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Tag: Sports TV

  • US-England World Cup game seen by 19.98M on US television

    US-England World Cup game seen by 19.98M on US television

    NEW YORK — The United States’ 0-0 draw against England in the World Cup drew 19.98 million viewers for English- and Spanish-language broadcasts, the third-most watched men’s soccer game on U.S. television.

    The match, which kicked off at 2 p.m. EST on Friday, was seen by 15,377,000 viewers on Fox, the most for a U.S. English-language men’s soccer telecast. The figure was 6% above the 14.51 million for Brazil’s penalty-kicks win over Italy in the 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, a Sunday 3:30 p.m. EDT start that July 17 viewed by 14,510,000 on ABC, according to Fox.

    The U.S.-England game was viewed by 4.6 million on Telemundo, a division of Comcast Corp.‘s NBCUniversal. It was the third-most-watched Spanish language World Cup telecast in the U.S. since at least 2006, topped by the United States’ 2-2 group-stage draw with Portugal in 2014, seen by 6.5 million on Univision with a 6 p.m. EDT start in mid-June, and Brazil’s 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday, a 2 p.m. EDT game seen by 5.7 million on Thanksgiving.

    According to Nielsen, the only men’s soccer matches with more viewership on U.S. television were Germany’s win over Argentina in the 2014 final, seen by 22.67 million, and Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in 2010, seen by 21.36 million. Both those matches, televised by ABC and Univision, were on Sundays in July, with kickoff at 2:30 p.m. EDT in 2010 and 3 p.m. EDT in 2014.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • US-England World Cup game seen by 19.98M on US television

    US-England World Cup game seen by 19.98M on US television

    NEW YORK — The United States’ 0-0 draw against England in the World Cup drew 19.98 million viewers for English- and Spanish-language broadcasts, the third-most watched men’s soccer game on U.S. television.

    The match, which kicked off at 2 p.m. EST on Friday, was seen by 15,377,000 viewers on Fox, the most for a U.S. English-language men’s soccer telecast. The figure was 6% above the 14.51 million for Brazil’s penalty-kicks win over Italy in the 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, a Sunday 3:30 p.m. EDT start that July 17 viewed by 14,510,000 on ABC, according to Fox.

    The U.S.-England game was viewed by 4.6 million on Telemundo, a division of Comcast Corp.‘s NBCUniversal. It was the third-most-watched Spanish language World Cup telecast in the U.S. since at least 2006, topped by the United States’ 2-2 group-stage draw with Portugal in 2014, seen by 6.5 million on Univision with a 6 p.m. EDT start in mid-June, and Brazil’s 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday, a 2 p.m. EDT game seen by 5.7 million on Thanksgiving.

    According to Nielsen, the only men’s soccer matches with more viewership on U.S. television were Germany’s win over Argentina in the 2014 final, seen by 22.67 million, and Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in 2010, seen by 21.36 million. Both those matches, televised by ABC and Univision, were on Sundays in July, with kickoff at 2:30 p.m. EDT in 2010 and 3 p.m. EDT in 2014.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • US-England World Cup game seen by 19.98M on US television

    US-England World Cup game seen by 19.98M on US television

    NEW YORK — The United States’ 0-0 draw against England in the World Cup drew 19.98 million viewers for English- and Spanish-language broadcasts, the third-most watched men’s soccer game on U.S. television.

    The match, which kicked off at 2 p.m. EST on Friday, was seen by 15,377,000 viewers on Fox, the most for a U.S. English-language men’s soccer telecast. The figure was 6% above the 14.51 million for Brazil’s penalty-kicks win over Italy in the 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, a Sunday 3:30 p.m. EDT start that July 17 viewed by 14,510,000 on ABC, according to Fox.

    The U.S.-England game was viewed by 4.6 million on Telemundo, a division of Comcast Corp.‘s NBCUniversal. It was the third-most-watched Spanish language World Cup telecast in the U.S. since at least 2006, topped by the United States’ 2-2 group-stage draw with Portugal in 2014, seen by 6.5 million on Univision with a 6 p.m. EDT start in mid-June, and Brazil’s 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday, a 2 p.m. EDT game seen by 5.7 million on Thanksgiving.

    According to Nielsen, the only men’s soccer matches with more viewership on U.S. television were Germany’s win over Argentina in the 2014 final, seen by 22.67 million, and Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in 2010, seen by 21.36 million. Both those matches, televised by ABC and Univision, were on Sundays in July, with kickoff at 2:30 p.m. EDT in 2010 and 3 p.m. EDT in 2014.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Giants-Cowboys sets NFL regular-season record for viewers

    Giants-Cowboys sets NFL regular-season record for viewers

    LOS ANGELES — The Thanksgiving afternoon game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys set the mark for the most-watched NFL regular-season game on record.

