The Texans unveiled a "sweeping change" to their uniforms today, with four options that are "vastly different from each other." There are two "more traditional options" for the standard home and road uniforms, then two "radical innovations with completely different helmet designs." The road uniforms include "white jerseys with 'HOUSTON' stitched on the front above the number, paired with Deep Steel Blue pants." The traditional home uniform is "similar to what they've always worn with Deep Steel Blue tops and white pants." One of the new helmets is "Deep Steel Blue but the bull logo is replaced with a light blue 'H' for 'H-Town' that is "outlined in red, giving it very much the feel of the old Houston Oilers logos." The uniforms with the helmets are "monochromatic with blue uniforms on blue pants and the numbers are red and outlined in the familiar shade of blue." The other alternate is "a take off on the popular Battle Red jerseys with an all-red look, including a red helmet that also is missing the traditional Texans' bull logo" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/23).

The Football Association is to "look at changing the rules to ban clubs from staging lucrative friendlies beyond the end of the season" after Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur arranged a game in Australia "three days after the climax of the Premier League campaign." The friendly in Melbourne on May 22 has "raised concerns at the top levels of the FA about player welfare," given that it is "likely to feature England players as well as others involved in Euro 2024 and the Copa America." The Professional Footballers’ Association is also understood to "have concerns about the demands placed on the players after a long season by travelling for the friendly." It is "not clear what rules could be brought in to protect players’ welfare," though "one possibility would be to restrict club friendly matches, so that they cannot be played between the end of the season and the beginning of July" (London TIMES, 4/23).

Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece said that the NFL "should be prepared to kick in at least" $100M for upgrades at Paycor Stadium. It is the "first time a county official has thrown out a specific figure for a project expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars." Reece made her comments as commissioners heard an update on $39M in maintenance projects ongoing at the stadium now. She cited the NFL’s "contributions to other stadium projects, including those in Buffalo and Nashville," into which she said that the NFL is "kicking in at least" $100M. However, Buffalo and Nashville are planning new stadiums, while the current plan is to upgrade Paycor Stadium. Reece reiterated a "requirement expressed by all three commissioners that the capital stack for the project include money from the NFL, the Bengals and the state of Ohio, in addition to Hamilton County taxpayers" (CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER, 4/23).

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said today that the World Anti-Doping Agency "must be overhauled" to "restore confidence in the global body" ahead of the Paris Games following its handling of a Chinese doping case. USADA wants an independent prosecutor to "review the case of 23 Chinese swimmers" who tested positive before the Tokyo Games began in 2021. They were not punished as WADA "accepted Chinese authorities' explanation that their samples had been contaminated," with the body reiterating today that it "had no evidence to challenge the contamination scenario." USADA CEO Travis Tygart said the swimmers "should have been provisionally suspended." USADA also "wants the governments at the WADA Executive and Foundation Board to launch a full review into how the swimmers escaped punishment" (REUTERS, 4/23).

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was confident water quality in the River Seine "will be up to Olympic standards" this summer. The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons. For decades, the Seine was "too toxic for most fish and for swimmers." Swimming in the Seine has, "with some exceptions," been illegal since 1923. Hidalgo mentioned new facilities have been "specially built to clean up the river," including a water treatment plant in Champigny-sur-Marne that was inaugurated today. Next week will see the official opening of a "huge storage basin meant to reduce the need to spill bacteria-laden wastewater into the Seine untreated when it rains" (AP, 4/23).

RELATED: Paris nonprofit testing shows 'higher' contamination levels in Seine River ahead of Summer Games

The Department of Justice announced today that it will pay nearly $139M to survivors of Larry Nassar's sexual abuse as part of a settlement "stemming from the FBI's mishandling of the initial allegations." Reports surfaced last week that a settlement "had been agreed upon and would stretch into nine figures." The DOJ specified today that an amount of $138.7M will be distributed to a group of 139 victims -- working out to roughly $1M per claimant, on average. Olympic champions Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman were among the victims who filed claims. Nassar, the former U.S. women's national gymnastics team doctor and Michigan State employee, was found to have sexually assaulted more than 500 women and girls under the guise of providing medical treatment (USA TODAY, 4/23).

