Sports, in brief

The Friedkin Group, a company from Houston, Texas, that owns Everton, said on Friday it may sell control of the club. [1][3]

It bought Everton in December 2024 from the previous owner, Farhad Moshiri, for about 400 million pounds, taking on the club's large debts. [1][3]

An investment bank, Moelis & Company, will look for buyers or new investors. [1][4]

The group also owns AS Roma in Italy and AS Cannes in France, and plans a new ice hockey team in Houston worth about $3.5bn. [3][1]

UEFA, which runs European football, strictly limits one owner having two clubs in the same European competition. [1]

If Everton and Roma both qualified for the same one, the group would have to put one club in a blind trust, run by someone else. [1]

Dan Friedkin, who runs the group, has never been to an Everton game and has never spoken to the manager, David Moyes. [2][7]

Moyes said he found out about the sale on Friday morning, at the same time as the fans. [2][5]

In the summer the group agreed to sell Harrison Armstrong, a 19-year-old from Everton's own academy, to Nottingham Forest for 40 million pounds. [2][1]

It blocked that deal after fans protested, then sold Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City for 65 million pounds. [1][2]

A move for a new striker fell through, leaving Moyes with 18 senior outfield players. [2]

Everton are seventh in the Premier League, unbeaten after five games, in a new stadium with more than 50,000 seats. [4][2]

Why it matters. The owners want a deal this season, so the next thing to watch is whether a buyer appears by the summer and how much it pays for a club with a new stadium. [1][8]

Leicester City's Thai owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, put the club up for sale in August for 200 million pounds ($264m). [15] Leicester won the Premier League in 2016 but now play in League One, England's third tier. [15] A six-point penalty for breaking spending rules helped send them down. [15] Sunderland in 2021 and Reading in 2025, clubs of a similar kind, were reportedly valued at about 30 and 25 million pounds when bought in League One. [15] The finance expert Kieran Maguire said he would be amazed if the owner got anything near 200 million. [15]

Why it matters. Outside the Premier League a club loses the league's shared TV money, which paid even the bottom club 109 million pounds in 2024-25. [15] So a buyer has to plan for years of losses before any climb back.

A court filing from five of Jeanie Buss's siblings has shown the deal that kept her in charge of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of basketball's best-known clubs. [17][18] When Mark Walter bought control in 2025, he agreed to keep her as the club's governor, the owner who speaks for it at the league, for five years. [18] That held only while her family owned at least 15%, the NBA's minimum for a governor. [18] The siblings now want to sell the family's last 17.8% for about $2.2bn, and say she cannot stop them. [17][19]

Why it matters. Walter has agreed to sell control at a $12.5bn value, about a year after buying at $10bn. [17] If the siblings sell, Jeanie Buss could lose her place at the club her father bought in 1979. [17]

The average club in the NBA, North America's top basketball league, is now worth $6.64bn, according to Sportico, a sports business site. [16] That is 21% more than last year and 183% more than in 2020. [16] The Golden State Warriors lead at $14.5bn, with the New York Knicks second at $12.8bn. [16] The top half of clubs rose 26% on average, and the bottom four rose just 5%. [16]

Why it matters. League income rose 12% last season as a new 11-year, $76bn TV deal began. [16] If new clubs join in Las Vegas and Seattle, each current owner could get more than $500m from the entry fees. [16]

Crystal Palace, a Premier League club in London, is reportedly looking for outside investors at a value of nearly $1.2bn. [12] It has hired Raine Group, an investment bank, to help. [12] John Textor, an American who owned stakes in several clubs at once, sold his 43% of Palace last year to Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets. [12] Separately, the NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is investing in Atletico de Madrid through Apollo Sports Capital, which bought most of the Spanish club in November. [12]

Why it matters. Apollo also owns part of Wrexham, a Welsh club, and has agreed to put $2.6bn into baseball's New York Yankees. [12] That is one investment firm holding pieces of clubs in three countries at once.

