NFL teams were reportedly briefed at the league's annual meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., about the development of a subscription streaming service — tentatively called NFL Plus — that would allow fans without a cable subscription to stream live games on their phones. One team president said the concept is unlikely to be ready for an owners' vote until their next meeting in May. (The Athletic)
The NFL adopted a series of diversity policy enhancements at its annual meetings that requires all 32 teams to employ an offensive assistant coach for the 2022 season who is "a female or a member of an ethnic or racial minority," and establishes a league-wide fund from which they will be paid, while also adding women to the language of the Rooney Rule at all levels. The historic hiring mandate expands upon the league's Rooney Rule, which previously only required teams to interview minority candidates and incentivized hiring them. (ESPN)
Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who kept the club from moving by acquiring it out of bankruptcy in 2003, died of an unspecified illness at the age of 62, nearly seven years after receiving a life-saving liver transplant in 2015. The team is expected to remain in Melnyk's family. (Ottawa Sun)
UConn, Stanford, SC, Louisville headed to women's Final Four Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
With all the upsets that occurred during the women's NCAA Tournament this year — a record number of double-digit seeds won — three No. 1 seeds and No. 2 seed UConn remain.
ACC, Big Ten Earn $36.4 million From Tourney Eben Novy-Williams and Emily Caron, Sportico
The Atlantic Coast Conference's strong performance in this year's March Madness will put roughly $36.4 million in the conference's coffers over the next six years. The Big Ten will pull in the same, showing there are two ways to earn major money from the NCAA tournament.
Final Four Ticket Prices Spike on UNC-Duke Matchup to Record Levels Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico
The Final Four features a quartet of blueblood college basketball programs, but it is the matchup of Duke and UNC—who have never met in the NCAA tournament—that triggered the price explosion.
