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Soft Bank sues social media startup for alleged faking of user numbers and engagement

Business

CWEB

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August 7, 2023

Soft Bank’s Vision Fund (SFTBY) I has sued a social media startup alleging that it had faked user numbers and engagement. The startup was founded by a group, who were related. Masayoshi Son led Soft Bank has alleged that the startup In Real Life (IRL) had inflated user metrics and had also lied about its performance to the Vision Fund and received millions of dollars from it.

The complaint filed in San Francisco court, alleges that it seemed as if IRL was “one of the fastest growing social media apps for Gen Z.” Soft Bank had invested in the startup as it believed that the app would experience “viral growth” as the younger generation was less engaged on Facebook.

Soft Bank bought $125 million in company shares and $25 million from insiders including Abraham Shafi, Noah Shafi, Yassin Aniss, in May 2021.

Late 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating IRL. In April 2023, Abraham Shafi was suspended as CEO and in June, the company was dissolved.

Soft Bank reportedly accepted IRL’s inflated number of users and the engagement on its app. Abraham Shafi and his team alleged said that the app had 12 million monthly users which translated to about 25 percent of teens in the U.S., who were under the age of 18. It was supposedly growing 400 percent year over year. A third party assessed the numbers to be much below the number touted by IRL.

In its complaint Soft Bank described the social media platform as a “virtual ghost town, filled with bots deceptively mimicking active human users.”

IRL is not the only startup where Soft Bank seems to have burnt its fingers. The Japanese firm invested millions in FTX as well as WeWork through its Vision Fund. FTX is under bankruptcy filing and its CEO is facing several fraud charges. WeWork is devalued.

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WTA News: Venus Williams awarded wild card for Western & Southern Open

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August 7, 2023

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WTA News: Venus Williams awarded wild card for Western & Southern Open

Venus Williams was awarded a wild card for the 2023 Western & Southern Open.

Williams lost her opening match at Wimbledon, where the seven-time Grand Slam champion entered as a wild card but lost momentum when she slid to her back at the net and tweaked her knee before losing to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the opening round.

The 43-year-old Williams has 49 career singles titles.

Play begins Aug. 15 on the hard courts at the Western & Southern Open with five current or former World No. 1-ranked women, including Williams, in the field. Last year, she lost in straight sets in the opening round to Karolina Pliskova, another former No. 1.

Williams received a wild-card entry to next week’s Canadian Open in Montreal.

–Field Level Media

ATP News: Daniel Evans beats Tallon Griekspoor to lift trophy in Washington

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August 7, 2023

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ATP News: Daniel Evans beats Tallon Griekspoor to lift trophy in Washington

Ninth seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain defeated 12th seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3 to win the Mubadala Citi DC Open title on Sunday night in Washington.

Evans, 33, notched his second career ATP title and his first victory at an ATP 500 event.

Evans won the final by absorbing Griekspoor’s 12 aces, claiming 32 of his 40 first-service points (80 percent) and saving all four break points he faced.

The match was suspended for a lengthy rain delay when Evans was ahead 7-5, 2-2. Once they returned, each player held serve once before Evans won the final three games, fighting off four break points in the ninth game before prevailing on his first match point.

Evans had been slumping when he arrived in the nation’s capital, losing seven straight tour-level matches before going on a major run. He won his first two matches in three sets before straight-sets upsets of No. 2 seed and local favorite Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the semis.

–Field Level Media

MLS News: Whitecaps sign D Ranko Veselinovic to extension

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August 7, 2023

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MLS News: Whitecaps sign D Ranko Veselinovic to extension

Defender Ranko Veselinovic agreed to a contract extension with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, keeping him with the club through 2026.

The deal, announced Wednesday, includes a club option for 2027.

The 24-year-old joined Vancouver in February 2020 on a one-year loan from Serbian SuperLiga club FK Vojvodina, and the club later acquired him on a permanent transfer. Since 2020, he leads the Whitecaps with the most starts (101) and games played (109).

“Ranko has made tremendous strides since joining our club in 2020 and has been a staple in our backline over the last three plus years,” said Axel Schuster, sporting director.

