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    Everton takeover boost as American group to make last-minute rescue mission for crisis club amid administration fears

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    AN AMERICAN consortium has joined the race to buy Everton.The Toffees suffered another blow in their bid to avoid going into administration last week as US investors The Friedkin Group’s proposed takeover collapsed.Kevin Malone is leading a group keen on buying EvertonCredit: YouTube/Come On Let’s GoEverton owner Farhad Moshiri has seen multiple takeover deals collapseCredit: GettyThey had a period of exclusivity for talks with current owner Farhad Moshiri over an £800m deal.But The Friedkin Group, who also own Roma, pulled out on Thursday due to concerns about the crisis club’s debt to 777 Partners.They had pumped in £200m to keep the club afloat – but failed in an attempt to buy Everton in June as the Premier League refused to ratify the deal. 777 Partners did not receive approval as chiefs were worried they did not have the cash to meet their obligations after backers cut ties with them and the company was hit with legal issues in the US and Europe.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLBut a new consortium from across the pond now want to buy Everton.They are led by former LA Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone.And the group will reportedly make an offer to Moshiri in the coming weeks after seeing initial interest knocked back due to The Friedkin Group’s exclusivity agreement.Malone’s consortium will be rivalled by British investment firm Vici Private Finance.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSSunSport understands they are confident of completing a takeover in a matter of weeks.Vici Private Finance are being advised by former Everton director Keith Harris.Premier League sides deducted points and others at riskLocal businessmen and Toffees fans Andy Bell and George Downing could also return to the negotiating table.The mega-rich duo are open to waiving the millions owed to them after helping to fund the build of their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium in exchange for a stake in the club.Meanwhile, Crystal Palace part-owner John Textor is unlikely to make another bid for Everton.Yet any buyer will need to appease Moshiri, who wants £25m up front plus £2.5m for TEN YEARS to walk away from the Merseyside team.SunSport exclusively revealed that he sees the £50m pay-off as part of any deal to sell.WHAT IS FFP?SunSport’s Martin Lipton breaks down what it is all about…FFP – or Financial Fair Play – is a concept originally introduced by Uefa in 2009, officially to prevent clubs from spending money they could not afford.Yet many critics have rounded on the system, accusing it of being a protective instrument, drafted by the so-called “legacy clubs” to prevent insurgent and wealthier clubs from buying their way onto the top table.The Premier League introduced its own FFP regulations which came into effect for the 2013-14 season and which, while less stringent than Uefa regulations, they do impact on club spending.Under the current Prem “Profitability and Sustainability” regulations, clubs who are constant members of the top flight for a three-year period are allowed total losses of £105m over those three campaigns.But it is not as simple as totting up outlay and income.The biggest outlay, of course, is transfer fees. The 20 Prem clubs spent a total of around £2.4bn in last summer’s transfer window.Yet that does not mean they “spent” that money as far as the Prem rules are concerned.Transfer fees are “amortised” over the length of the contract, so, for example, a £100m fee for a player who signs a five-year deal is amortised at a cost of £20m per season for each of those five campaigns. More

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      WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury End 10-Season Playoff Streak

