NIL

Premiership Rugby signs new long

TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland will continue to be the home of English domestic rugby after agreeing new long-term deals with Premiership Rugby and Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR). The multi-year agreements will enable TNT Sports to continue utilising best-in-class production, unrivalled on-air expertise via some of the most respected voices in the sport […]

Published

2 weeks ago

May 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland will continue to be the home of English domestic rugby after agreeing new long-term deals with Premiership Rugby and Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR).

The multi-year agreements will enable TNT Sports to continue utilising best-in-class production, unrivalled on-air expertise via some of the most respected voices in the sport as well as leveraging cross-promotional opportunities that have helped yield record audience numbers for both Gallagher Premiership Rugby and Premiership Women’s Rugby over the past 12 months.

Replicating the existing agreement between the two parties, every single match from the Gallagher Premiership Rugby season – including the Play-Offs and Final – will be broadcast live on TNT Sports’ linear channels or its streaming platform discovery+ until the end of the 2030/31 season. Select matches from the Premiership Rugby Cup will also be shown on TNT Sports.

In a further win for sports fans, TNT Sports or its streaming platform discovery+, will show at least one match from every Premiership Women’s Rugby round each season – including both Semi-Finals and Final – until the end of the 2028/29 season, meaning viewers will be able to watch some of the finest rugby players in the world – including England’s title-winning Guinness Women’s Six Nations Red Roses stars – week in, week out. TNT Sports will broadcast the top pick in every round.

Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “TNT Sports is proud to cement its position as the home of men’s and women’s domestic rugby, providing fans with certainty on where they can watch every moment of every match of Premiership Rugby and extensive coverage of Premiership Women’s Rugby.

“There is no doubt the quality of both competitions continues to improve each season and we are convinced the changes being mooted by Premiership Rugby, together with the strength of our production and on-air team, that we can continue to grow viewership and attendance over the next five seasons. Furthermore, we are absolutely thrilled to continue to bring Premiership Women’s Rugby to rugby fans that know TNT Sports is the home of club rugby and believe this is also the best way to continue to promote and grow the women’s game.”

Simon Massie-Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Premiership Rugby, said: “Our recent partnership with TNT Sports has helped drive record audiences and attract a million new fans to the Gallagher Premiership, alongside drawing record crowds and a second sold-out final in a row.

“Our clubs have worked hard to establish the Gallagher Premiership as a compelling competition with high-quality entertaining rugby, and TNT Sports have embraced the challenge to continue to innovate to help grow the sport and their output has been first class.

“This extended partnership allows both parties to invest in the long-term growth of the Gallagher Premiership and we are very excited about the future.”

Genevieve Shore, Executive Chair, Premiership Women’s Rugby, said: “The extension of our partnership with TNT Sports is a huge step forward for Premiership Women’s Rugby. Showcasing a live match every weekend for the next four years means our incredible athletes will be seen by more fans than ever before, giving them the platform they deserve and inspiring the next generation of players.”

“We’re thrilled to be working with a broadcaster that shares our vision for the future of the women’s game, and this deal is a powerful vote of confidence in the strength, skill, and excitement that define Premiership Women’s Rugby and its athletes.

“The huge rise in viewing figures last season shows the potential of PWR, and together with TNT Sports, we will continue to grow women’s rugby.”

This season TNT Sports continues to engage record numbers of fans through its coverage of Gallagher Premiership Rugby and Premiership Women’s Rugby.

TNT Sports recorded two of its top five ever linear TV audiences this season. After 13 rounds of the 24/25 season Gallagher Premiership Rugby average audiences are up +11% vs 23/24 and +24% vs 22/23 seasons while TNT Sports’ live-to-live scheduling strategy has seen Saturday afternoon PRL matches drive a +39% rise in audiences when directly following a Premier League football match vs weeks with no EPL lead-in.

Premiership Women’s Rugby audiences, meanwhile, rose 156% following November’s Autumn Nation Series. March’s PWR Grand Final, which saw holders Gloucester-Hartpury overcome Saracens 34-19, drove a 36% increase in average audience vs the 2024 final, contributing to an 86% year-on-year increase in season average audiences on TNT Sports.

