College Sports

Conference commissioners bullish on enforcing new NIL rules

Days after a multibillion-dollar legal settlement changed college athletics by allowing schools to directly pay their athletes, the most powerful conference commissioners are bullish in their ability to enforce NIL rules in a new system, even though specific punishments remain unclear. Hours after the House v. NCAA settlement was approved on Friday, former MLB executive […]

Published

2 months ago

June 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Hours after the House v. NCAA settlement was approved on Friday, former MLB executive Bryan Seeley was named CEO of a new enforcement organization called the College Sports Commission. His job will be to lead the team responsible for enforcement of the new rules around revenue sharing, third-party payments to players for NIL deals, and roster limits.

One of the biggest questions, though, is what happens when those rules are broken?

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who spoke Monday on a Zoom press conference with fellow commissioners Greg Sankey (SEC), Tony Petitti (Big Ten), Brett Yormark (Big 12) and Teresa Gould (Pac-12), said they’ve all had ideas, but nothing they’re “ready to come forward with.” Ultimately, Phillips said, the rules and boundaries will be under Seeley’s purview.

“We’re in the process of developing some of those rules and structure and overall implementation of that,” Phillips said. “Now that we have Bryan on board, I think we’ll be able to move a little bit quicker. But we want to get this right. It’s one of those areas that until you have somebody leading the College Sports Commission, it’s difficult to get together with that individual and start some of that framework that will be in place.”

Yormark called it “progress over perfection,” and said that while there will be challenges, they will meet them over time.

“Our schools want rules, and we’re providing rules, and we will be governed by those rules,” Yormark said, “and if you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.”

The annual cap is expected to start at $20.5 million per school in 2025-26 and increase every year during the decade-long deal. Those payments will be in addition to scholarships and other benefits the athletes already receive. Starting June 7, players have to report NIL deals of $600 or more to the College Sports Commission.

LBi Software and accounting firm Deloitte will monitor salary cap management and the NIL clearinghouse, an online platform called NIL Go. Those NIL deals will be outside of the revenue directly shared by schools, and will be vetted to determine if they are for a valid business purpose – not recruiting.

Sankey met with his head coaches in football and men’s and women’s basketball this past February, and said he has asked the same question at every level – including up to the university presidents.

“If you want an unregulated, open system, just raise your hand and let me know,” Sankey said. “And universally, the answer is ‘no. We want oversight. We want guardrails. We want structure.’ Those individuals don’t have the luxury to just say that in meeting rooms, period. They don’t have the luxury to just be anonymous sources. They have a responsibility to make what they’ve sought – what they’ve asked for – to make it work.”

The commissioners agreed, though, that in order to “make it work,” they need Congressional help. Sankey, who said he played golf recently with President Donald Trump and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, continued to stress the need for an “effort to preempt state laws.”

“Congress exists to set national standards, and we’re not going to have Final Fours and College Football Playoffs and College World Series with 50 different standards,” Sankey said. “Codification of at least settlement terms or around settlement terms would be enormously healthy.”

Sankey said he has always “appreciated [Trump’s] interest in college sports,” and while it was “helpful for me and Pete as well to hear his thoughts and his perspectives, and to share some of ours,” he said those are “best left for the moment on the golf course.”

Even with a multitude of questions still looming, Phillips said college athletics is in a “much better place” than it was 48 hours ago, before the settlement was approved.

“What’s not debatable is that this new model does bring stability and fairness to student-athletes in college sports,” Phillips said, “and we’ve been in an unregulated environment with no rules and no enforcement. It has paralyzed the NCAA in Indianapolis, and we’re responsible for certainly some of that. We’re now going to have a foundation and structure laying out those rules. The new structure provides our student-athletes with more opportunities and benefits than ever before.”

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College Sports

What’s the next ‘arms race’ in college sports? Finding ways to legally exceed new rev-share cap

Tennessee athletic director Danny White faced a decision this year: Remain with apparel partner Nike or move to a new brand, adidas. He considered plenty of factors in the decision, such as quality of the gear and overall financial terms. But one, perhaps, stood above the rest: How much name, image and likeness (NIL) support […]

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20 seconds ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Tennessee athletic director Danny White faced a decision this year: Remain with apparel partner Nike or move to a new brand, adidas.

