ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Gratifying as it was for Sean McDermott to catch up with his family and get some rest during Buffalo’s bye week, the Bills coach on Wednesday found comfort returning to his weekly routine and familiar wardrobe — a gray T-shirt and sweatpants. “When I’m not wearing those, I go to my closet and I don’t know what to wear. I’m kind of like not myself,” he said before pulling up his hoodie for emphasis to reveal the gray shirt he had on underneath. “So I was telling some of the guys this morning, ‘It’s good to be back.’” Though there remain challenges ahead, these are upbeat times in Buffalo . The Bills (9-2) are off to their best start since 1992. They remain in contention for the AFC’s top seed by entering their break following a 30-21 win over Kansas City (10-1). And Buffalo is in position to clinch its fifth straight AFC East title as early as Sunday. To do so, the Bills would need Miami to lose to Green Bay on Thursday night, and Buffalo to win its game over San Francisco (5-6) on Sunday night. Buffalo has won six straight since back-to-back losses at Baltimore and Houston, and scored 30 or more points in each of its past five outings. Refreshed as McDermott sounded and appeared, it didn’t take long for him to revert to his game-at-a-time script when assessing what’s on the line this weekend. “We’re mostly focused on our level of play this week against a good football team,” he said. McDermott shed little light on the status of Buffalo’s lengthy list of injured players. There’s no timetable yet on Matt Milano being activated off injured reserve, even though the starting linebacker practiced fully for the first time since tearing his left biceps during a training camp practice in mid-August. Milano has actually missed nearly 14 months since sustaining a season-ending injury to his right leg in Week 5 last season. Milano revealed little during a brief interview following practice. “I feel all right. Getting back into it with the team,” said Milano, who no longer wore a red non-contact jersey in practice. Meantime, rookie receiver Keon Coleman, who has missed two games with a right wrist injury, and starting right tackle Spencer Brown, who missed one game with an ankle injury, were limited in practice. Tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee) was Buffalo's only player not practicing. The Bills also opened the three-week window for backup rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (wrist) and backup offensive lineman Tylan Grable (groin) to return. McDermott has another positive going for him revolving around the bye week. The Bills are 8-0 coming out of their break since McDermott took over as coach in 2017. “I don’t really have the, hey, this is exactly what we do formula,” McDermott said on whether he’s changed his bye week approach. “It’s more of us really just getting back to what we do, getting back to basics.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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Stock market today: Dow drops over 300 points amid a tech stock routOregon already secured its spot in the Big Ten championship game, but the top-ranked Ducks have plenty to play for in their regular-season finale. Revenge may be on Oregon's mind when the Ducks host longtime rival Washington on Saturday in Eugene, Ore. Oregon (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) would perhaps be closing in on its second straight College Football Playoff appearance had the Huskies (6-5, 4-4) not dealt the Ducks their only two losses last season. Washington edged Oregon 36-33 in Seattle last October, then slipped past the Ducks 34-31 in the Pac-12 title game to secure a playoff spot for the second time in school history. Both teams joined the Big Ten in August. Third-year Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is 33-5 leading the Ducks. But he remains winless against the Huskies (0-3). Oregon plots to sprint out of its late-season bye after using time to heal injuries, but Lanning doesn't believe the break should stall the flow of an undefeated season. "It's always about what we're able to do on the field. Motivation is overrated," Lanning said. "Our guys have to want to go out there and execute at a really high level. Since the beginning of the season we've talked about playing our best football at the end of November. We're there. This is our opportunity to go play our best football against a good team." The Ducks could have star wide receiver Tez Johnson back from a shoulder injury this week. Johnson has missed the past two games. That would be good news for quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who would regain the team's leader in receptions (64), receiving yards (649) and receiving touchdowns (eight). Washington, under first-year head coach Jedd Fisch, is 63-48-5 all-time against Oregon but is just 1-12-1 when facing the No. 1-ranked team in the country. The Huskies are led on offense by running back Jonah Coleman, who has racked up 1,008 yards and nine scores on the ground this season. Coleman averages 5.8 yards per carry and has 36 runs of at least 10 yards. In the passing game, wide receiver Denzel Boston is tied for the Big Ten lead with nine in touchdown catches and ranks sixth in the conference with 764 receiving yards. Whom Boston will be catching passes from is not yet known, however. Washington has not revealed whether Will Rogers or Demond Williams Jr. will start at quarterback. Rogers has started every game