SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — With Mitt Romney set to exit the U.S. Senate, Washington will be without one of its strongest conservative critics of Donald Trump when the president retakes the White House in the new year. At a final news conference Friday in Salt Lake City, the retiring senator reflected on his two-decade political career, which included the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, a term as Massachusetts governor and several skirmishes with Trump loyalists in Congress. In what could be his final jab at Trump, Romney reiterated his concerns about the incoming president's character and “relaxed relationship with the truth.” He said he hopes his own legacy will be that he stayed true to his values. Romney, 77, chose not to run for reelection this year after representing Utah in the Senate since 2019. He said he has reached the end of his career as an elected official and wants to focus on getting more young people involved in politics after he leaves office in January. Once the standard-bearer of the Republican Party, Romney watched his brand of moderate conservatism shift from establishment to outlier as Trump took hold of the party. “I’m a narrow slice, if you will, of what we used to call the mainstream Republicans,” Romney told reporters Friday. “The stream has got a little smaller. It’s more like the main creek Republicans. At some point, it’s going to be under the sand, and we’ll have to dig it up.” He became the voice of Congress' centrist core, leading negotiations for the $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure law — one of the Biden administration's crowning achievements — and a major COVID-19 relief package. Political observers worry his departure may create a vacuum of strong centrist voices who can keep bipartisanship alive at a time of increased polarization in Washington. Bipartisanship could very well go dormant under Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress, Romney said. But he does not think moderates should lose hope that the GOP could reverse its rightward shift. “There’s kind of a fissure that exists between Republican voters and Republican policy, and that may present an opportunity for some kind of realignment,” he said, noting that the party is now composed of many working-class voters but tends to oppose minimum wage increases and pro-union policies. Romney will be succeeded in the Senate by Republican U.S. Rep. John Curtis , who has developed a reputation for pushing back against party leaders such as Trump who falsely claim climate change is a hoax. Eyes will be on Curtis and other moderate Republicans who might break with the party in votes to confirm Trump’s cabinet picks. In 2020, Romney became the first senator in U.S. history to vote to convict a president from their own party in an impeachment trial. He was the sole Republican in Congress to vote to convict Trump at both of his impeachment trials. Trump was acquitted by the Senate both times. Earlier this year, Romney pledged not to vote for Trump but declined to join some other high-profile Republicans in endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris , saying he wanted to preserve his future ability to help reshape the Republican Party.
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Post college basketball writer Zach Braziller answers questions from Post Plus subscribers about St. John’s: Is Deivon Smith going to be back in the starting lineup for the Kansas State game on Saturday? I feel like he is an integral part of the team on both sides of the floor. The offense looks out of sync with him in the doghouse the last 1 1/2 games. Too many turnovers. — Russell Indemaio My guess is Smith plays against Kansas State but comes off the bench. I agree about his value. The 6-foot Utah transfer is a key for this team. His overall numbers — 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists — don’t accurately sum up his importance. He sets the pace for St. John’s, is a one-man fast break, routinely turning defensive rebounds into transition opportunities, and is an underrated shooter, especially from midrange. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that St. John’s two worst performances of the season, the Georgia loss and the shaky win over Harvard, have coincided with Smith being tied to the bench. They have outscored the opposition by 79 points in Smith’s 208 minutes and scored 45 more than the other team in the other 82 minutes. I think the message has been received after Smith acted out following and during his benching in the Georgia game. What should we make of Brady Dunlap and Simeon Wilcher’s development? Who’s a player who can emerge later in the year? — Dylan Kitts Admittedly, I expected a little more out of Wilcher so far. He started well but his play has fallen off of late, reaching double figures once in the last six games. I think he still lacks confidence when a shot or two doesn’t drop. He needs to be more aggressive. To me, Dunlap is a product of this offense. When the ball is moving and St. John’s guards are getting into the lane, he will get clean looks, and shoot a high percentage. Of late, that hasn’t happened. The sophomore wing is also dealing with a hip injury that required a cortisone shot. As for a player to emerge, look no further than Jaiden Glover. A four-star recruit , Glover is coming off an 11-point performance against Harvard. He has good size for a guard at 6-4 and loads of confidence that his next shot is always going in. Like most freshmen, his defense needs work. But I can see his role expanding, especially if Wilcher and/or Dunlap don’t provide the outside shooting that this team needs. After the failure of the Bahamas trip, and