Sports briefs
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Chiefs backup lineman taken to hospital after cardiac event during team meeting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. | Kansas City Chiefs backup B.J. Thompson was taken to a hospital in stable condition Thursday after the defensive lineman experienced a cardiac event during a team meeting, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the event, said team trainers and medical staff were able to react quickly and treat Thompson until paramedics arrived.
The Chiefs planned to wrap up their voluntary offseason workouts on Thursday, but a team spokesman said the practice would be pushed to Friday. That is when Chiefs coach Andy Reid and other players will speak to reporters.
The 27-year-old Thompson was a fifth-round pick of the Chiefs out of Stephen F. Austin in last year’s draft. The only game Thompson appeared in was their regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, when Kansas City already had clinched its playoff spot and the game’s outcome was meaningless. Thompson had two tackles in that game.
Two more charged in betting scandal that spurred NBA to bar Jontay Porter
NEW YORK | Two more men were charged Thursday in the sports betting scandal that prompted the NBA to ban former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life.
Timothy McCormack and Mahmud Mollah now join two other men — Long Phi Pham and a fourth whose name remains redacted in a court complaint — as defendants in a federal wire fraud case about wagers allegedly based on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early.
Prosecutors haven’t publicly named Porter in connection with the case, but game dates and other details about the “Player 1” mentioned in the court documents match up with Porter and his April banishment from the NBA. Brooklyn federal prosecutors have declined to comment on whether the former forward is under investigation.
Current contact information could not immediately be found for Porter or any agent or other representative he may have.
An NBA investigation found in April that he tipped off bettors about his health and then claimed illness to exit at least one game and make some wagers succeed. Porter also gambled on NBA games in which he didn’t play, once betting against his own team, the league said.
Prosecutors say McCormack, Mollah, Pham and the as-yet-unknown fourth defendant took part in a scheme to get “Player 1” to take himself off the court so that they could win bets against his performance.
And win they did, with Mollah’s bets on a March 20 game netting over $1 million, according to the complaint. It said Pham, the player and the unnamed defendant were each supposed to get about a quarter of those winnings, and McCormack a 4% cut, before a betting company got suspicious and blocked Mollah from collecting most of the money.
McCormack also cleared more than $69,000 on bets on that game and another one Jan. 26, the complaint said.
His attorney, Jeffrey Chartier, said Thursday that “no case is a slam-dunk.” He declined to comment on whether his client knows Porter.
Lawyers for Mollah and Pham have declined to comment on the allegations.
McCormack, 36, of New York, and Mollah, 24, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, were granted $50,000 bond each after their arraignments Thursday. Pham, arraigned earlier this week, was released Thursday to home detention and electronic monitoring on $750,000 bond. The 38-year-old Brooklyn resident also uses the first name Bruce.
According to the complaint, “Player 1” amassed significant gambling debts by the beginning of 2024, and the unnamed defendant prodded him to clear his obligations by doing a “special” — their code for leaving certain games early to ensure the success of bets that he’d underperform expectations.
“If I don’t do a special with your terms. Then it’s up. And u hate me and if I don’t get u 8k by Friday you’re coming to Toronto to beat me up,” the player said in an encrypted message, according to the complaint.
It says he went on to tell the defendants that he planned to take himself out of the Jan. 26 game early, claiming injury.
Porter played 4 minutes and 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Clippers in that game before saying he had aggravated an eye problem. He’d scored no points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, below what sportsbooks were expecting. That meant a payday for anyone who bet the “under.”
Then, the complaint said, the player told the defendants that he would exit the March 20 game by saying he was sick. Porter played 2 minutes and 43 seconds against the Sacramento Kings that day, finishing with no points or assists and 2 rebounds, again short of the betting line.
After the NBA and others began investigating, the player warned Pham, Mollah and the unnamed defendant via an encrypted messaging app that they “might just get hit w a rico” — an apparent reference to the common acronym for a federal racketeering charge — and asked whether they had deleted “all the stuff” from their phones, according to the complaint.
NBA players, coaches, referees and other team personnel are prohibited from betting on any of the league’s games or on events such as draft picks.
In banning Porter, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the forward’s actions “blatant.”
Class-action
lawsuit against NFL
gets underway
LOS ANGELES | A class-action lawsuit filed by “Sunday Ticket” subscribers claiming the NFL broke antitrust laws got underway in federal court Thursday with the league’s attorney telling jurors that fans have a choice when it comes to watching games and the “Sunday Ticket” package is a premium product.
“The case is about choice. This is a valuable, premium product. Think about all the choices available to fans. We want as many people as possible to watch the free broadcasts,” said Beth Wilkinson, who is representing the NFL.
