Industry Shorts: Six Nations, As Roma, NBA
The Six Nations has confirmed the dates for its rescheduled fixtures, which will now take place in October.
The competition was suspended in March at the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown in Europe, with one Round Four fixture (between Ireland and Italy) and all three Round Five fixtures left to play.
Ireland’s game against Italy in Dublin is now set to take place on Saturday 24th October 2020, while the final round is scheduled for a week later on 31st October, when England will face Italy in Rome, France will play Ireland in Paris and Wales will host Scotland in a game which may not take place in Cardiff as the Principality Stadium is currently being set aside as a surge hospital to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Serie A side AS Roma have announced an agreement which will see the club sold to The Friedkin Group.
In a statement, the club said previous owner James Pallotta signed contracts to sell the club to Dan Friedkin, Chairman and CEO, The Friedkin Group, in a deal worth €591 million (£534m).
The NBA Board of Governors has announced that it will pledge $300m to create the first NBA Foundation, in partnership with the National Basketball Players Association.
Over the next 10 years, the 30 NBA team owners will collectively contribute $30 million annually to establish a new, leaguewide charitable foundation to create greater economic empowerment in the black community, with the goal of driving generational change.
The NBA Foundation will seek to increase access and support for ‘high school, college-aged and career-ready’ black men and women, as well as assisting organisations that provide skills training, mentorship, coaching and pipeline development in NBA markets and communities across the United States and Canada.
Premier League side Arsenal has proposed making 55 redundancies in a move the club says is an attempt to ‘create the right organisation for a post-COVID world.’
In a statement, the club pointed out that its main sources of income, from broadcasters, matchday revenues and commercial activities, have ‘reduced significantly’ due to the pandemic, and forecasts that this will continue ‘into at least the forthcoming 2020/21 season’.
David Beckham’s Guild Esports has announced its entry into EA SPORTS FIFA with the signing of of top-ranked professional player Niklas Raseck.
The organisation was launched in June with the goal of developing an esports talent pipeline in the UK.