He considered plenty of factors in the decision, such as quality of the gear and overall financial terms. But one, perhaps, stood above the rest: How much name, image and likeness (NIL) support would an apparel company give to Tennessee’s athletes?

“NIL was right up there,” White told Yahoo Sports in a recent interview. “We are in a very competitive space. It was at the forefront of my mind.”

Tennessee announced on Wednesday a return to adidas, a brand the university used during a 20-year run that ended in 2014. The brand and school struck a 10-year contract that is “one of the biggest apparel deals in the history of college sports,” according to White, likely putting its value at at least $10 million annually in product and cash.

At the heart of the deal is expected to also be one of the most lucrative NIL components in the history of collegiate apparel deals, described by one of the company’s vice presidents as “establishing a new standard for investment in NIL.”

In short, the players will get a piece of the $100 million-plus pie — in a significant way, too, and, for some of them, immediately.

Adidas says it is already working to strike individual deals with Tennessee athletes during this school year — months before the new apparel contract starts next July. Once the partnership begins, the company will offer what it calls “unprecedented NIL opportunities” for UT athletes across all 20 sports.

“The arms race was originally about facilities,” said Chris McGuire, adidas vice president of sports marketing, North America. “Now it’s gone to rev-share and NIL. We want to make sure we provide opportunities to our partners that are competitive in the marketplace so they’ll have competitive teams on the field.”

Tennessee’s apparel partnership is the latest weapon in the new recruiting battlefield: Finding creative ways to legally exceed the revenue-share cap by providing athletes with legitimate third-party endorsement and commercial deals.

‘This is the first one’

The adidas deal won’t be the last apparel contract structured in this way, experts believe. Several power programs remain in negotiations with apparel partners as their current contracts come to an end, including LSU, Penn State and USC. In fact, more than 20 power conference programs have apparel deals set to expire in 2026 and 2027.

McGuire acknowledges that this “model,” if it works as intended, will be used elsewhere. “This is the first one,” he said.

There are plenty more weapons, so to speak, that schools are using to increase the value of their rosters, including multimedia rights partners, various corporate sponsors and even reinvented booster collectives — all supplying some level of above-the-cap athlete compensation. The revenue-share cap this year (July 2025-June 2026) is $20.5 million, the max each school can distribute to their athletes. But schools are able to facilitate for their athletes individual third-party endorsement and commercial deals that, if approved through the new College Sports Commission enforcement process, are not included in the cap number.

This has created a new recruiting landscape where many schools, at first reliant on their collectives to drive athlete compensation, are now shifting to what they believe are more legitimate entities whose athlete deals can more easily gain the approval of the College Sports Commission.

There’s a brewing bidding war unfolding among multimedia rights and apparel companies jockeying to offer the best NIL-centric contracts to gain university partnerships.

Many schools are employing multimedia rights (MMR) partners and marketing agencies — perhaps those that once operated as collectives — to use corporate sponsors to direct their distribution to athletes instead of to the school, says Tommy Gray, CEO of Altius, a company that provides dozens of schools with consultation and strategic planning.

“For example, some are going to their corporate sponsors and saying 20% of your spend must be deployed in an athlete marketing fund so we can distribute it to our athletes,” Gray told Yahoo Sports in the spring. “It may be impermissible to commit that money to athletes in writing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell athletes that if they do these things, you are confident they will get X amount of dollars. There are a lot of ways to do it if you want to push the envelope.”

Apparel companies fill a similar void in a similar way, except they would directly strike deals with athletes. There’s no middle man necessary. Despite being deemed an “affiliated entity” of a school — this designation heightens the enforcement arm’s standard — would adidas, Nike or Under Armour, all longtime legitimate national brands, really see their athlete deals rejected?

What about Learfield, JMI and Playfly Sports? They are longtime school multimedia rights partners with the capability to facilitate deals with athletes among any of their thousands of corporate businesses and brands.

“There are a lot of places where the MMR partner, directly or indirectly, is supplying millions to athletes,” Gray says. “Who gets to tell Learfield it’s not OK to give $5 million a year to athletes? Who gets to go in and say, ‘That’s not permissible.’”