    The Cowboys 28-20 victory on Fox averaged 42 million viewers, according to Nielsen, surpassing the 41.55 million average for the Dec. 3, 1990, Monday night game between the Giants and San Francisco 49ers on ABC. Average viewer record numbers date to 1988.

    The average viewership for the three Thanksgiving Day games on Thursday was 33.5 million, surpassing the previous high of 32.9 million in 1993, when two games were aired.

    The average was also up 6% over last year’s average of 31.6 million.

    The Buffalo Bills 28-25 win over the Detroit Lions on CBS was the most-watched early Thanksgiving Day game on record with a 31.6 million average.

    The night game between the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings averaged 25.9 million, the second-highest audience for a Thanksgiving night contest. The Vikings’ 33-26 victory was surpassed only by the 2015 game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers (27.8 million).

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    AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

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  • Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 20-26

    Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 20-26

    Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 20-26:

    Nov. 20: Actor Estelle Parsons (“The Connors,” “Roseanne”) is 95. Comedian Dick Smothers is 84. Singer Norman Greenbaum is 80. Actor Veronica Hamel is 79. Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff is 76. Musician Joe Walsh is 75. Actor Richard Masur (“One Day at a Time”) is 74. Actor Bo Derek is 66. Drummer Jimmy Brown of UB40 is 65. Actor Sean Young is 63. Pianist Jim Brickman is 61. Actor Ming-Na (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” ″Mulan”) is 59. Rapper Mike D of the Beastie Boys is 57. Rapper Sen Dog of Cypress Hill is 57. Actor Callie Thorne (“Rescue Me,” “Homicide: Life on the Street”) is 53. Actor Sabrina Lloyd (“Numb3rs”) is 52. Actor Joel McHale (“Community”) is 51. Actor Marisa Ryan (“New York Undercover”) is 48. Country singer Dierks Bentley is 47. Actor Joshua Gomez (“Chuck”) is 47. Country singer Josh Turner is 45. Actor Nadine Velazquez (“My Name Is Earl”) is 44. Actor Jacob Pitts (“Sneaky Pete,” “Justified”) is 43. Actor Jeremy Jordan (“Supergirl”) is 38. Actor Ashley Fink (“Glee”) is 36. Bassist Jared Followill of Kings of Leon is 36. Actor Jaina Lee Ortiz (“Station 19”) is 36. Actor Cody Linley (“Hannah Montana”) is 33. Guitarist Michael Clifford of 5 Seconds of Summer is 27.

    Nov. 21: Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 88. Actor Marlo Thomas is 85. Actor Juliet Mills (“Passions,” ″Nanny and the Professor”) is 81. Actor Goldie Hawn is 77. Keyboardist Lonnie Jordan of War is 74. Singer Livingston Taylor is 72. Actor-singer Lorna Luft is 70. Actor Cherry Jones (“The Horse Whisperer”) is 66. Bassist Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes is 62. Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 60. Actor Nicollette Sheridan is 59. Singer Bjork is 57. Singer Chauncey Hannibal of BLACKstreet is 54. Bassist Alex James of Blur is 54. TV personality Rib Hillis (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) is 52. Rapper Pretty Lou of Lost Boyz is 51. Football player-turned-TV host Michael Strahan (“Good Morning America,” ″Live With Kelly and Michael”) is 51. Actor Marina de Tavira (“Roma”) is 49. Country singer Kelsi Osborn of SHeDAISY is 48. Actor Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld,” ″It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) is 47. Actor Lindsey Haun (“Broken Bridges”) is 38. Actor Jena Malone (“Saved,” ″Life as a House”) is 38. Singer Carly Rae Jepsen is 37. Actor Sam Palladio (“Nashville”) is 36.

    Nov. 22: Comedian-director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python) is 82. Actor Tom Conti is 81. Singer Jesse Colin Young (The Youngbloods) is 81. Guitarist-actor Little Steven (The E Street Band, “The Sopranos”) is 72. Bassist Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads is 72. Actor Lin Tucci (“Orange Is The New Black”) is 71. Singer Lawrence Gowan of Styx is 66. Actor Richard Kind (“Spin City,” ″Mad About You”) is 66. Actor Jamie Lee Curtis is 64. Singer “Farmer Jason” Ringenberg (Jason and the Scorchers) is 64. Actor Mariel Hemingway is 61. Actor-producer Brian Robbins (“Head of the Class”) is 59. Actor Stephen Geoffreys is 58. Actor Nicholas Rowe (“The Crown”) is 56. Actor Mark Ruffalo is 55. Actor Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Westworld”) is 54. Drummer Chris Fryar of Zac Brown Band is 52. Actor Tyler Hilton (“One Tree Hill”) is 39. Actor Scarlett Johannson is 38. Actor Jamie Campbell Bower (“Twilight” movies) is 34. Actor Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Hail, Caesar”) is 33. Singer Candice Glover (“American Idol”) is 33. Actor Dacre Montgomery (“Stranger Things”) is 28. Actor Mackenzie Lintz (“Under the Dome”) is 26.

