LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The NBA’s return to regular-season play for the first time in four months averaged 3.4 million viewers for a close contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the league and AT&T Inc’s TNT cable network said on Frid... More »
(Reuters) – An original drawing of the Olympic rings by the founder of the modern Games, Pierre de Coubertin, has fetched 185,000 euros ($216,302) at auction in Cannes, the auction house said. “The drawing was sold to a Brazilian collector for a price of 185,0... More »
(Reuters) – The NFL’s Washington team announced on Monday it will retire its Redskins name and logo in a decision made after sponsors stepped up pressure to scrap a name that the franchise has used since 1933 but long has been criticized as racist by Native Am... More »
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – After UEFA’s attempt to ban Manchester City from European football was overturned by sport’s highest court on Monday, the continental governing body’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) system, under which they were charged, faces likely... More »
(Reuters) – The Badminton World Federation (BWF) are seeking more information from China about its decision to cancel all international sport in the country this year before they make a decision on the season-ending World Tour Finals. The World Tour Finals, sc... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – French Open organizers are taking every precaution to ensure the Grand Slam does not meet the same fate as Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour, which was abandoned after several players tested positive for COVID-19, tournament director Guy Forget ha... More »
(Reuters) – The National Hockey League and union representing its players have reached a tentative agreement on protocols to resume a season interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said on Sunday. Daly told Reuters the two sides... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – McLaren’s Formula One future was never in doubt despite a cash crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and now resolved by a fresh injection of funds, team principal Andreas Seidl said on Tuesday. The National Bank of Bahrain announced on... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Team New Zealand have blamed “informants” for spreading “highly defamatory and inaccurate” allegations about the body organising their America’s Cup defence, triggering government questions over “financial and structural matters”. The te... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is withdrawing its bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Kyodo news agency quoted a source as saying on Monday, just days before football’s world governing body holds a vote to determine the successful candidate. The Japanese bid is o... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is cautious about scrapping Australia’s ‘Giteau Law’, which limits selection of overseas-based players to those with 60 test caps or more, fearing it may lead to an exodus of talent and harm the domest... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – There won’t be any moshing going on, but entertainment company Live Nation Entertainment are rolling out a series of gigs across the UK where fans can be together to get their fix of live events from the safety of their own designated area. ... More »
(Reuters) – Brazil has withdrawn its candidacy to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) saying the government did not consider it wise to offer financial guarantees in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Because of t... More »
(Reuters) – The United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Monday it will eliminate 110 jobs and close its White Plains, New York office as part of belt-tightening measures brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak. The USTA said in a statement the measures wer... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan may lift its state of emergency in more regions this week as new coronavirus infections drop, the Asahi newspaper said on Tuesday, moving to resume sorely needed activity in the world’s third-largest economy, battered by containment mea... More »
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – Businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area may open for curbside retail and manufacturing, while fan-free professional sports events might be allowed as soon as June, as California continued to loosen coronavirus health restriction... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Rowers from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Britain whose training on the water has been restricted due to the novel coronavirus pandemic have been challenged to help their countries row to the moon. Or at least the distance from the ... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has said it is working on additional measures, including a new relief fund, to support lower-ranked professionals who have been left in the lurch due to coronavirus-led lockdowns. The professional te... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The first live televised golf event in the United States since the coronavirus outbreak brought world sport to a standstill attracted an average of 2.35 million viewers on Sunday, NBC Sports said. World number one Rory McIlroy paired up wi... More »
(Reuters) – Major League Baseball owners will present a proposal to players on Tuesday that will outline plans for the start of the coronavirus-hit 2020 season, a source close to the talks told Reuters on Monday. Like other major professional sports leagues, M... More »
