In Toronto, Kurtis Larson writes Toronto FC G and player rep Joe Bendik was "diplomatic when asked if the players were prepared to implement a work stoppage if the chips don't fall their way this offseason" during CBA talks. Bendik: "The players want to play. The owners and the league want to keep the momentum that we have going. If you go in with the mindset: 'We're going to stop working,' it's not going to solve anything." However, he did say that the players want a "bigger piece of the pie" (TORONTO SUN, 12/12).
NO WORRIES: SI.com's Tom Verducci cites an MLB report which showed that Commissioner Bud Selig "is leaving a business" with $9B in revenues. Twenty seasons of labor peace "is the foundation that has allowed growth through league expansion and realignment, playoff expansion, the World Baseball Classic, interleague play, instant replay, the explosion in local and national television values and the growth of advanced media and the sport’s own cable network." MLB "issued about 900 media credentials for the winter meetings, a record." Mostly all signs "point upward, except for the pace of game and an aging demographic fan base -- issues important to commissioner-elect Rob Manfred as he builds on Selig’s foundation of modernizing the game" (SI.com, 12/11).
FLYING AWAY: In Phoenix, Peter Corbett reports the NFL "is moving its annual Super Bowl Media Day event in January to the US Airways Center." NFL Corporate Communications Manager Joanna Hunter said, "It's part of a plan to centralize some of the activities surrounding Super Bowl in downtown Phoenix, as we have in past host regions such as Indianapolis and New Orleans." Corbett notes Glendale's role as the Super Bowl host city "has declined" since '08 and the city "knew downtown Phoenix would be the hub of non-game related activity." Hunter said that the NFL "picks the venues for Media Day and the NFL Experience" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/12).
