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Riyadh Season signs DAZN deal

October 9, 2024

Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, has announced that Riyadh Season has entered into a multi-year partnership with DAZN, which will see the sports entertainment platform become the official exclusive worldwide and co-exclusive MENA broadcaster of all of its sports and entertainment events.

Building on its successful promotion and delivery of the 2023 edition of Riyadh Season, DAZN will be a host broadcaster for all events, with a commitment to enhancing the proposition with “significant investment in production and innovation”, helping to further develop the Season’s reputation for staging events and experiences with some of the biggest names from entertainment and sport.

Riyadh Season content will appear on the front page of the DAZN app globally, featuring interactive features, while fans will also be able to access documentaries, news, trailers, interviews, as well as buy tickets and merchandise directly on the platform.

In addition, DAZN will be the global distributor and exclusive OTT broadcaster of Riyadh Season’s boxing events for outside the MENA region and collaborate on innovative features for boxing fans.

News

FOX Sports Mexico acquires the broadcast rights to All Elite Wrestling, one of the most spectacular professional wrestling brands in the world

October 10, 2024

“FOX Sports Mexico continues to expand its content offering for all fans of world-class professional wrestling.

We are proud to announce that we have acquired the multi-regional broadcast rights to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), one of the most important wrestling brands in the world, which has experienced unprecedented growth and fan acceptance since its inception in 2019.

Its popularity was demonstrated globally, holding the AEW All In event at Wembley Stadium, in London, where more than 50,000 fans attended.

With this long-term agreement, FOX Sports Mexico will broadcast all of AEW’s programs and special events, including AEW Dynamite, AEW Rampage & AEW Collision.

Beginning October 12, audiences will be able to watch one of the most impressive wrestling events in the world, AEW WrestleDream, which will take place in Tacoma, Washington. Other events to close out the year include AEW Full Gear on Saturday, November 23 and AEW World’s End on Saturday, December 28.

These events underscore AEW’s growing global presence, with its top pay-per-views attracting audiences in diverse regions and building a rapidly growing fan base. All Elite Wrestling features an extensive international cast of wrestlers, including big names such as Bryan Danielson, Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, Chris Jericho, FTR, The Young Bucks, Mercedes Moné, Will Ospreay, Adam Cole, Britt Baker, Saraya, Red Velvet and Toni Storm, to name a few.

We are sure that the audience in our country will be attracted to this exciting content, which also features the participation of Mexicans who have managed to consolidate themselves in AEW, such as Thunder Rosa, Komander, Hologram, The Beast Mortos and Dralistico, among others.

To complement the experience for our audience, FOX Sports Mexico will premiere the All Elite Show, an original production dedicated to analyzing the most relevant events of the week and previews of upcoming AEW events. This program will air every Monday night.

Get excited with AEW WrestleDream this October 12, where coverage will begin at 16:30PM (Mexico Time) with a previous program called Zero Hour, and then the stellar event starting at 18:00 hrs CDMX exclusively on FOX Sports Premium, or by downloading the Application, FOX Sports MX, with the quality that characterizes our broadcasts.”

Ranked: What the top 10 AFL and NRL team brands are worth

October 9, 2024

Australian Football League’s Collingwood is the most valuable sports club in Australia and is $30 million ahead of its nearest rival in a ranking of football teams by the worth of their brand. The Brisbane Broncos are the most valuable National Rugby League team.

Despite struggling to make the finals series this year after winning the premiership in 2023, the Magpies brand is worth $145 million, consultancy Brand Finance Australia said in a report. Carlton was the next best in the AFL at $115 million.

The NRL’s Broncos, Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs were among the top 10 brands across the two football competitions. Seven AFL clubs, all based in Victoria, make up the rest of the list.

The report also showed a high crossover of fans who follow both Australian rules and rugby league.

On-field success does not necessarily translate to brand value. The NRL’s Wests Tigers, for instance, are eleventh in the rankings (worth $42 million) despite coming last for the past three seasons. This year’s AFL grand finalists, the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions, sit 10th and 11th in their competition’s brand value rankings, worth $66 million and $64 million respectively.

But the best way for sports clubs to improve their brand value and strength was to win more matches, said Brand Finance managing director Mark Crowe.

The most lucrative brands have either a rich heritage or are operating in fast-growing markets, he said.

“Collingwood is generating significant commercial revenues, match day revenues, as clearly evidenced by the drawing capacity of nearly all the Melbourne clubs,” Mr Crowe said. “It’s the history and the heritage of the club.

“The Broncos have really benefited from the fact they were essentially a one-team town in Brisbane for most of its history. They had that benefit of being a very strong brand in a very strong market for rugby league.

“They’re very resilient and can continue to maintain their strength and value with less reliance on-field performance.”

How to measure a team’s brand value

Brand Finance has valued international sports brands for more than a decade, but the current report was the first time it has focused on Australian clubs. It ranked them based on two factors – brand value and brand strength.

Value looks at how much of a company’s profits are attributable to its “brand”. It is a combination of the strength score, how much it would cost to license the brand’s assets and the company’s forecast revenue. It includes a valuation of the trade name, trademarks and logo.

A brand’s strength is scored out of 100, measuring attributes such as marketing investment, financial performance and sustainability.

Collingwood, which had more members than any other AFL club in 2024, topped the brand strength list with 81.4 points. The Broncos were top of the NRL’s list and second when including AFL clubs, with 80.9 points.

The total brand value of the 35 clubs in the two codes combined was $2.3 billion – about $1.3 billion represented by the 18 AFL clubs and $1 billion from the 17 NRL teams.

Melbourne-based clubs – including NRL’s Melbourne Storm – contributed $878 million to the total figure.

Other clubs to feature near the top of the list include Carlton and Richmond, while West Coast is the most valuable non-Victorian AFL brand, worth $68 million. “When you look at the most valuable clubs, they’re not necessarily reflecting the competition ladder order,” Mr Crowe said. “That goes to the heart of a brand and its strength.”

The Broncos, who finished 12th before parting with coach Kevin Walters, are worth $124 million, the richest in rugby league. It is slightly ahead of recent four-time premiership winners the Penrith Panthers, worth $108 million.

One of the abnormalities in the NRL list is the Redcliffe Dolphins, a club that entered the top-tier competition in 2023. The Dolphins team is in ninth spot on the NRL brand value ranking list, ahead of teams such as the Newcastle Knights, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

“[The Dolphins] really demonstrate the opportunity in that south-east Queensland market. There’s … no real evidence the Dolphins have had a negative impact on the Broncos. In fact, it could be argued they’ve had a positive impact now there’s this [local] rivalry that didn’t exist before.“

The sports Australians follow

Australian rules football was the country’s most followed sport, Brand Finance found, with 76.3 per cent of more than 1000 people surveyed claiming to watch the game and 10.7 per cent declaring it their favourite.

Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they followed rugby league and 10.4 per cent listed it as the preferred sport. Forty-six per cent of respondents said they followed both codes.

“The AFL and NRL are just in such a commanding position because they’re offering content 40 weeks a year, which is just manna for media rights because you’ve just got that consistent offering,” Mr Crowe said.

Other popular sports in 2024 included the Olympics (73.4 per cent), cricket (62.6 per cent) and soccer (57.7 per cent). Tennis, Formula 1 and basketball also made the list, but rugby union was notably absent.

“You’re certainly seeing in the NRL the resurgence of two brands – Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the St George Illawarra Dragons. If they can continue to improve in terms of on-field performance, they are likely to strengthen considerably,” Mr Crowe said.

But there will always be some teams that struggle, particularly for newer clubs in competitive geographic areas. “The Gold Coast Suns and the GWS Giants are operating in nontraditional markets for the AFL where they’ve got two rival brands doing very well – the Swans and the Lions were in the grand final this year.

“They need to win, but even that alone is not proving to be necessarily of major short-term significance.” (AFR)

News

Netflix to Become New Home of WWE 'Raw' Beginning 2025

How UFC Got Social Media Right; WWE taking the fight online via social media and people power

Mike Tyson: News

PPV News

Sports Pay-Per-View Sporting Events In History

Dream Matches

Dana White's Contender Series

Josh Barnett's Bloodsport PFL (Professional Fighters League)

All Elite Wrestling: News

Wrestling News Boxing News

UFC News UFC.com

Combat Sports

December 14, 2024
Saturday Night's Main Event XXXVII

WWE Crown Jewel
November 2, 2024

November 30, 2024
WWE Survivor Series: WarGames

October 27, 2024
UFC 308
Etihad Arena
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway
Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev

October 13, 2024
UFC Fight Night Vegas
APEX, Las Vegas
Brandon Royval vs Tatsuro Taira

October 12, 2024
BKFC Spain
Marbella, Spain
3 Title Fights

WWE Bad Blood
Rhodes and Reigns vs The Bloodline
October 5, 2024
Atlanta, Georgia

October 6, 2024
UFC 307
Salt Lake City, Utah

September 29
UFC Fight Night France
Renato Moicano vs Benoît Saint Denis

WWE Speed

September 27, 2024
WWE SmackDown
Hayes vs Andrade 6

September 13, 2024
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
BKFC 66 - Blas vs Reber
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel. Hollywood, Florida

September 14
UFC
UFC Noche aka UFC 306
Sphere, Las Vegas
O'Malley vs Dvalishvili

September 14
Premier Boxing Champions
MGM T-Mobile Arena

News

Streaming Industry News

Olympics fuels US TV viewership in August

September 2024

US Television viewing in August was boosted by the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to The Gauge report from Nielsen. The Summer Games had the most notable impact on broadcast viewership, notching growth levels more typical for September with increases of 8 per cent versus July and 11.7 per cent year over year. The broadcast category ultimately accounted for 22 per cent of TV in August, and when looking week-by-week, its share peaked during the first week of the interval with 24.3 per cent of TV.

On the streaming side, Peacock offered broad Olympics coverage to complement linear offerings, the success of which was demonstrated by a monthly viewership increase of 39 per cent for the streaming service overall, and nearly double the amount of viewers aged 35-49. These factors helped lift Peacock from a 1.5 per cent share of TV in July to a new platform-best 2.1 per cent share in August (+0.6 pts.). It also makes Peacock only the third streaming platform this year to record a 0.5 point share increase or more on a monthly basis, in addition to YouTube (February and July) and Netflix (June).

Olympics programming on NBC drew millions of viewers in both primetime and daytime windows. Across all of NBC’s Olympics telecasts that aired during the August interval, 32 of them totaled more than 5 million viewers, and 17 garnered more than 10 million viewers. Moreover, Olympics telecasts on NBC notched the top 19 broadcast telecasts of the month. Leading the charge with 17.9 million viewers was NBC’s July 30th primetime programme that highlighted Simone Biles and the US women’s gymnastics team winning gold in the team competition, as well as four American medals in swimming and the dramatic bronze-medal victory by the US women’s rugby team.
From a total television usage perspective, August levels were even with July. However, a year-over-year comparison revealed a larger imbalance, as usage this month was up 3.5 per cent versus August 2023. A notable year-over-year difference was also evident among broadcast program genres, with broadcast sports programme viewership up 239 per cent over August 2023, further illustrating the impact of the Games on the overall TV landscape.

Like the broadcast category, cable also exhibited a peak viewing week that coincided with a major TV event. The Democratic National Convention aired for four nights across multiple networks during the final week of the August interval, and during that week, cable’s share of television climbed to 27.9 per cent. The DNC also contributed to the top cable programmes in August, with MSNBC receiving most of the benefits. MSNBC owned the top 11 cable telecasts of the month, and 14 of the top 15. ESPN’s coverage of the Florida State vs Georgia Tech football matchup snagged the 12th spot. In the end, cable viewing was down 2 per cent from July and finished the month with 26.3 per cent of TV.

After several consecutive remarkable months, the streaming category had a softer month in August from a content perspective, but remained the clear winner overall with 41 per cent of TV (down 1 per cent, -0.4 pts.). Only one original programme broke into the month’s top 10 – The Umbrella Academy on Netflix totaled 3.9 billion viewing minutes – while the rest went to acquired titles including Prison Break, which led the way with 5.4 billion minutes across Netflix and Paramount+. Bluey on Disney+ generated over 4 billion viewing minutes to secure the second most watched streaming title this month. The animated Australian import helped drive an 8 per cent increase for the streamer, as Disney+ reached a platform high of 2.3 per cent of TV in August. Some of the 8 per cent boost can also be attributed to Hulu content available within the Disney+ platform to certain package subscribers.

YouTube won the month among streaming services for the 19th consecutive interval, posting another category and platform best in August with 10.6 per cent of TV. Compared with August 2023, YouTube has the largest year-over-year difference in share for any streaming platform and has added 1.5 points to its share of TV (9.1 per cent to 10.6 per cent). Meanwhile, the overall streaming category has gained 2.7 points YoY and is up 11 per cent versus August 2023. (Wires)

UFC 307

Delta Center
Salt Lake City, Utah

October 5, 2024

Alex Pereira vs Khalil Rountree Jr

Raquel Pennington vs Julianna Peña

José Aldo Mario Bautista

Ketlen Vieira vs Kayla Harrison

Roman Dolidze vs Kevin Holland

Preliminary card:

Stephen Thompson vs Joaquin Buckley

Marina Rodriguez vs Iasmin Lucindo

Austin Hubbard vs Alexander Hernandez

César Almeida vs Ihor Potieria

Early prelims:

Ryan Spann vs Ovince Saint Preux

Carla Esparza vs Tecia Pennington

Court McGee vs Tim Means

Fighter Quotes:

"I owed them one, because I didn't get to fight last time" Stephen Thompson

"Obviously, I want to win the fight, but I also want to put on a good show" ... "Hopefully me and Joaquin will put that on this Saturday" ST

"Salt Lake City and Park City are in my top-10 favorite places in the world right now. This place is beautiful" Khalil Rountree Jr

"We had a fun time at the Utah Hockey Club game; great crowd, and a great team. They came out strong for an exhibition game. The fans are so supportive. "Amazing coffee shops, great food ... "I love to ski, so seeing all the ski slopes in Park City and what's out there — I'm a fan. I'll be back" Khalil Rountree Jr

"I think it's kind of cool" ... "That's definitely a fun way to look at it, especially from the fan standpoint, if they see Alex as the final boss. And I get to go and take my shot at the final boss" Khalil Rountree Jr

Grok News

UFC 307: Anticipation for Dual Belts

UFC 307, set in Salt Lake City, is generating significant anticipation among fans and fighters due to its high-stakes main event where two championship belts are at stake. The event features Alex Pereira defending his title against Khalil Rountree, with discussions focusing on Pereira's experience in title fights and Rountree's potential to cause an upset. Other notable fighters like Kayla Harrison, who weighed in at 136 lbs, and Jose Aldo, who made weight at 136 lbs, are also highlighted. The event promises intense fights, with fans and analysts predicting outcomes, discussing betting odds, and anticipating memorable moments. The excitement is palpable as the community looks forward to what could be one of the most violent and memorable nights in UFC history. (Grok)

News

UFC 307: High Stakes

UFC 307, scheduled for October 5, 2024, features two title fights that have captured significant attention from MMA enthusiasts. The main event highlights Alex Pereira defending his title against Khalil Rountree in what is anticipated to be a highly explosive fight, with many expecting a knockout. This marks Pereira's fourth title fight within a year, showcasing his dominance and experience at the top level. Additionally, Alexander Hernandez is favored in his bout, reflecting on his experience against tougher opponents. The event has spurred widespread discussion and predictions, with fans and analysts alike engaging in betting and sharing their expectations for various fights, particularly focusing on potential finishes. The community's anticipation is palpable, with many expecting standout performances across the card. (Grok)

News via Grok

October 5, 2024

UFC 307 Referee Controversy

At UFC 307, held on October 5, 2024, in Salt Lake City, there was significant controversy surrounding the refereeing, particularly during the fight between Cesar Almeida and Ihor Potieria. Here's a summary of what transpired based on fan reactions and reports:

Multiple Eye Pokes and Fouls: Fans and commentators expressed outrage over the referee's handling of fouls, particularly eye pokes. There were reports of at least four eye pokes, with one instance not even stopping the fight, and a low blow, all without any point deductions or stern warnings.

Clinch Separations: The referee was criticized for breaking up clinch situations too quickly, often within seconds of fighters engaging, which is seen as not allowing fighters to work their game plan effectively, especially in MMA where clinch work is a strategic part of fighting.

Public Reaction: Social media, specifically X posts, were flooded with criticism towards the referee's performance, with users calling for his removal or reassessment due to what they perceived as incompetence or bias. Phrases like "worst ref" and demands for his license to be revoked were common sentiments.

Fight Outcome Influence: While not directly impacting the official result, these refereeing decisions potentially influenced the fight's dynamics and possibly the fighters' strategies, leading to a broader discussion on how refereeing can affect the sport's integrity.

This event has sparked a broader conversation about referee standards in UFC, particularly how fouls are managed and the consistency in allowing fighters to execute their strategies, especially in clinch and ground positions. The controversy underscores ongoing issues within combat sports regarding referee training, decision-making under pressure, and the need for clearer guidelines or stricter enforcement of rules to maintain fairness in bouts. (Grok)

News

Lucindo's Split Decision Victory at UFC 307

Iasmin Lucindo secured a split decision victory over Marina Rodriguez at UFC 307. The judges' scores were close, with Lucindo winning by split decision with scores of 29-28 across the board, but split in favor of Lucindo. This fight was part of the undercard for UFC 307, which took place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 5, 2024.

The decision was met with mixed reactions. Some observers felt the fight could have gone either way due to its closeness, while others believed Rodriguez deserved the win. There was also mention of controversy, possibly related to eye pokes or other in-fight incidents, which added to the debate over the decision. However, the official outcome stands, with Lucindo gaining a crucial win in her career against a tough opponent like Rodriguez. (Grok)

News

UFC 307 Referee Controversy

During UFC 307, a referee overseeing the fight between Almeida and Potieria was heavily criticized for poor performance. The referee failed to adequately address multiple rule infractions, including several eye pokes and a groin shot, leading to widespread fan dissatisfaction. This led to calls for the referee's removal from future events, with some fans suggesting he should be fired. Subsequently, reports emerged that the UFC had indeed fired the referee, reflecting a response to the backlash and the perceived incompetence during the event. (Grok)

Criticism of Refereeing at UFC 307

During UFC 307, fans expressed widespread dissatisfaction with the performance of one of the referees. The referee was heavily criticized for perceived incompetence and poor decision-making throughout the event, with particular incidents involving eye pokes and a groin shot drawing ire. Fans online called for the referee's removal from future events, highlighting what they described as the worst refereeing they had seen in UFC history. The criticism was not focused on a single incident but rather the referee's overall handling of the fights, suggesting a broad consensus of disapproval. (Grok)

News

Carla Esparza's Career Celebration

Carla Esparza concluded her illustrious MMA career at UFC 307 on October 5, 2024, with a closely contested split-decision loss to Tecia Pennington. This fight marked her retirement from professional mixed martial arts, taking place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here are the key highlights from her career celebration and finale:

Career Retrospective: Esparza, known affectionately as "The Cookie Monster," celebrated a journey that included becoming the first-ever UFC Women's Strawweight Champion and regaining the title years later, showcasing her resilience and skill in the sport.

The Fight: Against Pennington, Esparza displayed her trademark wrestling, securing takedowns, but struggled with Pennington's striking, particularly leg kicks. Despite a competitive performance, the judges scored the fight in Pennington's favor, leading to Esparza's retirement decision.

Emotional Farewell: Post-fight, the event took an emotional turn as Joe Rogan, the UFC commentator, became visibly emotional during Esparza's post-fight interview. Esparza, holding her son dressed in a Cookie Monster onesie, thanked her fans and spoke about her journey, marking the end of her fighting career with grace.

Fan Reaction: The audience in Salt Lake City showed their appreciation for Esparza, booing Pennington's victory speech, but cheering loudly for Esparza during her retirement announcement, indicating her respect among fans despite her fighting style not always being the most exciting.

Legacy: Esparza's career highlights include not just her UFC championships but also her win on The Ultimate Fighter, her championship under Invicta FC, and her significant contributions to women's MMA, being recognized as a trailblazer in the division.

Retirement Speech: In her speech, Esparza reflected on her journey, from her beginnings in wrestling to becoming a pivotal figure in women's MMA, all while balancing her career with motherhood.

This event not only marked the end of Carla Esparza's fighting career but also celebrated her as a pioneer and a fighter who, through hard work and determination, made a lasting impact on women's mixed martial arts. (Grok)

News

Kayla Harrison Wins UFC 307 Decision

At UFC 307, Kayla Harrison secured a unanimous decision victory against Ketlen Vieira, with judges scoring the bout 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28. This win marked Harrison's second in the UFC, highlighting her skill despite experiencing her first career bloodshed. Post-fight, Harrison expressed her focus on becoming the best in the world rather than seeking fame or fortune, setting her sights on a title shot. However, the decision was not well-received by all in attendance, indicating some controversy or dissatisfaction with the judges' scores. Harrison's performance and subsequent comments have positioned her as a strong contender in the bantamweight division, potentially leading to significant future matchups. (Grok)

News

Buckley Knocks Out Thompson at UFC 307

At UFC 307, Joaquin Buckley achieved a notable victory by knocking out Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson in the third round, marking only the second knockout in Thompson's career. Buckley's win came via a powerful punch at 2:17 of the round. Additionally, Kayla Harrison secured a unanimous decision victory over Ketlen Vieira, despite experiencing her first significant bloodshed in the fight. Harrison's performance further solidified her standing in the UFC, showcasing her dominance in the women's division. (Grok)

News

UFC 307 Results

Here are the results from UFC 307 based on the information available:

Main Event: Alex Pereira defended his Light Heavyweight Championship against Khalil Rountree Jr. via TKO in the 4th round.

Co-Main Event: Julianna Peña defeated Raquel Pennington by split decision to win the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship.

Other Main Card Results:

Mario Bautista defeated Jose Aldo via split decision.
Roman Dolidze defeated Kevin Holland via TKO due to a rib injury.

Kayla Harrison won against Ketlen Vieira by unanimous decision.

Preliminary Card Results:

Joaquin Buckley knocked out Stephen Thompson in the third round.

Iasmin Lucindo won against Marina Rodriguez by split decision.

Alexander Hernandez defeated Austin Hubbard by split decision.

Cesar Almeida won against Ihor Potieria via unanimous decision.

These results summarize the key matches from UFC 307, reflecting a night of intense competition with significant outcomes in both the light heavyweight and bantamweight divisions.

Websites

UFC
http://ufc.com

UFC 307
http://ufc.com/event/ufc-307

UFC YouTube
http://youtube.com/@ufc

Combat Sports Week At Media Man; Elon Musk's X And Grok Take Publishers, Reporters, Fans Et Al Around The World Of Sports In A TKO Second!: Media Man

October 1, 2024

News

Alex Pereira's Arrival for UFC 307

Alex Pereira, known as 'Poatan', is gearing up for a highly anticipated UFC fight at UFC 307 against Khalil Rountree Jr., scheduled for October 2024. The fight week has begun with both fighters, including notable figures like Jose Aldo, checking in for the event. There's considerable excitement around this match, primarily due to the knockout capabilities of both fighters. Pereira has publicly stated his intention to 'break' Rountree, intensifying the event's buildup. Discussions and analyses have focused on Pereira's recent UFC activities, potential retirement, and the high stakes of the main event, suggesting it could be one of the most thrilling UFC main events recently. Additionally, Khalil Rountree hinted at employing a never-before-seen move during the fight, adding an element of mystery and anticipation. (Grok)

News

UFC 307 and DWCS Week 8

UFC 307 is generating significant buzz, particularly for the main event where Alex Pereira has promised an intense confrontation against Khalil Rountree, vowing to 'break' him. This fight is not only a highlight of the event but also showcases both fighters' formidable striking power, with predictions leaning towards a knockout rather than a decision. Alongside this main event, the UFC community is abuzz with excitement for other matchups, discussing fighters' skills and predicting outcomes. Concurrently, the Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS) Week 8 is taking place, spotlighting emerging talents like Christien Savoie, who are competing for the chance to earn UFC contracts. The DWCS not only serves as a platform for new fighters but also engages fans with live events and betting odds, adding another layer of anticipation and discussion around the UFC's upcoming events. (Grok)

News

UFC 307 Fight Week

UFC 307, scheduled for Saturday, features a highly anticipated main event between Alex Pereira, known for his striking prowess, and Khalil Rountree Jr., who has hinted at a unique move he might employ during the fight. The event has sparked considerable interest among fans and analysts, with discussions focusing on the fighters' capabilities and potential outcomes. Alongside the main event, the Dana White Contender Series (DWCS) Week 8 is also taking place, offering emerging fighters a chance to secure UFC contracts. Notable fighters like Jose Aldo, Kevin Holland, and Stephen Thompson are also highlighted, adding to the excitement with their upcoming matches. The event is set to be broadcast live, with various analyses and predictions circulating among enthusiasts. (Grok)

News

Torrez Finney's Third DWCS Victory

Torrez Finney achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first fighter to win three times on Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS). In his third appearance on DWCS, which took place on October 1, 2024, Finney secured a first-round TKO victory over Abdellah Er-Ramy. This performance not only marked his third win on the series but also showcased his dominant skills, leading to widespread acclaim across social media platforms, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter). Following this victory, there was a consensus among observers and fans that not offering Finney a UFC contract would be an oversight, given his undefeated record and his consistent performance under the DWCS spotlight. This achievement cements his status as a top prospect in the middleweight division, with many expecting him to finally receive a UFC contract. (Grok)

News

Khalil Rountree's Mystery Move at UFC 307

Ahead of UFC 307, Khalil Rountree Jr. has hinted at employing a unique, never-before-seen technique in his upcoming fight against Alex Pereira, the current light heavyweight champion. Rountree, known for his striking prowess, aims to dethrone Pereira with a knockout, seeking to establish himself as a formidable force in the UFC. The event has drawn significant attention, with fans and analysts speculating on Rountree's strategy and the potential outcome of this high-stakes match. Meanwhile, new sparring footage of Pereira with Sean Strickland has been released, showcasing Pereira's skills and improvement in English. Other notable fighters like Kevin Holland and Jose Aldo are also featured in the event, but the main event between Pereira and Rountree remains the focal point, with expectations set high for an explosive encounter. (Grok)

News

Diyar Nurgozhay's Head Kick KO

Diyar Nurgozhay recently showcased his striking prowess at Dana White's Contender Series, where he secured a notable victory via a head kick knockout against Bartosz Szewczyk during the light heavyweight bout at DWCS 74. This event took place on October 1, 2024, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Nurgozhay, maintaining his undefeated record, delivered the knockout in the second round, further solidifying his reputation in the MMA community. This performance not only electrified the audience but also significantly boosted his potential for earning a UFC contract, given the platform's purpose of scouting new talent for the UFC roster. This victory adds to Nurgozhay's highlight reel, known for his finishing capabilities, as he continues his journey with an eye on the UFC. (Grok)

News

New WWENXT Logo Debuts on The CW

WWE NXT has introduced a new logo as part of its transition to The CW network, marking the beginning of a new era for the wrestling brand. The rebranding, effective from October 1, 2024, aims to evoke a more classic aesthetic. The debut on The CW was highlighted by various wrestling personalities and news outlets, with many expressing enthusiasm for the new look and the show's premiere. The debut episode featured significant matches, including a championship bout and a street fight, indicating a strong start to NXT's new chapter on The CW. (Grok)

News

Roxanne Perez Retains NXT Title with Cora Jade's Return

Roxanne Perez successfully defended her NXT Women's Championship against Giulia in a recent WWE NXT event, marked by an unexpected twist when Cora Jade returned to assist Perez in retaining her title. This intervention was pivotal in Perez's victory, sparking varied reactions among fans. While some expressed disappointment with the match's conclusion and the manner of Giulia's defeat, others were thrilled by Cora Jade's comeback, anticipating new storylines. Despite the controversial finish, the match received praise for its quality. (Grok)

News

Mixed Reactions to New NXT Titles

Based on the information gathered from posts on X and general web sentiment, the introduction of new NXT titles has generated a mix of reactions among fans and observers:

Design Critique: There's a noticeable divide over the aesthetic of the new NXT titles. Some fans have expressed a preference for the previous designs, particularly the "rainbow titles" which were admired for their vibrant yet balanced color scheme. The new designs have been described by some as less appealing initially, but there's an acknowledgment that acceptance might grow over time. For instance, one user likened the transition in perception from the old to the new titles humorously, suggesting that while the initial reaction might be negative, eventual adaptation is expected.

Nostalgia and Change: The change in title designs seems to reflect broader changes within NXT, including its move to The CW network. This shift has stirred mixed feelings, with some fans feeling nostalgic about the "black and gold" era of NXT, which these new titles symbolically depart from. However, there's also excitement about what this change could mean for NXT's future, especially with the involvement of figures like Shawn Michaels in crafting the new era.

Performance and Presentation: Despite mixed feelings about the titles' design, there's a consensus on the quality of the matches and the presentation of NXT on The CW. The debut of NXT on this new platform, highlighted by significant matches like Ethan Page vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Title, and the involvement of high-profile figures or matchups, indicates that while the titles themselves might be divisive, the content and direction of NXT are still highly anticipated and discussed.