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – The days of English football’s once notorious drinking culture are long gone and few professionals would now list the once obligatory ‘steak and chips’ as their favourite meal but things are moving to a different level entirely ... More »
(Reuters) – Ten people have tested positive for coronavirus in more than 1,700 tests carried out by Germany’s professional soccer league (DFL) at its 36 clubs ahead a planned resumption of full training, it said on Monday. The DFL, which tested players and coa... More »
(Reuters) – Spanish soccer clubs Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad want their postponed Copa del Rey final to be rescheduled for when the coronavirus is no longer a threat so it can be played with spectators, they said in a joint statement on Monday. The first... More »
(Reuters) – SailGP’s four remaining second season races have been rescheduled to next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and results from the first race have been declared null and void, the sailing championship said on Monday. The championship was suspended af... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The English Football Association (FA) plans to slash its annual budget by 75 million pounds ($93.20 million) to tackle a possible deficit of 300 million pounds over the next four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman Greg Clarke also ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Swimming’s world governing body FINA rescheduled the 2021 Fukuoka aquatics world championships to May 2022 on Monday to avoid a clash with the postponed Tokyo Olympics. The new dates for the swimming event in the Japanese city are May 13-29, ... More »
(Reuters) – Rafa Nadal has said he is very pessimistic about the possibility of tennis returning to normal any time soon because of the new coronavirus pandemic that shut down the sport last month. Professional tennis has been suspended until the end of July, ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The NFL Draft reached more than 55 million viewers over three days, the league said on Sunday, breaking records as the most-watched draft ever as the annual affair emerged as one of a rare few live events available to sports-hungry fans. T... More »
(Reuters) – World number three Dominic Thiem has rejected the notion that the top tennis players should chip in to help lower-ranked competitors who are struggling financially due to the pause in tournaments because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. World num... More »
(Reuters) – Tiger Woods promised that next month’s made-for-TV match with Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will be an entertaining contest as the quartet try and raise funds for charities involved in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. With professiona... More »
(Reuters) – A Professional Bull Riders (PBR) competition took place in an empty arena in the U.S. on Sunday with cowboys in facemasks clinging onto 1,500-pound (680.39 kg) bucking bulls while most professional sports remained on coronavirus lockdown. Members o... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Tennis great Billie Jean King says the financial fallout from the coronavirus shutdown has exposed the unfairness of the sport and that it is important for the top players to lead the cause for change. The tennis season was suspended in Marc... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – With countless hours of research and planning kept as closely guarded as the President’s nuclear football, cyber security is in focus for this week’s NFL Draft, as teams pivot to a “virtual” format on COVID-19 lockdown. Usually Draft Day s... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It is a scene every would-be football player dreams of: You hear your name and the crowd goes wild, the cameras flash and the commissioner shakes your hand, welcoming you as the number-one overall pick in the NFL Draft. For this year’s fir... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – The baseball and soccer seasons got underway behind closed doors in Taiwan at the weekend, providing rare live action for fans at home at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down most professional sport around the globe. Taiwan has be... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) chief Steve Dainton has suggested the sport’s annual individual world championships be scrapped, with champions instead decided by the winners of the new “Grand Smash” mega tournaments. The world ... More »
(Reuters) – Paulo Dybala left Gareth Bale out of his Real Madrid starting line-up but had no trouble beating the Welshman’s Manchester City side in a FIFA 20 video game as part of a Combat Corona fundraiser for UNICEF at the weekend. Juventus striker Dybala on... More »
(Reuters) – The PGA Championship, one of golf’s four majors, has been rescheduled for Aug. 6-9 after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sunday. The event will remain at the city’s Harding Park course, the p... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates said on Friday he has taken a 20% cut to his “consulting fees” due to the coronavirus crisis. Coates’s fees were A$594,000 ($360,000) for 2020 but he said he would take only A$475,6... More »
