Sports
No vote on Big Ten capital deal; some urge caution
A decision on the Big Ten’s proposed private capital deal does not appear imminent in the wake of a Thursday meeting of the league’s presidents and chancellors.
No vote was taken on the conference call, as leagues rarely do so on any issue that won’t be unanimously approved.
The Big Ten said in a statement that conversations are ongoing.
Earlier Thursday, University of Michigan regents criticized the proposed deal, illustrating how tenuous completing it will be. Regent Mark Bernstein dubbed the deal “a payday loan.” Another regent, Jordan Acker, compared it to opening a new credit card to pay off debt.
The plan calls for the league to spin off a new entity, Big Ten Enterprises, that will house all leaguewide media rights and sponsorship deals. A University of California pension fund will receive a 10% stake in exchange for a cash infusion of over $2 billion to conference athletic departments. The deal also would extend the league’s grant of rights until 2046.
The Big Ten is in the middle of a seven-year, $7 billion media rights package that runs through 2030. Numerous schools, however, need money from soaring operational costs, revenue sharing with athletes and significant debt on stadium constructions and renovations.
Michigan and Southern California have emerged as opponents of the groundbreaking deal, details of which are still being negotiated. The deal does enjoy support among a majority of league schools, as well as from Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. Whether the deal can pass without unanimous support is unknown.
In its statement Thursday, the Big Ten said it “remains committed to modernizing the operations of our conference, strengthening conference stability, preserving Olympic and women’s sports, and enhancing the student-athlete experience.
“The conference has provided an option from a nonprofit partner — not private equity — that meets those objectives. Ultimately, it is the decision of the Big Ten member institutions’ presidents and chancellors to decide if it’s the right opportunity and those conversations are ongoing.”
At a previously scheduled meeting of Michigan trustees, multiple regents blasted the proposal as shortsighted and not addressing college athletics’ underlying spending problem. Acker said it was the latest short-term strategy to raise money. He noted the league has expanded four times since 2011 to generate more revenue but again is being told it has to rush into another deal.
“Now, we have to do this deal; giving away 10% of future media revenue for the next 21 years even though no one knows what college athletics or media will look like?” Acker said.
Acker brought up regrets inside the ACC for a 2013 deal that extended its grant of rights through 2036.
“The ACC once thought a long-term deal was a good idea,” he said. “Within a few years, they were suing each other.”
Acker said Michigan hired third-party “consultants and banks,” including the multinational financial institution Barclays, and all were “unequivocal in their opposition. They recommend different ways to address deficits and raise money. They say we can do it more efficiently without selling assets.”
“We understand the responsibility to lift all boats and to help schools that need money to get that money,” Acker said. “It just has to be on the best financial terms possible. The Big Ten doesn’t need to be sold to save college sports. It needs to lead to save college sports.”
Bernstein followed by criticizing the league for demanding quick action, claiming the “contrived urgency is mysterious.” He called the deal “reckless” and a “payday loan.”
“It is the job of the board to protect the future from the present,” he said.
Michigan Regent Sarah Hubbard said further study was needed, and noted that given the board’s mission to protect the assets of the university, it would not be pressured.
“We will not be rushed by false deadlines or pressure from those that do not hold the fiduciary responsibilities we do,” Hubbard said.
The framework of the groundbreaking Big Ten deal would send a significant infusion of money (a minimum of at least the $100 million range) to each of the league’s 18 schools. Shares of ownership in Big Ten Enterprises would fall to those schools, the conference office and the capital group — an investment fund that is tied to the University of California pension system. The UC pension fund would receive the 10% stake in Big Ten Enterprises and would hold typical minority investor rights but no direct control, according to sources.
The exact equity amounts per school in Big Ten Enterprises are still being negotiated. There is expected to be a small gap in the percentage of the remaining equity among the schools that would favor the league’s biggest athletic brands, but it’s likely to be less than a percentage point. There is also expected to be a tier system for initial payments, but with the lowest amount in the nine-figure range. Larger athletic departments could receive an amount above $150 million.
An extension of the Big Ten grant of rights through 2046 would provide long-term stability for the league and make both further expansion and any chance schools leave for the formation of a so-called “Super League” unlikely.
The pension fund is not a private equity firm, which has been attractive to the Big Ten and its schools. The UC fund valuation proved to be higher than other competing bids, sources told ESPN, and that made it attractive.
The money infusion is believed to be acutely needed at a number of Big Ten schools that are struggling paying down debt on new construction and budgeting for direct revenue ($20.5 million this year and expected to rise annually) to athletes.
In 2023-24, Illinois spent $20 million, or 11.8% of its expenditures, paying down debt, according to Sports Illustrated. Ohio State laid out $33.7 million, or 11.5% of its budget.
Longtime NBA forward Danilo Gallinari announced his retirement from basketball Tuesday morning.
Gallinari, 37, spent 16 years in the NBA, playing in 14 seasons — and missing two others with torn ACLs — for several teams, beginning with the New York Knicks, who selected him sixth overall in the 2008 draft.