for the Huskies but was benched in favor of Williams two weeks ago after throwing a pair of interceptions in a 31-19 win over UCLA. Fisch said he has a "good idea" of how he will use his quarterbacks on Saturday, and while he wouldn't go as far as to name a starter, he did say Rogers responded well in practices last week. "On the same token, Demond's energy and Demond's confidence showed up. His ability to jump right in and feel really good about leading the group whenever it was his turn... he did a really nice job there as well," Fisch told Seattle Sports. "I think both guys responded well to the week of practice, and now, really, it's important for us that the guy we believe will start the game gets a significant amount of reps in practice week. But as you know, we're not afraid to play two quarterbacks." --Field Level MediaNEW YORK -- Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Jose D. Hernandez was suspended for next year's Arizona Complex League season on Wednesday following a positive test for boldenone and nandrolone under baseball's minor league drug program. The 21-year-old Hernandez hit .302 with four homers and 21 RBI in 26 games this year for the ACL Dodgers. The Venezuelan agreed to a contract with the Dodgers in 2019 that included a $10,000 signing bonus. Twenty players have been suspended this year for positive drug tests, including nine under the minor league program and nine under the new program for minor league players assigned outside the United States and Canada. Two players have been suspended this year under the major league drug program. Noelvi Marté , a 22-year-old infielder who was considered Cincinnati's top prospect, missed the first 80 games following a positive test for boldenone. Toronto infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended for 80 games on June 23 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene, an announcement made two days after his major league debut .
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{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-12-08T22:30:42+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-12-08T22:30:42+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-12-09T20:49:44+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22449/news/africa/nba-africas-akamanzi-on-sports-investment-returns", "headline": "NBA Africa’s Akamanzi on sports investment, returns", "description": "Many African countries are recognising the economic potential of sports and entertainment, but there is a conviction that significant investments in...", "keywords": "", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22449/news/africa/nba-africas-akamanzi-on-sports-investment-returns" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/08/65948.png", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/08/65948.png" }, "articleBody": "Many African countries are recognising the economic potential of sports and entertainment, but there is a conviction that significant investments in talent and infrastructure are needed to fully capitalise on this opportunity. On the sidelines of the just concluded African Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco, The New Times’ Alice Kagina caught up with Clare Akamanzi, CEO of NBA Africa, to discuss about the need for perspective shift, economic potential of sports, and returns on investment in the sector. Below are excerpts. You are almost one year in at NBA Africa, how has it been? It's been a learning curve. Obviously, having come from RDB (Rwanda Development Board) was like a comfort zone since I had spent many years there. I have learnt a lot being at NBA Africa. I knew so much about BAL (Basketball Africa League) because of the partnerships we have in Rwanda but from the inside, I had so much to learn and extremely exciting and I am very energized now that I see and understand much better about how we can actually use sports to transform Africa. I see its possibility. I see it every single day, and I really can't wait to see Africans benefitting from sports and entertainment because this is the future. It’s been one year of learning, but one year of immense appreciation of how crucial sports is for the economy. What is the current landscape of investor interest in the sports sector in Africa? First of all, we are seeing sports as one of the fastest-growing sectors on the continent. In fact, the sports industry is projected to grow by 8 per cent over the next few years, significantly outpacing the continent's average GDP growth. This means there is a lot of opportunity for growth for those who invest in the sports sector. Since NBA investment in Africa, we have [opened] offices in five countries, namely South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria and Egypt. We are investing because we see there is an opportunity not only commercially but also to transform the economies of Africa using sports. We've also invested in a new league that has done four seasons already. We're now going to the fifth season of the BAL. And we've seen it grow. When we started four years ago, it was during COVID. From the first season of Basketball Africa League which took place in a bubble because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the second season in BK Arena had 45,000 people that came to watch the game and the following year, we had 70,000 people, last season, we had about 120,000 people coming to watch the games in-person. The same increase is noticed on our digital platforms; we have about