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WESTWOOD, Calif. — UCLA is officially heading to the Big Ten after receiving approval from the University of California regents Wednesday, but the approval comes with stipulations.

More than five months after the Bruins, alongside USC, announced their shocking intention to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024, the UC board of regents chair and UCOP president recommended allowing UCLA to continue its move to the Big Ten in a special meeting Wednesday on UCLA’s campus. The board of regents approved the move by a vote of 11-5.

“We looked at the reality of where we are and what the alternatives were,” board of regents chair Rich Leib said. “And I think in the end we just decided that the best thing to do is the way we did it, which is conditions, but allow them to go.”

As part of the board’s decision, UCLA will have to increase its expected investment in student-athlete resources and might have to provide a subsidy to the University of California, Berkeley in the range of $2 million to $10 million once a Pac-12 media deal is secured, depending on the amount of the deal. A UCOP spokesperson said the frequency of the subsidy to UC Berkeley is yet to be determined.

The board included other conditions for UCLA to address the impact of the move on athletes, including funds for academic support, nutritional support and mental health services.

According to the letter to the regents, the subsidy to UC Berkeley would be to “enhance student-athlete support on that campus.”

“Berkeley really took a hit by UCLA leaving,” Leib said. “They suffered quite a bit. We don’t know how much, but we felt it was important … that we somehow make Berkeley, maybe not whole, but at least help them in that situation.”

Leib said the board is allowed to revisit the issue once the Pac-12 has secured a media deal.

“We’re excited to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024 and are grateful for the Board of Regents’ thoughtful engagement in this decision,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said in a statement after the decision. “We’ve always been guided by what is best for our 25 teams and more than 700 student-athletes, and the Big Ten offers exciting new competitive opportunities on a bigger national media platform for our student-athletes to compete and showcase their talent.”

During four meetings between July and December, the regents have discussed and considered input and research regarding the move. In September, UC regents general counsel Charles Robinson said the board had the authority to block the move. The board was expected to announce a decision in November but postponed it and called a special meeting for Wednesday to address any additional questions and provide a final decision.

According to a regents document, the board wanted more information and research regarding the additional resources that would be required to improve student-athletes’ experience as part of the move.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren expressed gratitude to the UC regents “for respecting the decision” of UCLA to change conferences.

“The landscape of collegiate athletics is evolving, and the Big Ten Conference is in a position of stability and strength with unmatched opportunities, exposure and resources for our member institutions and student-athletes,” Warren said in a prepared statement. “With the collective goals to prioritize the health and well-being of our student-athletes and forward our academic and athletic mission under the umbrella of higher education, we will continue our methodical integration process of UCLA and USC into the Big Ten Conference.”

The move to the Big Ten has had its detractors, including UCLA alum Bill Walton and the National College Players Association — run by former UCLA football player Ramogi Huma — which came out against realignment last week, citing the effect the extra travel would have on students’ academics and mental health.

UC Berkeley chancellor Carol Christ had also voiced her dissent, saying the move would further a professionalization of college athletics. UC Berkeley is the school most affected by the UCLA move. The sister schools will now be splitting, and a Pac-12 without the Los Angeles market of USC and UCLA likely lowers the value of a forthcoming media rights deal.

Before that aforementioned November meeting, UCLA provided the regents a document outlining the school’s financial plans for travel, academic support, mental health services, nutrition and other areas surrounding the conference move, as well as a survey of 111 athletes with their thoughts on switching leagues. The school has said it intends to spend an extra $10 million on resources for athletes because of the move.

On Wednesday, the board directed UCLA to provide additional yearly resources for student-athlete support as condition for its move to the Big Ten.

“We actually added more to it, so all together we have about, between 11 and 12 million of enhancements,” Leib said. The official number is a range between $11.03 million to $12.20 million.

Those enhancements include providing about $6.3 million to academic support, nutritional support and mental health services for all student-athletes. Roughly $4.3 million will be for food, requiring breakfast and lunch on campus for all UCLA athletes, professional dietitian services and nutritious meals while they are traveling.