Oliver Glasner takes Nottingham Forest to Crystal Palace on Sunday, his first game back at the club he left in the summer. [11] He won the FA Cup and then the Conference League, Europe's third club competition, with Palace. [11] Palace only played in that competition because UEFA moved them down from the Europa League. [11] That followed a complaint from Forest that Palace broke UEFA's rules on one owner having several clubs. [11] Forest's owner, Evangelos Marinakis, is also suing Palace over a banner its fans showed. [11]

Why it matters. Forest took Palace's place in the Europa League, and Glasner joined Forest 40 days after winning the Conference League. [11] He said he accepts there could be booing on Sunday. [11]

The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 85-83 on Friday to win their semi-final 3-0 and reach their first WNBA Finals since 2013. [22] Angel Reese scored 22 points, and she has now reached the Finals before her better-known rival, Caitlin Clark. [22][24] Later that night the Golden State Valkyries beat the champions, the Las Vegas Aces, 87-77 in overtime to win their semi-final 3-0 too. [21][23] The Valkyries, from the San Francisco area, are only in their second season. [21] The Finals begin on 17 October. [22]

Why it matters. Five of the last six WNBA Finals included the Aces or the Liberty, and this one has neither. [23] The WNBA is also investigating the Liberty's complaint that referees wrongly told them they had no timeout left in Game 2. [25]

Sportico values the Valkyries at $850m, the most in the WNBA, and the Dream at $280m, 13th in the league. [20] The Valkyries are the first women's sports team to earn $100m in a year. [20] Under a players' deal signed this year, each player on the winning team gets $60,000 and each runner-up $20,000. [20] The old amounts were $22,908 and $8,521. [20]

Why it matters. From next season the Dream will play all home games in the Atlanta Hawks' 16,900-seat arena instead of a 3,500-seat one. [20] That is almost five times as many seats to sell.

Mike Ditka, who coached the Chicago Bears to their only Super Bowl win, has died at 86, his family said on Friday. [26][28] No cause was given. [26] As a player he changed the tight end, once mainly a blocker, into a player who also catches passes. [26] In 1988 he became the first tight end in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [27] His 1985 Bears won 15 of 16 games and beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. [28]

Why it matters. After coaching he campaigned for better medical and retirement benefits for former players. [29] Tributes came from the Bears, the NFL and two US presidents, Donald Trump and Barack Obama. [30]

Max Verstappen of Red Bull won Saturday's sprint, a short extra race, at the Singapore Grand Prix. [31] Heavy rain delayed the start by 30 minutes. [34] George Russell of Mercedes crashed out and called it a silly mistake. [31] The two McLaren drivers hit each other on the last lap. [31] Seven cars failed to finish, a record for a sprint. [31]

Why it matters. Russell will start Sunday's race from the back, on a track where overtaking is very hard. [31] The engine settings that the FIA, Formula One's ruling body, sends to every car went wrong again in Friday's qualifying, five days after a software fault slowed cars in Malaysia. [32] The FIA blamed a human error in its race control. [33]

Toto Wolff, who runs the Mercedes team, called claims that he favours Kimi Antonelli over George Russell brainless. [13][14] Antonelli, 20, leads the championship by 84 points from Russell, his own teammate. [13] Russell's engine failed in Malaysia while he was running third, and fans online accused the team of bias. [13][14] Wolff asked whether people think he has a button for a Russell engine failure. [13]

Why it matters. Wolff says the team gains nothing by holding one driver back, because it is also chasing the title for teams, which adds up both drivers' points. [13] Antonelli would be the youngest world champion ever. [14]

Rwanda looks set to host the first Formula One race in Africa in more than 30 years, beating South Africa, according to sources quoted by the AFP news agency. [35] President Paul Kagame launched the bid two years ago to raise the country's standing through sport. [35] South Africa's sports minister appeared to confirm it and suggested the race would be in 2030. [35] He is now lobbying for a second race in Africa. [35]

Why it matters. Rights groups accuse Rwanda's government of using sport to cover a record of silencing critics, which it denies. [35] Rwanda's government says its sports strategy has brought more tourists. [35]

