The XFL has filed for bankruptcy, likely spelling the end of the second iteration of the football league. The organization, which is backed by WWE, canceled the rest of its return season last month because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The filing Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware estimates the league has between $10 million and $50 million in both assets and liabilities. It suspended operations and laid off its employees Friday. The XFL had eight franchises this season and played five games out of a planned 10-game schedule. It drew decent TV ratings early on and had deals with ESPN and Fox.
NFL
The Carolina Panthers have rewarded Christian McCaffrey for his production and versatility, making him the highest-paid running in the NFL. The team agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract extension with McCaffrey on Monday, a person familiar with the contract negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Panthers have not announced the extension. Details on how much of the contract is fully guaranteed were unavailable. The $16-million-a-year deal eclipses Ezekiel Elliott's contract with the Dallas Cowboys that is worth $15 million per season. The extension keeps McCaffrey, 23, tied to the Panthers through the 2025 season. The coming season would be the final year of his rookie contract, and Carolina had the option to pick up a fifth year in 2021. It appeared to a matter of when, not if, the extension was coming after Panthers coach Matt Rhule made it clear last week that he viewed McCaffrey as a vital part of the franchise moving forward.
Former NFL quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has died in a one-car crash outside Montgomery, Alabama. He was 36. The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro that Jackson was driving went off the road, struck a tree and overturned at 8:50 p.m. Sunday. Jackson was hired as quarterbacks coach for Tennessee State last season after a 10-year NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills.
The NFL and its players union have agreed to conduct "virtual" offseason workout programs until every team is permitted to open its facilities. Teams can hold classroom instruction, workouts and non-football educational programs using online platforms. The three-week virtual offseason starts on April 20 and runs through May 15. Teams with a new head coach have the option to also hold a fourth week for a voluntary veterans minicamp.
ESPN and NFL Network will join forces for this year's NFL draft. They will produce a broadcast that will air on both networks over all three days. The April 23-25 draft was originally scheduled to be in Las Vegas but has been moved due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will now originate from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
The San Francisco 49ers have re-signed cornerbacks Dontae Johnson and Jason Verrett to one-year contracts. Johnson and Verrett played sparingly for San Francisco last season but were brought back for depth in the secondary.
The Los Angeles Rams have signed kickers Lirim Hajrullahu and Austin MacGinnis as potential replacements for longtime incumbent Greg Zuerlein. Hajrullahu has spent the past six seasons playing for three Canadian Football League teams. MacGinnis kicked in the defunct Alliance of American Football and in the defunct XFL over the past 14 months.
NASCAR
Kyle Larson's racial slur cost him his two primary NASCAR supporters. It likely will cost him his job soon. McDonald's and Credit One Bank ended their sponsorship of Larson on Monday, a day after he used the N-word during a live stream of a virtual race. The decision came hours after NASCAR and Chip Ganassi Racing suspended Larson indefinitely, his team doing so without pay. Without funding from McDonald's and Credit One Bank, Ganassi seemingly will be forced to dump Larson in favor of a different driver. McDonald's has partnered with CGR for nearly a decade and sponsors the team's No. 42 Chevrolet in the Cup Series. Ending its relationship with Larson would make it next to impossible for Ganassi to stick with Larson behind the wheel. NASCAR ordered Larson, who is half Japanese, to complete a sensitivity training course before he can be eligible for reinstatement. Larson apologized in a video posted on his social media accounts.
NBA
The Chicago Bulls fired general manager Gar Forman on Monday, while officially hiring Denver Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas as their executive vice president of basketball operations and moving John Paxson into an advisory role. The Bulls handed the keys to the 48-year-old Karnisovas last week, hoping he can spark a struggling franchise. Paxson is moving into a background role after nearly two decades as the top basketball decision-maker. He took over as general manager for Jerry Krause in 2003 and was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in May 2009 with Forman — who joined the Bulls as a scout in 1998 — becoming GM. But now, Forman is out. And the future of coach Jim Boylen remains unclear. The Bulls thought they were ready to contend for a playoff spot after combining for just 49 wins the past two seasons. Instead, they were 11th in the Eastern Conference at 22-43 when the NBA suspended play because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mother of Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns has died due to complications from COVID-19. Jacqueline Cruz-Towns had been fighting the virus for more than a month. The native of the Dominican Republic was a fixture at Timberwolves games from the start of her son's NBA career in 2015. Karl Towns Sr., the father of the two-time All-Star, was also hospitalized with the virus but has since recovered.
