Tuesday’s Sports In Brief

FOOTBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay says there’s “merit to remove” Dan Snyder as owner of the Washington Commanders, making him the first NFL owner to publicly state that his controversial counterpart should go.

Snyder’s status has been widely debated for years amid several scandals and investigations into workplace conduct in Washington. The league has been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and financial impropriety, a probe conducted by attorney Mary Jo White that is ongoing. Removing Snyder would be unprecedented and requires 24 votes from the other owners.

A person familiar with the thinking of several owners told The Associated Press that they agree with Irsay and have serious concerns about the allegations. The person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the conversations are private, said a group of owners believe Snyder’s dismissal would be best for the NFL and the other 31 teams. The person doesn’t know if 24 owners would vote to remove Snyder, but momentum is building against him.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell cautioned owners to reserve judgment until the investigation is completed. The Commanders released a statement saying the Snyders will not sell the team.

CLEVELAND (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said suspended Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has met the requirements of his settlement with the league to this point after being accused of sexual misconduct by two dozen women.

Watson is serving an 11-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. On Aug. 18, the league, which had appealed a six-game ban rendered by an independent arbitrator, settled with the NFL Players Association on Watson’s penalty.

Watson agreed to pay a $5 million fine and undergo mandatory counseling and treatment before he could apply for reinstatement. The three-time Pro Bowler returned to Cleveland’s facility last week, but can’t practice with the Browns (2-4) until Nov. 14.

At the owners’ meetings in New York, Goodell said he was satisfied Watson was abiding by the agreement. Last week, another woman in Texas filed a civil lawsuit against Watson, accusing him of forcing her to have sex with him following a massage therapy session. Watson previously settled 23 of 24 lawsuits with another one dropped.

As long as he fulfills the agreement, Watson will be able to practice on Nov. 14, re-join the roster two weeks later and play on Dec. 4 in Houston against the Texans, who traded him to Cleveland in March for three first-round draft picks.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL will expand to Black Friday next season.

The league announced that Amazon Prime Video will stream a game on the day after Thanksgiving. The first Black Friday game will kick off at 3 p.m. EST on Nov. 24, 2023. The teams will be announced in May when the regular-season schedule is expected to be released.

Prime Video is in its first season as the exclusive carrier of “Thursday Night Football” and will expand to 16 games next season.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens are signing veteran receiver DeSean Jackson to their practice squad, agent Drew Rosenhaus said.

The 35-year-old Jackson hasn’t played this season. He caught 20 passes for 454 yards and two touchdowns in 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 will operate without divisions in football next season, when the arrival of Central Florida, Cincinnati, BYU and Houston creates a 14-team conference and ends its current round-robin scheduling framework.

Commissioner Brett Yormark held a call with Big 12 schools to announce the plan. Every school will play nine conference games, just like they have since it became a 10-team league, and schools will play each other at least once in each two-year period. Traditional rivalries, or at least those left after realignments, will be preserved.

BASKETBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Dawn Staley and South Carolina picked up where they left off: No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.

The defending national champion Gamecocks were the unanimous choice of the 30-member national media panel in the preseason poll. It’s the third consecutive season South Carolina is the preseason favorite.

South Carolina went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team last year and has been the top team for 20 straight weeks.

Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee round out the top five teams in the preseason poll.

Connecticut is ranked No. 6, the first time since 2006 that the Huskies aren’t in the first five in the preseason poll. Louisville, Iowa State, Notre Dame and N.C. State finish off the top 10.

DALLAS (AP) — The Mavericks signed Argentine guard Facundo Campazzo, a former teammate of Luka Doncic who will be another ballhandling option behind the Dallas superstar.

The move was announced a day before the Mavericks open the regular season at Phoenix, where Dallas routed the Suns in Game 7 of the second round to reach last season’s Western Conference finals.

The 31-year-old Campazzo became a free agent after spending his first two NBA seasons in Denver, following stays in the EuroLeague and his native Argentina. Campazzo played alongside Doncic at Real Madrid and helped the Spanish club win championships in 2015 and 2018.

GOLF

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) — The PGA Tour will have a four-month stretch of 12 tournaments that are either majors or have $20 million purses in what figures to be a taxing year for the elite players.

The tour was set to announce Wednesday that the WM Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship will be part of the “elevated events” the top players will be required to play, a person with direct knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press.

The concept of elevated events was first announced in late August as a response to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league, aimed at bringing the best players together as often as 17 times, including the majors and the FedEx Cup playoffs. The elevated events average $20 million purses.

Golfweek first reported the addition of four elevated events. It was confirmed to the AP on Tuesday by a person who spoke on condition of anonymity pending the Wednesday announcement.

The additions create a crowded schedule. Starting with the Phoenix Open on Feb. 9-12, there will be four elevated events in a five-week stretch, followed by the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, and then a week later, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship in consecutive weeks.

AUTO RACING

Bubba Wallace received a one race suspension from NASCAR after an investigation determined he deliberately spun reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson at Las Vegas in a “dangerous act” of retaliation before confronting him afterward.

Wallace had a shoving match with Larson after the incident Sunday at Las Vegas and also pushed away a NASCAR official. The suspension falls under NASCAR’s behavioral policy, and technically could cover most of Wallace’s actions at Las Vegas. But Steve O’Donnell, the executive in charge of competition and racing operations, said the penalties were for Wallace’s dangerous and deliberate retaliation against Larson, not the fracas a few moments later.

Wallace is the first Cup Series driver to be suspended for an on-track incident since Matt Kenseth was parked for two races in 2015 for an incident at Martinsville.

John Hunter Nemechek will replace Wallace this weekend in the 23XI Racing car owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

BASEBALL

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Suspended Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had follow-up surgery on his left wrist and should be recovered from that and recent shoulder surgery by spring training, the team said.

Tatis is serving an 80-game suspension from MLB after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He had surgery last week to remove the screws that were placed in his wrist during surgery in mid-March and replace them with a central screw.

Tatis broke his wrist in an offseason motorcycle accident in his native Dominican Republic. The team didn’t realize the severity of the injury until he reported to spring training. Tatis was on the cusp of returning from the wrist injury when he was suspended on Aug. 12.

Tatis had surgery to repair the partially torn labrum in his left shoulder in early September.