Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
UConn, coach Dan
Hurley agree to six-year, $50 million deal
STORRS, Conn. | UConn and men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley have agreed to a six-year, $50 million contract through the 2029-30 season that makes him one of the nation’s highest paid college coaches nearly a month after he turned down a lucrative offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hurley, who passed on guiding the storied NBA club to return to the two-time defending NCAA champions, can also earn more through performance-based incentives, a Monday release from the school stated. He will receive $6.375 million next season in addition to his $400,000 base annual salary, which includes compensation from speaking, consulting and media obligations.
The agreement, which includes a $1 million annual retention bonus, will be covered by increased ticket sales revenue and donations from the Husky Athletic Fund, the release added. It replaces the six-year, $32.1 million agreement reached in June 2023 after Hurley won his first national championship with UConn.
Hurley — 141-58 in six seasons with the Huskies and 292-163 overall entering his 15th as a Division I head coach — acknowledged that the Lakers’ six-year, $70 million offer was “obviously tempting.” He was also mentioned as a candidate for the Kentucky coaching vacancy after John Calipari left for Arkansas. But Hurley reiterated last month that he belongs at UConn and stated in the release that “it’s an honor” to coach and represent the school and is proud of what the program has rebuilt for supporters and fans.
He added: “We will continue to obsessively pursue championships and historic success, while continuing to develop great young men. Bleed Blue!”
UConn President Radenka Maric called Hurley the nation’s best men’s basketball coach and said he was delighted Hurley will continue to call it home. Athletic director David Benedict praised Hurley and wife Andrea for pouring themselves into rebuilding the program added that the contract recognizes the “immense” effort that has produced the results and the dedication it will require for the program to sustain it.
New Jersey fines DraftKings $100K for reporting inaccurate data
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. | In one of the most sternly worded rebukes they have ever issued, New Jersey gambling regulators have fined DraftKings $100,000 for reporting inaccurate sports betting data to the state, which it called “unacceptable conduct” that demonstrated weaknesses in the company’s business abilities.
The errors resulted in regulators having to post corrected financial data for several months, something that had not happened in 13 years.
The mistakes involved overstating the amount of money wagered on multi-tiered bets, or parlays, and understating other categories of wagers.
“These types of gross errors and failures cannot be tolerated in the New Jersey gaming regulatory system,” Mary Jo Flaherty, acting director of the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, wrote in a letter to DraftKings on June 16. The letter was made public Friday.
The inaccurate data caused Resorts Digital, the online arm of Resorts casino, to file incorrect sports betting tax returns for December 2023 and January and February 2024.
The documents had to be corrected and reposted weeks later. Resorts declined comment.
In early March, the gaming enforcement division’s Office of Financial Investigations became aware of issues in the way DraftKings had reported sports betting revenue to regulators in Illinois and Oregon, and suspected the same problems were happening in New Jersey, Flaherty wrote.
DraftKings said Monday it has fixed the problem.
“We value our relationship with the DGE and are committed to ensuring compliance with all regulatory guidelines,” the company said in a statement. “There was an error in the reporting of our wagering mix breakdown to the state that we have corrected by implementing additional controls.”
The company told New Jersey regulators that an update to a newly created database contained a coding error that resulted in the miscategorization of certain bets, according to the state.
In a March 29 letter to the state, DraftKings said it did not give the matter urgent attention and did not report it in a timely fashion because it believed the errors did not affect taxable revenue and did not require immediate attention and reporting, according to the state.
The division rejected that response, saying that even though the errors did not affect gross revenue and the taxes due on that revenue, the data “is a critical component of the monthly tax return.”
DraftKings has told the state it has corrected the coding error, has discussed the significance of the error internally, trained staff and created additional monitoring, among other steps.
NFL suspends Steelers CB Sutton for eight games
NEW YORK | The NFL has suspended Pittsburgh Steelers safety Cam Sutton for the first eight games of the 2024 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
The league announced the decision Monday, stipulating Sutton — who will not be paid during the suspension — would be eligible to apply for reinstatement on Oct. 29.