one billion engagements throughout all our social media platforms. The growth is real in terms of BAL but the impact is beyond. If you look at Rwanda, 15 per cent of the revenues from tourism is coming from events, and sports events are a critical part of them contributing directly to bringing millions of dollars to the country. We are seeing more and more investors in teams like Tigers in Rwanda and Nairobi City Thunder which became the first Kenyan team to qualify for BAL because of the investments raised that enabled them to get good players. The investment landscape is growing because companies are seeing opportunities to support teams through sponsorship or equity. The likes of Inyange, RSSB, Summa, and others. For me, all of this shows that we are only scratching the surface because the opportunity is really large and NBA is committed to unlock that. In October, you announced the construction of 100 outdoor courts in Kenya. How do you plan to expand these kinds of facilities across the continent? NBA has announced that we'll build 1,000 courts in Africa. 100 of those will be in Kenya, but the rest will be distributed among 11 countries, including Rwanda. This means increase of access to the basketball game with more kids playing, and we have seen African governments having similar initiatives of investing in courts to breed talent in several countries. Once they have that kind of access at a grassroots level, we begin to give them other opportunities such as participating in Basketball Without Boarder camps, where we bring talent, train them, and put out good talents taken to play professionally. We also have an NBA academy in Senegal where the best identified on the continent are taken. This year, we have our first prospect from the academy drafted into the NBA. NBA Africa is an investment valued at $1 billion, how are the financial returns and how do you get to create partnerships? The more games we have, the more seasons we have, the more funds we have, and as our fans increase, it gives us an opportunity to monetize the sport. So, the more fans, the more the sponsorship, because sponsors want to see how many people can watch their products. Same thing with the media where sports make money by selling broadcasting rights to broadcasters to show the game. We see all of that increasing, there is more media, more sponsorship, and more merchandise. For me, sports and basketball in particular is a story of growth and that demonstrates return. Of course, we are not here to make profit very quickly, NBA is very aware that this is a long-term investment and we know we are going to be here for decades. We are not in a hurry to make money because we are not leaving. The important thing is growth. What challenges are sports development efforts facing in Africa? The challenges are there but the good thing is that we see them improving. One of them is how we perceive new sports, with the perception of sports as a recreation or physical education, more of a by-the-way, yet there is huge economic opportunity for people. Many countries rely on tourism for their economies, sports is as important as tourism in terms of how it can transform an economy and the talent that it has. The second one is even though we see more infrastructure coming up, they're not enough. We need an arena in all the major cities of Africa, a world-class arena that can host big games. We need to see more courts in all schools and communities. Additionally, to consume sports, you need infrastructure like affordable internet and access to smart gadgets. For me, those are the things that will allow sports to grow even more. But this also goes with the increase of disposable income as economies continue to grow so that people can also consume sports and entertainment. You participated in the Africa Investment Forum. Are there some projects that NBA Africa is seeking to make investments deals for? No, our deals are constant in terms of investment sports, sponsoring sports, and investing in teams, and this means that all the things that are discussed here, infrastructure, electricity, and energy are relevant to us. All those provide a platform because you can't watch a game without electricity, internet or good infrastructure. That's why we are here to engage with financiers and leaders, and to preach the gospel of sports being a huge economic opportunity. What advice would you give to an entrepreneur or investor looking to venture into sports investments? Take time to understand sports. Take time to see the opportunity, learn from countries that have made sports such a big opportunity and then go into it, invest, get to know the details. Once you do, there's no turning back because sports is only going to grow. Africa is a youthful continent with an average age of 19. The future is here because this is where the consumer of sports is going to be for the next 20 to 30 years. From an NBA Africa perspective, do you see any efforts towards establishing a continental women’s league? We invest a lot in women and we have programmes like BAL4Her and our clinics are 50-50 gender inclusive but for a women’s league, it is something that we will explore down the road, but for the moment, we started with BAL and we need it to grow and be sustained. Any parting shot? We are coming back to Kigali for our conference in May, though not the finals. As usual, we want to see BAL paint the whole city of Kigali red because that's what we do. The city is so lit, and we see BAL as a part of that. Other cities we will be playing in are Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa. Watch the games on apps, and on TV but also come and watch the games in the arena.", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Kagina" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/", "sameAs": ["https://www.facebook.com/TheNewTimesRwanda/","https://twitter.com/NewTimesRwanda","https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZbZj6DF9zWXpdZVceDZkg"], "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "/theme_newtimes/images/logo.png", "width": 270, "height": 57 } }, "copyrightHolder": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/" } }