Coverage of Gallagher Premiership Rugby and Premiership Women’s Rugby on TNT Sports supplements an unrivalled portfolio of world-class rugby that includes the Autumn Nations Series as well as the HSBC SVNS Series.

TNT Sports, which transitioned from BT Sport as part of the Joint Venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and BT in September 2022, has been the primary broadcast partner of Premiership Rugby since 2013.

NIL

Texas’ Steve Sarkisian makes bold College Football Playoff prediction

Kirby Smart on college football’s future Kirby Smart urges leaders to prioritize the game’s future over personal or conference agendas in playoff talks. MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Alert the statue makers. Their services would be needed in January, if a college football team navigates this season undefeated. That’s the way Steve Sarkisian sees it, anyway. […]

Published

14 minutes ago

May 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Alert the statue makers. Their services would be needed in January, if a college football team navigates this season undefeated.

That’s the way Steve Sarkisian sees it, anyway.

The Texas coach boldly predicted Tuesday that college football might have seen its last undefeated national champion. And in the off-chance that another perfect team emerges, bust out the bronze, Sarkisian says.

Michigan most recently pulled off perfection with its 2023 team. The Wolverines went 15-0, emerging victorious from a four-team College Football Playoff.

Now, with a 12-team playoff in place and a bigger playoff likely on the horizon, national champions play more than 15 games.

This season’s national champion will play a minimum of 16 games. Ohio State captured glory with a 14-2 record last season. The Buckeyes lost twice during the regular season before winning the national championship from the No. 8 seed line.

Ohio State became the first two-loss champion since 2007 LSU. Get used to more of that, says Sarkisian.

“This idea of somebody is going to go 16-0 in college football, man, put a statue up somewhere of that team,” Sarkisian said before the SEC’s spring meetings began here this week, “because I just don’t know if that’s going to happen again.”

Interesting opinion.

Count me among the skeptics, though, that we’ve seen the last of the undefeated national champions. This sport isn’t known for parity. It’s known for a small batch of schools dominating.

Sarkisian himself built a roster that could be poised to do some dominating this year.

Kirby Smart explains why perfection remains possible

Consider Georgia coach Kirby Smart skeptical of Sarkisian’s prediction that we’ve seen the sport’s last undefeated team.

Smart’s 2022 squad went undefeated, one of five teams to achieve the feat during the 10 years of the four-team playoff.

Smart’s thinking goes like this: Unless some framework is put in place to keep a team from outspending everyone else in this pay-for-play era, what’s to stop the emergence of an undefeated super team filled with highly paid players?

“You could end up with some haves and have nots out there,” Smart said, “and ultimately teams could drive prices and go buy a championship with a super team. I think we could see that if there’s not parity. We don’t really know if there’s going to be or not.”

A federal judge is considering whether to approve a legal settlement that would unlock revenue-sharing with athletes. That settlement would cap how much revenue each institution could share with athletes, functioning as something of a salary cap on rosters. However, even in that revenue-sharing landscape, separate NIL deals outside the school framework still could be brokered, allowing a roster to exceed the revenue-sharing cap.

College football’s landscape started evolving after NIL deals launched in 2021. Transfer rules also loosened that year. Those changes made it more difficult for one team – say, Alabama or Georgia – to stockpile a three-deep of all-stars.

“The portal and the lack of the depth” made going undefeated more difficult, Smart acknowledged.

Also, a longer season increases the runway for injuries. Both Texas and Georgia dealt with injuries to their starting quarterbacks last season. Georgia lost in the CFP quarterfinals to Notre Dame while starting a backup quarterback, after Carson Beck injured his elbow in the SEC championship game.

Texas is top candidate to be next undefeated national champion

Sarkisian ranks among the likeliest coaches to produce an undefeated champion within this structure.

The Longhorns possess the necessary ingredients to go undefeated:

∎ A lush bankroll. A handsomely paid roster doesn’t guarantee success, but let’s not kid ourselves, no pauper is winning a title in this pay-for-play model. Ohio State won with the help of spending $20 million to improve its roster. Texas, with its deep war chest, is believed to be among the teams driving up the market price this season.

∎ A good quarterback. Ohio State’s Will Howard peaked at the right time last season and delivered some of his finest performances throughout Ohio State’s four playoff victories. Texas will hand its quarterback reins to Arch Manning. He’s among the preseason favorites for the Heisman Trophy.

