*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)
March Nadness is officially underway, and betting on this year's tournament has the potential to reach record levels. About 45 million Americans are expected to wager a total of $3.1 billion on just the men's tournament alone, according to a new survey from the American Gaming Association. Prince Grimes, Senior Writer for USA Today's sports betting media property, BetFTW, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss how betting could play into this year's tournament and other storylines surrounding March Madness.
March Madness is finally here as everyone is looking for which team to bet on and which teams to fade. Sports betting expert Alex Glaze joins Cheddar Bets to tell you which Cinderella team you should bet on and which teams to avoid for the NCAA Tournament.
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Sean Green, Co-founder of the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, discusses which teams he's leaning towards and away from, who the breakout stars will be, and explains why UCLA, a No. 4 seed, will leave New Orleans with the title.
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BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker gives her plays for some of the NCAA Tournament's biggest storylines, and explains why she is selling on both Coach K and - yes - Sister Jean.
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Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool Sports, joined Cheddar News senior reporter, Michelle Castillo at South by Southwest to talk about Barstool Sportsbook and the NCAA March Madness tournaments. "What we really believe is that there's going to be the next generation of sports bettor, [who] will follow sports the way Barstool Sports follow sports," she said. "They'll like winners. They'll like losers. They'll like the storylines. They'll like the drama with the fans.”
Amy Purdy, the three-time Paralympic medalist and first double-leg amputee competitive snowboarder, made her debut as a commentator at this year's games, and she joined Cheddar News to recap the event. "I like to challenge myself because I was challenging myself as a Paralympic athlete myself," she said. "But then to be able to be a commentator and be able to, you know, support the game, support the athletes in a completely different way, it was a lot of fun."
College basketball forward for the HBCU Texas Southern University, Mimi O'Neal, daughter of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, is pushing for more changes in light of gender equity scandals in NCAA college hoops brought to light on social media last year.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
