If football and men's basketball players at Power 5 schools were paid under collective bargaining agreements like their professional peers in the NFL and NBA, they would earn average annual salaries of $360,000 and $500,000, respectively, Axios' Dion Rabouin and I write.

• That's according to a new study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which estimates that high-profile athletes like QBs ($2.4 million) and basketball starters ($800,000–$1.2 million) would earn far more.

Why it matters: The study finds that college athletics' amateurism rules create a system that transfers money away from poorer, largely Black youth to wealthier, mostly white adults and students.

By the numbers: Less than 7% of the revenue generated by football and men's basketball at FBS schools is paid to its athletes in the form of scholarships and stipends for living expenses.

• By comparison, NFL and NBA players receive approximately 50% of the revenue generated by their athletic activities as salary, even though college athletics have generated more in ticket sales since 1999.
• The combined revenue of Power 5 conferences increased by nearly 260% from 2008 to 2018, while over the same time period, revenues for the NFL and NBA grew by approximately 90% and 110%.

Between the lines: FBS schools typically field men's and women's teams in roughly 20 different sports, but 58% of revenue comes from football and men's basketball.

• That money goes to coaching staffs and athletic departments, and supports non-revenue sports, whose athletes often come from wealthier backgrounds.
• Non-revenue-generating athletes come from neighborhoods with average incomes 37% higher than college football and basketball players, according to the study.

The big picture: The pandemic catalyzed the #WeAreUnited movement, with college football players threatening to withdraw their labor and laying out plans to create a players' association.

What to watch: Multiple states have passed bills that will soon allow student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL).

• So, while a star QB in Florida won't earn millions in salary, he could earn significant money through, say, sponsored Instagram posts starting next July.

The bottom line, via the study: "While intercollegiate sports are often described as student activities undertaken by amateurs, the economic reality is that athletic departments have developed into complex commercial enterprises that look far more like professional sports organizations than extracurricular endeavors."

Starting this month, Nielsen will include out-of-home (OOH) viewership as part of its linear TV ratings — a change that's been years in the making, Axios' Sara Fischer and I write.

Why it matters: This will substantially boost TV viewership numbers for sports and other programming that's frequently watched outside of the home (think: bars, restaurants, airports).

• "This is a big deal for sports," tweeted Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports' EVP and head of strategy.
• "Basically from the day I started at Fox the two things that were often talked about as potential game-changers for sports TV were legal gambling and out-of-home ratings. Now they're both here."

Between the lines: Some networks like ESPN have already been able to transact separately on OOH ratings via tools Nielsen has provided since 2017. But for big broadcasters airing major sporting events, these changes could be massive.

The big picture: Nielsen's decision would normally have huge implications for the ad sales business, particularly on the eve of the fall TV and NFL season. But most gathering places are closed or operating at limited capacity due to the pandemic, rendering OOH viewership virtually moot for now.

• It's still a big deal in the long-term, though, and will change how networks sell advertising (and how much ad buyers pay).
• Bars being counted would seemingly reward live sports more than anything else, and some pre-pandemic forecasts predicted as much as an 11% boost to sports viewership numbers.

The bottom line: Nielsen's updated TV ratings formula is a boon for networks, who are suffering from major ad-related setbacks during the pandemic.

• But they'll have to wait until public establishments fully re-open to assess just how big that boon is — and begin reaping the rewards.

Sign up for Sara's weekly newsletter, Axios Media Trends. Today's top story: How COVID changes weather reporting.

Chris Paul took over down the stretch, scoring 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to lead the fifth-seeded Thunder past the fourth-seeded Rockets, 104-100. Game 7 awaits (Wednesday at 9pm ET).

• Point guard A: Paul found a purpose in OKC, building bonds with younger teammates after years spent on older teams that lacked chemistry. For him to come out and will the Thunder victory against his former team was awesome.

• Point guard B: Russell Westbrook hasn't won a playoff series without Kevin Durant. If he gets knocked out by his former team, led by the guy he got traded for? Yikes. But no worries, he'll have a monster Game 7. ... Right?

Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points, Goran Dragić added 27 and the fifth-seeded Heat beat the top-seeded Bucks, 115-104, to take a 1-0 series lead.

• Good history: Butler is the fourth player in Heat history with a 35-point playoff game, joining Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Tim Hardaway.
• Bad history: The Bucks are the fourth No. 1 seed to lose Game 1 in each of their first two series, joining the 2014 Pacers, 2001 Sixers and 1994 Hawks. None of those three teams went on to win the title.
• Go deeper: Name a more iconic duo than Jimmy Butler and the Heat (ESPN)

📆 Tonight:

• Celtics (up 1-0) vs. Raptors // 5:30pm ET (ESPN)
• Jazz (tied 3-3) vs. Nuggets // 8:30pm (ABC)

The Lightning beat the Bruins, 3-2 (2OT), to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth time in six seasons. Meanwhile, Boston's loss makes this the seventh straight year that the best regular-season team didn't make the Finals.

• The thrill of victory: "It's a great feeling to win the first two rounds after last year, when we kind of screwed it up." — Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning

• The agony of defeat: "It's kind of a waste of time. We spent the last three months getting ready for this and we walk away without anything to show for it. We never know if we're going to be back in the Finals, or even back in the playoffs again. Every missed opportunity hurts." — Brad Marchand, Bruins

The Avalanche scored four goals during a dizzying 2:36 span (one second shy of the playoff record for the fastest four goals) and coasted to a 6-3 win to stay alive against the Stars. (DAL leads series 3-2).

• Wild stat: 14 of the Avalanche's 18 skaters recorded a point in the first period.
• Wild streak: Nathan MacKinnon extended his playoff point streak to 13 games, the longest in club history and longest overall in the NHL since 2010.

📆 Tonight:

• Islanders (up 3-1) vs. Flyers // 7pm ET (NBCSN)
• Golden Knights (up 3-1) vs. Canucks // 10pm (NBCSN)

WNBA teams have shot and made more threes than ever for seven straight seasons — a reminder that the three-point revolution extends beyond the NBA, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

• Yes, but: While the past two WNBA champions led the league in three-point attempts, the 2020 Las Vegas Aces — winners of 11 of 12 and legit title contenders — rank dead last with just 11.2 attempts per game.
• Instead of launching threes, the Aces prioritize getting to the line. Their 23.8 free throws per game easily leads the WNBA, and they make 81.5% of their attempts, good for third in the league.

What to watch: The Aces' strategy will be put to the test in the stretch run, as they end the season with a grueling three-games-in-four-days slate against the Lynx, Sparks and Storm, all of whom are battling for the coveted top four seeds.

• Reminder: Eight teams make the playoffs, with the top four earning a first-round bye and the top two coasting straight to the semifinals.

Bonus ... There's no WNBA All-Star Game this year, but FiveThirtyEight picked the rosters anyway:

• West starters: G Jewell Loyd (Storm), G Alysha Clark (Storm), F Candace Parker (Sparks), F Breanna Stewart (Storm), C A'ja Wilson (Aces)
• East starters: G Courtney Vandersloot (Sky), G Betnijah Laney (Dream), F DeWanna Bonner (Sun), F Alyssa Thomas (Sun), C Cheyenne Parker (Sky)

Giphy

• ⚾️ 16 players: In a flurry of trades before Monday's deadline, the Padres dealt 16 players and acquired nine big leaguers, including top target Mike Clevinger. There's a championship window in San Diego — and they're going for it.
• 🏀 18 assists: Vandersloot set a WNBA record with 18 assists in the Sky's 100-77 win over the Fever. She's averaging 9.3 assists per game this season, which would break her own mark for the fourth straight year.

• 🎾 15 years old: Robin Montgomery, 15, of Washington, D.C. made her Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open, falling 6-1, 6-3 to No. 23 Yulia Putintseva.
• 🏀 11 x 30: Brandon Ingram won the NBA's Most Improved Player award following a breakout season with the Pelicans. Ingram had eleven 30-point games this year after recording just four in his first three seasons in L.A.