∎ A coach (and a school) that attracts talent and develops it. Ohio State’s Ryan Day can recruit and develop. So can Sarkisian. Day entered last season on the shortlist of best coaches without a national championship. Sarkisian heads up that list this season, after Texas’ consecutive trips to the CFP semifinals.

Arch Manning leads a talented Texas team that’s transitioning

Perfection talk aside, it’s evident that Sarkisian likes his roster. Texas must transition to new starters at key positions, including quarterback, but fresh starters doesn’t equate to a youthful roster.

“We’re not necessarily young. We’ve just got some new faces (starting),” Sarkisian said, “guys who have been in our program, who have been working on their craft, who have been developing, and now it’s their opportunity.”

Take Manning, for example. He’s no pup, after two seasons as Quinn Ewers’ backup.

Manning started two games last season while Ewers recovered from an injury, and Sarkisian kept using Manning in select situations after Ewers returned.

The toughest roadblock to Texas achieving perfection probably isn’t the season’s length, but rather the location of its toughest regular-season games.

The Longhorns will play at Ohio State in the season opener and at Georgia in November.

If Manning and the Longhorns beat the Buckeyes at The Horseshoe, the victory would trumpet a message that Texas perfection is possible.

Anyone know any statue makers in Austin?

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

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Lehigh University – Official Athletics Site

Published

18 minutes ago

May 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Four members of the Lehigh softball team have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, announced Tuesday. The Mountain Hawks are represented by senior Julia Mrochko, junior Sydney Parlett and sophomores Holly Lovett and Peyton Sward.

To be eligible for Academic All-District honors, student-athletes must have a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and meet certain competitive benchmarks for games played or games started. Student-athletes who meet this criteria and have significant on-field accomplishments will move on to the Academic All-America ballot. First-year student-athletes are not eligible for Academic All-District or Academic All-America honors.

From Lehigh’s four honorees, Mrochko and Sward will move on to the Academic All-America ballot, with those honors expected to be announced in mid-June. Mrochko and Sward were both All-Patriot League honorees on the field, with Mrochko earning second team honors and Sward being selected to the first team. The middle infield duo both garnered Academic All-Patriot League honors earlier this month.

Mrochko graduated May 18 with a 3.74 GPA in finance. She hit .325 in 2025 with 17 doubles, three home runs and 32 RBIs.

Lehigh’s primary catcher in 2025, Parlett holds a 3.61 GPA majoring in industrial and systems engineering. Parlett had 10 extra base hits and drove I 17 runs in 47 games this past season.

An economics major with a 3.76 GPA, Lovett appeared in all 52 games, primarily at third base, and had 30 hits, including five doubles, and 17 runs batted in.

Sward’s 3.78 GPA ranks first among Lehigh’s upperclass student-athletes. She hit .318 with 49 hits and 31 runs scored in 52 games last season.

Lehigh finished the 2025 season at 28-24.

Follow Lehigh Softball on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.

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Five Named to CSC Academic All-District Team

Story Links CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Five Chattanooga Mocs softball players were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, the organization announced Tuesday. Peja Goold, Olivia Lipari, Taylor Long, Acelynn Sellers and Kailey Snell each earned a spot on the All-District Team and Goold is eligible for Academic All-America consideration. […]

Published

35 minutes ago

May 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Five Chattanooga Mocs softball players were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, the organization announced Tuesday.

Peja Goold, Olivia Lipari, Taylor Long, Acelynn Sellers and Kailey Snell each earned a spot on the All-District Team and Goold is eligible for Academic All-America consideration.

Goold was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-Region. The junior is a marketing major with a 3.64 GPA. She had a SoCon-best 244 strikeouts in 2025, tied for fourth in a single season at UTC and is seventh on the Mocs all-time list with 465. She was ranked fourth in the NCAA for shutouts with eight, sixth in wins with 25 and seventh in the NCAA for strikeouts.

Olivia Lipari was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year. The senior infielder graduated in May with a degree in Biology with Latin Honors. She is the sixth Chattanooga player to earn the postseason honor and the first since 2012. She led the Mocs at the plate this season and was fifth in the league. Her 17 doubles ranked second in the SoCon and in the Top 30 in the NCAA.