Fan Engagement: The new titles have certainly engaged the fanbase, sparking conversations not just about design but about what these changes signify for NXT's identity and its place within WWE's broader ecosystem. This engagement ranges from criticism to cautious optimism, with some fans seeing it as a necessary evolution for NXT to stand out in the crowded landscape of wrestling entertainment.

Cultural and Identity Shifts: There's an underlying discussion about what these titles represent for NXT's brand identity. Some fans have humorously or critically remarked on the choice of design, questioning if it aligns with NXT's desire to carve out a unique identity or if it's merely a shift for the sake of change. This touches on broader themes of brand evolution and fan acceptance of change in professional wrestling.

In summary, while the new NXT titles have sparked a variety of reactions from critique over their design to nostalgia for previous eras, there's an underlying excitement about the narrative and performance aspects of NXT's new chapter. The conversation around these titles encapsulates fans' emotional connection to NXT's history and their hopes or concerns for its future under its new presentation. (Grok)

News

Wes Lee Wins Street Fight at WWENXT

During a recent WWE NXT event, Wes Lee defeated Zachary Wentz in a highly praised street fight. The match, described as both brutal and entertaining, featured intense action characteristic of street fights. Both wrestlers received acclaim for their performance, with fans and commentators noting the match as a highlight of the evening's programming. The fight included dramatic moments, such as Wentz missing a table dive, adding to the spectacle. This victory for Wes Lee was celebrated, with many expressing enthusiasm for the match's quality and hoping for future encounters between the two. (Grok)

News

WWE Bad Blood

WWE Bad Blood is making a comeback in 2024, marking the fourth event under this name and the first since 2004. Here's what you need to know:

Event Date and Location: The event is scheduled for Saturday, October 5, 2024, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. This date coincides with the 27th anniversary of the first Bad Blood event.

Broadcast Details: Bad Blood 2024 will be available via traditional pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and will also air on WWE's streaming platforms, specifically Peacock in the United States and WWE Network internationally.

Historical Significance: The original Bad Blood in 1997 introduced the Hell in a Cell match, which has been a staple of the event, including in its previous iterations in 2003 and 2004.

Matches and Card: One of the main matches includes Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship, with a unique twist where Dominik Mysterio will be suspended above the ring in a shark cage to prevent interference.

There's also speculation and reports about a Hell in a Cell match between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, though there was some uncertainty about whether this would be the main event or if a tag team match involving Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Solo Sikoa, and possibly Jacob Fatu would close the show. However, recent discussions and fan reactions suggest a strong possibility of Punk vs. McIntyre main eventing due to the historical significance of Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood.

Themes and Anniversaries: The event is not only a nod to its own history but also leverages the anniversary of the first Hell in a Cell match. The involvement of high-profile figures like CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and the intertwining storylines with Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes adds layers to the event's narrative.

Fan and Industry Buzz: There's considerable excitement around the return of Bad Blood, especially concerning how WWE will utilize the Hell in a Cell structure this time, given its history with the event. Fan posts on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) show anticipation for the matches, particularly the potential main events, and how WWE might script the outcomes to impact ongoing WWE storylines.

This event represents not just a wrestling spectacle but a significant moment in WWE's calendar, blending nostalgia with current rivalries, making Bad Blood 2024 a must-watch for WWE fans. (Grok)

News

Beterbiev vs Bivol: Clash of the Undefeated

The latest on Beterbiev vs. Bivol, titled "Clash of the Undefeated," centers around their upcoming fight scheduled for October 12, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here's what's been circulating and reported:

Fight Details: Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will face Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) in a unification bout for the IBF, WBC, WBO, and WBA light heavyweight titles, marking a significant event in boxing as both fighters are undefeated.

Beterbiev's Condition: After a knee injury forced a postponement from an initially planned June fight, Beterbiev has confirmed his 100% recovery and readiness for this bout. His approach to training and recovery underscores his intent to maintain his 100% knockout record.

Bivol's Perspective: Dmitry Bivol has expressed that this fight is not personal but a professional challenge to become the undisputed champion. His strategy likely involves his well-known boxing skills, with an emphasis on counterpunching and movement, aiming to possibly outbox or even, as speculated by some like Chris Algieri, potentially knock down Beterbiev.

Public and Expert Opinions: There's a mix of predictions and excitement around this match. Some fans and analysts believe Bivol's boxing IQ and defensive skills might give him an edge, while others favor Beterbiev's relentless pressure and knockout power. The discussion often revolves around whether Bivol's style can withstand or adapt to Beterbiev's aggressive tactics.

Undercard and Event: The undercard features notable fights, enhancing the event's appeal. Names like Chris Eubank Jr., Fabio Wardley, and Jai Opetaia add to the night's boxing spectacle.

General Sentiment: The fight is widely anticipated as one of the biggest in 2024, not just for the titles at stake but for the clash of styles and the potential for defining moments in both fighters' careers. The narrative around this fight often highlights the rarity of seeing two such high-caliber, undefeated champions facing off, especially at light heavyweight.

This event is not just a fight for belts but is seen as a significant moment in boxing, where the outcome could solidify one fighter's legacy or dramatically alter perceptions of both in the sport. (Grok)

News

AEW Dynamite 5-Year Anniversary Show

The AEW Dynamite 5-Year Anniversary Show, set for October 2, 2024, at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA, is gearing up to be a landmark event for All Elite Wrestling. Here's what's on the slate based on the latest information:

Main Event: A high-stakes, title-for-title match is scheduled where Bryan Danielson will defend his AEW World Championship against Kazuchika Okada, who is bringing his AEW Continental Championship into the match. However, there's a twist: Okada's championship will only be on the line for the first 20 minutes of the match. If the match goes beyond that, only Danielson's AEW World Championship remains in contention.

Another Title Defense: Will Ospreay will defend his AEW International Championship against Ricochet. This match has been highlighted as part of the anniversary celebration.

Other Matches:
Hangman Adam Page is set to face Juice Robinson. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. will return for a match, although the opponent hasn't been specified in the latest updates provided, there was mention of her facing Serena Deeb in some fan discussions or reports.

Special Features: The episode is not just about the matches but also about celebrating five years of AEW Dynamite. Tony Khan, AEW's President, has teased a significant announcement which could potentially set the tone for the future of AEW. This adds an element of anticipation beyond the in-ring action.

Broadcast Details: The show will have a significant overrun, courtesy of TBS Network, indicating more content than the usual runtime, possibly to accommodate the extra matches or the celebration elements.

This anniversary episode is not just a showcase of wrestling talent but also a milestone for AEW, marking its growth and the journey it has had over the past five years. The inclusion of champion vs. champion matches underscores AEW's commitment to big matches on big nights, promising fans a memorable event to commemorate this occasion. (Grok)

News

Danielson vs. Okada: Title-for-Title Match

On the 5-year anniversary of AEW Dynamite, a significant wrestling event is scheduled for October 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh, PA, where Bryan Danielson, the AEW World Champion, will face Kazuchika Okada, holder of the AEW Continental Title. This match is unique as it features a title-for-title stipulation with a twist: the Continental Championship, which usually has a 20-minute time limit, will only be at stake for the first 20 minutes of the match. However, the World Championship, with its 60-minute time limit, will remain in contention for the entire duration. This setup has sparked varied reactions among wrestling fans, with some questioning the effectiveness of the stipulation, while others are excited about the potential of the match. The event is set to be a highlight of AEW Dynamite's milestone celebration, pitting two of wrestling's top talents against each other in what promises to be a memorable clash. (Grok)

News

Conor McGregor's Stroll on Emirates Pitch

Conor McGregor was spotted walking around the Emirates Stadium pitch following Arsenal's victory over PSG in the Champions League. Videos and photos showed McGregor enjoying himself, including interactions with Arsenal player Declan Rice. This appearance led to various reactions and discussions online, with many finding amusement in McGregor's post-match activities. Meanwhile, Arsenal secured a 2-0 win against PSG, with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka. The match also marked the debut of Mikel Merino for Arsenal, who joined from Real Sociedad. Additionally, Thomas Partey was highlighted for his exceptional performance during the game. However, there were concerns about Jurrien Timber, who felt a muscular issue during the match, prompting Arsenal to manage his playing time carefully. (Grok)

Combat Sports News/Profile via Grok

Combat sports encompass a wide range of athletic competitions where the primary objective is to physically subdue an opponent. Here's a brief overview of some popular forms:

1. Boxing

Origin: Ancient Greece, but modern boxing is often associated with 18th-19th century England.

Rules: Competitors use only their fists, wearing gloves, and aim to score points by landing punches on the opponent's upper body or head. A fight can end by knockout (KO), technical knockout (TKO), or points decision.

2. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Origin: While various forms of mixed combat have existed historically, modern MMA was popularized through events like the UFC starting in the 1990s.

Rules: Allows a mix of striking and grappling techniques from various martial arts. Fighters can win by knockout, submission (tap out), judges' decision, or disqualification.

3. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Origin: Derived from judo in Brazil in the early 20th century, made famous by the Gracie family.

Rules: Emphasizes ground fighting and submission holds. Competitors aim to force a submission through joint locks or chokeholds. Points can also be scored for position control and takedowns.

4. Wrestling

Freestyle and Greco-Roman: Common in the Olympics, Greco-Roman restricts holds below the waist.

Professional Wrestling (Pro Wrestling): More entertainment-focused, with choreographed matches, high flying moves, and storylines.

5. Kickboxing

Origin: A group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching. It evolved from Karate, Muay Thai, and Western boxing.

Rules: Similar to boxing but includes kicks. Variants include allowing knee strikes and elbows (influenced by Muay Thai).

6. Muay Thai

Origin: Thailand, known as the "Art of Eight Limbs" because it uses punches, kicks, elbows, and knees.

Rules: Similar to kickboxing but with a heavier emphasis on clinching (a kind of standing grapple) and use of all eight points of contact.

7. Judo

Origin: Japan, developed by Jigoro Kano in the late 19th century as a physical, mental, and moral pedagogy.

Rules: Based on throws (Nage-waza) and ground techniques (Katame-waza). The objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize them, or force a submission through joint locks or strangles.

8. Karate

Origin: Okinawa, Japan, with influences from Chinese martial arts.

Styles: Many styles with different focuses, but generally emphasizes striking with punches, kicks, knee strikes, and open-hand techniques like knife-hands.

9. Taekwondo

Origin: Korea, developed in the 1940s and 1950s.
Rules: Known for its high, fast, and spinning kicks.

Competitors score points in Olympic Taekwondo for strikes to the torso or head.

10. Krav Maga

Origin: Israel, designed as a self-defense system for the Israel Defense Forces.

Rules: Not typically a sport, but some organizations hold competitions. Focuses on real-world scenarios, aiming to neutralize threats quickly and efficiently.

Each combat sport has its unique culture, training methods, and competitive environments, reflecting diverse historical, cultural, and practical contexts. If you're interested in any particular sport, each has its own set of governing bodies, leagues, and famous athletes or events that could be explored further! (Grok)

Combat Sports

UFC 308 UFC 307

UFC 308 (Wikipedia)

UFC 307 (Wikipedia)

UFC News via Grok; X's Grok Helps Fans, News Publishers And Sports Promoters Win The Grapple With The Web: Media Man

News

UFC UFC 308 Anticipation

UFC 308, scheduled for next month in Abu Dhabi, has generated significant excitement among fans following the release of its official poster. The event features notable fighters including Khamzat Chimaev, whose participation is of particular interest due to his past health challenges. The poster has been widely praised for its design, with many considering it one of the best in UFC history, although the absence of women's fights has sparked some debate. Overall, UFC 308 is anticipated to be a highlight of the year, highlighted by its strong lineup and the return to Abu Dhabi. (Grok)

News

UFC 308 Poster Reception

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to host UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on October 26, 2024, marking another significant international event for the organization. The event has sparked considerable excitement among MMA fans, primarily due to the release of its official poster, which has received widespread acclaim for its design. Fans and commentators have praised the poster online, with many expressing high expectations for the fight card, suggesting it could be one of the best of the year. The anticipation for UFC 308 not only highlights the event's high-profile nature but also underscores UFC's ongoing global expansion and its strong presence in the United Arab Emirates. (Grok)

News

Anticipation for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to host UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on October 26, 2024, generating significant excitement among fans. The event's official poster has been praised for its design, with many fans and commentators expressing high enthusiasm for the upcoming fights. Discussions have highlighted anticipation for performances by fighters like Khamzat Chimaev, with some fans expressing concerns about potential withdrawals due to health issues. The event is viewed as a showcase of UFC's international presence, particularly in the UAE, and is considered by some to potentially be one of the best fight cards of the year. (Grok)

Official Websites

UFC
http://ufc.com

UFC 308
http://ufc.com/event/ufc-308

UFC YouTube
http://youtube.com/UFC

Media Man: Strong thumbs up to UFC and Grok.

Combat Sports Week

September 11,2024
WWE Speed
Naomi vs Blair Davenport

September 13, 2024
WWE SmackDown
Cody Rhodes vs Solo Sikoa - Steel Cage Match - Undisputed WWE Title
Climate Pledge Arena Seattle, Washington

September 13, 2024
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
BKFC 66 - Blass vs Reber
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel. Hollywood, Florida

September 14
UFC
UFC Noche aka UFC 306
Sphere, Las Vegas
O'Malley vs Dvalishvili

September 14
Premier Boxing Champions
MGM T-Mobile Arena

News

Streaming Media Industry Disruptions Continue

Additional Mergers And Acquisitions Forecast

Live Sport Major Draw As Per Netflix

Compelling Storylines And Series Keeps Audience Coming Back For More As Per WWE

Combat Sports Storytelling And Talent Elevation As Per Dana Whites Contenders Series

Free Services With Ads Supported Has Taken Some Audience As Per Tubi

YouTube Cemented As Major Challenge To Netflix

Paramount's Quality And Iconic Movies Keep Them Valuable Commodity, Despite Bottom Line Loss

X Corp's X Platform One To Watch For Major Industry Disruption; WWE Speed Deal With WWE Just A Minor Preview Of What's On The Cards

News

September 2024

Combat Sports News Via Media Man, X And Grok

Combat Sports News; Publishers Assisted By Elon Musk Owned X/Grok To Cover Massive Sports Weekend; X's Grok Enjoys Positive Momentum. Sports And Media Agents Keen For News Developments Re X Sports PPV's, Special Sporting Events Via Musk's Platforms, Grok Climbs Further Towards Netflix And YouTube, Not All Data Is In Public Domain. X The Everything App Becomes More Real Each Month. Battle For Eyeballs, Hearts And Minds Continues, X A Fav With Free Thinkers Which Aligns With Combat Sports Arena: Media Man

News

AEW All Out Highlights

Based on the information available up to September 8, 2024, here are the highlights from AEW All Out:

MJF vs. Daniel Garcia: The match ended with Daniel Garcia attempting a high-risk move, a piledriver off the ropes, showcasing a dramatic and high-stakes conclusion to their feud.

AEW World Championship Match: Bryan Danielson successfully defended his title against Jack Perry. The match concluded with Danielson hitting a series of Busaiku Knees, with the final one leading to Perry's defeat. Post-match, there was a significant angle where Killswitch attacked Danielson, setting up a potential challenge by Christian Cage, but this was thwarted by the Blackpool Combat Club (BCC). However, the BCC, including Jon Moxley, turned on Danielson in a shocking twist, with Moxley even putting a plastic bag over Danielson's head until he passed out.

Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Adam Page and Swerve Strickland had an extremely brutal match, described by fans and commentators as one of the highlights of the event, with Page ultimately winning after the referee stopped the match due to Strickland's condition.

AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Mone retained her title against Hikaru Shida, though the match was described as underwhelming compared to other bouts on the card.

Post-Show Reactions: The event was praised for its intensity, particularly the Page vs. Strickland match, which was compared to legendary hardcore matches for its brutality. The turn of events with Bryan Danielson and the BCC was also a major talking point, indicating significant storyline developments.

General Sentiment: Fans and reviewers highlighted the event for its high stakes, dramatic finishes, and unexpected turns, especially in the world title scene and the lights out match, marking AEW All Out as a memorable event in AEW's history for its storytelling and in-ring action.

These highlights reflect a night filled with intense wrestling action, significant character developments, and unexpected twists, making AEW All Out 2024 a notable event in professional wrestling. (Grok)

News

Hangman and Swerve's Brutal Showdown at AEW All Out

At the AEW All Out event, the cage match between Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland was marked by its intense and brutal nature, drawing significant attention and discussion for its violence and the physical endurance displayed by both wrestlers. The match, described as potentially career-defining, showcased high stakes and extreme physicality, with fans and observers expressing a mix of shock and admiration. Despite the brutality, efforts were made to ensure safety. The event has sparked widespread discussion regarding its impact and the ongoing rivalry between Hangman and Swerve, with many highlighting the match's brutality and its implications for future encounters. (Grok)

News

MJF Triumphs at AEW All Out

At AEW All Out, MJF emerged victorious against Daniel Garcia in a fiercely contested opening match, highlighted by Garcia's aggressive start and a dramatic piledriver from the top rope post-match. The event also showcased a highly praised match between PAC and Will Ospreay, celebrated for its athletic prowess and storytelling, which received widespread acclaim. Additionally, the tag team match featuring Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander was noted for its intensity. The night concluded with a dramatic 'Final Countdown' segment, intensifying the audience's excitement. (Grok)

Young Bucks Retain AEW Tag Titles

At AEW All Out, The Young Bucks successfully defended their AEW World Tag Team Championships against Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta. The event was highlighted by a critically acclaimed match between Will Ospreay and PAC, noted for its intensity and quality. The night began with a match between MJF and Daniel Garcia, where MJF won after a competitive and physically demanding contest. The event showcased several high-energy matches, captivating the audience with the athleticism and storytelling of professional wrestling. (Grok)

News

McCool's Return in WWE 2K24

Michelle McCool is featured as a playable character in "WWE 2K24," included in the game's roster as part of the Global Superstars Pack. This pack was released on September 18, 2024, marking her return to the WWE video game series. She's categorized under the Legends section, and this inclusion marks her 7th appearance in the main WWE Games series. There has been positive sentiment around her inclusion, with fans expressing excitement about her return to the game on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where her flawless representation both in and out of the ring has been highlighted. (Grok)

News

Padilla's Devastating Elbow at UFC Vegas 97

During UFC Vegas 97, Chris Padilla executed a notable elbow strike against his opponent, Rongzhu, which led to significant swelling and closure of Rongzhu's eye, forcing him to withdraw from the fight. This move was widely recognized for its precision and impact, showcasing Padilla's fighting prowess. The event sparked discussions among fans and commentators who praised the effectiveness of the strike while also expressing concern for Rongzhu's injury. (Grok)

News

Andrade vs Silva Highlights UFC Vegas 97

At UFC Vegas 97, Jessica Andrade fought against Natalia Silva in a match noted for its intensity. Silva showcased superior speed and agility, effectively using her footwork and combinations to outmanoeuvre Andrade, who focused on power and pressure. Despite Andrade's efforts, Silva's performance was highlighted for its effectiveness in controlling the fight. The match ended with some observers scoring it 30-27 in favor of Silva, emphasizing her striking and defensive skills against a formidable opponent. Additionally, the event featured a notable incident where Chris Padilla delivered a severe elbow strike that caused significant injury to his opponent's eye, leading to the fight's stoppage. (Grok)

News

UFC Vegas 97: Natalia Silva

At UFC Vegas 97, Natalia Silva showcased a dominant performance against Jessica Andrade in the co-main event. Here's a rundown based on the information available up to September 8, 2024:

Outcome: Natalia Silva defeated Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27 in her favor.

Performance Highlights: Silva demonstrated exceptional striking, keeping Andrade at bay with a variety of strikes, including rapid punches and spinning wheel kicks. Her strategy involved excellent footwork and movement around the cage, which prevented Andrade from effectively closing the distance.
Despite Andrade's attempts to pressure and engage in close-quarters combat, Silva's defense, particularly her takedown defense, was notable. She managed to fend off Andrade's grappling attempts, showcasing adaptability and skill in maintaining her preferred striking range.
Silva's performance was described as a striking clinic, with her outstriking Andrade significantly, using her speed and precision to accumulate points and damage over the three rounds.

Post-Fight: Both fighters received a $50,000 bonus for their performance, indicating the fight was considered highly competitive or entertaining despite the decisive scoreline.
Silva's victory has positioned her as a significant contender in the flyweight division, with discussions about her readiness for a title shot, although she acknowledged the upcoming title defense by Alexa Grasso against Valentina Shevchenko.

Public and Media Sentiment: Posts on X (formerly Twitter) and various reports highlighted Silva's impressive performance, focusing on her footwork, striking accuracy, and her ability to control the fight's pace and distance. There was a clear acknowledgment of Silva's growth and potential in the UFC.

This event not only marked another win for Silva but also cemented her status as a top contender in the UFC's flyweight division, with her performance against a former champion like Andrade being a significant statement of her capabilities. (Grok)

News

Garcia's Knockout Streak at UFC Vegas 97

Steve Garcia, known as 'The Mean Machine,' has solidified his reputation in the UFC by securing five consecutive knockout victories at UFC Vegas 97, with his latest win against Kyle Nelson via a notable elbow strike. His aggressive style and finishing power have not only impressed fans and analysts but also led to discussions about potential matchups against top-tier fighters like Giga Chikadze or Calvin Kattar. Garcia's performance has drawn comparisons to fighters like Carlos Condit, marking a significant resurgence in his career. Meanwhile, Sean Brady defeated Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision in a match that went the distance, showcasing Brady's wrestling and striking improvements. The fight was marked by intense exchanges, including controversial moments like back-to-back low blows, highlighting the competitive and sometimes contentious nature of their bout. (Grok)

News

Brady's Unanimous Win over Burns

Sean Brady secured a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, marking a significant win in his career. Here's what we gathered from the event:

Fight Dynamics: Brady was dominant throughout the fight, utilizing a strategy that involved both striking and grappling. Despite Burns landing some significant strikes, Brady's overall activity, control, and volume of strikes led to his victory. He managed to take Burns down multiple times and controlled much of the fight's pace and positioning.

Judges' Scorecards: The judges scored the bout 50-45, 50-45, and 49-46 in favor of Brady, indicating a clear win with his performance being favored across all rounds by the judges.

Reactions: Fighters and analysts on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) expressed that Brady looked impressive, with some noting his wrestling and improved striking. There was a sentiment that while Burns had moments of success, Brady's consistent performance from start to finish was the deciding factor.

Implications: This win propels Brady further up the welterweight rankings, with some suggesting he's now among the elite in the division and could be considered a title threat. Discussions post-fight included potential future matchups, with names like Usman being mentioned.

Burns' Performance: Although Burns showed resilience and landed some of the fight's most significant strikes, it wasn't enough to sway the judges. This fight might be seen as a testament to both his durability and the challenge of facing a rising contender like Brady.

Career Impact: For Brady, this victory over a former title challenger like Burns is a substantial boost, likely improving his ranking and setting him up for potentially bigger fights in the welterweight division. For Burns, at 38, this might be indicative of a challenging phase in his career, especially after facing top talents back-to-back.

From posts and reactions on X, the consensus seems to be that Brady not only won but did so in a manner that showcased his growth as a fighter, potentially setting the stage for a title run in the near future. (Grok)

News

BKFC

Based on the latest information available up to September 8, 2024, here's what's happening in the world of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC):

BKFC 65 was a significant event recently, held at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, UT. Christine “Misfit” Ferea defended her BKFC World Women’s Flyweight Championship title for the fourth time in the main event. The event featured several notable fights, including Jeremy Stephens securing a win in the co-main event, and various other fighters making their mark with victories by TKO or KO.

Fighter Faceoffs and Weigh-Ins: Photos from the BKFC 65 weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs were made available, indicating pre-event activities that build up to the fights, showcasing the fighters' readiness and intensity before the event.

Community Engagement on X: There's chatter on X (formerly known as Twitter) about potential future announcements from fighters possibly signing with BKFC, indicating fan speculation and interest in fighters' career moves.

No Direct Updates on New Events or Signings: As of the latest updates, there haven't been specific announcements regarding upcoming events beyond BKFC 65 or new high-profile signings directly from BKFC's official channels or related discussions on X. However, the community remains active, discussing potential matchups and the outcomes of recent fights.

For the most current and detailed updates, or if there's interest in specific fighters or upcoming events, checking the official BKFC website or their official social media channels would provide the most accurate information. (Grok)

News

Professional Fighters League (PFL)

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) league known for its innovative approach to MMA competition, where fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship format, similar to traditional sports leagues. Here are some key updates and features about the PFL:

Format: The PFL operates on a sports-season format, which includes a regular season where fighters accumulate points based on their performance (wins, knockouts, submissions), followed by playoffs and a championship event. This structure aims to incentivize fighters to perform at their best in every fight.

SmartCage™: PFL introduced the SmartCage, which is equipped with technology to capture real-time data during fights. This includes biometric data like heart rate, performance metrics like the speed and number of strikes, and positional data. This technology enhances viewer engagement by providing live stats during broadcasts, known as Cagenomics™.

GhostCam™: This is another technological innovation by PFL, allowing viewers to see the action inside the cage without the visual obstruction of the cage mesh, providing an "in the cage" viewing experience.

Recent Developments: Acquisition of Bellator: PFL acquired Bellator MMA, which has led to discussions and some confusion among fans regarding the integration of the two promotions, including how fighters from both leagues will be managed, and the distribution of their events across different platforms like ESPN for PFL and potentially others for Bellator.
Rule Differences: There's been notable discussion around rule differences, particularly the ban on elbow strikes in PFL which contrasts with other promotions like Bellator where elbows are allowed. This has sparked debate among fans and fighters about the consistency and fairness in MMA rules across different leagues. International Expansion: PFL announced the launch of PFL MENA, targeting the Middle East and North Africa market, indicating a strategic move towards global expansion.
Fighter Contracts and Advocacy: Jake Paul has been involved with PFL, not just as a fighter but in roles related to fighter advocacy and promotion, aiming to improve conditions and opportunities for fighters.

Fan and Fighter Sentiment: Recent posts on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) reflect a mix of frustration and enthusiasm among fans and fighters. There's criticism over rule sets, the handling of fighter contracts, and the overall direction of the league post-acquisition of Bellator. However, there's also excitement about the technological advancements and the potential for more competitive and financially rewarding opportunities for fighters.

Event Schedule: Upcoming events include the "Battle of the Giants PPV" scheduled for October 19, indicating continued high-profile events aimed at showcasing top talent in the heavyweight division.

The PFL continues to evolve, focusing on technological innovation, fighter welfare, and global expansion, while also navigating the complexities of merging with Bellator and managing fan expectations regarding rules and fighter treatment. (Grok)

News

Nurmagomedov Defends Bellator Title

Usman Nurmagomedov successfully defended his Bellator Lightweight Championship against Alexander Shabliy at Bellator Champions Series: San Diego on September 7, 2024. The fight concluded with Nurmagomedov winning via unanimous decision with the judges' scorecards reading 50-45, 49-46, and 49-46. This victory marked Nurmagomedov's record to 18-0, maintaining his undefeated streak and his reign as the Bellator lightweight champion. The event was notable for its tactical nature, with Nurmagomedov showcasing a calculated approach to retain his title. Posts on X (formerly Twitter) and various MMA news outlets celebrated Nurmagomedov's defense, with many highlighting his dominance and the strategic depth of the fight. (Grok)

News

Mike Tyson - Jake Paul

The boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul has drawn significant attention due to the unique pairing of a legendary former heavyweight champion, Tyson, with the YouTube-star-turned-boxer, Paul. Here's what you need to know based on the latest available information up to September 8, 2024:

Rescheduled Date: The fight was initially set for July 20, 2024, but was postponed due to a medical issue involving Mike Tyson. It has been rescheduled for November 15, 2024.

Venue: The bout will still take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which is known for being the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Streaming: The event will be streamed live on Netflix, marking one of Netflix's ventures into live sports events.

Fight Details: The match is sanctioned as a professional fight, not an exhibition, despite initial ambiguity. They will fight over eight two-minute rounds using 14-ounce gloves.

Background: Mike Tyson, at 57, is stepping back into the ring after his last professional fight in 2005, although he did have an exhibition match with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020. Jake Paul, much younger at 27, has been actively boxing since 2018, with a professional record of 9-1.

Health Issue: Tyson experienced an ulcer flare-up which led to the postponement, ensuring he had adequate time to recover and train.

Public Interest: There's considerable intrigue around this fight due to the age difference, the blending of entertainment with professional boxing, and the question of how Paul's relatively new boxing skills will fare against Tyson's legendary prowess, albeit aged.

Additional Fights: The event card also includes a highly anticipated rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano for the undisputed junior welterweight championship.

Viewing Information: For those interested in watching, the fight card will be exclusively available on Netflix, with no specific start time mentioned yet for the main event.

This match-up represents a crossover between different eras of boxing and entertainment, drawing eyes from both traditional boxing fans and those who follow Paul from his YouTube fame. (Grok)

News

Pro Wrestling And Combat Sports News via Media Man

September and October 2024

WWE @WWE SmackDown - Rogers Place. Edmonton, Alberto, Canada - September 6, 2024. The Bloodline, Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair. Cody Rhodes to address Solo Sikoa and much more.