Paia LaPalombara, a former Ohio State athletic administrator who joined last year the Indiana law firm Church Church Hittle + Antrim, says partnering with an MMR or apparel brand is likely the best way for schools to “exceed the cap without falling under that fair market value” standard.

Will new deals pass muster?

Multimedia rights partners are already paying schools millions in licensing agreements to sell their intellectual property, such as marks, logos, etc. Corporate sponsors want both — the marks plus the athletes — for the most lucrative NIL deals, says Craig Sloan, the CEO of Playfly Sports.

“The one that’s going to be tested the most is a student-athlete appearing in uniform in a campaign. What is that value?” Sloan said. “We do have evidence that shows the use of IP will enhance a brand’s perception with consumers. The data supports the idea that if you’re going to come in and sponsor our Auburn program, it makes sense to do it with a student-athlete.”

Sloan says Playfly doesn’t guarantee schools a certain amount of NIL for their athletes, but, moreso, “shares a vision” with schools on a “need number” for NIL.

Learfield is approaching it in a similar fashion. CEO Cole Gahagan says the company struck athlete brand deals of more than $135 million last fiscal year.

“Now that salary caps have been in place, there is increased pressure to find more opportunities to create more events for athletes,” Gahagan said. “When we have dedicated resources on the ground on campus — sales people dedicated to NIL, NIL activation coordinator and NIL content producer — we see the greatest and most NIL deal-making output at our properties.”

Learfield has recently announced new NIL-related partnerships with several power programs, including Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma — all deals billed as a way to “unlock new revenue-generating opportunities” for athletes. These collaborations will operate independently from the university as marketing and NIL agencies to connect athletes with corporate sponsors to “earn income beyond traditional revenue-sharing models,” according to one of the releases.

Playfly, meanwhile, struck a 15-year, $515 million deal with Texas A&M earlier this summer, believed to be one of the most lucrative multimedia rights contracts in the history of college athletics and one that offers NIL components.

Kentucky announced a similar move just this week, resigning with multimedia partner JMI in a deal where the company will create an “in-house NIL collective” to help facilitate athlete brand deals and ensure each passes through the new enforcement process.

“How quickly will collectives start to fade away or become less important? Because the sustainable model is athletes inking opportunities for producing content, activations, likeness in campaigns,” Sloan said. “It’s pretty clear it’s not going to be a collective and booster giving someone a bunch of money.”

But collectives received a sort-of lifeline last month, when a legal threat from attorneys forced the College Sports Commission to re-evaluate guidance that would have prohibited most booster-collective deals with athletes.

The enforcement arm is determining the legitimacy of third-party deals based mostly on two standards. NIL deals have to meet the standard of (1) having a “valid business purpose” and (2) falling within a compensation range created by Deloitte. The first of those — involving the prohibition of many collective deals — fell victim to the legal challenge, opening a path for collectives to continue to operate in a similar way, but not exactly the same, as they previously did.

The second standard — range of compensation — serves as the CSC’s backstop, at least until it is challenged legally as well. Deloitte created “the range of compensation” through an algorithm using fair-market value analysis, comparing similar types of NIL deals struck between an athlete and the third party. It factors in a player’s social media following, athletic performance, the school’s marketplace and location, etc.

Will the CSC really deny athlete deals from big brands and apparel companies?

“At the end of the day,” said Sloan, “a person not on campus, not in our communities is going to have a difficult time setting our market rate.”

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College Sports

2025-202 Fantasy Hockey Top 100 players overall: Rankings of the best players to target in your drafts

Isaiah J. Downing / USA TODAY Sports With the beginning of NHL training camps about a month away, mock draft season is upon us. While the cream of the crop will likely remain unchanged, there could be some alterations in the rankings as players report to their teams for the start of the 2025-26 campaign. […]

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2 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Isaiah J. Downing / USA TODAY Sports

With the beginning of NHL training camps about a month away, mock draft season is upon us. While the cream of the crop will likely remain unchanged, there could be some alterations in the rankings as players report to their teams for the start of the 2025-26 campaign.

