World Sports

Have we ever seen a sporting year like 2015? From American Pharoah’s run to the Triple Crown to Ronda Rousey’s MMA dominance to Jordan Spieth’s taking aim at golf’s Grand Slam, it’s been a remarkable year in athletic achievement, one of the best ever. Below are the 12 leading contenders for 2015 Sportsman of the Year. Sports Illustrated’s editors will make its (very tough) selection next month, but we want our readers…

With the seventh Rocky movie, Creed, coming out later this month and My All American, an inspirational sports film about a former Texas football player, hitting theaters Friday, we at FTW decided to rank the top 25 sports movies ever made. The master list from which to choose is smaller than you think: Since 1976, Box Office Mojo lists the release of just 204 sports movies. By comparison, 604 films have dropped in 2015 with dozens of more…

All bets are off in New York state for two highly lucrative fantasy sports companies. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent cease-and-desist letters on Tuesday to DraftKings and FanDuel, ordering them to stop accepting wagers in the state because, he said, they violate New York laws against illegal gambling. In the letters, Schneiderman contends that the fantasy sports sites, which lure players with the promise of millions of dollars in…

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MOSCOW—Russia defended itself on Tuesday against accusations of a deeply rooted culture of cheating and state-sponsored doping in track and field in the wake of a searing report by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that the report, released by a WADA commission tasked with investigating allegations of widespread doping in Russian track and field, offered insufficient proof. “If particular…

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For several weeks, the flames of racial tension were evident at the University of Missouri. They intensified one disturbing incident at a time, fanned by aloof campus leadership, not taken seriously until students and faculty resorted to anger and protest. Yet this movement didn’t become a national controversy until a 4-5 football team stood up and utilized its most untapped resource: the spotlight. In big-time, big-money athletics, the center stage…

The commission was investigating allegations made in a German TV documentary about Russian athletics last year Russia should be banned from athletics competition, a World Anti-Doping Agency commission report has recommended. Wada’s independent commission examined allegations of doping, cover-ups, and extortion in Russian athletics, which also implicated the IAAF, the sport’s world governing body. It says London 2012 was “sabotaged” by “widespread inaction” against athletes with suspicious doping profiles. Media…

ENLARGE Nov. 9, 2015 7:14 p.m. ET The silly modern circus of big-time college sports relies upon the tacit agreement of several intertwined parties: 1) the eager television networks lavishing conferences and schools with buckets of money; 2) fancy head coaches who think this money gives them power; 3) trustees and administrators who also think this money gives them power; and 4) athletes who are supposed to think they have…

Inside sports business The thing about marketing in sports versus all other industries is that nobody dons a Heinz ketchup jacket hoping to look cool. That’s what two-dozen attendees were told at the start of a sports marketing workshop last week at Seattle’s downtown School of Visual Concepts. Not only will consumers avoid jackets, jerseys or caps of favored household products as opposed to, say, donning Seahawks gear, they also…

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The SRA also conducted a poll last month of more than 1,000 people, 75 per cent of who agreed grassroots sport should receive more funding from Government. However, with Chancellor George Osborne close to finalising a comprehensive spending review that will be published on November 25, the campaign may have come too late to make a difference. That could mean tens of millions of pounds being lost to sport just…

Inside sports business The thing about marketing in sports versus all other industries is that nobody dons a Heinz ketchup jacket hoping to look cool. That’s what two-dozen attendees were told at the start of a sports marketing workshop last week at Seattle’s downtown School of Visual Concepts. Not only will consumers avoid jackets, jerseys or caps of favored household products as opposed to, say, donning Seahawks gear, they also…

Mixed martial arts has produced its fair share of superstars over the years, but none has garnered the kind of celebrity support that Ronda Rousey enjoys before, during and after all of her fights in the UFC. Everybody loves Rousey these days and the only things in pop culture that get as much attention either come with a Kardashian attached to their name or they are fighting zombies — of…

The IAAF is set to learn the findings of an independent report into claims of doping cover-ups, extortion and money-laundering in athletics. An independent commission, set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency, will publish its findings later on Monday. Co-author Richard McLaren has already said his report will reveal “a whole different scale of corruption”, even compared to Fifa. IAAF president Lord Coe has…

Athletics faces a “long road to redemption” over allegations of bribery to cover up doping violations, says IAAF president Lord Coe. An independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency will report its findings on Monday. The report into claims of cover-ups and money-laundering will show “a different scale of corruption” even compared to Fifa, says co-author Richard McLaren. “These are…