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      The W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Their sustained success was rare among major pro sports teams.When the Phoenix Mercury lost to the Dallas Wings on Sunday, it ended an impressive period of sustained success. After a league-leading 10-year streak, the team will not be making the W.N.B.A. playoffs this season.Being good enough to make the playoffs year after year is surprisingly difficult in sports. Player turnover, coaching changes or injuries, or all three, can lead to a losing record and a postseason on the sideline. Even with expanded playoff fields in many sports, a decade-long run like the Mercury’s is rare in the modern game.Here’s a look at the current teams around North America that have been consistently good enough for the most seasons.After being the No. 1 overall pick in 2013, Brittney Griner has made the playoffs in every season of her career. Until now.Ross D. Franklin/Associated PressN.H.L.: Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, 7Full credit to the Bruins and Leafs for their current seven-season runs. Neither streak includes a Stanley Cup though. The Bruins last lifted the Cup in 2011 and the Leafs in … looking … looking … 1967.But the most impressive recent playoff streak in hockey goes to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who made it 16 straight times, winning Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017. Last season, the team missed the playoffs by a point to end that run.W.N.B.A.: Connecticut Sun, 7For the Mercury, the 10-year streak coincided with the arrival of Brittney Griner, a first overall draft pick. For the Sun, the key was starting Jonquel Jones, who had been a substitute in her rookie year. She scored 15 points a game and averaged a W.N.B.A.-record 12 rebounds a game in the 2017 season to take the Sun back to the playoffs.The team has not missed since, including this season, its first after trading Jones to the Liberty. The team has two finals appearances, but no titles, during the streak.The Connecticut Sun became a perennial postseason team once they elevated Jonquel Jones to the starting lineup. With Jones now playing for the Liberty, Connecticut is still thriving.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesN.F.L.: Kansas City Chiefs, 8Say what you will about Andy Reid, but he has led Kansas City to the playoffs eight straight times. How hard is that? The next-best streak is four, by the Buffalo Bills. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have three, three teams have two, and the streaks of the other 26 teams are at one or zero.While Reid has had Patrick Mahomes as his starting quarterback for the past five seasons, the streak also includes three seasons with Alex Smith as the starter. It also includes three Super Bowl appearances in the last four seasons and two wins.N.B.A.: Boston Celtics, 9The Celtics, who made 19 straight playoff appearances in the 1950s and ’60s, and 14 more in the ’80s and early ’90s, are back on top now as well with a more modest streak.That run has included a consistent core: six seasons of Jayson Tatum, seven of Al Horford and Jaylen Brown and nine of Marcus Smart. It has also included an N.B.A. finals appearance in 2022, a loss to the Golden State Warriors.The Celtics have a long way to go to match the most impressive recent playoff streak in sports. The San Antonio Spurs made the playoffs in 22 straight seasons before missing the last three times. A new streak could well be starting next season though, with the arrival of the No. 1 overall pick, Victor Wembanyama.Colleges are a different matter, of course, but that makes it no less impressive that Kansas’ men’s team has made 33 consecutive N.C.A.A. tournaments. And Tennessee’s women’s team has made every N.C.A.A. tournament that has ever been held — 41 of them.The Boston Celtics’ nine-season streak of making the playoffs started before the arrival of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but the versatile duo has helped sustain it.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesM.L.B.: Los Angeles Dodgers, 10This streak is soon going to be 11, barring an epic collapse. The Dodgers lead the National League West by 12 games, though they haven’t technically clinched a playoff spot.The run includes back-to-back World Series losses, to the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox in 2017 and 2018, and a championship in 2020, albeit one that was played out in a Covid bubble in Arlington, Texas.Stalwart hitters for the team have been Justin Turner (156 homers, 2014 to 2022) and Corey Seager (.504 slugging, 2015 to 2021), yet with both players gone this season, the team is still among baseball’s best.The player most identified with the modern Dodgers, going back not just to the start of the streak in 2013 but all the way to 2010 when he was 20 years old, is starter Clayton Kershaw. He has 208 regular-season wins with the team plus 13 in the playoffs and three in the World Series, two of them in the 2020 victory.M.L.S.: New York Red Bulls, 13Here’s a chance to stump your friends: What major professional team has the longest active playoff streak? It is unlikely they will come up with the Red Bulls.The answer seems surprising because the Red Bulls have been around since the inaugural season of M.L.S., 1996, when they were the MetroStars, and have yet to win an M.L.S. Cup, which goes to the playoffs’ winner. The best they have done during their current 13-season streak is reach the semifinals, which they have done three times.This season, with nine teams from each conference making the playoffs, the Red Bulls are currently 11th, three points out with nine games to play. So you might want to ask that trivia question quickly. More