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NFL begins onboarding replacement officials as referee labor deal nears expiration: report
The NFL has reportedly begun onboarding replacement officials in case their unionized referees are not available.
The Athletic reported that teams were issued a memo by league officials Wednesday to inform them that potential replacements had undergone or were undergoing background checks.
The outlet reported that the officials have worked at the NCAA level in all divisions, and physical examinations will follow.
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The NFL Referees Association is aiming for a new labor deal, and teams were told to expect replacement officials at practices if a deal is not reached by June 1. The current deal between the NFLRA and league expires May 31, and the league and the NFLRA have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement since the summer of 2024.
“Throughout the process, we will continue to solicit your feedback on the performance of the potential replacement officials as we finalize the game official roster for training camp and preseason games,” Perry Fewell, the league’s senior vice president of officiating, wrote in the memo, via ESPN.
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“The negotiations haven’t progressed the way we hoped from a timing standpoint,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the conclusion of the league’s annual meeting. “We obviously have obligations to fans and everyone in the National Football League to play. We’ll be prepared to play. We’re taking the appropriate steps to be ready, but we’re also keenly focused on negotiations.”
Replacement officials were used to start the 2012 season, and arguably the most infamous result of that was the “Fail Mary” in Seattle, when the Seahawks won on a controversial simultaneous possession ruling on a late-game end zone play.
Last year, the NFL signaled its intent to strengthen officiating through greater accountability and performance standards, saying it “remained focused on implementing changes to the agreement in ways that will improve the performance of our game officials, increase accountability and ensure that the highest-performing officials are officiating our highest profile games.”
The NFLRA has reportedly resisted at least some proposed changes, prioritizing the status quo.
Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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Pandemonium: Pro Wrestling kickstarts WrestleMania week with hard-hitting action in Las Vegas
Pandemonium: Pro Wrestling was among the companies to kickstart WrestleMania week in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
While a relative unknown promotion among pro wrestling fans, Pandemonium held their “Whatever Forever” show as part of Shooting Star Fest. Dozens of fans poured into the Bizarre Bar in Las Vegas for hard-hitting action in an intimate setting where they had no other choice than to feel the wrestlers’ pain.
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AMIRA took on Janai Kai and Saya Ida in the main event for the Pandemonium: Pro Championship. AMIRA walked into the venue as the champion and left the same way. She successfully powered through all of Kai’s kicks and Ida’s knife-edge chops.
After getting Ida out of the ring, AMIRA put her attention on Kai. She hit the world’s strongest slam on Kai and pinned her for the win.
Johnnie Robbie, who received a ton of praise heading into the week, took on Natsupoi. The one-time Wonder of Stardom champion gave Robbie all that she could handle. Even as Robbie appeared to have the upper hand in the match, Natsupoi was able to use her speedy in-ring ability to gain momentum.
Natsupoi hit a cartwheel body press and pinned Robbie for the win.
Several other pro wrestlers on the card impressed with victories, including Joseline Navarro, Miko Alana, Jiah Jewell and the New Fever tag-team duo of Danny Orion and Shimbashi.
Indie pro wrestling companies are going to be on full display throughout the entire week, and fans were treated to the perfect appetizer for the days to come in the city of sin.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani calls threat of rich people leaving NYC over taxes ‘imagined’
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani claimed on Wednesday that threats of the city’s wealthiest residents leaving the city over high taxes were “imagined.”
Mamdani held a Tax Day public forum with economists Gabriel Zucman and Joseph Stiglitz to discuss his plans to further tax the rich, starting with a new tax on luxury properties valued at $5 million or more.
“For all of the discussion of the imagined exodus that would take place were we to tax the wealthiest New Yorkers by the appropriate amount—I say imagined because before I was a mayor I was a state legislator and I was part of an effort to increase taxes on millionaires at that time—we were told the same thing then—and what we find now is that we have more millionaires today than we did at that time even after having passed that tax,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani acknowledged New York City losing many of its residents in recent years, pointing out that the city lost 200,000 Black residents between 2000 and 2020. However, he claimed that this was an “exodus” of working-class people who can no longer afford to live there.
“And so for all of that conversation about this imagined exodus, we have to reckon with the very real exodus that we are seeing in the city, an exodus of working-class people, an exodus of those who cannot afford to live here and for many who work here who now find their residence in Jersey City or in Connecticut or in Pennsylvania, anywhere else where their dollar can go a little bit further,” Mamdani said.
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During the forum, Mamdani also highlighted his past campaign goals for free busing, universal childcare and five city-run grocery stores.
Though Mamdani was able to launch a universal childcare program within his first 100 days in office, he has yet to deliver on his plans for free busing or a city-run grocery store. The first of the proposed grocery stores is currently slated to open in late 2027.
Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.
Mamdani’s comments came in stark contrast to previous ones made by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who encouraged wealthy former state residents to move back and support social programs.
“There are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. OK, cut me the checks. If you want to be supportive — but maybe the first step should be [to] go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home, because our tax has been eroded,” Hochul said last month.
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LIV Golf CEO sends rallying memo to staff after reports Saudi funding could end after this season
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil sent a memo to his staff Wednesday in response to reports the Public Investment Fund will no longer use its resources for the league.
Sources told Fox News Digital the Saudis will stop funding LIV after the 2026 season.
“Team, (f)ollowing up on my previous message, which I realize may have led to some confusion on where we stand as a business,” O’Neil wrote in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital.
“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.
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“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.
“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.”
O’Neil then praised LIV golfers for contending at the Masters, noting Tyrell Hatton finished tied for third, and hyping up Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm as the faces of the league.
“To the teams in New York, London, and those on the ground here with me in Mexico: lean into this moment,” O’Neil continued.
“The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers, and while the road isn’t always smooth, the destination is worth every mile. Let’s go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game. It matters. You mattered. Now, let’s go win.
“Long LIV Golf.”
LIV began in 2022 and has produced two major winners in Brooks Koepka, who has since rejoined the PGA Tour, at the 2023 PGA Championship, and DeChambeau at the 2024 U.S. Open. They are currently playing in Mexico City.
LIV Golf shifted from its 54-hole format, a draw for golfers defecting from the PGA Tour, to 72 beginning this season. Patrick Reed is also set to rejoin the tour.
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