Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday 5/21/20
21 May 2020 Sports
The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to allow voluntary on-campus athletic activities to resume in football and men’s and women’s basketball, starting June 1, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.
After the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of sports across the country, the council banned all on-campus athletic activities. That moratorium was set to expire May 31.
Already, athletic directors are making plans to have athletes return to campus. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said on a teleconference Wednesday that the school would allow voluntary workouts to resume on June 8, pending university approval.
SEC athletic directors are expected to meet with health experts on Thursday and then give a recommendation to university presidents and chancellors about whether they should begin a phased reopening or extend the moratorium on in-person, on-campus workouts. The presidents and chancellors are expected to make a decision when they meet Friday, multiple sources told ESPN. Other conferences, including the Big Ten and Big 12 are lining up similar calls.
One source added that the 40-member council ran out of time on its call and would explore allowing the same for other sports within the next week.
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Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said Wednesday that his athletic department has run several social distancing models to consider having fans in stands at games this fall, and Ohio Stadium, with a normal capacity of more than 100,000, would hold a crowd closer to 20,000-22,000 fans but up to 40,000-50,000 “if guidelines are relaxed.”
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Dallas Cowboys defensive end Aldon Smith has been granted conditional reinstatement by the NFL from an indefinite suspension for violation of the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The move will allow Smith to take part in meetings with Cowboys coaches and teammates in the virtual offseason program beginning Tuesday. Smith, who has been living and working out in Dallas for the past month, met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell via a virtual call last Thursday.
Smith, 30, has not played in an NFL game since he was suspended as a member of the Raiders in 2015 because of legal and substance abuse issues. Now that he has been reinstated, he will receive $90,000 from the Cowboys as part of the one-year deal he signed in April that could be worth up to $4 million.
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If NFL teams play games without fans in the stands in 2020, the league could lose $5.5 billion, according Forbes’ Mike Ozanian.
That figure is based on stadium revenue from the 2018 season, according to Forbes.
As Ozanian points out, some teams will be hit harder than others. The Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots, teams that made a significant amount of money through stadium revenue in 2018, will lose a larger percentage of total revenue in 2020 compared to teams like the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.
Even in a season where fans can attend games, the Patriots may have seen a drop in total revenue after Tom Brady left to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It won’t just be teams who suffer from the lack of fans in the stands. NFL players receive between 47 percent and 48.5 percent of total revenue as part of the collective-bargaining agreement. That figure will take a significant hit if fans are not allowed to attend games in 2020.
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Former WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard’s body washed up on Venice Beach on Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Country coroner’s office confirmed. Gaspard went missing Sunday, after he was caught in a rip current while swimming at the beach. He was 39.
Gaspard’s body was found by two individuals walking on the beach early Wednesday. Officials said the body matched Gaspard’s description.
Gaspard went missing after he and his 10-year-old son were caught in a rip current while swimming. Lifeguards went out to help the pair, and Gaspard reportedly told them to assist his son first. They were able to rescue Gaspard’s son, but Gaspard was caught in the current and submerged under water.
After searching for Gaspard for three days, the Coast Guard called off the search for Gaspard on Tuesday.
Gaspard had two stints with WWE during his career. He and Jayson Anthony Paul were part of a tag team known as Cryme Tyme. Gaspard was released from his contract with WWE in 2010, but continued to wrestle on the independent circuit.
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