The NBA has been sending evaluations to players considering leaving college early and entering the draft. The league will do so for all underclassmen who ask before Thursday's deadline. The task falls to the league's Undergraduate Advisory Committee, which understands that what it says in these uncertain times may carry even more weight than usual. No date has been set for the draft.
Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook has donated 650 computers to children in need so they can continue learning with schools shut down because of the new coronavirus. Westbrook's Why Not? Foundation teamed with Comp-U-Dopt and Houston mayor Sylvester Turner's office of education to provide computers to underprivileged children across the city.
In NBA draft news:
Kansas guard Devon Dotson is entering the NBA draft after leading the Big 12 Conference in scoring his sophomore season. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.1 steals while helping Kansas go 28-3 and win its final 16 games.
Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley will enter the NBA draft and sign with an agent, leaving school after a breakout season in which he was an honorable mention All-America selection by The Associated Press. Southeastern Conference coaches voted the 6-foot-3 sophomore Player of the Year after he wasn't picked for any preseason all-conference teams. Quickley averaged a team-high 16.1 points per game last season with double-figure efforts in his final 20 contests.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Longtime Amherst College men's basketball coach David Hixon is retiring after 42 years with the program. Hixon made the announcement Monday — he graduated from Amherst College in 1975, and is one of three men's basketball coaches in NCAA history to surpass the 800-win mark. His overall 826-293 record puts him 15th in the NCAA's list of most wins in men's college basketball. Under Hixon, the team appeared in 20 NCAA tournaments and won eight NESCAC titles.
CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray are among 12 players confirmed to play in the virtual Madrid Open tennis tournament, April 27-30. The online competition will be played from players' homes and is expected to be broadcast live on TV and social media channels. There will be 150,000 euros ($164,000) distributed in prize money for each of the men's and women's events. The winners then decide how much they want to donate to tennis players who are having a hard time financially without any tournaments to play. Another 50,000 euros ($55,000) will be donated to reduce the social impact of the pandemic.
In other virus-related developments:
New York Post sports photographer Anthony Causi has died from the coronavirus at age 48. Causi was an exceedingly popular sports photographer who covered the city's teams for 25 years. He was married with two young children. Many of New York's professional teams and several players posted messages on Twitter expressing sadness, condolences and paying tribute to him.
Washington State athletic director Pat Chun, head football coach Nick Rolovich and men's basketball coach Kyle Smith are taking voluntary 5% pay cuts through the end of the 2020-21 academic year due to revenue reductions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chun says all Washington State coaches will voluntarily forgo all bonuses or incentives through the end of the next academic year.
The Cleveland Browns will donate net proceeds from sales of their new jerseys to a fund aiding health care professionals, first responders and others who have selflessly served during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team launched the Hats Off to Our Heroes Fund on Monday, two days before it will reveal the new uniforms. The Browns said the team will commit 100 percent of the proceeds "for a significant period of time" to the fund.
IOC President Thomas Bach tells a German newspaper that the Olympic body will face "several hundred million dollars" of added costs because of the postponement of the Tokyo Games. Estimates in Japan place the overall cost of the postponement at between $2 billion-$6 billion. All of those costs will be borne by the Japanese side except for the IOC portion. Bach says he is confident the Olympics could be held in 2021 despite the current pandemic caused by the coronavirus.
Athletes completing doping bans over the next year will be eligible to compete in the postponed Tokyo Olympics. It's an unintended effect of the coronavirus pandemic that has some crying foul. Irish race walker Brendan Boyce says, "It doesn't seem like a fair punishment." The 2020 Olympics were officially postponed last month for one year, with the opening ceremony now set for July 23, 2021.
Premier League soccer club Tottenham has reversed a decision to use government money to fund some staff salaries during the coronavirus pandemic. Staff put on furlough during the pandemic receive 80% of their salaries up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds ($3,000) per month from the government. And Tottenham had said non-playing staff not being furloughed would have their pay cut 20%.
A lower-level German soccer team has sold more than 125,000 tickets to a fictional game. Fourth-division club Lokomotive Leipzig says it has set an "attendance record" by selling so many tickets for a "virtual game against an invisible opponent on May 8." The former East German league club has been selling symbolic tickets for 1 euro ($1.10).
Despite having no ice on which to perform, more than 40 figure skaters from nine countries will take part in a fundraiser Friday to help healthcare workers on the front lines battling the new coronavirus. Such Olympic and world champions as Scott Hamilton, Michelle Kwan, Brian Boitano, Kurt Browning, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Evgeni Plushenko have compiled videos as part of the one-hour event "Blades for the Brave." It will be streamed on Bladesforthebrave.org as well as Americares' Facebook and Twitter feeds and its YouTube channel.
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