There is plenty of Premier League action on Sunday 22nd December including a contest with Fulham taking on Southampton at Craven Cottage in London.
The game is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. EST and will be broadcast exclusively on peacockwhich provides highlights and post-match coverage in the Premier League.
peacock also offers on-demand replays of Premier League matches shown on NBC, CNBC and USA Network, as well as having exclusive live games.
At 6-6-4, Fulham enter the weekend eighth in the table and level with Brighton & Hove Albion on record and on 24 points, but maintaining an advantage on goal difference.
Southampton are last in the Premier League at 1-2-13 with 5 points, 4 behind the next closest team going into the weekend, Wolverhampton.
WHO: Fulham v Southampton
When: Sunday, December 22 at 9:00 AM EST
Where: Craven Cottage in London
Transmission: peacock
What is Peacock?
peacock is home to the Premier League, Sunday Night Football, exclusive college football games, premium live WWE events and the Olympics, as well as programming on the NBCUniversal networks.
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By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer
Half of the Premier League is under majority American ownership after the Texas-based Friedkin Group completed its purchase of 98.8% of Everton on Thursday.
The acquisition ended Farhad Moshiri’s turbulent eight-year tenure at the famous English club, adding to the Friedkins’ extensive investment portfolio that includes Italian side Roma. The size of the deal was not disclosed, but the BBC and other British media valued it at more than 400 million pounds ($500 million).
Headed by Dan Friedkin, who has a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes, and his son Ryan, the group has investments in the automotive, entertainment, hospitality and sports industries. The Friedkins made a fortune distributing Toyota in Texas.
“I am very proud to welcome one of England’s most historic football clubs into our global family,” said Dan Friedkin. “Everton represents a proud legacy and we are honored to become custodians of this great institution.”
Everton are nine-time English champions who have been a regular in the top division since 1954, but have not won a major trophy since 1995 and have been battling relegation in recent years.
The Toffees, as they are called, are 16th in the 20-team league heading into the halfway point of this season.
US owners
The most lucrative and popular domestic league in the world now has 10 teams with American owners.
Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Liverpool and Manchester United are majority owned by Americans. Manchester City have minority American investors in Silver Lake.
American-owned Leeds and Burnley were recently relegated from the Premier League but are in a decent position to secure promotion from the second-tier Championship this season. Leeds are second and Burnley third.
Chaos under Moshiri
Moshiri, a British-Iranian businessman, sold his Arsenal stake to become Everton’s main shareholder in 2016 and by the end of his reign had a 94% stake in the club.
His eight years in charge will be remembered for squandering hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars) on players, going through eight permanent managers and plunging Everton into financial uncertainty, which left the team two points adrift in the last season due to reckless spending.
The club’s finances were particularly affected in March 2022 when Everton announced it was ending its major sponsorship with companies belonging to Russian metals magnate Alisher Usmanov, Moshiri’s business partner, after he was sanctioned by the European Union following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moshiri leaves with Everton set to leave their long-term home of Goodison Park at the end of this season and move to a new state-of-the-art stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock on the Mersey waterfront.
The sale was “the best outcome for the club and its future success”, Moshiri said.
“Despite a challenging geopolitical context, a significant amount has been achieved over the past two years, including the delivery of a new sports department, the stabilization of our finances and the delivery of our new flagship stadium,” he said. “It now hands over to new owners who are confident in the club’s prospects and that our amazing fans will see the on-pitch success they so richly deserve.”
However, there may be some concern among Everton fans about the Friedkins, who have never spoken publicly in the four years since they bought Roma and are unpopular with supporters after making controversial management changes , including the sacking of Daniele De Rossi, the club’s beloved former captain. , earlier this season.
Everton are looking for owners
The Friedkin Group reached an agreement in principle in June to buy Moshiri’s stake, but talks broke down a month later. Everton were then in negotiations with American businessman John Textor, who said he had an exclusivity deal with the club but first had to sell his stake to Premier League rivals Crystal Palace.
Earlier, a proposed takeover of Everton by 777 Partners collapsed amid concerns about the company’s financial stability.
“We understand that the club has faced significant challenges on and off the pitch for a number of years,” said Marc Watts, the new chief executive. “That is why our immediate priority is to stabilize the club and improve the results on the pitch.”
Friedkins’ goals
Watts said the group has provided an undisclosed capital injection to secure the completion of the new stadium, turning most of Everton’s debt into equity “paid off or refinanced on terms more favorable to the stability of the club”.
The new owners said they had six aims, including “strengthening the men’s first team squad through thoughtful and strategic investment” and “enhancing Everton’s reputation as a unique and historic name in world football”.
No mention was made of Sean Dyche, who has been Everton’s manager for almost two years and whose future could come under scrutiny if the new ownership wants a fresh start.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.