Boston Red Sox chairman hopes Covid game cancellations will be a 'rare event' this MLB season
Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner told CNBC on Thursday he does not expect coronavirus outbreaks to significantly alter the course of the Major League Baseball season. Werner's comments on "Squawk Box" came on opening day, with a full slate of games on the schedule featuring all 30 teams. It marks the start of the second MLB season played during the pandemic, following last year's shortened campaign. Some coronavirus protocols could relax for teams this season once a certain vaccination threshold is met. The 2020 season was delayed for months after the pandemic hit the U.S., but eventually a 60-game schedule got underway in July.
cnbc.comAP source: James becomes partner in group that owns Red Sox
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)LeBron James is becoming a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox. Fenway Sports Group is the parent company of the Red Sox as well as the Liverpool Football Club of the English Premier League and the Roush Fenway Racing NASCAR team. A spokeswoman for the Red Sox and FSG declined to comment. And now, he'll be linked to the Red Sox — the Yankees' biggest rival. “I still know what I do on the floor and obviously, I give everything to the game,” James told AP in December.
Back in Boston, Red Sox's Cora vows to be above reproach
In this still image from an online video news conference provided by the Boston Red Sox, manager Alex Cora speaks Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, at Fenway Park in Boston. (Boston Red Sox via AP)BOSTON – Alex Cora wants to make one thing clear — he deserved to have his dream job as manager of the Boston Red Sox taken away earlier this year. Cora was introduced as the new Red Sox manager on Tuesday, just 10 days after his one-season suspension for his role in the Astros' sign-stealing scheme during their 2017 championship run came to an end. Cora was Houston’s bench coach prior to being hired by the Red Sox in November 2017, and promptly led Boston to the 2018 championship after a franchise-record 108 regular-season wins. “I have a pretty good idea of how they feel about Alex,” Bloom said.
Shouting distance: Henry, Werner cheer Liverpool title
Liverpool won its first league title since 1990, clinching Thursday, June, 25, 2020. Players sprayed beer and bubbly all the same when Liverpool clinched its 19th league title but first since 1990 two years before the Premier League launched. There can be no disappointment in winning the Premier League! Henry wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Liverpool won its 18th league title in 1990, two years before the Premier League launched and helped transform soccer into the global business it would become. Henry and Werner embraced the turnaround, if unable to physically hug each other and the players.
AP Interview: Liverpool chair Werner on virus delaying title
(Peter Byrne/PA via AP)The Premier League trophy should have been in Tom Werners hands by now. Reading through protocols Im trying to absorb the words that I never thought I knew a month ago, Werner says. The Liverpool players only this week returned to practice in groups of less than five after being tested for the coronavirus. Whenever if the Premier League trophy is collected, it will not happen in front of Liverpool fans. Then somebody said, Well, if we win the Premier League, this parade will be dwarfed.'
Soccer gets comedy series treatment with help from Liverpool
This undated photo made available by Terry Cartwright Television Ltd shows the filming in London of The First Team a new BBC comedy drama series about a fictional soccer team. (Terry Cartwright Television Ltd via AP)Mattie Sullivan cannot believe he is making the leap from American soccer to the Premier League. But Sullivan wont be seen in the Premier League anytime soon, and not just because the competition is suspended. This is an opening scene from the The First Team, a TV comedy series which premieres on the BBC in Britain next week. The series largely focuses on the off-field antics of Premier League players with more cash than common sense.
IRS will allow people to put away more money in health savings accounts
Tom WernerNext year, the IRS will allow people to put away even more money in health savings accounts, a tax-advantaged account you can use for medical expenses. Health savings accounts work alongside high deductible health plans. You can save money on a pretax or tax-deductible basis, have it grow tax free and then use the money to cover health care costs free of taxes. In 2021, the HSA contribution limit will rise to $3,600 for people with self-only coverage in a high deductible plan, according to the IRS. Those with family plans will be able to stash up to $7,200 in 2021, which is up from $7,100 in 2020.
cnbc.com3 things keeping you from maximizing this tax-favored account
Health savings accounts, which are offered alongside high-deductible health-care plans, come with a bevy of tax benefits. Another sweetener: Pretax contributions you make to your HSA, as well as contributions your employer makes to the account, avoid Social Security and Medicare taxes. As attractive as these features may be, few people are maximizing their options, according to data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. For example, only 6% of HSA holders had their money invested in something other than cash in 2018, EBRI found. "An FSA mentality"Savers who are new to HSAs may get them confused with their cousins, the health-care flexible spending account.
cnbc.comUse the dollars in this tax-advantaged account or lose them for good
Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty ImagesIf you were diligently saving money for medical expenses all year, you may be about to lose it. A health-care flexible spending account, which you may have access to at work, allows you to save pretax dollars in a savings account. You can take tax-free distributions from the FSA as long as you're using the money for qualified medical expenses. How much to saveGetty ImagesIn 2019, you were able to stash $2,700 in a health-care FSA. You can even invest the funds and use them for health-care expenses in retirement.
cnbc.comU.S. solar firms see growth in fire-stricken California
Workers lift a solar panel onto a roof during a residential solar installation in Scripps Ranch, San Diego, California, U.S. October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mike BlakeThe fires, driven by howling seasonal winds, have forced California power utility PG&E to cut electricity here to millions of people to prevent its transmission lines from touching off new blazes. Paired with a battery, solar power can be stored during the day and used to keep appliances running after sunset, or during outages. Rather than cutting prices, regional solar and battery installer Petersen-Dean is boosting its business in California, CEO Jim Petersen said. The outages have affected affluent parts of California that can afford solar and battery systems to keep their electric vehicles charged and wine cellars cold, he said.
feeds.reuters.com