The discipline stems from Sutton’s involvement in an alleged domestic violence dispute in Florida in March.
Sutton eventually surrendered to authorities and entered a pretrial diversion program in April after the charges were reduced from a felony to misdemeanor battery. His agreement with prosecutors required Sutton to take a mental health evaluation.
The NFL did its own investigation into the incident, leading to the suspension.
The Detroit Lions cut Sutton immediately after an arrest warrant was issued. He found a lifeline in Pittsburgh, where he played for the first six seasons in the league from 2017-22.
The Steelers signed Sutton to a one-year deal in June. Sutton participated in organized team activities and minicamp but declined to get into specifics about what led to his arrest or any potential punishment that the NFL could levy if it finds he violated the league’s personal conduct policy.
“Adversity strikes everyone in life,” Sutton said the day he signed with the Steelers. “So it’s all about how you handle it, how you necessarily go through those phases and just knowing who you are individually, not letting someone else dim your light.”
Jamie Davis is leaving USA Volleyball to take over as CEO of USA Water Polo
IRVINE, Calif. | Jamie Davis is leaving USA Volleyball to take over as CEO of USA Water Polo.
Davis’ appointment, effective Oct. 1, was announced by USA Water Polo on Monday. The hiring of Davis was unanimously approved by the organization’s board of directors at a recent meeting.
“Jamie’s vision and leadership will be instrumental in guiding the organization into its next chapter,” Bill Smith, the chairman of the USA Water Polo board, said in a release. “We are confident that his contribution will drive USA Water Polo to new heights.”
Davis is replacing Chris Ramsey, who announced in December that he is retiring after the Paris Olympics. Ramsey is among the longest-tenured leaders for the U.S. governing bodies in the Olympic movement.
Davis, a former TV and sports business executive, was hired as USA Volleyball CEO in 2017. During his time at USA Volleyball, membership grew from 339,000 in 2017 to 435,000 this year. USA Water Polo has about 50,000 members.
“I am honored to join USA Water Polo and look forward to working with the talented athletes, coaches, staff, and the wider water polo community,” Davis said. “Together, we will continue to promote the growth and excellence of this sport.”
U.S. women’s coach
Emma Hayes sidesteps equal pay question
NEW YORK | U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes sidestepped a question on whether she should get a raise if a high-priced star such as Jürgen Klopp is hired to replace Gregg Berhalter with the American men.
Berhalter has a contract through the 2026 World Cup. U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Matt Crocker has not spoken with media about Berhalter’s status since the team’s first-round elimination last week in the Copa America.
“My focus today is on preparing our team for our training camp this week. I have to think about that and I have to think about performing first and foremost, myself with this team, this Olympics,” Hayes said at a news conference Monday with U.S. men’s Olympic coach Marko Mitrovic. “I think with regards to matters relating to the men’s team and gender equity, they’re not questions for now or for me, knowing that my absolute focus is on the preparation this week.”
Hayes, voted FIFA’s Best Women’s Coach in 2021, managed Chelsea’s women from 2012-24 before starting with the U.S. this spring.
Berhalter earned $2,291,136 in 2022, including $900,000 in bonuses for the Americans’ qualifying for the World Cup and reaching the second round, according to the USSF’s 2022 tax filing.
Hayes’ predecessor as U.S. women’s coach, Vlatko Andonovski, had a base salary of $396,089 in 2002 and also earned $15,000 in bonuses. Andonovski quit last August after the Americans were eliminated in the second round of the Women’s World Cup.
At the time of Hayes’ hiring in November, the USSF said Hayes was set to become “the highest paid women’s soccer coach in the world.” Coach salaries typically are disclosed by the USSF when it releases its tax return each February for the fiscal year ending the prior March 31.
The USSF agreed in 2022 to equalize pay for players on the men’s and women’s national teams.
Klopp left Liverpool this spring after nine seasons that included Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles.
—From AP reports
