NCAA panel agrees athletes should be paid for their fame
NCAA leaders on Monday endorsed a plan to let college athletes make money off their personal renown as soon as Thursday. The move, one of the last steps toward a groundbreaking shift in the philosophical and financial underpinnings of college sports, comes just before new state laws challenging long-standing NCAA rules take effect.
Although athletics executives acted under severe political pressure and settled on their approach only after the Supreme Court last week left the NCAA vulnerable to antitrust challenges, the interim guidelines are poised to offer coast-tocoast clearance for students to earn money through autograph signings, personal appearances, endorsements, social media and other kinds of deals.
Taken together, the state laws and relaxed industry rules will open a new era in college sports and allow players — not just schools, conferences, coaches and the NCAA itself — to look to the marketplace to capitalize on their fame for the first time. Some athletes could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, although most are expected to pull in far smaller sums, if anything at all.
A board mostly filled with university chancellors and presidents must still sign off the plan, but college-sports executives ultimately expect the backing of the group.
The interim guidance that advanced Monday would apply to Division I, which has more than 170,000 student-athletes. Officials in Divisions II and III, which together include about 750 schools and more than 320,000 players, could adopt similar plans this week.
Athletes and companies have been preparing for the coming state laws Thursday. Last week, Jordan Bohannon, a men’s basketball player at Iowa, announced plans for an apparel line that will debut Thursday. And businesses have been making plans to extend offers to players soon after Thursday.
Track and field MCLAUGHLIN BREAKS 400 HURDLES MARK ON HISTORIC DAY >>
Sydney McLaughlin ran a 51.90 to smash the women’s 400-meter hurdles world record at the U.S. Olympic track trials in Eugene, Ore., on Sunday night. McLaughlin finally outraced Dalilah Muhammad to earn the victory, and the record, that Muhammad kept grabbing whenever they met. McLaughlin’s 51.90 was good enough to beat Muhammad by 0.52 seconds. It shattered Muhammad’s old world record by 0.26.
“It’s one of those moments you think about and dream about and play in your head that you’ll put it together,” said McLaughlin, who not long ago aligned with coach Bobby Kersee.
Her record was the highlight of a day that included other kinds of history.
Noah Lyles won the 200 meters to punch his Olympic ticket, then celebrated by kneeling on the track and clasping his hands together: “I just stopped stressing and let my body do what it does,” he said after posting a world-leading time of 19.74 that came on the heels of some lackluster runs through the 100 and 200 rounds.
He shared the spotlight with 17-year-old Erriyon Knighton, whose third-place finish makes him the youngest male member of the U.S. Olympic track team since Jim Ryun in 1964.
JuVaughn Harrison, a 22-year-old from LSU, won not one, but two titles on the same day to become the first American to make the Olympics in both the high jump and the long jump since Jim Thorpe in 1912.
Cycling
BELGIUM’S MERLIER WINS STAGE 3 OF TOUR DE FRANCE >> Tim Merlier of Belgium won the crash-marred Stage 3 of the Tour de France as Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands retained the yellow jersey in Pontivy.
Merlier and Alpecin-Fenix teammate Jasper Philipsen finished onetwo in the 182.9-km ride from Lorient to Pontivy.
Tour de France favorites Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic crashed in separate incidents, and Stage 3 favorite Caleb Ewan also went down in the final 150 meters after touching wheels with Merlier. Peter Sagan also hit the deck in that incident.
France’s Nacer Bouhanni finished third, and Italians Davide Ballerini and Sonny Colbrelli finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tuesday’s Stage 4 will be contested between Redon and Fougeres. The 21-stage course is scheduled to conclude on July 18.
Soccer
SOMMER SAVES MBAPPÉ’S PENALTY, SWISS BEAT FRANCE IN SHOOTOUT >> Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer saved a penalty kick from Kylian Mbappé to give his team a 5-4 penalty shootout victory over World Cup champion France and a spot in the European Championship quarterfinals for the first time.
The victory after the 3-3 draw put the Swiss in the quarterfinals of a major soccer tournament for the first time in 67 years.
The Swiss will next play Spain in the quarterfinals Friday.
In other action, Spain defeated Croatia 5-3 when Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal scored in extra time to help give Spain a place in the quarterfinals.
It was the second-highest scoring game in the history of the European Championship, trailing only Yugoslavia’s 5-4 win over France in the opening game of the inaugural tournament in 1960.
Football
EX-BRONCO THOMAS RETIRES FROM NFL >> Five-time Pro Bowl receiver Demaryius Thomas announced his retirement from the NFL following a decade-long career.
Thomas was part of the winningest four-year period in team history from 2012-15 with Peyton Manning at quarterback. The Denver Broncos went 55-17 during that span, winning two AFC titles and Super Bowl 50.
FOOTBALL HALL HONORS FACENDA WITH ROZELLE AWARD >> The late John Facenda, a longtime narrator of NFL highlights whose voice became synonymous with the league, has won the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2021 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.