Big screen promotion? Paris FC invites fans to a giant cinema for its decisive match
PARIS (AP) — Paris FC did not want any fans missing out on watching a match to secure promotion to the French league's top flight.
So the club invited them to view Friday night's game at a famed Paris concert hall.
Paris FC is in second place in Ligue 2 and playing at Martigues, where a win guarantees promotion for Paris FC and sets up a mouth-watering derby against
Ligue 1 champion Paris Saint-Germain
next season.
But Martigues is about 800 kilometers (500 miles) away and tickets are scarce for away fans.
So the club invited those not making the long trip to take a shorter one across the city to the Grand Rex, a much-loved Paris venue that also has seven
cinema
screens — the biggest of which holds 2,700 seats.
'Paris FC invites you to share in a unique evening,' the club
posted on X
on Wednesday. 'Rendez-vous at
@LeGrandRex
to support our players against Martigues on a giant screen. We await you (wearing) blue and white to experience this penultimate round (of the season) together.'
Message received.
Two hours after the message,
all the places were taken
.
Located in the vibrant Grands Boulevards district among restaurants and bars and near the iconic République square in central Paris, the Grand Rex was voted as the
world's most beautiful cinema
by Time Out earlier this year.
The venue opened in 1932 and recently was restored with its original façade to coincide with its 90th birthday.
Paris FC has big ambitions after being purchased by France's richest family, the Arnaults of
luxury empire LVMH
.
The new-found wealth could make Paris FC a potential challenger to Qatari-owned PSG in years to come.
The club's presence in Ligue 1 would also give Parisian soccer fans a
much-needed local city rivalry
as enjoyed by Madrid, Rome, Barcelona, Milan and Manchester. ___
AP soccer:
https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Astros' Lance McCullers Jr. sidelined with sprained foot, rookie Ryan Gusto to start
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Houston Astros placed right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. on the 15-day injured list with a sprained right foot Monday before his scheduled start against the Athletics. The move, which is retroactive to Friday, comes after McCullers made seven starts this year in his return after missing two full seasons with various arm injuries. Rookie right-hander Ryan Gusto will start in his place Monday as the AL West-leading Astros open a four-game series against the Athletics. McCullers is 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA this season. He allowed four hits and four runs while striking out six in five innings of a 4-2 loss to the White Sox in his last start on Tuesday. The injury to McCullers is the latest in a string of injuries to the Astros rotation. Houston starters Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco are both out for the season after having Tommy John surgery and right-hander Spencer Arrighetti has been sidelined since April after breaking his right thumb in a batting practice mishap. They also are missing right-handers Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier, who are both still recovering from Tommy John surgery. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
US hockey announces initial 6 players for 2026 Milan Olympics
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. named Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy as its first six players for the 2026 Olympics, avoiding goaltenders on the initial roster unveiled Monday. Some assortment of Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman and Thatcher Demko figure to make the team when full rosters are submitted in early January. 'Our goalies played well for us, great seasons: Connor just got the Vezina and Hart, which is incredible,' U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said on a video call with reporters. 'It was just kind of the thing we talked that about before we did it for 4 Nations: do we add a goalie, do we not add a goalie? I felt it was best we stay consistent and just let the goalies play it out during the season.' All 12 teams that qualified — with France replacing Russia because of the International Olympic Committee's ban on that country for team sports because of the war in Ukraine — announced the start of their groups set to take part in Milan. This tournament marks the return of NHL participation and what should be the first Olympics for Canada's Connor McDavid and many other top players who have not yet gotten that opportunity. 'Incredibly honored to represent my country at the biggest sporting event in the world,' McDavid said after he and the Edmonton Oilers practiced during the Stanley Cup Final. 'You think of the Canadian players that can be named to that team and to be selected again, it means a lot.' McDavid would have been there had the NHL not pulled out of the 2022 Beijing Games because of pandemic-related scheduling issues. Along with McDavid, Canada picked Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart, the latter of whom is also in the final with the defending champion Florida Panthers. 'When you're growing up when you're watching as a kid, it's Stanley Cup finals and it's Team Canada,' Reinhart said. "Those are the two things that you dream about playing for. To have that opportunity is pretty exciting.' Three other Panthers players — Aleksander Barkov for Finland, Nico Sturm for Germany and Uvis Balinskis for Latvia — are penciled in for Milan. Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl headlines the list for Germany, which reached the final in 2018 when the NHL skipped the Olympics. 'There's not a lot of elite centermen in the league: I think Leon is in that category, Sasha (Barkov is) in that category,' Sturm said. 'Big left-handed centermen that you can model your game after. He's definitely somebody that I look up to a lot and try to learn from.' Obviously much can change over the next eight months, from injuries to performance, and this process with the IOC and International Ice Hockey Federation follows what the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland did in naming six initial players last summer for the 4 Nations Face-Off that was a massive success in February. 'I understand it from a marketing perspective to get things up and running,' Canada GM Doug Armstrong said. 'We probably had a wide berth of players we could have named, but it is what it is. I think it's consistent with the 4 Nations and the event before, so we're OK doing. As I said to someone: 'I think the easy part's behind us, these six. Now it gets interesting as we fill out that roster.'' Sweden chose forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Lucas Raymond, William Nylander and Adrian Kempe and defensemen Victor Hedman and Rasmus Dahlin. Finland picked Barkov, fellow skaters Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell and goaltender Juuse Saros. This is Barkov's second Olympics after being in Sochi in 2014. That was as a young, part-time player. 'That was my dream as a kid to be there, and I got to experience that for a little bit for two games,' Barkov said. "Now, to be named again is a huge honor. I'm really, really happy and honored and thankful for that opportunity.' Much of the reaction to the roster release on social media had to do with Russia not taking part. That means all-time leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin, MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov and two time Cup-winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will not get the chance to go to Milan. 'It's disappointing that they're not in this event, but it's certainly nothing that the participants in the event can control,' Armstrong said. 'You have to play the teams that are on your schedule, and unfortunately this time around the Russians won't be there.'
