"It’s basically a criminal cartel that stages a tournament every four years. ... You just cannot let FIFA occupy any kind of morality here, because they are banning Russia from the World Cup in Qatar, which is basically built on blood. FIFA, in the macro sense, are still continuing to do the wrong thing and will until the end of their existence” -- HBO’s John Oliver, on FIFA banning Russia from the '22 World Cup after wide criticism of its earlier, weaker sanctions (“Late Night,” NBC, 3/1).
"Conor's probably not going to be back until the early fall. So we'll see who's where and what's what, how it lays out" -- UFC President Dana White, on the expected timeline for Conor McGregor's return to the Octagon, as one of the promotion's biggest draws looks to recover from a leg injury in his last fight (MIRROR.co.uk, 3/1).
“Does anybody in the U.S. care that they’re doing this ‘Abbey Road’ promotion? Does anybody care that the Green Bay Packers are playing in London? No! This is an advertisement for fans across the ocean” -- FS1’s Ric Bucher, on a promo from the Packers for their London game where they recreated the cover from The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album (“Undisputed,” FS1, 3/1).
“When Ciara and I first met ... one of the questions was, ‘If you could do anything in the world, what would be some of those things?’ And one of them was to open up a school, which we did, Why Not You Academy, and we're also obviously launching this book” -- Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, on the new children’s book co-written with his wife, “Why Not You?” (“Today,” NBC, 3/1).
“The reason I started Serena Ventures is because I feel like the venture capital ecosystem really needs an inclusive player and a player with a platform to make the necessary ... change at scale, and we have that opportunity here. We're looking at fintech, we’re looking at marketplaces as well, and I like to use my brand to reach that need and to fill that void that the market has” -- Serena Williams, on her Serena Ventures venture capital firm raising $111M in initial funding (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 3/1).