    Nov. 23: Actor Franco Nero (“Django,” “Camelot”) is 81. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (“Basic Instinct,” ″Showgirls”) is 78. Comedy writer Bruce Vilanch (“Hollywood Squares”) is 75. Singer Bruce Hornsby is 68. Actor Maxwell Caulfield (“The Colbys”) is 63. Actor John Henton (“The Hughleys,” ″Living Single”) is 62. “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts is 62. Singer-guitarist Ken Block of Sister Hazel is 56. Drummer Charlie Grover (Sponge) is 56. Actor Salli Richardson-Whitfield (“Family Law”) is 55. Actor Oded Fehr (“The Mummy”) is 52. Rapper Kurupt of Tha Dogg Pound is 50. Actor Page Kennedy (“Desperate Housewives”) is 46. Actor Kelly Brook (“Smallville”) is 43. Actor Lucas Grabeel (“High School Musical”) is 38. TV personality Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi (“Jersey Shore”) is 35. Singer-actor Miley Cyrus is 30. Actor Austin Majors (“NYPD Blue”) is 27. Actor Olivia Keville (“Splitting Up Together”) is 20.

    Nov. 24: Country singer Johnny Carver is 82. Former Beatles drummer Pete Best is 81. Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 80. Singer Lee Michaels is 77. Actor Dwight Schultz (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “The A-Team”) is 75. Actor Stanley Livingston (“My Three Sons”) is 72. Drummer Clem Burke of The Romantics and of Blondie is 68. Record producer/musician Terry Lewis (The Time) is 66. Actor Denise Crosby (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 65. Actor Shae D’Lyn (“Dharma and Greg”) is 60. Guitarist John Squire of the Stone Roses is 60. Guitarist Gary Stonadge of Big Audio Dynamite is 60. Actor Garret Dillahunt (“Raising Hope”) is 58. Actor Conleth Hall (“Game of Thrones”) is 58. Comedian Brad Sherwood (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) is 58. Actor Scott Krinksy (“Chuck”) is 54. Guitarist Chad Taylor of Live is 52. Actor Lola Glaudini (“Criminal Minds”) is 51. Actor Colin Hanks (“Life in Pieces,” ″Roswell”) is 45. Actor Katherine Heigl (“Grey’s Anatomy,” ″Roswell”) is 44. Actor Sarah Hyland (“Modern Family”) is 32.

    Nov. 25: Actor Kathryn Crosby is 89. Singer Bob Lind is 80. Actor-game show host Ben Stein is 78. Actor John Larroquette is 75. “Dancing With the Stars” judge Bruno Tonioli is 67. Singer Amy Grant is 62. Drummer Scott Mercado (Candlebox) is 58. Singer Tim Armstrong of Rancid is 57. Actor Steve Harris (“Friday Night Lights,” ″The Practice”) is 57. Actor Billy Burke (“Twilight” films) is 56. Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 56. Guitarist Rodney Sheppard of Sugar Ray is 56. Rapper-producer Erick Sermon (EPMD) is 54. Actor Jill Hennessy (“Crossing Jordan”) is 53. Actor Christina Applegate is 51. Actor Eddie Steeples (“My Name Is Earl”) is 49. Actor Kristian Nairn (“Game of Thrones”) is 47. Actor Jill Flint (“The Good Wife,” “Royal Pains”) is 45. Actor Jerry Ferrara (“Entourage”) is 43. Actor Valerie Azlynn (“Sullivan and Son”) is 42. Actor Katie Cassidy (“Arrow,” new “Melrose Place”) is 36. Actor Stephanie Hsu (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) is 32. Contemporary Christian singer Jamie Grace is 31.

    Nov. 26: Impressionist Rich Little is 84. Singer Tina Turner is 83. Singer Jean Terrell (The Supremes) is 78. Bassist John McVie of Fleetwood Mac is 77. Actor Marianne Muellerleile (Film’s “Memento,” TV’s “Life With Bonnie”) is 74. Actor Scott Jacoby (“That Certain Summer”) is 66. Actor Jamie Rose (“Falcon Crest,” “St. Elsewhere”) is 63. Country singer Linda Davis is 60. Actor Scott Adsit (“30 Rock”) is 57. Actor Kristin Bauer (“True Blood”) is 56. Actor Peter Facinelli (“Nurse Jackie”) is 49. Actor Tammy Lynn Michaels (”The L Word,” “Popular”) is 48. Hip-hop artist DJ Khaled is 47. Actor Maia Campbell (“In the House”) is 46. Country singer Joe Nichols is 46. Musicians Randy and Anthony Armstrong of Red are 44. Actor Jessica Bowman (“Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman”) is 42. Singer Natasha Bedingfield is 41. Actor Jessica Camacho (“Taken,” “The Flash”) is 40. Singer-guitarist Mike Gossin of Gloriana is 38. Drummer Ben Wysocki of The Fray is 38. Singer Lil Fizz of B2K is 37. Singer Aubrey Collins (Trick Pony) is 35. Singer-actor Rita Ora is 32. Actor Aubrey Peeples (“Nashville,” “Sharknado”) is 29.

