| | | | | | | Presented By SiriusXM | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker · Jul 29, 2022 | | 🎉 Happy Friday! Some sports news to take you into the weekend... Today's word count: 1,619 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🏈 Blurred lines |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | Major college football is starting to look more and more like the NFL. A few examples... 1. Free agency: The NCAA's D-I Council is expected to approve unlimited transfers next week, which would effectively bring free agency to college sports, with NIL deals instead of contracts. Playing for four schools in four years wouldn't be the norm, but it would be possible. "Having been a strident leader for the rights of college athletes, I never anticipated they would go this far." — Tom Mars, attorney and college sports advocate, via CBS2. Two conferences: On fall Sundays, America watches the NFC and AFC, two 16-team conferences. On fall Saturdays in the near future, America will watch the new-look SEC and Big Ten, two 16-team conferences (for now). "Honestly, I think that's our future. ... About 50-55 teams, half of them in the Big Ten, half of them in the SEC. If we're simplifying it, think AFC, NFC in the NFL. Saturdays, you're going to have three divisions: West, Middle and East or South, and that's what it's going to be." — Kirk Herbstreit on "SportsCenter" last month 3. Revenue sharing: Penn State QB Sean Clifford is part of a college football players advocacy group demanding a share of Big Ten media rights revenue, which is expected to top $1 billion annually. Jim Harbaugh thinks they should get a cut, just like NFL players do. "I believe players should have a share in the revenues, and I think that's something that's really possible at Michigan. I think that's where we're headed." — Harbaugh 4. Employment status: The National Labor Relations Board last fall said college athletes in revenue-producing sports are employees. That creates a potential path for them to get paid, which roughly half of American adults would support. "For decades, the idea of college athletes forming a labor union has been a far-flung fantasy … No longer." — Alex Kirshner, Global Sport Matters The bottom line: As the NCAA's "amateurism" model corrodes amid the rise of NIL, player movement and superleagues, the difference between college and pro football — between Saturdays and Sundays — is fading. |     | | | | | | 2. ⚾️ Judge on pace for 63 jacks |  | | | Aaron Judge celebrates his walk-off. Photo: Adam Hunger/Getty Images | | | | Through 100 games, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is on pace for 63 home runs after hitting a walk-off bomb Thursday night. Why it matters: That would break Roger Maris' American League record of 61 and tie Sammy Sosa (1999) for sixth-most ever in a season. By the numbers: Most HRs in a team's first 100 games this century: - 42: Barry Bonds (2001) … finished with 73 (most all-time)
- 41: Luis Gonzalez (2001) … finished with 57 (T-15th all-time)
- 39: Judge (2022)
| | | | | | | | 3. 🏀 30 at 40: Taurasi joins exclusive club |  | | | Photo: Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images | | | | Diana Taurasi made history on Thursday, becoming the third player in WNBA/NBA history to score 30 points at age 40 or older, joining Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki. - Jordan did it four times, scoring 43 points in a win over the Nets on Feb. 21, 2003 (four days after his 40th birthday), then adding games of 30, 35 and 39 as his final season came to a close.
- Nowitzki did it once, scoring 30 points in a win over the Suns in the second-to-last game of his career.
| | | | | | | | A message from SiriusXM | | Stream SiriusXM now and get 3 months for free | | |  | | | | With SiriusXM Streaming, get access to three months of expertly curated ad-free music, Pandora artist stations, live sports, celebrity hosts, Howard Stern and more. More info: Listen on your phone, at home and more with the SXM App. See Offer Details. | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Sebastian Vettel in 2018. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images | | | | 🏁 Vettel retiring: Four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel will retire at the end of the season. The German driver has 53 career wins, 38 with Red Bull, 14 with Ferrari and his debut win with Toro Rosso. 🌊 Vegas flood: A huge thunderstorm hit Las Vegas on Thursday night, producing some pretty wild flooding. Circa and other sportsbooks and casinos appear to have been hit pretty hard. 🏈 Snyder testifies: Commanders owner Dan Snyder testified virtually before a congressional committee for nearly 11 hours on Thursday about the team's history of workplace misconduct. ⚽️ New NWSL owners: Sue Bird and Eli Manning are the latest big names to join the ownership group of NJ/NY Gotham FC, which has been valued at $40 million, a record for the NWSL. 🏒 Adidas won't renew: Adidas will not return as the NHL's official supplier of uniforms and apparel when its agreement expires after the 2023-24 season, ESPN reports. | | | | | | | | 5. 🏈 Cardinals remove Murray's study clause |  | | | Photo: Harry How/Getty Images | | | | Following a week of backlash, the Cardinals have removed the unprecedented "homework clause" from Kyler Murray's new five-year, $230 million contract. What they're saying: "After seeing the distraction it created, we removed the addendum from the contract," the Cardinals said Thursday night. "It was clearly perceived in ways that were never intended." Catch up quick: The clause, which first became public on Monday, required Murray to study film for four hours a week on his own to receive "credit." If he failed, he could be deemed "in default" of his contract. - Both Murray and the team were levied with criticism all week — Murray for needing and agreeing to such a requirement, and the Cardinals for feeling the need to include it.
- Murray held a press conference on Thursday, saying it was "disrespectful" that outsiders thought he could have reached the level he's at without being a "student of the game."
The bottom line: This was a bizarre blunder by the Cardinals, who made their franchise QB look bad for not studying enough, and made themselves look bad for giving him $160 million guaranteed if they thought that was the case — only to reverse course a few days later. | | | | | | | | 6. ⚾️ Verlander: 39 and better than ever |  | | | Justin Verlander at the All-Star Game. Photo: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images | | | | What Justin Verlander is doing right now, at 39 years old and in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, is ridiculous, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. By the numbers: Entering tonight's start against the Mariners, Verlander leads MLB with 13 wins, ranks second with a 0.88 WHIP and ranks third with a 1.86 ERA — the best mark of his career. - The future Hall of Famer has been even better recently, allowing one or fewer earned runs in seven of his last eight starts.