Hamilton Spectator
25 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
US hockey announces initial 6 players for 2026 Milan Olympics
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. named Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy as its first six players for the 2026 Olympics, avoiding goaltenders on the initial roster unveiled Monday. Some assortment of Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman and Thatcher Demko figure to make the team when full rosters are submitted in early January. 'Our goalies played well for us, great seasons: Connor just got the Vezina and Hart , which is incredible,' U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said on a video call with reporters. 'It was just kind of the thing we talked that about before we did it for 4 Nations: do we add a goalie, do we not add a goalie? I felt it was best we stay consistent and just let the goalies play it out during the season.' All 12 teams that qualified — with France replacing Russia because of the International Olympic Committee's ban on that country for team sports because of the war in Ukraine — announced the start of their groups set to take part in Milan. This tournament marks the return of NHL participation and what should be the first Olympics for Canada's Connor McDavid and many other top players who have not yet gotten that opportunity. 'Incredibly honored to represent my country at the biggest sporting event in the world,' McDavid said after he and the Edmonton Oilers practiced during the Stanley Cup Final. 'You think of the Canadian players that can be named to that team and to be selected again, it means a lot.' McDavid would have been there had the NHL not pulled out of the 2022 Beijing Games because of pandemic-related scheduling issues. Along with McDavid, Canada picked Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart, the latter of whom is also in the final with the defending champion Florida Panthers. 'When you're growing up when you're watching as a kid, it's Stanley Cup finals and it's Team Canada,' Reinhart said. 'Those are the two things that you dream about playing for. To have that opportunity is pretty exciting.' Three other Panthers players — Aleksander Barkov for Finland, Nico Sturm for Germany and Uvis Balinskis for Latvia — are penciled in for Milan. Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl headlines the list for Germany, which reached the final in 2018 when the NHL skipped the Olympics. 'There's not a lot of elite centermen in the league: I think Leon is in that category, Sasha (Barkov is) in that category,' Sturm said. 'Big left-handed centermen that you can model your game after. He's definitely somebody that I look up to a lot and try to learn from.' Obviously much can change over the next eight months, from injuries to performance, and this process with the IOC and International Ice Hockey Federation follows what the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland did in naming six initial players last summer for the 4 Nations Face-Off that was a massive success in February. 'I understand it from a marketing perspective to get things up and running,' Canada GM Doug Armstrong said. 'We probably had a wide berth of players we could have named, but it is what it is. I think it's consistent with the 4 Nations and the event before, so we're OK doing. As I said to someone: 'I think the easy part's behind us, these six. Now it gets interesting as we fill out that roster.'' Sweden chose forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Lucas Raymond, William Nylander and Adrian Kempe and defensemen Victor Hedman and Rasmus Dahlin. Finland picked Barkov, fellow skaters Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell and goaltender Juuse Saros. This is Barkov's second Olympics after being in Sochi in 2014. That was as a young, part-time player. 'That was my dream as a kid to be there, and I got to experience that for a little bit for two games,' Barkov said. 'Now, to be named again is a huge honor. I'm really, really happy and honored and thankful for that opportunity.' Much of the reaction to the roster release on social media had to do with Russia not taking part. That means all-time leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin, MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov and two time Cup-winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will not get the chance to go to Milan. 'It's disappointing that they're not in this event, but it's certainly nothing that the participants in the event can control,' Armstrong said. 'You have to play the teams that are on your schedule, and unfortunately this time around the Russians won't be there.' ___ AP NHL:
