Sports Briefly: Las Vegas, Quebec City closer to landing NHL franchises

Las Vegas and Quebec City are moving closer in their bids to land an NHL franchise.

Groups pushing to bring the world's top hockey league to those cities are in the third and final leg of the process, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed Monday. He said the groups have been invited to make presentations to the NHL's executive committee on Tuesday. Later in the day, the committee will report to the NHL Board of Governors.

Billionaire businessman Bill Foley leads a group trying to bring a franchise to Las Vegas, and Montreal-based communications giant Quebecor wants to own a franchise in Quebec City.

"Evaluation process will continue," Daly wrote in an e-mail. "No defined timeline."

Quebecor spokesman Martin Tremblay and Michelle Kersch, spokeswoman for Foley's group, confirmed their groups will make a presentation.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this month the league is "not feeling any timeline pressure" in the expansion process. Bettman has proposed an expansion fee of $500 million, a significant jump from the $80 million fee paid by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Wild when the NHL last expanded to 30 teams in 2000.

It is expected to be at least two years before the NHL would potentially have 32 teams playing. The league has 30 teams now.

Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez said the junior will be out "several weeks."

Wright missed most of the first three games after suffering a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee, an injury that required surgery. Wright swept the major national defensive awards as a sophomore last season.

• Texas Tech quarterback Pat Mahomes is day-to-day after the sophomore injured his left knee Saturday.

• Eastern Kentucky freshman defensive lineman Joey Kraemer died in a single-car accident over the weekend, school officials announced.

• Florida State running back Mario Pender will miss Saturday's game at Wake Forest because of a collapsed lung suffered at practice last week.

Sharapova, ranked third in the world, called for a trainer to look at her left forearm after the first game of the final set. She played two more games before telling the chair umpire she could not continue.

Sharapova was leading Barbora Strycova 7-6 (1), 6-7 (4), 2-1 when she decided to stop.

Sharapova missed the entire hard-court season, including the U.S. Open, because of a leg injury.

Olympics: Baseball and softball were joined by surfing, skateboarding, karate and sports climbing as Japanese organizers recommended five additional sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Baseball and softball have been out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games.

High school football: A quarterback who collapsed after taking a hit during a game in Washington, N.J., died from massive internal bleeding caused by a lacerated spleen, according to autopsy reports. The Morris County medical examiner's office found that the spleen of 17-year-old Evan Murray was "abnormally enlarged," making it more susceptible to injury.