*By Conor White*
Now that Portugal has been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo needs a new job, and Facebook could be stepping in.
The company is reportedly in talks with the soccer superstar for a 13-episode reality show on its 'Watch' platform, but not everyone thinks it will work.
"It's amazing to me that Facebook is willing to drop so much money on original programming," said Taylor Lorenz, staff writer at The Atlantic. "I think they're spending like $10 million reportedly on this. I don't think it'll bring people in."
In an interview Friday on Cheddar, Lorenz noted that even if this series happens, Facebook needs to reassess its approach to 'Watch'.
"To me, they're still trying to force this behavior of going there and treating it as a TV experience down users' throats."
With over 120 million fans on the platform, Ronaldo is the single most followed athlete on Facebook, so it's safe to assume a show starring him would at least attract international viewers, but they may not have the capability to properly watch it.
"One of the problems with international markets is they don't have the data streaming speed to watch these long shows," explained Lorenz. "Even my phone on my New York City WiFi can be buffering sometimes, I can't get through the whole show. So I think as they move into long form content, they really need to focus on the usability of it and making it work."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/welcome-to-local-twitter)
Here are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, January 15, 2020.
The WNBA and its union announced a tentative eight-year labor deal Tuesday that will allow top players to earn more than $500,000 while the average annual compensation will surpass six figures for the first time.
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In bringing esports to the big screen, IMAX President Megan Colligan said the company is trying to find new ways to make the most of movie theaters at times when ticket sales generally lag.
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Six-time NBA All-Star Paul George is promoting his Nike PG4s — and he says the new collaboration is different from any other sneaker that fans have seen on the court.
Even though TeamFight Tactics was initially released as a League of Legends game mode, it has become so much more. And is now a staple within the autobattler genre. Inven Global's Esports Journalist Tom Matthiesen joined us to give us a review of 2019 as well his thoughts for TFT's 2020 future.
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Former NBA commissioner David Stern, who died on New Year's Day, carved out his professional legacy by turning the league, and the sport of basketball, into a massive commercial success. But the hard-nosed executive also left behind lasting social impact with the decisions he made over the course of his three-decade tenure at the top, remembers David Levy, former president of the Brooklyn Nets and a friend of Stern.