(Reuters) – Lisa Baird, commissioner of the U.S. National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), says they are targeting a return to action in late June and trying to hammer out a new schedule after the season was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The NWSL’s e... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) has denied the struggling Illawarra Hawks club have been sold to teenage NBA prospect LaMelo Ball after the player’s manager said it was a “done deal”. Ball, seen as a potential number one pick... More »
(Reuters) – European football, currently at a standstill because of the coronavirus, is focusing on a restart in July and August with clubs and leagues being told that stopping competitions should “really be the last resort.” UEFA, the European Club Associatio... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Olympic delay has upended years of careful planning by organizers and spawned costly headaches for small businesses, hotels and even pro baseball teams, compounding a $12 billion price tag. The Tokyo Games were postponed until 2021 la... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has said its decision to pull out of the 2020 Tokyo Games was unilateral and made without the knowledge of Canada or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The AOC said last Monday it could not a... More »
(Reuters) – Major sports events around the world that have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic: OLYMPICS * The International Olympic Committee and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded the Tokyo 2020 Olympics must be postponed and held no later than the... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The head of the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) said on Monday he had to consider postponing the Games among his options amid increasing calls from committees around the world to delay the Olympics due to the coronavirus outbreak. “From the ath... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee is stepping up its “scenario planning” for the Tokyo 2020 Games — including a possible postponement — as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, it said after an emergency meeting on Sunday. The IOC will hold di... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said for the first time on Monday that the Tokyo Olympic Games may need to be postponed if the event cannot be held in its “complete form” due to the coronavirus pandemic. The International Olympic Committee... More »
(Reuters) – Britain’s Olympic gold medal track cyclist Callum Skinner has attacked International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach’s decision to wait up to a month to make a decision on the 2020 Tokyo Games. “IOC President Thomas Bach’s stubbornness and ... More »
(Reuters) – Reaction to Canada’s boycott of the 2020 Tokyo Games due to concerns about the coronavirus. The Australian Olympic Committee has also said its athletes should prepare for an Olympics next year. COMMENTS FROM OFFICIALS Statement from Canadian Olympi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The World Snooker Championship in Sheffield became the latest staple of the British sporting diet to be postponed on Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 17-day season-ending showpiece, scheduled for April 18 to May 4 at the Cruci... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Sydney Kings center Andrew Bogut has slammed Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) for its handling of the coronavirus situation, saying the administration had failed to be proactive and had left players feeling like “pawns”. The N... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – John Coates, the International Olympic Committee’s point man for the Tokyo Games, faces mandatory self-isolation when he returns to Australia from Europe this week as part of border controls to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Australi... More »
(Reuters) – NFL players have voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will expand the playoff field and allow owners the option to lengthen the regular season, the NFL Players’ Association (NFLPA) said on Sunday. The new 10-year labor ... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a list of international sports events hit by the outbreak of the new coronavirus: ATHLETICS ** The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, were postponed until next year. World Athletics is wor... More »
PINEHURST, N.C. (Reuters) – This year’s U.S. Open purse is unlikely to jump dramatically from last year’s figure of $12.5 million, U.S. Golf Association (USGA) CEO Mike Davis has said. The association estimates that the U.S. Open costs about $80 million to sta... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball asked a U.S. judge to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit by DraftKings participants who said the teams’ electronic sign-stealing distorted fantasy baseball contests they... More »
(Reuters) – David Ayres had never played in a National Hockey League game until Saturday, but the Carolina Hurricanes are now selling shirts to honor the Zamboni driver after he performed heroics in a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Hurricanes team s... More »
(Reuters) – British bookmaker William Hill (WMH.L) on Monday named cardboard maker DS Smith’s (SMDS.L) Chief Financial Officer Adrian Marsh as its finance head. Marsh will join William Hill later this year, taking over from Ruth Prior whose departure was annou... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a list of international sports events affected by the coronavirus that has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 in China after it first emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, late last year: ATHLETICS * The World Athleti... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The LPGA Tour, the elite women’s professional golf circuit, said on Monday it was cancelling tournaments in Thailand and Singapore later this month due to the coronavirus outbreak. More than 40,000 people have been infected by the flu-li... More »