WWE Bad Blood - State Farm Arena. Atlanta, Georgia. October 5, 2024. WWE and AEW Legend Bully Ray states CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre in a the cell is a "no brainer"! This Bad Blood will be the 27th anniversary since the first Hell In A Cell match!

WWE Raw - new Raw announcer Joe Tessitore well received by WWE universe; Pat McAfee returns to ESPN's College Game Day. On Tessitore, "I thought for night on he did a fine job" Bully Ray. Fellow wrestling legend Nick Nemeth FKA Dolph Ziggler per Busted Open Radio, I really liked his voice. I liked how it went. I like the emotion he had with it".

WWE Halloween Havoc - Giant Centre. Hershey, Pennsylvania - October 27, 2024

WWE Crown Jewel - Kingdom Arena - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 2, 2024

WWE Survivor Series: WarGames - Rogers Arena - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

UFC @ufc Noche aka UFC 306 - The Sphere, Las Vegas. September 14, 2024. Tickets have been getting discounted. UFC Top Brass Dana White Understood To Have Invested Over $20 Million into the event thus far! Cut into UFC bottom line! UFC working on relationship with MGM Grand! Live gate est reduced to approx $21 million, down from forecast $25 million plus. 10 fight card. World class production.

Dana White's Contender Series Continues To Impress

Tama Tonga Sikoa Half Brother Hikuleo Tipped To Enter WWE On Screen Sooner Rather Than Later. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns Beware!

Netflix: Mr. McMahon 6 part series to hit Netflix September 25, 2024. Janel Grant's image and reputation in the public eye continues to decline.

Impaulsive podcast with Logan Paul. Hulk Hogan: "Watching you my brother you have an opportunity to be the next big attraction in this business, simply because you got your "hit together. I've never seen anybody get this as quick as you have" Hulk Hogan.

"I'm honoured to hear that. I did have the conversation with Triple H" Logan Paul

WWE Speed: Iyo Sky def Lyra Valkyria. Both competitors shine. May be best match on WWE Speed thus far and one of the greatest short women's pro wrestling matches in history.

WWE: Odyssey Jones Released From WWE Due To Home Domestic Situation; Precaution to protect brand/company from potential fallout. The New Day creative has been changed as a direct result.

WWE WrestleMania 41. April 19 and 20. Allegiant Stadium. Many fans hoping to see Roman Reigns vs Jacob Fatu 'The Samoan Werewolf'. Hardcores keen to see Karrion Cross further elevated up the card with his Sin City Las Vegas connection, down the road from Paradise, LV. Paradise for some wrestlers. May be hell for The Tollman's would be opponent. So Sayeth!

WWE NXT fans give huge welcome to Giulia and Chelsea Green.

WWE NXT - Shawn Michaels keeps open door with TNA Wrestling including Joe Hendry!

WWE NXT To The CW Network on October 1, 2024

WWE - Charlotte Flair continues to post training and rehab photos. Appears to be making strong progress and fans are getting excited about her pending return.

Pro Wrestling And MMA Journalists, Reporters, Under Pressure Do To Better As Too Many Half Truths Circulating.

WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes remains largely complementary of former employer AEW. Rhodes on potential new challenger Jacob Fatu, "I'm not scared of you either, you dumb son of a "bitch".

Josh Barnett's Bloodsport GCW relationship with WWE appears to be an ongoing Win-Win-Win. Next Barnett big card coming up is Bloodsport XII - November 24, 2024. The White Eagle. Jersey City, New Jersey. Over the past number of months numerous WWE wrestlers have performed at Barnett major cards and have been received well. In many cases the WWE broadcast team mentioned WWE talent appearing in Barnett's wrestling promotion. Bloodsport is understood to be the inspiration and then some of what was NXT Underground.

Websites

WWE
www.wwe.com

WWE - Shows
www.wwe.com/shows

WWE NXT
www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt

WWE - News
www.wwe.com/news/

Media Man: The WWE and WWE NXT remain on fire in what is tipped to be a record breaking year for the world's leading professional wrestling based promotion. As we tipped off a year ago, TKO's brands including UFC, need to keep a tab on ticket pricing as many households have tightened their budgets to adjust to global economic conditions. As a golden rule, the market will decide how much the public will spend on live entertainment and live sport. The Netflix factor can be expected to see WWE trend even more than usual on Elon Musk owned platform x (formerly Twitter). Bring on more great action and excitement under The Triple H era. The upcoming SmackDown will be once again be cinema!

The Australian Financial Review - Sport

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WWE News UFC News Endeavor News MMA News AEW News Casino News TMZ Sports

Wrestling News

Bet On Anything

PPV News

American, European and Australian Sports News via Grok; Elon Musk Grok Takes The Sports Fan And Sports News Publisher Around The Globe In Seconds Ala Virtual News Time Travel Machine: Media Man

News

Joshua vs Dubois at Wembley

August 31, 2024

The upcoming boxing event, #RiyadhSeasonCard: Wembley Edition, features a highly anticipated heavyweight match between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, set for September 21, 2024, at Wembley Stadium. This fight is highlighted by Joshua's undefeated record against British fighters, which he aims to maintain. The event has been described as potentially historic, with expectations to break attendance records. Additional tickets have been released due to high demand, indicating significant public interest in what is being promoted as an unmissable event in the boxing calendar. (Grok)

News

Joshua vs. Dubois Tickets Released

Additional tickets are now available for the highly anticipated heavyweight boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, scheduled for September 21, 2024, at Wembley Stadium. This event, part of the Riyadh Season Card: Wembley Edition, is expected to set an attendance record with the stadium's capacity increased to 96,000. The fight is being promoted as a historic occasion, with significant interest from boxing fans and includes a special performance by Liam Gallagher. Promotional efforts by various boxing organizations and figures have urged fans to secure tickets for what is described as a potential heavyweight classic. (Grok)

News

Hamilton Leads FP2 at Italian GP

During the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes set the fastest lap in the second free practice session (FP2), followed closely by Lando Norris of McLaren and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. Ferrari demonstrated strong performance with both cars in the top five. George Russell, also from Mercedes, faced delays due to an earlier crash by Andrea Kimi Antonelli but managed to place sixth. McLaren also showed promising pace with Norris in second and Piastri in fourth. Red Bull Racing encountered issues, with Max Verstappen experiencing a lock-up and the team addressing concerns about top speed. The session highlighted intense competition among Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari, setting up an anticipated close qualifying session. Despite his crash, Antonelli provided valuable data to his team. (Grok)

News

Antonelli Crash Halts FP1 at Italian GP

During the first practice session (FP1) at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, rookie driver Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes experienced a significant crash at the Parabolica corner, leading to a red flag. Despite initially setting the fastest lap, Antonelli's session ended prematurely with his car heavily damaged, though he was reported to be unharmed. Max Verstappen from Red Bull Racing set the fastest time of the session, demonstrating strong performance. The incident also impacted Antonelli's teammate George Russell, who had to wait for repairs before participating in FP2. Other teams like McLaren and Ferrari also reported on their performances, with McLaren's drivers in the top five and Ferrari's drivers finishing second and fourth. (Grok)

News

COTA Hosts First Hypercar and LMGT3 Practice

The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is currently hosting the 6 Hours of COTA, also known as Lone Star Le Mans, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This event marks the first time Hypercars and LMGT3 cars are racing together at this track. Notable participants include teams from Porsche, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Ferrari, Jota Sport, and Aston Martin. During the first practice session (FP1), Porsche Penske Motorsport's #5 car, driven by Matt Campbell, set the fastest lap time of 1:53.574. The event also introduced specially equipped safety cars, including a Porsche 911 Turbo S with lightweight wheels. This race is significant for its competitive field and its strategic importance in the championship standings. (Grok)

News

WEC's Historic Hypercar Race at COTA

The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is currently hosting the 6 Hours of COTA race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, marking a significant event as it features both Hypercars and LMGT3 cars racing together for the first time at this venue. Prominent teams like Toyota GAZOO Racing, Porsche Motorsport, Ferrari Hypercar, and Peugeot Sport are participating, showcasing new models such as the Peugeot 9X8. The event highlights include experienced drivers like Andre Lotterer, who is aiming for another podium finish with an impressive track record at COTA, and the debut of new car models. Activities during the practice sessions involved teams adjusting setups, changing drivers, and adapting to track conditions, drawing considerable attention to the competitive spirit of endurance racing. (Grok)

News

Rhea Ripley Showcases Ink in WWE Tattooed Series

Rhea Ripley, a prominent WWE wrestler, was featured in a special segment titled 'WWE Tattooed,' where she showcased her extensive tattoo collection. This episode included a photoshoot and discussions about her tattoos, engaging fans with insights into her personal style and past rivalries, notably with Charlotte Flair. Ripley also shared stories about her fans' enthusiasm for her tattoos, particularly highlighting their reaction to a recent addition to her scorpion tattoo. The segment received positive feedback, enhancing Ripley's popularity within the WWE community. Additionally, Ripley discussed a time she got a matching tattoo with fellow wrestler Toni Storm, further personalizing her connection with fans and colleagues. (Grok)

News

WWE vs. AEW: Talent Pay Debate

The professional wrestling industry is currently embroiled in a debate over wrestler compensation, sparked by AEW's high-paying contracts to Swerve Strickland and Daniel Garcia. WWE has criticized these contracts, suggesting they exceed market value and could inflate salary expectations industry-wide, potentially harming the sport. Conversely, many fans and industry figures support AEW's approach, arguing that wrestlers deserve higher compensation due to the physical demands of their job. This perspective sees AEW's strategy as fostering a competitive market that might lead to better overall compensation in wrestling. Critics of WWE's stance argue that their reluctance to match AEW's offers undervalues talent and could impact WWE's ability to retain or attract top wrestlers. The discussion reflects broader issues about wrestler worth, the economics of wrestling promotions, and the effects of competition on talent contracts. (Grok)

News

WWE Criticizes AEW Contracts as Overspending

Professional wrestlers Swerve Strickland and Daniel Garcia have signed lucrative contracts with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which WWE views as detrimental to the wrestling industry, claiming the salaries exceed market value. This perspective has ignited a debate about compensation in wrestling. Supporters of higher pay argue that wrestlers, who endure significant physical tolls, deserve substantial compensation, akin to athletes in other major sports. Critics of WWE's stance believe the company's opposition stems from a reluctance to increase their own payroll, potentially driven by profit considerations rather than the welfare of the performers. The situation underscores broader issues of pay equity and the impact of competition on industry standards, with some seeing AEW's strategy as beneficial for raising overall compensation levels in wrestling. (Grok)

News

Swerve Strickland's Lucrative AEW Deal

Swerve Strickland has signed a lucrative contract with AEW, placing him among the highest-paid wrestlers alongside stars like Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Moné. This deal has stirred debate within the wrestling community, particularly from WWE, which considers the contract to exceed the perceived market value significantly. Critics from WWE argue that such high compensation could inflate industry salary expectations, potentially forcing WWE to increase its own wrestlers' pay. However, supporters of the deal highlight the physical demands and lack of off-season in wrestling, suggesting that wrestlers deserve substantial compensation. This situation underscores broader issues regarding talent compensation, market value assessments, and the competitive dynamics between AEW and WWE in the professional wrestling landscape. (Grok)

News

Swerve's AEW Deal: Highest in Pro Wrestling

Swerve Strickland has recently signed a lucrative contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), reportedly placing him among the highest-paid wrestlers in the industry, comparable to stars like Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Moné. This deal, extending through September 2029, has drawn criticism from WWE officials, who argue that the financial terms are excessively high and could set an unsustainable precedent for wrestler salaries. Despite WWE's contention that Strickland's market value does not justify such compensation, many fans and industry observers believe his performances and popularity warrant his high salary. Additionally, WWE's critique coincides with their unsuccessful attempts to reacquire Strickland and recruit other talents like Daniel Garcia, who chose to remain with AEW. This situation highlights a competitive landscape where wrestler contracts are becoming more financially rewarding. (Grok)

News

Strickland's AEW Deal Stirs Market Controversy

Swerve Strickland has signed a lucrative contract with AEW, placing him among the highest-paid wrestlers alongside stars like Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Moné. This deal has sparked controversy within the wrestling industry, particularly from WWE, who argue that such high compensation sets an unsustainable market value for wrestlers. Critics suggest WWE's stance might stem from their own financial interests, particularly after releasing Strickland only to see him succeed elsewhere. Supporters of high-value contracts highlight the physical toll on wrestlers and argue they deserve substantial pay. This situation underscores ongoing debates about wrestler compensation, market dynamics, and the competitive landscape between WWE and AEW. (Grok)

News

Jon Jones Defiant on Aspinall Fight

Jon Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion, has publicly expressed confidence in defeating Tom Aspinall, the interim champion, but has chosen to fight Stipe Miocic instead. This decision has sparked debates about Jones's legacy and his avoidance of Aspinall, with critics arguing that Jones should defend his title against the interim champion who has actively defended his belt. Jones, however, insists that his legacy is secure regardless of the fight outcome, highlighting his long-term dominance in the sport. Discussions also touch on Jones's past, including his performances and controversies like failed drug tests, questioning whether his refusal to fight Aspinall might affect his reputation or if his established record justifies his choices. (Grok)

News

McAfee Donates $1M to WVU NIL Collective

Pat McAfee, a former NFL player and West Virginia University alumnus, hosted a live broadcast of his show in Morgantown, West Virginia, creating significant local excitement. The event was so anticipated that local schools closed due to expected traffic congestion, and a large crowd gathered. During the show, McAfee announced a $1 million donation to West Virginia's Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) collective, the Country Roads Trust, to support student-athletes. The event featured appearances by notable figures including Nick Saban and highlighted the enthusiasm of WVU fans, particularly for quarterback Garrett Greene. This live show not only boosted local spirit but also emphasized McAfee's ongoing influence and connection to his alma mater. (Grok)

News

McAfee Hosts Massive WVU Live Show

Pat McAfee, a former NFL kicker and West Virginia University alum, hosted a live broadcast of his show in Morgantown, creating significant local excitement. The event was so anticipated that local schools closed due to expected traffic congestion. McAfee's show attracted a crowd reportedly larger than those seen at major college football events like College GameDay. During the broadcast, McAfee announced a $1 million donation to West Virginia's NIL collective, the Country Roads Trust, to support student-athletes. The event featured appearances by notable figures including Nick Saban, who discussed the challenges West Virginia faces in their upcoming game against Penn State. The atmosphere in Morgantown was described as electric, reflecting high expectations for the football season opener. (Grok)

News

College Football Season Kickoff

The 2024 College Football Season is kicking off with significant attention on several fronts:

New Kickoff Rule: College football is studying the new NFL kickoff rule during the 2024 season, aiming to make the play safer while maintaining its excitement. This rule, inspired by the XFL, adjusts where players line up and when they can move, promoting more returns but with reduced high-speed collisions.

Marquee Matchups: The season starts with several high-profile games. Notably, LSU faces USC in the Vegas Kickoff Classic on September 1, a game that's drawing considerable betting interest. Other early games include Georgia vs. Clemson and Florida vs. Miami, setting the stage for what's expected to be a competitive season.

Team Preparations and Expectations:

Penn State is entering the season with new coordinators and high hopes for making the College Football Playoff, focusing on the progression in their quarterback room.

Michigan State under new leadership with head coach Jonathan Smith, looks to redefine its play.

Colorado, led by Deion Sanders, has already begun its season against North Dakota State, unveiling new uniforms and showcasing key players like Travis Hunter.

Player Spotlight:

Players like Oregon's Dillon Gabriel are on the watch for breaking records, with expectations high for quarterbacks returning from injuries like Cam Rising of Utah and Riley Leonard, now at Notre Dame.

Game Day Insights: From X posts, there's a buzz about the start of the season with live updates, game previews, and fan reactions, indicating high excitement and engagement from the community.

Cultural Impact and Media: The season's kickoff is not just about the games but also the cultural phenomenon, with extensive media coverage, fan events in places like Las Vegas, and discussions around team strategies, player health, and the future of college football formats.

This season promises to be intriguing with new rules, team dynamics, and the ever-present quest for the College Football Playoff, capturing the attention of fans and bettors alike as teams and players aim to make their mark. (Grok)

News

Sea Eagles Triumph Over Bulldogs

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles achieved a significant victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs with a final score of 34-22 at Accor Stadium. This win marked Manly's 10th victory in their last 11 encounters against the Bulldogs. The match was notable for Manly's strong performance, highlighted by plays from Haumole Olakau'atu and a late try by Mahoney, despite a concerning injury to Tom Trbojevic who left the field with a bleeding right arm. Bulldogs fans and players, while disappointed, remain optimistic, pointing to their team's overall successful season and their standing in the finals. Discussions following the game focused on player performances, the impact of the result on team standings, and strategies moving forward in the NRL season. (Grok)

News

Bulldogs Slip, Sea Eagles Soar

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs suffered a significant loss against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL, with the final score at 34-22 favoring Manly. This match was pivotal as it highlighted various aspects of both teams' performances and strategies. Manly's victory was marked by strong individual performances, notably by Haumole Olakau'atu, and strategic plays that capitalized on controversial referee decisions, including a non-enforced sin bin for Manly's Tom Trbojevic. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, faced challenges including fatigue from extensive travel and a reshuffled backline, which might have contributed to their subpar performance. Despite the loss, Bulldogs' fans and commentators remained optimistic, viewing the game as a learning opportunity and a chance for the team to regroup. Manly's win has significant implications for their pursuit of a home final, while the Bulldogs' chances of securing a top-four position were impacted.(Grok)

News

All-Australian Team 2024 Selection Controversy

The 2024 AFL All-Australian team selection has ignited significant debate among fans and analysts, focusing on the criteria and composition of the team. Traditionally comprising 22 players, this year's selection faced scrutiny for its inclusion of players from underperforming teams like the West Coast Eagles, and the exclusion of others who had standout seasons. Critics argued over the balance between positional requirements and individual merit, suggesting a shift towards selecting purely the best 22 players regardless of their position. Notable controversies included the omission of players like Charlie Curnow and Tom Papley, while players like Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli were celebrated for their performances, with Daicos being named the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player. The selection process was criticized for potential biases, prompting discussions on how the All-Australian team could better reflect the season's top performers. Despite the controversies, the team's announcement highlighted achievements like Ollie Dempsey winning the Rising Star award and Marcus Bontempelli receiving the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the Most Valuable Player. (Grok)

Sports, Combat Sports; Grok Continues To Assist Media And Online Media Firms At The Speed Of News; Nears 99 Percent Accuracy - Media Man Group

August 22, 2024

News

Cena Declares Reigns as WWE GOAT

John Cena has publicly declared Roman Reigns as the greatest of all time (GOAT) in professional wrestling, attributing the significant rise in WWE/TKO stock value during Reigns' tenure as evidence. This statement has ignited a debate among wrestling fans and enthusiasts. Some fans agree with Cena, highlighting Reigns' current dominance and his impact on WWE's financial success. However, others argue that while Reigns is exceptional, he does not surpass historical figures like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, or even Cena himself in terms of overall influence and legacy. The discussion reflects a generational shift in wrestling's GOAT debate, with newer fans potentially viewing Reigns differently than veterans who recall the era of The Rock and Austin. (Grok)

News

Danielson Declares Wrestling Supremacy

During a recent episode of AEW Dynamite, Bryan Danielson confidently declared himself the best wrestler in the world, a claim he has upheld for the past 20 years. This statement was a focal point of the episode, drawing significant attention and support from fans and commentators. Danielson's promo not only showcased his confidence but also set the stage for his upcoming match at AEW's All In event, where he is expected to challenge for the AEW World Title. The episode also featured other matches, but Danielson's proclamation and the crowd's enthusiastic response highlighted the high stakes and anticipation for the future event. (Grok)

News

Danielson Claims Best Wrestler Title

The latest episode of AEW Dynamite, which aired on August 21, 2024, from Cardiff, was a pivotal go-home show leading up to the AEW All In event at Wembley Stadium. The episode was marked by high energy from both the performers and the audience. Bryan Danielson made a bold claim, declaring himself the best wrestler in the world, a statement that was met with significant fan and commentator support. The show featured strong promos from key figures like Britt Baker, Mercedes, MJF, and Will Ospreay, all contributing to the anticipation for All In. AEW President Tony Khan expressed his gratitude for the audience's support, highlighting the show's importance in setting the stage for the upcoming major event. The episode was widely praised for its wrestling quality and storytelling, effectively building momentum towards AEW All In. (Grok)

News

UFC Vegas 96 Betting Highlights

Ahead of UFC Vegas 96, fans and analysts are actively discussing predictions and betting strategies for the event. Key points include Jared Cannonier being seen as a value bet despite his underdog status against Caio Borralho, and the addition of a last-minute fight between Zygimantas Ramaska and Fletcher. Discussions are centered around potential outcomes, with some focusing on specific bets like Llontop at +186 odds. The main event features Edmen Shahbazyan, with speculation on whether he will secure another finish. The community is engaging with detailed fight breakdowns, betting tips, and varied predictions, reflecting a mix of professional analysis and casual fan insights. (Grok)

News

Beterbiev vs. Bivol Set for Boxing Showdown

The upcoming boxing event on October 12th features a much-anticipated match between Dmitry Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, widely considered one of the top fights in recent boxing schedules. Beterbiev, known for his knockout streak, will face Bivol, who is recognized for his technical boxing skills. Predictions for the fight are split, with some believing Bivol's skill might lead to Beterbiev's corner stopping the fight, while others anticipate Beterbiev's aggressive style could overpower Bivol. This event has sparked significant discussion among fans and analysts about the potential outcomes. Additionally, there was a notable fight on ProBox TV between Jarrett Hurd and Jeison Rosario, which ended controversially in the second round, aimed at keeping the fighters relevant in their divisions. (Grok)

News

One Month to Joshua-Dubois Showdown

The upcoming boxing event, #RiyadhSeasonCard: Wembley Edition, is scheduled for September 21 at Wembley Stadium, UK, featuring a headline fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois for the IBF World Heavyweight Crown. This event has generated significant anticipation among boxing fans, with tickets available through various platforms. Prominent figures in the boxing community, including Turki Alalshikh, have actively promoted the event, highlighting its importance in the boxing calendar. Discussions around the event include the potential for an upset, with some backing Dubois to defeat Joshua. The event is part of a broader series of boxing matches, marking a notable moment for fans of the sport. (Grok)

News

BKFC

The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promotion that has become quite popular since its inception in April 2018. Here's what you need to know based on the latest information:

Events and Schedule: BKFC has upcoming events including BKFC 65 FEREA VS MASSON-WONG on September 6, 2024, and BKFC 66 BLAS VS REBER on September 13, 2024. They're also expanding internationally with BKFC SPAIN set for October 12, 2024.

Regulation and Structure: BKFC is the first promotion allowed to hold legal, sanctioned, and regulated bare knuckle events in the U.S. since 1889. Fighters are allowed to wrap and tape their wrists, thumbs, and mid-hand, but no gauze or tape can cover the knuckles within 1 inch.

Fighter Rankings: BKFC employs a ranking system where champions and interim champions automatically hold the top spots in their respective weight classes.

Fighters inactive for over 12 months are dropped from the rankings.

Media and Accessibility: BKFC has an official app where fans can watch live events, past fights, and access fighter profiles for a subscription fee. This indicates their push towards digital media for broader accessibility.

Public Sentiment and Coverage: From posts on X, there doesn't seem to be any direct discussion or updates specifically about BKFC's latest events or fighter news, but the platform's nature means there could be discussions or updates in various threads or posts that might not be directly linked to BKFC but could discuss related topics like combat sports trends or fighter performances.

Critical Examination: While BKFC has brought back the historical aspect of bare knuckle fighting, the sport's resurgence also sparks discussions on safety, the spectacle of violence, and its appeal in modern combat sports culture. Critics might argue about the ethics of promoting a sport where the lack of gloves could lead to more severe injuries, while fans and participants might highlight the raw, unfiltered nature of the competition as its primary draw.

Remember, while X posts can give insights into public sentiment or real-time reactions, they're not always factual or comprehensive sources for event-specific updates or official news. For the most accurate and current information on BKFC, checking directly with their official website or app would be advisable. (Grok)

News

Josh Barnett's Bloodsport

Josh Barnett's Bloodsport is a series of professional wrestling events that blend elements of mixed martial arts (MMA) with traditional pro wrestling, focusing on a more realistic and hard-hitting style. Here's what's been happening recently around this event:

Event Details: The latest Bloodsport event, Bloodsport XI, took place on July 28, 2024, at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, New York. This event featured a mix of well-known names from both wrestling and MMA backgrounds, showcasing matches that end by knockout, submission, or referee stoppage, reflecting the event's ethos of minimal rules.

Notable Matches and Results:

Heddi Karaoui defeated Brian Johnson in what was likely an opening match, setting the tone for the event.

Julius Creed from WWE had a victory over Matt Makowski, highlighting WWE talent's participation in the event.

Masha Slamovich won against Jody Threat, another match that ended with a referee stoppage.

Royce Isaacs managed to defeat Charlie Dempsey, which was surprising given Dempsey's WWE background.

Brutus Creed also from WWE, defeated "Filthy" Tom Lawlor, another notable match where WWE talent was showcased.

Homicide won against Mike Santana, showing a mix of TNA and indie wrestling talent.

Josh Barnett himself competed, defeating Bad Dude Tito by knockout, which is in line with the event's theme of showcasing real combat skills.

MVP's Confrontation: Post-event discussions highlighted a confrontation between MVP and Josh Barnett, where MVP challenged Barnett to a future fight, indicating a potential storyline or match setup for future events.

International Expansion: Josh Barnett has taken Bloodsport international with Bloodsport Bushido in Tokyo, Japan, on June 22, 2024, at Ryogoku Kokugikan, featuring names like Minoru Suzuki, which underscores the event's global appeal and its blend of wrestling cultures.

Fan and Media Reaction: The event has been praised for its unique approach to wrestling, bringing in fans from both the wrestling and MMA communities. The inclusion of WWE talent in Bloodsport events has been a point of interest, suggesting a crossover appeal that might attract a broader audience or serve as a platform for WWE stars to show a different side of their wrestling skills.

This series continues to push the boundaries of what's expected in professional wrestling, focusing on a more grounded, combat sports approach, which appeals to fans looking for something different from the usual scripted wrestling fare. (Grok)

News

Bloodsport

The Sport: In a broader context, "bloodsport" refers to any sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed, often to the death or serious injury of animals or humans. This can include:

Historical Context: Events like gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome or medieval jousting.

Modern Interpretations: Some might consider extreme fighting sports like MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) or underground fight clubs as modern forms of bloodsport, though these are highly regulated to prevent serious injury or death.

Cultural Impact: The term "bloodsport" has also been used metaphorically to describe any highly competitive or ruthless activity, not necessarily involving physical combat, where participants might be seen as fighting for survival or dominance.

If you're referring to something specific about "Bloodsport," like a sequel, a remake, or a particular scene, let me know! (Grok)

News

Pay-Per-View (PPV)

Pay-Per-View (PPV) is a television distribution model where viewers pay to watch specific events or programs, typically on a one-time basis. Here's a deeper look into how it functions:

Business Model:
Revenue: PPV events generate revenue directly from viewers, which can be particularly lucrative for high-demand content like major sporting events, boxing matches, concerts, or exclusive movie premieres.

Cost: The price for viewing can vary widely, depending on the event's popularity, exclusivity, and the platform offering it.

Content Types:
Sports: Boxing, UFC, WWE wrestling, and major sports finals like the Super Bowl or NBA Finals are often broadcast via PPV.

Entertainment: Special concerts, stand-up comedy shows, or exclusive movie releases might also be offered through PPV.

Special Events: Weddings of celebrities, royal events, or unique live performances.

Distribution:
Cable and Satellite TV: Traditionally, PPV was offered through cable or satellite TV providers where viewers would call in or use their remote to order the event.
Streaming Services: With the rise of digital platforms, PPV has evolved. Services like Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and various sports streaming platforms now offer PPV events online.

Advantages:
Exclusivity: Viewers get access to content that might not be available through regular broadcasting.
Revenue for Content Creators: PPV allows for direct monetization of content, which can be beneficial for artists, athletes, or event organizers.

Challenges:
Piracy: High-profile PPV events are often targets for illegal streaming, which can cut into profits.
Market Saturation: With many events going PPV, there's a risk of viewer fatigue or competition for viewership.

Future Trends:
Integration with Subscription Models: Some platforms offer PPV within a broader subscription service, providing additional revenue streams.

Virtual Reality (VR): There's potential for PPV to expand into VR, offering immersive experiences for events.

If you're interested in a specific aspect of PPV, like its history, how to set up a PPV event, or its impact on media consumption, feel free to ask! (Grok)

News

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) represents a significant merger in the sports and entertainment industry, combining World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) under one corporate umbrella. Here's a detailed overview based on the latest information:

Formation and Ownership: TKO Group Holdings was formed by Endeavor Group Holdings as part of a merger between WWE and Zuffa, the parent company of UFC. This merger was completed on September 12, 2023, marking a historic moment as it was the first time WWE was not solely owned by the McMahon family, who had founded and owned it for over 70 years. Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) is the majority owner of TKO, with Vince McMahon personally owning approximately one-third of the Class A Common Stock of TKO Group Holdings, Inc.