the overall down play of the Big East, how much smaller does their margin of error feel than it did a week ago? — Keith Raleigh It has absolutely shrunk. I wrote recently that I was more concerned with the state of the league than St. John’s , and this week’s first NET rankings back up that assertion. The Johnnies opened at No. 42 — on its own, that’s not a bad place to begin. The issue is the league only has three other top-50 teams in the NET — a sorting tool the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to evaluate teams — in Marquette (7), UConn (38) and Butler (47). The Big East’s average NET ranking is 84. Last year, it had three teams in the top 10 in the first NET ranking. At the moment, St. John’s will have just five Quad 1 opportunities in league play and is 0-2 in such games. That’s a minuscule amount. I expect that to increase — Creighton and Xavier are better than 99 and 103, respectively. Some big wins in this week’s Big East-Big 12 Battle would certainly help matters. Clearly, the losses to Baylor (22) and Georgia (27) by a combined four points hurt. Then again, if St. John’s has a strong league season — and the only team I believe is superior to Rick Pitino’s team is Marquette — it won’t matter. I also think the New Mexico victory will wind up being a quality win. The Lobos are 66th in the NET, and nearly knocked off impressive Arizona State last week. Why did we phone it in vs. Harvard? — James Deckinger I wouldn’t say they phoned it in. I think the effort against Harvard was subpar for a few reasons: 1. Deivon Smith didn’t play; 2. Aaron Scott was limited by foul trouble and was a nonfactor; 3. These guarantee games can be tough to get up for. You see big-time programs struggle in these contests all the time. Xavier nearly lost to South Carolina State on Sunday. I do think the past two games have been concerning, particularly the 3-point shooting. St. John’s was 8-for-46 from beyond the arc in the loss to Georgia and win over Harvard. When the ball doesn’t go in, you’re going to look bad. I fully expect to see a much different St. John’s team on Saturday against Kansas State.
The Ghana Police Service is currently investigating a sensitive incident involving the convoy of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, which reportedly came under attack on December 2, 2024, in Techiman, Bono East Region. The incident has sparked a mix of tensions and conflicting reports. Preliminary police investigations suggest that the Asantehene’s convoy, returning from a funeral in Nkoranza, encountered hostility as it passed through Techiman. Youths, believed to be from the local area, allegedly threw stones at vehicles in the convoy. However, details remain unclear, with differing accounts circulating, especially on social media. Manhyia Palace, the official seat of the Asantehene, has denied reports of a direct attack on the convoy. Claims circulating on social media that there was significant damage to the Asantehene’s vehicles have been dismissed as false by the palace. Sources suggest that the incident may be linked to an ongoing dispute between Techiman and Nkoranza. Tensions reportedly escalated earlier on December 2 when claims emerged that the Asantehene’s convoy blocked a highway near Techiman. This may have prompted retaliation from local youths, who reportedly targeted buses returning from Nkoranza, potentially mistaking them for part of the Asantehene’s entourage. The Ghana Police Service has stated that it is working diligently to investigate the incident and gather all relevant evidence. The Police are in contact with Manhyia Palace in Kumasi and other stakeholders in Techiman to better understand the circumstances surrounding the alleged attack.
President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. While immigration officials have used the tech for years, an October letter from the Department of Homeland Security obtained exclusively by The Associated Press details how those tools — some of them powered by AI — help make life-altering decisions for immigrants, including whether they should be detained or surveilled. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency’s supervision. The letter, sent by DHS Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Eric Hysen to the immigrant rights group Just Futures Law, revealed that the score calculates the potential risk that an immigrant — with a pending case — will fail to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The algorithm relies on several factors, he said, including an immigrant’s number of violations and length of time in the program, and whether the person has a travel document. Hysen wrote that ICE officers consider the score, among other information, when making decisions about an immigrant’s case. “The Hurricane Score does not make decisions on detention, deportation, or surveillance; instead, it is used to inform human decision-making,” Hysen wrote. Also included in the government’s tool kit is a mobile app called SmartLINK that uses facial matching and can track an immigrant’s specific location. Nearly 200,000 people without legal status who are in removal proceedings are enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, under which certain immigrants can live in the U.S. while their immigration cases are pending. In exchange, SmartLINK and GPS trackers used by ICE rigorously surveil them and their movements. The phone application draws on facial matching technology and geolocation data, which has been used before to find and arrest those using the app. Just Futures Law wrote to Hysen earlier this year, questioning the fairness of using an algorithm to assess whether someone is a flight risk and raising concerns over how much data