in its bid to triple the size of its grounds after the High Court ruled on Monday that the General London Assembly (GLA) was lawful in granting planning permission for 39 new courts last September. Mr Justice Saini made this ruling in a judicial review, overriding the concerns of local…