“We are pleased that we were able to reach an agreement and we now look forward to seeing him continue his growth as a leader in our group on and off the pitch as he helps us achieve our goals for this year and beyond.”

In 21 games this season, he has two goals and one assist.

Before arriving in Vancouver, Veselinovic played only with FK Vojvodina in his hometown in Serbia, joining the club in 2017.

The Whitecaps also acquired wingback Richie Laryea on loan from Premier League side Nottingham Forest.

Laryea, 28, previously played in MLS with Toronto FC (2019-23) and Orlando City SC (2016-18), tallying 10 goals and 14 assists in 116 matches (88 starts).

He also played made three appearances for his native Canada at the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

“Richie is a winner, competitor, leader and has proven to be one of the best fullbacks in our league,” Schuster said in a statement. “Since the end of 2021, he has played in every single national team game, including all three World Cup games.”

–Field Level Media

PGA News: FedEx Cup Bubble Watch: Every player’s path to playoffs

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August 7, 2023

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PGA News: FedEx Cup Bubble Watch: Every player’s path to playoffs

The Wyndham Championship has long benefitted from the drama of players trying to make a final surge to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The additional allure of the CBS weekend broadcast is being able to watch the “bubble” players as their playoff positions shift with every hole. The drama has been heightened further this year, with the playoff field trimmed from 125 to just 70 players.

That has drawn more big names than usual to Greensboro, N.C., with former major champions Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Shane Lowry among those currently below the playoff cut line.

“I think it’s hard to like it when you’re on the outside, honestly,” Scott said of the reduced playoff field. “But I think it certainly intensifies the competition throughout the year, and that’s probably a good thing.”

The PGA Tour released a list of players entering the final regular-season event on the bubble. Based off “historical trends and data,” the tour provided a guideline of what each player must do this week to qualify for the first leg of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

The first number is each player’s current rank, followed by the minimum finish he needs to have a chance to move into the top 70 and then what he would need in order to qualify based on the projections.

Thomas was the 2017 FedEx Cup champion and has reached the playoffs in each of his previous eight seasons on the PGA Tour. He has finished no worse than seventh in each of the past six years.

Scott is one of only two players who has reached the playoffs every year since their inception. The other is Matt Kuchar, who is currently 59th in the standings.

Lowry enters the Wyndham in the best position of the three. The 2019 Open Champion said the revamped schedule around the new designated events led him to play in some tournaments he typically skips and to miss courses he traditionally enjoys. He has only one top-10 this year, but three of his nine top-25 have come at majors, so Lowry could potentially reach the playoffs with a tie for 23rd this week — depending upon how others around him fare.

“At this stage, I’m sitting here and I still feel like I can make the Tour Championship, so that’s an exciting place to be,” he said. “I think, obviously, I would prefer if I was in a better spot coming in here, but I’m not.

“It is what it is now, and I’m going to need a good week this week.”

–Field Level Media

NFL News: NFL takes Super Bowl to Nickelodeon

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August 7, 2023

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NFL News: NFL takes Super Bowl to Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon scored the first alternate network Super Bowl simulcast and will air the NFL broadcast aimed at youth viewership at the end of the 2023 season.

CBS is the primary broadcaster of Super Bowl LVIII, which will be played in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024, and pushed to pair the traditional game coverage and network telecast with the alternate audience of Nickelodeon. Two playoff games have aired on the kid-friendly network with graphic and broadcast elements built to entertain the underage viewers.

Nickelodeon and CBS are sister networks.

“We’re thrilled to partner with CBS Sports and Nickelodeon to present the first alternate telecast of the Super Bowl,” said Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media, in a statement. “Our previous telecasts on Nickelodeon have been huge hits and created a new and different way to experience an NFL game. We’re excited to bring that creativity to Super Bowl 58 and give our fans another way to enjoy one of the world’s most popular sporting events.”

Nickelodeon also will provide a kid-friendly option for the Christmas Day game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders. In 2022, the Christmas game featuring the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos aired on Nickelodeon.

