COLLEGES
NCAA President Mark Emmert said Wednesday it is “highly probable” Congress will set national guidelines for how college athletes can be compensated for the use of their names, images and likenesses.
Emmert, who spoke at a forum sponsored by the Sports Business Journal, said he is spending most of his time trying to figure out how the NCAA and its member schools will allow thousands of athletes to get that kind of compensation under the auspices of amateur athletics.
He said he is also spending a lot of time in Washington meeting with lawmakers, often with university presidents and other representatives from individual schools.
Last week, Sen. Chris Murphy and Sen. Mitt Romney announced the formation of a bipartisan congressional working group on the topic of athlete compensation.
“They want to hear from their home universities,” Emmert said.
The issue gained urgency after California passed a law in October that will give college athletes the right to make money of things like endorsement deals and promoting businesses or products on their social media accounts. That law does not go into effect until 2023.
FOOTBALL: Steve Addazio agreed to a five-year contract to become the coach at Colorado State, with a base salary of $1.5 million in the first year and with a $50,000 increase each year of the deal.
Addazio, 60, wasn’t out of work long after being fired by Boston College on Dec. 1. He was 44-44 in seven seasons with the Eagles. Addazio replaces Mike Bobo, who parted ways with the program last week after reaching a financial settlement with Colorado State.
• Northwestern hired Boston College’s Mike Bajakian as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
• Willie Taggart was hired by Florida Atlantic to replace Lane Kiffin, a week before the early signing day and only four days after Kiffin left the Owls for Mississippi.
FAU said it was a five-year contract and did not disclose financial terms.
• Liberty University and first-year football coach Hugh Freeze have agreed to a multiyear contract extension.
HOCKEY
NHL: The San Jose Sharks fired coach Peter DeBoer, a person with direct knowledge of the move said, a day after the Sharks’ 3-1 loss at Nashville.
DeBoer is the fifth NHL coach to lose his job this season, and the third for performance reasons. Dallas dismissed Jim Montgomery on Tuesday, citing “unprofessional conduct.” No further details on Montgomery’s firing have surfaced.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: For the first time in history, only five countries will be represented in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Atalanta and Atletico Madrid on Wednesday became the last two teams to qualify for the knockout stages, meaning all 16 teams are from Europe’s “big five” of Italy, Spain, Germany, England and France.
OLYMPICS
BOXING: Russian boxers will only take part in the Tokyo Olympics if doping sanctions forcing them to compete as neutral athletes are overturned, the general secretary of the Russian Boxing Federation told The Associated Press.
Umar Kremlev said he has spoken with the Olympic boxing team and they “unanimously” rejected the conditions laid out by the World Anti-Doping Agency as punishment for manipulating doping data. The WADA sanctions ban the use of the Russian team name, flag or anthem at a range of major sports competitions over the next four years, including next year’s Olympics.
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