Although Chelsea has all but secured a second Premier League title in three seasons, the relegation battle is just heating up. Sunderland and Middlesbrough are going down to the Championship next season, and Hull City and Swansea City are trying to avoid the same fate.
Relegation certainly adds drama and raises the stakes for the final games of the season, but exactly how much do these teams stand to gain by staying up?
Lionel Messi has scored 51 goals in 49 games this season for Barcelona. So, it's no wonder that club executives are in a hurry to get negotiations over with and to get Messi's contract finalized.
It appears today that the club and Messi's agents may be close to a deal. Only a day after we reported that Messi's camp rejected Barcelona's initial offer, Barcelona VP Jordi Mestre said "it won't be long" before Lionel Messi signs a new contract with FC Barcelona.
According to Diario AS, Lionel Messi's camp has rejected Barcelona''s initial offer of a contract extention. Messi's contract runs through June 2018.
Despite the initial rebuff, no one expects Messi to play anywhere besides Barcelona. It's understood he'll sign an extension eventually, but certainly the powers that be at Barcelona will be much happier should that happen sooner rather than later.
The offer was reported to be in the neigborhood of 30-30 million Euros per year.
Big ups to Steve Fenn (@StatHunting) for breaking down MLS wages by team and player in a brilliantly interactive infographic. You can get lost in this masterpiece for hours.
Following a board meeting today, Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed they will play all of their home games at Wembley Stadium next season while waiting for their new world-class stadium to be finished.
Spurs have called White Hart Lane their home for the past 118 years. The new stadium, set to be ready by the start of the 2018-19 season, will be adjacent to their current home.
Every club that’s had an extended run in the Premier League is a perfect example for the transitive property (If a=b and b=c, then a=c) that affects modern football:
According to media reports, the NFL has contributed $12.8 million toward Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium.
The initial payment will likely go towards custom-tailoring the 61,000-seat stadium for hosting NFL games. Tottenham had agreed to a 10-year deal that allows the NFL to host a minimum of two games per season at the stadium, which is not expected to open until the start of the 2018-19 season.
Many applauded MLS for the terms of its most recent TV deal in 2014. At a sum of $90 million per year from Fox, ESPN and Univision, it marked a five-fold increase from its previous annual broadcasting fees. Still, the league has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to compete with other top leagues.
At last, Yonghong Li’s Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux has completed the purchase of AC Milan from Silvio Berlusconi’s Fininvest. The deal values AC Milan at 740 million euros, which includes the club’s debt of 220 million.
Giorgio Chiellini has had a good go of this "professional footballer" thing but everyone knows the real money is in business. That's why it was a wise choice for Chiellini to set himself up for the future by getting his MBA from the University of Turin.
Many doors have opened with this degree. Chiellini can go into finance, sales, marketing, management, systems analysis, systems administration, operations or even entrepreneurship.