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  • New C-USA TV deal to shift October games to weeknights

    New C-USA TV deal to shift October games to weeknights

    DALLAS — Conference USA’s new media rights deal with ESPN and CBS steals a page from the Mid-American Conference’s playbook, with the new-look league agreeing to play midweek games throughout October to try to increase visibility and build its brand.

    “We obviously had an example to look at and ratings from how the MAC has done,” C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod told The Associated Press on Thursday. “Really, this is a membership decision. And if they’re not going to buy in and commit to it, then we would not have done it. I can’t give enough credit to the coaches, who understood the importance of exposure.”

    The five-year deal starts next season as Conference USA goes through extensive membership turnover.

    Six current C-USA members are leaving after this season to join the American Athletic Conference. Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State and Sam Houston State are joining C-USA next year and Kennesaw State is scheduled to join in 2024.

    C-USA will eventually be a 10-school conference, keeping UTEP, Florida International, Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky.

    “It’s almost like a brand-new entity,” MacLeod said. “And that did absolutely play into the exposure piece. Plus, sometimes our programs are better than maybe the perception is out there because not enough people are seeing them.”

    Financial terms were not announced.

    The new deal keeps CBS Sports Network as the primary home for C-USA’s top football and men’s basketball games.

    CBS Sports Network will also air the C-USA football championship, the men’s basketball tournament semifinals and championship game, the women’s basketball championship game and conference title games for baseball and softball.

    The new agreement guarantees C-USA football games will be on ESPN cable networks, something the soon-to-be expiring contracts did not. C-USA’s last deal often sent fans scrambling to figure out where to watch their teams — including Facebook streams and the NFL Network.

    “We listened to our fans, quite honestly,” MacLeod said.

    All October conference games will be played midweek. ESPN networks will carry eight of those games a year.

    The MAC began using a midweek-heavy football schedule about 10 years ago and now plays all of its games before Saturday throughout November. MACtion has become a popular brand, though playing Tuesday and Wednesday nights is not always easy for players and coaches and fans who want to attend the games.

    “All of those concerns are legitimate,” MacLeod said. “It’s a little bit of a disruption to campus to have a midweek football game. So it was a lengthy process. But the group was together and ready to go.”

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    More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF

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  • World Cup ambassador from Qatar denounces homosexuality

    World Cup ambassador from Qatar denounces homosexuality

    BERLIN — An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a “damage in the mind” in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF only two weeks before the opening of the soccer tournament in the Gulf state, highlighting concerns about the conservative country’s treatment of gays and lesbians.

    Former Qatari national team player Khalid Salman told a German reporter in an interview that being gay is “haram,” or forbidden in Arabic, and that he has a problem with children seeing gay people.

    Excerpts of the television interview were shown Monday on the ZDF news program Heute Journal. The full interview, which is part of a documentary, will be shown Tuesday on ZDF.

    About 1.2 million international visitors are expected in Qatar for the tournament, which has faced criticism and skepticism ever since the gas-rich emirate was selected as host by FIFA in December 2010. Concerns about LGBTQ tourists attending the World Cup have also been expressed for a long time.

    In the interview, Salman also said that homosexuality “is a spiritual harm.”

    “During the World Cup, many things will come here to the country. Let’s talk about gays,” Salman said in English, which is simultaneously dubbed into German in the TV segment. “The most important thing is, everybody will accept that they come here. But they will have to accept our rules.”

    The interview was cut short by a media officer of the World Cup organizing committee after Salman expressed his views on homosexuals, ZDF reported.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • TV audience for World Series Game 3 on Fox down 2.7%

    TV audience for World Series Game 3 on Fox down 2.7%

    Philadelphia’s 7-0 win over Houston in Game 3 of the World Series was seen by 11,162,000 viewers on Fox, down 2.7% from last year’s third game

    PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies’ 7-0 win over Houston in Game 3 of the World Series was seen by 11,162,000 viewers on Fox, down 2.7% from last year’s third game.