Bitcoin topped US$100,000 for the first time on Dec 5, jumping drastically from roughly $69,000 the day before the US presidential election about a month earlier. The sharp uptick in price has prompted investors, particularly cryptocurrency enthusiasts, to keep a close eye on what happens next in US politics. As a candidate, Donald Trump pledged to make the US the "crypto capital of the planet". Now the president-elect even suggested the country might one day pay off its national debt in cryptocurrency. "During the campaign, Trump promised many policy changes in the US that will be favourable for Bitcoin and crypto assets in general. We have already seen the impact of this, driving Bitcoin prices to all-time highs," said Nirun Fuwattananukul, chief executive of Gulf Binance, the Thai joint venture between the world's largest crypto exchange and SET-listed Gulf Energy Development. In Mr Nirun's view, these policies are likely to be pushed through. Trump's second term, unlike his first, will have a Republican majority in the Senate and House of Representatives. "This means he can drive his campaign policy very effectively. His campaign advisors, especially Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, are also very pro-Bitcoin, so I think these pledged policies will be implemented," he told the Bangkok Post. CRYPTO BOOST Mr Nirun said before the US election, Bitcoin was already a well-known and widely adopted asset globally. In the US, many institutions and state pension funds are starting to invest in the world's largest cryptocurrency. "New regulations, if they happen, will make Bitcoin even more mainstream. I believe Bitcoin will become a mainstream investment asset, similar to gold or silver, in the future," he said. Mr Nirun said the general cryptocurrency market will likely follow Bitcoin, with more assets becoming mainstream, taking the Ethereum path. "I think the key driver will be greater innovation. With supportive US policy and more capital returning to the US, we will see more innovation in this space, with new applications and use cases driving crypto assets to become more mainstream in the future," he said. The market anticipates Gary Gensler, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), leaving his post at the end of Joe Biden's administration. Investors are optimistic about a more crypto-friendly regulator after his departure in early 2025. "He was very active in regulatory enforcement on Bitcoin and crypto assets. The new SEC chairman will likely be much more aligned with Trump's views," said Mr Nirun. Last Wednesday, Trump announced he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the SEC. Mr Atkins, the chief executive of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, has made the case against too much market regulation since he left the US stock market regulator. However, realising the benefits of favourable crypto policies of the new US administration will take time, said Mr Nirun. "I think we need to wait for the proper timing. There are a lot of pressing issues Americans expect Trump to tackle, including the economy and immigration, which will likely come first. We need to wait a bit to see when he will start looking into Bitcoin and crypto assets," he said. "The devil is in the details. Crypto is a complex issue and drafting a new law for this will take time." The FIT21 bill, a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, was previously passed by the House and is now waiting in the Senate. "If Trump wants to redraft the entire bill, this will take even more time," said Mr Nirun. "Hopefully the next SEC chairman is someone with a strategic vision for crypto in the long term." Binance co-founder Yi He shared a similar view, saying products such as spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds have broadened the industry's circle, and these increasing overlaps and innovations indicate a good year is ahead. STABLECOIN OPTIMISM Jeremy Allaire, chief executive of Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin, expressed optimism regarding global regulation of the sector. He believes the next 10-12 months will be crucial for the stablecoin space, which has already grown to roughly $170 billion, with Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC responsible for the lion's share. However, this is a fraction of the global financial space and the $130-trillion global electronic money market. This means the stablecoin industry still has huge potential for growth, said Mr Allaire. A type of cryptocurrency that aims to maintain a fixed value relative to another asset or currency, stablecoins are often pegged to a traditional currency, namely the US dollar or the euro, or other assets such as gold or silver. "The next 12 months is a pretty big inflection point for stablecoins," he said, with regulatory frameworks in some