- He also threw his hardest pitch since 2017 last weekend (99.3 mph). Not bad for the AL's second-oldest active player.
The backdrop: The Astros understandably didn't want to commit too much to a 39-year-old coming off Tommy John, so last offseason they re-signed Verlander to a one-year, $25 million contract with a second-year player option triggered only if he threw at least 130 innings. - He's already at 116.1 innings and could soon become the 11th pitcher in MLB history to win at least three Cy Young awards.
- Decent investment for a team gunning for its sixth straight ALCS.
🎥 Watch: Highlights from his last start (MLB) | | | | | | | | 7. 🌎 The world in photos | | Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) prepares to tag Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) out at home plate. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Republicans won the Congressional Baseball Game for the second year in a row, trouncing the Democrats 10-0 in a rainy affair that drew protesters. Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images IRVING, Calif. — The U.S. Swimming National Championships are happening in SoCal, and Katie Ledecky is crushing it per usual. Fireworks during the Opening Ceremony. Photo: Stephen Pond/Getty Images BIRMINGHAM, England — The 2022 Commonwealth Games (think: the Olympics for the Commonwealth) are officially underway. | | | | | | | | 8. 📺 Watchlist: LIV at Trump National |  | | | Greg Norman and Former President Trump. Photo: Jonathan Ferrey/LIV Golf via Getty Images | | | | Former President Trump hosts this weekend's LIV Golf event at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey (Fri-Sun, YouTube/LIVGolf.com). - What they're saying: "Nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11," said Trump on Thursday when asked about 9/11 survivors and their families who are protesting this weekend's event.
- Driving the news: LIV keeps poaching big names (Bubba Watson is the latest) and plans to expand to 14 events (up from eight) and $405 million in prize money (up from $255 million) next year.
More to watch: - ⚽️ Women's Euro Final: England vs. Germany (12pm, ESPN) ... Rematch of the 2009 final, which Germany won.
- 🚲 Tour de France Femmes: Stages 6-8 (Fri-Sun, Peacock/CNBC) … Ends on Sunday.
- ⛳️ PGA: Rocket Mortgage Classic (Fri-Sun, Golf/CBS/ESPN+)
- ⚾️ MLB: Tigers at Blue Jays (Fri. 7pm, Apple TV+; Sun. 12pm, Peacock); Cubs at Giants (Fri. 10pm, Apple TV+; Sun. 7pm, ESPN); Brewers at Red Sox (Sat. 4pm, FS1)
- 🏀 WNBA: Storm at Mystics (Sat. 12pm, ESPN) … Top-five clash.
- 🏁 F1: Hungarian Grand Prix (Sun. 9am, ESPN)
- 🏁 NASCAR: Verizon 200 at The Brickyard (Sun. 2:30pm, NBC)
- ⚽️ Friendlies: Red Bulls vs. Barcelona (Sat. 7pm, Red Bull TV); Juventus vs. Real Madrid (Sat. 10pm, FS2)
- ⚽️ Community Shield: Man City vs. Liverpool (Sat. 12pm, ESPN+) … Annual match between the reigning FA Cup champs.
- ⚽️ NWSL: Chicago vs. San Diego (Sat. 8pm, Twitch) … Top-three clash.
- ⚽️ MLS: LAFC vs. Seattle (Fri. 11pm, FS1); Minnesota vs. Portland (Sat. 3pm, ABC)
- 🎾 Tennis: Atlanta Open, Poland Open, Croatia Open (Fri-Sun, Tennis/DAZN) … Finals on Sunday.
- 🥍 PLL: Dallas (Sat-Sun, ESPN/ESPN+)
- 🏀 TBT: Quarters and semis (Fri-Sat, ESPN)
- 🏀 BIG3: Week 7 (Sat. 1pm, CBS)
- 🏒 3ICE: Week 7 (Sat. 4:30pm, CBSSN)
| | | | | | | | 9. 🏟 Stadium trivia |  | | | Photo: Michael Regan/The FA via Getty Images | | | | Wembley Stadium, which hosts Sunday's Women's Euro final, is the second-largest stadium in Europe by capacity (~91,000). - Question: What's the largest?
- Hint: It doesn't have the word "stadium" in its name.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. ⚾️ 1 bad contract: Patrick Corbin |  | | | Patrick Corbin reacts after giving up six runs against the Dodgers in the first inning on Wednesday. Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images | | | | Patrick Corbin's six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals will never be the worst ever because he was integral to their 2019 World Series title, Jeff writes. By the numbers: Since finishing 11th for the Cy Young in 2019, Corbin has been the single worst starting pitcher in baseball. The big picture: The Nats still owe Corbin and Stephen Strasburg — who's thrown just 31 innings in three years since signing his own seven-year, $245 million contract — $199 million combined through 2026. | | | | | | | | A message from SiriusXM | | Stream SiriusXM now and get 3 months for free | | |  | | | | With SiriusXM Streaming, get access to three months of expertly curated ad-free music, Pandora artist stations, live sports, celebrity hosts, Howard Stern and more. More info: Listen on your phone, at home and more with the SXM App. See Offer Details. | | | | Enjoy the weekend, Kendall "Everybody get up" Baker Trivia answer: Barcelona's Camp Nou (~99,000 capacity) 🙏 Thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter: @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. And of course, tell your friends to sign up. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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