MJWalker45

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38622237/uefa-u-turn-russian-youth-teams-reinstatement

UEFA floated the idea of letting Russian youth teams (U17) back into European competitions. They have now gone and pulled that idea back. 

16 hours ago, Krona said:

I'm guessing TikTok will be promoted to the front of the shirts and a new sleeve sponsor will slide in down the road. 

I hope not. That thing will look horrible on the front of the shirts.

2 hours ago, BrySmalls said:

 

That's a good question. Most of the stadiums used for this past Women's World Cup lowered their total capacity for the matches. However, that's not saying much as a few stadiums had low capacity to begin with. Here's a closer look at the stadium's capacities:
 

 

It's reasonable to assume that the potential venue for the Men's World Cup Final would be Stadium Australia. As per Wikipedia, this stadium boasts a maximum capacity of 82,500* for sports events with a rectangular field configuration. However, it can be adjusted to accommodate up to 115,000** (utilized during the 2000 Summer Olympics).

From the list provided, it seems that at least seven stadiums would need significant enhancements to accommodate large audiences of 50,000+ for the matches. Additionally, with the expansion of the Men's World Cup to 48 teams, it is possible that three more stadiums will be added to this list:

 

 

 

 

I think finding another partner nation would be needed to, based on costs for temporary or permanent construction. 

1 hour ago, Germanshepherd said:

A&M has Jimbo’d all over themselves once again 

When they go 7-5 can they finally fire him? Or does he still cost too much?

2 hours ago, BrySmalls said:

 

Here's a simple solution to subverting the Asian continent conundrum: Put the 2038 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand! If the Women's competition was hosted there, then those two countries can host the Men's competition.

I don't think they're bidding, but it would work. I wonder how many of those stadiums would have to be expanded more for the men? 

31 minutes ago, McCall said:

I looked it up and it says Saudi Arabia is in AFC.

Well that should rule China out. I've also seen a bunch of Concacaf countries are already backing Saudi Arabia for 2034 as well. 

2 hours ago, BrySmalls said:

With the 2030 World Cup being played on 3 continents, this almost assures that the 2034 World Cup will be played in the Asia. Rumors have it that Saudi Arabia is pretty much a lock for that tournament.

I'd say it's between them and China, but then FIFA might just hand 2038 to China and pretend they are two separate continents since Saudi Arabia is in CAF, and China is in AFC. 

Manchester United crashed and burned so horribly last night in Champions League, that no one remembers Arsenal losing to Lens as well.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67010609

The 2030 World Cup will literally be a global event:

The opening matches in South America are to mark the World Cup's centenary as it will be 100 years since the inaugural tournament in Montevideo.

I can understand wanting to give South America their due, but this isn't the way to do it. I'm guessing that the amount of work needed to get a lot of the stadiums in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay up to snuff played a role in this as well. Also of note is that Morocco replaced Ukraine. 

15 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Is that a vaccine joke?

8 hours ago, dont care said:

I’m guessing viagra, or claiming he takes PED’s. I never thought about vaccines though, but this is coming from the guy who self immuned himself

Yes, because Kelce is in a commercial telling people to get their Covid and flu shots at the same time. 

16 minutes ago, TBGKon said:

I wonder if moving Army Navy to Week Zero and making it a conference game would work...

Neither school would buy in on that. 

11 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

At this point, just rip the bandaid off. Sell the naming right and go the G-League route. NSFL will not resonate with people the way either USFL or XFL did.

I think the best thing to do is pick one or the other instead of creating new identities for the league. I like the Brahmas identity, and fortunately there's already another team in San Antonio with the Gunslingers name so that won't likely be swapped in, but I don't care if the patch says USFL or XFL if it means I get to watch them play in their home stadium 5 times a season. 

Chicago vs. Washington

Jacksonville vs. Buffalo

New Orleans vs. New England

Tennessee vs. Indianapolis

Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh

Carolina vs. Detroit

Houston vs. Atlanta

NY Giants vs. Miami

Cincinnati vs. Arizona

Philadelphia vs. LA Rams

NY Jets vs. Denver

Kansas City vs. Minnesota

Dallas vs. San Francisco

Green Bay vs. Las Vegas

Columbus moves to the AIF after getting tossed out of the NAL. 

10 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has suggested that if the NFL doesn't let them in once they change ownership rules (which they might have to do), that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund create a rival league.  

That's his answer to everything now.

Just now, TBGKon said:

The thought is that the traditional Army Navy game would be a nonconference matchup.  I think the American would not schedule Army and Navy during the regular season, but like you said there's a chance Army Navy could play in the conference championship the week prior.

Correct. And it's the only way to make the games work, in my opinion. 

16 minutes ago, Digby said:

Turns out the VAR who should've overturned that decision was jet-lagged from moonlighting with the UAE league or something like 48 hours earlier. Not great! The whole VAR concept needs a total overhaul or scrap at this point, it's only caused as many problems as it's solved.

They should only be reffing in one league at a time! These guys have been crap all year. If you're working back to back games on the same day, that's not a good look and it brings the game into disrepute. I'm a United fan and so I should be happy Liverpool lost, but to lose on something like this is just abysmal. We also had a penalty appeal not given when Romero from Spurs had his arms out wide and got hit in the elbow. Is Spurs this year's Leister City?

15 minutes ago, CS85 said:

They need to realize that the XFL and USFL brands have so very little equity.  You're better off looking for a Shad Kahn/AEW situation where an ostensibly non-insane billionaire can be the owner/backer to provide the surface legitimacy of a new brand straightaway and cover the up front cost hurdles of localization, travel, facilities, etc.   

The only thing either name has is proximity to current memory. If they signed a deal with the NFL and were renamed the World League, it would be a better name than the NSFL, but it's nothing more than using historic names to pretend like their histories extend earlier than 2022 and 2023, respectively. 

Frankly, so many entities have been throwing stuff out there I'm sure there are plenty of rumors that can't be confirmed right now.

18 minutes ago, McCall said:

Well, there's Q2, but there's no need with the Brahmas in San Antonio.

If the rumor that MLS stadiums are off the table due to the April start is true, that will throw a wrench into their plans. 

Liverpool screwed over because VAR official said "check complete". Without clarifying that the goal stands, it means that the player was offside.

5 minutes ago, nickp91 said:

Move the Gamblers to Austin name them the Austin Gamblers And keep the Roughnecks in Houston

Unless UT lets them use their stadium, which is highly unlikely, Austin should be skipped over. The next closest stadium that makes sense is Texas State at San Marcos. May as well put them in San Antonio by then, but the Brahmas will already be in place unless they do soemthing crazy. We all know only one Houston team survives and it'll probably be the Gamblers. 

Wemby with the Hemisfair shorts.

2 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

As a fan, the hub model stinks. But as a business, it seems to be working fairly well for Fox. 

I feel that if it worked well for Fox they would have given actual numbers instead of saying , "It's a success, no we won't release the data to prove it". And if Redbird is still looking to keep a stake instead of getting completely out, then I don't think either side is worried about taking losses this year, though it could be enough for Dwayne and Dani to step away.