key jurisdictions expected to take shape over the next year. Speaking at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, Mr Allaire likened these early days of digital currency to the early days of digital media, explaining how lowering communication costs spurred rapid growth and revolutionised industries. He suggested achieving similar advancements in transaction costs with programmable money could fundamentally reshape the ways we transfer and manage value in the financial landscape. USDC, Circle's stablecoin, has increasingly been adopted across financial and payment networks, suggesting stablecoins are poised to become a foundational layer in the digital economy, with real-world applications expanding from here, said Mr Allaire. In terms of regulation, he was cautiously optimistic, noting the regulatory environment in several countries had positive sentiment for stablecoins. While a certain level of regulatory hurdles remains, a shift in attitudes among policymakers is taking place, particularly in the US, which is now recognising the long-term value that digital assets can bring, said Mr Allaire. In fact, even those voicing public opposition to the sector or sitting on the sidelines are watching the vanguard, ready to follow suit with comprehensive regulations, he said. This openness can pave the way for a balanced approach that supports innovation without stifling progress, said Mr Allaire. REGULATORY COMPLIANCE Ms Yi acknowledged the past year posed significant challenges, even for industry leaders such as Binance, to sustain growth momentum. With more than 200 million users globally, the world's largest crypto exchange remains focused on building a brighter future for the sector and increasing financial accessibility, she said. Navigating industry-wide regulatory and compliance challenges is an ongoing priority for Binance. While such challenges are complex, Binance views them as necessary for long-term growth and trust within the ecosystem, said Ms Yi. Collaboration with regulators is crucial to achieving mass adoption. "If we want a billion users of crypto, we must cooperate with the regulators. That's how we become the next Google or Amazon of crypto," she said. Access is essential to Binance, as Ms Yi hopes her grandmother or a nanny can easily open the Binance app and use crypto. Noah Perlman, chief compliance officer of Binance, said as more of the world transitions from traditional finance to blockchain, global regulations and compliance is becoming more important than ever. "We can all agree that 2023 was the year in which regulators and policymakers really stepped up their efforts to develop frameworks for the industry," he said. "It is very difficult to follow the rules if they are constantly changing." Having regulations that are difficult to follow or deny product users what they want inevitably pushes users to unregulated spaces, said Mr Perlman, who has a background in traditional finance, adding regulatory frameworks offer certainty, which markets crave. "As we get more certainty in the market through policies such as MiCA, it is going to encourage more people to enter the space," he said, referring to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation that came into force in June 2023. Yuelin Li, chief product officer of tech startup Onfido, said a clear regulatory framework provides "a sense of safety for consumers", which is the defining factor between those who are willing to give crypto a shot and those who prefer to stay within the realms of traditional finance. Bora Erdamar, director of BlockchainIST Center, an R&D centre for blockchain technology, said the roles of project developers and experts help to bridge the gap between the crypto ecosystem and conventional finance. "We need to make it easier to understand and use blockchain," he said. 2025 TRENDS Alex Svanevik, chief executive of leading on-chain analytics platform Nansen, believes 2025 will see the "biggest bull run in history", supported by Trump's victory in the US election. For next year, meme coins -- cryptocurrencies inspired by internet memes -- will continue to attract retail investors to the crypto space. He anticipates these tokens will significantly boost on-chain metrics, leading to unprecedented records in decentralised exchange (DEX) volumes across multiple blockchain networks. "Meme coins continue to onboard retail to crypto and smash on-chain metrics. We'll see new records in DEX volume for lots of chains," he said. "Better infrastructure, easier user experience, lower transaction fees -- all these make the journey on-chain better for newcomers." Mr Svanevik also foresees a resurgence in decentralised finance (DeFi), driven by clearer regulations and the activation of revenue models within DeFi protocols. With the departure of Mr Gensler from the SEC on Jan 20, he predicts regulatory hurdles will be reduced and institutional capital will flow more freely into DeFi platforms. Mr Svanevik said he envisions cryptocurrencies playing a dual role in accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) projects and offering solutions to mitigate associated risks. "Crypto accelerates AI, but also protects us from AI," he said, adding crypto dollars should continue to pour into AI projects. Binance chief executive Richard Teng said the future is bright for crypto. "We are on the path of mass adoption because every major global financial institution is either embracing crypto or pushing ahead with the blockchain agenda," he said.