Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell defends ‘Sunday Ticket’ package
LOS ANGELES | NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated during testimony in federal court Monday that the league’s “Sunday Ticket” package, the subject of a class-action lawsuit, is a premium product while also defending the league’s broadcast model.
Goodell was called as a witness by the NFL as the trial for the lawsuit filed by “Sunday Ticket” subscribers entered its third week.
“We have been clear throughout that it is a premium product. Not just on pricing but quality,” Goodell said during cross-examination in a Los Angeles courtroom. “Fans make that choice whether they wanted it or not. I’m sure there were fans who said it was too costly.”
Goodell, who has been commissioner since 2006, said he believes this is the first time he has been called to testify in federal court during his tenure.
The class-action, which covers 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package from 2011 through 2022, claims the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
The NFL maintains it has the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs say that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
If the NFL is found liable, a jury could award $7 billion in damages, but that number could balloon to $21 billion because antitrust cases can triple damages.
During the first two weeks of the trial, exhibits by the plaintiffs showed that Fox and CBS have long been concerned about how competition from a more widely distributed “Sunday Ticket” package could affect ratings for locally aired games.
Goodell said the NFL decided to put “Sunday Ticket” on DirecTV from 1994 through 2022 because it was one the few platforms available that had national distribution. He cited the fragmented nature of cable companies for why it wasn’t available on cable.
Goodell also said the league’s broadcast model, where local games are available over the air for all games, is why NFL games are highly rated.
“We sing it from the mountaintops, We want to reach the broadest possible audience on free television,” he said. “I think we are very pro-consumer. Our partners have found ways to build our fan base.”
Goodell also said that one reason the league decided to sell Thursday night games that had been exclusively on NFL Network from 2006 through 2013 to other networks was because of the quality of production.
Thursday night games were shared by CBS and NBC from 2014 through 2016 before Fox aired them for the next five seasons. Amazon Prime Video took over the package in 2022.
“I had my own opinion that our production was below standards that the networks (Fox and CBS) had set. We had not met that standard,” he said.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a member of the league’s media committee, is expected to testify after Goodell.
Les Miles sues LSU,
NCAA and College Football Hall of Fame
BATON ROUGE, La. | Les Miles, who coached the LSU Tigers to a 2007 national championship, is suing the university over its decision to vacate 37 of his teams’ victories between 2012 and 2015.
The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Baton Rouge alleges that LSU never gave Miles a chance to be heard before altering the coach’s career record significantly enough to disqualify him from consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame.
“Les was given no right to be heard, or even advance notice of LSU’s actions, despite LSU being a state-owned and state-run institution that is bound by constitutional safeguards,” Miles’ lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, said in a statement.
The decision in June 2023 to vacate the victories stemmed from an NCAA ruling that former Tigers offensive lineman Vadal Alexander had received financial benefits that violated NCAA rules at the time he played.
The lawsuit also names the NCAA and Atlanta-based College Football Hall of Fame as defendants, and it demands that they reinstate the vacated victories to Miles’ official career coaching record. LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette said the university was “not able to comment on pending litigation.” The other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Vacating the victories changed Miles’ official career record from 145-73 (.665) to 108-73 (.597). The lawsuit notes that a .600 career win percentage is required to qualify for the College Football Hall of Fame.
The lawsuit also contends that while LSU formally tied the vacated victories to alleged football violations, the university was trying to minimize its overall exposure to NCAA punishment for an array of violations that included conduct by former men’s basketball coach Will Wade, who was subsequently found by an NCAA probe to have committed major recruiting violations.
“Trying to placate the NCAA and avoid punishment for recruiting violations that almost entirely involved the Men’s Basketball Team and its coaches, and in no way implicated Les, LSU voluntarily offered to reverse dozens of victories earned by Les’ teams,” Ginsberg’s statement said.
Ginsberg called that an “irrational and unfair self-inflicted punishment” by LSU, and he criticized the NCAA for accepting it.
