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Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
NFL announcer Greg Olsen makes true feelings on Tom Brady clear after legend stole his Fox Sports job
NFL broadcaster Greg Olsen has revealed his true feelings for Tom Brady after the legend replaced him at Fox's top football color commentator - they're 'very good friends'. The longtime Patriot and Buccaneer replaced the former Panthers tight end to become part of the No 1 pair for the network in the broadcast booth. Olsen was demoted to the No 2 crew by a rookie commentator, with his feelings on the move staying low-key until now. 'I always make sure I'm very clear where my personal aspirations to continue to ascend in this industry and to get back calling those games are completely independent of Tom and I,' Olsen said on 'Pardon My Take'. 'We've hung out, personally. We talk on the phone, we keep in touch, he sent a cool video for my youth football team… we talk about raising teenage daughters, we've gone to play golf together, we hung out at the Bahamas at a little retreat. We've gotten to be very good friends on a very personal level since he's joined Fox.' Olsen still has a desire to be part of a top broadcast duo in the NFL and appears to see every call as an opportunity. Brady signed a 10-year, $375million contract with Fox as he transitioned from field to booth 'There's this idea that there's this personal animosity and competition. There's not,' Olsen continued. 'My relationship with Tom and Fox and Joe Davis and Burkhardt and all my people at Fox couldn't be better.' 'On the other parallel line to that, yes, I want to ascend in the industry, and I'm sure Joe Davis wants to call Super Bowls as well, that doesn't mean he doesn't like Burkhardt. Any motivated guy, you want to be the best at what you do. That is not a knock on the people that are ahead of you.' Brady signed a 10-year, $375million contract with Fox, as the football legend transitioned from the field to the broadcast booth. Last month, Brady was on the receiving end of as major snub from the Emmys, with him not being nominated in the 'Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst' category, while watching Olsen get the nod. Olsen was nominated in the category for the fourth straight year alongside Troy Aikman, longtime Brady rival Peyton Manning, Bill Raftery, and John Smoltz.
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
Pride events face budget shortfalls as US corporations pull support ahead of summer festivities
Many U.S. corporations this year stopped supporting Pride events that celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and rights, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in budget shortfalls ahead of the summer festivities and raising questions about corporate America's commitment to the cause. The moves come as President Donald Trump has shown antipathy for trans protections and has attempted to roll back some LGBTQ+ friendly federal policies. Experts also note that a growing slice of the public has grown tired of companies taking a stance on social and political issues. San Francisco Pride, the nonprofit that produces one of the country's largest and best-known LGBTQ+ celebrations, is facing a $200,000 budget gap after corporate donors dropped out. In Kansas City, Missouri, KC Pride lost about $200,000 — roughly half its annual budget. Heritage of Pride, the umbrella organization behind NYC Pride and other LGBTQ+ events in New York City, is fundraising to narrow a $750,000 budget gap after companies withdrew. Meanwhile, Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch ended its sponsorship of PrideFest in St. Louis, Missouri, its home base, after 30 years, leaving organizers with a $150,000 budget shortfall. In response, many Pride organizations have canceled some dance parties, reduced the number of stages, hired less pricey headliners and no longer give volunteers free food or T-shirts. But the core celebrations will go on. In San Francisco, this year's Pride theme is 'Queer Joy is Resistance.' In New York, it's 'Rise Up: Pride in Protest,' and, in Boston, it's 'Here to Stay!' 'If you come to Pride this year, that's a revolutionary act,' said Suzanne Ford, executive director of San Francisco Pride. 'You are sending a message to those in Washington that, here in San Francisco, we still have the same values that we've always had — you can love who you love here. We're not going to retreat from that.' Following media coverage of their retreat, some companies changed course but asked that their names not be affiliated with the events, the event organizers said. Corporations rethink Prid e sponsorships San Francisco Pride earlier this year lost the support of five major corporate donors, including Comcast, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo, the beverage giant that makes Guinness beer and Smirnoff vodka. 