    Atlanta’s 2-0 victory over the Astros last season was seen by 11,469,000. That game was on a Friday night, while this year’s Game 3 was on a Tuesday.

    This year’s audience was up 34% from the 8,339,000 for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-2 win over Tampa Bay in 2020, the lowest-rated World Series.

    Including Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms, this year’s Game 3 was viewed by 11,373,000. The game, which began at 8:05 p.m. EDT and ended at 11:13 p.m., drew a 29.1 rating and 56 share in Philadelphia and a 21.9/47 in Houston.

    Game 3 was postponed by rain on Monday night.

    The first three games this year averaged 11,179,000 viewers on Fox, up 2% from the three-game average of 10,964,000 last year and an increase of 25% from the three-game average of 8,977,000 in 2020.

    The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in to a broadcast. The share is the percentage viewing a telecast among those households with TVs on at the time.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Eagles acquire 3-time Pro Bowl DE Quinn from Bears

    Eagles acquire 3-time Pro Bowl DE Quinn from Bears

    LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The undefeated Philadelphia Eagles already have one of the NFL’s best defenses.

    Now, they’re adding another pass rusher to the mix.

    The Eagles acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Robert Quinn from the Chicago Bears for a 2023 fourth-round pick on Wednesday.

    The teams said the trade was pending a physical.

    Quinn goes from a rebuilding franchise to a Super Bowl contender. The Eagles (6-0) are the lone undefeated team. Philadelphia, coming off a bye, hosts Pittsburgh on Sunday.

    “I think it’s another great player on this team,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “He has a history of being a great defensive end and edge rusher. I think he’ll help us out in a number of ways. Adds a lot of depth, and I’m excited to meet him. I’m excited to meet him (Thursday) when he comes.”

    The 32-year-old Quinn is off to a slow start with just one sack and three quarterback hits after opting not participate in offseason workouts. But he broke Hall of Famer Richard Dent’s franchise record with 18 1/2 sacks last year in a resurgent season.

    “I value — I think I’ve talked about that a lot — the locker room and what it means and the culture and it (stinks) to mess with that, to be completely honest with you,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said.

    “But again, my job is to do what’s best for this organization not only now, but in the future. I felt like that was the best move for us to make.”

    With Quinn, an Eagles defensive line that already has Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Jordan Davis becomes that much more daunting. He replaces defensive end Derek Barnett, who tore an ACL in the opener at Detroit.

    The Eagles are holding opponents to 297.8 yards per game, which is fourth in the NFL. They’re fifth against the pass at 188 yards and rank second in interceptions with nine. When it comes to sacks, they’re tied for 10th with 17. And that’s an area where Quinn could help.

    He has 102 sacks over 12 seasons with the Rams, Miami, Dallas and Chicago. Quinn was an All-Pro with St. Louis in 2013 when he had a career-high 19 sacks and made his second straight Pro Bowl the following year. He went from 11 1/2 sacks with Dallas in 2019 to just two for Chicago in 2020.

    Quinn bounced back in a huge way last year and seemed a likely candidate to be traded in the offseason considering the Bears were essentially starting over. They hired Poles and coach Matt Eberflus to replace the fired Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy after missing the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years.

    But Poles said trading Quinn in the offseason was not his intention.

    “I know I wanted Robert on this team in the beginning,” he said. “There weren’t many conversations at all. I was transparent with them — him and his crewー about that. I knew the way he played this game, the motor and all that.”

    He said the Bears “needed that” to “kickstart” how the defense would perform under Eberflus and new coordinator Alan Williams.

    Quinn, meanwhile, had said several times he would rather remain with the Bears than be traded. Poles said he wasn’t sure how his play this season impacted his market value.

    When the deal materialized, it caught star linebacker Roquan Smith off guard. He was at the dais addressing reporters when the news surfaced and he became emotional.

    “Man. Yeah, man. (Stinks),” he said, wiping his eyes with his shirt.

    He was asked how so.

    “Let me take a second for a second, if you don’t mind,” Smith responded. After about 10 seconds, he continued: “You know, I have a great deal of respect for that guy, you know. Damn. Crazy.”

    Smith got up and walked away, ending a brief session. A team spokesman told reporters, “We’ll get you tomorrow.”

    The Bears (3-4) visit the Dallas Cowboys (5-2) on Sunday. Chicago is coming off a surprising win at New England on Monday night.

    Though they’ve struggled against the run, the Bears have been one of the best at defending the pass. But now, they’re without one of their most important players.

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    More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

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  • ESPN and F1 announce new US broadcast deal through 2025

    ESPN and F1 announce new US broadcast deal through 2025

    AUSTIN, Texas — With Formula’s One popularity and viewership booming in the United States, ESPN and the global motorsports series announced a new broadcast deal Saturday through 2025.