SmartLINK collects. Such AI systems, which score or screen people, are used widely but remain largely unregulated even though some have been found to discriminate on race, gender or other protected traits. DHS said in an email that it is committed to ensuring that its use of AI is transparent and safeguards privacy and civil rights while avoiding biases. The agency said it is working to implement the Biden administration’s requirements on using AI, but Hysen said in his letter that security officials may waive those requirements for certain uses. Trump has publicly vowed to repeal Biden’s AI policy when he returns to the White House in January. “DHS uses AI to assist our personnel in their work, but DHS does not use the outputs of AI systems as the sole basis for any law enforcement action or denial of benefits,” a spokesperson for DHS told the AP. Trump has not revealed how he plans to carry out his promised deportation of an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. Although he has proposed invoking wartime powers, as well as military involvement, the plan would face major logistical challenges — such as where to keep those who have been detained and how to find people spread across the country — that AI-powered surveillance tools could potentially address. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump, did not answer questions about how they plan to use DHS’ tech, but said in a statement that “President Trump will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation” in American history. Over 100 civil society groups sent a letter on Friday urging the Office of Management and Budget to require DHS to comply with the Biden administration’s guidelines. OMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Just Futures Law’s executive director, Paromita Shah, said if immigrants are scored as flight risks, they are more likely to remain in detention, “limiting their ability to prepare a defense in their case in immigration court, which is already difficult enough as it is.” SmartLINK, part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, is run by BI Inc., a subsidiary of the private prison company The GEO Group. The GEO Group also contracts with ICE to run detention centers. ICE is tight-lipped about how it uses SmartLINK’s location feature to find and arrest immigrants. Still, public records show that during Trump’s first term in 2018, Manassas, Virginia-based employees of BI Inc. relayed immigrants’ GPS locations to federal authorities, who then arrested over 40 people. In a report last year to address privacy issues and concerns, DHS said that the mobile app includes security features that “prohibit access to information on the participant’s mobile device, with the exception of location data points when the app is open.” But the report notes that there remains a risk that data collected from people “may be misused for unauthorized persistent monitoring.” Such information could also be stored in other ICE and DHS databases and used for other DHS mission purposes, the report said. On investor calls earlier this month, private prison companies were clear-eyed about the opportunities ahead. The GEO Group’s executive chairman George Christopher Zoley said that he expects the incoming Trump administration to “take a much more aggressive approach regarding border security as well as interior enforcement and to request additional funding from Congress to achieve these goals.” “In GEO’s ISAP program, we can scale up from the present 182,500 participants to several hundreds of thousands, or even millions of participants,” Zoley said. That same day, the head of another private prison company told investors he would be watching closely to see how the new administration may change immigrant monitoring programs. “It’s an opportunity for multiple vendors to engage ICE about the program going forward and think about creative and innovative solutions to not only get better outcomes, but also scale up the program as necessary,” Damon Hininger, CEO of the private prison company CoreCivic Inc. said on an earnings call. GEO did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, CoreCivic said that it has played “a valued but limited role in America’s immigration system” for both Democrats and Republicans for over 40 years.CHATHAM, N.J. (AP) — That buzzing coming out of New Jersey? It’s unclear if it’s drones or something else, but for sure the nighttime sightings are producing tons of talk, a raft of conspiracy theories and craned necks looking skyward. Cropping up on local news and social media sites around Thanksgiving, reported over New Jersey has reached incredible heights. This week seems to have begun a new, higher-profile chapter: (but so far not getting) explanations from federal and state authorities about what’s behind them. Gov. Phil Murphy asking for answers. New Jersey’s new senator, Andy Kim, spent Thursday night on a drone hunt in rural northern New Jersey, and posted about it on X. But perhaps the most fantastic development is the dizzying proliferation of conspiracies — none of which has been confirmed or suggested by federal and state officials who say they’re looking into what’s happening. It has become shorthand to refer to the flying machines as drones, but there are questions about whether what people are seeing are unmanned aircraft or something else. Some theorize the drones came from an Iranian mothership. Others think they are the Secret Service making sure President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster property is secure. Others worry about China. The deep state. And on. In the face of uncertainty, people have done what they do in 2024: Create a social media group. The Facebook page, , has nearly 44,000 