Politics

Trump says hush money sentence means Democrats have lost the ‘Witch Hunt’

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2025

Donald Trump framed Friday’s sentencing hearing as a win, saying the sentence that will leave him unpunished for his felony conviction in the Manhattan hush money case means the “Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt.” “That result alone proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said…
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Politics

Chicago passed on the World Cup but has other sports plans

Published

22 minutes ago

July 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

CHICAGO — The United States’ third-largest city felt confident passing on this year’s World Cup in part because the city’s sports loyalty was well-scripted. The Bears owned Sundays. The Cubs and White Sox divided baseball fans. And the Bulls still carry the glow of the Jordan dynasty.

But a whole new generation of sports teams is betting Chicago’s appetite for sports is bigger than its traditional loyalties — and that fans are ready for something different.

The WNBA’s Chicago Sky is preparing to host the league’s All-Star weekend July 23-26. The Chicago Stars are trying to build a women’s soccer franchise in a city with deep youth participation and a growing appetite for the sport. And the Chicago Fire are planning a new privately financed stadium in the South Loop and are investing heavily in youth development and facilities.

The timing is notable.

The city’s newest teams are making their pitch at the same moment two of Chicago’s oldest franchises are asking for help building new homes.

The McCaskey family continues to pursue public assistance for a new Bears stadium, whether in Illinois or Indiana. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has sought public support for a proposed South Loop ballpark. Those requests have triggered a familiar debate: whether taxpayers should help finance stadium projects for billion-dollar sports franchises while governments struggle with schools, transit and other basic services.

The newer teams are offering a different message. Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto, another Chicago billionaire, privately funded the team’s $750 million stadium, though the Chicago City Council earlier this week approved a $425 million tax subsidy to fund the surrounding infrastructure. Their pitch is not built around nostalgia but around investing in communities.

At a sports and business forum at the Obama Presidential Center this week, Fire Chief Marketing Officer Dan Moriarty described a shift in how soccer is being consumed in Chicago. The sport’s audience is younger, more diverse and increasingly global, he said, with fans who already follow international clubs now looking for a local connection. He pointed to a simple sign of change: at Chicago farmers markets, soccer jerseys are increasingly common — even if many of them still carry the names of European clubs.

The challenge, he said, is turning those fans into supporters of Chicago teams.

“Soccer has this lifestyle aspect,” former U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said during the discussion. “It brings people together.”

That may be soccer’s biggest advantage in Chicago. The city is already a global crossroads, with neighborhoods shaped by generations of immigrants and communities that have long embraced the sport. The Fire are betting that global stars can accelerate that connection. The club recently signed Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, one of the world’s most accomplished players, as part of a broader effort to raise the team’s profile.

Women’s sports are riding a similar wave.

“Women’s sports generally, and particularly soccer, has seen an evolution in this country,” said Laura Ricketts, who is a bridge to the old and new in sports. She’s a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, an investor in the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and executive director of the Chicago Stars women’s soccer team.

“What we’re now seeing [is] an explosion, especially in the NWSL,” she said of the National Women’s Soccer League. “We’re growing, and the best way [to see it is] our fan base is growing.”

She compares women’s soccer today to the NBA or Major League Baseball of the early 1980s. “There’s just so much opportunity,” said Ricketts. Women’s soccer, she said, has benefited from decades of investment in youth leagues and college programs. That foundation is now translating into a professional audience.

The growth is not just about attendance. It is about loyalty. Women’s sports fans, Ricketts said, tend to be younger and highly engaged, with a strong connection to the brands and communities supporting the teams.
With World Cup interest, “We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg for soccer in this country.”

She said there’s been similar investment into basketball and she hopes Chicago sees the benefits of that as it hosts the WNBA All-Star weekend, marking three decades of the league.

“The momentum continues right here in Chicago,” Sky co-owner Nadia Rawlinson said, describing the event as a celebration of how far women’s basketball has come — and how much further it can go.

None of this means the Bears, Cubs, White Sox or Bulls are losing their place in Chicago’s sports hierarchy. But newer teams are making a case for a place alongside them.