The specific violation involved a booster who did not work for LSU giving cash to Alexander’s father for a no-show hospital job. The lawsuit notes that while NCAA bylaws hold coaches responsible for those who report to them, the booster was not a “staff member of LSU or its football program and the NCAA did not find that Miles, as head coach, bore any responsibility for the sole violation that occurred during his time with the LSU football program.”
When Miles was fired by LSU in September 2016, he’d gone 114-34 with the Tigers in 11-plus seasons. He also coached at Oklahoma State from 2001-2004, going 28-21, and at Kansas from 2019-2020, where he went 3-18. Kansas fired Miles after he was accused of improper conduct involving female students at LSU.
Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins signs one-year franchise tender
CINCINNATI | Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins signed his one-year franchise tender for the 2024 season on Monday.
However, his long-term future with the team remains in doubt.
The fifth-year wideout received the franchise tag in February and didn’t participate in recent organized team workouts, including last week’s three-day minicamp.
Higgins will make $21.8 million — the designated franchise tag value for receivers this upcoming season — and the Bengals will have at least one more season with Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins as one the NFL’s top wideout duos, with a healthy Joe Burrow throwing to them.
If the 25-year-old Higgins and the Bengals don’t come together on a long-term deal before July 15, he can become a free agent next March and be eligible to sign with any team.
“I’m excited to move forward with Tee,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said in a statement. “He’s done a great job handling his situation, and we are happy to get him back in the fold so we can start working toward a great 2024 season. The locker room will be excited to have him back around.”
Since his second season in 2021, Higgins has played in the shadow of Chase, who is expected to get a long-term contract extension in the neighborhood of Justin Jefferson’s four-year, $140 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings.
Whenever Cincinnati adds Chase’s next contract to the five-year, $275 million extension Burrow signed before the 2023 season, the team is not expected to offer a long-term deal to its No. 2 receiver.
A second-round draft pick in 2020 — Burrow was the top overall pick in that draft — Higgins has 257 catches for 3,684 yards and 24 touchdowns, including back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2021 and ‘22. He was key part of the Bengals drive to the Super Bowl after the 2021 season.
He finished with 656 yards and five TDs last season while struggling with a rib injury.
Tyler Boyd signed with Tennessee as a free agent in May. And the Bengals are hoping 2024 third-round draft pick Jermaine Burton from Alabama will work his way into the receiver rotation, with promising youngsters Charlie Jones and Andrei Iosivas also in that mix.
Mbappé suffers facial injury in France’s win against Austria at Euro 2024
DUSSELDORF, Germany | Kylian Mbappé suffered a facial injury and was replaced as France beat Austria 1-0 in its opening game of the European Championship on Monday.
The striker, involved in the first-half goal, clashed heads with Austria’s Kevin Danso late in the Group D game at Dusseldorf Arena. He was in obvious pain as he lay curled on the grass, prompting Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz to signal for medical attention.
Mbappé received treatment and his shirt was covered with blood from what appeared to be a blow to his nose. He tried to play on but quickly fell to the ground, holding his face and prompting whistles and jeers from Austria’s fans, who seemed to believe he was time-wasting as France held on for the win.
He was booked by referee Jesus Gil Manzano and replaced by Olivier Giroud.
France needed an own goal from Maximilian Wober in the 38th minute and handed Didier Deschamps his 100th victory as national team coach.
On a mixed day for Mbappé, it was his moment of inspiration that led to the decisive goal. With a flash of close-ball control, he beat Phillipp Mwene in the box and crossed in search of a teammate. In Wober’s desperation to cut out the danger, he inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.
Mbappé was then guilty of a remarkable miss 10 minutes into the second half when failing to hit the target from close range with only the keeper to beat.
Bursting through on goal, he was too fast for Wober and had time to steady himself in the box before picking his spot. With France fans behind the goal just waiting for the net to bulge, Mbappe’s shot instead curled past the post to the relief of the Austrians.
—From AP reports
