Latest news with #ItalianSerieA
Business Wire
16-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
The Friedkin Group Launches Pursuit Sports
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Friedkin Group, a privately held and diverse family of brands and investments in the automotive, luxury hospitality, and entertainment industries, today announced the introduction of Pursuit Sports, a company dedicated to overseeing and supporting The Friedkin Group's professional sports properties. Seasoned sports industry operator Dave Beeston now leads Pursuit Sports as Chief Executive Officer, having officially begun his tenure on February 3, 2025. Each of The Friedkin Group's owned sports properties, including A.S. Roma (Italian Serie A), A.S. Cannes (French Championnat National 2), and Everton F.C. (English Premier League) will become part of Pursuit Sports portfolio of properties. Beeston, who will also serve on the Board of Pursuit Sports and report to Dan Friedkin, Chairman of Pursuit Sports and Chairman and CEO of The Friedkin Group, will be responsible for facilitating operational excellence across the existing teams and evaluating opportunities to expand through the acquisition of other sports properties. 'The launch of Pursuit Sports marks an exciting new chapter in The Friedkin Group's vision to elevate and empower world-class sports organizations. Through this platform, we can do more than support our teams at a high level—we are investing in their long-term success by bringing together the full strength of our global expertise, resources, and pursuit of excellence,' said Dan Friedkin. 'Dave Beeston is a proven, trusted leader who is steeped in wisdom and experience around how to build high-performance sports enterprises. Under his dynamic leadership, each of our clubs will be empowered to compete at the highest level while preserving the identity and passion that makes each of them unique.' Prior to joining Pursuit Sports, Beeston was a managing director at Clearlake Capital Group. Before this, he served in several roles during 11 years with Fenway Sports Group, including Co-Head of Fenway Sports Management; EVP & Chief Strategy Officer of the Boston Red Sox; and Alternate Governor of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Across these positions, Beeston was responsible for setting and executing on the overall growth strategy of Fenway Sports Group, including the acquisition of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Strategic Sports Group's $1.5 billion investment into PGA Tour Enterprises. 'I am delighted to join Pursuit Sports and am grateful to Dan and the entire Friedkin family for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity. Their vision, determination, and passion for building exceptional operations across their brands is inspiring.' added Dave Beeston. 'Our first responsibility at Pursuit Sports is to build an organization and culture that meets The Friedkin Group's standards. With a focus on people and data driven decision making, we will use our scale, insights, and expertise to unlock and empower the leadership at each of our clubs, which will allow them to realize their full potential and pursue championship success. We will utilize that same rigorous decision-making process to evaluate additional opportunities to expand our family of teams moving forward.' About The Friedkin Group The Friedkin Group is a privately held family of global brands spanning automotive, entertainment, hospitality, investments, and sports. Founded in 1969, headquartered in Houston, Texas, and led by Chief Executive Dan Friedkin, The Friedkin Group is united by a mission to build breakthrough brands that redefine the status quo. The Friedkin Group portfolio includes Gulf States Toyota, 30West, Accelerated Solutions Group, AS Roma, Ascent Automotive Group, Auberge Resorts Collection, Congaree, Copilot Capital, Diamond Creek, Everton Football Club, GSFSGroup, Imperative Entertainment, Legendary Expeditions, NEON, Northside Lexus, The Friedkin Group International, USAL, and Westside Lexus. For more information, please visit
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Serie A in talks to play Milan vs Como in Australia
Serie A in talks to play Milan vs Como in Australia Serie A is in talks to host a February 2026 league fixture, Milan vs Como, in Australia, reports The Athletic. Milan vs Como, scheduled for the weekend of February 7-8, 2026, could be played in Australia. Advertisement On that weekend, the Stadio Meazza in San Siro will not be available, as it will host the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games. Milan vs Como could be played in Australia MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 15: Joao Felix of AC Milan is challenged by Alex Valle of Como during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Como at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 15, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) In an attempt to ease the fixture congestion at San Siro in February, Lega Serie A has already allowed Inter and Milan to play the opening 2025-26 league match at home. However, there could be a further change, as The Athletic reports that the game between Milan and Como could be played in Australia. Why Serie A allowed to play games abroad The ball of Italian Serie A is pictured before the Italian Serie A football match between Juventus and Atalanta at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on March 10, 2024. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images) 'In what would be the first European league fixture to be played abroad, plans are being discussed for the fixture to be staged in the Western Australian city of Perth on the weekend of February 7-8, 2026,' The Athletic wrote. Advertisement Until not long ago, it was prohibited to play league matches abroad, but this past April, 'Relevent Sports settled a six-year-long lawsuit with the U.S Soccer Federation to try, paving the way for European domestic games to be held abroad.' MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 15: Lucas Da Cunha of Como celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Como at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 15, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) Milan will start the 2025-26 campaign against newly promoted side Cremonese, who are also regional rivals from the Lombardy region. Como will also begin the new Serie A season at home, hosting Maurizio Sarri's Lazio.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Man City signs Reijnders from AC Milan to complete $150M spending spree