members, up from 39,000 late Thursday. People are posting their photo and video sightings, and the online commenters take it from there. One video shows a whitish light flying in a darkened sky, and one commenter concludes it’s otherworldly. “Straight up orbs,” the person says. Others weigh in to say it’s a plane or maybe a satellite. Another group called for hunting the drones literally, shooting them down like turkeys. (Do not shoot at anything in the sky, experts warn.) Trisha Bushey, 48, of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, lives near Round Valley Reservoir where there have been numerous sightings. She said she first posted photos online last month wondering what the objects were and became convinced they were drones when she saw how they moved and when her son showed her on a flight tracking site that no planes were around. Now she’s glued to the Mystery Drones page, she said. “I find myself — instead of Christmas shopping or cleaning my house — checking it,” she said. She doesn’t buy what the governor said, that Murphy told Biden on Friday that residents need answers. The federal Homeland Security Department and FBI also said in a joint statement they have no evidence that the sightings pose “a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.” “How can you say it’s not posing a threat if you don’t know what it is?” she said. “I think that’s why so many people are uneasy.” Then there’s the notion that people could misunderstand what they’re seeing. William Austin is the president of Warren County Community College, which has a drone technology degree program, and is coincidentally located in one of the sighting hotspots. Austin says he has looked at videos of purported drones and that airplanes are being misidentified as drones. He cited an optical effect called parallax, which is the apparent shift of an object when viewed from different perspectives. Austin encouraged people to download flight and drone tracker apps so they can better understand what they’re looking at. Nonetheless, people continue to come up with their own theories. “It represents the United States of America in 2024,” Austin said. “We’ve lost trust in our institutions, and we need it.” Federal officials echo Austin’s view that many of the sightings are piloted aircraft such as planes and helicopters being mistaken for drones, according to lawmakers and Murphy. That’s not really convincing for many, though, who are homing in on the sightings beyond just New Jersey and the East Coast, where others have reported seeing the objects. For Seph Divine, 34, another member of the drone hunting group who lives in Eugene, Oregon, it feels as if it’s up to citizen sleuths to solve the mystery. He said he tries to be a voice of reason, encouraging people to fact check their information, while also asking probing questions. “My main goal is I don’t want people to be caught up in the hysteria and I also want people to not just ignore it at the same time,” he said. “Whether or not it’s foreign military or some secret access program or something otherworldly, whatever it is, all I’m saying is it’s alarming that this is happening so suddenly and so consistently for hours at a time,” he added. ___ Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report. Mike Catalini, The Associated Press
Jordan Sears scores 25 points, Jalen Reed has double-double and LSU outlasts UCF 109-102 in 3OTHOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans made mistakes in every facet of the game Sunday against the Tennessee Titans to lose for the third time in four games. C.J. Stroud threw two interceptions, the defense gave up multiple big passing plays and Ka′imi Fairbairn missed a 28-yard field goal that would have tied it late in a 32-27 loss . “Just a disappointing loss for us,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We didn’t do anything well enough to win this game. Out of all the positives that we did have, there were way too many negatives, too many negative plays.” Jimmie Ward had a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter and the Texans tied a franchise record with eight sacks. Danielle Hunter led the group with a season-high three sacks and Will Anderson Jr. added two in his return after missing two games with an ankle injury. But the offense sputtered for most of the game as Joe Mixon was held to 22 yards on 14 carries. But Ryans refused to blame the offense for the loss. “Our offense did plenty," Ryans said. "They gave us enough points. On defense, we have to be able to stop them.” Chig Okonkwo grabbed a short pass and rumbled 70 yards for a touchdown to put the Titans (3-8) up 30-27 with 91⁄2 minutes remaining. Safety Eric Murray missed a tackle that would have stopped him near midfield. It was the last of three big passing plays the Titans had Sunday. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine got in front of the defense and was wide open for a 38-yard TD catch that made it 10-7 late in the first quarter. Calvin Ridley had a 63-yard reception that set up their next touchdown in the second. “It was just way too many negative plays,” Ryans said. “Defensively, unexplainable explosives for touchdowns. We didn’t play good across the board and that starts with me.” Despite this, the Texans (7-5) had a chance to tie it with less than two minutes remaining, but Fairbairn’s short field-goal attempt sailed wide left. He fell to the ground after the miss before getting up and slamming his helmet on the field. “The most frustrating part about it is out of all the bad things that happened, we still had a chance to finish the game,” Ryans said. “Everything that could go wrong, it went wrong. We still had a chance there to tie it up and finish the game, and we didn’t.” The Texans forced a three-and-out, but couldn’t move the ball after that and Harold Landry sacked Stroud in the end zone for a safety to make it 32-27 and allow Tennessee to snap a two-game skid. Stroud threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, but his two interceptions Sunday give him five combined in the past three games. He now has more interceptions in 12 games this season (nine) than he had in 15 games as a rookie last season (five). “It’s no secret that I haven’t been playing well ... I’ve got to be harder on myself,” he said. “I’m not going to hold my head down. I know I can be a great player, but I’ve got to make better plays.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflAmorim adamant Arteta wouldn’t have been given time he got at Arsenal to transform things if he was at Man Utd