New Zealand beat Australia 50-19 at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday to keep the Bledisloe Cup, the trophy the two rugby nations play for each year. [36] New Zealand have not lost at Eden Park since 1994, a run of 54 Tests. [37] Australia trailed only 17-14 at half-time, then gave up five tries after the break. [37] It was Australia's first defeat under coach Les Kiss, after six games unbeaten. [37][36]

Why it matters. The teams meet again in Sydney next week. [36] Australia host the next Rugby World Cup, so heavy defeats to New Zealand hurt their hopes on home soil. [36]

Matt Renshaw scored a century for Australia on the second day of the first Test against South Africa in Durban. [38] Australia began the day on 187 for six and reached 283 for eight, with Renshaw on 108. [38] He shared a stand of 86 with the captain, Pat Cummins, before the bowler Wiaan Mulder broke it. [38] It is already the second-best Test score of his career. [38]

Why it matters. Renshaw scored his runs with the last batters in the order, who usually add few. [38] A total near 300 puts Australia in a far better place than the under-200 they seemed headed for. [38]

England's women beat Greece 3-1 in Crete on Friday in the first leg of a play-off for next year's Women's World Cup in Brazil. [40] It took them 39 minutes to score against a team ranked 54 places below them. [39] Wales won 1-0 in Albania through an own goal, and Scotland won 2-0 in the Czech Republic. [41][42] Northern Ireland lost 4-0 at home to Portugal. [43] The second legs are on Tuesday. [40][41]

Why it matters. England have won the European title twice in a row but had to play off after finishing second in their group. [40] Northern Ireland's manager, Michael McArdle, said their chances have gone from improbable to impossible. [43]

Australia's women's team lost 4-2 to Germany in a friendly in Karlsruhe. [44] Australia were 2-0 down before Sam Kerr scored. [44] Australia's starting players had more than 1,000 international games between them, and Germany's had 325. [44] Several regular starters, including Mary Fowler, were missing. [44]

Why it matters. The next Women's World Cup, in Brazil, is next year. [44] Australia's three forwards in this game, Kerr, Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso, are all ageing players. [44]

Mexico's women lost 4-3 at home to Jamaica in Aguascalientes in a warm-up game. [45] Jamaica led 2-0 inside 20 minutes and scored again in the 90th minute. [45] More than 17,000 people watched. [45] Mexico play Haiti in Dallas on 28 November for a place at the World Cup in Brazil. [45]

Why it matters. Mexico play Jamaica again on Tuesday in Queretaro. [45] Haiti, their rival for that World Cup place, lost 5-1 to Japan in a friendly. [45]

The United States women's team plays Spain, the world champions, in Washington on Saturday, the first of two friendlies. [46] Naomi Girma, a centre-back, and Sam Coffey, a defensive midfielder, are out injured. [46] The US are the Olympic champions. [46] The games come a month before World Cup qualifiers and eight months before the tournament. [46]

Why it matters. Coach Emma Hayes will test defenders with few games for the country, including Kate Del Fava, who is new to the senior team. [46]

Rui Pinto, the Portuguese hacker whose leaked files helped start the Premier League's case against Manchester City, will stay in witness protection for now. [47] He was due to leave the programme on Saturday. [47] Portugal's Ministry of Justice said on Friday it had suspended that, because the commission in charge did not properly tell him why. [47] He now has 10 days to study a risk report that rates the threat to him as low. [47]

Why it matters. Pinto calls himself a whistleblower, but Portugal convicted him of crimes including illegal access to data and attempted extortion. [47] City were recently found guilty of the league's charges and have appealed. [47]

The Athletic, a sports news site, worked out that Manchester City spent 1.388 billion pounds on new players in the nine seasons covered by the charges. [48] That is 1.061 billion after selling players. [48] An independent panel found City had 921.4 million pounds of hidden funding, which came from its Abu Dhabi owners. [48] In 2015-16, when City's accounts showed no money from the owners, the panel found 120.2 million arrived dressed up as sponsorship. [48]