At forward, the “Big Four” of Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov and Leon Draisaitl could be as interchangeable as it gets. MacKinnon leads the league in even-strength points (170) and shots on goal (725) over the last two seasons, while Kucherov has earned the Art Ross Trophy in back-to-back years. Meanwhile, McDavid has reached the 100-point mark in five straight campaigns, and Draisaitl has achieved that feat in four consecutive seasons. Fantasy managers can’t go wrong with any of them as the cornerstone building block of any roster.

On defense, Cale Makar remains the safest bet to be selected in the first round. He has the most goals (51), power-play goals (19), points (182), power-play points (74) and shorthanded points (seven) among blueliners over the last two seasons. However, Quinn Hughes, Evan Bouchard, Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Hedman and Zach Werenski are all superb options to anchor the fantasy squad of any manager.

Between the pipes, Connor Hellebuyck has been a consistent workhorse. He has made at least 60 starts in four straight seasons. He has won the Vezina Trophy in back-to-back years while topping all netminders in wins (84) and shutouts (13) over that span. Fantasy managers could reach higher for him on draft day than the rest of his peers. However, fading puck stoppers until the later rounds has become a popular strategy due to the unpredictability of the position. Still, landing some stability in the crease will be a priority in other leagues. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger and Sergei Bobrovsky are solid options if Hellebuyck is off the board.

