US House passes crypto industry-backed market structure bill
The move is a major win for the digital asset industry, which has pushed for federal legislation for years and spent heavily in last year's elections to promote pro-crypto candidates.
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8 hours ago
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'Pay them': As WNBA All-Star party wraps up, athlete pay comes into focus
INDIANAPOLIS :WNBA players wrested the spotlight of the All-Star weekend to get the fans on their side amid intensifying labor talks with the league, as the annual showcase of the sport's top talent celebrated an influx of new fans. Players took the court in Indianapolis wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us," after a meeting to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) on Thursday that union members said was a missed opportunity. Fans got the message, chanting "Pay them!" as Commissioner Cathy Engelbert appeared on the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse after the final buzzer. "To have the fans backing us - I think it means everything," said Napheesa Collier, the All-Star Game MVP. It set the tone for the coming months, with the current CBA set to expire on October 31, after a two-day celebration of a league on the rise. Advertisements featuring the WNBA's top players blanketed the city center and jersey-wearing fans poured into town, signaling a new era for the league with national viewership up 23 per cent year-over-year for the first half of the season. The only dent to the enthusiasm appeared to be the absence of Indiana Fever sharpshooter Caitlin Clark, who was expected to be the biggest attraction at the annual showcase in her home market but had to sit out the game injured. But behind the scenes, players voiced frustration over what they felt was poor progress in their labor negotiations with the league, after opting out of their current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) early. The Women's National Basketball Players Association issued a stern statement after the two sides met in Indianapolis on Thursday. A day later, players fumed over the meeting that union President Nneka Ogwumike called a "missed opportunity," and she said the league had taken five months to respond to the WNBPA's last proposal. "I feel as though, if there was a response to our proposal that reflected any type of change that incorporated what we had proposed, then perhaps five months would have made a little bit more sense," she told reporters. Engelbert struck a more positive tone, saying she felt the meeting with players had been productive. "(I'm) really optimistic that we'll get something done, that it'll be transformational," said Engelbert, who has overseen a remarkable period of growth for the league since taking the reins in 2019. Key issues targeted by players include an increase in revenue sharing, with male counterparts in the NBA now taking home about half of basketball-related revenue, a far greater share. Fixed costs almost certainly take a larger share of the WNBA's revenue, said Andrew Zimbalist, a professor emeritus of economics at Smith College, who said that 50 per cent was nonetheless still "a perfectly feasible target for the women." "The players have every reason to be aggressive here," said Zimbalist, who has consulted in the sports industry for players, teams and leagues. "I wouldn't expect them to reach a 50 per cent target immediately, but to reach it over two or three years seems entirely plausible." Any disruption to the 2026 season stands to dent the tremendous momentum the league now enjoys, with two new clubs set to debut next year in Portland and Toronto.
CNA
16 hours ago
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Clark calls for more pay as WNBA labor talks intensify
INDIANAPOLIS :Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark called for better pay in the WNBA on Saturday as labor negotiations between the league and players intensify, while Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was optimistic about their latest talks. Thousands of fans wearing "Clark" jerseys packed the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the sold-out All-Star Game on Saturday, while the wildly popular Rookie of the Year was forced to sit out after sustaining a groin injury earlier in the week. Clark was an omnipresent figure in Indianapolis in the lead-up, despite not being able to play, as her face graced ads for Nike, Wilson and Gatorade that were plastered across the city center. Asked how those brand deals stacked against her league salary, Clark responded: "That's a good question." "That's where we're really fortunate is that we have those other deals. I think that's one of the things that we're in the room fighting for," Clark told reporters. "We should be paid more. Hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think it's something that's probably the most important thing that we are in the room advocating about." The Women's National Basketball Players Association and the league met on Thursday in Indianapolis to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement after the players voted to opt out of their current deal at the end of the season. The union said after the meeting that the two sides were far apart on several issues and players were seen warming up for Saturday's game wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us." Commissioner Cathy Engelbert struck a different tone with reporters, saying she felt the meeting with players had been productive. "(I'm) really optimistic that we'll get something done, that it'll be transformational, and that next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. But obviously, there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides," she said. Engelbert, who also oversaw the league when the last deal was struck in January 2020, has been at the helm during a period of rapid growth for the WNBA, with TV ratings and attendance climbing rapidly. "We want the same things as the players," she told reporters. "We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path of profitability."
CNA
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Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigns after controversy over Coldplay concert video
The IT company CEO captured in a widely circulated video showing him embracing an employee at a Coldplay concert has resigned. Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer Inc, according to a statement posted on LinkedIn by the company on Saturday (Jul 19). 'Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,' the company said in its post on LinkedIn. The move comes a day after the company said that Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched a formal investigation into the jumbotron incident, which went viral. A company spokesman later confirmed in a statement to AP that it was Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot in the video. The short video clip shows Byron and Cabot as captured on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday. Lead singer Chris Martin had asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his Jumbotron Song when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' he joked. Internet sleuths identified the man as the chief executive officer of a US-based company and the woman as its chief people officer. Pete DeJoy, Astronomer's cofounder and chief product officer, has been tapped as interim CEO while the company searches for Byron's successor. CONCERT VENUES It's easy to miss but most concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event. It is common practice, especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films. The venue in this case, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, also has a privacy policy online which states: 'When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location, we may capture your image, voice and/or likeness, including through the use of CCTV cameras and/or when we film or photograph you in a public location.' 'They probably would have got away with it if they hadn't reacted,' said Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. Still, Taylor and others stressed how quickly such a video leads to an internet search to find the people involved and noted that it was important to remember that such 'doxing' isn't just reserved for famous people. Beyond someone simply spotting a familiar face and spreading the word, technological advances, such as the rising adoption of artificial intelligence, have made it easier and faster overall to find just about anyone in a viral video today. 'It's a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us – and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction to a gigantic surveillance system,' said Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism and Media. 'When you think about it, we are being surveilled by our social media. They're tracking us in exchange for entertaining us.'