(Reuters) – Jennifer Lopez and Shakira brought Latina star power to Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, delivering a medley of pop hits and hip-shaking choreography on one of the world’s glitziest stages. Latin artists Bad Bunny and J Balvin, in addition to Lop... More »
(Reuters) – World number one Brooks Koepka said on Tuesday he thinks the Premier Golf League (PGL), a proposed series that could potentially overshadow the main tours, might actually happen after plans were announced last week. While Koepka acknowledged he sti... More »
(Reuters) – The bushfire smoke that hampered the buildup to the Australian Open highlights the need for Tennis Australia to be doing much more to combat climate change, the country’s national environmental lobby group said. The Australian Open, the season open... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday it has approved synthetic feather shuttlecocks for its international tournaments from next year as it bids to cut down on waste. The governing body said it collaborated with Japanese spor... More »
(Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) executives met James Bond franchise-owner MGM Holdings Inc and the collegiate athletic conference Pac-12 earlier this year as part of its efforts to boost the Apple TV service, the Wall Street Journal reported on.wsj.com/2PEGhH7 ... More »
(Reuters) – The Malaysian Open will return to the Asian Tour next year following a four-year hiatus, officials said on Monday. The event will offer a purse of $1 million and be held at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club March 5-8. The Malaysian Open became the ... More »
(Reuters) – Babe Ruth may have died more than 70 years ago, but the baseball slugger is still turning out big numbers. The bat he used to hit his 500th home run in 1929 has sold for $1,000,800, officials for SCP Auctions announced on Sunday. The bat, a gift fr... More »
(Reuters) – Briton Anthony Joshua, who reclaimed his world heavyweight titles with a clinical victory over Andy Ruiz Jr on Sunday, says a health issue had left him tired and drained before his shock defeat to the Mexican-American in their first fight in June. ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia could be hit with a four-year Olympic ban on Monday for flouting anti-doping rules, a punishment local officials have said would be unfair and part of a malicious Western attempt to destroy sport in the country. Russia, which has trie... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A beaten Andy Ruiz Jr called for a rematch after Anthony Joshua won back an array of world heavyweight titles in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, but the Mexican-American cannot expect to be at the front of the queue. “Who wants to see the third tril... More »
ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Six times world champion Lewis Hamilton did not deny meeting Ferrari chairman John Elkann when asked on Sunday about speculation linking the Mercedes driver with a move to the Italian team in 2021. The 34-year-old Briton will be out of co... More »
(Reuters) – Babe Ruth is poised to hit another home run, only this time on the sports memorabilia market when the bat he used to slug No. 500 nearly a century ago hits the auction block on Wednesday. Known as the “Sultan of Swat” during a storied Major League ... More »
(Reuters) – Three second half goals gave Seattle Sounders their second MLS Cup title in four years as the home side beat Toronto FC 3-1 in front of a capacity crowd at CenturyLink Field on Sunday. Seattle took the lead after 57 minutes when Kelvin Leerdam’s an... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Chinese video gamers crushed a team from Europe on Sunday who were hoping to break the domination of Asian players in the world championship finals of online game “League of Legends”. With more than $1 million up for grabs, China’s FunPlus Ph... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The National Basketball Association (NBA) came under fire on Monday for its response to a tweet by a Houston Rockets official in support of Hong Kong protests for democracy, the latest overseas business to run afoul of political issues in ... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers joined a chorus of criticism of the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the organization distanced itself from a tweet by the manager of the Houston Rockets in support of the Hong Kong protests for democracy. Rockets General ... More »
(Reuters) – The general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team apologized on Monday for a tweet in support of Hong Kong protests, saying he did not intend to offend fans of the NBA team in China. “I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpre... More »
(Reuters) – It is only 16 days since Rory McIlroy was crowned FedEx Cup champion but players are already gearing up for the new U.S. PGA Tour season with the opening event, the Greenbrier Classic, kicking off in West Virginia on Thursday. With the calendar eve... More »
LYON, France (Reuters) – The United States won a record-extending fourth women’s World Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands on Sunday as second-half goals from Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle confirmed their status as the leading power in the women’s gam... More »
