FANTASY SPORTSBOSTON -- Daily fantasy sports rivals DraftKings and FanDuel have agreed to merge after months of speculation and increasing regulatory scrutiny.The two companies made the announcement, saying the combined organization would be able to reduce costs as they work to become profitable and battle with regulators across the country to remain legal.In a matter of a few short years, the two have raised millions of dollars through investors and sponsorship deals, drawing the attention of policymakers across the country.Some view the online games -- in which players pick teams of real life athletes and vie for cash and other prizes based on how those athletes do in actual games -as amounting to illegal sports betting.NFLCHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly has been placed in the NFLs concussion protocol and his status for the teams Nov. 27 game against Oakland is uncertain.Coach Ron Rivera updated Kuechlys status and said that the linebacker has no other known injuries.The 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year was carted off the field in an emotional moment during the fourth quarter of Carolinas 23-20 win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night. Kuechly appeared to be gasping for breath as he was helped to the cart, and tears rolled down his face. Players from both sides came over to offer their well wishes to Kuechly.AUTO RACINGHOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski crashed the championship and swept the front row in qualifying for the NASCAR finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch and six-time champ Jimmie Johnson are racing for the championship in Sundays race. The championship four all failed to start in the top five. Busch starts ninth, Edwards 10th, Logano 13th and Johnson 14th.Busch started third last season, won the race and the title.Tony Stewart starts 11th in the final race of his NASCAR career. Stewart is trying to race to his 50th career Cup victory.HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Johnny Sauter won his first NASCAR championship by edging three other contenders in the inaugural Chase for the Camping World Truck Series.Sauter finished third at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the championship.William Byron won the race -- his seventh victory of the season -- to wrap up the owner championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Byron was headed toward the win last weekend at Phoenix that would have put him in the final four, but his engine blew in the closing laps.BASEBALLARLINGTON, Texas -- Right-hander Andrew Cashner is going home for a spot in the Texas Rangers rotation.A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that the free agent pitcher and the team had reached an agreement on a $10 million, one-year deal. That person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and wasnt finalized, and the AL West champions had not made an official announcement.Cashner, a Texas native who was a first-round draft pick out of TCU in 2008, finished last season with the Miami Marlins after the San Diego Padres traded him July 29. He was 5-11 with a 5.25 ERA in 28 games last season.TENNISLONDON -- Andy Murray kept hold of the No. 1 ranking for at least another day.The Wimbledon champion qualified for the semifinals of the ATP finals by beating Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2.Murray, who needs to do better than Novak Djokovic this weekend to finish the season as the top-ranked player, broke Wawrinka late in the first set and twice at the start of the second.Murray took over the No. 1 ranking at the Paris Masters this month, but Djokovic can grab it back if the second-ranked Serb does better at the season-ending tournament. Djokovic has already qualified for the semifinals.GOLFST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Five tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes has the 36-hole lead at Sea Island and expects a few nerves.That weekend he spent with Phil Mickelson should at least help.Hughes had another bogey-free round and took care of the par 5s on the Plantation Course for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead over C.T. Pan going into the weekend of the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year. Hughes at was at 14-under 128.NAPLES, Fla. -- Lydia Ko shot a tournament-record 10-under 62 to take a three-stroke lead in the CME Group Tour Championship, putting the top-ranked New Zealander in position to win the player of the year award with a victory Sunday.The 2014 winner at Tiburon Golf Club, Ko birdied four of the first six holes and had seven birdies and a bogey on the back nine to get to 12-under 132 in the season finale. Ryann OToole (67) and So Yeon Ryu (68) were tied for second, and Sei Young Kim (68) and Beatriz Recari (68) followed at 8 under.Ko needs a victory to top Ariya Jutanugarn in the player of the year race, and also would take the season points title and $1 million bonus with a win. The points in the CME Globe standings were reset for the finale, so Ko, Jutanugarn and Brooke Henderson all control their destinies. Teemu Selanne Jersey Large . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Custom Teemu Selanne Jersey . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. http://www.customducksjersey.com/ .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Cheap Custom Ducks Jersey . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Authentic Custom Ducks Jersey . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says his decision to revoke the credentials of two ESPN writers who cover his team was driven partly by concern that automated game reports could eventually replace human-generated content.Cuban said Monday that he banned Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon from Mavericks home games to bring attention to the issue of companies using automation in sports coverage.The Associated Press, in a partnership with Automated Insights, produces automated stories on minor league baseball but does not use the technology for most of its sports coverage. The AP has at least one reporter at all games in the four major professional sports and most major college football and basketball games.Maybe I will be wrong but I see a direct path from the trends in coverage of games we are seeing over the last couple years to the automation of reporting on games and the curation of related content, Cuban wrote in an email to the AP. This isnt a knock on wire services or their reporters. They are valued and valuable in sports coverage.The billionaire who made his foortune through internet technology told The Dallas Morning News that ESPN had informed the club that it wouldnt have a reporter at every game and would rely on wire services.dddddddddddd Barry Bedlan, APs sports product manager, said ESPN has relied on us for years.Nothing has changed from our perspective and there are no plans to change that, Bedlan said.Cuban said he was responding to what he considers a disturbing trend of reporters being replaced by machines.While it may seem counterintuitive to ban someone from covering us as a way of stopping automation, it really was my only option, Cuban said. As is evident by the AP partnership with Automated Insights, its not if but when.MacMahon has covered the Mavericks primarily for several years but has spent more time in other cities this season. Stein joined ESPN as a national NBA writer in 2000 after previously covering the Mavericks for the Dallas newspaper. Both reporters are based in Dallas. ' ' '