    ESPN has broadcast F1 in the U.S. since 2018 and the new deal will keep commercial-free, live telecasts for all races on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC, all owned by the Walt Disney Co. ESPN Deportes will continue as the Spanish-language home of F1 in the U.S.

    The deal comes ahead of Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix, which will air on ABC. Financial terms were not disclosed. ESPN did not pay any rights fees in 2018 when NBC Sports Group dropped F1 after five seasons, leaving the series without a U.S. home. ESPN has paid $5 million per year from 2019-22, and the series has only seen growth since then.

    “To continue to build and grow and push behind the tremendous momentum that exits with Formula One in the United States for another few seasons is really exciting for us,” ESPN President Burke Magnus said. “We’re not going to let up. We’re just going to continue to push hard because it’s spectacular content and spectacular competition.”

    And shortly after the ESPN announcement, the Williams team revealed that reserve driver Logan Sargeant will likely earn a seat in 2023, making him the first American driver in F1 since 2015. American fans and sponsors have aimed for an American driver to push interest even higher.

    Under the new deal, at least 16 races will be on ABC or ESPN and all race weekends will include live coverage of practice and qualifying.

    Magnus said ESPN has been pleased with its partnership with Sky Sports, which allows ESPN to use the Britain-based broadcaster’s race and practice productions.

    “The next step for us is to build around their great production of the races,” Magnus said. “Having a more consistent presence on site, having more highlights on Sports Center, having more editorial coverage.

    “The Sky production of the race is world class, I’m not sure we can replicate that ourselves without a lot of time, effort and expense.”

    The network said the new deal also expands its direct-to-consumer rights, with details for more content on digital platforms to be announced later.

    ESPN has been the U.S. rights holder in a boom time for F1, and the series will expand its calendar to a record 24 races in 2023. That includes three in the U.S. in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas. Only the Texas race was on the calendar when ESPN took over broadcast rights four years ago.

    Last season had an average of 949,000 viewers, the network said. That has increased to more than 1.2 million tuning in on average over the first 18 races this season.

    “They (ESPN) were really the first to believe on us here in America,” said Stefano Domenicali, president and chief executive officer of F1. “Now it seems easy because we seen the booming of the market. But we will not take it for granted. What ESPN did for the American fans is really special and is a reason why we are renewing this collaboration for the next three years.”

    The inaugural Miami Grand Prix on ABC generated an average viewership of 2.6 million, the largest U.S. audience on record for a live F1 race.

    Domenicali said the continued growth of the U.S. audience remains critical for F1.

    “They (ESPN) know how to connect with the American audience,” Domenicali said. “They know what the American audience wants to hear.”

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    More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • FIFA slams unacceptable TV deal offers for Women’s World Cup

    FIFA slams unacceptable TV deal offers for Women’s World Cup

    AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Broadcasters were criticized by FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Saturday for what he called unacceptably low offers for rights to screen the Women’s World Cup next year.

    Offers of just 1% of the value of men’s World Cup rights deals have been rejected, Infantino said, for the tournament that starts in July in Australia and New Zealand.

    The men’s World Cup has driven FIFA’s expected overall income toward $7 billion for the four-year commercial cycle that ends in December after that tournament in Qatar.

    “100 times less, even more than 100 times in some occasions, then this is not acceptable,” the FIFA leader said at a news conference ahead of the finals tournament draw. “I don’t want to mention them, but those who are there, they know it.”

    The time zones in Australia and New Zealand mean many games, especially in the group stage, will be played in the nighttime hours in lucrative markets in Europe and the Americas.

    “We are not going to accept this,” Infantino said of the broadcast offers, “because we know that the viewing figures for these broadcasters in some big ing countries for the men’s World Cup or for the Women’s World Cup are actually very similar … meaning their commercial income is very similar for men and for women.”

    Infantino took a further jibe at broadcasters who he said pushed FIFA to treat women’s soccer more equally on issues such as World Cup prize money.

    The 32 teams at the men’s World Cup in Qatar will share $440 million in prize money, while a prize fund of $60 million was proposed for the first 32-team women’s edition in 2023.

    “In some countries, they are quite good at telling us … that we should give more emphasis on equal opportunities, on equality, on non-discrimination, on treating men and women in the same way which is, of course, what we have to do, and we try to do that to the best of our ability,” Infantino said.

    “It’s important that everyone puts actions, as well, behind words and we all start to treat women’s the same way.”

    FIFA has changed the commercial model for the Women’s World Cup to earn its own income instead of simply being packaged as an add-on for broadcasters and sponsors doing deals for the men’s tournament.

    Infantino suggested a further push for equality for women’s soccer, noting that Olympic tournaments have 16 men’s teams and only 12 for women.

