Latest news with #soccer
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sporting Jax to host Super League kickoff party ahead of inaugural season
Sporting JAX is celebrating its first season with a free kickoff party at James Weldon Johnson Park. The event is set for Friday, July 25, from 5 to 8 p.m. and is open to the public. Fans can meet the team, grab autographs, enjoy live music, games, food, and giveaways. Advertisement Read: Florida AG threatens to sue swimming group over gender-participation policy The party is presented by Gainbridge and marks the start of Jacksonville's new pro women's soccer era. Sporting JAX plays its first preseason match on August 2 at UNF against Hibernian FC Women. A second match is set for August 10 against Wrexham AFC Women. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< The home opener is August 23 against DC Power FC. For more information, visit [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Real Madrid Officially Announces First Team Star Farewell
Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid used its official website and social media to announce the farewell ... More of a first team star and modern day club legend. Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid used its official website and social media to announce the farewell of a first team star and modern day club legend. 'Real Madrid C. F. announces that tomorrow, Thursday 17 July, at 13:00, an institutional act of tribute and farewell to our player Lucas Vazquez will take place at Real Madrid City, with the presence of our president Florentino Perez,' the club started, in a statement. Madrid said it 'would like to express its gratitude and affection to Lucas Vazquez', who it called 'one of the great legends of our club'. Los Blancos recalled how Vazquez arrived at the club in 2007 aged 16 and played in the remaining youth categories in local football before turning professional. After a loan spell at Espanyol, he then made his Madrid debut in 2015 and became a threepeat Champions League winner from the following year until 2018 under Zinedine Zidane. 'Since then, he has defended our shirt in 402 games over 10 seasons, in one of the most successful stages in Real Madrid's history. In all this time he has won 23 titles: five European Cups, five Club World Cups, four European Super Cups, four La Ligas, one Copa del Rey and four Spanish Super Cups,' Madrid said. Perez remarked that Vazquez 'represents the values of Real Madrid in an exemplary way, which has made him one of the most loved players by our fans'. 'The figure of Lucas Vázquez symbolizes the work, perseverance, humility and a winning spirit essential to succeed with this shirt. He is a player who takes the affection and recognition of all Real Madrid. Real Madrid is and always will be his home,' Perez promised. Madrid wished Vazque 'and his entire family the best of luck in this new stage of his life', which is thus far unknown. This summer, he is one of two big name departures from one of the most successful eras of the club alongside Luka Modric, who has already been named as a new AC Milan midfielder. Minutes were going to be hard for Vazquez to earn at Real Madrid With Trent Alexander-Arnold signed from Liverpool as part of a pretty much free transfer, minutes were always going to be hard for Vazquez to earn at Real Madrid moving forward.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Friedkin Forms Pursuit Sports to House Soccer Clubs, Hunt Big 4 Team
Billionaire Everton FC and AS Roma owner Dan Friedkin has formed a new sports-team group, Pursuit Sports, to manage his soccer teams while actively hunting for a franchise in one of the big four North American leagues. Friedkin, who also owns AS Cannes of France, will announce the formation of Pursuit Sports later Wednesday, naming former Clearlake and Fenway Sports Group executive Dave Beeston as Pursuit's CEO. Advertisement More from 'The intention has been to form a parent company that would do two things: provide operational excellence—amplify our operations for the clubs we own now—and evaluate opportunities to grow,' Beeston said on a video call. 'When I wake up I am thinking about how I am helping Roma, Everton, Cannes get to where they want to get to … and at the same time thinking about growing the company through acquisition.' Growth seems to be top of mind for Friedkin. The billionaire was one of four finalists to buy the Boston Celtics this year and has held discussions with the NHL about bringing an expansion team to Houston. 'Truthfully, there's a focus on the next thing we do—in North America and not soccer would be my guess,' Beeston said. 