FILE - Wolverhampton Wanderers' Rayan Ait-Nouri celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File) France's Rayan Cherki, right, runs after scoring during the Nations League semifinal soccer match between Spain and France in Stuttgart, Germany, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders, left, and Roma's Manu Kone battle for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Roma and Milan at the Rome's Olympic stadium, Italy, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP) AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders, left, and Roma's Manu Kone battle for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Roma and Milan at the Rome's Olympic stadium, Italy, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP) FILE - Wolverhampton Wanderers' Rayan Ait-Nouri celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File) France's Rayan Cherki, right, runs after scoring during the Nations League semifinal soccer match between Spain and France in Stuttgart, Germany, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders, left, and Roma's Manu Kone battle for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Roma and Milan at the Rome's Olympic stadium, Italy, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP) Manchester City concluded a $150 million spending spree ahead of the Club World Cup by announcing the signing of Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan on Wednesday. The 26-year-old Reijnders moved for an initial fee of 55 million euros ($63 million) and is the second midfielder — after France playmaker Rayan Cherki — to join City in the special June 1-10 transfer window created to allow sides in the 32-team Club World Cup to reshape their squads. Advertisement City paid Lyon $41 million for Cherki and also signed Algeria left back Rayan Aït-Nouri from Wolverhampton for $42 million. After deciding not to push to sign Florian Wirtz — the Germany playmaker is close to joining Liverpool, according to reports in the British media — City has spent around the same amount on three players. Add this latest splurge to an outlay of more than $200 million in the winter transfer window and City has already spent at least $350 million on players in 2025 to provide manager Pep Guardiola with a squad capable of reclaiming the Premier League title from Liverpool. Breakthrough season Advertisement Reijnders has just been named as the best midfielder in Serie A after a breakthrough campaign in which he scored 15 goals and added five assists across all competitions for Milan, which endured a dismal season and failed to qualify for Europe. He joined Milan from AZ Alkmaar in 2023 for a fee of around 20 million euros (then $22.4 million) and recently signed a contract extension through to June 2030. That's the length of his contract at City, too. City is releasing De Bruyne to end his 10-year stint at the club and now has Reijnders and Cherki to link up with Rodri in an enticing midfield set-up. Reijnders said he was 'ecstatic' to be joining City. Advertisement 'It is also a dream come true to play in the Premier League," he said. 'This league has seen many of the best Dutch players perform through the years and it's an inspiration to follow in their footsteps.' City director of football Hugo Viana said Reijnders — who specializes in being a ball-carrying midfielder — will add 'extra energy, composure and creativity to our midfield.' City announced the transfer of Reijnders a day after the special transfer window closed but appears to have signed him in time for him to play in the new-look, 32-team Club World Cup, which starts on Saturday. City is in the same group as Juventus, Al Ain and Wydad Casablanca and its first match is on June 18. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Here's how Conte transformed Napoli from Serie A has-been back to title champion
Fans celebrate showing a number 4 during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli's players celebrate after winning the Italian league soccer title at the end of the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli's Scott McTominay scores his side's first goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Players celebrate at the end of the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Players celebrate at the end of the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Fans celebrate showing a number 4 during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli's players celebrate after winning the Italian league soccer title at the end of the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli's Scott McTominay scores his side's first goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Players celebrate at the end of the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Cagliari at the Diego Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) MILAN (AP) — Antonio Conte started the season apologizing to the Napoli fans. He is ending it with those same supporters chanting his name. Napoli beat Cagliari 2-0 on Friday, in the final round of Serie A, to see the title return to the southern