Business Structure: Both WWE and UFC operate as divisions under TKO, maintaining their individual branding and operations but now under the same corporate governance. This structure aims to leverage combined resources for global expansion and cost savings, with an estimated value of more than $21 billion at the time of the merger.

Financial Performance: Recent financial data indicates TKO's stock price at around $119.78, with significant fluctuations in its financial metrics year-over-year. For instance, net income saw a decrease, while cash from operations increased dramatically, showcasing a mixed bag of financial health but with a strong operational cash flow.

Strategic Moves and Market Impact: The merger has led to various strategic decisions, including cost-saving measures, with expectations of saving between $50 million to $100 million. Additionally, WWE's deal with Netflix for content distribution was highlighted as transformative, indicating TKO's approach to expanding its media presence.

Board and Leadership: The board of TKO Group Holdings includes notable figures like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who joined to help expand the business globally, alongside other industry leaders from both WWE and UFC backgrounds. This diverse board aims to steer the company towards further integration and growth in the entertainment sector.

Public Sentiment and Media Coverage: From posts on X, there's a mix of excitement about the merger's potential for growth and concerns over the implications for WWE's traditional ownership structure. The listing on the NYSE and the involvement of high-profile figures like Ari Emanuel and Vince McMahon have been points of discussion, reflecting both optimism for the future of combat sports and entertainment and skepticism regarding the cultural shift within WWE.

Stock Performance: TKO's stock experienced a significant rise after reporting a strong second-quarter earnings report, nearly tripling its revenue from the previous year's quarter, indicating investor confidence in the company's direction under the new structure.

This merger not only reshapes the landscape of sports entertainment but also positions TKO Group Holdings as a major player in the global entertainment industry, with ambitions to expand its reach and influence through combined resources and strategic partnerships.

News

Verstappen's Trophy or Bust

Formula 1 is set to resume with the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, generating excitement among fans, particularly for Max Verstappen who has a perfect record at this event since its return to the calendar in 2021. Discussions are centered around Verstappen's potential to win again, with fans expressing high expectations and some playful skepticism about others' interest in the sport. Meanwhile, there have been significant team changes; Lewis Hamilton's long-time race engineer, Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, has been promoted to Head of Race Engineering at Mercedes, ending speculation about his move to Ferrari with Hamilton. This news has stirred reactions among fans and within the F1 community, highlighting the dynamic shifts in team structures and driver-engineer relationships. (Grok)

News

Ronaldo Breaks YouTube Subscriber Record

Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel and within less than 24 hours, he amassed over 14 million subscribers, breaking the previous record held by Mr. Beast who took 132 days to reach 10 million subscribers. Ronaldo's channel not only set a new benchmark for the fastest growth in subscribers but also highlighted his immense global popularity, with his first video garnering millions of views shortly after its release. This achievement was celebrated by fans and commentators alike, noting Ronaldo's unparalleled influence both on and off the football pitch. (Grok)

Media Man Int: Editor

The Grok reference for TKO Group is not 99 or 100 percent. A number of references are 6 to over 12 months out of date. The information regarding TKO Group is published as is, just as Grok AI directs us. This editor post may potentially assist Grok to further improve its otherwise excellent service, in the view of Media Man Group management. Media Man Int/Media Man Group management/staff finds Grok A.I to be overall much superior than that of the general A.I offerings of the industry and believes that under Elon Musk management and direction that the sky's the limit! Combat sports on Mars anyone?! Grok/X Championship Of The World!

Sports News Update

X's Grok Helps Keep Online Publishers, Newsrooms Up To Speed; Media Man

August 2, 2024

News

U.F.C. Abu Dhabi Fight Card

The UFC event in Abu Dhabi on August 3rd, 2024, is generating significant discussion among fans and analysts. The main event features Umar Nurmagomedov against Cory Sandhagen, with Nurmagomedov being favored by many. The card includes other notable fighters like Deiveson Figueiredo, Marlon Vera, and Shara. Predictions and betting odds are being shared across social media, and Khabib Nurmagomedov is expected to be in Umar's corner. The event is free to watch on ABC Network, further enhancing its accessibility and viewership. Tony Ferguson has expressed his desire to continue fighting in the UFC, while other fighters like Figueiredo and Vera are also generating interest among fans. The event promises to be an exciting showcase of talent and competition in the world of mixed martial arts. (Grok)

News

UFC Abu Dhabi Event

The upcoming UFC event in Abu Dhabi on August 2, 2024, is generating significant buzz, featuring a main event between undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen. The event is free to watch on ABC Network and includes notable fighters such as Deiveson Figueiredo and Marlon Vera. The card also features Tony Ferguson, who has expressed his desire to continue fighting in the UFC. The event is anticipated to be a major one, with Khabib Nurmagomedov expected to be in Umar's corner. Betting predictions and discussions are prevalent across social media platforms, with various analysts and fans sharing their insights and picks for the fights.

News

Survivor Series: WarGames in Vancouver

WWE has announced that Survivor Series 2024 will be held in Vancouver, Canada, marking the first WWE pay-per-view event in the city since 1998. The event, featuring the WarGames match format, is scheduled for November 30 at Rogers Arena. This decision has sparked excitement among wrestling fans and local residents, with many expressing enthusiasm about attending the event in Vancouver. (Grok)

News

SummerSlam Predictions and Anticipation

WWE SummerSlam 2024 is generating significant anticipation among fans, with many expressing excitement and making predictions about the outcomes of various matches. Key discussions revolve around potential returns of prominent wrestlers such as Roman Reigns and The Rock, as well as the outcomes of matches like Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa and Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley. The event is set to feature a variety of matches that fans are eagerly awaiting, including those involving LA Knight, Logan Paul, and Gunther. The overall sentiment is one of excitement and speculation, with fans looking forward to a thrilling event. (Grok)

News

Rampage Debuts for MxM & Private Party on AEW

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is gearing up for an exciting lineup of events, including the highly anticipated All In event scheduled for August 25, 2024. The event is generating significant buzz among fans and is anticipated to surpass the success of the previous year's event. The card for All In features high-stakes matches such as Bryan Danielson putting his career on the line against Swerve, MJF facing Will Ospreay, and a tag team grudge match involving Darby Allin, FTR, and ROH Champion Sussex Co. Chicken against formidable opponents. AEW is also promoting other shows like AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage, which feature matches like Hangman Page vs. Darby Allin and MxM Collection's debut against Private Party, respectively. The promotion is leveraging various platforms and media to engage with fans and build anticipation for these events. (Grok)

News

Crawford vs Madrimov: Pre-Fight Press Conference

Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov are set to face off in a highly anticipated boxing match on August 3rd, as part of the Riyadh Season Card. The event, which will be available on PPV, has generated significant buzz among boxing fans and media. The undercard for the event is also noted for its quality, featuring a heavyweight bout between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Jarrell Miller, as well as other notable fights. The event is expected to be a major draw, with fans eagerly anticipating the outcome of the main event between Crawford and Madrimov. (Grok)

News

TNA Wrestling: Rascalz vs. Bailey, Seven & KUSHIDA

TNA Wrestling's iMPACT episode on August 1, 2024, featured a lineup of exciting matches and events. The show included a TNA World Title match between Nic Nemeth and Mustafa Ali, as well as the wedding of PCO and Steph De Lander. Other matches included The Rascalz in action against Mike Bailey, Trent Seven, and KUSHIDA in a six-man tag team match, Frankie Kazarian vs. Ryan Nemeth, and Jody Threat vs. Masha Slamovich. The event was broadcasted on various platforms including TNA+, AXS TV, DAZN, and YouTube, catering to a wide audience. Fans and wrestling enthusiasts expressed their anticipation and excitement for the event across social media platforms. (Grok)

ROH

Ring of Honor (ROH) is a professional wrestling promotion recently acquired by Tony Khan, CEO of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Chief Football Strategy Officer of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and GM/Sporting Director of Fulham F.C. ROH has been holding events and television tapings, with notable developments including Sammy Guevara's return to help Dustin Rhodes against the Dark Order at the July 28th tapings. The promotion has been building new stars and continues to feature high-profile matches and events. (Grok)

News

WWE 2K24 Online Stability Hotfix

WWE 2K24 released Patch 1.14 to address online stability issues, which was automatically applied upon game loading. The update aimed to fix problems with the Pat McAfee Show Pack DLC for PS5 users, which was resolved, allowing the pack to be downloaded. However, the patch also caused issues with mods on PC, and some users reported problems with Titantrons in create an entrance and the unavailability of DLC for PlayStation 5 users. Despite these issues, WWE 2K24 encouraged players to participate in a giveaway for SummerSlam and provided a locker code for 7500 VC. (Grok)

Max Verstappen's Potential Mercedes Move

Speculation is rife about Max Verstappen potentially joining Mercedes, fueled by recent high-profile departures from Red Bull Racing. Despite the rumors, some fans express skepticism about the likelihood of such a move. The discussion also touches on the stability of other drivers' positions within their teams, with some questioning the rationale behind certain team decisions. Additionally, there is discussion about the performance comparison between Verstappen and his teammate, Perez, at Red Bull Racing. (Grok)

News

Wheatley's Move from Red Bull to Audi F1

Jonathan Wheatley, the long-serving sporting director at Red Bull Racing, is set to leave the team at the end of the 2024 season to become the new team principal of the Audi Formula 1 project. This move has been confirmed by Red Bull and widely reported across various Formula 1 news outlets. Audi has not officially commented on Wheatley's appointment, and there are indications that they were not expecting the announcement. Wheatley's departure marks a significant change in leadership for Red Bull and a notable acquisition for Audi as it prepares to enter Formula 1. The transition is expected to take place after the 2024 season, with Wheatley remaining in his current role until then. (Grok)

News

WWE NXT Great American Bash Week One

The WWE NXT Great American Bash kicked off with a series of exciting matches and events, including a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match where Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn defended their titles against Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend. Other highlights included a NXT Women’s Championship match between Roxanne Perez and Thea Hail, a live concert by Joe Hendry, and a NXT Heritage Cup match between Tony D'Angelo and Tavion Heights. Fans and commentators expressed excitement and anticipation for the event, with many rooting for their favorite wrestlers and speculating on potential outcomes. (Grok)

News

NXT Women's Championship: Roxanne Perez Retains

Roxanne Perez successfully defended her NXT Women's Championship against Thea Hail in a highly acclaimed match at NXT GAB. The match was praised for its intensity and the young ages of the competitors, with both being under 23 years old. The event also featured other notable matches, including Joe Hendry expressing frustration with Gallus and a confirmed match between Joe Hendry and Joe Coffey for the following week. The overall event was well-received, highlighting the talent and potential of the NXT roster. (Grok)

News

Bowlin Graham's Pocono Win Secures Playoff Spot

Graham Bowlin secured a spot in the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs with a win at Pocono Raceway. Despite missing out on the playoffs, drivers from Spire Motorsports expressed pride in their team's efforts. Nick Ottinger also secured a playoff spot, marking the seventh consecutive season Team Conti has fielded at least one car in the post-season. The playoff lineup includes Steven Wilson, Parker White, Nick Ottinger, Graham Bowlin, Vicente Salas, Bobby Zalenski, Tucker Minter, Garrett Lowe, Dylan Duval, and Daniel Faulkingham. (Grok)

News

CM Punk's Top 5 Wrestlers of All Time

During an interview on ESPN's First Take, CM Punk named his top-5 wrestlers of all time, which included Harley Race, Terry Funk, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero, and initially Ricky Steamboat, but he later switched to Roddy Piper. This selection sparked discussions among fans and commentators, with some expressing surprise at the absence of Bret Hart from the list. Punk also highlighted Stone Cold Steve Austin as the biggest superstar in the industry. The interview took place ahead of SummerSlam 2024, which is set to occur in a few days, generating anticipation among wrestling fans. (Grok)

News

Cedric Alexander's NXT Victory

Cedric Alexander emerged victorious in a match against Brooks Jensen on the WWE NXT show. The win was unexpected by some fans and commentators, and it was celebrated by many on social media. The event also featured other matches and announcements, including a promo by Pete Dunne about his upcoming match with Trick Williams. (Grok)

News

UFC Abu Dhabi Event

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to host a highly anticipated event in Abu Dhabi this Saturday, featuring a stacked card of fights. Notable fighters on the card include Tony Ferguson, Cory Sandhagen, and Mackenzie Dern. The event is free and open to the public, with a live broadcast on various platforms. Fans and analysts are discussing the matchups and sharing their predictions and betting tips for the fights. Cory Sandhagen is a key focus of the event, with many fans and analysts predicting a strong performance from him in his fight against Umar Nurmagomedov. (Grok)

News

AEW Returns and Criticisms

The recent episode of AEW's Dynamite received mixed reactions from fans and critics, sparking discussions on various aspects of the show. Topics included the return of a star after a five-month absence, the company's approach to pushing certain talents, and comparisons between AEW and WWE. Some fans expressed disappointment in the show's content and booking decisions, while others praised specific moments and storylines. The discourse highlighted a range of opinions and critiques regarding AEW's current direction and its relationship with its audience and competitors. (Grok)

News

AEW Collision Viewership Drop Amid Summer Events

AEW Collision viewership experienced a significant drop, averaging 383,000 viewers with a 0.12 P18-49 rating, marking a 19% decrease from the previous week. This decline was attributed to tough competition from the Olympics. Meanwhile, WWE's SummerSlam is generating anticipation, with fans expressing mixed feelings about the event and the potential outcomes for their favorite wrestlers. (Grok)

News

Grok Search: TNA Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2002 by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. It is currently owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment and is based in Nashville, Tennessee. TNA was initially known as NWA: Total Nonstop Action until 2004 when it rebranded to its current name.

TNA has been known for its innovative matches and storylines, and it has featured many notable wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Sting, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy. The promotion has also been praised for its women's division, known as the Knockouts Division, which features some of the top female wrestlers in the world.

TNA has faced a number of challenges over the years, including changes in ownership and a decline in viewership. However, the promotion has continued to produce entertaining and innovative content, and it remains a significant player in the world of professional wrestling. (Grok)

News

Umar vs Sandhagen for Title Shot

Umar Nurmagomedov is set to face Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi, with the winner potentially earning a title shot against the victor of the Sean O'Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili bout. The event also features Tony Ferguson, who is looking to make a comeback. The fight card is generating significant interest and betting activity among fans and analysts. Additionally, there are discussions about potential matchups for Shakur Stevenson, including a verbal agreement for a fight with William Zepeda, although no official agreement has been reached yet. The event is also notable for Khabib Nurmagomedov's involvement in Umar's corner. (Grok)

News

Ruiz vs Miller: Boxing Showdown in Riyadh

On August 3, 2024, a significant boxing event is set to take place featuring several high-profile matches. The main event includes a face-off between Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller, which has garnered significant attention and anticipation. Other notable fights on the card include a matchup between Isaac Pitbull and Jose Valenzuela, which is expected to be a highlight of the evening. Additionally, the event features the return of Andy Cruz against Antonio Moran, adding to the excitement. The event is part of the Riyadh Season and will be broadcasted on ESPN Plus PPV. (Grok)

News

Russell Disqualified, Hamilton Wins Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix after his teammate George Russell was disqualified for having an underweight car. Russell initially crossed the line first but was stripped of his win due to the technical violation. Hamilton's victory marked his second win in three races, sparking discussions among fans and commentators about the nature of his win and Russell's performance. The disqualification also led to Oscar Piastri being promoted to second place, and Charles Leclerc finishing third for Ferrari. (Grok)

News

F1 Drivers Pole Positions and Race Outcomes Debate

In recent Formula 1 races, Charles Leclerc has been praised for his ability to secure pole positions and maintain leads in a slower car, contrasting with Lando Norris's performance in a faster car. Max Verstappen has consistently performed well, often starting from lower positions and finishing higher, despite debates about the relative performance of his car. The current season is highly competitive, with several drivers from different teams closely competing in points, highlighting the tight competition in Formula 1. (Grok)

News

US Women's Rugby Wins First Olympic Medal

The United States women's rugby sevens team won their first Olympic medal, a bronze, in a dramatic match against Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The victory was sealed by a last-minute try and conversion by Alex Sedrick. Meanwhile, Simone Biles led the United States to a dominant victory in the women's gymnastics team final, securing her fifth career Olympic gold medal and becoming the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history with a total of 8 medals. (Grok)

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Combat Sports

The Saudi's Sphere of UFC influence on 9/11 week

Is a Francis Ngannou UFC return match a real possibility?

July 11, 2024

(The MMA Draw) Substack

After Ari Emanuel’s UFC received a much-needed financial bailout sponsorship boost from Turki Alalshikh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for UFC 306, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks:

This aging dog, who used to be a combat sports writer covering the circus inside and outside of the ring, is now a business and political writer who just happens to be covering something called Mixed Martial Arts.

I realize that this may sound like a distinction without a difference, but trust me — it’s still a shocking realization.

The UFC under Ari Emanuel is a political shop and a government contractor first and foremost. To deny that what we are covering isn’t a political machine would mean ignoring Mr. Emanuel’s recent public declarations in Aspen that President Joe Biden should drop out of the 2024 US Presidential campaign.

Mr. Emanuel — in The Economist — declared that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer should be considered for the 2024 Democrat Party nomination.

Why would Mr. Emanuel feel as if he had the credibility — and the power — that voicing such a declaration would move the needle?

And wow, when Ari’s brother Zeke, a former advisor to the Biden Administration, piled on..

Click here for full article

MMA Websites

Bloody Elbow

BJ Penn

UFC 2024 Events Continue

UFC 303: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
Saturday, June 29, 2024 - T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

Main card

Lightweight: Conor McGregor (-105) vs. Michael Chandler (-115)

Light heavyweight: Jamahal Hill vs. Carlos Ulberg

Women's bantamweight: Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson

Middleweight: Joe Pyfer vs. Marc-Andre Barriault

Welterweight: Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael Page

Prelims

Featherweight: Cub Swanson vs. Andre Fili

Bantamweight: Ricky Simon vs. Vinicius Oliveira

Featherweight: Charles Jourdain vs. Jean Silva

Bantamweight: Payton Talbott vs. Yanis Ghemmouri

Prelims

Women's strawweight: Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Gillian Robertson

Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski vs. Martin Buday

Flyweight: Rei Tsuruya vs. Carlos Hernandez

UFC Denver: Maycee Barber vs. Rose Namajunas
Saturday, July 13, 2024 - Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado

Main card

Women's flyweight: Maycee Barber vs. Rose Namajunas

Welterweight: Mike Malott vs. Gilbert Urbina

Welterweight: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov

Lightweight: Drew Dober vs. Mike Davis

Welterweight: Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa

Prelims

Women's flyweight: Viviane Araujo vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius

Featherweight: Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez

Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage

Women's flyweight: Luana Santos vs. Mariya Agapova

Middleweight: Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski

UFC Vegas
Saturday, July 20, 2024 - Apex in Las Vegas

Main card

Women's flyweight: Tracy Cortez vs. Miranda Maverick

Middleweight: Brad Tavares vs. Junyong Park

Prelims

Featherweight: Jeongyeong Lee vs. Hyder Amil

Featherweight: Dooho Choi vs. Bill Algeo

Featherweight: Steve Garcia vs. Seungwoo Choi

UFC 304: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad
Saturday, July 27, 2024 - Co-op Live in Manchester, England

Mains

Welterweight: Leon Edwards (-225) vs. Belal Muhammad (+175)

Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall (-225) vs. Curtis Blaydes (+185)

Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze

Flyweight: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape

Lightweight: Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett

Prelims

Women's strawweight: Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil

Bantamweight: Caolán Loughran vs. Ramon Taveras

Women's strawweight: Shauna Bannon vs. Ravena Oliveira

Featherweight: Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda

Prelims

Heavyweight: Lukasz Brzeski vs. Mick Parkin

Welterweight: Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons

Middleweight: Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Robert Bryczek

Light heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio

Welterweight: Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie

UFC Abu Dhabi: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024 - Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Main card

Bantamweight: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

Welterweight: Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque

Bantamweight: Marlon Vera vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

Women's strawweight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Loopy Godínez

Welterweight: Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa

UFC 305
Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024 - RAC Arena in Perth, Australia

UFC 306
Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 - The Sphere in Las Vegas

UFC Paris
Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 - Accor Arena in Paris

UFC 308
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024 - Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

*more details to become available as fight dates become closer

Websites

UFC Official Website
http://ufc.com

http://ufc.com/events

http://ufc.com/event/ufc-303

UFC Official YouTube channel
http://youtube.com/UFC

MVP's international superstar Jake "El Gallo” Paul returns to the ring against his most dangerous opponent to date, bare knuckle boxing champion and MMA star "Platinum” Mike Perry on Saturday, July 20 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL, for "Fear No Man” live on DAZN pay-per-view globally.

Boxing trailblazer and unified featherweight champion Amanda "The Real Deal” Serrano to face top-10 IBF, WBO, and WBA ranked Stevie Morgan in co-main event.

Undefeated Florida talents and MVP’s Most Valuable Prospects series standouts Tony Aguilar and Corey Marksman to rematch in 8 round lightweight bout

NEW YORK, NY – June 18, 2024 – Today, MVP announced that international superstar Jake "El Gallo” Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) will return to the ring for "Fear No Man,” a cruiserweight battle against the incredibly dangerous bare knuckle champion boxer and MMA star "Platinum” Mike Perry (5-0, 3 KOs BKFC) on Saturday, July 20 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, live on DAZN pay-per-view. Paul vs. Perry will be an eight round cruiserweight bout, as Paul faces his most dangerous opponent to date and puts it all on the line in an incredibly risky fight against the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time ahead of his bout with the Baddest Man on the Planet, Mike Tyson. Boxing trailblazer and unified featherweight champion Amanda "The Real Deal” Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) will also return to the ring against Tampa, Florida's top-10 ranked IBF, WBO, and WBA talent and KO artist, Stevie "Sledgehammer” Morgan (14-1, 13 KOs) in the co-main event. Serrano vs. Morgan will be a super lightweight battle, contested over 10, two-minute rounds as Serrano aims to display her power at super lightweight against the powerful puncher, Morgan, ahead of her clash with Katie Taylor on Friday, November 15. Tickets for Paul vs. Perry and Serrano vs. Morgan at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL will go on sale Wednesday, June 19th at 12pm ET on Ticketmaster.com.

"Fear No Man” is presented by CELSIUS Live Fit Essential Energy. The undercard will also feature the rematch of Crescent City, Florida's Tony Aguilar (12-0-1, 4 KOs) vs. Orlando, Florida's Corey "2Smoove" Marksman (9-0-1, 7 KOs) in an 8-round lightweight bout. Further undercard fights will be announced in the coming days.

Jake "El Gallo” Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) has shown tremendous growth as a boxer on his path to becoming a world champion, and now will face his most dangerous opponent to date, Mike Perry, on Saturday, July 20. Perry's formidable knockout power and fearless mentality will pose a true risk and test for Paul as the 27-year-old aims to prove he has what it takes in the ring against his second youngest opponent to date, the 32-year-old Perry, who is one of the world's most feared fighters and the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time. Paul will nevertheless put it all on the line ahead of his bout against the Baddest Man on the Planet, Mike Tyson on Friday, November 15. Since turning pro in 2020, Paul has collected multiple accolades for his commitment to the sport of boxing, including ESPNRingside's 2021 Knockout of the Year, Sports Illustrated's 2021 Breakout Boxer of the Year, ESPNRingside's 2022 Viral Moment of the Year, and was the cover of Sports Illustrated's "The 50 Most Influential Figures in Sports” issue, awarded specifically for his groundbreaking work to revolutionize the sport through equitable pay, providing a platform for young fighters, and his support of female boxers. Paul also recently announced a partnership with USA Boxing ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, continuing his mission to elevate the sport and its future champions.

Since headlining his first fight, Paul has broken records at every arena he's fought at during his professional career, including his first fight at Tampa's Amalie Arena, Paul vs. Woodley II, which set the record for the highest combat sports gate in the arena's history. Paul now returns to challenge his own record at Amalie Arena.

"When Paul vs. Tyson was rescheduled, I knew immediately that I wanted to still fight on Saturday, July 20. Now, as I prepare for my fight against Iron Mike, there's no better opponent for me than Mike Perry,” said Jake Paul. "He's a proven knockout artist who has shown to be a maniac in and out of the ring. This is the perfect experience for me to gain in advance of facing Mike Tyson. But getting that experience comes with risk. Those who know me know I'm a risk taker and while ‘Platinum' Perry might try to end me, I'm Titanium Jake Paul and I fear no man. I'm going to get the W and give everyone a preview of what I'm bringing to the ring against Mike Tyson. Tune in on DAZN PPV as I return to Tampa and send ‘Platinum' Perry the Platypus back to bare knuckle for good.”

"Platinum" Mike Perry (5-0, 3 KOs BKFC), one of the most dangerous fighters in combat sports, steps into the ring with Jake Paul following his fearsome career across the UFC, Triad Combat, and bare knuckle boxing. Following his 14-win career in the UFC, boasting 11 wins by knockout, Perry made his Triad Combat debut in November 2021, taking on 27-3, 21 KOs seasoned boxer Michael Seals, demonstrating his ability to handle power punchers and outworking Seals to a split decision victory in the bout. Less than three months later, Perry made his bare knuckle boxing debut with BKFC, securing his first win over Julian Lane in 2022, which he followed with a thrilling win over dynamic striker Michael "Venom” Page later that year. Perry's bout with former UFC champion Luke Rockhold in April 2023 ended decisively with a second-round knockout, highlighting Perry's striking power and relentless pressure from the opening bell. In his BKFC "King of Violence” title fight in December 2023 against Eddie Alvarez, the first-ever fighter to become a champion in both UFC and Bellator, Perry displayed his vicious power yet again with a second round TKO due to corner stoppage. Perry earned the 2023 Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Male Fighter of the Year and in April 2024, he expanded his undefeated record to 5-0 with a first-round KO of UFC veteran Thiago Alves. The bout served as the latest testament to the power, tenacity and skill Perry will bring to the ring against Jake Paul on Saturday, July 20 for "Fear No Man”.

"Jake Paul claims he fears no man, but on Saturday, July 20, the world will see the truth: he just made the worst mistake of his life in trying to get through me before Iron Mike,” said Mike Perry. "I'm going to make it look easy on Saturday July 20th, and I'm going to teach Jake Paul the most he's ever learned about fighting."

Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs), the first-ever Puerto Rican undisputed world champion, started her current featherweight title reign by defeating Heather Hardy in a brutal 10-round fight in 2019 to win the WBO belt, and has since defended her WBO belt six times. Serrano offered Hardy redemption in August 2023, but successfully defended her undisputed featherweight world champion title for the first time in a decisive 10 round unanimous decision victory. Serrano also won a blood-soaked war against WBA featherweight champion Erika Cruz in February 2023, which made her the undisputed featherweight champion. Serrano's decisive win against Cruz followed her previous win over Sarah Mahfoud in Manchester, England that added the Dane's IBF title to her WBO, WBC, and IBO featherweight belts. Her historic clash against Katie Taylor at Madison Square Garden in 2022 earned recognition as Sports Illustrated's Fight of the Year and The Ring's Event of the Year and was further nominated for Event of the Year by Sports Business Journal. Most recently, Serrano took home a unanimous decision victory against her mandatory WBO challenger Danila Ramos, making history in the first-ever women's unified world championship to be fought over 12, three-minute rounds, equal to any men's championship fight, and marking the first time a women's fight has gone the full 12x3. Serrano threw a career high of 1103 punches in the bout. In honor of her trailblazing achievements inside and outside the ring, Serrano was also recently awarded the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Female Fighter of the Year for 2023. Following her bout against Stevie Morgan on Saturday, July 20, Serrano is set to face Katie Taylor in the most anticipated women's boxing rematch in modern history, for the undisputed super lightweight women's championship. Taylor vs. Serrano will be the co-main event of the rescheduled Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson mega-event at AT&T Stadium on Friday, November 15.

"I've already been preparing for a fight on Saturday, July 20, and even though I'll now be waiting a little longer for my rematch with Katie Taylor, this is an opportunity for me to face another tough boxer in Stevie Morgan in Tampa,” said Amanda Serrano. "My opponent has 13 KOs, more than almost every other active female boxer, but I fear no woman – I embrace the war. I look forward to seeing all my Puerto Rican fans in Tampa for my 50th professional fight to show the world my skills at super lightweight, live on DAZN PPV.”

Stevie Morgan (14-1, 13 KOs), the 34-year-old 5'8” lightweight talent, has established herself as a formidable force in the boxing world. Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Stevie was an athlete throughout her school years, excelling in track and field, basketball, and football. Her journey into boxing began just a year before her first amateur fight, under the guidance of coach John Cassella. As an amateur, Stevie quickly rose to prominence with around 40 fights and accolades such as Outstanding Female Boxer and Florida Golden Gloves Champion. Stevie made her professional debut on June 18, 2022, with Brandi Mccain's One One Six Promotions in Memphis, Tennessee. Under the expert training of Monyette Flowers at Flowers Boxing Lab, she has continued to build on her amateur success as a professional. Now in just her second year as a pro, she is currently ranked by the WBC and is in the top 10 of the IBF, WBO, and WBA world rankings.

