HOCKEY
Jersey advertisements are coming to the NHL.
The league will allow teams to put sponsor patches on jerseys beginning with the 2022-23 season after the board of governors unanimously approved the move, according to a person with knowledge of a memo sent this week. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the league had not announced the decision.
The NHL added helmet ads last season, which largely allowed teams to make sponsors whole during the pandemic for previously negotiated agreements.
League officials, including Commissioner Gary Bettman, had said the next step of going to jersey ads would have to be at a value that’s worthwhile in hockey, a sport that has long prioritized the front of the “sweater.” Sportico first reported the addition of jersey ads, saying they can be up to 3.5×3 inches.
The New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators were the first teams to unveil helmet ads last December. Each struck a deal done with the company that sponsors the naming rights for its arena.
The NBA began selling jersey sponsorships in 2017-18, when Nike became the league’s official apparel company. The program has brought in well over $150 million in revenue.
TENNIS
WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN: Ash Barty’s second-round match at Mason, Ohio, was postponed after two rain delays totaling five hours pushed back the schedule in the second full day of play. The match against qualifier Heather Watson would’ve been her first action in more than three weeks since she lost in the first round at the Tokyo Olympics.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: Jasmine Thomas scored 19 points, Jonquel Jones had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Connecticut beat visiting Minnesota 72-60 to snap the Lynx’s eight-game winning streak.
Jones, who reached 2,000 career points, also had four assists and three steals. Thomas and Jones each made all five of their free-throw attempts to help Connecticut go 14 for 16.
• Allisha Gray had 20 points and Arike Ogunbowale scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half to help the visiting Dallas Wings beat the Chicago Sky 80-76.
Ogunbowale beat the shot clock with a long 3-pointer to give Dallas a 75-68 lead with 2:20 remaining. Allie Quigley made her sixth 3-pointer with 52.7 left to pull Chicago within two points, but Moriah Jefferson answered with a basket in the lane and the Wings led by two possessions the rest of the way.
SOCCER
LYON: French club Lyon demoted center-back Marcelo to the reserve squad in response to his “inappropriate behavior” after the team lost on Sunday.
The 34-year-old Brazilian scored an own goal in a 3-0 loss to Angers that left Lyon with just one point from two matches.
“The inappropriate behavior of Marcelo in the locker room after the match in Angers justifies this decision, which was taken unanimously by Olympique Lyonnais’ management team,” the club said on its website.
French media reported the sides were negotiating a settlement to terminate Marcelo’s contract. The team did not provide details of Marcelo’s alleged behavior.
Lyon had high hopes after a fourth-place finish last season and said it was “working on several specific recruitment targets, in close consultation with Coach Peter Bosz.”
Bosz, dismissed by German team Bayer Leverkusen in March, said after Sunday’s match that his players were “doing their own thing” and that he “didn’t see a team that wanted to win.”
Marcelo joined Lyon in 2017 from Turkish club Besiktas.
REAL MADRID: Coach Carlo Ancelotti ruled out the possibility of the club re-signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ancelotti, who coached Ronaldo in his first stint as manager of the Spanish club between 2013-15, praised the Portugal forward but dismissed reports that Madrid wants him back.
Ronaldo is under contract with Juventus through next June, but Spanish media has speculated about a return to Madrid, where he thrived from 2009-18.
ROMA: Italian club Roma signed forward Tammy Abraham from Chelsea for 40 million euros ($47 million).
Abraham replaces Edin Dzeko, who moved to Serie A champion Inter Milan last week.
GERMAN SUPER CUP: Robert Lewandowski scored twice for Bayern Munich to beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 to give Coach Julian Nagelsmann his first win in charge.
The Poland star, who scored a record 41 goals in the Bundesliga last season, opened the scoring in the 41st minute and got the decisive third goal in the 74th after Marco Reus had pulled one back for Dortmund.
CYCLING
SPANISH VUELTA: Fabio Jakobsen took the lead in the final stretch of the closing sprint to win the fourth stage with Rein Taaramae holding on at the top of the overall standings despite crashing with a couple of miles to go.
Jakobsen, who recovered from a brutal crash last year in Poland, passed Arnaud Demare only a few feet from the finish line at the end of the 101.8-mile flat stage into Molina de Aragon.
Taaramae crashed with about 1.2 miles to go as the peloton went around a wide turn. He appeared to hurt his shoulder but was able to get up quickly and rejoin the bunch, maintaining a 25-second overall lead over Kenny Elissonde.
Two-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic was third overall, 30 seconds off the lead.
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