*By Conor White*
Now that Portugal has been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo needs a new job, and Facebook could be stepping in.
The company is reportedly in talks with the soccer superstar for a 13-episode reality show on its 'Watch' platform, but not everyone thinks it will work.
"It's amazing to me that Facebook is willing to drop so much money on original programming," said Taylor Lorenz, staff writer at The Atlantic. "I think they're spending like $10 million reportedly on this. I don't think it'll bring people in."
In an interview Friday on Cheddar, Lorenz noted that even if this series happens, Facebook needs to reassess its approach to 'Watch'.
"To me, they're still trying to force this behavior of going there and treating it as a TV experience down users' throats."
With over 120 million fans on the platform, Ronaldo is the single most followed athlete on Facebook, so it's safe to assume a show starring him would at least attract international viewers, but they may not have the capability to properly watch it.
"One of the problems with international markets is they don't have the data streaming speed to watch these long shows," explained Lorenz. "Even my phone on my New York City WiFi can be buffering sometimes, I can't get through the whole show. So I think as they move into long form content, they really need to focus on the usability of it and making it work."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/welcome-to-local-twitter)
Olivia Harlan Dekker breaks down Thursday night's top NBA games, Joe Ceraulo hones in on player props, and Trysta Krick delivers her lock of the night on the hardwood.
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The United States Women’s National Team has settled its lawsuit over gender-based pay disparity with U.S. Soccer for $24 million. Filed in 2019, the settlement will end with all claims by the USWNT being resolved following a judge's dismissal of its case in 2020.
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PlayersTV is bringing sports viewers Athletes On Demand, a subscription platform to provide fans with thousands of hours of sports content from their favorite athletes. CEO Angela Bundrant joined Cheddar News to discuss the new rollout. "People can expect to receive content or buy into content on demand that comes from their favorite athletes," said Bundrant, listing star partners like the Phoenix Suns' Chris Paul and New Orleans Pelicans' C.J. McCollum.
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Olivia Harlan Dekker breaks down Thursday's primetime matchup between the 76ers and Bucks, NBA champion Richard Jefferson sets the scene for this weekend's All-Star Game, and Alex Monaco discusses who he's bullish and bearish on for Thursday's action.
The 15-year-old Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva found herself at the center of a scandal after a positive test for a banned substance became public. Valieva fell out of gold contention in the women's free skate after falling, avoiding a potentially embarrassing situation, where a medal ceremony would have been nixed had she won. Scott Hamilton, the retired American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist in the 1984 Games, joined Cheddar to break down the scandal. “It’s a team competition and every member of the team participated in that score and hers should be disallowed”.
Alex Monaco, host of the “The Bettor Half Hour” on MSG Networks and the “Sports Gambling with Moneyline Monaco” podcast, joins Cheddar Bets to give his last-minute tips before tonight's slate of games starts.
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Richard Jefferson, host of the Road Trippin' podcast, NBA Today analyst, and NBA Champion, joins Cheddar Bets to break down All-Star Weekend festivities and to give his "Pick 6" for tonight.
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