ESPN has informed Senior VP/Programming Acquisitions Burke Magnus that it is not letting him out of his contract early to take a job running IMG College. ESPN President John Skipper and ESPN Exec VP/Programming John Wildhack made separate calls to Magnus late Friday to say that ESPN would not break with company policy and let Magnus leave before his contract ends, which is in about a year and a half. Asked over the weekend about Magnus' status, an ESPN spokesperson e-mailed, "He will be staying with us." WME-IMG officially offered Magnus the job as President & CEO of IMG College, where he would have been working with current IMG College Chair & President Ben Sutton and reporting to WME-IMG co-CEO Patrick Whitesell.

ESPN has had this type of situation before. Last January, it initially refused to allow production executive Jamie Horowitz to break his contract to join NBC's "Today" show. Five months later, ESPN relented and granted Horowitz his release. It is not known whether WME-IMG will try to negotiate a similar deal with ESPN.

A source said that the NFLPA today in federal court in Minnesota "plans to file a lawsuit against the league" on behalf of suspended Vikings RB Adrian Peterson. The lawsuit will, among other things, "challenge the impartiality of arbitrator Harold Henderson," who on Friday "upheld the NFL's suspension of Peterson with reinstatement no sooner than April 15" (USATODAY.com, 12/14).

Browns WR Andrew Hawkins made a “powerful statement” yesterday, wearing a black T-shirt over his jersey and pads during pregame warm-ups that read: "Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford." Hawkins’ silent protest of recent deadly Ohio police shootings “drew an immediate and scathing response from the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association.” CPPA President Jeffrey Follmer in a statement said, “It's pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law. They should stick to what they know best on the field. The Cleveland Police protect and serve the Browns stadium and the Browns organization owes us an apology” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/15).

The Browns in a statement said, “We have great respect for the Cleveland Police Department and the work that they do to protect and serve our city. We also respect our players' rights to project their support and bring awareness to issues that are important to them if done so in a responsible manner” (ESPN.com, 12/14).

A new digital initiative titled "Shift by MSNBC" is expected to launch today, and its offerings will include a show called "Left Field" that examines sports issues. A host for "Left Field" has yet to be named. MSNBC President Phil Griffin expects the new streaming video portal to have a "great deal of influence on the cable network in months to come" (VARIETY.com, 12/14).

Italy today announced that Rome will be a candidate to host the '24 Summer Games, a decision that comes "two years after the government scrapped plans to bid" for the '20 Games "because of financial reasons." The new bid comes with Italy's economy "still stagnant and amid a widening corruption scandal in the capital." Italy's planned '20 bid was withdrawn after then-Premier Mario Monti "refused to provide financial backing at a time of economic crisis" (AP, 12/15).

Meanwhile, '16 Rio Games organizers announced that the Olympic mascot will be named Vinicius, while the Paralympics mascot will be dubbed Tom. The names "honor Brazilian musicians and partners Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim" (AP, 12/15).

MASN, MLB and the Nationals will be back in a N.Y. courtroom this morning, as the Orioles-controlled RSN seeks to have the N.Y. Supreme Court compel the league and club to turn over additional documents as part of their ongoing media rights dispute. MASN’s discovery request, being heard today before Judge Lawrence Marks, focuses on the specific role of MLB Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred on a decision in favor of the Nationals by the league’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).

The documents MASN seeks include "communications that Manfred or other baseball officials might have had with members of an arbitration panel that ordered the network in June" to pay the Nationals $20M a year more for the rights to the team's games. MASN also "wants access to records of who attended the meetings and deliberations of the panel" (Baltimore SUN, 12/13).

The Nationals Finals Rodeo wrapped up Saturday and set an attendance record at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, drawing 177,565 fans over 10 days and breaking the previous high of 176,558 set in '13. The event has now sold out "280 consecutive dates at Thomas & Mack" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 12/15). This year's NFR also marked the event's 30th year in Las Vegas, which this month also hosted "non-NFR events such as the World Series of Team Roping" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 12/14).