"We've been training for an opportunity like this, and I want to give full respect to Amanda for all she has done in her career and for women's boxing,” said Stevie Morgan. "In this sport, though, in order to make a name, you have to take a name. I have 13 KOs and nothing will be sweeter than making Amanda Serrano number 14. Come fight night on Saturday, July 20 there will be fireworks!”

"The stakes are high for every single one of MVP's fighters stepping into the ring on Saturday, July 20. For Jake and Amanda, the pressure is on to emerge with a W against two very dangerous opponents in Mike Perry and Stevie Morgan,” said Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of MVP. "Jake Paul is facing a monster in Mike Perry. Amanda Serrano is going in there with a fighter who has 13KOs in 15 fights. Nothing is a given for our two superstars. We also have an incredible lineup of undercard fights coming together, the first of which features highly talented lightweight prospects Aguilar vs. Marksman. This fight will see these young talents putting their undefeated records on the line and working to set a new precedent for hopeful title contenders in the sport. We are excited to return to Tampa and put on another heart racing night of fights.”

Joining the undercard will be a battle of two of boxing's up-and-coming lightweight prospects, Tony Aguilar (12-0-1, 4 KOs) vs. Corey Marksman (9-0-1, 7 KOs). The two were longtime amateur rivals before turning pro, and now look to secure Florida bragging rights during the bout. The 25-year-old Aguilar, a Crescent City, FL native, returns to the ring off his latest three thrilling fights on MVP's Most Valuable Prospects series, including his initial bout against Marksman on Most Valuable Prospects 5 in February 2024. He proudly represents his Mexican heritage in the ring, and is a relentlessly hard-working fighter who will look to keep the action high and his opponent guessing in his eagerly-anticipated rematch against Orlando, Florida's Marksman. In the pair's recent faceoff, the 23-year-old Marksman matched Aguilar's energy and met the challenge with his own aggression and power. Aguilar, promoted by boxing legend Christy Martin, and Marksman fittingly fought to a split draw, a decision each will look to right in their favor on Saturday, July 20 in their first major PPV appearances.

"It's great to have Jake Paul back on DAZN in another action packed, high risk fight,” said Jared Kass, SVP North America of DAZN. "With an unprecedented number of top-tier fights every year of DAZN, we are pleased to be adding another huge fight to our already packed summer schedule. Watch the fight exclusively live Saturday, July 20, only on DAZN PPV.”

Paul vs. Perry and Serrano vs. Morgan: "Fear No Man” is produced and marketed by MVP with Boxlab Promotions serving as the official licensed promoter and is distributed by DAZN pay-per–view. CELSIUS Live Fit Essential Energy, maker of lifestyle energy drink, is the exclusive energy drink sponsor of MVP. Additional information will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information, follow on X via @MostVPromotions and @DAZNBoxing or on Instagram via @MostValuablePromotions and @DAZNBoxing.

About MVP

MVP was founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian in 2021. With the mission to provide more creative control to fighters, MVP works to identify, grow, and maximize return for its own events and talent partners. One year into its inception, MVP was nominated as one of the prestigious Sports Breakthroughs of the Year in 2022 by Sports Business Journal. MVP have produced Jake Paul's last five global pay-per-view events, including the recent Paul vs. Diaz match. The promotion company also signed one of the most decorated Hispanic athletes of all time, Amanda Serrano in its first year. Serrano and MVP made history in April of 2022 when Serrano went head to head with Katie Taylor, marking the first female fight to headline at Madison Square Garden, recently earning a nomination for Event of The Year by Sports Business Journal. Co-founder Nakisa Bidarian was an executive producer of the historic Triller Presents Mike Tyson v. Roy Jones Jr., which was the 8th most bought pay-per-view event in history.

About DAZN

DAZN is the home of European football, women's football, boxing and MMA, and the NFL (excl. USA). We are building the ultimate sports entertainment platform, based on premium sports rights, world-leading tech, and multi-platform distribution. DAZN believes that fans from across the globe should be able to watch, read, bet, play, share, socialise, buy tickets and merchandise, all in one place, with one account, one wallet and on one app.

For more information on DAZN, our products, people, and performance, visit dazngroup.com.

Vinik Sports Group/Tampa Bay Lightning/AMALIE Arena:

The three-time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning (2004, 2020, 2021) of the National Hockey League and the leasehold rights to AMALIE Arena, the 19,092-seat home in which the team plays its games, were purchased by Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment, an entity established by Chairman and Governor Jeff Vinik, in March of 2010. Since that time, the Lightning and the arena have undergone a complete brand and business transformation, featuring a $100 million dollar renovation of the publicly owned facility as well as back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2020 and 2021. AMALIE Arena serves as the centerpiece of the vibrant Water Street district of downtown Tampa, a development spearheaded by Vinik, in a partnership with Strategic Property Partners. In February of 2020, the organization announced the creation of Vinik Sports Group, which now serves as the parent company of the Lightning, AMALIE Arena and other sports and entertainment assets, including management of the Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida, as well as multi-media rights for USF Athletics. AMALIE Arena hosts over 200 events per year with over 2 million guests walking through the doors, while Yuengling Center hosts over 250 events per year with over 1 million guests. Both have the mission to provide world-class entertainment for sports fans and music enthusiasts alike.

PGA announces bombshell merger with LIV Golf, stunning players

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Sports promoters, agents, marketers and media buyers and sellers to ramp up online coverage and daily fantasy sports online; Media Man reports

Sports news media war intensified; Sports Illustrated vs ESPN vs TMZ Sports vs Rolling Stone et al

Politics and sports, athletics, do not mix" - Mean Gene Okerlund. New York, Madison Square Garden, during ;Iron Sheik match

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Expert. Experience. Authority. Trustworthiness

WWE’s Triple H: Roman Reigns-Cody Rhodes story not over, By Mike Mooneyham

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Sports Streaming Operators, News and Promotions: Brands, Breaking News

News

Word Life

A. Authority, Agent, Algorithm, Awake, Ads and Alphabet

B. Balls, Balance and Blogs

C. Creative and Content

D. Digital and Disrupt

E. Expert, Entertainment and Exposure

F. Fix

G. Go, Grappling, Genuine, Gems, Gold and Gonzo

H. Hits and Hashtags

I. Instinct and Instagram

J. Jewels and Journalism

K. Karate and Keywords

L. Lift and LinkedIn

M. Money, Moneytize and MMA

N. Numbers and News

O. Open and Online News

P. Passion, Promotions, Platforms and Pop Culture

Q. Questions

R. Revenue and Results

S. Suplex, Space X and Social Media

T. Trust, Twitter, Tesla and Trends

U. Universe, Unique and UFC

V. Vortex

W. Wrestling,

W. Words, Webcode and World

X. X-Journo and X.

Y. YouTube and YouTube Shorts

Z. Zoom

Elon Musk loses $30 billion in one day amid Wall Street’s tech wipeout - 21st July 2023

Elon Musk’s fortune slumped $US20.3 billion ($29.5 billion) after Tesla warned it may have to keep cutting the prices of its electric vehicles, sending shares tumbling.

The drop in net worth to $US234.4 billion is the seventh-largest decline ever among those in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and further narrows the wealth gap between Musk and Bernard Arnault, the world’s two richest people. Musk’s fortune still exceeds that of Arnault, chairman of luxury goods maker LVMH, by about $US33 billion.

Musk wasn’t the only US technology billionaire having a tough day. Amazon.com’ s Jeff Bezos, Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin shed a collective $US20.8 billion in net worth as the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 2.3 per cent.

Shares of Tesla slid 9.7 per cent to $US262.90 in New York, the most since April 20, after the company warned of more hits to its already-shrinking profitability. Months of markdowns have taken a toll on automotive gross margin, which fell to a four-year low in the second quarter. Musk, the company’s CEO, said Tesla will have to keep lowering prices if interest rates continue to rise.

In addition to potentially having to budge further on pricing, Tesla is pouring money into new models, including the behind-schedule Cybertruck, plus Dojo, the in-house supercomputer Musk plans to spend at least $US1 billion on by the end of next year. While Tesla remains on track to produce around 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, output will dip this quarter due to factory upgrades.

“It does make sense to sacrifice margins in favour of making more vehicles, because we think in the not-too-distant future they will have a dramatic valuation increase,” Musk said, referring to his belief Tesla will eventually offer autonomous-driving capability that will make already-sold cars worth more.

Adding to Tesla’s challenges is its growing inventory of cars. The company said it now has 16 days’ worth of supply globally, up from 15 days last quarter and just four days a year ago. Inventory continued to build despite steep discounts on Tesla’s best-selling models, and perks including free charging that the carmaker offered consumers.

Musk, 52, derives his wealth primarily from his stake in the EV manufacturer, as well as his holdings in Space Exploration Technologies and Twitter. His wealth had increased about $US118 billion this year through Wednesday, as shares of Tesla climbed 136 per cent.

Arnault, 74, has seen his net worth rise by $US39 billion this year to $US201.2 billion. Shares of Paris-based LVMH have gained 26 per cent in 2023.

FIFA deletes Matildas fans’ World Cup videos from social media

Fans who shared footage taken inside World Cup stadiums have had their videos wiped from social media after complaints from football’s organising body FIFA.

Strict rules buried in the 13 pages of fine print that accompany match tickets specify that people not broadcast “live or near live” material from the grounds on their personal social media accounts, to protect broadcaster’s rights.

But the fine print gives FIFA discretion to decide what constitutes a “near live” broadcast, so that fans who uploaded mobile phone footage of crowds celebrating several hours after the Matildas’ one-nil win over Ireland at Stadium Australia on Thursday had footage deleted.

This masthead also is not allowed to use any images legally from these videos.

“I took some footage throughout the game, including the penalty, which was at the far end of the ground,” said Dan, who requested that his surname not be published. “Then I sort of looped around and got some of the amazing crowd reactions.

“Later, around midnight, I uploaded it on Instagram. In the early hours of the morning I opened Instagram and there was a copyright notice and the video had been deleted.”

Dan later received an email from Instagram saying he could contact the complainant, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, to resolve the issue. He reposted his video, which at the time of writing is still live.

FIFA did not comment directly on Dan’s case but said some people posting social media videos would have them removed because the organisation was conducting a large operation against digital piracy.

Some innocuous social media posts may be swept up by algorithms searching for pirate broadcasters, especially those that feature snippets of on-field action, it said.

“Digital rights are quite restricted so as to protect broadcast rights,” a spokesman said.

FIFA said it broadly encouraged people to post images from matches on social media. While some videos have been deleted, most are still up, including one posted by environment minister Tanya Plibersek, who captured the same goal as Dan from a different angle and posted it to her Instagram page.

“It does seem like overreach to target people who are just sharing content of a major sporting event,” said Isabella Alexander, a law professor at the University of Technology Sydney.

“I think it’s common for live sporting events to be very strictly controlled because of the value of the broadcast rights - and because there’s no copyright on the actual sporting event itself the way they can enforce it is via the fine print on the tickets,” she said.

“It’s probably not common for tickets to have quite the range of provisions like this, but since nobody ever reads them, how would we know?”

Other social media platforms have seen World Cup content removed this week. Journalist Hamish McNeilly from the Stuff website had a tweet that contained a short video from the match between New Zealand and Norway deleted on Thursday night, and posted a take down notice he received from FIFA shortly afterwards.

FIFA’s control of imagery can seem extreme. During the 2018 men’s world cup, football’s governing body ordered Twitter to take down a short video of seven-year-old England fan Alex Conn dancing in his living room because a TV showing a match could be glimpsed in the background.

“It just seems a bit pathetic,” Alex’s mother Kathryn told NBC at the time. “The fact that the TV is on in the background is largely incidental. He’s just enjoying himself and enjoying the game.”

FIFA struck controversy earlier this month when a directive to cover up plaques of seven Australian athletes at Allianz Stadium met outrage from some in the sporting community.

The move, part of FIFA’s “clean site” policy to remove all non-World Cup branding from venues, was reversed last week.

‘What, so betting markets can be changed?’ Robinson backs Matildas over Kerr injury

Three-time NRL premiership winning coach Trent Robinson has emerged as an unlikely ally for Matildas counterpart Tony Gustavsson after he attracted criticism for keeping Sam Kerr’s World Cup injury a secret.

Kerr’s shock withdrawal from Australia’s tournament-opening win over Ireland due to a calf injury was kept under wraps by the Matildas right up until final teams were named 90 minutes before kick-off on Thursday night.

Kerr and Gustavsson spoke at a pre-game press conference as though the world’s best player was not in any doubt despite knowing she had suffered the injury earlier in the day and wouldn’t play.

In his post-match press conference, Gustavsson appealed for understanding as to the tactical advantage gained by not flagging Kerr’s injury, and told host broadcaster Channel 7 in a separate interview that “we weren’t honest in the press conference [because] we didn’t have all the information either”.

Robinson was at the centre of a similar narrative around Cooper Cronk leading into the Roosters’ 2018 grand final triumph, when the star half was in doubt with a serious shoulder injury and Robinson ducked and weaved around the question of whether the star halfback would play until 30 minutes before kick-off. Cronk played the match despite having suffered what was revealed to be a badly broken shoulder blade.

“What, are you saying we should tell everyone so the betting markets can be changed?” Robinson responded when asked about keeping team secrets under intense scrutiny.

“There was a bit written about it [in 2018], but it’s not going to change people turning up. The objective of a coach is to win a game – other people might have a difference of opinion – but our job is to create intrigue and guessing in the opposition.

“Showing your cards days and weeks before a game is giving a bit of a tip sheet to the opposition. People wouldn’t have turned up if they found out? People wouldn’t have watched?

“The coach’s job for Australia is to win the game, and if that was a tactical advantage so Australia could win the game then I think we’re happy with that as Australians rather than having the knowledge hours before that Sam wasn’t playing.”

Gustavsson declined to answer a pre-game question about the fitness of his players and was similarly coy after Australia’s win when pressed on Kerr’s availability for the rest of the tournament.

Questions about how Kerr was injured and the nature of her calf issue were dead-batted, confirming only that the Chelsea superstar will miss next Thursday’s clash against Nigeria, with a match against Canada following four days later.

There is then a week’s break until Australia’s prospective round of 16 fixture on August 7.

“She’s going to be out for two games, and then we’ll reassess afterwards,” Gustavsson said. “That tells you a little bit about what grade it is, but we don’t want to go into more details on that at this point.”

Nike versus Puma: The ambush marketing campaign dividing the Matildas

Football Australia has blocked players from the pioneering 1975 Australian women’s team from referring to themselves as former Matildas as part of an ambush marketing campaign by a rival apparel brand that has bitterly divided the national team’s alumni network.

A long-running debate over who should be regarded as the ‘first Matildas’ – and thus the true matriarchs of the sport in Australia – has erupted in the build-up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, implicating current players and, according to one source who did not wish to be named due to the sensitive nature of the situation, has even ruined friendships between ex-teammates.

It relates to the team that wore green and gold at the 1975 Asian Cup Ladies Football Tournament in Hong Kong, whose groundbreaking role in Australian women’s football was given overdue formal recognition by FA for the first time in May 2022, after almost half a century in the shadows.

But because FA’s historical committee unanimously ruled they were a club team – with the majority of the 16 players drawn from all-conquering Sydney side St George Budapest, including coach Joe O’Connor, and the rest from NSW rivals – the federation stopped short of classifying them as full-blown Matildas due to the absence of a competitive national selection process.

The team had gained permission from Sir Arthur George, the chair of the FIFA-affiliated Australian Soccer Federation, to wear the national colours and coat of arms – although the ASF had no involvement at the time with the women’s game, which was run by the Australian Women’s Soccer Association, which formed a year earlier.

The 1975ers were offered unnumbered caps by FA, inclusion in the federation’s official records, recognition as the first women’s team to represent Australia in an internationally sanctioned tournament, and entry into the Matildas Alumni club, which holds various functions and events for ex-players.

But they thumbed their nose at FA’s offer, and 10 of them have since linked up with Puma – a direct competitor to the Matildas’ apparel sponsors Nike – which has launched a reported six-figure advertising campaign spotlighting the 1975 players with billboards, social media advertising and various other pieces of content telling their remarkable story.

The 1975ers are shown shedding tears as they read out a letter of recognition from Puma’s Oceania general manager Pancho Gutstein in one video. In another, current Matildas Charli Grant and Aivi Luik, as well as AFL stars Toby Greene and Scott Pendlebury – who all have individual endorsement deals with Puma – announce the names of the players who will take part in a ‘walking football’ rematch against New Zealand, their rivals at that tournament in Hong Kong, to be held on Cockatoo Island in Sydney this weekend.

The players, who have been dubbed the ‘OGs’ by Puma, were reunited for the first time since 1975, supplied with branded tracksuits and shoes, and have also been provided tickets for Thursday night’s clash between Australia and Ireland. They will watch it with their New Zealand counterparts – despite the Football Ferns hosting Norway in the tournament’s opener in Auckland on the same day.

FA says it planned to produce similar video content highlighting the players’ contributions had they taken up the offer made to them last year. Gutstein confirmed that when Puma’s campaign launched, an FA executive made contact and warned them about not breaching the federation’s IP, including use of the term ‘Matildas’, the trademark for which is owned by FA.

Last month, FA submitted another trademark request for ‘Tillies’, a shortened version of the team’s nickname commonly used by fans.

FA said it did not “hold a view” on the Puma campaign as it didn’t infringe on any trademarks or their partnership with Nike, which was also contacted for comment.

FA’s board will review the 1975ers’ claims again after the World Cup, with the players believed to be undeterred in their pursuit of further recognition – despite FA’s historians and some ex-Matildas, while recognising the significance of their achievements, believing they are overreaching by demanding numbered caps.

“With regard to the debate, that’s really not our call at all,” said Gutstein. “We just think that they have an amazing story. It’s a wonderful year to celebrate and share that story.” Puma sponsors only two of the 32 teams at the World Cup, while Adidas has a longstanding deal with FIFA.

Unnumbered caps were also recently offered to – and accepted by – the 1978 Australian team, which FA says was the first senior women’s side selected through a national process, but since they competed against club teams at an invitational tournament in Taiwan that year, and not against other nations, those matches are also not seen as full ‘A’ internationals.

Of the 16 players from the 1975 team, two have since passed away, as has coach O’Connor, and only three went on to earn numbered caps by playing in full ‘A’ international matches. Inaugural Matildas captain Julie Dolan was one of them, and featured in the 1979 clash against New Zealand that FA recognises as the Matildas’ first ‘A’ international, as well as the 1978 team.

Dolan is not involved with the Puma campaign. She declined to comment; sources close to Dolan claim her family was verbally abused the last time she weighed in on the topic. Dolan is the holder of Matildas cap No.1, a status which has led to prominent roles in FA and FIFA activities at World Cup events, and one she would theoretically lose if the caps were to be reshuffled to accommodate the 1975ers – as some of her ex-teammates seem to insist should happen.

In a public Facebook post, former FA director Heather Reid alleges the Puma campaign’s narrative “smacks of deception”, sparking a slanging match in the comments where 1975 player Trixie Tagg accuses her of trying to “rewrite our history” and describing the team’s treatment as that of “illegitimate cousins”. Others questioned what they said was an exclusionary approach.

Tagg said in an article on The Roar in 2020 that simply being acknowledged by FA – as they were last year – would “mean the world to us”, and that the players would never expect cap numbers to be changed.

In another post on a private Matildas Alumni group, seen by this masthead, one ex-player wrote: “Given the choice between honesty and kindness, most of us have chosen kindness. But after the Puma campaign ... it’s time for honesty.

“A team that isn’t nationally selected doesn’t pass the test to be classified as a national team – regardless of what colours they were allowed to wear. We all played many games in green & gold that weren’t classified as A international caps, for a whole range of reasons. A team where nobody else has an opportunity to be chosen simply isn’t a national team.

“Whoever is giving them false expectations is not doing them, or football, any favours. It’s sad to see this divide our game.”

McGregor 'will not be intimidated' over sexual assault allegation from Miami Heat NBA finals game - June 2023

Thee NBA and the Miami Heat are investigating an allegation former UFC champion Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman inside an arena bathroom after Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

The woman’s attorney, Ariel Mitchell, said her client has provided Miami police with the clothing she was wearing on the night and a report had been filed.

McGregor’s attorney said the fighter denied any wrongdoing. “McGregor will not be intimidated,” said lawyer Barbara Llanes.

In letters sent to the NBA, the Heat and McGregor’s representatives, Mitchell detailed her client’s allegations and said the client would discuss “reasonable settlement offers” before June 12 or else proceed with litigation.

“We are aware of the allegations and are conducting a full investigation,” read a statement from the Heat. “Pending the outcome of the investigation, we will withhold further comment.”

The NBA had a similar statement, saying it was working with the Heat to gather information.

The alleged incident happened on the same night McGregor knocked out the Heat mascot in a midgame bit that went wrong.

Burnie, more specifically the man who occupies Burnie’s costume, briefly sought medical attention Friday night after taking two punches from McGregor during a third-quarter stoppage of Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets.

The employee, who was not identified, received pain medication and was recovering, the team said.

McGregor was there as a promotional gimmick for a pain-relief spray and was booed by many in the Miami crowd even before the bit started.

The flame mascot was wearing oversized boxing gloves and a robe akin to what a fighter would wear entering the ring for a bout.

McGregor hit Burnie with a left hook, knocking him down, then punched the mascot again after he hit the floor.

McGregor then tried to “spray” the mascot with the pain-relief product, while several members of the Heat’s in-game promotional team dragged Burnie off the court.

McGregor hasn’t fought since injuring his left leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. His last win came in January 2020.

Roman Reigns agrees to put his Tribal Chiefdom on the line against Jey Uso! - July 21, 2023

On a frenetic Friday Night SmackDown, the stakes between Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Jey Uso got magnified as Reigns agreed to put his Tribal Chiefdom on the line as well as his title against Jey at SummerSlam! Plus, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio won his first NXT North American Title defense against Butch, Rey Mysterio advanced in the U.S. Title Invitational Tournament, Charlotte Flair overcame IYO SKY so much more!

Combat Sports News - Nate Diaz explains how Jake Paul trash talking Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin helped influence him into accepting the fight - 21st July 2023

Diaz (21-13 MMA) will be making his boxing debut against ‘The Problem Child‘ who has a 6-1 record in the ring, 4 of those wins via knockout.

Nate Diaz opened up about why he agreed to take the fight with Paul when speaking on the ‘Raw Talk’ podcast:

“This guy (Paul) actually thinks he’ll beat up everyone’s ass and he’s louder than all you fools who are really beating people’s ass. So, now I have to step the f**k out the box real quick and whup this motherf**ker’s ass so everyone knows who’s the real ass-whupper. You understand what I’m saying?”

Continuing the 38 year old shared:

“This fool was poppin’ off on everybody. Like, ‘Oh, we’re real fighters.’ Well prove it, motherf**ker. Go beat his ass for talking sh*t. He was going after everybody. On that big of a stage where he’s making everybody believe that, like you’re letting this guy talk sh*t to the whole roster? And ain’t no one saying sh*t? Louder than the roster? The UFC’s big, but the roster?”

Addressing what Jake Paul was saying about Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz continued:

“And then he was talking sh*t to Conor, talking sh*t to Conor and dissing his wife and sh*t? Some real disrespectful stuff that he shouldn’t have been saying. And nobody’s saying sh*t. I’m the one who said ‘Shut the f*ck up, b**ch. I’ll whup your ass. Have some respect.’ You’re gonna disrespect somebody’s wife and stuff like that who would actually whup your ass? To get a fight like that, that suppresses the fight fight game.”

Concluding, Nate Diaz said (h/t MMAMania):

“Like, that’s a real fight and you should shut the f*ck up, and no one’s saying anything because everyone’s acting like the whole roster, the UFC, everyone’s acting like ‘He can’t really.’ But he should shut the f*ck up. And no one’s speaking up, saying ‘Shut the f*ck up.’ So … shut the f*ck up.”

With the fight just 2 weeks away, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be the victor after 10 rounds in the boxing ring.

UFC RAISES MORE THAN $130,500 FOR THE UFC FOUNDATION DURING INTERNATIONAL FIGHT WEEK

July 22, 2023

During the 11th Annual International Fight Week, UFC raised a total of $130,790 with net proceeds benefitting the UFC Foundation.

To commemorate International Fight Week, UFC raised funds across three charitable campaigns surrounding the week-long celebration, including VIP sweepstakes with digital charity platform 15 Seconds of Fame, the 2023 UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and a week-long 50/50 raffle.

To coincide with IFW, UFC launched a statewide online and in-venue 50/50 raffle. Fans were able to participate in the raffle by purchasing tickets during the UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at T-Mobile Arena, at the Las Vegas Convention Center during UFC X, at ceremonial weigh-ins, and during UFC 290: VOLKANOVSKI vs. RODRIGUEZ at T-Mobile Arena. The raffle generated a total jackpot of $78,240, with 50% ($39,120) benefitting the UFC Foundation.

The winner of the remaining 50% of the jackpot, Jonathan Weber of Poinsettia, Ariz., who was making his second consecutive International Fight Week trip, will receive $39,120 after purchasing his 50/50 raffle ticket during UFC 290.

“We always contribute to the 50/50 raffle at every UFC event we attend,” said Weber. “We love watching the jackpot grow and build for the foundation. We have attended many UFC events and every time we go we buy raffle tickets! We’re going to take our winnings and pay some bills and create funds for our nine and four-year old daughters' savings accounts!”

Other funds raised during the week included $17,000 from a VIP sweepstakes for two tickets to sit in Dana White’s section during UFC 290 and $35,550 in ticket sales proceeds from the UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

UFC’s CSR activations during International Fight Week also included athletes visiting patients currently undergoing treatment at the Cure 4 The Kids Foundation and hosting a two-day youth freestyle wrestling clinic in partnership with Wrestle Like a Girl at UFC X.

The UFC Foundation works in tandem with UFC’s corporate social responsibility program, #UFCInTheCommunity, to strategically collaborate with partners, sponsors, and athletes to develop additional charitable programs and funding sources to help bolster and inspire the local community.

Since 2017, UFC has organized 29 50/50 raffles throughout North America that have grossed more than $1.55 million, with net proceeds benefitting local charitable organizations in the communities that have hosted UFC events throughout the United States and Canada.

UFC’s next 50/50 raffle will take place from Friday, September 15 – Saturday, September 16 at T-Mobile Arena as part of NOCHE UFC: GRASSO vs. SHEVCHENKO 2. For more information, please visit UFCFOUNDATION.

(UFC)

WWE® ANNOUNCES 27 ADDITIONAL DATES TO 2023 FALL LIVE EVENT TOURING SCHEDULE

STAMFORD, Conn., July 7, 2023 – WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced 27 additional live events as part of the company’s 2023 touring schedule. Tickets go on sale next Friday, July 14.

The schedule includes:

- Saturday, Sept. 9: WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event – Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.

- Sunday, Sept. 10: WWE Sunday Stunner – John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

Friday, Sept. 15: SmackDown® – Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.

Saturday, Sept. 16: WWE Supershow – Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash.

Sunday, Sept. 17: WWE Supershow – Extra Mile Arena in Boise, Idaho

Monday, Sept. 18: Raw® – Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah

Friday, Sept. 22: SmackDown® – Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

Saturday, Sept. 23: WWE Supershow – Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, Calif.

Sunday, Sept. 24: WWE Supershow – Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.

Monday, Sept. 25: Raw® – Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif.

Friday, Sept. 29: SmackDown® – Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif.

Saturday, Sept. 30: WWE Supershow – Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.

Sunday, Oct. 1: WWE Supershow – Tahoe Blue Event Center in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Monday, Oct. 2: Raw® – SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

Friday, Oct. 6: SmackDown® – Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.

Saturday, Oct. 7: WWE Fastlane – Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.

Monday, Oct. 9: Raw® – CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb.

Friday, Oct 13: SmackDown® – BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Saturday, Oct. 14: WWE Supershow – T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Sunday, Oct. 15: WWE Supershow – Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Mo.

Monday, Oct. 16: Raw® – Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Friday, Oct. 20: SmackDown® – AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas

Saturday, Oct. 21: WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event – Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas

Sunday, Oct. 22: WWE Sunday Stunner – Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas

Monday, Oct. 23: Raw® – American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas

Friday, Oct. 27: SmackDown® – Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.

Monday, Oct. 30: Raw® – Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, premium live events, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 1 billion homes worldwide in 25 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all premium live events, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.

Additional information on WWE can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.

Aussie Open win Tag Team titles at ROH Death Before Dishonor

The duo won the titles in a four-way match.

Aussie Open are the new ROH Tag Team Champions.

Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher won the titles at Friday’s Death Before Dishonor event, defeating former champions Penta El 0 M and Rey Fenix, Best Friends, and The Kingdom in a four-way match. The finish had Davis and Fletcher hitting Coriolis on Trent Beretta to win the titles for the first time.

Lucha Bros. had held the titles for 113 days, winning them back at Supercard of Honor on March 31 in a Reach for the Sky ladder match. The titles had been vacated due to the death of Jay Briscoe back in January.

Aussie Open had to vacate the IWGP and NJPW Strong Tag Team titles after Davis suffered a knee injury that required surgery. This was the first time since May that Aussie Open had teamed up, and the first time since they had signed with AEW.

The rest of the card saw champions retain their titles. The double main event had Claudio Castagnoli successfully retain the ROH World title against PAC, and Athena retain the ROH Women's title against Willow Nightingale.

Wrestling and sports announcing legend Jim Ross on AEW - July 2023

"Ian (Riccaboni) really distinguished himself in Calgary, I thought. I thought he and Nigel McGuinness had a hell of a night. I don't trust anybody any more than Ian Riccaboni to get the stuff in. We've got a great anchor with Excalibur and another great anchor with Ian Riccaboni and you just got to try it and see what kind of chemistry there is between teams. The team of Taz and Tony Schiavone and Excalibur is excellent. They really are excellent and they're getting their timing together. They're not talking over each other. They're trying, I think, not to use so many fu**ing pronouns. Then Nigel and Ian had a hell of a night, and that's leaving out Kevin Kelly in this debate. He'll be back as I understand it to do Collision, but I don't know how all that's gonna work out. I don't have any idea. But anyway, you just got to see if they got chemistry. The skill set it takes to have the patience to talk in sound bites and not make your dialogue about you. That's what we're waiting to see how that was all going to transfer.” - Jim Ross

AEW's Matt Hardy On The Pros & Cons Of Social Media - July 2023

Matt Hardy has remained a top star for several decades. However, his career was rejuvenated in a big way with the emergence of his break-out "Broken" character in TNA. The new persona wound up going viral on social media, thanks to wrestling fans. As a result of leveraging social media to his benefit, Hardy has a pretty solid grasp on the pros and cons of its usage, which he shared during a recent appearance on "Busted Open Radio."

"I have said this for a long time. Social media is the best thing ever to happen and social media is the worst thing to ever happen," Hardy explained. "When you are on social media, it gives guys that are hungry and driven a great platform to promote themselves, to promote their business, to promote their projects — whatever it may be. But it also allows people to come on social media without accountability and without responsibility. And they can insult people and troll people."

Hardy recently encountered some toxicity at the hands of Jim Cornette and his fans on social media, but Hardy does his best to not let it affect him.. "Just because there are a group of people that may follow someone who is an antiquated relic in terms of his opinions — if they came at me and insult me that doesn't bother me at all," said Hardy. "Matter of fact, it is kind of like a badge of honor because I am picking up attention in some capacity". Hardy has realized the best response is not to waste energy arguing or trying to change opinions.

Hardy also recognizes social media isn't going anywhere, and he pushed that to thrive in society you needed to embrace technology and adapt to societal changes. "Social media is a magical thing. It is a monster. It is so powerful," said Hardy. "I just hope people try hard to be very responsible and use it for good."

ONE Championship To Host Four U.S. Events In 2024

ONE Championship, the world’s largest martial arts organization, today announced that the promotion will host four events in the United States in 2024.

Coming off a successful U.S. debut in May at 1stBank Center in Colorado with ONE Fight Night 10, ONE will look to carry its momentum into 2024 with a recurring cadence of ONE Fight Night events in America, which will air live on Prime Video in the U.S. and Canada. Cities, venues, and ticketing information will be announced at a later date.

Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “I am thrilled to announce that ONE Championship is coming back to the U.S. with four massive events in 2024. When we made our historic U.S. debut with ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, I was blown away by the support we received from our fans in the U.S. ONE is home to the greatest martial artists in the world, and I’m excited to once again showcase our World Champions on American soil. To our fans that haven’t seen a live ONE event, I promise you an experience unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”

ONE Fight Night 10 featured Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson defending the ONE Flyweight World Title, the return of “Super” Sage Northcutt, the U.S. debuts of Thai superstars Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Stamp Fairtex, and more. Milestones for the event included:

Tickets: Sold out 1stBank Center in Colorado

Viewership: Most watched event to date for ONE on Prime Video

Search: A new peak on Google Trends for “ONE Championship” in the U.S.

Social: #ONEFightNight10 trended #1 on Twitter in the U.S. and Canada for Sports

Prime Video Partnership: Merch on Demand QR codes for ONE apparel, in-stadium Twitch Watch Parties featuring ONE athletes, live coverage throughout fight week

Stage Front VIP, the exclusive U.S. VIP experience partner of ONE, will continue to provide fans with unrivaled access through immersive VIP experiences that include premier seating, premium hospitality offerings, athlete meet-and-greets, event collectibles, after-party access, and more.

Streaming quotas decision would ease Hollywood strike headache: studio boss - July 16, 2023

Australia’s film and television sector will avoid major disruption as a result of union strikes in Hollywood, although the Albanese government is being urged to finalise its decision over proposed local content quotas to ease uncertainty in the industry.

Former chief executive of Nine Entertainment Hugh Marks – who last year founded Australian studio Dreamchaser alongside former Endemol Shine boss Carl Fennessy – said the writer and actor strike had added a layer of complexity to the Australian industry.

After announcing in January it would implement local content requirements for international streaming services, the government is yet to set a number for the quota. A spokesperson for Tony Burke, minister for the arts and for workplace and employment relations, reaffirmed a decision would be made this side of the new year, ahead of its implementation in July 2024.

Marks said the local offices of the likes of Netflix, Disney and Apple will be affected by the strikes, with Australian content pitches increasingly being angled towards a global audience.

The strikes have coincided with a period where streamers have shifted gears from “a gold rush of global domination”, Marks says, to being forced to figure out how to monetise their vast audiences.

Several, including Netflix, Disney+ and Binge locally, have turned to advertising as a contributing solution. A clear direction from the government, he says, would ease the headache over decision-making on domestic content.

“The one thing that would really be beneficial now would be the release of the new proposed laws about quotas in this market because that would certainly give everyone some focus as to at least what’s got to be done domestically,” Marks says.

“I’m certainly encouraging the government to act sooner rather than later to remove that unnecessary lack of certainty from the local market.”

In a positive for the local industry, a statement on Friday from Screen Producers Australia (SPA) noted the strike does not apply to non-scripted productions, including documentaries, light entertainment and reality shows – the latter of which is widely noted to be a beneficiary of the writers’ strike in 2007.

SPA said it anticipated a limited number of non-Australian productions will be affected by the strikes locally. The body said all scripted local productions produced and controlled by Australian production companies that have engaged Australian and Imported SAG members will continue unaffected, provided they engage all cast under Australian Industry Contracts in accordance with the Global Rule One Agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA).

While it has been suggested prolonged strikes in the US could see an additional influx of Australian-produced content, Marks believes it is too early in the process to think that might be the outcome.

The country’s biggest streaming services are required under legislation introduced by the Morrison government to report their spending on Australian content to the authority. The big five – Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Paramount+ – reported that in 2021-22 they collectively spent $668.5 million on “Australian” and “Australian-related” content.

Last month, NBC Universal walked away from its $180 million sci-fi series, Metropolis, which had pre-production under way at Docklands Studios in Melbourne. After the actors union voted to strike last week, the Sam Neill/Annette Bening drama Apples Never Fall, halted on Friday. Production was already under way in Queensland, budgeted at an estimated $79 million.

NBC Universal signed a content deal with Foxtel in November, with an extended deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of the highly regarded network HBO, in February.

Foxtel’s streaming service Binge has relied heavily on content from HBO for its sustained growth since launching in 2020, with popular shows such as White Lotus, Succession, and The Last of Us. Binge was responsible for 11.9 per cent of all new Streaming Video on Demand subscriptions in the first quarter of this year, according to data from Kantar, with 18 per cent of all of its new user acquisitions driven by The Last of Us, its blockbuster nine-part series that debuted in January.

Local players including Foxtel and Stan (owned by Nine) were approached for comment on the impact of their programming schedules.

One of the streamer’s largest subscription drivers in 2022, House of the Dragon, will continue filming in the UK, due to the show being largely comprised of British actors with contracts governed by the local union, Equity.

Paramount, which owns Network Ten and streaming service Paramount+, is understood to not be affected by the strikes. While it benefits from a constant stream of content from Paramount Studios, the local arm of the company has focused its efforts on Australian-produced content, which includes shows such as The Last King of the Cross, Five Bedrooms, and the recently green-lit series NCIS: Sydney, being produced locally by Endemol Shine.

Screen Producers Australia wants a 20 per cent levy on the streamers’ Australian revenue, while the streamers insist they are spending plenty already, with local TV networks in agreement.

In May, a submission by industry body Free TV, which represents Nine, Seven West Media and Network Ten, said it opposed the introduction of quotas for local productions, arguing the screen production industry in Australia is already booming.

Free TV doubled down this week, calling for a balanced approach to the introduction of streaming quotas. In response to comments by Bryan Brown AM in an address to the National Press Club, Bridget Fair, CEO of Free TV Australia said the group invests $1.5 billion every year in Australian content.

“But if the Government is going to impose content quotas on streaming services, it needs to carefully consider the impact this will have on the Australian public who rely on free services from our local broadcasters,” she said.

Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes splits from wife - 22nd July 2023

An Australian tech billionaire worth $19 billion has reportedly split from his wife after 13 years of marriage.

Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has reportedly split from his wife after 13 years of marriage.

Sources close to the family of Mr Cannon-Brookes, who is Australia’s sixth-richest person and the co-founder of Atlassian, have confirmed he is separating from his wife, Annie, according to Nine newspapers.

The couple married in 2010.

Their separation comes just a week after the high-profile split of Australia’s richest couple, Twiggy and Nicola Forrest.

The Forrests, who had been married for 31 years, said they were living apart but insisted the separation will not impact their mining and philanthropy empire.

Mr Cannon-Brookes made his estimated $19 billion fortune alongside fellow Aussie billionaire Scott Farquhar, with whom he co-founded software firm Atlassian in 2002.

The company is widely considered a great Australian success story, its share price having quintupled since it was listed on the US stock exchange in 2015.

Atlassian has, however, suffered a tough 12 months amid broader turmoil in the tech sector. In March, the company laid off 500 workers just a few months after a dramatic hiring blitz.

In a self-described “no bulls**t” note to staff, Mr Cannon-Brookes and Mr Farquhar said it was a “very hard day in our 20 year history” and they were “deeply sorry” to make the job cuts.

“To be clear, this decision is not a reflection of Atlassian’s own financial performance, as we will be reinvesting in roles that better support our priorities,” they wrote.

The Cannon-Brookes family owns an impressive property portfolio, including the 1.1-hectare Fairwater estate, previously the home of the late Lady Mary Fairfax, which they acquired in 2018 for a reported $100 million. It was believed to be the priciest property sale in Australian history.

In June, the couple forked out $14.25 million to buy a home in Newport, on Sydney’s northern beaches, neighbouring the $24.5 million estate they purchased in 2020.

The five-bedroom home is set on a 3000-square-metre block of land and features a 1000-square-metre netted bathing area.

Cannon-Brookes, who was previously a fashion designer, was born in the US.

It’s believed he and Annie met at a Qantas lounge during a trip between Sydney and San Francisco.

Endeavour calls on states to work together on gambling reform

Endeavour Group boss Steve Donohue has urged state and territory governments to work more closely together when considering policies to fight problem gambling, as the hotels’ operator promises to get a jump on implementing gaming reforms unveiled in Victoria this week.

Donohue said on Thursday that Endeavour, one of the largest operators of poker machines in the country, has written to state governments calling for a “more co-ordinated and collaborative approach” and to make sure that knowledge is shared across all states on proposals such as cashless gaming and facial recognition technology.

He said there was room for the states to share more insights with each other about the impact and efficacy of different policy measures.

“What we are saying is we think there is an opportunity for deeper collaboration and more co-ordination in relation to various approaches, suggestions and ideas,” he said.

“We can learn from the experiences that each state and territory is having.”

A spokesperson for New South Wales Gaming and Racing Minister David Harris said the state was committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver evidence-based gambling reform.

“We will be paying very close attention to the activities of other jurisdictions, such as the Victorian government and the evidence they unearth through the work of their implementation working group,” they said.

“Just this week the minister met with the ACT minister for gaming to continue collaboration and discussion on gambling reform across jurisdictions.”

Endeavour told shareholders on Thursday that the company would move swiftly to implement changes after the Victorian government unveiled proposed reforms to gaming machine regulations on Sunday.

The state’s plan for reducing gambling harm includes slower spin times for games, mandatory closing periods for gaming room floors, mandatory pre-commitment limits and a load-up limit of $100, which will cap how much an individual can put in a machine at a time.

Endeavour confirmed it would adjust the hours of gaming machine areas at its ALH Hotels in Victoria, so they close between 4am and 10am by August 31; 10 months ahead of the government’s proposed timeline.

This would bring Victoria’s rules in line with operating-hours regulations in NSW and South Australia.

The company also confirmed it supported the $100 load-up limit and would bring this into operation for Victorian machines “as soon as is practicable”.

Shares in the business closed 9.9 per cent weaker on Monday as investors and analysts considered what impact the reforms would have on the group’s earnings.

Goldman Sachs analysts said on Monday that the exact impact would be difficult to estimate, but said it could lower earnings by 0.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent during the 2024 financial year.

E&P Financial analyst Philip Kimber said policies such as the $100 load-up limit were likely to have a smaller impact on Endeavour’s financials than the Victorian government’s policy on pre-commitment limits.

“There is no change to our view that the Victorian government proposal with the potential to have the most material impact on electronic gaming machine spend in Endeavour’s Victorian pubs is mandatory pre-commitment limits [via carded play],” he said in a note to clients on Thursday.

Endeavour shares opened stronger but did not maintain momentum during Thursday’s session as the broader market stayed flat. The stock was up 0.3 per cent to $5.91 in late afternoon trade, but still down by 5.6 per cent over the past five days.

Media Man commentary for David Rowe Illustrations as per The Australian Financial Review

Pen Dan Thon Games For Four. Great art.

No Pentathlon. No nothing. Gang of four. Gonzo and satire +. Commentary open to interpretation, as per pro wrestling legend John Cena's Instagram. Beauty of otherwise in the eye of the beholder. Alternative commentary: Sports biz blessing in disuise and doddged a bullet from the range.

Media Man commentary for Mike Mooneyham feature on 'The Bloodline' and wrestling factions news in the WWE

Exactly. But, hopefully it becomes the "new normal" for the WWE version of pro wrestling. The Judgement Day faction also looks very promising to me with Dirty Dom as a heat seeking "killer heel" element, while going after all of the belts. Tony D gets seen on today's WWE SmackDown backstage and he's got "mob" and family business history with Escobar, so LWO also gets a shot in the arm. So much better than 3 to 5 years ago. The Triple H era with apparent assistance by Shawn Michaels and a few others who listened to fans of pro wrestling. Paul Heyman fingerprints over the "crime scenes" for the past 56 months or so. And WWE business is at historic levels. Feel welcome to quote me.

Media Man commentary for recent scribes in Search Engine Journal - 2023

SEJ's Kristi on the latest on the Hollywood writers strike connection with AI, human writers and the like..To paraphrase the world's leading tech entrepreneur/innovator, Elon Musk, "Once you summon the beast (of AI) there's no turning back". For me, founding and overseeing a modest size independent media and online publishing firm.Insew both opportunity and threats with AI. More threats at this stage of the game.. Circa 1980 pro wrestling legend, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes cut a promo which was decades ahead of its time and included the verse, "A computer took my job Daddy"..and "that's hard times". Well, we may not be quiet at that point but social is inching closer. We are somewhat reluctantly starting to embrace some A.I elements. Twitter Spaces broadcast raised interesting points on AI in business and life over the past week. The part about "summoning the demon" is still giving me mild nightmares. AI can certainly save publishers and the like a considerable amount of money? How? By reducing if not elimination of human writers, web-coders and so on. Ying and yang. AI wins and a human loses. But, humans are still in control right?! This is getting me even more fired up for the potential match: Musk vs Zuck! Man vs Machine!

Media Man commentary for Search Engine Journal: Supercharge your Alt text SEO strategy

SEJ - Alt Text AI.. motivated to work on an AI project to help get the best parts of the subject and have AI write one of these AI articles for us. Open AI, xAI, Bard and/or other! AI tender wars could be a potential growing trend. Save time and save money by not having to pay a human to do a job an AI robot machine can do! "Never pay a human to do a machines job". (Agent Smith -;The Matrix). In AI and SEJ we trust. Man over machine or Machine vs Human? Can they both co-exist in the AI SEO space or will a battle be looming or more a Darwinism for the AI writer and scribe. An AI writer will work for nothing and around the clock 365 right? Little wonder the article was done or largely done by AI. A growing trend, or a one-off? All the news that's fit to print on SEO. AI SEO all the way to the bank.

Netflix reveals jaw-dropping result after password sharing crackdown

The streaming giant has unveiled the results of its controversial password-sharing crackdown – and they’re quite staggering.

Netflix has revealed that subscriptions to their streaming service climbed by nearly six million in the wake of its crackdown on password sharing.

The streaming giant finished the recently ended quarter with a total of 238 million subscribers and a profit of $US1.5 billion ($1.77 billion), according to an earnings release.

The pick-up in subscribers came as a potentially crippling writers and actors strike hits the US entertainment industry, but with analysts saying Netflix is better positioned than its rivals to weather the storm.

“We are constantly at the table negotiating with everyone across the industry,” Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said during an earnings presentation.

“We need to get to this strike to a conclusion so that we can all move forward.”

Revenue came in lower than expectations with Netflix posting $US8.2 billion ($12 billion) in sales over the April to June period, pushing the company’s shares down more than eight per cent in after hours trading on Wall Street.

Netflix in May expanded its crackdown on users sharing passwords with people beyond their immediate family as it seeks to shore up revenue after a rough patch last year.

Earlier this year the company complained that more than 100 million households were sharing accounts at the service.

“Let’s face it, the crackdown on passwords is working,” Navellier and Associates chief investment officer Louis Navellier said of Netflix.

“I was ecstatic with the results; I think they hit the ball out of the park with subscriber growth.” In its earning statement, the company said that the policy would expand to all its markets worldwide.

To convert non-paying users, Netflix has introduced “borrower” or “shared” accounts, in which subscribers can add extra viewers for a higher price or transfer viewing profiles to new accounts.

Netflix launched an ad-subsidised offering around the same time as the crackdown, and on Wednesday eliminated its lowest priced ad-free plan that cost $10 a month in the US.

“The decision to cut its basic tier is an effort to bolster advertising by elevating the price difference between its advertising and non-advertising tiers,” said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Ross Benes.

“Building an ads business from scratch isn’t easy and we have lots of hard work ahead, but we’re confident that over time we can develop advertising into a multi-billion dollar incremental revenue stream,” Netflix said in the letter to shareholders.

Benes estimates that Netflix will generate $US770 million ($1.13 billion) in advertising revenue in the US this year, and more than US$1 billion by 2024.

“Netflix’s increased focus on password sharing will occur alongside heightened pressure to expand ad revenue,” Benes said.

“As the service’s subscriber base plateaus in more countries, Netflix will focus on moving price-sensitive freeloaders to its cheaper ad-supported plan.”

Actors on strike

The earnings report came as Netflix and other film and television makers see productions halted by an actors and writers strike in the United States.

“The share price is down a bit after market; there is worry they will run out of content because of the Hollywood strike,” Navellier told AFP.

Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) members joined writers who have been on strike for weeks, triggering the first industry-wide walkout for 63 years and effectively shutting down Hollywood.

“Our experts say that Netflix is best positioned to weather the strike compared to competitors, but it could start to feel pressure if its content pipeline gets increasingly strained,” said Third Bridge analyst Jamie Lumley.

Sarandos said on an earnings call in April that the company has a “pretty robust slate of releases” and a large base of upcoming films and shows from around the world to help it endure a strike.

The company touted the success of fresh Murder Mystery and Extraction films, as well as series such as Bridgerton, The Witcher and Never Have I Ever.

“This year we’ll have more returning seasons than any other streamer,” Netflix told shareholders, sharing a list that included The Crown and Virgin River.

Netflix scraps huge comeback movie for beloved 80s franchise - July 2023

Netflix has scrapped a huge comeback movie for a beloved 80s series, despite already spending more than $44m developing it.

Netflix has scrapped a huge comeback movie for a beloved 80s series.

Despite spending more than $44m on the project, it seems the upcoming film has officially been given the axe by the streaming giant.

The Masters of the Universe – based on the He-Man and other Mattel toys – has been in the works at Netflix since 2019.

The streaming giant already released an animated series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in 2021, and two other shows were also in development.

However according to Variety, despite the extortionate amount of money spent on development costs, the project has been axed.

The news reportedly comes after “budget concerns” were raised.

The project previously had a tough time trying to find its way to the big screen as it went through both Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures.

Many writers have been involved in the project since 2007, as well as acclaimed directors Jon M. Chu and McG.

Huge names were attached to the film including The Lost City directors Adam and Aaron Nee and lead actor Kyle Allen, 28, who is best known for roles in West Side Story and American Horror Story.

Significant pre-production procedures took place even though producers worked to get the budget down.

Netflix reportedly rejected a $180 million budget as it never officially gave the project the green light.

Although the film is no longer at Netflix, Mattel is reportedly looking for a new home for the film.

CEO of the company Ynon Kreiz recently told The New Yorker: “It’s hundreds of pages of characters and sorcerers and vehicles and weaponry – you name it.

“And then you flip through the pages, and here’s a movie, and here’s a movie, and here’s a TV show. . . . it’s endless!”

The film is based off a toy line franchise of the same name, which was also a hit cartoon series that aired from 1983 to 1985 and consisted of 65 episodes.

The series was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, She-Ra: Princess of Power, following the adventures of He-Man’s sister, Princess Adora.

A live action movie version was released in 1987 which starred the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Courteney Cox and Frank Langella.

‘They Live’, starring Roddy Piper, returning To U.S theaters For 35th Anniversary

John Carpenter’s classic They Live, starring WWE star Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster, came out in 1988. The film is based on “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson. As AMC Theatres summarized, They Live centers around “aliens who are gaining control of the earth by masquerading as humans and the one man determined to stop them.” This special anniversary event will feature an exclusive intro from director John Carpenter.” To commemorate the movie’s thirty-fifth anniversary, it is returning to theaters on September 3 and 6 through Fathom Events. The special edition will include an exclusive intro from Carpenter.

Meta and other social media giants blocking news in Canada - July 2023

Some Instagram users in Canada are finding their access to news accounts restricted as Meta and other social media companies prepare for the country’s Online News Act to come into effect. Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook, says it underwent testing in June to limit some users and publishers from viewing or sharing news content in Canada. It says tests impact up to five per cent of Canadian users. Many have questions about the federal government’s Online News Act, why it’s being opposed by social media companies and how the friction between the two will impact Canadian users. Here are some of your questions, answered.

What is the Online News Act?

The Online News Act, or Bill C-18, is a piece of Canadian legislation that requires tech companies like Google and Meta to compensate news outlets for sharing links to their pages. The law received royal assent on June 22 and is slated to take effect “no later than 180 days” after that date.

What are the concerns for social media companies?

Critics, including Meta and Google, say Bill C-18 is unfair, unworkable and amounts to a tax on links, with no recognition of the traffic or “free marketing” the tech companies provide to news publishers. Along with blocking access to some users, Meta has begun an ad campaign on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, criticizing the law and explaining its decision to remove news links.

“The Online News Act is based on the incorrect premise that social media companies benefit unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, but the reverse is true,” said Lisa Laventure, spokesperson for Meta, in a statement Monday. “News outlets voluntarily share content on social media to expand their audiences and help their bottom line. Unfortunately, the only way we can reasonably comply with this legislation is to end news availability for people in Canada in the coming weeks.”

Is this what the bill’s proponents wanted?

No. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez called Meta’s move “disappointing” and said Canadians will not be intimidated by these tactics. Meanwhile, Paul Deegan, the head of News Media Canada, called Meta’s move a “kick in the shins” to Canadians at a time when the value and need for credible information has never been greater.

“Meta’s decision to ‘unfriend’ Canada by denying access to trusted sources of news for some of their users, as wildfires burn and when public safety is at stake, is irresponsible and tone deaf,” Deegan told CBC News in an email. “This hard-nose lobbying tactic is more evidence of the power imbalance that exists between dominant platforms and publishers.”

Will this happen to all of us soon?

In order to comply with the law, both Google and Meta have stated they would remove news links in Canada before the law comes into effect by the end of the year. Rodriguez has said Google and Meta do not have obligations under the law because the regulatory process is just beginning.

“We’re deeply convinced that Google’s and Facebook’s concerns can be resolved through the regulatory process. If Facebook truly believes that news has no value, they can say so at the negotiating table,” Rodriguez said in a statement on Monday. “Threats to pull news instead of complying with the laws in our country only highlight the power that platforms hold over news organizations, both big and small.” Google has said it will work with the government throughout the regulatory process, while Meta believes the process isn’t equipped to make changes to parts of the legislation with which it disagrees.

What is CBC doing about this?

Legacy media and broadcasters have praised the bill, which promises to “enhance fairness” in the digital news marketplace and help bring in more money for shrinking newsrooms. Tech giants including Meta and Google have been blamed in the past for disrupting and dominating the advertising industry, eclipsing smaller, traditional players. CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate position is that the Online News Act will help level the playing field and contribute to a healthy news ecosystem in Canada “at a time when 80 per cent of digital ad revenue goes to Facebook and Google,” said spokesperson Leon Mar. In an editor’s blog, CBC News editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon has suggested audiences follow the broadcaster on TikTok and other apps, such as Gem and CBC Listen.

Has there been pushback?

Meta, which is based in Menlo Park, Calif., has taken similar steps in the past. In 2021, it briefly blocked news from its platform in Australia after the country passed legislation that would compel tech companies to pay publishers for using their news stories. It later struck deals with Australian publishers. Gregory Taylor, a communications, media and film professor at the University of Calgary, pointed to Australia as an example for why Canadian news publishers should hold strong on their position.

“Facebook is really trying to assert itself, but in the end they can’t afford to lose a lot of these markets,” Taylor previously told CBC North. “I believe that we are at the leading edge of getting these companies to contribute to our democracy by bringing in this kind of funding model.”

What is the answer to combat this?

Alfred Hermida, a journalism professor at the University of British Columbia, believes C-18 is a “flawed piece of legislation” that doesn’t address greater issues in the news industry, such as the concentration of private media ownership.

“It doesn’t take into account the record profits of media conglomerates like Bell and Rogers,” he previously told CBC News. “And it doesn’t really do anything to support for more than 140 journalism startups that have been created in Canada since the year 2000.” In the near term, private messaging and chat groups may also be alternatives as Meta’s Facebook Messenger does not appear to be affected by the company’s plans to block news links.

In conclusion, the implementation of Canada’s Online News Act has led to restrictions on news accounts for some Instagram users in the country. Meta and other social media companies have undergone testing to limit the viewing and sharing of news content in Canada. The Online News Act requires tech companies to compensate news outlets for sharing links to their pages. Social media companies like Meta and Google oppose the law, stating that it is unfair and amounts to a tax on links. Meta’s decision to block news links has been criticized by proponents of the bill, who argue that it is irresponsible and highlights the power imbalance between platforms and publishers. Both Google and Meta have announced plans to remove news links in Canada before the law comes into effect. CBC/Radio-Canada supports the Online News Act, believing it will enhance fairness in the digital news marketplace. There has been pushback from social media companies, with Meta previously blocking news in Australia but later striking deals with publishers. The answer to combat this issue is still being debated, with some arguing that the legislation does not address larger issues in the news industry. In the meantime, private messaging and chat groups may serve as alternatives for accessing news content.

Top 5 Movies about writers on Netflix

Movies are a great part of our lives. They make us happy and sad, inspire us to embark on journeys to unknown lands, and become our escape when everything seems to go down. You can find a movie about literally anything and use it as a tool to get out of a crisis.

This is especially relevant for academic writers and their blocks. The writing industry knows no boundaries, starting with novel writers who spend years on their books and finishing with professional essay writers who can finish a difficult assignment in 8 hours. SmartWritingService is a great sample of such websites.

Both get writer’s blocks from time to time. Just like batteries, they need to be recharged to continue their work. Sometimes it’s the feeling of the worthlessness of what they do, while other times, it’s just general exhaustion.

If you’re in a similar situation, let us help you recharge with the 5 best movies about writers!

TOP 5 MOVIES ABOUT WRITERS

These will enchant you with interesting stories and help get your mind off the struggle. Get some popcorn, a blanket for extra coziness, and let’s begin.

STRANGER THAN FICTION

This is an extraordinary story that comes alive thanks to an amazing cast. Here you can see legends such as Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Another treat is Will Ferrel in an unusual role for him. We all know the actor for his humor and sarcasm, but in this movie, he’s a completely different, serious, character.

With this movie, you will experience all the stages of the writing process, a unique interpretation of it, and the way to make your characters open from new sides on screen. It’s unique, creative, and very engaging. The movie will leave an impression you won’t be able to shake off for several days. And you won’t have to!

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

If you’re more into romantic stories, this movie is a great choice for your rewind time. This is Woody Allen at his best! The movie shows a story, filled with romance and comedy, about a promising writer on a journey to the most loving and loved city of the world, Paris, with his fiancee.

