Football

There are many ways in which data science has been shaping the future of professional sports, from the video assistant referee (VAR) to using Artificial Intelligence to decide whether to keep a FIFA player in the game. Many athletes now wear sensors on their bodies, and more stadiums around the world get equipped with high-tech camera systems that track players’ movements. Along with tons of data and stats on historic performances and present-day events on and off the pitch, experts have a vast pool of data at their…

Data analysis is now used to guide everything from player transfers and training intensity to selecting opponents and suggesting the optimum kick direction at any location on the field. The FIFA Football Data Ecosystem contains information on all of the game’s actions, including passes, shoots, and official judgments. Hwang Hee-Chan of South Korea removed his jersey after striking the game-winning goal against Portugal during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He was seen donning a vest that collects GPS information from…

Thursday Night Football could be heading to a standalone sports app from Amazon, instead of being built into the Prime Video app. That’s according to a new report from The Information.Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy has mentioned before that the company is not done spending on sports rights. And even though they lost out on NFL Sunday Ticket to Google’s YouTube, there’s still more rights coming up. And therefore, Amazon thinks it’s smarter to build a standalone app for sports.There’s a lot of questions that still need to be…

Lionel Messi has just won the third-ever football world cup for Argentina, and his first-ever too. The ace footballer from Argentina has always been known as the greatest footballer of all time, a title which has now become unquestionable after his world cup victory. Apart from his king-like stature in the world of football, Messi also owns a dreamy car collection to match that stature. Following are all the luxury and sports cars owned by Lionel Messi: Audi Q8 After reaching Argentina post winning the world cup,…

Change in venue for Sunday Ticket games raises lots of questions for viewers. The National Football League's popular Sunday Ticket package for out-of-town games is moving to Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube next season.It's a big change and part of a broader shift with sports programming moving increasingly online and away from traditional TV networks. Since its inception in 1994, Sunday Ticket has been available only on DirecTV's satellite service. YouTube will take over those exclusive rights for the next seven years at a…

In 2022, the Tennessee Titans of the NFL unveiled their plans for a new stadium in the heart of Nashville. The 1.7 million-square-foot stadium can house 60,000 screaming football fans and is estimated to cost $2.1 billion.The public would fund more than half of the stadium through a one-time contribution from the state of $500 million and $760 million through revenue bonds issued by Nashville's Metropolitan Sports Authority.Since 2000, public funds diverted to helping build professional sports stadiums and arenas have…

Rodrick Pleasant, center(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) USC is well on its way to signing the most dynamic collection of offensive talent in the nation in its 2023 class, but it’s on defense where the Trojans most desperately need reinforcements. USC might not get all the help it desires on the recruiting trail. The Trojans need as much talent as they can get on all three levels of their defense. But in this class, they have just three defensive commits ranked in the top 400. Friendswood (Texas) edge…

The World Cup is over, so now what?Photo: Julian Finney (Getty Images)For many Americans, soccer is a once-every-four-year thing. We watch the World Cup, the biggest and most important soccer tournament in the world, but once it’s over, it’s over. Then we forget about the sport until the next World Cup. Next time around, though, the 2026 World Cup is here in North America, so maybe you want to prep early and keep that soccer buzz going. So how do you do it? What do you watch? Where do you watch it? We’ve got you…

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s football awards time. The Los Angeles Times announces its All-Star team.Speed matters Dijon Stanley of Granada Hills prepares to take off behind the blocking of Phyllip Hamburg-Martinez.(Craig Weston) It’s not every football game that fans begin to realize whenever one player has the ball in his hands, a touchdown could be coming. Dijon Stanley of Granada Hills High was that player this season.He was so electrifying that…

Mike Leach sounded awful. It was Nov. 29, a Tuesday afternoon, and he could hardly speak without it being followed by a harsh, hacking cough. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, as I was too busy enjoying the fact that a major college football coach was treating me like a human being, not someone from whom he needed a buffer.“Call anytime,” Leach had texted me earlier.We didn’t have a preexisting relationship. We’d chatted a few times over the years for different stories, all of them fairly routine, just like this…