    “Women should have 16 teams as well at the Olympic Games,” he said. “These are some discussions we are going to have.”

    Adding four women’s teams would need more than 70 athlete quota places when the International Olympic Committee is asking some governing bodies to make cuts to help find space for new sports and control organizers’ costs.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup

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  • Analysis: Commanders ugly on and off the field

    Analysis: Commanders ugly on and off the field

    The dysfunctional Washington Commanders are ugly on and off the field.

    A day that began with a detailed report about Dan Snyder’s toxic ownership ended with a sloppy 12-7 victory over the Chicago Bears in front of a national television audience Thursday night.

    Don’t let the victory fool you. The Commanders (2-4) were losers the minute ESPN reported, citing anonymous sources, that Snyder has hired private investigators and told people he has enough information to expose fellow owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell.

    There is no plan to vote on Snyder’s status next week at the owners’ meetings in New York, according to three people with knowledge of the agenda. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the discussions are private.

    Forcing Snyder to sell the team requires 24 votes from the other 31 owners. It’s not a simple task despite the latest stain against him.

    Snyder and the organization are currently the subject of ongoing investigations by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform and former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, who is conducting a new review on behalf of the NFL.

    Once those reports are filed, owners could try to seek removal. Meanwhile, public pressure will continue to mount against Snyder, who has been accused of workplace sexual harassment, potentially unlawful financial conduct, deceptive business practice, among other improprieties.

    During the Amazon Prime Video broadcast, play-by-play announcer Al Michaels said: “Just my feeling, I think what the league would love is for Snyder to sell the team. Not have to go to a vote, but just sell the team. Because it’s become a major problem around the league, obviously. And we’ll see what happens. I think it’s got a long way to go, and Dan, very well known for digging his heels into the ground.”

    Snyder watched from a suite at Soldier Field as his team put aside all the distractions and barely held on for a win by 1 yard, snapping a four-game losing streak.

    “With the distractions going around, we don’t pay attention to any of that,” linebacker Jamin Davis said. “As a locker room, as a team, we really pay attention to what we have in front of us and going forward that’s how it’s going to be.”

    Coach Ron Rivera, who created a different distraction earlier in the week when he blamed quarterback Carson Wentz for the team being last in the NFC East, walked out of his postgame news conference after referring to part of ESPN’s report that said it was Snyder’s decision to acquire Wentz.

    “They’ve played their (butts) off. They have,” Rivera said about his team. “They come out and show up. They work hard. They don’t complain. They hear all this stuff and they got to deal with it. I get that. I respect them for it. They’re resilient. They come back. Everybody keeps wanting to say I didn’t want anything to do with Carson. … I’m the …. guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, that looked at the analytics, and watched the tape when we were in Indianapolis (at the combine). That’s what pisses me off because the young man doesn’t deserve to have that all the time.”

    None of the Commanders deserve to deal with the series of scandals and investigations that surround the man who signs their paychecks.

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    AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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    More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

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  • Fox to avoid World Cup off-field controversy in Qatar

    Fox to avoid World Cup off-field controversy in Qatar

    NEW YORK — Fox plans to avoid coverage of Qatar’s controversial treatment of migrant workers during World Cup broadcasts, much as it didn’t address criticism of Russia’s government during the 2018 tournament.

    “Our stance is if it affects what happens on the field of play, we will cover it and cover it fully,” David Neal, executive producer of Fox’s World Cup coverage, said Thursday. “But if it does not, if it is ancillary to the story of the tournament, there are plenty of other entities and outlets out there that are going to cover that. We firmly believe the viewers come to us to see what happens on the field, on the pitch.”

    Neal spoke at an event to debut images of the network’s set in Doha made of LED screens, the hub of its coverage of a tournament that runs from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18.

    “This set, in typical subtle Fox fashion,” he said, “I think it will be visible from Mars,”

    Qatar has been criticized over its treatment of the workers who built the World Cup venues. Paris’ city government will not broadcast World Cup matches on giant screens in public fan zones amid concerns over rights violations of migrant workers and the environmental impact of the tournament in Qatar.

    Neal said he did not regret bypassing coverage of issues such as racism and sexism in Russia four years ago.

    “I think the quizzical thing about what’s happened with Russia is that they took all that international goodwill that they had correctly earned as a really great host of the World Cup, and that’s now gone,” Neal said.

    Fox took over from ESPN as the FIFA’s U.S. English-language World Cup broadcaster starting with the 2015 women’s tournament and has rights through the 2026 men’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada. It will televise 34 of 64 matches this year on the main Fox network and the remainder on its FS1 cable network.

    U.S. Spanish-language television rights are held by NBCUniversal’s Telemundo.