'We are actively evaluating a few opportunities right now across the sports that you would think. Our focus in the short term and medium term is teams. Sports is the last must-see viewing opportunity. We want to be where the eyeballs are.' The creation of Pursuit Sports formalizes the big-game hunting instincts of Friedkin. The 60-year-old businessman made his now $8.2 billion fortune on the strength of his family's Toyota dealership network, which he took over in 1995. Over time, Friedkin expanded into luxury resorts and golf courses, and got exposure to team sports though naming right deals that slapped the Toyota brand on the Houston Rockets arena and FC Dallas and San Antonio FC stadiums. Advertisement The leap into team ownership came in 2020, when Friedkin, with children Ryan, Danny and Corbin, bought AS Roma for €591 million, or $701 million at the time. In 2023 they bought AS Cannes, once one of France's top clubs but long stuck in the country's fourth tier, for an undisclosed amount. Last year the family swooped in to buy Premier League club Everton for a reported price greater than $500 million after that club's failure to close a buyout by Miami's 777 Partners. Friedkin hired Beeston in February to head what has now become Pursuit Sports. Beeston is best known for a 12-year run at Fenway Sports Group, where he rose to chief strategy officer, overseeing FSG's mergers & acquisitions efforts, including the purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He left FSG to join Chelsea FC owner and private equity giant Clearlake Capital in August last year, but Boston-based Beeston missed operations work—and the commute to LA didn't help. A December meeting that ran to more than five hours of conversation with the Friedkin family led to the switch. Beeston is quick to note that the formation of Pursuit Sports isn't to create a multi-club hierarchy where lower clubs feed players up to higher clubs. Club management and player decisions will remain separate from each other and led by the local executive slates. 'We're focusing on ways we can scale where appropriate,' Beeson said. What might that look like? Beeston suggests the success of FSG could be a road map. 'One of the companies I oversaw by the end of my tenure was Fenway Sports Management, which was selling sponsorships for the Red Sox, NESN, Liverpool, Penguins, PGA Tour, Boston Common Golf. The more you can scale that, it doesn't sacrifice anything, because it drives incremental revenue.' Advertisement One example: Submarine advocacy group expanded a high-profile Red Sox sponsorship across more FSG properties, looping in RFK Racing to brand a car for NASCAR's New Hampshire race last year, for instance. Another operational benefit can come from sharing technical and strategic resources among clubs. Friedkin recently bought Insight Sport, a London soccer sports tech business that is the first non-team asset housed in Pursuit Sports. While Insight's purchase price isn't publicly disclosed, the business is very profitable, pulling in revenue of £332,500 ($445,000) last year, about half of which was net profit, according to a financial disclosure filed in the U.K. Beeston declined to discuss potential purchases in NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB, other than to note the family probably prefers control stakes compared to limited partner interests. 'It would be silly to rule anything out, but our focus is more on areas we can control, because we intend to be the best operators,' he said, adding, 'We got to prove it still.' Of course, it's not always simple: AS Roma fans protested the American ownership this past season after the club won just three of its first 14 matches, falling to 15th in the Serie A table before recovering to close the season in fifth place. Similarly, Everton seemed destined for relegation after a poor start to the Premier League before finishing 13th, two slots better than the season before Friedkin bought the club. Advertisement 'I don't know if I've ever seen fan bases pop champagne bottles for ownership groups, but if they begrudgingly say, 'These guys have been good for our club, they've backed up what they said they were going to do,' then that's a massive win for us,' Beeston said. 'These sports teams have souls you really need to nurture.' Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. 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CTV News
4 hours ago
- Climate
- CTV News
How climate change could force FIFA to rethink the World Cup calendar
Al Ain's Park Yong-woo splashes his face to cool off during the Club World Cup Group G soccer match between Wydad AC and Al Ain FC in Washington, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File) GENEVA — Soccer had a fierce reckoning with heat at the recently concluded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States — a sweltering preview of what players and fans may face when the U.S. co-hosts the World Cup with Mexico and Canada next summer. With temperatures rising worldwide, scientists warn that staging the World Cup and other soccer tournaments in the Northern Hemisphere summer is getting increasingly dangerous for both players and spectators. Some suggest that FIFA may have to consider adjusting the soccer calendar to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses. 'The deeper we go in the decade, the greater the risk without considering more dramatic measures, such as playing in the winter months and/or cooler latitudes,' said Prof. Piers Forster, director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures in Leeds, England. 