• 🚲 3 of 21 stages: Australian Caleb Ewan won stage three of the Tour de France in a bunch sprint, a day before the overall contenders are likely to battle in the Tour's first summit finish. (Stage 3 highlights)
• 🏈 2 starters left: In 2017, the Jaguars had the NFL's second-best defense and nearly made the Super Bowl. As of today, just two defensive starters from 2017 are still on the team. They're burning it down in Jacksonville.

13 years ago today, Appalachian State brought down the Big House — and changed college football forever — with a season-opening upset of No. 5 Michigan.

• Box score: App State 34, Michigan 32.

Highlight: A 46-yard pass from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham gave Michigan a 37-yard field goal attempt with six seconds left, but the kick was blocked by Corey Lynch, sealing the win.

"I laid on the field for 15 or 20 minutes. I just sat there. I really couldn't get up. There were still people there. They were like zombies. ... They didn't know where to go or what to do next."

Why it matters: The Mountaineers became the first FCS team to defeat a ranked FBS team, and Michigan dropped out of the top 25, becoming the first team to ever fall from top five to out of the AP poll entirely.

• In the aftermath of the game, AP amended their policy to make FCS teams eligible for the poll, which had previously been limited to FBS teams.
• Later that season, App State became the first FCS team to receive votes in the final AP poll on Jan. 8, 2008.

The backdrop: In 2005, schools voted to add a 12th regular-season game starting in 2006. This left programs scrambling to fill their schedules, which were typically set years in advance.

• Michigan finally found an opponent in Appalachian State, which was paid $400,000 for the expected beating.
• The Mountaineers were no slouch — they'd won the previous two FCS national championships, and went on to win a third straight title in 2007. They also had future third-round NFL draft pick Armanti Edwards at QB.
• The tiny school from Boone, N.C., played in a stadium that seated 16,650. On game day in Ann Arbor, 109,218 souls filled Michigan Stadium.

The big picture: Appalachian State is now an FBS program, competing in the Sun Belt Conference.

• In 2014, the two schools played a rematch, which Michigan won easily, 52-14.
• In 2018, the Mountaineers cracked the AP Top 25 poll for the first time.

The blocked kick...

Remember crowds?

The Extreme 19th hole at the Legends Golf Course in South Africa is the longest par 3 in the world. The tee box is on top of a mountain and the green is the shape of Africa.

The U.S. Open is the modern version of the U.S. National Championship, which first took place all the way back in August of 1881.

• Question: Who was president of the U.S. at that time?
• Hint: He died a few weeks later.

Answer at the bottom.

John Thompson Jr., the Hall of Fame basketball coach who led Georgetown to prominence and won the 1984 national championship, died on Sunday. He was 78.

WashPost's Thomas Boswell covered Big John for 50 years. Few sportswriters are more capable of capturing what he meant to the world.

"It is a basic misunderstanding to see Thompson first as a Hall of Fame basketball coach, though he loved his sport. ... Before anything else, he saw himself as, and truly was, a catalyst for change who used his national platform to teach and preach social justice."

NBA great Allen Iverson played for Thompson at Georgetown and fought back tears while talking about him during his Hall of Fame induction speech.

"I want to thank Coach Thompson. For saving my life."

ESPN's Michael Wilbon said Thompson had a greater impact on his adult life than anyone besides his father and a few uncles.

"John was the most complex, fascinating, brilliant person I've covered. ... He was everywhere in my own life in terms of what I believe about education, about sports, about basketball."

NYT's Harvey Araton remembers a man who inspired a generation of young, Black players and built something lasting at Georgetown from virtually nothing.

"Once upon a time, [Thompson was] another kid who grew up poor in the nation's capital and who made it out ... with the bounce of a ball. That, in effect, became his mission at Georgetown, unapologetically recruiting African-American talent [and creating] something luminous and lasting."