Sports industry

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2019, file photo, people walk past a display introducing winter sporting events for the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at a temple fair at Longtan Park in Beijing. Groups alleging human-rights abuses in China are calling for a full boycott of the Beijing Olympics, which is sure to ratchet up pressure on the International Olympic Committee, athletes, sponsors, and sports federations. A coalition of activists representing Uyghurs, Tibetans, residents of Hong Kong and others, issued a statement Monday, May 17, 2021 calling for the “full boycott,” eschewing lesser measures like “diplomatic boycotts" and negotiations with the IOC or China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

AP Exclusive: Full-blown boycott pushed for Beijing Olympics

By Stephen Wade 12 hrs ago

Chicago Sky trade Gabby Williams to Los Angeles Sparks

May. 09, 2021 10:19 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Sparks acquired Gabby Williams from the Chicago Sky for rookie Stephanie Watts and the rights to German guard Leonie Fiebich...

A protester from the Uyghur community living in Turkey holds up an anti-China placard during a protest against the visit of China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Turkey, in Istanbul, Thursday, March 25, 2021. Hundreds protested against the Chinese official visit and what they allege is oppression by the Chinese government to Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western Xinjiang province. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

EXPLAINER: Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and some options

By Stephen Wade Apr. 07, 2021 02:11 AM EDT

Scioscia to manage US in Olympic baseball qualifying

By Ronald Blum Apr. 06, 2021 11:51 AM EDT
Mike Scioscia has the tough task of reaching the Olympic baseball tournament with a U.S. roster likely to include players cut during spring training and...

FILE - Commissioner Roger Goodell gestures during the NFL Honors ceremony as part of Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, Fla., in this Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, file photo. The NFL is increasing the regular season to 17 games, as expected, and reducing the preseason to three games. Team owners on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, approved the 17th game, marking the first time in 43 years the regular season has been increased.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

NFL owners approve 17-game regular season, 3 preseason games

By Barry Wilner Mar. 30, 2021 03:22 PM EDT

French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu leaves the Elysee Palace after the weekly cabinet meeting, in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. France’s sports minister Maracineanu, says French society is at a “turning point” for women’s rights within the male-dominated sports world amid a wave of protests from female journalists denouncing discrimination. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Calls for change for women's rights in French sports

By Sylvie Corbet Mar. 27, 2021 06:11 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2020, file photo, Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, speaks during the joint press conference between IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee is pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled and will not open on July 23. The Tokyo Games were postponed 10 months ago at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and now their future appears threatened again.(Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Thomas Bach re-elected as IOC president until 2025

By Graham Dunbar Mar. 10, 2021 10:20 AM EST

A countdown clock showing one year to go for the 2022 Beijing Olympics stands near the Olympics Tower, far center, and National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, which will again be a venue for the Olympics, in Beijing on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will open a year from now. Most of the venues have been completed as the Chinese capital becomes the first city to hold both the Winter and Summer Olympics. Beijing held the 2008 Summer Olympics. But these Olympics are presenting some major problems. They are already scarred by accusations of rights abuses including "genocide"against more than 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic groups in western China. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Human rights, COVID at issue 1 year before Beijing Olympics

By Stephen Wade Feb. 04, 2021 01:20 AM EST

A man and a woman walk near the Olympic rings floating in the water in the Odaiba section in Tokyo Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. The postponed Tokyo Olympics are to open in just six months. Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee say they will go ahead on July 23. But it’s still unclear how this will happen with virus cases surging in Tokyo and elsewhere around the globe. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Speculation over Tokyo Olympics: 2021, 2032 or not at all?

By Graham Dunbar Jan. 22, 2021 04:12 PM EST

Amid cancellation talk, Tokyo Olympics `focused on hosting'

By Stephen Wade Jan. 21, 2021 09:51 PM EST

FILE - This is a Friday, July 6, 2007 file photo, World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound as he gestures during a press briefing at the 119th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Guatemala City. In an interview with Japan’s Kyodo news agency published on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, Pound says the Tokyo Olympics can go ahead without fans. Pound says: “The question is — is this a ‘must-have’ or ‘nice-to-have.’ It’s nice to have spectators (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

Former IOC VP Pound says fans optional for Tokyo Olympics

By Stephen Wade Jan. 21, 2021 02:18 AM EST

A man wearing a protective mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks near a banner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at an underpass in Tokyo Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The Tokyo Olympics are to open in six months on July 23. Interestingly, Tokyo organizers have no public program planned to mark the milestone. There is too much uncertainty for that right now. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Tokyo Olympics Q&A: 6 months out and murmurs of cancellation

By Stephen Wade Jan. 19, 2021 12:40 AM EST

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic goes up for a shot in the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Dallas, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

NBA studying ways to bring games back overseas in future

By Tim Reynolds Dec. 22, 2020 06:01 PM EST

A man and a woman wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk in front of logos of Tokyo 2020 Olympics Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Tokyo Games won't confirm added costs reported at $3 billion

By Stephen Wade Nov. 30, 2020 01:58 AM EST

IOC President Thomas Bach visits the National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed until July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Bach said during this week's trip to Tokyo that he is “encouraging” all Olympic “participants” and fans to be vaccinated - if one becomes available - if they are going to attend next year's Tokyo Olympics. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool Photo via AP)

Tokyo Olympics: Q&A on vaccines, fans, qualifying and costs

By Stephen Wade Nov. 19, 2020 01:50 AM EST

IOC President Thomas Bach wearing a face mask speaks to the media at the National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed until July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Bach said during this week's trip to Tokyo that he is “encouraging” all Olympic “participants” and fans to be vaccinated - if one becomes available - if they are going to attend next year's Tokyo Olympics. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool Photo via AP)

Italy promises Olympic committee autonomy after IOC warning

By Andrew Dampf Nov. 17, 2020 03:21 PM EST

NBA players approve plan to start season on Dec. 22

By Tim Reynolds Nov. 05, 2020 11:50 PM EST
The National Basketball Players Association voted Thursday to support the notion of starting this coming season on Dec. 22, the date that the league has been...