city. It finished one point above defending champion Inter Milan. Advertisement There was little sign of that happening at the start of the season. Conte's first league match in charge of Napoli was a dismal 3-0 loss to Hellas Verona in the opening round. So poor was his team that Conte said he was 'ashamed' and his players had 'melted like snow in the sun.' It was clear he had a lot of work to do. Conte became Napoli's fifth coach in little more than a year and the scudetto celebrations of 2023 seemed a distant memory, especially after Napoli delivered on the worst title defenses in Serie A history the previous season, finishing 10th. Here are the keys to Napoli's success in the 2024-25 Italian league: Advertisement Winning coach Conte is no stranger to lifting the Serie A trophy. He started Juventus' dominance of Italian soccer, brought the Serie A title to Inter Milan for the first time in more than a decade, and has now transformed Napoli from title has-been back to league champion. Conte led Juventus to the first three of its nine successive Serie A titles, in each of his three seasons in charge from 2011-14, and he triumphed again in his second season at Inter, in 2021. In between that, he also bagged a Premier League title with Chelsea in 2017. The 55-year-old coach was tasked with rejuvenating a troubled Napoli side when he took over last summer. And that's precisely what he did. Advertisement Conte shook things up and transformed the squad with his strict, no-nonsense attitude and attention to detail. Superstars out Luciano Spalletti's superstars have departed and been replaced by Conte's titans. Gone is Victor Osimhen, the forward who fired Napoli to the title in 2023. Gone is the dribbling wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, or 'Kvaradona.' Gone is defensive stalwart Kim Min-jae. Only five regular starters from Spalletti's team remained prominent this season: Goalkeeper Alex Meret, captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo, defender Amir Rrahmani and midfielders Stanislav Lobotka and Frank Anguissa. But the replacements have more than been up to the task. Advertisement Conte convinced Romelu Lukaku to rejoin him at Napoli after the pair won at Inter, and the Belgian striker has filled in well for Osimhen, with 14 goals and 10 assists in the league. Perhaps the biggest revelation has been midfielder Scott McTominay, who joined in August after playing for Manchester United his entire career. McTominay, who is described by his Napoli teammates as 'a special guy,' has been the driving force behind Napoli's surge past Inter. He and Lukaku both scored against Cagliari. McToninay ended the season with 12 Serie A goals and was named the Italian league player of the season. Distracted Inter Advertisement Just over a month ago, Inter was very much on course for a treble of trophies. It had just beaten Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals, had a three-point lead over Napoli in Serie A and was in the semifinals of the Italian Cup. But the treble talk proved little more than a distraction and the fight on all three fronts too much as three straight losses — without scoring — saw Inter dumped out of the Italian Cup and slip behind Napoli. Inter still has the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain to look forward to next week after an extraordinary semifinal against Barcelona, that saw 13 goals scored across two legs. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Napoli fans already celebrating before Serie A-deciding matches kick off
Newly wed couple Danilo Catane, left and Veronica Flocco kiss each other as the wave a lag reading: Endless love, in front of the Diego Maradona Stadium, where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title between Napoli and Cagliari is scheduled to be played, in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) People stroll past a bakery shop adorned with a tricolour and Napoli team scarf ahead of the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title between Napoli and Cagliari, scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Newly wed couple Danilo Catane, left and Veronica Flocco kiss each other as the wave a lag reading: Endless love, in front of the Diego Maradona Stadium, where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title between Napoli and Cagliari is scheduled to be played, in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) People stroll past a bakery shop adorned with a tricolour and Napoli team scarf ahead of the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title between Napoli and Cagliari, scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Napoli fans gather outside Diego Maradona stadium where the decisive match for the Italian Serie A soccer championship title Napoli versus Cagliari is scheduled to be played in Naples, Italy, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) ROME (AP) — Napoli fans were already in a celebratory mood ahead of the game against Cagliari later Friday, which could secure a second Serie A soccer title in three years for the southern club. Napoli leads defending champion Inter Milan by one point entering the final round. Advertisement Inter visits Como in a game that will be played simultaneously with Napoli's match. If the team's finish level, a one-game playoff on Monday will determine the winner. Napoli supporters were cheering and singing outside Stadio Diego Maradona hours in advance of the 8:45 p.m. (1845 GMT) kickoff. Napoli is aiming for its fourth Italian league title overall. Maradona led Napoli to its first two in 1987 and 1990. The 2023 team led by Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia clinched with five rounds to spare. Inter is aiming for its 21st title. The Nerazzurri will also face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on May 31. ___ AP soccer:
