November 22, 2022

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In today’s Leadoff, FIFA brushes off the Qatar controversy to the tune of $7.5 billion, Max Verstappen tops Forbes’ highest-paid drivers list, World Cup matches go head-to-head with American football, and Drive Shack rides out the storm in the third quarter. Click here to listen [[link removed]].

Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United Agree to Split [[link removed]]

MUFC

Cristiano Ronaldo will never wear a Manchester United kit again.

On Tuesday, Ronaldo and Man U mutually agreed to part ways — effective immediately — after the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s bombshell interview [[link removed]] with Piers Morgan last week.

Speaking with Morgan, Ronaldo voiced his displeasure with the iconic club, citing a perceived lack of improvement and his decreased playing time.

United had reportedly been exploring [[link removed]] the possibility of terminating Ronaldo’s contract and suing him for breach of contract after the 37-year-old rejoined the club on a $15.3 million transfer from Juventus in August 2021. Ronaldo previously played for United from 2003-09 before leaving for Real Madrid.In the Morgan interview, Ronaldo said he hopes Man U rival Arsenal wins its 13th Premier League title.

In a statement [[link removed]], United thanked Ronaldo “for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances and wished him and his family well.”

Can’t Go Home Again

Ronaldo won a Champions League trophy and three Premier League titles in his first stint with the Red Devils, but his latest spell hasn’t panned out.

He scored just one goal in 10 appearances — including four starts — this season.

Ronaldo can immediately join another club without having to wait until January’s transfer window to find a new home.

‘EA Sports College Football’ Plans 2024 Kickoff [[link removed]]

EA Sports

Fans will have to wait a little longer for one of the most highly anticipated sports video games in recent memory.

The release [[link removed]] of “EA Sports College Football” will be delayed until 2024, as first reported [[link removed]] by Extra Points.

The video game behemoth made waves in June when it announced [[link removed]] that it was rebooting its extremely popular college football franchise for a July 2023 drop.

The last edition of the title was “NCAA Football 14,” released in July 2013.According to ESPN [[link removed]], the EA team is officially announcing the release for 2024 due to “the totality of the undertaking of creating the game from scratch.”EA Sports’ vice president and general manager Daryl Holt claims that previously reported release dates were conjecture. Work in Progress

“That’s the best date for us to bring the game that we think is going to meet or exceed our player expectations,” said Holt, “and cover the breadth and scale of what we want in the game. We’re trying to build a very immersive college football experience.”

Once the game is released, it will have a new name and — due to new NIL regulations — will also likely allow players to appear under their real names for the first time.

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Budweiser to Seek $47M from FIFA for World Cup Reversal [[link removed]]

Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports

Budweiser wants a refund.

The company will reportedly seek [[link removed]] an approximate $47.4 million deduction for the 2026 World Cup portion of its deal with FIFA, after soccer’s governing body reversed course on beer sales in Qatar.

After initially agreeing to allow alcoholic beer sales in World Cup stadiums, FIFA officials gave way to pressure from Qatari officials two days before the tournament started.Budweiser can sell its nonalcoholic Bud Zero at World Cup games and its regular beer at designated fan areas.Budweiser is paying FIFA around $75 million to be the official beer supplier for this World Cup and has a deal for roughly $112 million for the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Qatar and FIFA have sought to keep certain forms of self-expression to a minimum. Belgium was reportedly disallowed [[link removed]] from wearing a pre-match shirt because it was too colorful.

FIFA successfully dissuaded teams from wearing anti-discrimination “OneLove” armbands by threatening to give out yellow cards.

Winner Takes All Beer

In the wake of FIFA’s about-face, Budweiser has said it will give its unsold beer to the country that wins the World Cup.

The company initially tweeted, “Well, this is awkward …” in response to FIFA’s decision, but quickly removed the post.

Due to Qatar’s lack of breweries and intense heat, the company had to ship [[link removed]] its beer via ocean freighter and store it in refrigerated warehouses.

Conversation Starters Can the Lions avoid a sixth straight loss on Thanksgiving? Stream the NFL on CBS live and watch Bills vs. Lions [[link removed]] on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+.* Major League Cricket has been quietly establishing itself in the U.S. — and now it’s ready for its closeup. Front Office Sports analyst Ronen Ainbinder joins senior writer Owen Poindexter on The Newsroom to discuss the rise of cricket in America and what could be coming next. Listen and watch on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]]. In the Gee v. NCAA wrongful death trial, plaintiff lawyers said that in addition to $1.8 million in economic damages, the jury should award [[link removed]] the Gee family $53 million in non-economic damages.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS AWARDS

Are You One of The Best Employers in Sports?

Whether it’s great leadership, focus on diversity, equity and inclusion or commitment to employee wellbeing, the Front Office Sports Best Employers in Sports Award [[link removed]]recognizes organizations who do right by their employees.

How do we determine who wins the award? We don’t — employees do! The award is based entirely on anonymous survey results from sports industry professionals.

Responses will be evaluated in collaboration with our primary research partner, Canvs [[link removed]], using patented AI technology free from all subjectivity and human bias. There is no word count limit and you can even use slang, text abbreviations, sarcasm or emojis to complete the survey.

The 2022 employee survey is now open through November 28. Take the survey [[link removed]] and tell us why your organization should make the cut.

Market Movers

U.S. stocks experienced gains across all three major indexes on Tuesday. Here’s a look at how some sports-related stocks performed:

RCI [[link removed]]

Rogers Communications Inc.

[[link removed]]

$44.89

[[link removed]]

+0.81%

[[link removed]] WWE [[link removed]]

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$79.58

[[link removed]]

+0.96%

[[link removed]] NKE [[link removed]]

Nike, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$105.96

[[link removed]]

+1.83%

[[link removed]] TTWO [[link removed]]

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$100.39

[[link removed]]

+3.40%

[[link removed]] MSGS [[link removed]]

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp

[[link removed]]

$153.11

[[link removed]]

+3.54%

[[link removed]] MTN [[link removed]]

Vail Resorts Inc.

[[link removed]]

$260.22

[[link removed]]

+4.30%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 11/22/22) What to Watch

The Brooklyn Nets (8-9) face the Philadelphia 76ers (8-8) on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

How to Watch: 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Betting Odds: Nets -7.5 || ML -315 || O/U 217

Pick: Expect the Nets to overwhelm the shorthanded 76ers. Take Brooklyn to cover.

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