'With everything we're facing from the Trump administration, to lose five of your partners within a couple of weeks, it felt like we were being abandoned,' Ford said. After the withdrawals drew attention, some corporations said they would donate but only anonymously, Ford said, declining to identify those companies. As of this week, neither Comcast, Anheuser-Busch nor Diageo appeared on the organization's website as sponsors of the June 29 festivities. It was unclear if they donated. Anheuser-Busch and Diageo didn't reply to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment. A spokesperson for Comcast also declined to comment but said some of its companies are sponsoring Silicon Valley Pride and Oakland Pride. NYC Pride spokesperson Chris Piedmont said about 20% of its corporate sponsors either dropped their support or scaled back, including New York-based PepsiCo and Nissan. Kyle Bazemore, Nissan North America's director of corporate communications, said the decision comes as the automaker reviews all of its marketing expenses to lower costs. PepsiCo did not return an email seeking comment. Piedmont said NYC Pride has also received anonymous corporate funding and that he appreciates the unpublicized support. 'Writing a check to a nonprofit and supporting a nonprofit with no strings attached is stepping up to the plate,' Piedmont said. Companies retreat from 'brand activism' The shift reflects how corporations are adjusting to a changing cultural landscape that began during the pandemic and accelerated with Trump's second term, experts said. 'Companies are resourceful, they are clever at identifying trends and studying their environment and their customers' needs, but those needs change and corporations adjust,' said Amir Grinstein, a marketing professor at Northeastern University. Corporations' presence in rainbow-filled Pride parades, concerts and dance parties became more ubiquitous after the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, as companies splashed their names on parade floats, rainbow flags and bright plastic bracelets. So-called brand activism reached its peak between 2016 to 2022, a period of social upheaval around the pandemic, police brutality and transgender rights, Grinstein said. But research has since found a growing number of American consumers don't want companies taking positions on such topics, said Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. 'There have always been people who said, 'I don't want my toothpaste to have an opinion, I just want to use my toothpaste,' but the tide has shifted, and research shows there are more people that feel that way now," Kahn said. Pride organizers keep their distance from some corporations Meanwhile, Republican-led states have been passing legislation to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and LGBTQ+ rights, especially the ability of transgender young people to participate in sports or receive gender-affirming care. Trump signed executive orders on his first day in office that rolled back protections for transgender people and terminated federal DEI programs. Some companies followed suit by eliminating their DEI goals, prompting Pride organizations to sever ties. San Francisco's organizers cut ties with Meta after the parent company of Facebook and Instagram terminated its DEI goals and content moderation policies. Twin Cities Pride ended its relationship with Target over the Minneapolis-based retailer's curtailing of its DEI initiatives following a backlash from conservatives and the White House. The company's retreat from DEI policies led to a counter-boycott by civil rights advocates. Target announced in May that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter due to customer boycotts, tariffs and other economic factors. The company now offers only some Pride products at a few stores and online. Still, Rick Gomez, Target's chief commercial officer, told reporters in May that it's important to celebrate Heritage Months, which highlight different groups from Latinos to Asian Americans to the LGBTQ+ community. "They drive sales growth for us,' he said. Asking the community for financial support First-time donations from individuals, foundations and local businesses have increased following corporate America's retreat. In Minneapolis, a crowdfunding campaign by Twin Cities Pride to fill a $50,000 funding gap raised more than $89,000. In San Francisco, two local foundations donated $55,000 combined. 'This isn't the first year that there's been an inflammatory climate around Pride,' said James Moran, a spokesperson for KC Pride, in Kansas City, Missouri. 'We know that our community is looking for spaces that are meant for us, where we can celebrate but also process what's going on and build our own support networks.' ___ Associated Press retail reporter Anne D'Innocenzio in New York City contributed.
