Europol dismantles network of illegal streaming of sports and other pirated content

MADRID (AP) >> A Europol operation during last summer’s European Championship and Paris Olympics dismantled a network of several hundred providers of illegal streaming of sports and other pirated content, Spain’s top soccer league said Thursday.

The European Union’s law enforcement agency identified more than 560 resellers of pirated content that included streaming of movies, series and TV channels. La Liga, which cooperated in the investigation, said more than 100 suspects were identified and 11 were arrested.

“The operation was carried out in the context of major sporting events this summer such as UEFA EURO 2024 and the Olympic Games, with the main objective of combating digital piracy in the form of the publication, distribution and broadcasting of digital content subject to copyright and related rights,” the league said.

More than 100 searches took place, with the seizure of nearly 30 servers and 270 IPTV devices, as well as 100 domains linked to illegal activities. Drugs and weapons were also seized, and cryptocurrency worth about 1.6 million euros ($1.64 million) was confiscated, along with 40,000 euros in cash.

The network distributed more than 2,500 TV channels and reached over 22 million users worldwide without the consent of the copyright holders, the Spanish league said.

New Mexico State parts with AD in wake of report on sex-abuse in hoops program

New Mexico State is moving on from athletic director Mario Moccia in the wake of an investigation that criticized the school’s handling of the sexual-abuse scandal that temporarily shut down the Aggies men’s basketball program.

Valerio Ferme, who took over as university president to start the year, announced Moccia’s dismissal Thursday and that Amber Burdge, NMSU’s deputy athletic director for strategic initiatives and leadership, would be acting athletic director.

“After carefully reviewing the recent report issued by the New Mexico Department of Justice, I felt we needed a fresh start in our athletics program,” Ferme said. “I have utter confidence in Dr. Burdge’s ability to lead our Athletic Department, and look forward to working with her in the coming months.”

Ferme said Burdge played a key role in NMSU’s strategic response to hazing prevention as the school’s senior female administrator and deputy Title IX coordinator.

Two former basketball players have agreed to plea deals in the assault cases brought against them while a third is due for trial next month.

The assault allegations forced New Mexico State to shut down its 2022-23 season. In 2023, the school paid out $8 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two of the victims, former players Deuce Benjamin and Shak Odunewu, who went public with the stories of their abuse.

But also in 2023, New Mexico State gave Moccia a five-year contract extension and a $72,000 raise to $351,000 a year in the first year of the new deal, which was scheduled to end in 2028.

That deal was signed by chancellor Dan Arvizu on the same day he stepped down from his post — timing the school said was a coincidence.

The state Department of Justice review of the sexual assaults found that they “did not occur in a vacuum but were reflective of a more pervasive toxic culture throughout the program.”

“There were ample opportunities for those around the team to observe this toxic culture as it was developing, but they failed to effectively intervene and prevent it,” the report said. “This inaction was compounded by inadequate institutional preventative safeguards.”

Corbin Burnes’ $210M deal with D-backs includes $64M deferred through 2036

NEW YORK (AP) >> Right-hander Corbin Burnes’ $210 million, six-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks includes $64 million in deferred payments due from 2031-36, according to details obtained by The Associated Press.

Burnes gets a $10 million signing bonus payable within 30 days of the deal’s approval by the commissioner’s office and salaries of $30 million each in 2025 and 2026 and of $35 million in each of the following four seasons.

His deal, announced Monday and the largest in Diamondbacks history, includes $10 million in deferred money in each of the first two years and $11 million in each of the next four.

Burnes, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner and a four-time All-Star, has the right to opt out after the 2026 season.

If he does not opt out, the deferred money is payable $10 million each on Nov. 1 in 2031 and ‘32, and $11 million each Nov. 1 from 2033-36.

If Burnes does opt out, the deferred money is payable in $10 million installments on Nov. 1 in 2027 and 2028.

He has a full no-trade provision through March 31, 2027. If he does not opt out, he can specify by each March 15 starting in 2027 a list of 14 teams he can’t be traded to without his consent.

Burnes would get $250,000 for winning a Cy Young Award, $150,000 for finishing second in the voting, $100,000 for third, $75,000 for fourth and $50,000 for fifth.

He would earn $50,000 each for All-Star election or selection, winning a Gold Glove, World Series MVP, League Championship Series MVP or finishing first or second on the All-MLB team.

Paul Goldschmidt says of his 2024 season with Cardinals: ‘I’m better than this’

NEW YORK (AP) >> Paul Goldschmidt went through a miserable first four months last year, including a career-worst 0-for-32 slide that ended with a May 11 ninth-inning single to avoid his first five-strikeout game.

“The feeling was just like, man, I’m better than this,” the former NL MVP said Thursday, three days after finalizing a $12.5 million, one-year contract with the New York Yankees. “But you got to go out and prove it. I mean, if you don’t perform, then you know you’re not going to be playing. And I think that’s just the truth in this game and in life.”

A seven-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, the 37-year-old first baseman left St. Louis and became part of the Yankees’ Plan B after they lost Juan Soto to the rival New York Mets.

Coming off a World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees also have added left-hander Max Fried, closer Devin Williams and outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger.

Goldschmidt joins Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Bellinger to give the Yankees four MVPs.

His beard and mustache shorn, Goldschmidt answered questions for about a half-hour. He spoke of his excitement about his new team, the third of his big league career, and recalled a series at Yankee Stadium with St. Louis on Labor Day weekend last season.

“Just to feel the energy walking out of the dugout, that was really fun,” he said. “The energy’s high every game there.”