By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company’s collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered $60 billion in Enron stock worthless. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were eventually convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release that it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video that was full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” Enron’s new website features a company store, where various items featuring the brand’s tilted “E” logo are for sale, including a $118 hoodie. In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but that “We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company’s website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory that claims all birds are actually surveillance drones for the government. Peters said that since learning about the “relaunch” of Enron, she has spoken with several other former employees and they are also upset by it. She said the apparent stunt was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, who is 74 years old, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70The NWSL championship on CBS Television Network on Saturday averaged 967,900 viewers in primetime, making it the most-watched NWSL game and punctuating what has been one of the most-watched seasons in league history, the league announced Tuesday. The championship game, which saw Marta and the top-ranked Orlando Pride defeat the No.2 Washington Spirit , 1-0, drew in 18 percent more viewers compared to last year’s title game, and marked a 6 percent jump from the 2022 championship, according to the NWSL. The match peaked at 1.1 million viewers on Saturday, despite being up against college football. Advertisement The record viewership can be traced to the league’s historic $240 million media rights deal reached last year, which brought more games to more networks than ever before. Ahead of the league’s title game in Kansas City, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman reflected on Year 1 of this media landscape. The league’s goals were twofold, she said: To reset the value of its “live rights” and increase distribution of NWSL games. “The impact of what we’ve seen has been exactly what we had hoped for,” she said, announcing that total regular season viewership reached a cumulative 14 million viewers, a 285 percent jump year-over-over, with more than 2 million people tuning in over the last two weeks to watch six games of the NWSL playoffs. “We have to remind ourselves that it was just last year that none of our games were available to watch on national TV,” Berman said. “So, looking at all of that, we’re really excited about continuing to build our audience and make sure that more and more people get the opportunity to sample and come into our fan funnel and convert them to be the avid fans that have known and loved the NWSL for the last 12 seasons.” The league said Tuesday that total viewership across Nielsen-rated platforms in 2024 reached 18.7 million, a fivefold gain from the 2023 season. The league’s seven postseason linear telecasts also drew an average of 562,900 viewers, for an audience of 4.6 million across the playoffs. The league’s Skills Challenge also averaged an impressive 1,537,720 viewers on Sunday, making it the most-viewed non- NFL sports event that day. Last year, the NWSL signed a record $240 million deal with ESPN, CBS Sports, Prime Video and Scripps Sports, which owns ION Network. It was a significant jump from their previous three-year deal with CBS, worth a total of $4.5 million. Advertisement The new deal was a major win for the league, capitalizing on the growing interest in women’s sports and soccer in the United States. Because the deal expires in four years, it also gives the NWSL the chance to raise the stakes even more during renegotiations, which, coincidently, happen on the cusp of the next 2027 World Cup in nearby Brazil. In interviews with The Athletic , each of the media partners described their rookie season under this new media landscape as a major success. There were some highlights, like when all the networks banded together to air Alex Morgan’s final game on every network. Or, when ION hosted a studio show live from Wrigley Field for a Chicago Red Stars home game. The playoffs are likely to set record viewership numbers, too. CBS is the only network to have partnered with the NWSL previously. In the five years since the networks first partnered, the league has grown tenfold. This season, that growth trajectory only continued upward. “What we’ve seen this season is real growth from the league,” said Dan Weinberg, executive vice president of programming at CBS Sports. “We’ve seen growth in their fan base, growth in their franchises, growth in their attendance, growth in their national appeal, high-profile ownership groups, new franchises that have successfully