Top 100

Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche
Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers
Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay Lightning
Leon Draisaitl, C, Edmonton Oilers – – You can make a compelling case to select any of MacKinnon, McDavid, Kucherov or Draisaitl at No. 1 overall. While McDavid used to be a lock, it’s no longer a cut-and-dried decision. There could be some jumbling between the four, but fantasy managers will be getting a cornerstone piece regardless of the choice.
Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche
David Pastrnak, RW, Boston Bruins
Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Minnesota Wild – – His outstanding 2024-25 performance was cut short by a lower-body injury. His offensive talent should keep him in the first round of fantasy drafts for another year.
Mikko Rantanen, RW, Dallas Stars
Auston Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs – – While he has more than enough scoring talent and play-driving ability to be fine without Marner on his wing, Matthews battled an injury issue last season. It’s unclear if the problem will be completely behind him when the 2025-26 campaign begins.
Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets
Mitch Marner, RW, Vegas Golden Knights
Brady Tkachuk, LW, Ottawa Senators
Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins – – The 38-year-old veteran has topped 90 points in three consecutive seasons and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
Jack Eichel, C, Vegas Golden Knights
Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils – – He has been limited to 62 appearances in back-to-back seasons, making him a significant injury risk despite his offensive talent.
Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets
Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks
Artemi Panarin, LW, New York Rangers
William Nylander, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs
Brayden Point, C, Tampa Bay Lightning
Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton Oilers
Sam Reinhart, RW, Florida Panthers
Clayton Keller, LW, Utah Mammoth
Rasmus Dahlin, D, Buffalo Sabres – – He has established himself as a multi-category monster while piling up points, shots, hits and blocks over the last four seasons.
Jesper Bratt, RW, New Jersey Devils
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, Tampa Bay Lightning
J.T. Miller, C, New York Rangers
Filip Forsberg, LW, Nashville Predators
Nick Suzuki, C, Montreal Canadiens
Brandon Hagel, LW, Tampa Bay Lightning
Matthew Tkachuk, RW, Florida Panthers – – He played through a torn adductor and a sports hernia during the playoffs. If he undergoes surgery, he could be out for the first three months of the season. His draft stock could change dramatically depending on what path he takes in his recovery.
Jason Robertson, LW, Dallas Stars
Jake Guentzel, LW, Tampa Bay Lightning
Mark Scheifele, C, Winnipeg Jets
Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jake Oettinger, G, Dallas Stars
Lucas Raymond, RW, Detroit Red Wings
Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets – – He exploded offensively in 2024-25 because he finally stayed healthy, but his past injury woes make him a high-risk, high-reward option.
Tim Stutzle, C, Ottawa Senators
Tage Thompson, RW, Buffalo Sabres
Alex Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals
Sergei Bobrovsky G, Florida Panthers
Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes
Adrian Kempe, RW, Los Angeles Kings
Martin Necas, RW, Colorado Avalanche
Aleksander Barkov, C, Florida Panthers
Mackenzie Blackwood, G, Colorado Avalanche
Travis Konecny, RW, Philadelphia Flyers
Matt Boldy, RW, Minnesota Wild
Adam Fox, D, New York Rangers
Robert Thomas, C, St. Louis Blues
Igor Shesterkin, G, New York Rangers – – He faced the most shots in the league and struggled behind a team that nosedived in 2024-25. However, he does have bounce-back appeal and could outperform this ranking.
Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars
Josh Morrissey, D, Winnipeg Jets
Alex DeBrincat, LW, Detroit Red Wings
Kirill Marchenko, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets
Lane Hutson, D, Montreal Canadiens – – He racked up points and blocks en route to winning the Calder Trophy in 2024-25. His fantasy value would take another significant step if he shoots the puck more often.
John Tavares, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
Cole Caufield, RW, Montreal Canadiens
Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings
Roope Hintz, C, Dallas Stars
Jordan Kyrou, RW, St. Louis Blues
Nico Hischier, C, New Jersey Devils
Seth Jarvis, RW, Carolina Hurricanes
Darcy Kuemper, G, Los Angeles Kings
Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames
Connor Bedard, C, Chicago Blackhawks
Roman Josi, D, Nashville Predators – – His concussion and diagnosis with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome last season make him an unpredictable fantasy defender for 2025-26. If he returns to form, he would be a steal for potential fantasy managers.
Filip Gustavsson, G, Minnesota Wild
Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa Senators
Dylan Holloway, LW, St. Louis Blues
Matvei Michkov, LW, Philadelphia Flyers – – He finished the 2024-25 season with six goals and 16 points in 12 games. The 20-year-old forward could find another gear after topping the 60-point mark in his rookie campaign.
Alex Tuch, RW, Buffalo Sabres
Macklin Celebrini, C, San Jose Sharks
Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Colorado Avalanche – – He is a wild card for the 2025-26 campaign. He returned to action in the 2025 postseason after multiple knee surgeries and possesses considerable fantasy value if he can remain a healthy contributor in Colorado’s talented top six.
Andrei Svechnikov, LW, Carolina Hurricanes
Matthew Knies, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs
Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Carolina Hurricanes
MacKenzie Weegar, D, Calgary Flames
Tom Wilson, RW, Washington Capitals
Dylan Guenther, RW, Utah Mammoth
Linus Ullmark, G, Ottawa Senators
JJ Peterka, LW, Utah Mammoth
Drake Batherson, RW, Ottawa Senators
Vincent Trocheck, C, New York Rangers
Logan Cooley, C, Utah Mammoth – – The 21-year-old improved in his sophomore season, scoring 25 goals and 65 points in 75 games. He has the potential to reach new heights on an improving team in the 2025-26 campaign.
Mark Stone, RW, Vegas Golden Knights
Mathew Barzal, C, New York Islanders
Timo Meier, RW, New Jersey Devils
Moritz Seider, D, Detroit Red Wings
Logan Thompson, G, Washington Capitals
Kevin Fiala, LW, Los Angeles Kings
Adin Hill, G, Vegas Golden Knights
Thomas Harley, D, Dallas Stars
Dustin Wolf, G, Calgary Flames
Carter Verhaeghe, LW, Florida Panthers – – His career-low 8.3 shooting percentage should improve, giving him plenty of rebound upside in the upcoming campaign.
Jacob Markstrom, G, New Jersey Devils
Dylan Strome, C, Washington Capitals
Anthony Stolarz, G, Toronto Maple Leafs
Elias Pettersson, C, Vancouver Canucks – – He has plenty of bounce-back appeal following an injury-plagued 2024-25 campaign.

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College Sports

The college football season is here. Which matchups are must-watch? | State

State AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyomingPuerto RicoUS Virgin IslandsArmed Forces AmericasArmed Forces PacificArmed Forces EuropeNorthern Mariana IslandsMarshall IslandsAmerican SamoaFederated States of MicronesiaGuamPalauAlberta, CanadaBritish Columbia, CanadaManitoba, CanadaNew Brunswick, CanadaNewfoundland, CanadaNova Scotia, CanadaNorthwest Territories, CanadaNunavut, CanadaOntario, CanadaPrince Edward Island, CanadaQuebec, CanadaSaskatchewan, CanadaYukon Territory, Canada Zip Code Country United States of […]

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21 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

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Post-NBA TNT extends Parker, Lefkoe; adds CFB role for LaForce

A few familiar names from the NBA on TNT are sticking around, in one form or another, for the network’s post-NBA future. TNT Sports announced Wednesday that it has struck contract extensions with studio host Adam Lefkoe and basketball analyst Candace Parker, who along with Allie LaForce will take on new roles on the network’s […]

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46 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

A few familiar names from the NBA on TNT are sticking around, in one form or another, for the network’s post-NBA future.

