Franchise Notes: Marbury Acquires Beijing Franchise In American Football Arena League

Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury will purchase the Beijing franchise of a "fledgling" American football arena league, the league announced. Marbury, who has played in the Chinese Basketball Association since '10, has already announced that the coming season "will be his last" in the CBA. The China Arena Football League said in a statement that Marbury, 40, "has agreed to take ownership of the team as the first step in a next-stage career" as a sports exec (AFP, 10/21).

Max Verstappen extended his Red Bull contract by a year to the end of the '20 season. The move "seems to end speculation" about the possibility of the 20-year-old Dutchman moving to Mercedes or Ferrari within the next couple of years. He said, "Red Bull has always shown their faith and belief in me." Verstappen's previous contract ran until the end of '19 "but had clauses that could have seen him leave at the end of next season, depending on certain circumstances which are not public" (BBC, 10/20).