The author, played by the talented Owen Wilson, is filled with fears, a lot of writers have, no matter the genre, experience, or era. The movie takes a fantastic twist when the writer meets a lot of authors he was inspired by before their famous breakthroughs. Their stories help him overcome every doubt and fear, coming out a completely new person and giving himself a chance.

The story is enhanced by the beauty of the French capital, which is just magical.

SWIMMING POOL

This movie is more of a thriller, for those who like to be on the edge of their seats, thinking of nothing more but the plot. It’s about deadlines (the most powerful thriller for a writer anyway) and inspiration in unexpected places. The main character, played by Charlotte Rampling, is nearing her deadline that comes as quickly as an express train. She has a new novel to present to her publisher, and it should become as good as her previous successful book, maybe even better.

She goes to the countryside in France and meets a teen played by Ludivine Sagnier. As teenagers can be, she’s quite rebellious, but the writer, unexpectedly, finds inspiration and motivation in their interaction that drives her to make the book much better. The story is filled with mystery, as well.

WILDE

The name of the movie says everything. Oscar Wilde is one of the most unique and famous writers in the world. This story highlights certain parts of his personal life, where a lot of writers can find similarities or explanations to some of their questions.

The author appreciated beauty in everything, was quite witty and painfully honest in his works. This movie can help you gain a new understanding of the world of writing, personal crisis, and more. Besides, you’ll find out a lot of new information about the writer, which is always interesting.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

For everyone who loves pretty things, this is an incredibly beautiful movie. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow and is a special film in her life. The actress won an Academy Award for it! This is a drama-comedy about a writer that everyone around the world knows.

We learn about Shakespeare in school, and some continue to do it due to their major or sheer interest in this extraordinary person and a talented writer. The movie is highly entertaining and beautiful, shot in a traditional British manner. If you’re struggling with writer’s block, this film is a must-watch!

Pop Culture Podcast Wars; Media Man Monthly awards

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TMZ wins Media Man 'Pop Culture News Outlet Of The Month'

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Netflix finally reveals how much it makes from Australians - 1st June 2023

Netflix made more than $1 billion from Australians last year, a figure the company reported for the first time after deciding no longer to funnel revenues through a Netherlands-based subsidiary.

Accounts lodged by the streaming giant show Netflix Australia made $1.06 billion in 2022, up from $30.7 million the year before.

The increase in reported revenue came after the company’s local subsidiary changed how it bills. It now describes itself as a “distributor of access” to Netflix Service as opposed to a provider of services for its parent company.

It was previously estimated that Netflix made between $790 million and $1.4 billion from Australians, but customers were billed by Netflix International BV. But from January 1 last year, customers were billed by Netflix Australia, meaning subscription revenue was recognised and taxed locally.

The accounts, filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, show Netflix Australia paid $966 million to the Netflix Group in distribution fees and other costs, meaning it made just $22.7 million from total revenues of $1.06 billion.

After paying $6.9 million in income tax, it reported $15.8 million profit for the year.

“As Netflix continues to grow and invest in Australia, we want our corporate structure to reflect our business activities here,” a spokesman for Netflix said last year when The Australian Financial Review reported the structural change.

In 2021, Netflix Australia reported $30.7 million in revenue, $2.4 million in profit pre-tax, and $1.5 million in profit after its $868,000 income tax bill.

Netflix does not disclose subscriber numbers for Australia, but the revenue figures included in its latest accounts implies the service has around five million customers locally, if its standard plan, $16.99 per month, is used as a guide. It has four monthly price tiers including a new, cheaper one that now adds some advertising.

According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, streaming services made a combined $2.49 billion in Australia in 2021.

The disclosure of Netflix’s true Australian revenue comes as the federal government considers introducing quotas that would force streaming companies to spend a certain amount making shows locally.

Some suggestions have been forcing them to spend between 10 and 20 per cent of local revenue on Australian shows, meaning Netflix would be required to spend, depending on the rate, between $100 million to $200 million.

ACMA estimates streaming providers spend $335.1 million on Australian content in the 12 months to the end of June last year, up from $178.9 million the year before.

Netflix has been contacted for comment.

News

Mistakes and miscalculations: How the Murdochs and Fox got it so wrong - 30th May 2023

In August 2021, the Fox Corp. board of directors gathered in Los Angeles. Among the topics on the agenda: Dominion Voting Systems’ $US1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) defamation lawsuit against its cable news network, Fox News.

The suit posed a threat to the company’s finances and reputation. But Fox’s chief legal officer, Viet Dinh, reassured the board: Even if the company lost at trial, it would ultimately prevail. The First Amendment was on Fox’s side, he explained, even if proving so could require going to the Supreme Court.

That determination informed a series of missteps and miscalculations over the next 20 months, according to a New York Times review of court and business records, and interviews with roughly a dozen people directly involved in or briefed on the company’s decision-making.

The case resulted in one of the biggest legal and business debacles in the history of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire: an avalanche of embarrassing disclosures from internal messages released in court filings; the largest known settlement in a defamation suit, $US787.5 million; two shareholder lawsuits; and the benching of Fox’s top prime-time star, Tucker Carlson.

And for all of that, Fox still faces a lawsuit seeking even more in damages, $US2.7 billion, filed by another subject of the stolen election theory, voting software company Smartmatic.

Caught flat-footed

Repeatedly, Fox executives overlooked warning signs about the damage they and their network would sustain, the Times found. They also failed to recognise how far their cable news networks, Fox News and Fox Business, had strayed into defamatory territory by promoting President Donald Trump’s election conspiracy theories — the central issue in the case. (Fox maintains it did not defame Dominion.)

When pretrial rulings went against the company, Fox did not pursue a settlement in any real way. Executives were then caught flat-footed as Dominion’s court filings included internal Fox messages that made clear how the company chased a Trump-loving audience that preferred his election lies to the truth.

It was only in February that Murdoch and his son with whom he runs the company, Lachlan Murdoch, began seriously considering settling. Yet they made no major attempt to do so until the eve of the trial in April, after still more damaging public disclosures.

At the centre of the action was Dinh and his overly rosy scenario.

Dinh, a high-level Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, declined several requests for comment, and the company declined to respond to questions about his performance or his legal decisions. “Discussions of specific legal strategy are privileged and confidential,” a company representative said in a statement.

The second half of 2020 brought Fox News to a crisis point. The Fox audience had come to expect favourable news about Trump. But Fox could not provide that on election night, when its decision desk team was first to declare that Trump had lost the critical state of Arizona.

In the days after, Trump’s fans switched off in droves.

The Fox host who was the first to find a way to draw the audience back was Maria Bartiromo. Five days after the election, she invited a guest, Trump-aligned lawyer Sidney Powell, to share details about the false accusations that Dominion, an elections technology company, had switched votes from Trump to Joe Biden.

Soon, wild claims about Dominion appeared elsewhere on Fox, including references to the election company’s supposed (but imagined) ties to the Smartmatic election software company; Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan dictator who died in 2013; George Soros, the billionaire investor and Democratic donor; and China.

‘Fox News did its job, and this is what the First Amendment protects. I’m not at all concerned about such lawsuits, real or imagined.’

Fox’s chief legal officer Viet Dinh

On November 12, a Dominion spokesperson complained to Fox News Media chief executive Suzanne Scott and Fox News Media executive editor Jay Wallace, begging them to make it stop. “We really weren’t thinking about building a litigation record as much as we were trying to stop the bleeding,” said Thomas A. Clare, one of Dominion’s lawyers.

As Fox noted in its court papers, its hosts did begin including company denials. But as they continued to give oxygen to the false allegations, Dominion sent a letter to Fox News general counsel Lily Fu Claffee, demanding that Fox cease and correct the record. “Dominion is prepared to do what is necessary to protect its reputation and the safety of its employees,” the letter warned.

Fox, however, did not respond to the Dominion letter or comply with its requests — now a key issue in a shareholder suit filed in April, which maintains that doing so would have “materially mitigated” Fox’s legal exposure.

Three months after the election, another voting technology company tied to the Dominion conspiracy, Smartmatic, filed its own defamation suit against Fox, seeking $US2.7 billion in damages. Dominion told reporters that it was preparing to file one, too.

Dinh was publicly dismissive.

“The newsworthy nature of the contested presidential election deserved full and fair coverage from all journalists. Fox News did its job, and this is what the First Amendment protects,” Dinh said at the time. “I’m not at all concerned about such lawsuits, real or imagined.”

The Fox legal team based much of the defence on a doctrine known as the neutral reportage privilege. It holds that news organisations cannot be held financially liable for damages when reporting on false allegations made by major public figures as long as they don’t embrace or endorse them.

An early warning came in late 2021. The judge in the case, Eric M. Davis, rejected Fox’s attempt to use the neutral reportage defence to get the suit thrown out, determining that it was not recognised under New York law, which he was applying to the case. Even if it was recognised, Fox would have to show it reported on the allegations “accurately and dispassionately”, and Dominion had made a strong argument that Fox’s reporting was neither, the judge wrote in a ruling.

That ruling meant that Dominion could have access to Fox’s internal communications in discovery.

That was a natural time to settle. But Fox stuck with its defence and its plan.

Treasure trove

At nearly every step, the court overruled Fox’s attempts to limit Dominion’s access to private communications exchanged among hosts, producers and executives. The biggest blow came mid-last year, after a ruling stating that Dominion could review messages from the personal phones of Fox employees, including both Murdochs.

The result was a treasure trove of evidence for Dominion: text messages and emails that revealed the doubts that Rupert Murdoch had about the coverage airing on his network, and assertions by many inside Fox, including Carlson, that fraud could not have made a material difference in the election.

The messages led to even more damaging revelations during depositions. After Dominion’s lawyers confronted Rupert Murdoch with his own messages showing he knew Trump’s stolen election claims were false, he admitted that some Fox hosts appeared to have endorsed stolen election claims.

During Carlson’s deposition last year, Dominion’s lawyers asked about his use of a crude word to describe women — including a ranking Fox executive. They also mentioned a text in which he discussed watching a group of men, who he said were Trump supporters, attack “an Antifa kid”. He lamented in the text, “It’s not how white men fight,” and shared a momentary wish that the group would kill the person. He then said he regretted that instinct.

There is no indication that Carlson’s texts tripped alarms at the top of Fox at that point.

The alarms rang in February, when reams of other internal Fox communications became public. The public’s reaction was so negative that some people at the company believed that a jury could award Dominion more than $US1 billion. Yet the company made no serious bid to settle.

All along, the Fox board had been taking a wait-and-see approach.

But the judge’s pretrial decisions began to change the board’s thinking. Also, in those final days before the trial, Fox was hit with new lawsuits. One, from former Fox producer Abby Grossberg, accused Carlson of promoting a hostile work environment. Another, filed by a shareholder, accused the Murdochs and several directors of failing to stop the practices that made Fox vulnerable to legal claims.

The weekend before the trial was to begin, the board asked Fox to see the internal Fox communications that were not yet public but that could still come out in the courtroom.

The board learned for the first time of the Carlson text that referred to “how white men fight”. Dinh did not know about the message until that weekend, according to two people familiar with the matter.

By the time the board learned of the message, the Murdochs had already determined that a trial loss could be far more damaging than they were initially told to expect. A substantial jury award could weigh on the company’s stock for years as the appeals process played out.

“The distraction to our company, the distraction to our growth plans — our management — would have been extraordinarily costly, which is why we decided to settle,” Lachlan Murdoch said at an investment conference this month.

The text also helped lead to the Murdochs’ decision to abruptly pull Carlson off the air. Their view had hardened that their top-rated star wasn’t worth all the downsides he brought with him.

Still pending is the Smartmatic suit. In April, Fox agreed to hand over additional internal documents relating to several executives, including the Murdochs and Dinh. In a statement reminiscent of Dinh’s early view of the Dominion case, the network said that Fox was protected by the First Amendment.

“We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025,” the statement said.

News

Lachlan Murdoch explains $1.2b settlement, says Fox News won’t change ‘successful strategy’ - 10th May 2023

Fox News paid $US787 million ($1.16 billion) to settle a recent lawsuit on its reporting after the 2020 election to avoid a divisive trial and lengthy appeals process, its parent company’s chief executive said.

Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp., also noted that a Delaware judge “severely limited” Fox’s defences against Dominion Voting Systems, which said the network defamed it by airing bogus charges of election fraud that it knew was untrue.

Fox Corp announced that it had lost $US50 million the previous three months, which it attributed to the lawsuit settlement. Murdoch, who answered questions from financial analysts, was speaking in public for the first time since the case ended and Fox fired its most popular anchor, Tucker Carlson. Carlson has just announced he is launching a new show on Twitter.

Murdoch said viewers, and investors, should expect no change in direction from Fox News.

“We made the business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and multi-year appeal process, a decision clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” he said.

Fox still believes it was properly exercising its First Amendment rights to report on newsworthy fraud allegations made by former President Donald Trump, even though that defence was shot down in a pre-trial court ruling in the Dominion case, Murdoch said.

That’s important, since Murdoch said Fox intends to use the same defence against a similar lawsuit by another elections technology company, Smartmatic. That case is not expected to go to trial until at least 2025, he said.

Despite being asked directly about Carlson’s exit, Murdoch didn’t mention the former prime-time host’s name and referred to his reign obliquely. Fox has not explained why it cut ties with Carlson.

“There’s no change in programming strategy at Fox News,” he said. “It’s obviously a successful strategy. As always, we are adjusting our programming and our lineup and that’s what we continue to do.”

Although hurt by the Carlson exit, Fox News remains the leading cable news network.

Fox has lost viewers following Carlson’s firing. Last week’s substitute host, Lawrence Jones, reached between 1.28 million and 1.7 million last week in a time slot where Carlson usually drew around 3 million, the Nielsen company said.

Yet Fox has gained more than 40 new advertisers in that hour, the network said, confirming a report in Variety. Advertisers like Gillette, Scott’s Miracle Gro and Secret deodorant that had considered Carlson’s show a toxic environment have signed on.

(AP)

News

Jesse Armstrong on the roots of Succession: ‘Would it have landed the same way without the mad bum-rush of Trump’s presidency?’ - 27th May 2023

It has been the TV drama of our time – a brutal, hilarious unpicking of how power works. As the series comes to an end, its creator looks back at its origin and the unholy trinity of men who helped inspire Logan Roy

My first vivid memory of the project that would develop into Succession was trying to get out of it. It was about 2008 and I was on location for the filming of Peep Show, the UK sitcom my longtime writing partner Sam Bain and I wrote together. Between that show and my work on The Thick of It and In the Loop, and a bunch of other things, I was feeling overcommitted. That particular day we were pretending a very normal field in Hertfordshire was a safari park. I sloped off from set and, hiding from imaginary lions, tried to elegantly step away from the project.

I failed. And in the following months as I wrote, slowly, I became certain the script was a dud. It was stodgy and odd. The original idea, a faux-documentary laying out Rupert Murdoch’s business secrets, with them delivered straight to camera, evolved as I worked into a sort of TV play, set at the media owner’s 80th birthday party. Channel 4 were supportive, but it was an odd form, this docudrama/TV-play, and difficult to make happen. Around 2011, after a read-through in London where John Hurt played Rupert, the project essentially died.

My US agent was the first person I recall suggesting a totally different approach. A fictional family, a multi-series US show. For five years or so, I dismissed the idea, certain that a portrayal of a fictional family would never have the power of a real one. Four works changed my mind: HBO’s excellent Robert Durst documentary, The Jinx; Sumner Redstone’s grimly business-focused autobiography, A Passion to Win; James B Stewart’s propulsive DisneyWar; and Tom Bower’s fascinating Robert Maxwell biography Maxwell: The Final Verdict. These turned the idea of doing a media-family drama without a singular real-life model from a terrible betrayal of reality into a tantalising chance to harvest all the best stories. Here was an opportunity to explore all the most fascinating family dynamics within a propitiously balanced fictional hybrid media conglomerate. I took a long, deep dive into rich-family and media-business research.

I talked about this, as-yet-unwritten, idea in half-ironised terms as ‘Festen-meets-Dallas’

When Sam and I decided to bring things to a close on Peep Show, I flew out to pitch this media show around LA. I had a clear idea of where I wanted to develop it, but my agent persuaded me appetites would be whetted if we had a number of potential homes. So I spent three days doing a round of pitch meetings where I talked about this as-yet-unwritten idea in half-ironised terms as “Festen-meets-Dallas”. No stars, Dogme 95 camerawork. Scared of driving on the five-lane highways, I bumped around town in the back of a Honda Civic while a nice young man from my US agent’s mailroom ferried me between rooms stocked with identical tiny bottles of water and executives of vastly varying degrees of interest.

Eventually, I got to HBO, the place I most wanted the show to land, home to The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. I knew they might be receptive. Frank Rich – once known as the “Butcher of Broadway” for his theatre criticism, but now an in-house consigliere – had championed my work there to the boss, Richard Plepler, and I’d previously developed a show with them. So, out the back of a French-style bistro on a three-cappuccino high, I pitched it to their head of drama and comedy, Casey Bloys.

Sometimes a pitch stretches thin and threadbare, the fabric renting as you go, the other party peeping grimly through the holes. Other times, the air thickens, and you can feel the atmosphere in the room turn oxygen-rich as the enthusiasm you are trying to project transforms into an enthusiasm you are actually feeling.

By the time I left LA, HBO had made an offer and Adam McKay, fresh from The Big Short, had said he would be interested in directing. I’d written another Succession forerunner, a script about the US political strategist Lee Atwater, for Adam and his producing partner Kevin Messick. It had been one of the few LA experiences I’d had where the excitement expressed at the start of the project sustained through the writing and attempts to get it made.

This was 2016 and, once back in the UK, I wrote the pilot through the spring and summer in a one-room flat I rented on Brixton Hill, south London, walking across Brockwell Park each morning, listening to podcasts and reading news about the Brexit referendum. Scotland had recently voted by a narrow majority to stay inside the UK and the abiding sense right before the Brexit vote was, yeah, change looms, it glistens, menacingly, promisingly, but it doesn’t happen. Not really. Really, everything stays the same.

But then it did happen. And across the Atlantic, the Trump campaign was igniting – even if initially his candidacy felt like a slightly amusing, slightly too-vivid flash in the pan. Into early autumn, in fact, all serious people were still explaining to one another that Trump couldn’t happen. Although I suppose, looking back, there was a notable lack of detail in terms of the mechanism by which he would be stopped.

I think a lot of the better films and TV shows I’ve been involved with have at their heart a quite simple impulse around which the more subtle layers are spun. In the Loop’s spark was anger at the Iraq war. Chris Morris’s Four Lions I think was driven by his gut feeling that something was very wrong with the way we understood jihadi terrorism in the UK. Peep Show was about oddball male friendship, perhaps even “masculinity”.

I guess the simple things at the heart of Succession ended up being Brexit and Trump. The way the UK press had primed the EU debate for decades. The way the US media’s conservative outriders prepared the way for Trump, hovered at the brink of support and then dived in. The British press of Rothermere, Maxwell, Murdoch and the Barclay brothers, and the US news environment of Fox and Breitbart.

The Sun doesn’t run the UK, nor does Fox entirely set the media agenda in the US, but it was hard not to feel, at the time the show was coming together, the particular impact of one man, of one family, on the lives of so many. Rightwing populism was on the march across the globe. But in the fine margins of the Brexit vote and Trump’s eventual electoral college victory, one couldn’t help but think about the influence of the years of anti-EU stories and comment in the UK press, the years of Fox dancing with its audience, sometimes leading, sometimes following, as the wine got stronger, the music madder. It was politically alarming and creatively appealing: to imagine the mixture of business imperatives and political instinct that exist within a media operation; to consider what happens when something as important as the flow of information in a democracy hits the reductive brutality of the profit calculation inside such a company. How those elements might rebound emotionally and psychologically inside a family as it considered the question of corporate succession.

For Logan Roy, Murdoch, Redstone and Maxwell were my holy trinity of models. But Conrad Black, Brian L Roberts of Comcast, Robert Mercer of Breitbart, Julian Sinclair Smith of Sinclair, Tiny Rowland, Rothermere, Beaverbrook and Hearst all fed in. The three central models were wildly different, of course: the self-made refugee Maxwell and the already-rich Murdoch, a scion of Australian journalistic royalty, both so different from the tough Boston lawyer Redstone who started with a couple of his father’s drive-in cinemas.

But they were connected by a strong interest in a few things: a refusal to think about mortality (Redstone and Murdoch both used to make the same joke about their succession plan: not dying); desire for control; manic deal-making energy; love of gossip and power-connection; a certain ruthlessness about hirings and firings. And most of all, an instinct for forward motion, with a notable lack of introspection.

Perhaps the best part of Redstone’s autobiography for a casual reader is the opening, where he recounts clinging by one hand to a hotel balcony through a fire. Despite suffering third-degree burns over half his body, years of rehabilitation, excruciatingly painful skin grafts, he says this event, after which he made all his biggest business plays, had no impact whatsoever on the trajectory of his life.

Whether due to all this grist, or the aligning of the political planets (in)auspiciously, the pilot came unnervingly easily. Getting names in a script to feel real can be hard for me – they’re a tell-tale sign of whether I’m living inside it. Kendall, Shiv, Roman, Connor. They all felt right straight off the bat. Their inspirations, I suppose, were the children of these magnates: three of the Maxwell kids, the ones closest to the business (the boys, Ian and Kevin) and to their father (Ghislaine). Brent and Shari Redstone, with whom Sumner played a tough and complicated game of bait-and-switch over CBS-Paramount succession. And the Murdoch children, Prudence, Lachlan, James, Elisabeth, Chloe and Grace.

But getting those names for the Roy children made them feel like their own individuals to me. It allowed me to pour in just what I wanted from the real world, fill each with all the faults they might have inherited, while giving me room to add some extra, just for them.

Greg and Tom came fast, too. Tom from two roots. One was thinking about the sort of lunks I’ve occasionally seen powerful women choose as partners. Plausible, manly men with big watches and a soothing affable manner. That mixed with the deadly courtier, a more 18th-century figure, minutely attuned to shifts in power and influence, an invisible deadly gas that occurs in certain confined places and rises to kill anyone unwise enough not to take precautions. A hanger-on sustained by some Fitzgeraldian illusions about the world, a sense that perhaps the rich really are different from us and a romantic ambition to make it in New York City.

Greg, I guess, was a distant relative of the sort of political adviser I had myself briefly been. Gormless, clueless, out of place and gauche. But not without an eye for a deal. And, I hope, a little more wheedling and insinuating than I ever was.

The scenes flowed. I put all research aside and followed my nose and wrote pretty much exactly what I wanted

The charge between these two semi-outsiders struck me from the start as toxic and comic. Tom, the interloper, is like an organism that has found a precarious but rewarding perch above some deep oceanic vent and adapted itself to conditions perfectly. He is not pleased at all to see a similar creature scuttling along hoping to share the same cramped evolutionary niche. That first half-bullying, half-provocative exchange they share in the outfield at a softball game in the pilot landed them right in the middle of a stew they’ve been cooking in ever since.

The scenes flowed. I had eaten a very large amount of research, but once I was writing I put it all aside and followed my nose and wrote pretty much exactly what I wanted. It felt funny but odd and broken-ended, fragmentary, abrupt, oblique and slightly brutal. When I emailed it off, I had the familiar feeling that Adam, Frank and HBO might email back to say not only was it not good, it wasn’t even actually, technically, a script. But their response was frighteningly positive. Almost as though the script was finished, after what was, I thought, a quick first draft. I think every other episode of Succession has gone to at least 30 drafts – usually 50. The pilot barely hit 15.

We had our read-through in New York on US election day 2016. Before we started, I made the sort of joke lots of people made that day, assuming the polls were right and Hillary Clinton was going to squeeze it. That night we gathered in Adam McKay’s apartment to watch the results roll in. Much later, I walked a long walk back from Soho to where I was staying near the United Nations looking at the electoral college numbers projected on to the Empire State Building.

We started filming the next day.

I still wonder whether Succession would have landed in the same way without the mad bum-rush of news and sensation Trump’s chaotic presidency provided. Trump wasn’t the firebombing of German civilians, and nor is Succession Slaughterhouse-Five, but I do sometimes think about Vonnegut saying no one in the world profited from the firebombing of Dresden, except himself.

This is an edited extract from Succession: The Complete Scripts – Seasons One, Two and Three (Faber & Faber), out now at £20 each. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copies for £17.60 each from guardianbookshop.com.

The final episode of Succession airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic/Now on Monday. Jesse Armstrong donated the fee for this article to the Writers Guild of America strike assistance fund.

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LIV Golf announces new pay-per-view option - 26th May 2023

"The hope for LIV is to grow off the success first seen on YouTube in 2022, where the league attracted tournament audiences of several hundred-thousand views in the U.S. and abroad."

Going forward, LIV Golf Series events will be available via a pay-per-view option on YouTube.

The new deal was detailed by James Colgan of Golf.com.

“Less than six months after signing a media rights agreement with the CW, LIV announced Friday that it has created a new, pay-per-view broadcast option to run on YouTube,” Colgan reported. “The PPV broadcast will cost $3 per tournament day, LIV said in a release announcing the decision, and will run in addition to the league’s agreement with the CW.”

Colgan also detailed that “A LIV source indicated that the CW is aware of the decision to introduce a pay-per-view model, and that the decision does not violate any of the league’s preexisting broadcast agreements.”

“The hope for LIV is to grow off the success first seen on YouTube in 2022, where the league attracted tournament audiences of several hundred-thousand views in the U.S. and abroad. The league already has its own direct-to-consumer subscription platform, LIV Golf Plus, which the PPV channel will run counter to. LIV broadcasts will continue to be streamed for free on the CW app.”

This announcement comes less than two weeks after a rather embarrassing moment for the tour. One week before LIV’s Brooks Koepka triumphed at the PGA Championship, the Saudi-backed golf series was in Tulsa.

On one hand, it was a perfect showcase event for LIV. Two of its most high-profile players, Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith, went to a three-way playoff (along with Branden Grace). But most of the people watching did not get to see Johnson’s eventual triumph.

The CW, the league’s primary broadcast partner, went away from coverage in the vast majority of its markets, showing “regularly scheduled programming.” Jim Nantz was quick to make a joke at LIV’s expense on the matter at the PGA Championship. The CW also announced a change, saying that all events will be shown to their conclusions going forward.

[Golf.com]

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WWE Night Of Champions Reportedly Earned Highest Viewership Of Any Saudi Arabia Show - 31st May 2023

According to a report from Fightful Select, Saturday's Night of Champions PLE scored WWE the highest viewership out of any of the company's Saudi Arabia events since the partnership between the two began in 2013. The report states that Night of Champions brought in an 18% increase in viewership compared to last year's Crown Jewel event, and the company is reportedly quite happy with its holiday weekend results.

Night of Champions was headlined by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn successfully defending the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa of The Bloodline, with a major angle taking place on the show that saw The Usos turn on Reigns after more than a year of build-up and tension.This marks the second time a tag team match has served as the main event of a major WWE show in recent months. Additional matches on the show included Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles to decide the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion, a singles match between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus, and a Backlash rematch pitting Brock Lesnar against Cody Rhodes, among others.

To date, WWE has held nine PPVs and PLEs in Saudi Arabia, along with three house shows. Back in 2019, WWE announced that they had "expanded their partnership" with Saudi Arabia, and that they would be hosting two major events per year in the Middle Eastern nation through at least 2027. Though it hasn't been announced yet, WWE will likely return to Saudi Arabia for another Crown Jewel event later this year.

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Pat McAfee Comments On Empty Seats At AEW Double Or Nothing - 31st May 2023

All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing pay-per-view took place this past weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the event, Wrestlenomics' Brandon Thurston tweeted images of empty seats inside the venue. Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez also posted a photo from his ringside position, which showed many unoccupied places behind Orange Cassidy after he retained the AEW International Championship in a Blackjack Battle Royal. Former "WWE SmackDown" commentator Pat McAfee has weighed in with his thoughts.

"Anytime you get a shot away from hard cam, you know what I mean, you can really see a lot of things," McAfee said on "The Pat McAfee Show." "AEW found out this weekend or whatever at one of their events, it's like three quarters of an arena completely empty. They don't want that photo out anywhere."

Ahead of the pay-per-view going live on Sunday night, WrestleTix revealed 10,229 tickets had been distributed for an 11,641 setup inside the T-Mobile Arena, leaving 1,412 tickets available. An Anarchy in the Arena match headlined the show, with Blackpool Combat Club's Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, reigning ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta picking up the win in that bout against The Elite's Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and "Hangman" Adam Page.

AEW's next major standalone show, All In, which will take place on August 27 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, has currently sold over 65,000 tickets and has a gate of over $8 million. No matches have been announced for AEW's first event across the pond as of this writing. Ticket sales for All In have slowed following an initial surge.

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WWE-UFC merged company to be called ‘TKO Group Holdings’ - 16th May 2023

A name has emerged for the group.

Coming out of WrestleMania, it was announced by Endeavor that an agreement had been reached with WWE and the company would be merging with UFC to form a new sports and entertainment company.

The deal has not been formally finalized but a name for the merged group has been revealed. CNBC’s Alex Sherman and Mike Calia published a story and an Endeavor spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the new group is going to be called ‘TKO Group Holdings’.

