A major new bridge linking Canada and the U.S. at Detroit opened Monday to trucks, cars and other vehicles, the climax of a yearslong project that lately had been bruised a bit by international politics. Descendants of Gordie Howe, the hockey legend whose name is on the bridge, were among the first to cross over the Detroit River, which separates the Motor City from Windsor, Ontario. The span, which was built by Canada at a cost of $6.4 billion Canadian, now becomes a less-expensive alternative to the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, which had a monopoly on big trucks carrying goods worth billions between the two countries, especially in service to the auto industry. “There are thousands of trucks that go over” daily, said Kevin Ketels, a business professor who teaches supply chain management at Wayne State University. The family of Gordie Howe made the first official car crossing over the…

Telemundo’s coverage of elite, global soccer won’t end after the World Cup final. Telemundo has acquired the Spanish-language broadcast rights in the U.S. for all UEFA men’s club competitions for three seasons, beginning in 2027-28, the company announced Sunday. The deal will bring live coverage of every match in the Champions League, the European tournament widely considered the world’s most prestigious club competition, across all of NBCUniversal’s broadcast, streaming and digital platforms, which include Peacock, Universo and Telemundo Deportes Ahora, its free, ad-supported television (FAST) channel. The package will also include the Spanish-language rights to UEFA’s Europa League, Conference League and Super Cup competitions. (NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC News and Telemundo.) After the World Cup drew record audiences for Telemundo, the next question was how to continue building on such interest, said Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group. The Champions League, which is played annually…

LONDON — Scotland fans famously drank Boston dry. But while the team’s exploits on the field could not match the success of its supporters, pubs in England — some of which are struggling financially — have been boosted by the boon in beer sales from the team’s run to the World Cup semifinals. England plays archrival Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday, an 8 p.m. kickoff back home (3 p.m. ET) that will likely see fans flock to pubs across the country hoping to see their team make its first World Cup final in 60 years. The profit made from the World Cup accounts for around 15% of the annual sales made by the Bread and Cheese pub in Thundersley, a small village around 40 miles east of London, owner Steve Haslam told NBC News in a telephone interview Tuesday. He said he expected to make around 7,000 pounds to 9,000…

The satirical news site The Onion isn’t waiting to take possession of Infowars to launch a parody of Alex Jones ’ conspiracy platform. More than a year after first trying to buy Infowars, The Onion on Thursday will debut a send-up under its own website with plans to give some of the revenue to families of the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The families have still received no money from Jones since courts ordered him to pay more than $1 billion for falsely calling the 2012 shooting a hoax. The Onion will start by sending the families $100,000 from merchandise sales that combine the conspiracy empire’s brand with the The Onion’s logo in rainbow colors, according to CEO Ben Collins, whose company is still in court trying to take control of Infowars. “Don’t give comedy writers a grudge for 18 months,” Collins said. The parody will include…

Paramount Skydance has accused Netflix of spearheading a “scorched-earth campaign to try and poison regulators and other stakeholders” against its $110 billion purchase of rival Hollywood studio Warner Bros. Discovery. In a fiery letter to the Justice Department obtained by NBC News, Paramount Skydance Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim excoriated Netflix for what he called a “panic-level response” to the merger that illustrates “just how seriously Netflix takes Paramount as a scaled competitor.” Paramount’s letter was sent to the Justice Department on Friday and first reported by Politico. In response to a request for comment, a Netflix spokesperson said that “these claims from Paramount Skydance are absurd.” “We walked away from this deal months ago and remain focused on our own business, not theirs,” the spokesperson added. “Ultimately, it’s up to the regulators to approve this deal and determine if it is in the best interest of the industry and…

When the U.S. men’s national soccer team plays at home, its most loyal fans traditionally sit right behind a goal to cheer on the team or intimidate the opposition. But when the Americans kick off a once-in-a-generation World Cup in Southern California next week, many of those die-hard supporters may be harder to hear because FIFA seated them in the “nose bleeds,” according to a major U.S. fan group. “These are the worst tickets that I’ve ever seen out of the five World Cups I’ve been to,” American Outlaws President Brian Hexsel said in a phone interview. FIFA’s World Cup ticketing rollout has faced withering criticism for months, particularly for its sky-high prices. There have also been allegations that some ticket buyers got worse seats than expected, sparking investigations in New York and New Jersey. In the blowback, soccer’s global governing body announced a small allotment of $60 tickets for…

Growing up in South Florida, Jozy Altidore heard a lot of Spanish playing soccer with local kids and at home from his Dominican grandmother. As a teenager, he went to play for Villarreal, in the Castellón part of Spain, an area that isn’t that touristy. His coach and teammates mostly spoke Spanish. Along the way, Altidore picked up the language. “A lot of people look at me like, ‘What? You speak Spanish?’” Altidore told NBC News. It will come in handy this summer, when Altidore serves as a World Cup commentator for Telemundo, the games’ official Spanish-language network. Altidore has no experience in broadcasting, and he admits that his Spanish is just OK. But he saw the World Cup was coming to North America, and he didn’t want to be left on the sidelines. “It’s the biggest, most historical World Cup we’ve had,” Altidore said. “For me, it was a…

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been invited to testify before Congress as the league faces increasing federal scrutiny about its broadcast deals and its recent practice of airing games on paywalled streaming services. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the commissioner Monday requesting his appearance at a hearing June 10 examining the league’s TV deals and their compliance with the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. The 65-year-old law grants professional sports leagues limited antitrust immunity, allowing them to pool their media rights and negotiate as a single entity while protecting them from antitrust lawsuits. The law applies only to broadcast networks. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. There has been bipartisan sentiment in favor of updating the law, and President Donald Trump has been among the critics of…

Major League Baseball owners made their long-expected salary cap proposal to the players’ association on Thursday, a system the union has vowed never to accept, setting the sides on course for a confrontation that threatens the 2027 season and perhaps beyond. Baseball owners hadn’t proposed a firm cap since 1994. Their effort prompted a 7 1/2-month strike that forced the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years. MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million, using figures for luxury tax payrolls that include benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool, and establish a payroll floor of $171.2 million. The Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s biggest spenders, had a $415.2 million payroll on opening day this year — around $170 million over the proposed cap. Owners said they would discuss a phase-in schedule that would give teams like the Dodgers time to comply with the cap…

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss on Thursday replaced Tanya Simon, the executive producer of the network’s flagship newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” with a technology journalist who has never worked in television news. Nick Bilton, a documentarian and former New York Times technology columnist, will take over for Simon when the show returns for a 59th season in the fall, CBS News leaders announced. The moves are part of Weiss’ sweeping shake-up of the storied program, created by the legendary producer Don Hewitt. CBS News has also cut ties with “60 Minutes” correspondent Cecilia Vega, who joined the show in 2023, according to a source familiar with the matter. Sharyn Alfonsi, another “60 Minutes” correspondent, told the Times this week that CBS News had not renewed her contract. CBS News and Alfonsi did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the status of her deal. Alfonsi clashed with Weiss late last…