Sports
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Matthew McConaughey is a minority owner in Austin FC. These celebrities are partial MLS team owners, too.
Professional sports is big business, with player contracts and a stadium costing millions of dollars, so getting a team on its feet requires big money upfront. Texas native Matthew McCoughaney invested in his adopted hometown's professional soccer team in 2019.
The Academy Award-winning actor is one of a group of seven who makes up the ...Read more
Carli Lloyd on 2020: Worst of times, best of times as soccer star reunites with family
Last year was one of the worst of Carli Lloyd’s otherwise-epic soccer career. She contracted COVID-19 (she thinks), didn’t play a game for her National Women’s Soccer League team, started just five matches for the women’s national team, saw the Olympics postponed and underwent surgery for the first time.
It was also one of the best ...Read more
Dave Hyde: What's in a name? Unpronounceable corporate millions, venues show.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Imagine your name atop this column. You! Here! Or imagine your company’s name in this win-win arrangement:
You get listed on this high-priced piece of media real estate.
I write the column.
You get all the fame, celebrity, media groupies and bifurcated email — the love and hate —of being a big-city sports ...Read more
NWSL, players enter formal process for collective bargaining
The National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association started formal negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement.
This would be the first CBA created between the league and its players. The agreement will govern terms and conditions of employment, including player compensation, benefits, travel arrangements and player ...Read more
After a yearlong absence, Mexican national soccer team again will play often in U.S.
LOS ANGELES — It's been a lean year for America's team. And by America's team, we don't mean the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees or even the U.S. women's national soccer team.
The America's team we're talking about isn't even based in this country. But with a 2020 survey showing 60 million people in the U.S. self-identify as supporters of ...Read more
Rapinoe responds to Draymond's take on women's sports: 'That is not acceptable at all'
Megan Rapinoe, the outspoken star of the U.S. women’s soccer team, called Warriors forward Draymond Green an “ass” for his recent comments about women athletes’ complaints.
“It is really unfortunate in the position he is in, having all the resources he has and then having the ability to have a much more educated opinion that he just ...Read more
Cristiano Ronaldo’s armband nets $75,000 at charity auction for 6-month-old Serbian boy
He may not have scored a goal, but he indirectly got a family closer to theirs.
An armband tossed aside by Cristiano Ronaldo during a World Cup qualifying match sold for 64,000 euros (about $75,000) at an auction to benefit a 6-month-old Serbian boy with a rare disease.
The 36-year-old Portuguese superstar was miffed after his goal in the ...Read more
NWSL releases policy on transgender athletes
ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Women’s Soccer League released a policy for the eligibility of transgender athletes on Wednesday, which was International Transgender Day of Visibility.
The league partnered with the National Center for Lesbian Rights to create the policy. The NWSL general counsel wrote the first draft of the policy, then sent ...Read more
U.S. men’s soccer fails to qualify for Olympics -- again -- with loss to Honduras
Three times in the leadup to the last three Olympic Games, the U.S. went into its final match of qualifying needing just one goal to keep alive its hopes of playing in the men’s tournament.
And for the third time the U.S. came up one goal short Sunday, losing to Honduras 2-1 in a chippy, physical semifinal of the CONCACAF pre-Olympic ...Read more
U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe testifies in House hearing on equal pay
Megan Rapinoe knows this fight all too well.
Rapinoe and the U.S. women’s national soccer team have been in and out of courts trying to get equal pay for themselves and champion women all around the world still facing gender-based wage disparities. Yes, it’s 2021 and even women on the biggest stages in the country still have to explain why ...Read more
U.S. women’s soccer calls up 23 players as Tokyo Olympics preparations continue
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski called up a 23-woman roster Tuesday for April friendlies in Sweden and France, part of the national team’s continuing preparation for this summer’s Olympic tournament in Tokyo.
Fifteen of the players were on the 2019 Women’s World Cup championship team. The U.S. is bidding to become the first country to win a ...Read more
Pele gets COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil: 'Today is an unforgettable day'
This time, he received the shot instead of taking it.
Pele got his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday in Brazil.
“Today is an unforgettable day — I received the vaccine!” the 80-year-old soccer superstar said in an Instagram post. “The pandemic is not over yet. We must keep discipline to preserve lives until many people have ...Read more
Raphael Wicky — a former 'water carrier' with a 'California vibe' — is tasked with getting the Chicago Fire back to the playoffs. But despite a 1st season filled with struggles, he's optimistic entering 2021.
When the Chicago Fire unveiled Raphael Wicky as their new coach ahead of the 2020 season, he cautioned that rebuilding the team and establishing a new culture would take time.
“Building a team is really exciting, but building a team also takes time,” he said. “It’s not going to be done overnight.”
What no one could have predicted was...Read more
Kevin Baxter: For someone who calls Muhammad Ali his idol, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a lot to learn
LOS ANGELES — In one of the few private conversations I had with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during his two seasons with the Galaxy, he told me his sporting idol was Muhammad Ali. He admired the boxer's talent, of course, but he was more drawn to his outspokenness, his braggadocio and his ability to back up even his most outlandish claims.
In many ...Read more
Alex Morgan scores as USWNT routs Argentina, wins SheBelieves Cup
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Pride star Alex Morgan scored her first international goal since the birth of her daughter to help the U.S. women’s national team to a 6-0 rout of Argentina on Wednesday at Exploria Stadium.
The victory clinched the Americans’ second consecutive SheBelieves Cup title after wins over Canada and Brazil. The U.S. ...Read more
No excuses: In the wake of a lost season, Chicharito might have found himself
LOS ANGELES — Javier Hernández doesn't want your sympathy.
For what? He makes millions playing a game. By his own admission, he's been blessed to achieve everything he dreamed of as a kid.
But he could go for a little understanding because last year that dream turned into a nightmare. His grandfather died, his wife left for Australia, a ...Read more
Greg Cote: Inter Miami's David Beckham and reported deal with Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy
David Beckham unquestionably is the handsome, charismatic face of Inter Miami as the club prepares for its second season in Major League Soccer.
Is he now also the face — dubiously, controversially — of Qatar?
The Daily Mail newspaper in London reported Beckham has agreed to be the “media-friendly face” of that Middle Eastern country ...Read more
Start of 2021 MLS season is being delayed two weeks
LOS ANGELES — MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Wednesday the league is anticipating another lean year in 2021, with losses expected to approach $1 billion for a second consecutive season.
Garber also announced that the start of the 2021 season would be pushed back two weeks, to April 17. Preseason training camps, which were to open Feb. 22, ...Read more
Former head of El Salvador soccer federation extradited to US in FIFA bribery case
NEW YORK — The former head of the El Salvador football federation was extradited to the United States on charges that he was involved in the FIFA bribery scheme that snared soccer officials across the world.
Reynaldo Vasquez appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday to face charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money ...Read more
MLS authorizes player lockout if new CBA deal isn't reached by Thursday
LOS ANGELES — MLS and its players association have agreed to extend the negotiating deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement, but the league added a new element to those talks Friday by authorizing a lockout if a deal isn't reached by midnight Thursday.
"Although we remain far apart, we will extend the 30-day negotiating period for ...Read more