TNT Sports announced Wednesday that it has struck contract extensions with studio host Adam Lefkoe and basketball analyst Candace Parker, who along with Allie LaForce will take on new roles on the network’s new college sports packages.

TNT begins its run as a Big 12 and Big East broadcast partner this season, carrying men’s basketball games in both conferences, plus Big 12 football and Big East women’s basketball. Lefkoe will host the football and men’s basketball studio shows, Parker will serve as an analyst on basketball games, and LaForce will work the football sidelines — her return to college football after previously working the “SEC on CBS.”

All three were regulars on TNT’s NBA coverage, with Lefkoe and Parker in the Tuesday night studio and LaForce as the network’s lead sideline reporter.

Parker will continue covering the NBA for Amazon Prime Video, making her one of several TNT employees who will moonlight on other networks’ NBA coverage. TNT’s Grant Hill will serve as an NBA game analyst for NBC — and has already been assigned an Opening Night game — and of course the TNT studio team of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will continue doing “Inside the NBA” but for ESPN.

It was of course the licensing agreement for “Inside the NBA” that allowed TNT to acquire its Big 12 package from ESPN, which includes 13 football and 15 men’s basketball games per season.

TNT announced Wednesday that its lead Big 12 football team will consist of play-by-play voice J.B. Long and analyst Mike Golic Jr., with LaForce or Coy Wire on the sidelines. The studio team will be the same one the network used on its Mountain West football coverage last season: Lefkoe, Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes and Victor Cruz.

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Chad Ruhwedel retires after 13-year NHL career

A former champion who had to work his way to the top has hung up his skates. On Tuesday, longtime NHL defenseman Chad Ruhwedel announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 35. Chad Ruhwedel is officially calling it a career after going from undrafted to 369 NHL career games 👏 Wishing nothing […]

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1 hour ago

August 13, 2025

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A former champion who had to work his way to the top has hung up his skates.

On Tuesday, longtime NHL defenseman Chad Ruhwedel announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 35.

Chad Ruhwedel is officially calling it a career after going from undrafted to 369 NHL career games 👏

Wishing nothing but the best to Chad in his next chapter! pic.twitter.com/xkF9kqtZdw

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) August 12, 2025

“Playing in the NHL has been a dream come true,” Ruhwedel said in a statement. “I’m incredibly grateful to the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers organizations for giving me the opportunity to live that dream. While there have been countless unforgettable moments on the ice, it’s the relationships and friendships built along the way that I cherish most.

“To my family, teammates, coaches, fans and countless others who supported me, thank you for being a part of this amazing journey.”

Ruhwedel’s path to the NHL wasn’t clear-cut. The San Diego native went undrafted, but earned an NHL contract with the Sabres after a solid three years at UMass-Lowell, where he established himself as one of the best blueliners in college hockey.

Ruhwedel spent three years in the Sabres organization, spending the majority of his time with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In the summer of 2016, he moved to Pittsburgh and found instant success on a team that had just won the Stanley Cup. Along with playing some of the 2016-17 campaign with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the former member of the Sioux Falls Stampede played six games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, enough to be part of the Pittsburgh team that took home the franchise’s fifth championship.

He would play most of his seven-plus seasons with the Pens organization in the NHL before being traded to the Rangers in March 2024. This past year, he appeared in just five games for the Blueshirts, with most of the 2024-25 campaign seeing Ruhwedel skate with their primary affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

In 369 NHL regular-season games, Ruhwedel scored 13 goals and 37 assists for 50 points, appearing in 25 postseason affairs. In 266 AHL contests, he notched 34 goals and 100 assists for 134 points.

