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HBO drop ‘Angel City’ trailer — a 3-part behind the scenes docuseries with Natalie Portman and more

We’ve seen how successful and interesting behind-the-scenes documentaries on professional soccer clubs have been. Amazon’s “All or Nothing” and Hulu’s “Welcome to Wrexham” come to mind as the latest success stories.

Now HBO is getting in on the action with their latest soccer docuseries “Angel City” which will follow the Los Angeles-based club’s inaugural season in the National Women’s Soccer League.

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.

Spurs’ 6-1 loss to Newcastle was so bad that players are reimbursing fans who bought tickets

Tottenham Hotspur's players will reimburse the club's supporters who paid for tickets for their 6-1 thrashing by Newcastle United at St James' Park over the weekend, the north London club said on Tuesday.

The players also apologized for their performance and said they would do everything to make a comeback as they fight for a top-four finish with six games left in the Premier League.

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.  

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.

FIFA aims for equal prize money between men's and women's World Cups by 2027

KIGALI - Prize money for the 2023 Women's World Cup will be $150 million, 10 times what it was in 2015 and three times the amount of 2019, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced in his closing remarks to the 73rd FIFA Congress on Thursday.

The figure, however, is still considerably lower than the $440 million total prize money awarded at the men's World Cup in Qatar last year.

In what would be a first for women, Infantino wants some of the prize money to go to the players.

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