“You’re not playing [Rutgers] every week,” Jarmond said while speaking at a Sports Business Journal conference in Las Vegas last week. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that much. The benefits far outweigh those challenges.”

UCLA, which has been plagued by $62.5 million in debt, according to the Los Angeles Times, has said it would be in line to earn up to $70 million annually in media rights and the subsequent exposure. In August, the Big Ten signed a seven-year, $7 billion media deal with Fox, CBS and NBC. The Pac-12 remains without a TV deal.

Speaking in Las Vegas last week, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said the conference would await the regents’ decision before further pursuing a media deal. The Pac-12 is the only conference without a deal, and Kliavkoff repeatedly expressed optimism in getting a lucrative deal done in the first quarter of 2023, which would be followed, according to Kliavkoff, by exploring expansion.

“We don’t know what’s gonna happen with the Pac-12 at this point,” Leib said. “They were hurt by USC and then UCLA making this [move] … but really USC was the first one. There are indications that it might be a very strong media contract that they get in the end, which would make Berkeley a lot better, so therefore maybe the payment would be far less. It just depends, it’s really hard to know. So we wanted to give ourselves a wide range.”

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Manfred to rule on Rose ban after Trump meeting

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Manfred to rule on Rose ban after Trump meeting

NEW YORK — Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he discussed Pete Rose with President Donald Trump at a meeting two weeks ago and he plans to rule on a request to end the sport’s permanent ban of the career hits leader, who died in September.

Speaking Monday at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he and Trump discussed several issues, including concerns over how immigration policies could impact players from Cuba, Venezuela and other foreign countries.

Manfred is considering a petition to have Rose posthumously removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. The petition was filed in January by Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Rose prior to the 17-time All-Star’s death at age 83.

“I met with President Trump two weeks ago … and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,” Manfred said. “He’s said what he said publicly. I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.”

Trump posted on social media Feb. 28 that he plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose.” Trump posted on Truth Social that Rose “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.”

It’s unclear what a presidential pardon might include. Trump did not specifically mention a tax case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.

The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks” but has not addressed the matter since.

Rose had 4,256 hits and also holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.

An investigation for MLB by lawyer John M. Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Rose agreed with MLB on a permanent ban in 1989.

Lenkov is seeking Rose’s reinstatement so that he can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Under a rule adopted by the Hall’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall. Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. Manfred in 2015 denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.

Manfred said reinstating Rose now was “a little more complicated than it might appear on the outside” and did not commit to a timeline except that “I want to get it done promptly as soon as we get the work done.”

“I’m not going to give this the pocket veto,” Manfred said. “I will in fact issue a ruling.”

Rose’s reinstatement doesn’t mean he would automatically appear on a Hall of Fame ballot. He would first have to be nominated by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee, which is picked by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board.

Manfred said he has been in regular contact with chairman Jane Forbes Clark.

“I mean, believe me, a lot of Hall of Fame dialogue on this one,” Manfred said.

If reinstated, Rose potentially would be eligible for consideration to be placed on a ballot to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee in December 2027.

Manfred said he doesn’t think baseball’s current ties to legal sports betting should color views on Rose’s case.

“There is and always has been a clear demarcation between what Rob Manfred, ordinary citizen, can do on the one hand, and what someone who has the privilege to play or work in Major League Baseball can do on the other in respect to gambling,” Manfred said. “The fact that the law changed, and we sell data and/or sponsorships, which is essentially all we do, to sports betting enterprises, I don’t think changes that.

“It’s a privilege to play Major League Baseball. As with every privilege, there comes responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that they not bet on the game.”

Manfred did not go into details on his discussion with Trump over foreign-born players other than to say he expressed worry.

“Given the number of foreign-born players we have, we’re always concerned about ingress and egress,” Manfred said. “We have had dialogue with the administration about this topic. And, you know, they’re very interested in sports. They understand the unique need to be able to go back and forth, and I’m going to leave it at that.”

