When an Italian soccer club was staring down bankruptcy, an unlikely hero showed up at Venezia FC’s doorstep ready to lace up his shinguards.

According to GQ Italia, Drake played an integral role in helping raise $40 million for the Venice soccer club to stay afloat in Serie A. The franchise was looking at filing for bankruptcy heading into the 2023-2024 season and possibly being demoted to the lowest Serie D with a poor performance.

“I got a call from Brad Katsuyama, co-owner of Venezia and a good friend of mine,” said Drake’s CBO Matte Babel, who also works in management. “He laid out the problem to me in a simple way: Venezia has to raise €10 million in a couple of weeks, and then at least €30 million in a few months, or the club will go bankrupt.”

Babel gave Drake a call and the ball was immediately rolling to help Venezia FC get back on its feet. It only took two weeks to raise the money needed to hang up the phone on bankruptcy thanks to Drake and his team mobilizing efforts. Billboard has reached out to Drake’s reps for comment.

“Venice is an incredible city and Venezia has always been a special club. I spoke to Drake, then Brad and I discussed the details of how we could help. Within two weeks we had a deal, raised the money needed to pay the salaries and avoid bankruptcy.”

GQ Italia continues to report that the $40 million came from a group of North American investors and heavily credited the 6 God’s involvement. The new ownership crew formed an Operating Committee to “oversee the strategic direction of the club.”

“Matte was my first call when I knew the club needed help,” Katsuyama said. “Drake’s value to any football club is undeniable, given his scale as a global superstar and the reach of his brand. This intersection of culture and sport is exactly where we want to be, and the chance to collaborate with a brand like NOCTA, who is moving along the same lines, is incredibly valuable.”

Venezia FC also struck an apparel partnership deal with Drake’s Nocta line, who help design their new uniforms. The club has made a €315 investment into building a new stadium, indoor arena with state-of-the-art facilities, which the team hopes to open in Venice for the start of the 2027 season.

After three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna were canceled on Wednesday (Aug. 7) following the arrest of two suspects who reportedly planned to unleash a terrorist attack on the shows this weekend, ticketing companies have provided information on how ticket holders for the concerts will receive refunds.

“We are aware of the news regarding the upcoming cancelled Taylor Swift shows in Austria,” Stubhub announced in a statement provided to Billboard on Wednesday. “All StubHub ticket holders will be notified via email, immediately. We will immediately provide StubHub ticket buyers with a 120% voucher toward another purchase, in line with our event cancellation policy and our FanProtect Guarantee. Buyers who prefer a 100% cash refund can make the request directly in their StubHub wallet.”

Meanwhile, Austrian ticketer oeticket posted the following statement to its website: “Please note the following information from the organizer: Due to the confirmation by government officials about a planned terrorist attack in the Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three planned shows for everyone’s safety. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 working days.”

The same message was originally posted on Aug. 7 by Barracuda Music, the concert promoter for the Austrian shows. Details on how oeticket refunds will be processed were not immediately available at the time of publishing.

The announcement of the shows’ cancellation came hours after police confirmed that a 19-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested Wednesday morning for planning an unspecified terrorist attack on Vienna, the focus of which was said to be Swift’s concert. Another teenage suspect was arrested in the afternoon, according to ABC News.

Swift’s Vienna shows would have marked the Eras Tour‘s second-to-last stop on its European leg, followed by a five-night stint at London’s Wembley Stadium, scheduled for Aug. 15-20, for which Swift recently announced five new opening acts. On Thursday (Aug. 8), UK officials announced that there is no indication that the terror threats before the canceled Vienna shows will have any impact on her upcoming shows in London.

In October, Swift will return to North America for one final lap through the U.S. and Canada before ending the global Eras Tour trek once and for all with a show in Vancouver on Dec. 8.

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Track and field is nearing the final lap of the 2024 Olympics, but it’s not over yet. If you’re tired of watching highlights on social media and want to catch all the action before the Olympics end, we’ve rounded up ways to watch and stream the men’s 200 final and other track and field competitions.

On Thursday (Aug. 8), Team USA’s Noah Lyles won a bronze medal in the 200m men’s final behind fellow Team USA sprinter Kenny Bednarek and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who took home the African country’s first gold medal. Lyles, who contracted COVID earlier this week, wore a mask during the race and received medical attention afterwards.