–Field Level Media

OVERWATCH News: Defiant, Shock finish week with wins at OWL West Summer qualifiers

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August 7, 2023

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OVERWATCH News: Defiant, Shock finish week with wins at OWL West Summer qualifiers

The Toronto Defiant squeaked past the Washington Justice 3-2 and the San Francisco Shock swept the Vegas Eternal 3-0 on Sunday to conclude Week 4 of Summer Stage qualifying action in the Overwatch League’s West Region.

Summer Stage qualifying in the West runs through Sept. 4, with each team in the region playing a total of eight best-of-five matches. The top three teams will advance to the playoffs, while the fourth- through 10th-ranked squads will be sent to the play-ins.

On Sunday, Toronto opened with a 2-0 win on Busan, but Washington countered with its own 2-0 victory on Eichenwalde. The Defiant took Dorado 4-3 but the Justice evened it again with a 1-0 result on Esperance. The final map was Ilios, where the Defiant earned a 2-1 triumph.

The Shock made quick work of the winless Eternal, prevailing 2-0 on Ilios, 3-2 on Midtown and 1-0 on Route 66.

Summer Stage qualifying action in the West will return on Aug. 26 with four matches:
–London Spitfire vs. Los Angeles Valiant
–Houston Outlaws vs. Vegas Eternal
–Atlanta Reign vs. Washington Justice
–Los Angeles Gladiators vs. New York Excelsior

West standings (W-L record, map differential — includes performance in both spring and summer qualifiers):
1. Atlanta Reign, 12-2, plus-29
2. Florida Mayhem, 12-2, plus-25
3. Houston Outlaws, 11-3, plus-17
4. Boston Uprising, 10-4, plus-16
5. Vancouver Titans, 8-6, plus-10
6. San Francisco Shock, 7-7, minus-5
7. New York Excelsior, 6-8, minus-3
8. Toronto Defiant, 6-8, minus-4
9. Washington Justice, 6-8, minus-4
10. London Spitfire, 6-8, minus-5
11. Los Angeles Gladiators, 5-9, minus-12
12. Los Angeles Valiant, 2-12, minus-27
13. Vegas Eternal, 0-14, minus-37

–Field Level Media

LOL News: NRG defeat Golden Guardians to advance at LCS playoffs

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August 7, 2023

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LOL News: NRG defeat Golden Guardians to advance at LCS playoffs

NRG took down Golden Guardians 3-1 on Sunday to advance to the upper-bracket final at the League Championship Series playoffs.

The victorious NRG unit claimed a match-opening win on red in 33 minutes, then won again on blue in 38 minutes for a 2-0 lead. After GG stayed alive with a 33-minute triumph on blue, NRG finished the match with a swift 29-minute win on red.

With the loss, GG dropped to the lower bracket, where they will take on Dignitas in a quarterfinal match on Friday.

Australia’s Victor “FBI” Huang starred for NRG with 28 kills, 26 assists and 11 deaths for the match. American Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes led GG with a 26-8-14 kills-deaths-assists ratio.

After the regular season, the first- and second-place teams in the North American top League of Leagues circuit headed to the upper-bracket semifinals of the double-elimination playoffs. The third- through sixth-place teams opened the playoffs in the upper-bracket quarterfinals. The seventh- and eighth-place teams entered the postseason in the lower bracket, while the ninth- and 10th-place teams were eliminated.

The top three teams in the playoffs will secure berths in the League of Legends World Championship, scheduled for Oct. 10-Nov. 19 in South Korea. The fourth-place team will head to the World Championship’s Wildcard Qualifier.

The playoffs take a few days off until the next match on Thursday. This week’s schedule includes three matches:
–Thursday: Team Liquid vs. Evil Geniuses (lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Friday: Dignitas vs. Golden Guardians (lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Saturday: NRG vs. Cloud9 (upper-bracket final)

League Championship Series Summer Split prize pool:
1. $100,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
2. $50,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
3. $30,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
4. $20,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship’s Wildcard Qualifier
5-6. No prize money
7-8. No prize money — TSM, 100 Thieves
9. No prize money — FlyQuest
10. No prize money — Immortals

–Field Level Media

Mercury’s Diana Taurasi shoots for milestone against Dream

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August 7, 2023

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Mercury’s Diana Taurasi shoots for milestone against Dream

Diana Taurasi has a chance to reach 10,000 career points when she and her Phoenix Mercury teammates host the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night.

Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, put herself in position to reach the milestone after scoring a season-high 29 points in a 72-71 road loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday. That surpassed her previous season-high of 24 that she had on Sunday.

Averaging 16.1 points on the season, Taurasi is 18 points short of 10,000.

“When it happens, it happens,” Taurasi, 41, said. “It’ll be fun. It’ll be a cool moment for our city and franchise and all the people who have been in my corner for a long time.

“I really don’t think about the number. I’ve always said I just play basketball because I love playing. Literally that’s the only reason I keep showing up at the gym.”

The anticipation of Taurasi’s latest milestone is a rare bright spot in what has been a poor season for the Mercury (6-19), who are tied for the worst record in the league.

“Years like this take a toll on you,” Taurasi said, “but I’m really proud of this group. We prepare like we’re chasing a championship.”

The Dream (14-12), meanwhile, actually are chasing a championship as they sit in the middle of the playoff pack, though they’re coming off a 93-72 loss to the league-leading Aces in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Atlanta has gotten a lift from forward Nia Coffey, who scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Washington on Sunday, then scored 14 points against the Aces.

“Nia has been our steady Eddie all season, somebody we can depend on, on the defensive end,” Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said.

Coffey joined the Dream before last season after playing with the Mercury in 2020 and Los Angeles in 2021.

“When we got Nia, this is who we thought we’d be getting,” Wright said. “I’m happy to see it come to fruition for her. She put in a ton of work in the offseason.”

–Field Level Media

Liberty handle Sparks for 6th win in 7 games

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August 7, 2023

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Liberty handle Sparks for 6th win in 7 games

Courtney Vandersloot scored 23 points, including a pivotal basket down the stretch, and the New York Liberty overcame a stout defensive effort from the host Los Angeles Sparks to score their sixth win in the last seven games, 76-69, on Tuesday.

Breanna Stewart scored 16 points despite going 1 of 9 from 3-point range and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season.

New York (20-6) struggled offensively, shooting just 28 of 66, including 8 of 33 (25 percent) from 3-point range, and endured a field-goal drought of almost four minutes from the late third quarter into the fourth.

But with the Liberty holding the Sparks to just 24-of-70 shooting (34 percent) and 6 of 20 from 3-point range, New York rallied from seven down in the second half en route to its second win at Los Angeles in as many games.

Vandersloot’s all-around effort set the tone. She posted a game-high point total, added seven rebounds and matched the Sparks’ Jordin Canada with a game-high six assists.

Vandersloot scored on timely buckets, snapping the Liberty’s field-goal drought early in the fourth quarter, then finishing in the paint with 1:08 remaining on what proved to be the clinching shot.

It was New York’s final made field goal and extended the team’s lead to two possessions down the stretch.

Los Angeles (9-17) could not bridge the gap. The Sparks went 2:44 without a point late, and 3:17 between field goals — both of which came on Nneka Ogwumike’s layups.

The second, with 14.1 seconds remaining, cut a six-point New York lead to four, but Los Angeles came no closer.

Ogwumike led the Sparks with 20 points and eight rebounds. Canada finished with 13 points, but she shot a dismal 4-of-19.

The loss marked Los Angeles’ 10th in its last 12 outings.

–Field Level Media

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Soft Bank sues social media startup for alleged faking of user numbers and engagement

WTA News: Venus Williams awarded wild card for Western & Southern Open

ATP News: Daniel Evans beats Tallon Griekspoor to lift trophy in Washington

MLS News: Whitecaps sign D Ranko Veselinovic to extension

PGA News: FedEx Cup Bubble Watch: Every player’s path to playoffs

NFL News: NFL takes Super Bowl to Nickelodeon

OVERWATCH News: Defiant, Shock finish week with wins at OWL West Summer qualifiers

LOL News: NRG defeat Golden Guardians to advance at LCS playoffs

Mercury’s Diana Taurasi shoots for milestone against Dream

Liberty handle Sparks for 6th win in 7 games

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