MLS yesterday announced an "elevated' security policy for fans entering games." The league will now "subject all fans to full screening 'via a full pat down or with the use of a search wand of magnetometers.'" The new policy also "greatly limits bags that fans are allowed to bring into games." The league said the new standards will bring MLS games "in line with security measures taken by the other professional sports leagues in North America" (ESPNFC.us, 4/19).
MONEY PROBLEMS: The PGA Tour last month "finally voted to eliminate the money list for exempt status for the following season." The top 125 "have been fully exempt" since '83, and if the latest proposal is ratified at the June board meeting, "only the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings will be fully exempt" after the '16-17 season. PGA Tour Exec VP & Chief of Operations Andy Pazder said that the Tour is "looking into a change in the way points are distributed at each tournament so there is a steeper drop beyond the top 10." Since the FedEx Cup began in '07, it has "been out of sync with the money distribution." One issue with the FedEx Cup has been the "perception that it rewards a middle-of-the-road performance" (AP, 4/19).
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND? In Boston, Nick Cafardo notes there have been "no citations issued on the new ban on smokeless tobacco" in MLB ballparks. Cafardo: "Is this because there haven’t been incidents, or is such a ban too hard to enforce? Or is it a ban that isn’t a high priority to be enforced? ... What this means to me is that guys are still doing it but out of view. They know cameras are everywhere, but are they heading into a clubhouse between innings, getting some, and then going back out without it?" One Red Sox player said, “There’s probably some of that" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/20).