One of 299 players, per the Elias Sports Bureau, to have played at least 14 NBA seasons, Gallinari also played for the Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics (no games logged), Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks.
The son of Vittorio Gallinari — a teammate and roommate of longtime NBA head coach Mike D’Antoni while the two were members of Olimpia Milano in the 1970s and ’80s — Gallinari is the second-highest-drafted Italian player ever, behind former No. 1 selection Andrea Bargnani, and his 11,607 points is the most of any Italian player in NBA history.
He was best known for his time with the Knicks, where he was the fresh-faced on-court part of their rebuilding project ahead of the star-studded 2010 free agency class while D’Antoni was the head coach, and with the Nuggets, where he arrived as part of the massive trade that brought Carmelo Anthony to New York in 2011.
It was in Denver that Gallinari was part of a 57-win Nuggets team in 2012-13 that was made up of several of the players who came with him as part of that Anthony trade and that appeared ready to make a run in the Western Conference playoffs when Gallinari tore his ACL late in that regular season.
Injuries were, unfortunately, a major storyline of Gallinari’s career, as he missed at least 10 games in all but one of his NBA seasons. He not only missed two entire seasons — 2013-14 and 2022-23 — to ACL tears but also missed the vast majority of his rookie year with a back injury.
But when he was on the court, Gallinari was a tremendously skilled offensive player — particularly given that he was 6-foot-10. His 1,456 3-pointers is the sixth most by any player in NBA history who is at least that tall. In February 2021, while playing with the Hawks, he became one of eight players in league history to hit at least 10 3-pointers while coming off the bench.
That season with Atlanta marked the only time Gallinari would make it as far as the NBA’s conference finals in his 14-year career, although he capped off his professional career by winning the Puerto Rican league title, and winning the championship series MVP award, with Vaqueros de Bayamon this past summer.
Gallinari’s last game in the NBA was Game 6 of the Bucks’ first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA playoffs.
NEW YORK — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are facing a May trial on federal charges that they took bribes to help gamblers betting on their pitches.
U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto on Tuesday said jury selection would tentatively begin May 4 in Brooklyn federal court, with the trial opening the following week or sooner.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Sherman told the judge at the brief hearing that prosecutors anticipate the trial could last two weeks.
He said that both sides have been in discussions since the pitchers were arrested last month but that they have not yet talked about a possible plea deal in the case to avoid trial.
Matsumoto initially proposed a February trial date, but prosecutors and defense lawyers pushed for a spring start.
Sherman said prosecutors began providing defense lawyers with evidence and other materials this week in anticipation of a trial, including hundreds of gigabytes of files pulled from a number of electronic devices.
Clase, Ortiz and their lawyers declined to comment outside the courtroom. They’re due back in court Jan. 15.
The two have been out on bail since pleading not guilty last month to wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.
According to prosecutors, the two accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to help two unnamed gamblers in their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on bets placed on the speed and outcome of their pitches.
The prosecutors allege that Clase, the Guardians’ star closer, began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 and then recruited Ortiz into the scheme earlier this year.
Lawyers for the men have denied the charges. Ortiz’s lawyer has maintained that payments between his client and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for legal activities, not payoffs.
Clase, 27, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year who is on the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract.
Ortiz, 26, earned a $782,600 salary this year as a starting pitcher for Cleveland.
The two pitchers have been on nondisciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB began investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched.
The Guardians open spring training in February. The team’s home opener is April 3.
Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí will be out for five months after undergoing surgery on a broken leg on Tuesday, the Catalan club have confirmed.
Bonmatí, 27, fractured her fibula in Spain training over the weekend and returned to Barcelona immediately to begin her recovery.
“Bonmatí has undergone successful surgery on a fractured fibula in her left leg,” Barça announced in a short statement on Tuesday.
“The procedure was performed by Dr. Antoni Dalmau at Hospital Barcelona under the supervision of the club’s medical services. The expected recovery time is around five months.”
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner picked up the injury on Sunday as Spain prepared for Tuesday’s UEFA Women’s Nations League final second leg against Germany.
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She had initially wanted to stay with the Spain camp to support the team in their quest to retain the trophy, but was advised to return to Barcelona for treatment.
On Friday, she had played in the first leg in Germany, which ended in a goalless draw.
Bonmatí will now miss the majority of what remains of the club season, although there is a chance she could return for the run in.
The Champions League final, should Barça get there, is scheduled to take place in Oslo on May 22, with the final round of Liga F matches not set to take place until a week later.
The loss of Bonmatí complicates Barça’s options in the middle park, especially in the short-term, with both Patri Guijarro and Kika Nazareth also unlikely to feature again this calendar year due to injuries.
In the meantime, Laia Aleixandri will continue to push up from defence alongside Alexia Putellas, with youngsters Vicky López, Sydney Schertenleib and Clara Serrajordi set to compete for the final place in the middle of the park.
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