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NCAA Gymnastics holds judges accountable for inaccurate scoring. Could their system be used for MLB umpires?

Baseball and gymnastics: Two sports that couldn’t be more different. Yet both sports have recently seen a similar trend in how the effects of relying on human judgement can impact competitive outcomes and fan frustrations. NCAA women’s gymnastics is perhaps the sport that’s benefitted the most from the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy change […]

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1 hour ago

August 13, 2025

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NCAA women’s gymnastics is perhaps the sport that’s benefitted the most from the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy change that now allows collegiate athletes to profit from endorsements and sponsorships. Unlike in baseball where players have the potential to make money for a decade or more, the window of opportunity for gymnasts to earn money doing their sport is significantly smaller. Previously, the top gymnasts in the country typically competed for the national team at world championships or the Olympics between the ages of 16-19, and often had to make the difficult decision to relinquish their NCAA eligibility in favor of signing sponsorship deals. With the change to the NIL policy, those elite gymnasts no longer have to make a choice.

While correlation does not equate to causation, this influx of top international competitors also aligned with a widespread tendency towards inconsistent judging and leniency for certain schools and athletes. In the same way that an established All Star pitcher like Zack Wheeler might benefit from a slightly larger strike zone compared to a rookie, a former world championship or Olympic team member might get fewer deductions based on their reputation alone. This culminated in programs with multiple former national members seeming to get undeservedly high team scores and preferential treatment from judges.

Regardless of if the change in consistency was an unconscious attempt to reward those athletes and programs perceived as “better,” or even just a coincidence entirely, it led to an outcry from fans for the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) to address the obvious issues with judging very similar to how baseball fans are now begging MLB to address its umpiring issue.

Whether baseball or gymnastics, it’s important to recognize that no judge or umpire is perfect and that human error will always play a factor in sports competitions, especially those with subjective components to them. But when blatant errors and inconsistent leniency are left unaddressed and allowed to continuously impact games and competitions, it becomes a fundamental flaw in the system.

Here’s how the WCGA has started to address that flaw:

Ahead of the 2024-2025 collegiate season, the WCGA announced new changes to the gymnastics scoring system and process. Among the changes included a new eight-person panel that evaluates the accuracy of each individual judge’s scores– essentially, a group of judges who judge the judges. Each individual gets scored against an “ideal” and is rewarded points for their accuracy, while also being deducted points for egregious errors. These points are then used to rank the judges, with the highest rated individuals favored to receive future postseason assignments. The evaluations are also used to provide targeted education to all judges regarding common errors and other issues.

It would definitely be possible for Major League Baseball to adopt this type of checks-and-balances system to oversee its umpiring. Similar to the WCGA’s system, a team of officials could be tasked with reviewing individual performances by umpires and rating their accuracy. Top performers could be rewarded with postseason assignments, while poor performers could be required to attend additional training or even face demotion to the minors. With actual rewards and consequences at stake, this could be a first step towards holding umpires accountable for their performance.

There are, of course, challenges to this type of system. With almost 400 meets in the collegiate gymnastics season, that equates to approximately 20,000 routines to be reviewed. And with an average of about 300 pitches thrown in each of the 2,430 MLB games per regular season, that comes out to nearly 800,000 pitches – and that’s just for the home plate umpire, that doesn’t even take into consideration calls made in the field. Creating a system to sample a database that large and provide accurate feedback for as many umpires as possible would not be an easy task. But, it wouldn’t be impossible.

The social media account “Umpire Scorecards” has already developed a way to determine strike zone accuracy and consistency, and identify impactful missed calls. Take the scorecard from this past Monday’s game against the Reds for example. Of the 125 called balls and strikes (256 pitches total) this system identified 15 that were inaccurate, giving home plate umpire Alfonso Márquez an 88% accuracy rating and an overall bias of +0.25 runs in favor of the Phillies. If each game produced an average of even double that at 30 calls for review, that would come out to about 73,000 reviews per season. That’s a far more reasonable task, especially for an organization with the resources to hire the required personnel.

It’s not a perfect system, by far. But what WCGA has implemented at least shows a willingness to take that first step in addressing the flaws of a human-based judging system. With a similar issue facing them, MLB should take notes.

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