Business

San Diego group pays record MLS expansion fee of half a billion dollars

Major League Soccer received a record $500 million expansion fee to field an expansion team in San Diego for the 2025 season, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the local Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation are the owners of the new San Diego franchise, which will be the league's third club in Southern California after the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.

Pulisic's new signature PUMA boots pay homage to his own tattoos

After paying homage to the Stars and Stripes with his first signature PUMA collection last year, Christian Pulisic is back at it again with another "CP" pack themed around Captain America's second greatest love — his own tattoos.

The pièce de résistance of Pulisic's second PUMA collection is the latest signature version of the ULTRA ULTIMATE boots. 

FIFA threatens Women’s World Cup broadcast blackout after low-dollar bids from broadcasters

Europe's top soccer nations face a broadcast blackout for this year's Women's World Cup unless media can improve on their "disappointing" offers for the rights, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.

Offers from "Big 5" European countries were not acceptable to football's world governing body and a "slap in the face" of the players and "all women worldwide", Infantino said.

The 'Big 5' nations are Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

LaLiga joins the growing list of rebrands gone horribly wrong

The old LaLiga logo wasn't perfect. It was guilty of what I consider a cardinal sin: containing that damn generic soccer ball that's way too heavy-handed in getting its point across. 

But LaLiga had established a powerful brand identity with its iconic color wheel over the past 30 years, and when news broke of an all-new LaLiga logo for the 2023-24 season, the initial thought was concerning how the league would reimagine and update the famous design while retaining some sense of history. 

Juventus jumps to third in Serie A after Italy sports authority reverses 15-point deduction decision

MILAN — Italy's top sports body on Thursday canceled a decision to dock Serie A club Juventus 15 points in a case centered on the club's transfer dealings, ordering soccer authorities to hold another hearing.

With eight games left to play, the decision will lift Juventus from seventh to third in the Serie A table - with 59 points, still 16 behind leaders Napoli but back into the qualifying spots for the lucrative European Champions League.

Lampard comes to Boehly's defense after American owner's ‘embarrassing’ dressing-room speech

Chelsea are not a "broken" team this season and co-owner Todd Boehly had every right to address the squad he has invested in, manager Frank Lampard said on Monday ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid.

Chelsea, who trail Real Madrid 2-0 on aggregate after losing the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, come into the game on the back of a six-match winless run, with interim boss Lampard losing his first three games in charge.

Ivan Toney won't like this: Gambling sponsorships banned by English Premier League

The English Premier League and its clubs have announced they will not allow gambling sponsorships on the front of matchday kits following the culmination of the 2025-26 season. This decision comes as the UK aims to tighten its laws on betting and attempts to promote the use of gambling in a safer, more responsible way. 

Rumors of slow subscription growth for MLS Season Pass make sense, but Apple won't care (yet)

If the most sensational rumors are to be believed, Apple is looking for a quick exit from its 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with MLS while the league prepares for an NASL kind of collapse into oblivion. 

The Athletic previously detailed an opt-out clause in the contract predicated on Apple obtaining a certain number of subscribers within a set timeframe, but it's impossible to speculate from the outside since Apple hasn't released any viewership statistics through six matchweeks.  

Manchester United to play Wrexham in San Diego as part of U.S. summer tour

Manchester United will face non-league Wrexham AFC in San Diego as a part of the club's already announced summer tour to the United States, the Premier League club said on Monday.

Fifth-tier National League side Wrexham have became famous after Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club in 2020 with the efforts of the owners being tracked by a documentary series called Welcome to Wrexham.

Qatar's Al Thani submits new $6 billion bid for Manchester United

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has submitted a new bid to buy Manchester United which is believed to be worth around $6.12 billion, Sky Sports News reported on Saturday.

Sheikh Jassim, a son of Qatar’s former prime minister, launched the bid in February. A spokesperson representing Sheikh Jassim said at the time that the bid was completely debt free, via Sheikh Jassim's Nine Two Foundation.

Manchester United did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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