Sports News...

TNmavol · Jan 24, 2022

Top Stories

The National Women's Soccer League's board of governors voted unanimously to allow non-equity, nonvoting investors in the Washington Spirit franchise to become shareholders, a positive development for co-owner Y. Michele Kang in her effort to take over the team from its controlling stakeholder, Steve Baldwin. Many of the non-equity investors support Kang in the struggle for control of the team, while the league said the Spirit's ownership group will "now engage in a process to determine whether Kang will receive sufficient support of its voting members." (The Washington Post)
The Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams will host the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers, respectively, in this weekend's NFL conference championship games after a thrilling four-game divisional-round slate featured three games that ended on walk-off field goals and one that ended on a touchdown in overtime. If the Rams defeat the 49ers, they would become the second team in as many seasons to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first team to do so in Super Bowl LV last year. (The Associated Press)
UFC President Dana White abstained from strapping the heavyweight championship belt on champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 and skipped his usual post-fight news conference, a sign of tension between White and the Cameroonian fighter who is seeking a pay increase from the mixed martial arts promotion. After retraining the title with a win over Ciryl Gane in the final bout of his eight-fight deal, Ngannou said he would become a free agent if he doesn't fight again before the end of the year and explore a professional boxing career. (The New York Times)

COLLEGE SPORTS

New NIL Summit Will Help College Athletes Optimize Opportunities
Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated
The NIL Summit, hosted by Student Athlete NIL (SANIL) and sponsored by NIL platform INFLCR, is scheduled for June 13-15 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta and will offer a platform for athletes to learn about maximizing their NIL opportunities and network with those within the industry.

New NIL firm will help donor collectives arrange, manage and monitor student athletes' deals
Michael Smith, Sports Business Journal
Nashville-based agency Athlete Licensing Company has begun working with donor collectives to help them strike NIL deals and monitor the income for college athletes. ALC manages the back-of-house operations through software that keeps up with payments to the athletes and their fulfillment of the deal.

South Carolina-UConn women's basketball game called off as Gamecocks prioritize conference play
The Athletic
Thursday night's game between No. 1-ranked South Carolina women's basketball and No. 9 Connecticut has been called off as the former needs to find a date to make up its matchup with Ole Miss, originally scheduled for Jan. 2.

John Stockton's defiance of COVID-19 mask mandate forces Gonzaga to suspend NBA Hall of Famer's basketball season tickets
Theo Lawson, The Spokane Spokesman-Review
Gonzaga and its most prominent alumnus are at odds over the school's mask mandate, leading Gonzaga to suspend Stockton's season tickets at home basketball games. Stockton confirmed the university's decision to suspend his season tickets for failing to comply with the mask mandate.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas stays the course as NCAA changes eligibility rules
Katie Barnes, ESPN
Critics of the new policy point to what they identify as a rushed process that amounted to "caving" to external pressures wanting stricter regulations following Thomas' success. There are also logistical concerns, including the need to monitor athletes' testosterone levels, a process that wasn't part of the previous policy.

--Morning Consult
GBO
Ma

touchdown_tennessee · Jan 24, 2022