Travel agency Skyscanner is the new Travel Technology Partner of the Solheim Cup for the 2024 edition at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va. and the 2026 European match at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands (Skyscanner).

TidalWave Comics will feature Michael Jordan in the latest installment of its "FAME" comic book series highlighting influential personalities. "FAME: Michael Jordan" is scheduled for release tomorrow (TidalWave).

Sports drink Recover 180 has partnered with Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (Recover 180).

ExxonMobil's is releasing Red Bull Racing Fandom Fuel Kits themed around the F1 races in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas. Each kit is filled with 90’s-inspired driver tee shirts, official Red Bull Racing jackets, and city themed air fresheners (ExxonMobil).

Truly Hard Seltzer for the NHL playoffs is airing its first Canadian ads for its "For the True" platform developed with agency Momentum Worldwide as part of its Canadian partnership with the NHL. The 15-second spot will air on Rogers Sportsnet and on digital and social platforms (Momentum Worldwide).

Serie A has joined forces with content company Minute Media that will see its brand 90min.com add a Serie A-specific vertical to their site, capturing pre-match content, with information on where to watch the games for U.S. audiences as well as tune-in information for broadcast (Minute Media).

A proposal to "expand F1's points-paying positions for 2025" is "on the agenda for initial discussion" between the FIA and F1 management this week during the F1 Commission in Geneva. The proposal by "one of F1's teams" suggests points positions "go down to 12th place instead of 10th" (SKY SPORTS, 4/23).

More: 

• Zambian FA president Andrew Kamanga charged with money laundering.

Nike is set to sign Caitlin Clark to a $28 million contract that will span eight years + include a signature shoe 💪 pic.twitter.com/CjhF4AI8Ch

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) April 23, 2024

Two more days. pic.twitter.com/VFMs15wJBi

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 23, 2024

A global sporting event behind a paywall will be a disaster for sponsors looking for visibility, @tariqpanja.
Rich countries’ fans might be able to afford a new subscription, but that is not the reality of most countries.
For the success of this event, there must be a feee to…

— Ricardo Fort (@SportByFort) April 23, 2024

Monica McNutt was all of us last night during the game’s final moments.

Incredible call on ESPN 98.7 by Pat O’Keefe. pic.twitter.com/2z1X0i9RAJ

— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) April 23, 2024

From the NFL: The league’s review into the #Falcons and #Eagles potential tampering is ongoing and will not conclude this week.

If there are draft picks involved, sounds like it'll be next year's.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 23, 2024

.@FoxTV got 4.307 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR race @Talladega, down 5% from 4.554 million last year but still the second most-watched sport of the weekend after two @NBA playoff games. pic.twitter.com/Qvyic0S1VV

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) April 23, 2024

Ryan Poles on if he’s ready to declare Caleb Williams the Bears 1st overall pick:

“We know what we’re gonna do, but everyone’s gonna have to wait until Thursday.” #Bears

— StaceyDales (@StaceyDales) April 23, 2024

Over the @Xfinity air waves, "23 you're cleared for takeoff" 🛫 @XfinityRacing | @USAFRecruiting pic.twitter.com/T4H0hp9NZY

— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) April 23, 2024

Incredible creativity and unwavering support.

Shoutout to all the season ticket holders who joined us for today's Paint the Ice event, presented by @PPG ! 🎨

Get access to next year's Paint the Ice and more by becoming a season ticket holder: https://t.co/UkI8A7YBnD pic.twitter.com/yjCiTQKIAP

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 21, 2024

The Canadian Olympic Committee unveiled a new campaign for the Paris Games called "Brave is Unbeatable." Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is featured alongside other Canadian national team members including swimmer Maggie Mac Neil and gymnast Ellie Black. Michael J. Fox provides the voiceover for the English version.

6, 15 -- The NBA "broke six ties among 15 teams" yesterday to "determine the order of selection for the 2024 NBA Draft," which will be held June 26 and 27. Final draft order is still yet to be set based on the results of the NBA Draft lottery on May 12 (ESPN.com, 4/22).