College Football
Five power conferences proposition the NCAA
The five wealthiest college football conferences notified the NCAA of their proposals to provide more benefits to athletes under the new governance model that allows the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Southeastern Conference to pass legislation without the support of the other Division I leagues.
The autonomy structure went into effect Wednesday, which also was the first day for the power conferences to offer suggestions about what rules they want to implement. The NCAA board of directors in August passed a proposal to give autonomy to the five major conferences. The transition to the autonomy structure will happen in January.
Those conferences endorsed changes that would increase benefits to student-athletes, all of which have been touted by conference leaders for several years, including:
Funding athletic scholarships that would cover the full cost of tuition.
Guaranteeing multiyear scholarships for athletes.
Lifetime scholarship guarantees that would allow former athletes to return to school at any time and complete their degrees.
Providing long-term health care and insurance to former athletes.
The conferences also said they will review the time demands for athletes.
Any rule changes that occur would not start until the 2015-2016 academic year.
Golf
To the surprise of no one, McIlroy is player of year
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – One incredible month of golf was enough for Rory McIlroy to be voted PGA Tour player of the year.
McIlroy won the award, announced Wednesday in a vote of PGA Tour members, for the second time in three years.
McIlroy and Jimmy Walker each won three times on the PGA Tour, though the size of the trophy tilted heavily in favor of the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland. McIlroy went wire-to-wire to win the British Open, rallied from three shots behind on the final day at Firestone to capture his first World Golf Championship, and won the PGA Championship with a sterling back nine at Valhalla.
Chesson Hadley of the U.S. was voted PGA Tour rookie of the year.
NFL
NFL cashes ‘Sunday Ticket’ extension with DirecTV
NEW YORK – The NFL extended its contract with satellite provider DirecTV to carry the “Sunday Ticket” package, which allows viewers to watch out-of-market games.
The deal announced Wednesday expands DirecTV’s rights to stream the package live on mobile devices and online. The deal is worth $20 billion over eight years – $1.5 billion per year, according to a person familiar with the contract.
Soccer
U.S. will follow World Cup qualifying in Brazil
CHICAGO – The U.S. women’s soccer team will play four games in a tournament in Brazil in December.
The Americans will face China on Dec. 10, Brazil four days later and Argentina on Dec. 17 as part of the International Tournament of Brasilia, which will be held at the National Stadium Mane Garrincha, one of the sites of this year’s men’s World Cup. The championship and third-place game will be Dec. 21.
The top-ranked U.S. team will be playing in Brazil for the first time since 1997. Brazil is ranked sixth, China 14th and Argentina 37th.
The tournament follows the North and Central American and Caribbean Women’s Championship, which will be played in the United States on Oct. 15-26 and serves as qualifying for next year’s Women’s World Cup.
Associated Press