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2015 and has withstood numerous challenges, says the NFL broke antitrust law when it allowed DirecTV to exclusively sell the “Sunday Ticket” package of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games airing on CBS and Fox at what it says was an inflated price and restricted competition.
“NFL, Fox, CBS and DirecTV agreed to make an expensive toll road that very few people would be able to afford. Every single competitor in this scheme benefitted,” Amanda Bonn, an attorney representing “Sunday Ticket” subscribers, said in her opening remarks Thursday.
DirecTV was the home of “NFL Sunday Ticket” from 1994 until 2022. YouTube will be in the second season this year of a seven-year deal after agreeing to the rights in December 2022.
The class-action case covers more than 2.45 million commercial and residential subscribers from 2012 to 2022 and seeks $7.1 billion in damages. Since damages are tripled under federal rules, the NFL could be liable for up to $21 billion if it loses.
The NFL contends “Sunday Ticket” is an add-on package for the league’s most-devoted and out-of-town fans, along with noting that all games for local teams are available on broadcast networks.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a longtime member of the league’s broadcast committee, are expected to testify in the case that could last up to three weeks.
The trial could bring to light how much YouTube is paying the NFL for “Sunday Ticket” and if it is making money. There also will be documents filed that would show how much networks spend to produce an NFL game.
Bonn showed a 2020 term sheet by Fox Sports demanding the NFL ensure “Sunday Ticket” would be priced above $293.96 per season on streaming platforms in the 11-year rights deal it signed with the NFL in 2021 and that began in 2023. That was the price for the 2020 season.
When the “Sunday Ticket” contract was up for bid in 2022, ESPN wanted to offer the package on its streaming service for $70 per season along with offering a team-by-team product, according to an email shown by Bonn.
This is one of the rare occasions where the NFL has had a high-profile case go to court where league financial matters would become public without settling. In 2021, it settled with St. Louis, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority for $790 million over the relocation of the Rams to Los Angeles.
The “Sunday Ticket” case attracted a large crowd of attorneys and media members to the courtroom of Judge Philip S. Gutierrez. An overflow room was eventually set up 10 minutes into opening statements.
Tighe Scott and three others face charges stemming from Capitol riot
Retired NASCAR driver Tighe Scott, his adult son and two other Pennsylvania men are facing felony charges stemming from confrontations with police during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol.
Scott, 75, of Pen Argyl, and three Saylorsburg residents — Jarret Scott, 48; Scott Slater Sr., 56, and his son Scott Alex Slater Jr., 26 — were arrested Wednesday by the FBI. Court records did not list attorneys for any of the men, and prosecutors did not respond Thursday to a question about whether any of the men had retained attorneys.
Tipsters helped identify the men after authorities posted photos and videos of the riot online, including one who recognized Tighe Scott from his racing days.
The four men entered the restricted grounds of the Capitol during the insurrection and physically engaged with police attempting to hold the line of protesters, according to the release. During this time, Tighe Scott struck police riot shields and attempted to rip one out of an officer’s hands while the two Slaters — both holding golf clubs — pushed and resisted against police shields, authorities said.
When an officer pushed Tighe Scott off of him, Scott stumbled backward into his son, who then began screaming profanities at officers, according to the release. Meanwhile, Scott Slater Jr. threw a flagpole and an “Area Closed” sign at officers, investigators said.
Tighe Scott and Jarret Scott were both charged with two felonies — obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers — and five misdemeanor counts.
Scott Slater Jr. faces three felony counts — obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon. His father faces a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, and both Slaters face several misdemeanor counts.
Tighe Scott competed in dirt racing events before moving into the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. He didn’t win any races but made multiple top-10 finishes and raced in the Daytona 500 on several occasions.
NHL team in Utah is down to six finalists for a name
The NHL team in Utah is down to six finalists for a name.
Smith Entertainment Group announced Thursday the choices have been narrowed to Blizzard, Mammoth, Outlaws, Venom, Yeti and Utah Hockey Club, or Utah HC.
Those are the options fans have to choose from after the process started with 20 possibilities and led to 520,000 votes. The public has until the end of the day June 20 in round two to determine the name.
Owner Ryan Smith has said he expects the jerseys to have Utah on them for the inaugural season. He told The Associated Press upon taking control of the franchise that the name would involve Utah in some way.
Last week, SEG filed eight logo/wordmark applications involving the state name or Utah Hockey Club in light blue and black. That could end up being the name or a placeholder until branding company Doubleday & Cartwright develops long-term branding with a logo and color scheme that will be in place for the 2025-26 season.
Smith’s group, which owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, bought the team formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes for $1.2 billion and relocated it to Salt Lake City. Carrying over the Coyotes name was not an option because former owner Alex Meruelo gets to retain that logo with the opportunity to bring the franchise back if he can get a suitable arena built in the Phoenix area.
—From AP reports