It will trade under the New York Stock Exchange as ‘TKO’.

The merger between WWE and UFC is being valued at $20 billion. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel will be the CEO of TKO Group and Vince McMahon is going to serve as Executive Chairman.

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Nick Khan Says WWE In Talks With International Cities For 2024 PLEs

It sounds as though WWE will continue expanding its PLEs into international markets next year. Speaking at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference, WWE CEO Nick Khan stated that the company was discussing the potential for additional overseas shows in 2024.

"We're in conversations now with a lot of international cities about doing 2024 shows there," Khan said. "Also, part of the intent is to match those up with our media rights, even if they're not up to over-deliver for incumbent partners who can then invite their partners in the international city to the event, and host them. It's good for our overall business." Khan's comments came as part of a conversation about countries offering subsidies to WWE for bringing shows there, as the company brings a great deal of revenue to the city for major events. Khan cited recent events in Puerto Rico as well as the Dallas, Texas area as examples.

Previous rumors pointed toward Australia as a potential location for a future international WWE PLE. However, it's unknown if negotiations with the country have progressed in the months since.

WWE has steadily ramped up its major international shows over the last five years, with the company holding several yearly events in Saudi Arabia, as well as last year's Clash at the Castle and the upcoming Money in the Bank both being held in the United Kingdom. It seems fans around the world should stay on the lookout for upcoming announcements regarding WWE's international schedule in 2024.

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“We Let People Go”: Months After $21.4 Billion UFC-WWE Deal, Endeavor CEO Recalls “Horrible” Time for Organization - 2nd June 2023

The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges for individuals and organizations alike, and the UFC was no exception. The promotional frontman Dana White has reflected on those uncertain times and shared the struggles the organization faced in keeping things going. Despite the pandemic, White was determined to keep the show running and provide entertainment for fight fans worldwide. While the rest of the world was shut down, the UFC managed to organize consistent events, albeit on a smaller scale. However, this arduous journey was not without its fair share of hardships.

Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, the parent company of the UFC and William Morris Endeavor talent agency, revealed the significant challenges they encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though Endeavor recently secured a massive $21.4 billion deal to acquire the WWE, during the COVID-19 days, the company found itself at rock bottom struggling to stay afloat.

When Covid-19 posed a threat to the UFC

In an interview on the “Freakonomics Radio” podcast, Emanuel shared how the pandemic affected the company financially. During the interview, podcast host Stephen Dubner asked Emanuel, “Did you think COVID might kill Endeavor?”. Reflecting on this, the 62-year-old CEO replied, “It was bad,” He continued, “I’d never had to fire that many people.”

Emanuel mentioned that the continuation of UFC fights during the pandemic played a crucial role in saving the company, accounting for approximately 70% of their revenue that year. Further talking about the struggles to keep the organization alive during the pandemic, the Endeavor CEO stated, “We had our ESPN deal. We then started making deals for writers. So we stored all the cash. We didn’t let anything out. We let people go, which was horrible, or furloughed them.”

Through the storm, Endeavor’s leadership team, led by Emanuel, proved to be the lighthouse that guided them to safer shores. The UFC’s resilience and the implementation of innovative strategies, such as the ‘Fight Island’ events, not only salvaged the company but also became a beacon of hope for other professional sports leagues.

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“Very, Very Easy for Jon Jones”: Ex-UFC Star Ruthlessly Shuts Down Tyson Fury Days After Boxer’s Callout of UFC Champ in Ugly Public Feud - 1st June 2023

The claim made by Joe Rogan that Tyson Fury would stand no chance against Jon Jones has sparked an intense and never-ending debate. Recently, another prominent figure from the UFC, the world of mixed martial arts, has jumped into this heated discussion. However, ‘The Gypsy King’ himself strongly opposed the take of the UFC commentator and didn’t hold back in expressing his views. In fact, he went as far as bashing Rogan and proudly proclaimed himself to be ‘the baddest man on the planet’.

As the back and forth continued between Fury and Rogan, UFC president Dana White has stepped in, proposing a potential fight between Fury and Jones. However, the WBC heavyweight champion firmly refused to step into the octagon, dismissing the idea altogether. This decision faced an immediate backlash from fans who had eagerly anticipated the materialization of this debate inside the fighting arena.

Despite the disappointment felt by fans, it becomes evident that the 34-year-old boxer has no intention of venturing into the octagon. On the contrary, a former UFC welterweight challenger believes that Fury would fare well in the realm of mixed martial arts. However, he warns that there may be unforeseen challenges along the way.

Tyson Fury will have a Jon Jones threat in MMA

During a recent interview, the former UFC fighter Dan Hardy shared his reflections on the latest happenings in the combat sports world, ranging from boxing to MMA. However, it was the Tyson Fury-Jon Jones debate that took center stage.

The 41-year-old Hardy began by heaping praise on ‘The Gypsy King’ for his potential in MMA, stating, “Tyson Fury doesn’t come from a boxing background. He comes from a fighting man background. Tyson Fury sees himself as a fighter first that boxes, and I think he looks at mixed martial arts and sees lots of ways he can capitalize on the changing of the rules.”

Continuing his analysis, Hardy mentioned Fury’s collaboration with Tom Aspinall and how he has showcased proficient elbows and knees in the videos shared with him. ‘The Outlaw’ confidently stated, “I feel like Tyson Fury would be really good if he crossed over to mixed martial arts. Of course, there’d be a lot for him to learn. The main issue would be, he’d be very, very easy for Jon Jones to take down. And I think that’s something that Tyson has not experienced and has not and has not really quite comprehended.”

Meanwhile, Jon Jones recently made a strong statement in his heavyweight debut, securing a first-round victory against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 after returning from a three-year-long hiatus.

This certainly explains Dan Hardy’s warning to Tyson Fury. How do you think ‘The Gypsy King’ would fare in MMA?

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Dwayne Johnson to Return as Luke Hobbs in New ‘Fast and Furious’ Standalone Film - 7th June 2023

Dwayne Johnson is returning to the “Fast and Furious” universe with a new standalone film, reprising his franchise role as Luke Hobbs.

Universal Pictures announced the project on Thursday. Longtime “Fast and Furious” collaborator Chris Morgan wrote the untitled film’s script. Plot details were not available, though individuals familiar with the deal said the new movie will bridge between the events of the just-released “Fast X” and the upcoming “Fast X: Part II,” which is expected in 2025. Johnson just appeared as Hobbs, a diplomatic security service agent, in a credits scene for “Fast X.”

Johnson will produce the film with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia for their Seven Bucks Productions, along with Vin Diesel and Samantha Vincent via their One Race Films. Additional producers include Chris Morgan for his Chris Morgan Productions, Jeff Kirschenbaum for Roth/Kirschenbaum Films and Neal Moritz for Original Film.

Screenwriter Morgan wrote and produced “Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” and “The Fate of the Furious.” He’s also scripted and executive produced the fifth, sixth and seventh entries in the franchise. Directed by Louis Leterrier, “Fast X” opened at No. 1 around the world in May with $320 million and became the second-biggest global opening of 2023.

Johnson announced Hobbs’ return with a video posted to social media with the caption: “Your reactions around the world to Hobbs’ return in ‘Fast X’ have blown us away. The next ‘Fast & Furious’ film you’ll see the legendary lawman in will be the Hobbs movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter & set up for ‘Fast X: Part II.'”

“Last summer Vin Diesel and I put all the past behind us,” Johnson added. “We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve – and always take care of the franchise, characters & fans that we love. I’ve built my career on an ‘audience first’ mentality and that will always serve as my north star.”

Johnson is repped by WME, lawyers Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc. and The Lede Company.

Seven Bucks has co-produced films like Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” and the DC Studios entires “Black Adam” and “DC League of Super-Pets.” Original series include NBC’s “Young Rock” and “The Titan Games.” Johnson will next produce and star in “Red One” at Amazon Studios and Disney’s live-action “Moana.”

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13 States Comment On Possibility Of Allowing Gambling On WWE Matches

In March 2023, CNBC reported that WWE was working toward legalizing gambling on wrestling matches, enlisting the services of accounting firm Ernst & Young, with Michigan, Colorado, and Indiana mentioned as the initial targets. As of now, betting on WWE matches is only available at offshore sportsbooks like BetOnline.ag, based out of Antigua, and Bovada, based out of Latvia. Betting on matches in America would open up new streams of revenue for WWE and add some mainstream legitimacy to the sports entertainment powerhouse.

Since that report broke, however, it's been nothing bad news for WWE in the gambling department. Dave Meltzer has reported that WWE's efforts aren't going well — Colorado denied talking to WWE and said that "By statute, wagers on events with fixed or predicted outcomes ... are strictly prohibited in Colorado." Indiana told Casino.org that it had "no interest in approving wagering on scripted events," and Michigan also denied any recent talks with WWE, while New Hampshire Lottery Commission executive director Charlie McIntyre deemed it "very unlikely" betting on WWE gets approved in New Hampshire.

In light of this, Wrestling Inc. reached out to multiple states about the possibility of legalized betting on WWE matches. Each gambling commission was asked 1) how likely WWE would be to succeed if they pitched gambling on matches to them, and 2) if there were any regulations, laws, or statutes that barred betting on something with predetermined outcomes. 13 states -– Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington -– responded. While their responses varied slightly, overall, they paint a picture of increasingly fewer opportunities, and increasingly more obstacles, for legal gambling on WWE matches to get approved.

At least three states say they wouldn't allow gambling on WWE as a matter of policy, even if there are no explicit laws against it.

Kerry Hemphill, Manager of Sports Betting Product at the Oregon Lottery, made it clear that gambling on WWE wouldn't be allowed as a matter of policy in the Beaver State: "Although there is no law or statute that forbids it, Oregon Lottery sports betting policy is to not accept wagers on scripted events with predicted outcomes."

Seth Elkin, Assistant Director of Communications for Public Affairs for Maryland Lottery and Gaming, also told us his state had made a determination on the matter. "Maryland's sports wagering law and regulations prohibit forms of wagering that are contrary to public policy or unfair to bettors," he said. "We've determined that it is unfair to bettors, and therefore not in the public's interest, to accept wagers on sports entertainment events that have predetermined outcomes, like professional wrestling."

Meanwhile, a representative from the South Dakota Department of Revenue simply said, "WWE wrestling matches would not be eligible for sports wagering in South Dakota."

Iowa and Ohio say no to betting on predetermined events

Two more states said that predetermined events weren't permitted, but made a point to highlight policy and procedure. Brian J. Ohorilko, Administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, also shot down gambling on wrestling for the time being.

"Predetermined events are not permitted in the State of Iowa," he told Wrestling Inc. "Iowa law defines and permits professional sporting events and sports-related events; however, fixed or predetermined outcomes are not explicitly permitted. As such, and for other integrity concerns, the commission has not permitted predetermined events in any of the approved wagering markets."

Ohorilko also brought up the process that would be required for any kind of legalization: "From a practical standpoint, any request would need to come with a legal opinion as to how this would be permitted under Iowa law," he said. "It would need to go through legal review with consultation from the AG office. If legal review passes, the commission would still need to review policy and integrity concerns with respect to the activity having predetermined outcomes. Approval would be needed before this type of wagering activity could take place."

Ohio tells a similar story. Jessica Franks, Director of Communications for the Ohio Casino Control Commission, pointed us towards Rule 3775-11-01 of the Ohio Administrative Code — the process for adding to Ohio's catalog of wagers and events. She said the Commission's review of such requests includes, but is not limited to, the following criteria:

The quality of the governing body's documented integrity program.

The general availability of information related to the governing body.

The professional or skill level status of athletes.

The history of integrity related to events sanctioned by the governing body.

This already puts the WWE in shaky territory, but it's seemingly locked out for good with the following consideration: "Please note that the Commission will not approve requests for wagers/events involving 'Events which are pre-recorded or in which the outcome has been otherwise previously determined.'"

Arizona and Connecticut have laws against betting on fixed outcomes

At least two states have laws in place that would ban gambling on WWE matches.

Max Hartgraves, Public Information Officer at the Arizona Department of Gaming, provided a straightforward statement: "Arizona statute prohibits gambling on fixed events."

Meanwhile, when asked how likely WWE would be to garner approval for gambling on matches, Kaitlyn Krasselt, Communications Director at Connecticut Department of Consumer Protections, said "I cannot speculate on that." That said, she did inform Wrestling Inc. about state regulations on gambling: "Connecticut law only allows wagering on sporting or athletic events. WWE is sports entertainment. The 'matches' are predetermined by the company and are scripted. There is no regulation body for professional wrestling, and WWE is one of several companies that offers this type of entertainment. With a predetermined outcome, this would not be considered a sport. It is considered entertainment. Wagering on the Oscars, for example, is also not permitted in Connecticut."

That last part is significant, since CNBC's report mentioned that WWE executives were using Oscar betting as an example for regulators.

Maine and Montana agree with most of their colleagues

Two states specifically cited the statements from Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, and New Hampshire in their responses. After hearing that four other states had expressed skepticism over betting on WWE, Maine Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milton Champion said, "On the surface, without looking into the matter, I would concur with my colleagues. Operators will submit with their application events that they want to take wagers on, and I shall approve them."

Daniel Iverson, Content Manager for the Montana Lottery, said something similar. "Montana does not intend to add WWE markets, for the same reasons our counterparts cited," he advised, before directing any questions on state law to the Montana Department of Justice Gambling Control Division.

New Jersey and Massachusetts punted, for now

Two states we contacted declined to comment on the matter, not wanting to address issues that haven't come before them yet. Thomas Mills, Communications Division Chief of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said, "I appreciate your question, but am unable to speculate on a hypothetical action the Commission may or may not take."

Dan Prochilo, Public Information Officer at the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, responded that "The Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) cannot comment on any hypothetical discussion with an operator or league about future sports betting opportunities." He added that "In New Jersey, an entity seeking permission for a contest to be authorized for wagering on a sports event is required to submit its proposal to DGE for evaluation and approval pursuant to state law and regulations."

Prochilo also provided the state's legal definition of a "sports event" for the purposes of gambling. Notably, it includes the phrase "A 'sports event' shall include any live competition or talent contest, including awards competitions[.]"

New Jersey and Massachusetts are two of the only states that allow betting on the Oscars, with New Jersey okaying it in 2019 (the first state to do so) and Massachusetts greenlighting it in 2023. It's unknown if WWE will approach either state or how each state would respond, but at bare minimum, WWE's argument to treat wrestling like the Oscars for betting purposes might carry some weight.

Washington and New Mexico illustrate the challenges of Tribal gaming

Washington is unique among the states who responded to us, in that sports wagering is only available on Tribal lands yet still regulated by the state. Sports wagering was legalized, subject to terms of Tribal/State Compacts, on Tribal lands in 2020. All wagering, even online betting, must take place on Tribal lands, and each casino decides bets within certain limitations. The Angel of the Winds Casino and Resort and the ilani Casino Resort, for example, don't 100% overlap on sports offered for betting.

But WWE, or any wrestling, won't be joining those offering under current rules and regulations. Dan Wegenast, Agent In Charge for the Tribal Gaming Unit of the Washington State Gambling Commission, pointed Wrestling Inc. towards the Tribal/State Compacts for sports wagering. He also stated that "Washington State law and the Tribal/State Compacts for sports wagering ... prohibit wagers on events with known outcomes."

To further illustrate the complications of garnering approval for gaming on Tribal lands, a representative from the New Mexican Gaming Control Board told Wrestling Inc. that sports betting is illegal in their state, but legal with some Tribes. That said, New Mexico does not regulate Tribal gaming, meaning that approval would likely have to be worked out with each Tribe individually.

There are other obstacles, too

It's worth noting that gambling laws are constantly changing. Many states without gambling –- such as North Carolina -– have spent years hammering out legislation that would approve gambling off Tribal lands. Additionally, for states with legalized gambling, internal policies are not inherently laws, and can be subject to change under the right circumstances.

That said, even if WWE manages to get gambling on matches approved anywhere, that's only one part of the battle: They still need casinos and/or sportsbooks to be willing to accept wagers at all, and there's resistance in this field, as well, as demonstrated in subsequent coverage from CNBC. FanDuel deems it unlikely that they'd ever accept bets on WWE, noting that the Academy Awards –- which held once per year -– are vastly different than dealing with WWE's weekly programming. Additionally, when BetCEO Adam Greenblatt was asked if he had any interesting in accepting bets on WWE, he responded "NFW."

Between the overwhelming majority opinions of the 13 states who responded to Wrestling Inc., the states that have already responded, and the reluctance of sportsbooks to include anything that looks less than credible, WWE faces an increasingly uphill battle if they want to make betting on wrestling matches legal anywhere in the United States.

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New Zealand bars Mike Tyson as tour debacle looms - 3rd October 2012

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - In a reversal, New Zealand authorities on Wednesday barred Mike Tyson from entering the country whose indigenous Maori people Tyson says inspired his facial tattoo.

And a Downunder speaking tour for the former heavyweight boxing champion was threatening to fall apart altogether as Australian immigration authorities said they've yet to decide whether to allow him into that country. Tickets for appearances in New Zealand and five major Australian cities in November are still being promoted by a Sydney agency.

Tyson's 1992 rape conviction would normally prevent his entry in New Zealand and could be grounds for denial in Australia as well. He had been granted an exemption for New Zealand before that visa was cancelled Wednesday, days after the prime minister spoke out against the visit.

Tyson was to speak at a November event in Auckland, the "Day of the Champions," which is being promoted by Sydney agency Markson Sparks!

New Zealand's Associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson said she'd initially granted entry because a children's health charity would get some of the proceeds from Tyson's speech. She said in a statement her decision was "a finely balanced call" but that the charity that would have benefited, the Life Education Trust, withdrew its support Tuesday.

"Given that the trust is no longer supporting the event, on balance, I have made the decision to cancel his visa," Wilkinson wrote in her statement.

The charity's chief executive, John O'Connell, however, said the charity long ago decided not to accept any money from the event due to its concerns over Tyson's character, but that a volunteer trustee had mistakenly sent a letter to immigration authorities supporting Tyson's plans.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship said "I can tell you that a decision is still pending" on Tyson's application for an Australian visa.

Tyson's criminal history could prevent him from obtaining an Australian visa. Would-be visitors normally must pass a character test. Those with a "substantial criminal record" - which by the immigration department's definition includes people who, like Tyson, have been sentenced to more than a year in prison - would fail the test. But the department can still use its discretion to grant a visa.

Markson Sparks! has been advertising tickets for Tyson's Australian appearances at between 69 and 300 Australian dollars ($71 and $308).

Colorful promoter Max Markson said he'd been "hoping it might be a smoother run with Mike Tyson" but that he remained confident Australia would grant Tyson a visa and that New Zealand would reverse its decision when he found another suitable charity.

"He'll only be in the country for 20 hours, I don't think he's a danger to anybody, and thousands of people want to see him," Markson said of Tyson's planned New Zealand leg.

Markson said he's continuing to sell tickets to the planned speeches in both countries and that buyers will get a full refund if the shows are cancelled. He said he had immigration lawyers in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. working on the case.

Speaking to the APNZ news agency this week from Las Vegas before his New Zealand visa was cancelled, Tyson said his tattoo was inspired by those worn by New Zealand's indigenous Maori. In pre-European times, many Maori wore elaborate facial tattoos as a sign of their status in their tribe. Some Maori today who identify strongly with their traditional culture get similar tattoos.

Tyson told the agency that, aside from their tattoos, he knew little about the Maori people "so I'm looking forward to come down there and see them."

Prime Minister John Key spoke to media against the planned visit this week, questioning the decision by immigration authorities and saying he personally disapproved of the visit given Tyson's conviction for such a serious crime.

Before his visa was cancelled, Tyson told APNZ: "Fortunately, I am coming to New Zealand and there's nothing they can do about it and I'm so sorry, I'm sorry they feel disappointed and I'm just living my life."

Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison for the 1991 rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room. He served three years before being released on parole.

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The promotion announced tonight at Vince Lucero (20-22) has stepped in on short notice after Rashid Evans pulled out of the fight last week. The 40-year-old Lucero is 0-9-1 in his last 10 fights, though he has fought multiple UFC veterans including Tim Slyvia, Roy Nelson, Eddie Sanchez, Lavar Johnson, Brad Imes, Tim Hague.

The 43-year-old makes his MMA debut on Saturday at the Dunkin Donuts Center follwing in the footsteps of other former pro wrestlers like Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley.

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Aussie Gambling Firms Push Via Sports Broadcasts, by Greg Tingle - 2nd April 2011

G'day punters, casino and gambling millionaires and billionaires, sports nuts, politicians, legal eagles, one and all. Australia remains red hot territory for gambling news. We've got Aussie sports media commentators plugging gambling, the pro club gambling campaign driving forward, NRL sports betting probe developments with a link to Tasmanian "devils" and Aussie pokies manufacture Aristocrat making a comeback, with the pokies boss hitting his own jackpot. All that and more. Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com and Gambling911 with your gambling, sports betting and pokies news mix from the land of kangaroos and koalas, with a rabid Tasmanian devil on the loose...

Gambling Companies Push Via TV Broadcasts And News Media...

Gambling giants have the big push on via promoting sports betting with a volatile and quite effective array of sweet deals with clubs, sporting codes, television stations and a big spread of traditional and new media outlets.

Sports commentators are at the front line with frequent betting odds updates, and mid-match updates are a field day, if you will. It's all part of the strategy in place with bookies and big name gambling operators.

"If you like to have a punt on rugby league, and why wouldn't ya, the Broncos are $1.50 on TAB Sportsbet," former Queensland Origin great Paul Vautin told NRL viewers in Friday's opening-round match against the Cowboys.

"Please bet responsibly - we have to say that. If you race down to the TAB at half-time, or ring TAB Sportsbet, they are the prices at the moment."

Next up was Network Nine broadcaster Wally Lewis just after the first half of the game with "TAB Sportsbet right now, Broncos first to score in the second half, $1.75."

Plenty of other sports are in on the action too, with Network Nine sports getting the nod on the most gambling and sports betting plugs. Cricket has broadcasting Richie Benaud discussing the odds, with a bit of help from his fellow commentators, as part of a cool deal with James Packer's 50% owned Betfair.

Nine head of sport Steve Crawley said the broadcaster's promotion was no different from newspapers providing odds on sports and horse races.

"We're electronic media, so when we do that it's in-game. I realise some people have awful problems with gambling, but the reality is that it's getting bigger and bigger."

It's hot fodder in the NRL, which is sponsored by TAB Sportsbet, has deals with "approved betting providers" and permits clubs to have their own gambling sponsors.

The footy still has a scandal on the go from alleged illegal betting surrounding last year's infamous Canterbury Bulldogs VS North Queensland Cowboys game.

NRL chief exec David Gallop said corruption was one of the biggest concerns for sporting administrators.

"The risks in terms of penalties have to be severe," said Gallop, who is pushing for a specific match-fixing offence and has warned of offenders facing life bans.

The AFL is also sponsored by TAB Sportsbet and betting firms support individual clubs, including Centrebet's deal with 2010 runner-up St Kilda for a reported $1 million a year.

TAB Sportsbet has deals with Seven and Fox Sports.

Overseas operators such at PartyGaming and PKR have also leaked that they are interested in getting into big media deals in Australia, with an already strong internet presence.

Cricket Australia allows Betfair on grounds, and the National Basketball League has a deal with Centrebet that includes court promotions.

UFC, boxing, horse racing, tennis, soccer and even surfing enjoy strong sports betting action in Australia, with a number of other sports like snooker looking to plug into the gambling deals in Australia.

Aussie Media and Racing King John Singleton Drives Forward Pro Pokies Ad Push...

John "Singo" Singleton, who happens to love a punt himself, in the man and the brains behind the $20 million advertising campaign by the Aussie clubs against the Julia Gillard government's slot machine reforms.

The Gillard government is hell bent so it seems to implement the "problem gambling" reforms to retain whatever support might remain from Tasmanian "devil" (satire) "independent" Andrew Wilkie.

Singo's ad firm Banjo has developed a media and public relations campaign to focus on recreational gamblers' fears of having any government 'Big Brother' spying on their betting habits. Yep, we kid you not. Australia's are being spied on, and pokie palaces may turn into one of the ultimate evil "eyes in the sky", that may end up making Google Earth and Google Maps look like child's play.

The Banjo deal for a cool $20 mil, running for 2 years, started with online video and newspaper adverts. It will then pick up even more stream via radio, television, billboards and even pub coasters. Australian newspapers have already been giving the news story strong mileage and its taking on a life of its own, with most gamblers hating what they hear of government 'Big Brother'.

The clubs is dead against a mandatory scheme for players to register before playing poker machines, using so called smartcards (not so smart say European trials) and self-selected gambling limits (which can be manipulated).

A leak said "Clubs Australia said that gambling revenue will drop considerably as recreational gamblers get pissed with the government and clubs, and will take more to online gambling "like a duck to water". This is right on the money and cards. The 'Big Brother' approach is a false solution - actually, its no solution. It's a smokescreen and spin. The public are not that stupid, they are actually quite smart, and Labor has underestimated Australians intelligence once again. No wonder Labor lost the NSW state election".

Singo and a consortium of investors, including the investment banker Mark Carnegie, the retail king Gerry Harvey and ex Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, have purchased high-profile Sydney pubs including Kinselas, the Bellevue Hotel and Peakhurst Inn. Singleton also jointly owns the Hotel Steyne in Manly.

He had a strong association with the Labor government under Bob Hawke during the '80s and early '90s, but last year developed ads attacking Labor on health during the election campaign, and earlier joined the mega push against the mining tax with a campaign for a Perth client, tipped to be Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest.

"The government's belated decision to perform a cost benefit analysis on mandatory pre-commitment is back to front,'' a spokesman for Clubs NSW said.

''This sort of analysis should have been done before the government announced it was introducing the technology.

''If that had been done then almost certainly the Prime Minister would never have been conned by Andrew Wilkie into making a commitment that will devastate the club industry.''

The Families Minister, Jenny Macklin, said ''The government's position is clear and has not changed.''

Police Seek Woman Punter Re NRL Cowboys - Bulldogs Betting Scandal...

Police have released CCTV images of yet another punter they want to speak to about an alleged NRL betting scam. The images were captured at a Browns Bay betting outlet in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4.50pm and 5.15pm on August 20 last year - the day before the game between the Bulldogs and North Queensland Cowboys, police advised. The woman was described as being aged in her 20s, with a slim build, shoulder-length hair and of Caucasian appearance. She was wearing a dark-coloured zippered hooded jacket, blue jeans and carrying a red handbag and was seen pushing a young boy in a pram, police said. She returned to the betting facility about 5.35pm on August 21. Police said in a statement that they were not alleging she had done anything illegal, but said investigators wanted to find out who she was so they could speak to her. Player agent Sam Ayoub and ex-player John Elias have been charged in direct relation to the betting inquiry, while now ex-Bulldogs prop Ryan Tandy has been charged with four counts of giving false or misleading evidence to a NSW Crime Commission hearing. Among the charges Tandy faces is one of giving false evidence about having placed a bet on a game between the Bulldogs and Gold Coast, also last year. The charges against Ayoub and Elias followed an unusual plunge on a betting option that the first points of that game would come from a penalty goal. Tandy was penalised two minutes into the game for impeding Cowboys playmaker Grant Rovelli in front of the posts. The Cowboys were awarded a penalty, but took a tap kick instead of kicking for goal. Tandy, 29, pleaded not guilty to all charges during his appearance in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on March 3. Meanwhile, St George Illawarra can finally get down to concentrating on their 2011 following Wayne Bennett's decision to leave the club at the end of the season. The coach's announcement has removed the largest cloud hanging over the Dragons' premiership defence, with the constant innuendo and rumour having played a part in the side's sluggish start to the year. While the issue won't be fully resolved until Bennett reveals where he will coach next season, back-rower Ben Creagh said news of the coach's impending departure would at least focus the players' efforts on getting the most out of the time he had left. While the appointment of Bennett's right-hand man, Steve Price, and the retention of much of the same squad for 2012 should ensure a smooth transition to the new era, the Dragons' best chance to win another premiership in the near future would surely be while Bennett is the man.

Aristocrat Boss Hits The Jackpot...

Jamie Odell, chief exec of Aussie pokie manufacturer Aristocrat, has hit the jackpot on an 'one armed bandit', if you follow the lingo. Odell snatched 24% jump in total pay to $2.5 million last year, despite Aristocrat putting out another very average result. The chief executive's base pay in the period increased 19% to $1.25 million. Aristocrat's normalised profit after tax dropped 53% in 2010. One of the resolutions at the upcoming June AGM in Sydney to be voted on by shareholders is a grant to Odell of 1.02 million performance share rights as part of his long-term incentive package. The rights, which would be granted over a 3-year period, are performance based. If Aristocrat happens to outperform the ASX 100 by more than 10% cent each year, Odell will snatch 30% of the shares. He will get 70% of the shares if he hits certain earnings targets. Will he meet his targets and hit the Gold Mega Jackpot? Stay tuned to find out. Aristocrat is also currently working on a number of b2b deal with online casino operators which are also tipped to return a healthy jackpot to the company, as well as hours of fun for online gamblers.

Greg Tingle runs the Media Man International website, he is a Special Contributor for Gambling911.com

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