(Reuters) – With the United States preparing to play in the women’s World Cup final the team’s fight for pay equity resurfaced on Wednesday with the Democratic Women’s Caucus demanding answers from U.S. Soccer chief Carlos Cordeiro. The U.S. national team’s di... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The 2021 America’s Cup regatta suffered another blow with a syndicate from the Netherlands withdrawing their challenge on Monday, citing a lack of time to raise funds for their campaign. The withdrawal of the DutchSail syndicate follows ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos was spotted schmoozing in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s booth during the Super Bowl in February, the media world exploded with anticipation about Amazon’s imminent domination of sports media. B... More »
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – China Mengniu Dairy and Coca-Cola have signed a multi-year global Olympic deal as joint beverages and dairy sponsors starting from 2021 until 2032, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Monday. While some reports p... More »
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some 2 million other fans cheered the NBA champion Toronto Raptors on Monday in a victory celebration that united the nation, but the party was marred by a shooting that seriously wounded two peopl... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has praised Southeast Queensland’s early planning for a potential bid for the 2032 Summer Games after meeting with the mayor of Brisbane on Monday. Queensland state capital Brisbane an... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Kenyan world record holder Eliud Kipchoge is to make another attempt at breaking two hours for the marathon later this year, probably in Britain, in a project backed by Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of chemical firm INEOS. Kipchoge ra... More »
(Reuters) – Leading mobile games company Playtika has become a partner of the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens, the company announced. Playtika also is the main sponsor of the Spanish soccer club Sevilla FC. “Montreal is home to one of Playtika’s mo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The National Basketball Association will offer fans in China original programming and an easier way to buy league gear through e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the league announced on Wednesday. For the first time, NBA China wil... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Friday it would lift the ban on Russian Para athletes by March 15, but only under certain conditions. Russia has been barred from international competitions since August 2016 over allegati... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A body retrieved from the wreckage of a crashed plane in the English Channel has been formally identified as Cardiff City’s Argentina-born soccer player Emiliano Sala, British police said in a statement on Thursday. Sala, 28, had been flying... More »
(Reuters) – Three years after leaving St. Louis for the glamor of Tinseltown, the Rams are going to the Super Bowl, adding an extra sucker punch for many fans in the team’s old hometown. Rams owner Stan Kroenke seems to be particularly reviled in St. Louis, so... More »
(Reuters) – Major League Rugby (MLR) Commissioner Dean Howes says the sport will be more visible than ever in the United States this year as the professional league kicks off its second season. Featuring eight U.S.-based teams and one from Canada, with three m... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The U.S. television audience for the 2019 Golden Globe awards fell about 2 percent, but a slew of popular movies and celebrities among the nominees helped the ceremony buck a trend that has seen much steeper declines for big entertainme... More »
(Reuters) – The New York Yankees are in talks with Amazon.com Inc and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc about a joint bid for the team’s regional sports network, Yes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The baseball t... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is working with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to settle an issue regarding the transfer of laboratory data, the Kremlin said on Friday – a condition for the country’s anti-doping agency to keep its accreditation. Russian anti-do... More »
(Reuters) – FuboTV, a sports-focused internet television streaming service, expanded into Spain on Monday in its first move outside North America. The private company, which is based in New York and has raised $150 million in funding to date, will offer 13 Spa... More »
MONACO (Reuters) – Preparations by the teams competing for the 36th America’s Cup in 2021 are well underway, although they are charting different courses in designing their radical new foiling monohulls. While American Magic and INEOS Team UK have both shown o... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo 2020 organizers vowed no let-up in their drive to host a successful Summer Games on Monday as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach once again heaped praise on the city’s preparations. Bach, in opening remarks ahea... More »
HOCKENHEIM, Germany (Reuters) – Formula One will have a draft 2019 calendar by the end of August but there could be only 20 races, with Germany out of contract and a proposed round in Miami still in the embryonic stages. F1 commercial manager Sean Bratches ass... More »