The San Diego City Council today is scheduled to consider a proposed bid for the '16 MLB All-Star Game. The plan includes a maximum $1.5M "city contribution for police officers, firefighters and other services during the game and five days of related events." The Padres "would cover any overages" if the city spends more than $1.5M. The city's economic analysis indicates that the events would generate $1M in sales tax, $1.2M in hotel taxes and an "overall economic impact" of $80M (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/12).

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett was wearing Lions DT Ndamukong Suh’s No. 90 jersey on the field prior to yesterday’s Vikings-Lions game. Nebraska alumni Buffett and Suh "have been friends for a few years" (DETROIT NEWS, 12/15).

The Univ. of Texas today is launching the Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation, "a program to aid character development in young athletes and help them be positive role models" (AP, 12/15).

Oregon State placed an ad in Sunday’s Portland OREGONIAN congratulating Oregon QB Marcus Mariota for winning the Heisman Trophy (THE DAILY).

“Merril Hoge doesn’t work here or coach here. He has no say. Media is media” – Browns WR Josh Gordon, on the ESPN analyst’s comments that the team should bench Gordon for lack of effort (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 12/15).

"How do I benchmark this? In the 40 or so years in athletics, there have been big moments. Ben Johnson in 1988, Marion Jones, this is up there and nobody is remotely suggesting these allegations are not serious" – IAAF VP Sebastian Coe, on allegations of widespread doping and cover-ups by the governing body (REUTERS, 12/15).

"That’s not a fair fight" – Red Sox COO Sam Kennedy, on if it comes down to the Krafts and the Red Sox to host the Winter Classic (“The Mustard & Johnson Show,” WEEI-FM, 12/13).

#Archery is proposing inclusion of a mixed team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as part of IOC's new flexible sports program.

— Steve Wilson (@stevewilsonap) December 15, 2014

This is on the owner, not the GM. Ranadive hired Malone before he hired Pete D’Alessandro. Only the opposite of how it should have been.

— Scott Howard-Cooper (@SHowardCooper) December 15, 2014

Gov. Chris Christie, you are formally invited to come down to Dallas and sit next to Jerry Jones next Sunday. Bring your good luck w/ you.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 15, 2014

Ray Farmer has done a lot of good work in Cleveland. That Manziel pick could ruin it all. Lots of work to do.

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) December 15, 2014

The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Anna Prior looks at “some of the latest research on what pushes people to open their wallets” in a Wealth Management piece on “how charities can get more out of donors” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/15).

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Literary Travel.”

“The romantic balcony seen here is one of the most popular tourist attractions in this Italian city.”

CBS’s David Letterman said, “A guy in Pennsylvania was arrested because he was driving from bar to bar in his golf cart. They arrested him. He was drunk in his golf cart going from bar to bar and they arrested him. And I said, ‘Now wait a minute. Isn’t that golf?’” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 12/12).

Friday's edition of NBC's "The Tonight Show" featured host Jimmy Fallon airing his regular segment “Tonight Show Superlatives," with players from the Eagles and Cowboys receiving awards ahead of their "SNF" matchup (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 12/12).

Friday night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Ways Campbell’s Can Turn Things Around.” Letterman said, “Food industry professionals report that soup sales have declined over the last five years with the Campbell’s Soup Company being particularly hard hit” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 12/12).

10) “Cream of Celery: Goodbye!”
9) “Add latex to soup -- it doubles as paint.”
8) “Commit to one pronunciation of Minestrone.”
7) “Merge with Red Bull, produce high-caffeine energy soup.”
6) “From now on, each can of Chunky Soup has one mystery chunk.”
5) “Launch ad campaign featuring a rambling Matthew McConaughey.”
4) “New premium: Every can containing up to a dollar in loose change.”
3) “Uh ... Clydesdales?”
2) “Put out hit on Chef Boyardee.”
1) “New secret ingredient: Crack.”

“What is Verona?”

The famous balcony was featured in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”