launched, with more expansion to come.” The culmination of that growth could be felt at last week’s sold-out semifinal match between the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC , Weinberg said. The match is sure to be remembered as one of the most exciting games in NWSL history. There was a stunning opening goal from Gotham’s Esther Gonzales, followed by a stoppage-time equalizer from Hal Hershfelt that sent the game into overtime. Then, the Spirit’s Aubrey Kingsbury saved three penalties in a row to send her team through to the championship. Advertisement “You got 20,000 fans screaming their heads off at Audi Field,” said Weinberg, who was in Washington, D.C. that day. “It almost felt to me like that whole scene and that whole day was a microcosm of the success that the league has experienced this season.” CBS will air this weekend’s championship game. The game will be highlighted by some new broadcast elements: more cameras, live drone coverage, enhanced player tracking and telestration, as well as around-the-clock coverage before, during and after the game. This season marked ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps’ inaugural year partnering with the NWSL, building off what CBS started. It may have been confusing for loyal viewers to navigate so many new networks this year, but the group, and the league, were intentional with their scheduling for the 2024 year. Together, they established “franchise nights,” giving fans a consistent destination to watch games each week. Friday night games were on Amazon Prime, and two national double-headers featured on ION on Saturday nights. CBS and ESPN featured games on Saturdays and Sundays. Any game that was not aired on those channels was streamed on NWSL+, the league’s own streaming channel. Prime Video had the benefit of having one year of streaming Thursday Night Football, or TNF games, under its belt. The NFL has mastered the art of drawing viewers to their screens several nights a week – in the case of Sundays, for an entire day. “TNF has inspired a lot of our choices in other productions,” said Betsy Riley, a senior coordinating producer with Prime Video, speaking from Cleveland earlier this week while gearing up for the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers game. Like with TNF, the announcers for NWSL traveled on-site for their productions. “It was really important to establish trust, and part of our strategy to do that was to put our announce team on site every week,” Riley said. “We thought that was a really effective way for ‘announce team’ to get closer to the stories, get closer to the players, and really bring the fan at home, closer to the pitch. So, I think as we reflect, that was a winning strategy, and something we’re really proud of.” Advertisement One of those announcers was Lori Lindsey, a retired player with an expansive career that includes stints with the Washington Spirit and U.S. national team. She described on The Athletic’s “Full Time with Meg Linehan” podcast her experience working with Prime. “We historically haven’t had (Friday night games) consistently, so I think that’s been fun for viewers,” Lindsey said. “It just opens up another night for viewers to be able to watch.” Being on site, like Riley said, has also been a game-changer. “That builds rapport with teams, that builds rapport with the players,” Lindsey said. The “driving force” for Prime, though, she says, was their powerful storytelling. “They had a year under their belt with TNF and very much treat the NWSL in the same way in terms of – we want to build up the stories, we want to build up the players and who they are,’ and allow the viewer a really in-depth understanding of the excellence of these players and who they are, not just on the field, off the field,” Lindsey said. For Scripps, ION already had experience working with the WNBA , after entering bullishly into the women’s sports sector last year. The company inked a three-year deal with the WNBA to show Friday night doubleheaders of live WNBA games, creating a destination for women’s sports fans on a network not usually known for sports. To support their initiatives with both leagues, the company built a new studio in Atlanta. “We took a big risk two years ago, because there had never been sports on ION,” said Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor. “We knew that the regular viewers were going to be like, ‘Wait a second, what is this?’ But I thought that women’s sports were a nice compliment to the existing audience base.” It seems Lawlor was right, as ION recently said its broadcast reached more than 20.5 million unique viewers this season. Advertisement Part of their success, Lawlor said, was through documentary-style storytelling, and building off their success with the WNBA. “We’re trying to work with the leagues to just find different ways to make the players more visible, to make their game more visible to let everyone get to see the energy associated with it,” Lawlor said. “The fact that we have the WNBA and the NWSL on subsequent nights, allows them to really build off of each other and really have a place that’s now being known as the home for professional women’s sports.” This growing interest in women’s sports is what helped ESPN land two key sponsors, Ally and CarMax, ahead of the 2024 season. Their investment helped bolster their NWSL coverage and was a “game changer,” said Sonia Gomez Baker, vice president of programming and acquisitions for ESPN. For the first-generation Mexican-American who grew up playing it, growing access to women’s soccer through ESPN is deeply personal. While she manages all soccer properties at the network, she said, “The support I saw for NWSL from the beginning, internally, is