NBC and Versus have agreed to a deal to renew the NHL’s TV rights, according to execs close to the deal. A formal announcement is expected to come this afternoon. Specific deal terms are not known, but the bidding had gone above $200M per year. Fox pulled out of the bidding last week, and Turner pulled out yesterday, saying it could not find a business model to support the money the NHL appears to be getting in this negotiation. The NHL never came back to ESPN with a final bid, sources said. ESPN’s interest in picking up the package stayed until the end of the bidding process. But sources said it was too difficult for the NHL and ESPN to work around NBC and Versus’ matching rights.

The NHL’s rights fee is believed to exceed – by far – the $120M per-year average that ESPN paid from '99-'04, which marked the NHL’s largest contract to date. The league’s current deal with Versus is for $77.5M per year, while NBC has a revenue-sharing deal that does not involve a rights fee. Many execs inside the NHL favored ESPN, believing a deal with the network would guarantee more coverage on popular shows like “SportsCenter.” But NBC and Versus determined that the package was too important for Versus to lose. This marks the first big media rights negotiation since Comcast acquired NBC.

The NFL today will unveil its '11 regular-season schedule, and the league "acknowledged for the first time a deadline by which a resolution to the labor stalemate is necessary to avoid disrupting the season." The league said that if the dispute is not resolved by Aug. 1, the Oct. 23 Bears-Buccaneers game slated for London's Wembley Stadium "would revert to Tampa's Raymond James Stadium" (NYTIMES.com, 4/18). There is "speculation the league will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11" with a Giants-Jets game on Sept. 11 on NBC's "SNF" (N.Y. POST, 4/19).

The schedule will be released tonight at 7:00pm ET exclusively on NFL Network and NFL.com. NFL Network will air a two-hour special for the event, "NFL Total Access: 2011 Schedule Release Show." ESPN will run its own concurrent schedule analysis show, airing on ESPN2 from 7:00-9:00pm (THE DAILY).

NFL and NFLPA reps are slated to resume court-ordered mediated talks today in the Minneapolis chambers of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, but an NFLPA spokesperson said that Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith "won't attend because of a family medical emergency." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will lead a team that includes NFL Exec VP & General Counsel Jeff Pash, Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson, Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen, Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones and Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy. With today's contingent, "seven of 10 members of the league's labor committee will have appeared at this set of mediation sessions" (NFL.com, 4/18).

LOCOG and the British Olympic Association (BOA) have "settled their protracted financial dispute with a deal that clears the way" for organizers to focus on preparations for the '12 Games "without the looming distraction of a court battle." The deal struck last night offers the BOA "more commercial opportunities through future sponsorship and merchandising" (THETIMES.co.uk, 4/19). The deal "does not include any cash support from LOCOG and largely endorses existing contractual agreements" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 4/19).

The NBA is sending Thunder Owner Clay Bennett, who is leading the league's relocation committee, and an attorney to Sacramento Thursday and Friday "for a look at the city's efforts to increase corporate financial support" for the Kings and to "finance a new sports-entertainment area." NBA Commissioner David Stern said that Mayor Kevin Johnson's presentation last week at the BOG meetings in N.Y. "prompted the decision to give Sacramento a second look before deciding if the Kings may move to Anaheim next season." Kings co-Owner George Maloof said that the team "also plans to talk to the NBA fact-finders" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/19).

The Fire have signed a dynamic pricing deal with Qcue for home games at Toyota Park, becoming the first MLS team to use the technology. Dynamic pricing adjusts single-game ticket prices as late as the day of the game through computer analysis of factors including team performance, opponent, weather, day of the week and gate giveaways. The Fire have 15 remaining MLS home games. Qcue, based in Austin, Texas, has about 20 dynamic pricing deals with MLB, NBA and NHL teams and NASCAR tracks.

Seahawks and Trail Blazers Owner Paul Allen's memoir "Idea Man" is being released today. While he "recounts his experiences" as a team owner, "more than half of the 358-page memoir is devoted to events that led to the creation of Microsoft and the eight years Allen spent there." The book also describes Allen "funding the first private space flight, investing in various cable and wireless ventures that resulted in spectacular losses, delving into the inner workings of the human brain, and relishing adventures with celebrity friends" (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/19).

In an interview to promote the book, Allen said that "one of the NBA’s 'biggest challenges' was to come up with a financially feasible revenue sharing plan so that midsize market organizations can field competitive teams." Allen: "No one likes teams moving around, but we all face the financial consequences, too. No owner enjoys losing money" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/18).