People participate during a Unity Celebration event on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Sunday, June 25, 2023, as part of the lead up to the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament. Australia and New Zealand will co-host the women's World Cup starting on July 20. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FIFA has its first gambling sponsor for the Women’s World Cup, announcing a deal Monday with the New Zealand state monopoly betting agency TAB.
FIFA said TAB will be promoted in the four New Zealand stadiums at the July 20-Aug. 20 tournament being co-hosted with Australia. The value of the sponsorship was not disclosed.
The deal follows a gambling sponsorship for FIFA at the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar, also in the third-tier “supporter” category, to promote the Betano brand in Europe.
The New Zealand betting agency returns commission to sports it takes bets on, and paid NZ$2.4 million ($1.48 million) to the national soccer federation last year.
Soccer bodies are increasingly making deals with the gambling sector even as their own rules bar players, referees and officials from betting on games or having financial interests in betting industry operators.
UEFA signed betting operator bwin to a three-year deal in 2021 for the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
