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EA Sports’ push to put more women in its sports games didn’t begin with FIFA 16. Back in 2011, the company announced that its then-upcoming hockey game NHL 12 was getting its first female playable character. This decision came after 14-year-old Lexi Peters penned a letter to EA asking why there weren’t any girls in NHL, and why her brother could make a character that looked like him but she…

This summer, the athletics World Championships, men’s and women’s cricket, the Lions tour of New Zealand and Wimbledon have shown that the British public has an enduring passion for top level sport. We have the richest football league in the world, more major stadiums per capita than anywhere on Earth, and are widely credited with having staged the greatest Olympic Games of the modern era. Sport is a massive part…

(This is the second installment of a three-part series on the gambling aspect of the “The Money Fight” between boxer Floyd Mayweather and UFC champ Conor McGregor. Check out Part 1.) If Conor McGregor, a man who despite a championship MMA career, has never been paid to put on boxing gloves, somehow manages to beat undefeated, five-division boxing world champ Floyd Mayweather at his own game on Aug. 26, it…

Rushing to meet a deadline imposed by Olympics officials, the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to endorse a bid for the 2028 Summer Games even though council members acknowledged they were acting without complete information. The council’s unanimous decision will put tax dollars at risk by making the city responsible for any shortfall if the massive, $5.3-billion sports event goes over budget. “We are the only city that has…

Petr Cech has proved that when it comes to goalkeeping, he’s just as accomplished on ice as he is on the hallowed turf of the football pitch. Three days before Arsenal’s first game of the Premier League season, the Czech veteran dashed off to make a special appearance in an exhibition ice hockey game in his native country — a testimonial for former NHL star Martin Havlat. Doing his best…

Two soccer players have been barred for life from Iran’s national team after they appeared in a match against players from Israel, prompting anger among the sport’s many fans in the Islamic Republic. Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi played last week in a European league match for the Greek team Panionios against Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli club. That appeared to violate a longstanding rule prohibiting Iranian athletes from…

Louisa Fyans, an F.A. spokeswoman, said in an email that when the association updated its rules in 2014, it took into account that some owners had significant gambling interests. “These clubs would be materially impaired by the F.A.’s position on betting,” she said, so the association created “provisions whereby those individuals could continue to have both an interest in football clubs and in betting companies/entities but subject to very stringent…

It is Friday, my dudes, and it couldn’t have come soon enough. Maybe you’ve spent all week like Paide in the Estonian Cup clip up above, kicking around in your own end, measuring your options, looking to push forward but mostly dithering back and forth, eventually torpedoing your own cause and wondering why you even bothered. But no matter! The weekend is almost here, when you will be more like…

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Pure Michigan 400 is one of NASCAR’s last three-day events as the series has started to compress the traditional race weekend from three days to two. The race is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN. Qualifying is Friday at 5:05 p.m. on NBCSN. You can get live scoring and updates at NASCAR’s Race Center and live streaming at NBCsports.com/live. These are changing times at NASCAR….

Louisa Fyans, an F.A. spokeswoman, said in an email that when the association updated its rules in 2014, it took into account that some owners had significant gambling interests. “These clubs would be materially impaired by the F.A.’s position on betting,” she said, so the association created “provisions whereby those individuals could continue to have both an interest in football clubs and in betting companies/entities but subject to very stringent…

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Spieth began his quest for the career Grand Slam by not making a putt longer than 5 feet. What helped was that Quail Hollow punished just about everyone at some point Thursday in the PGA Championship. Kevin Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark emerged as the top survivors on a course with some of the fastest, scariest putting surfaces the PGA Championship has…

Philippe Coutinho started 31 Premier League games for Liverpool last season, scoring 13 goals Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho has submitted a transfer request, hours after the Premier League club released a statement saying he is not for sale. Coutinho stated his desire to leave via email. The club rejected the request. On Wednesday, the Reds rejected a 100 million euros bid (£90m) from Barcelona for the 25-year-old, who is out…

This summer, the athletics World Championships, men’s and women’s cricket, the Lions tour of New Zealand and Wimbledon have shown that the British public has an enduring passion for top level sport. We have the richest football league in the world, more major stadiums per capita than anywhere on Earth, and are widely credited with having staged the greatest Olympic Games of the modern era. Sport is a massive part…

Neftalie Williams was 16 when he met two pro skateboarders outside of a summer camp he wasn’t able to attend. It was after hours, and the pair skated with him. They taught Williams that the sport wasn’t out of reach to anyone. “Even though I didn’t have the chance to attend the camp, they still made sure to provide me the opportunity to skate with them,” Williams told NBC News….

In the last year alone, the nation’s biggest airlines have collected more than $4 billion in fees to check bags and other personal items. So, it may come as a surprise that one airline is giving up at least some of that revenue. Alaska Airlines has cut its fees for checking most sports equipment, such as bicycles and golf clubs, to $25 from $75. To qualify for the discount, the…

Louisa Fyans, an F.A. spokeswoman, said in an email that when the association updated its rules in 2014, it took into account that some owners had significant gambling interests. “These clubs would be materially impaired by the F.A.’s position on betting,” she said, so the association created “provisions whereby those individuals could continue to have both an interest in football clubs and in betting companies/entities but subject to very stringent…

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson and his hometown of Elk Grove get star turns on two networks this weekend – not counting coverage of his next race. Larson, who turned 25 on July 31, currently ranks third in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings and will try to win his third consecutive race at Michigan International Speedway in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400, which will be telecast live at noon Sunday on…

We’ve launched a big expansion of our soccer predictions here at FiveThirtyEight. We’re now forecasting 24 club soccer leagues, with two more — Champions League and Europa League — to come in a few weeks. We’ve added leagues from South America (Brasileirão and the Argentine Superliga), along with 14 new European leagues, including five second-tier leagues, such as the English Championship. For the most part, the methodology behind our forecasts…

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” – probably the oldest marketing adage in motorsports – might not work like it once did. If it did, teams in NASCAR’s top series likely would be running SUVs and crossovers – in high demand these days – instead of Toyota Camrys and Ford Fusions. But Chevrolet is clearly hoping its new Sprint Cup Series race car – a Camaro ZL1 it unveiled Thursday…

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Spieth began his quest for the career Grand Slam by not making a putt longer than 5 feet. What helped was that Quail Hollow punished just about everyone at some point Thursday in the PGA Championship. Kevin Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark emerged as the top survivors on a course with some of the fastest, scariest putting surfaces the PGA Championship has…