'I'm getting increasingly worried that we are only one heatwave away from a sporting tragedy and I would like to see governing bodies lean into the climate and health science.' Tournament soccer in June and July is a tradition going back to the first World Cup in 1930. Since then, the three-month period of June, July and August globally has warmed by 1.05 degrees Celsius (1.89 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meanwhile, European summer temperatures have increased by 1.81 degrees C. The rate of warming has accelerated since the 1990's. Climate scientists say that's a factor that needs to be considered when playing high-intensity outdoor sports like soccer. 'If you want to play football for 10 hours a day, they'll have to be the hours of the early morning and late evening,' climatologist Friederike Otto from Imperial College, London, told The Associated Press in an email, 'if you don't want to have players and fans die from heatstroke or get severely ill with heat exhaustion.' FIFA adapts Extreme heat and thunderstorms made an impact on FIFA's newly expanded tournament for club teams. The Club World Cup was held in 11 American cities from June 14 to July 13. FIFA adapted by tweaking its extreme heat protocol to include extra breaks in play, more field-side water, and cooling the team benches with air fans and more shade. Still, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández said the heat made him dizzy and urged FIFA to avoid afternoon kickoffs at the World Cup next year. The global soccer players union, FIFPRO, has warned that six of the 16 World Cup cities next year are at 'extremely high risk' for heat stress. FIFA president Gianni Infantino addressed the heat concerns on Saturday, saying the handful of World Cup stadiums that are covered would be used for day-time games next year. Extreme heat could become an even bigger challenge at the following World Cup in 2030, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Games are scheduled to be played in afternoons and early evenings from mid-June to mid-July. All three countries have already seen temperatures rise above 40 degrees C (well above 100 Fahrenheit) this summer. FIFA downplayed the heat risk in its in-house evaluation of the 2030 World Cup bid, saying 'weather conditions are difficult to predict with the current development in global and local climate, but are unlikely to affect the health of players or other participants.' Heat exhaustion The physical effects of playing 90 minutes of soccer in direct sunshine during the hottest part of the day can be severe and potentially result in hyperthermia – abnormally high body temperatures. 'When players experience hyperthermia, they also experience an increase in cardiovascular strain,' said Julien Périard of the University of Canberra. 'If core temperature increases excessively, exertional heat illness can occur,' leading to muscle cramping, heat exhaustion, and even life-threatening heat stroke, he said. Many sports events held in the summer adjust their start times to early morning or late night to minimize the risk heat-related illness, including marathons at the Olympics or track world championships. Morning kickoffs, however, are rare in soccer, where World Cup match schedules are often set with European TV audiences in mind. It would be hard for FIFA to avoid day-time World Cup kickoffs given the packed match schedule as the number of participating teams increases from 32 to 48 in 2026. Calendar rethink Heat mainly becomes an issue when the World Cup is held in the Northern Hemisphere, because June and July are winter months in the Southern Hemisphere. FIFA has stuck to its traditional June-July schedule for the men's World Cup except in 2022 when it moved the tournament to November-December to avoid the summer heat in Qatar. Something similar is expected when neighboring Saudi Arabia hosts the tournament in 2034. However, moving the World Cup to another part of the year is complicated because it means Europe's powerful soccer leagues must interrupt their season, affecting both domestic leagues and the Champions League. FIFA didn't respond to questions from AP about whether alternate dates for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups were being considered. When and where to schedule the World Cup and other outdoor sports events is likely to become more pressing as the world continues to warm. Athletes and even everyday people doing basic physical activities are now exposed to 28% more of moderate or higher heat risk in 2023 than they were in the 1990s, said Ollie Jay, a professor at the University of Sydney who has helped shape policy for the Australian Open in tennis. 'This is symbolic of something bigger,' said Michael Mann, a University of Pennsylvania climate scientist. 'Not just the danger and inconvenience to fans and players, but the fundamentally disruptive nature of climate change when it comes our current way of life.' ___ Graham Dunbar and Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press Borenstein contributed from Washington, D.C.
Washington Post
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
With the World Cup about a year away, contingency plans for wildfire smoke risks remain unclear
TORONTO — The 2026 World Cup being hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States is less than a year away and FIFA's protocols for matches affected by wildfire smoke remain unclear. The 48-team World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Canada is hosting 13 matches — seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.
