MEDIA

Travis Lazarczyk of the Portland Press Herald has been honored as the 2021 Maine Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

Travis Lazarczyk

It’s the second time in three years that Lazarczyk has won the award, voted on by Maine members of the association. He joined the Press Herald in August after two decades as a sports reporter with the Morning Sentinel of Waterville.

Jon Shields, the play-by-play voice for University of Maine men’s hockey games, was voted the 2021 Maine Sportscaster of the Year.

Award winners from across the country will be honored in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on June 25-27.

OLYMPICS

A smartphone app that athletes and others attending next month’s Winter Games in Beijing must install has glaring security problems that could expose sensitive data to interception, according to a report published Tuesday.

Citizen Lab, an internet watchdog group, said in its report the MY2022 app has seriously flawed encryption that would make users’ sensitive data — and any other data communicated through it — vulnerable to being hacked. Other important user data on the app wasn’t encrypted at all, the report found.

That means the data could be read by Chinese internet service providers or telecommunications companies through Wi-Fi hotspots at hotels, airports and Olympic venues.

China is requiring all international Olympic attendees — including coaches and journalists — to download and start using the app 14 days before their departure. The app allows users to submit required health information on a daily basis and is part of China’s aggressive effort to manage the coronavirus pandemic while hosting the games, which begin Feb. 4. The multipurpose app also includes chat features, file transfers, weather updates, tourism recommendations and GPS navigation.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ATHLETES UNLIMITED BASKETBALL: Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Brown and Mercedes Russell were the latest three WNBA players to sign up for the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Basketball season.

There are 11 players in the WNBA last season among the 44 players who will compete in the player-run league that begins Jan. 26 in Las Vegas. The first draft will be Sunday.

HOCKEY

PREMIER HOCKEY FEDERATION: The Premier Hockey Federation is more than doubling each teams’ salary cap to $750,000 and adding two expansion franchises next season in a bid to capitalize on the wave of attention women’s hockey traditionally enjoys following the Winter Olympics.

The PHF’s announcement of its board of governors’ commitment to invest more than $25 million over the next three years is also considered a major step in attempting to thaw its relationship with United States and Canadian national team players, who have balked at joining North America’s lone professional women’s hockey league.

The PHF currently has teams based in Boston, Toronto, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, St. Paul, Minnesota, Danbury, Connecticut, and Buffalo, New York. The league is moving forward with plans to establish a team in Montreal and, without disclosing where, adding another expansion franchise in the United States.

The boost in the cap from $300,000 this season will lead to an average salary of $37,500 based on a 20-player minimum roster or $30,000 for a league-maximum 25-player roster. There will be no limits placed on a player’s salary as long as the team’s overall payroll remains under the cap.

SOCCER

MLS: The Columbus Crew hired Kristin Bernert as president of business operations, the latest woman to move into a prominent executive role in Major League Soccer.

She previously spent 10 years with Madison Square Garden Sports, leading initiatives for the New York Knicks and Rangers before co-founding KB2 Sports, a sports business consulting firm. Among her duties with the Crew, Bernert will oversee all the team’s business endeavors, including fan engagement and marketing; facility management; ticket sales and services, and organizational administration.

•  Jesús Ferreira has agreed to a four-year contract with Major League Soccer’s Dallas team.

The deal announced for the 21-year-old forward includes a club option for 2026. He will occupy a young designated player spot on the roster, which allows players 21-23 years old to have only $200,000 per season count toward the salary cap.

Ferreira scored eight goals in 27 league matches last season and has 18 goals in 81 regular-season league matches since 2017.

ITALIAN CUP: Lazio reached the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Udinese after extra time in Rome.

Substitute Ciro Immobile scored in the 106th minute to help send Lazio through to the final eight, where it will meet Milan. The Rossoneri beat Genoa last week.

Defending champion Juventus was playing Sampdoria in another round of 16 match later, with the winner to face either Sassuolo or Cagliari.