Politics

New York, New Jersey to examine whether World Cup funds were money well spent

Published

38 minutes ago

July 19, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

New York and New Jersey planned to spend roughly a half billion dollars hosting eight World Cup matches, including today’s final. But once it’s over, lawmakers in both states want to know if they got their money’s worth.

In New York City, Councilmember Virginia Maloney, who leads the chamber’s committee on economic development, is going to lead that examination.

“First I want to make sure we recouped our cost,” she said in an interview on Friday at a coffee shop in her Manhattan district, which includes the Upper East Side. “I’m not confident we can say that.”

She said data seems mixed on how well hotels did because of the World Cup. Bookings initially appeared low, but it seems like hotels recovered closer to the matches. However, it’s not clear if that’s because of the World Cup or the other major events happening this summer in the city, including the July 4th festivities and the Knicks’ championship win — which means an analysis will have to try to untangle what economic activity happened because of the World Cup and what would have happened anyway.

“What is irrefutable is that bars and restaurants were seeing a lot more activity and action in New York, and that translates into real economic benefit for New Yorkers,” Maloney said.

Maloney attributes that to a lot of things, including a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to temporarily extend hours for bars and restaurants.

One report from the Queens Chamber of Commerce found a 30 percent increase in businesses for people going out to drink and eat.

“The economic benefit was not necessarily people who were going to the World Cup, but just people participating in the summer of New York, going to all five boroughs to celebrate or be out together,” she said.

The host committee released a study last summer predicting $3.3 billion in economic impact across New York and New Jersey, including about $432 million in state and local tax revenues.

Maloney worried about rosy projections from FIFA and its boosters compared to the reality on the ground. A preliminary study by the host committee of just the group stage found $1.2 billion in direct economic impact, Bloomberg reported.

Maloney views the experience as a learning opportunity for other big events the city puts on, including future political conventions and the 2042 Olympics, which the state and city are exploring a bid for.

“It should be something that you can make a playbook out of, not where you’re starting from scratch every time there’s a major event,” Maloney said.

Politics

Did World Cup permanently change ticket-price politics?

Published

38 minutes ago

July 19, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Stories of fans left outside stadiums, duped by “ghost tickets” on resale platforms, were everywhere at this year’s World Cup. But advocates are hopeful the near-endless stream of negative headlines and angry supporters will spur long-sought-after laws to outlaw the practice of speculative ticket selling, when resellers put tickets they don’t yet have on the open market.

At the state level, it would seem they’re right.

Illinois, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. have all passed legislation banning speculative ticket sales since the beginning of the World Cup. Connecticut, Oregon and Vermont have also enacted ghost ticket bans this year. And Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced her intention to file a bill prohibiting ghost tickets – among other consumer-friendly initiatives – on Thursday.

“It’s definitely raising eyebrows in the state of politicians and legislators to really ban ghost ticketing, speculative ticketing,” said Scott Friedman, podcast host and co-founder of the Ticket Talk Network. “When you have it happen at this scale, that not just affects the United States, it’s a global tournament for heaven’s sake. Absolutely, change is coming.”

“You see dozens of these bills percolating around the country,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League. “Most of which have some kind of ban on speculative tickets.”

There’s action at the federal level, too. Though advocacy groups aren’t exactly aligned on a path forward in Congress. Breyault and the NCL have been active in promoting the TICKET Act, which passed the House in April and moved through the Senate Commerce Committee in June.

Proponents say the bill would ban speculative ticket sales and safeguard consumers against fraudulent ticket websites.

“In this environment, where Republicans and Democrats can’t agree that the sky is blue on some days, that’s a rare occurrence,” Breyault said.

But Stephen Parker, the executive director of the National Independent Venue Association, said the “you could drive a Mack Truck” through the TICKET Act’s ghost ticketing provisions. Music groups, too, have panned the bill, arguing it would still allow speculative ticket sales by permitting sellers to advertise ticket procurement services for tickets they do not yet possess.

For now, Parker said, the most encouraging action is happening in the states.

“This is happening across the country, and ultimately, what we are seeing is state legislators from both parties saying enough is enough. If Congress isn’t going to do something, we are, and we couldn’t be more grateful for their work.”