    Fox will have commentators call all matches from stadiums in Qatar, where the eight venues are within 35 miles (55 kilometers) of Doha. Four years ago, the 12 venues were spread around Russia and Fox called 33 matches onsite, including all but one during the knockout rounds.

    John Strong and Stu Holden, the lead announce team, attended the event along with host Rob Stone, analysts Alexi Lalas and Maurice Edu, and reporter Jenny Taft.

    With the tournament shifted from its traditional June/July time slot because of Qatar’s summer heat, games will take place during the NFL and college seasons. Fox debuted a “Superfan Santa” advertisement last weekend tying soccer to Santa Claus.

    “On Thanksgiving Day, yes, it’s great to be around family. It’s better to be around the television with your family so you don’t have to talk to them all the time,” Stone said. “So Thanksgiving Day, it is Luis Suárez. It is Cristiano Ronaldo. It is Neymar. It is Cowboys-Giants. That’s a lot of TV. That’s a lot of time you don’t have to talk to the in-laws.”

    Some weekend games will overlap coverage on Fox and other networks.

    “When we first saw the tournament being moved to November/December, we, like a lot of people said, oh, boy, that’s tough. It’s against football,” Neal said. “We came to realize that it’s an advantage. The simple fact is there’s more eyeballs available in November and December than there is in the summer. There’s more people available to television who are able to tune in, and instead of having to attract people in from the beach to watch what we’re doing, they’re already there.”

    The U.S. is back in the World Cup after missing the 2018 tournament.

    “One of our proudest moments as an entity, certainly as a World Cup rights holder, was the month worth of storytelling that we did in Russia, and it was about that 33rd character: 32 teams and the host country,” Neal said. “This time around we got a huge advantage over that because we got the United States there. The United States team I think we all believe has a legitimate chance of getting out of the group stage.”

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Viewers flock to Weather Channel for Hurricane Ian coverage

    Viewers flock to Weather Channel for Hurricane Ian coverage

    NEW YORK — The Weather Channel reached its biggest audience in five years last week when Hurricane Ian made its destructive landfall in western Florida.

    The average audience of 3.4 million people last Wednesday was more than any other day for the network since Hurricane Harvey deluged Texas with record amounts of rainfall in 2017, the Nielsen company said.

    The network’s peak day came despite other cable news and broadcast networks also devoting resources to the storm, and a myriad of streaming options that gave people many different ways to follow Ian and its aftermath.

    For example, the free streaming service Local Now, which is owned alongside The Weather Channel by the Allen Media Group, had a record-setting day for usage last Wednesday, the company said. Through the service, people could watch local news coverage of Ian from markets in Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando in Florida.

    Allen would not give precise figures on how many people used the service.

    Another new wrinkle from the Weather Channel app were screen views that allowed users to watch the storm’s progress through fixed cameras placed in Ian’s path, in Fort Myers Beach, Punta Gorda and Venice, Florida, for example.

    The average consumer who used the app spent a staggering four hours there on the day the storm hit, the Weather Channel said.

    Fox Weather, a streaming service that debuted a year ago, easily had its most-used day ever last Wednesday, although Fox also wouldn’t provide specific details. During three overnight hours after the storm hit, Fox News Channel simulcast the coverage on the Fox Weather stream.

    NBC was the winner again during the second week of the new television season, averaging 6.1 million viewers in prime time, Nielsen said. CBS averaged 5.7 million, ABC had 4 million, Fox had 2.2 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 900,000 and Telemundo had 820,000.

    ESPN was the most-watched cable network, averaging 2.15 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.12 million, MSNBC had 1.15 million, HGTV had 796,00 and CNN had 756,000.

    ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8.4 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5 million.

    For the week of Sept. 26-Oct. 2, the 20 most-watched programs in prime time, their networks and viewerships:

    1. NFL Football: Kansas City at Tampa Bay, NBC, 20.85 million.

    2. “NFL Pregame Show” (Sunday), NBC, 15.74 million.

    3. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 11.04 million.

    4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.27 million.

    5. NFL Football: Dallas at N.Y. Giants, ABC, 10.18 million.

    6. NFL Football: Dallas at N.Y. Giants, ESPN, 7.73 million.

    7. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 7.09 million.

    8. “FBI,” CBS, 7.08 million.

    9. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.88 million.

    10. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 6.73 million.

    11. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.6 million.

    12. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.46 million.

    13. “NFL Pregame Show” (Monday), ABC, 6.28 million.

    14. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 6.111 million.

    15. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.107 million.

    16. “FBI: International,” CBS, 5.88 million.

    17. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 5.87 million.

    18. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 5.41 million.

    19. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 5.4 million.

    20. “East New York,” CBS, 5.27 million.

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    This story corrects the name of Fox Weather and Local New. A previous version of this story referred to the streaming services as Fox News Weather and Local News Now.

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