Also on the Thursday’s roster, Olympic medalists Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas helped Team USA win the women’s 4 x 100m relay race and Sydney McLuaghlin-Levrone defended her gold medal in the 400m hurdles becoming the first woman in history to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic track and field competitions.

The track and field schedule includes the women’s 400m hurdles final, men’s 110m hurdles final, men’s 800m repechage, women’s 1500m semi-final and women’s long jumps final.

See below for ways to watch the 2024 Olympic track and field competitions.

Where to Watch

Because the Olympics are in Paris, live coverage starts early in the U.S. If you can’t make the early bird schedule, NBC airs primetime coverage of track and field and other Olympic events from 8p.m.-11 p.m.

Peacock also offers live and on-demand coverage of the 2024 Olympics. Certain games will also broadcast on USA, E! and Telemundo.

What’s the best way to stream the Olympics? If you don’t have cable or an HD antenna to access NBC and other channels, subscribe to DIRECTV, Fubo, Sling TV, or Hulu+ Live TV to watch live channels.

Not interested in cable? Peacock is the best way to stream the 2024 Olympics live and on-demand. Streaming on Peacock gives you access to exclusive programming, interviews, recaps and more.

Peacock starts at $7.99/month for the base plan and $13.99/month for Peacock Premium Plus, an ad-free plan that comes with live access to NBC. Peacock also offers a student discount plan for $1.99/month and teacher’s discounts plan starting at $2.99/month.  

If you want to stream everything in one place, DIRECTV Stream lets you enjoy local channels such as NBC, ABC, Fox and CBS in addition to cable networks such as ESPN, USA, E!, Telemundo, HGTV, Lifetime, Bravo and MTV. Click below to launch your free trail.

What other ways can you stream live channels without blowing the bank? Sling TV is one of the most budget-friendly streamers for cable and local channels (in select regions). Plans start at $20 for the first month.  

Beyond track and field, the Olympics schedule is stacked with must-watch competitions, including men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, artistic gymnastics, water polo and swimming. Check below for a condensed version of the track and field schedule (available on NBC and Peacock).

See the full schedule here.

Thursday

Women’s 100m Hurdles Repechage Round

Men’s 110m Hurdles Semifinal

Men’s 200m Final

Women’s 4 x 100m Relay, Round 1

Men’s 4 x 100m Relay, Round 1

Women’s 1500m Semifinal

Men’s 400m Hurdles Semifinal

Women’s 400m Semifinal

Men’s 200m Semifinal

Men’s 400m Final

Men’s Triple Jump Qualifications

Friday

Women’s 4 x 400m Relay, Round 1

Men’s 4 x 400m Relay, Round 1

Men’s 800m Semifinal

Women’s 4 x 100m Relay Final

Men’s 4 x 100m Relay Final

Women’s 400m Final

Saturday

Men’s High Jump Final

Men’s 800m Final

Women’s Javelin Throw Final

Women’s 100m Hurdles Final

Women’s 1500m Final

Men’s 4 x 400m Relay Final

Women’s 4 x 400m Relay Final

All aboard to Emerald City!

With the Jon M. Chu-directed adaptation of Wicked just months away from release, a new teaser arrived on Wednesday (Aug. 7). Grande, who topped the Billboard 200 this year with her Eternal Sunshine LP, is set to star as Glinda the Good Witch, with Erivo, a two-time Academy Award nominee, taking on the iconic role of Elphaba, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Both actresses appear in the 30-second clip, in which Elphaba receives an invitation to meet with the Wizard of Oz, played by Emmy nominee Jeff Goldblum. Glinda hops on the train to join her pal, before a scene flashes of fireworks coming from Emerald City. The duo ultimately enter the Wizard’s castle, where Goldblum’s character is seen talking into a microphone to speak as the Wizard through a huge mask in the air. “Welcome to Oz,” the screen reads.

Welcome to Oz ✨ #WickedWednesday pic.twitter.com/ZVmY8o07mc

— Wicked Movie (@wickedmovie) August 7, 2024

The fourth-longest-running Broadway show of all time, Wicked pulls inspiration from both the stage musical and the best-selling Gregory Maguire-penned novel of the same name.

The rest of the principal Wicked cast will feature Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Olivier winner Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Tony nominee Ethan Slater as Boq and Emmy nominee Bowen Yang as Pfannee.

The first part of Wicked arrives in theaters on November 22.