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Braves activate RHP Anderson, sign OF Rosario

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Braves activate RHP Anderson, sign OF Rosario

It was old faces in familiar places for the Atlanta Braves on Monday after they activated right-hander Ian Anderson to the active roster and signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a major league contract.

In corresponding moves, outfielder Jarred Kelenic was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, while right-hander Davis Daniel was optioned to Triple-A after Sunday’s game.

Both Anderson and Rosario emerged as 2021 postseason heroes in Atlanta as the Braves went on to win the World Series.

Anderson, who was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, went 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in eight postseason starts for the Braves over the 2020 and 2021 postseasons.

In the 2021 World Series, Anderson famously pitched five no-hit innings in Game 3 to lead Atlanta to a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. The Braves defeated the Astros in six games.

Anderson, who turns 27 Friday, was traded by the Braves to the Angels on March 23 for left-hander Jose Suarez. He struggled badly with his new club, going 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in seven relief appearances. He allowed 17 hits and seven walks in just 9⅓ innings.

Rosario, 33, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in February and played in two games with the club, going 1-for-4. He was designated for assignment and became a free agent when Shohei Ohtani returned from the paternity list just over a week ago.

Rosario was the 2021 National League Championship Series MVP, when he powered the Braves past the Dodgers with three home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.647 OPS in six games.

Over parts of 11 seasons, Rosario is a career .261 hitter with 169 home runs and 583 RBIs in 1,123 games with five different clubs, including five seasons with the Minnesota Twins (2015-20) and four with the Braves (2021-24).

Kelenic, 25, was batting .167 with two home runs in 23 games and is a career .211 hitter with 49 home runs and 156 RBIs in 406 games with the Seattle Mariners (2021-23) and Braves.

Daniel, 27, made his only appearance for the Braves on Sunday with a scoreless inning and has appeared in 10 games (six starts) over the past three seasons with a 4.95 ERA.

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Two-time Cup winner Sullivan out as Pens coach

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Two-time Cup winner Sullivan out as Pens coach

Mike Sullivan, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, is out as the team’s head coach, it was announced Monday.

Sullivan was the longest-tenured coach in Penguins history after just completing his 10th season. The 57-year-old, who also coached Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, was under contract in Pittsburgh through 2026-27.

In a statement, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said the decision was “the best course forward for all involved” as Pittsburgh navigates a transitional period.

“On behalf of Fenway Sports Group and the Penguins organization, I would like to thank Mike Sullivan for his unwavering commitment and loyalty to the team and City of Pittsburgh over the past decade,” Dubas said. “Mike is known for his preparation, focus and fierce competitiveness. I was fortunate to have a front-row seat to his dedication to this franchise for the past two seasons. He will forever be an enormous part of Penguins history, not only for the impressive back-to-back Cups, his impact on the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust, but more importantly, for his love and loyalty to the organization. This was not a decision that was taken lightly, but as we continue to navigate the Penguins through this transitional period, we felt it was the best course forward for all involved.”

The Penguins have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons as Dubas works to retool the team into a contender while Crosby is still competing at a high level. Crosby just completed his 20th straight season in which he posted a point-per-game scoring pace, and he was voted by his peers in the NHLPA as the league’s most complete player. The captain is under contract through next season on a two-year extension he signed prior to the 2024-25 season.

Sullivan was elevated to Penguins head coach in 2015 after leading the organization’s AHL team in Wilkes-Barre. With 409 wins in Pittsburgh, he leaves as the Penguins’ all-time wins leader.

With Sullivan’s departure, there are now seven head-coaching vacancies in the NHL. The Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken and New York Rangers are also searching for new coaches right now. According to sources, Sullivan has been atop the Rangers’ wish list.

Sources also said Sullivan is keen on coaching again next season and will be a top candidate for several of the vacancies. Sullivan worked as an assistant coach with the Rangers and as both an assistant and head coach with the Bruins earlier in his career.

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