The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
States are rolling out red carpets for data centers. But some lawmakers are pushing back
The explosive growth of the data centers needed to power America 's fast-rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing platforms has spurred states to dangle incentives in hopes of landing an economic bonanza, but it's also eliciting pushback from lawmakers and communities. Activity in state legislatures — and competition for data centers — has been brisk in recent months, amid an intensifying buildout of the energy-hungry data centers and a search for new sites that was ignited by the late 2022 debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Many states are offering financial incentives worth tens of millions of dollars. In some cases, those incentives are winning approval, but only after a fight or efforts to require data centers to pay for their own electricity or meet energy efficiency standards. Some state lawmakers have contested the incentives in places where a heavy influx of massive data centers has caused friction with neighboring communities. In large part, the fights revolve around the things that tech companies and data center developers seem to most want: large tracts of land, tax breaks and huge volumes of electricity and water. And their needs are exploding in size: from dozens of megawatts to hundreds of megawatts and from dozens of acres up to hundreds of acres for large-scale data centers sometimes called a hyperscaler. While critics say data centers employ relatively few people and pack little long-term job-creation punch, their advocates say they require a huge number of construction jobs to build, spend enormous sums on goods and local vendors and generate strong tax revenues for local governments. In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are writing legislation to fast-track permitting for data centers. The state is viewed as an up-and-coming data center destination, but there is also a sense that Pennsylvania is missing out on billions of dollars in investment that's landing in other states. 'Pennsylvania has companies that are interested, we have a labor force that is capable and we have a lot of water and natural gas,' said state Rep. Eric Nelson. "That's the winning combination. We just have a bureaucratic process that won't open its doors.' It's been a big year for data centers Kansas approved a new sales tax exemption on goods to build and equip data centers, while Kentucky and Arkansas expanded pre-existing exemptions so that more projects will qualify. Michigan approved one that carries some protections, including requirements to use municipal utility water and clean energy, meet energy-efficiency measures and ensure that it pays for its own electricity. Such tax exemptions are now so widespread — about three dozen states have some version of it — that it is viewed as a must-have for a state to compete. 'It's often a nonstarter if you don't have them, for at least the hyperscalers,' said Andy Cvengros, who helps lead the data center practice at commercial real estate giant JLL. 'It's just such a massive impact on the overall spend of the data center.' Zoning, energy fights often frustrate developers In West Virginia, lawmakers approved a bill to create 'microgrid' districts free from local zoning and electric rate regulations where data centers can procure power from standalone power plants. Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, called the bill his 'landmark policy proposal' for 2025 to put West Virginia 'in a class of its own to attract new data centers and information technology companies.' Utah and Oklahoma passed laws to make it easier for data center developers to procure their own power supply without going through the grid while Mississippi rolled out tens of millions of dollars in incentives last year to land a pair of Amazon data centers. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster signed legislation earlier this month that eased regulations to speed up power plant construction to meet demand from data centers, including a massive Facebook facility. The final bill was fought by some lawmakers who say they worried about data centers using disproportionate amounts of water, taking up large tracts of land and forcing regular ratepayers to finance the cost of new power plants. 'I do not like that we're making customers pay for two power plants when they only need one,' Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey told colleagues during floor debate. Still, state Sen. Russell Ott suggested that data centers should be viewed like any other electricity customer because they reflect a society that is 'addicted' to electricity and are 'filling that need and that desire of what we all want. And we're all guilty of it. We're all responsible for it.' Some lawmakers are hesitant In data center hotspots, some lawmakers are pushing back. Lawmakers in Oregon are advancing legislation to order utility regulators to ensure data centers pay the cost of power plants and power lines necessary to serve them. Georgia lawmakers are debating a similar bill. In Virginia, the most heavily developed data center zone in the U.S., Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have forced more disclosures from data center developers about their site's noise pollution and water use. In Texas, which endured a deadly winter blackout in 2021, lawmakers are wrestling with how to protect the state's electric grid from fast-growing data center demand. Lawmakers still want to attract data centers, but a bill that would speed up direct hookups between data centers and power plants has provisions that are drawing protests from business groups. Those provisions would give utility regulators new authority to approve those agreements and order big electric users such as data centers to switch to backup generators in a power emergency. Walt Baum, the CEO of Powering Texans, which represents competitive power plant owners, warned lawmakers that those provisions might be making data center developers hesitant to do business in Texas. 'You've seen a lot of new announcements in other states and over the last several months and not as much here in Texas," Baum told House members during a May 7 committee hearing. "I think everybody right now is in a waiting pattern and I worry that we could be losing to other states while that waiting pattern is happening.' ___