Taylor Long, a junior Health and Physical Education K-12 major carries a 3.65 GPA. She was named All-Southern Conference Second Team and was second in the SoCon with 160 strikeouts. The Calhoun, Ga., native led the league in strikeouts per seven innings with 8.7 and was second in opponent batting average at .206.

Acelynn Sellers carries 3.67 GPA in Chemical Engineering. She started every single game she played in her fourth seasons with the vast majority at first base. She closed out her career with 27 home runs, including a team-best 12 this season. Twice she hit a UTC record three home runs in a single game, including the Mocs SoCon Tournament game against Mercer.

Kailey Snell graduated last May with a degree in Child and Family Studies and is currently working on her Masters in Secondary Education: Licensure with a 4.0 GPA. The Shelbyville, Tenn., native is a three-time CSC Academic All-District Honoree. She made 219 starts, primarily at short stop and gained an extra year after suffering a season-ending injury in her junior year. Snell was the Mocs lead off batter most of the season and was third on the team with a .328 batting average. She had 11 sac bunts, eight doubles, two triples and a .396 on-base percentage.

Goold is up for consideration for CSC Academic All-America as well as with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. She was named to the 643 Charts All-American Second Team. She was determined to be one of the most impactful pitchers in the country based on the WAR (Wins Above Replacement) metric.

FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA SOFTBALL
For the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga Softball, please follow @GoMocsSB on Twitter & Instagram and ChattanoogaSB on Facebook.

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College football burns as SEC coaches complain from yacht

Kirby Smart on college football’s future Kirby Smart urges leaders to prioritize the game’s future over personal or conference agendas in playoff talks. MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Let’s not look past the obvious and wade into the ridiculous. They’re football coaches, OK? Their job is to win games, and everything should be seen through that […]

Published

1 hour ago

May 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Let’s not look past the obvious and wade into the ridiculous.

They’re football coaches, OK? Their job is to win games, and everything should be seen through that lens.

Even paradigm change in the sport.

So while just about everyone else associated with college football trudges through the weeds of drastic change, SEC football coaches are talking roster management at the league’s annual spring meetings. That’s right, bubba.

It’s roster size and roster management, right down to the third-team long snapper.

“If I lose two long snappers, where do I get my third one?” said Texas A&M coach Mike Elko.

And if you can’t believe a coach in the biggest, baddest conference in all of college football would say such a tone-deaf thing when the world is crashing down on 70 percent of the sport, that’s just the beginning.

“The biggest problem from our perspective is we don’t have access to a revolving roster (like the NFL) during the season,” Elko said. “The fear we have is if you get a rash of injuries, there’s no avenue to fix it.”

On a 105-man roster.

It is here where we pause, ever so briefly, to soak in the absurdity of that statement — and underscore just how detached coaches are. Again, it’s not their fault; they’re paid to win games.

They’re not paid to fix the College Football Playoff format, or negotiate terms on a pooled media rights revenue concept, or figure out billions in back pay to former players, or have any impact on the SEC playing eight or nine conference games.

They’re given football parameters, and told to win football games within those parameters — or you’re out. It’s about as simple and cutthroat as it gets.

So while college football careens closer and closer to an NFL model, coaches are left wondering why the sport’s leaders refuse to embrace the benefits of a professional structure. Why there are not one, but two free player movement transfer portals.

One access to free movement and an uncapped salary pool (because that’s what it will be with private NIL deals) is bad enough. Two bites at the apple for players, coaches say, is devastating for development.

On a 105-man roster.

“It’s really hard to be playing in a championship setting and have to deal with that,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

Ladies and gentlemen, the biggest, baddest coach in all of college football really said that.

“But when I brought that up as a complaint or a problem,” Smart continued, “It was told to me there’s no crying from the yacht.”

And he was dead serious.

Smart has everything he could possibly want at his alma mater, and every possible advantage to winning. It also helps that he’s the best coach in the business, and Georgia will do anything to keep him happy.

Smart once flew in a helicopter to a high school football game of a recruit, and landed right next to the field before the game began. He and his staff recruit better than anyone in the sport, and he annually has the most talented roster in the nation.

On the other side of the grind, where reality resides, SMU chose to forgo millions in media rights payments from the ACC just to get in the door of power conference football — after paying a what was essentially a $200 million initiation fee by forgoing media rights payments for nine years.

The same SMU that somehow, some way, trudged through the hardships of building a team and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff.

In its first season of big boy football.

I mean, imagine if SMU had lost two long snappers along the way. The horror.

To be fair to these multimillion dollar SEC coaches, they’re creatures of habit. When a plan works, they stick with it.

Who among us could’ve not only seen change, but a completely sidetracked system evolving into an unthinkable abyss?

“We saw where this was going when NIL began,” Elko said, because of course they did. “I don’t think any of it is a surprise to us, once that can got opened.”

So now they’re asking for a single transfer portal window, one that doesn’t affect roster building. Which is sort of like asking for peace in the Middle East.

There are pitfalls for both the winter and spring portals. Place the portal window in the winter, after the regular season, and everyone is dealing roster management during the postseason.

Place the portal window in the spring, and everyone is dealing with a changed roster after three months of preparation and practice for the upcoming season. Teams would then spend a majority of the summer reorganizing a roster, and in some cases, completely changing the face of a team.

Then there’s another teeny weeny problem: If you think player tampering is out of control now, imagine what it looks like in a spring-only portal.

“If there were a (portal) sometime between the end of the last game of the season, and the start of spring ball, that would be ideal,” said Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. “But I don’t think there are a lot of presidents lining up to shift the start of the spring semester for the College Football Playoff.”

You never know. It is the SEC, after all.

Where long snappers mean everything.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

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NIL

NIL Has Killed College Football as we Knew it

Published

1 hour ago

May 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

College football is one of the most popular sports in America. Every Saturday families gather in front of their television screen to cheer on their favorite team. However, since the NCAA passed the rule allowing college athletes to make money off their name, image, and likeness (NIL) while in school, things have noticeably changed. The shift instantly impacted the college world, allowing athletes to rake in big revenue. How bad can making money in college actually be? Not as good as one might think.

In April, former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava held out of spring practice due to an NIL dispute. According to Mark Giannotto of USA Today, Iamaleava was trying to renegotiate his NIL contract since the NCAA is expected to approve revenue sharing with schools. The quarterback’s deal was set up for him to make over $2 million per year.

During all the NIL drama with Iamaleava, Vols head coach Josh Huepel was forced to move on from his starting five-star quarterback. “We’re moving forward as a program without him,” he said, “there’s no one that’s bigger than the power T.” Iamaleava entered the transfer portal shortly after the dispute with Tennessee.

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EA Sports Releases Covers for ‘College Football 26’ Video Game

EA Sports is set to release their newest video game this summer, highlighting the most talented college football players in the business. The upcoming release has generated excitement for players and programs, opening up plenty of opportunity for name, image and likeness business. EA Sports brought back their beloved game last year after things were […]

Published

2 hours ago

May 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

EA Sports is set to release their newest video game this summer, highlighting the most talented college football players in the business.

The upcoming release has generated excitement for players and programs, opening up plenty of opportunity for name, image and likeness business.

EA Sports brought back their beloved game last year after things were put on hold amidst some legal issues involving NCAA Football 14.

But now, progressive NIL rules and regulations have brought life back to EA Sports’ virtual football game, and fans have been excited about it ever since.

Ryan Williams (Alabama) and Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) will be starting their sophomore seasons in 2025. Both receivers had impressive freshman years, which helped earn their spots on the cover of EA Sports College Football 26.

Smith had an especially successful college football debut, leading the entire freshmen receiving class with 76 catches for 1,315 yards on his way to winning a national championship with the Buckeyes.

The evolution of NIL rules and regulations pioneered this new movement for EA Sports, giving each player that is featured in the game an estimated $600 and a copy of the video game.

The game is set to be released on July 10, 2025, carrying EA Sports’ new-found legacy after the success of “College Football 25.”

EA Sports will continue their promotion of their new game this week.

The trailer will be released on Thursday and is sure to generate even more excitement before the pre-order date approaches.

The special deluxe edition of the game will feature the coaching staff of teams on the cover, with reports that some coaches will be available during gameplay.

EA Sports is set up nicely and ready to build off the success of the video game from last year, and that should only create more interest in the sport and create a larger NIL platform for the players.

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