Kia ora, Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula, Aloha and Welcome to Season 09 Episode 47 of Breakfast Bites, by TEIVOVOdigital.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Friday morning 24 May 2024.
 
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the blue continent.
 
In Rugby: There will be more to play for than ever before in the history of the international rugby 7s Series starting 31 May in Madrid.
 
World Rugby’s new winner takes all-Grand Final format, featuring only the Top 8 Men’s and Women’s teams, will crown the first ever SVNS Champions.

Meanwhile the promotion-relegation Play Off competition will see the next best eight men’s and women’s teams playing for their future HSBC SVNS place, especially Samoa.

In rugby league: New Zealand Warriors star, Addin Fonua-Blake has been stood down by the Club following a ‘breach of club standards’, the team announced yesterday.
 
According to the NZ Warriors, the gun prop left the dressing room following the team’s Magic Round victory over Penrith in Brisbane, missing the team song and coach Andrew Webster’s post-game speech.

Full disclosure, AFB is also related to my wife, so no further comment.
 
In Football: The English Premier League season ended with a record performance from Manchester City becoming the first Club to win the title four years in a row.
 
That first-place finish comes with a nice bonus this year, too. Man City can expect to receive roughly US$79Million from the EPL’s system of merit payments.
Man City, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi–based City Football Group, is one of a growing number of Clubs owned by Americans and owners of US-based sports franchises including:
· 2nd: Arsenal, Stan Kroenke (Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, Mammoth)
· 3rd: Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group (Red Sox, Penguins)
· 4th: Aston Villa, Wes Edens (former Bucks co-owner)
· 6th: Chelsea, Todd Boehly (investments in Dodgers, Sparks, Lakers)
· 8th: Manchester United, Glazer family (Buccaneers)
· 10th: Crystal Palace, John Textor (multiclub portfolio Eagle Football Holdings)
· 12th: Bournemouth, Bill Foley (Golden Knights)
· 13th: Fulham, Shad Khan (Jaguars)
· 19th: Burnley, New York–based ALK Capital

In SportsBiz: The Rugby World Cup 2023 hosted in France last year generated €1.8 billion of spend and a net gain for the host country of €871 million according to an impact study commissioned by the French Ministry of Sport.

An in-depth analysis of Rugby World Cup’s hosting benefits to boost the host nation’s economy also shows:

    425,000 international visitors (72 per cent from Europe) staying 10 days on average in France and spending €170 a day

    39 per cent of the total tourist spend benefitted local communities outside of the RWC2023 host cities
    Estimated public funding of €70M for security, stadiums and fanzones covered by €84M in tax revenue collected from RWC 2023

    A 12 per cent increase of registered rugby players in France between February 2023 and February 2024

In combat sports: Ryan Garcia's B-sample returned an adverse finding for the banned substance Ostarine, according to a Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory report viewed by ESPN.
 
The A-sample, which was collected the day before and the day of his upset win over Devin Haney last month, returned an adverse finding for Ostarine on May 1.

Ostarine aids performance by helping athletes build muscle mass and enhance their rate of fat loss, as well as to increase stamina and recovery, and has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list since 2008.

"I don't know where the adverse finding came from," Garcia told ESPN on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"Honestly, bro, I don't. I was taking Ashwagandha, D-3, Omega-3, just normal shit.

“I don't know what the F#@* Ostarine is. ... I have seriously no idea.

“I hate cheating. All I can say is legal team, help me figure this out."

Darin Chavez, part of Garcia's legal team, told ESPN a formal hearing with the New York State Athletic Commission will be set to "absolve Garcia of any wrongdoing."

"Ryan voluntarily had his hair sample shipped to Dr. Pascal Kintz, the foremost expert in toxicology and hair-sample analysis," Chavez said. "The results of Ryan's hair sample came back negative."
In the WNBA: Caitlin Clark has landed a partnership with Wilson, which has supplied the official ball of the WNBA since 2021.
 
The deal includes a signature basketball collection, making the Indiana Fever rookie, the first since Michael Jordan to be given such an honor. 
 
A total of 18,343 people packed Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena for a chance to see Clark, setting a franchise record for the highest attendance in Storm history, where courtside seats to watch the Indiana Fever's number 22 up close cost over US$10,000.
 
In five games in the WNBA, Clark has sold out every arena where she has played, but Indiana fever lost again and so far this season they are 0 from 5 games.
 
So, when will Caitlin Clark fever die down?
 
And that’s a wrap!
 
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Mahalo and Ka kite; for TEIVOVOdigital.com, I’m Culden Kamea tanking you all too mass for all your love and support.
 
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