something that, for me, from a soccer perspective, was very refreshing.” She referenced Marta ’s goal in the semifinal game against Kansas City Current , and how ESPN distributed replays across multiple platforms. Then there was the moment “Triple Espresso” became a household name, following the Paris Games, and carrying into the NWSL season. ESPN also recently inked a one-year deal with the Women’s Super League to broadcast live coverage of the league in the U.S., South America and the Caribbean, which she explains shows the growing interest in women’s soccer. “We are just seeing the effects of the growth of the women’s game and the popularity,” Gomez Baker said. “NWSL, for us, it’s one of our crown jewels in our soccer portfolio... and we just want to continue to grow the game overall.” Advertisement “We need to keep the game and the players and the league and the clubs in that everyday conversation, and so personally, for me, that’s a big goal,” she continued. “I just feel like it’s never been easier.” The NWSL has long been must-see television – just think of last year’s NWSL Championship, when Gotham’s goalkeeper Mandy Haught was issued a red card in stoppage time, forcing defender Nealy Martin to swap into goal with just seconds left in a 2-1 match against OL Reign. Or in 2022, when Lo’eau Labonta’s twerk celebration went viral and stars like Travis Kelce mimicked her. The examples are countless. The only difference now is more people are watching. When thinking about what success looks like at the end of this four-year deal, Weinberg, with CBS Sports, put it bluntly: “We don’t have to wait until the end of the media deal to see that. We’re seeing success right now. We’re optimistic and we’re excited about how the partnership can continue to succeed and grow over the next several years, and it’s going to be a showcase this weekend.” (Top photo: Bill Barrett / Getty Images)Republican senators expressed confidence in Army veteran Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as the incoming Trump administration’s defense secretary after meeting with him on Thursday. Hegseth, along with Vice President-Elect Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), met with Republican Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Roger Wicker (R-MS). Cabinet Chaos as Gaetz Bows Out; Guest Nick Gilbertson Senators indicated that 2017 allegations of a sexual assault — that ended in no charges and that Hegseth has said stemmed from a consensual sexual encounter — would not derail his confirmation. In a statement, Barrasso, who will soon be the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said: Pete Hegseth is a strong nominee to lead the Department of Defense. We had an excellent discussion about the need for America’s military to remain the best in the world. That means taking care of our service members, equipping them with the latest technology, and focusing on making our military the most lethal force on the planet. Pete pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power – not the current administration’s woke political agenda. National security nominations have a history of quick confirmations in the Senate. I look forward to Pete’s hearing and a vote on the floor in January. He also posted on X: I enjoyed visiting with @PeteHegseth this morning. Pete is a strong nominee to lead the @DeptofDefense. We had an excellent discussion about the need for America’s military to remain the best in the world. I look forward to Pete’s hearing and a vote in the Senate in January. Blackburn tweeted: I just met with Vice President-Elect Vance and Secretary of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth. Pete is a warrior, an advocate for veterans, and a well qualified nominee. He will put our enemies on notice and make our military great again. Mullin re-posted an interview he did with reporters where he told them: He’s perfect. He’s a decorated combat veteran. He’s got two bronze stars, 20 years of service. He retired as a major, and he’s a civilian. ... I think he is perfect for the position. He added, “I don’t think he has any weaknesses. I think he is very talented, and there’s a reason why President Trump trusts him. I think as he goes through this process you’re going to hear more and more about the actual what took place, and you guys will find out the guy’s a solid, solid individual. He’s the right man for the job.” Mullin also posted: As I’ve said, I trust President Trump’s judgement on picking the best cabinet nominees to serve in his administration, and @SenateGOP will process these nominees quickly. Earlier today, I visited with decorated combat vet @PeteHegseth, and look forward to getting him confirmed. Hagerty posted: Today I had an outstanding meeting with Pete Hegseth, a decorated combat veteran who put his own life on the line for America. (1/3) Pete knows that the Defense Secretary’s job is to empower the men and women of our military to carry out their patriotic duty, not consign them to serve as political pawns in a broken Washington. (2/3) A great choice by @realDonaldTrump to change Washington, and I look forward to supporting his confirmation. (3/3) According to The Hill , Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said he had no concerns about Hegseth and thought he would “do a great job.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said the sexual assault allegations need “to go through the confirmation process, and let Pete — and these other folks — let them answer this stuff, you know, give them their day.” He added that Hegseth “denies it, he says there’s been no wrongdoing. But let’s hear from him.” Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X” , Truth Social , or on Facebook .