Why it matters. Only Chelsea and Manchester United also spent more than a billion pounds on new players in that time, each about 300 million less than City. [48] That hidden money arrived in the season City paid 99.5 million pounds for Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling. [48]

Owners and bosses at other clubs told The Athletic they want City punished with money, with points and with action against its board. [49] One investor in several clubs suggested City put a billion pounds into a pot shared out by how much each club was harmed. [49] Shaun Harvey, a director at Wrexham, warned that relegating City would take one of the three promotion places from clubs in the second tier. [49] The punishment will be set by the same three-lawyer panel that found City guilty. [49]

Why it matters. Mikel Arteta, now Arsenal's manager, was City's assistant coach from 2016 to 2019 and said his conscience is clear. [50] Manchester United's manager, Michael Carrick, said he has his own questions about the case. [51]

Manchester City play Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, top of the Premier League after winning all five games under their new manager, Enzo Maresca. [52] It is their first visit since the guilty verdict. [52] Maresca said on Friday that City's titles are absolutely not tainted. [52] Liverpool finished second to City in 2013-14, 2018-19 and 2021-22. [52]

Why it matters. Only 2013-14 falls inside the nine seasons the charges cover, 2009-10 to 2017-18. [52][47] In the two later seasons Liverpool finished one point behind City. [52] A former Liverpool coach, John Achterberg, spoke of successes he feels they were wrongly denied. [52]

Cole Palmer, 24, has signed a new Chelsea contract to 2034, a year longer than his old one. [53] Only three other Premier League players are signed for that long: Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Palmer's teammates Joao Pedro and Geovany Quenda. [53] Chelsea bought Palmer from Manchester City for 42.5 million pounds in 2023. [53] The deal is one of several at Chelsea meant to reward players without breaking the club's pay scale. [53]

Why it matters. Clubs count a transfer fee in their accounts spread over the years of the contract, so a longer deal lowers the cost counted each year under spending rules. Palmer is expected back for Saturday's game against Bournemouth after missing England's games. [53]

Tickets for Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua, two British former heavyweight champions, sold out in one hour on Friday. [54] About 80,000 went on sale for Cardiff's Principality Stadium, priced from 88.50 to 13,128 pounds, and more than 500,000 people queued online. [54] Ringside seats soon appeared on resale websites at 73,645 pounds. [54] The fighters are due in the ring around 1am on 12 December, and Netflix will show it worldwide. [54]

Why it matters. The two men reportedly share a purse of close to $200m. [54] Resale prices more than five times the top official price show how far below some fans' limit the tickets were sold.

Florida State lost 44-20 to Louisville on Friday after leading 14-0. [55] Louisville's Isaac Brown ran for 235 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown. [55] It is the second time in four weeks Florida State have led by 14 and lost by 14 or more, which had not happened once in 385 games over 30 years. [55] Firing the coach, Mike Norvell, would cost the school $46.7m. [55]

Why it matters. That buyout is more than twice the roughly $20m the school pays its players this season. [55] Florida State also has no permanent athletic director, after firing the last one in September. [55]

Iowa beat Washington 41-24 in Seattle with a backup quarterback, Jeremy Hecklinski, making his first start. [56] Kamari Moulton ran for 208 yards and two touchdowns. [56] Iowa go into a week off with five wins and one loss. [56] BYU, ranked eighth, beat Iowa State, whose attack struggled all night. [57]

Why it matters. The question for Iowa is whether Hecklinski keeps the job after the break. [56] Iowa State also have a week off next. [57]

Hurricane Isaias grew into a Category 3 storm on Friday as it neared the Gulf Coast. [59] The game between second-ranked Georgia and sixth-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa is still due to go ahead on Saturday night. [59][58] Alabama banned tailgating, the parties fans hold in car parks, before noon, and ESPN moved its College GameDay show indoors. [59] President Donald Trump cancelled plans to attend. [58]