The Ryder Cup began this morning from Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., before a "raucous standing-room only” crowd of 1,500 at the first tee box. The gates did not officially open until 6:30am CT, but some fans snuck in early and “immediately got the best seats that they could get.” Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte said, “This scene at the first hole is so unique to golf. It's almost like a football game type of mentality. … Today promises to be the most insane scene we've ever seen” (“Live from the Ryder Cup,” Golf Channel, 9/30). A crowd of 15,000 is expected to fill Hazeltine with “sights and sounds unlike any other in golf” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/30).

Prior to the start of competition, a tribute video to the late Arnold Palmer played at the course, with the fans at the first tee breaking into a chant of “Ar-nold Pal-mer” (Golf Channel, 9/30). All players today “will wear pins and fans will receive buttons that say, ‘I Am a Member of Arnie’s Army’” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/30).

UFC and its new majority owner WME-IMG on Thursday said that 23 celebrities are "investing in the rapidly expanding sports league." Terms of the celebrity investments were not disclosed, but a "majority of the new investors are represented by WME-IMG." Investors include Ben Affleck, Adam Levine, Serena and Venus Williams, and Jimmy Kimmel (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/30).

TBS' Conan O'Brien, who is one of the investors, had a UFC-themed segment on Thursday night's show where he discussed his “lifelong dream” to fight in the UFC. O'Brien said, “I’m told there’s no better time to start fighting than middle-age.” The show then “promoted” several upcoming O’Brien fights against UFC stars Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, as well as tennis player Maria Sharapova (“Conan,” TBS, 9/29). 

Padres play-by-play broadcaster Dick Enberg called his final home game on Thursday, and the team honored him with a "pregame ceremony featuring a pair of video tributes and a speech from Enberg." The club also "re-named Broadcast Booth 1 'the Dick Enberg Broadcast Booth,' unveiling a plaque with his visage outside of it." Enberg "will be calling it a career" after Sunday's Padres-D-backs game (MLB.com, 9/30). 

Toronto on Thursday night "was congested with honking cars and a flood of fans in red and white hooting, hollering, and reveling after Canada's World Cup of Hockey win" at the Air Canada Centre.  Canada "bounced back with two goals in the final few minutes of the game" to defeat Team Europe 2-1. A "nervous crowd" alternated between "boos and cheers in the third period" (TORONTO STAR, 9/30). The finish "raised the decibel level at the Air Canada Center to its highest levels of the tournament." It was Canada’s "16th consecutive win in best-on-best competition and gave Canada the best-of-three final series in two consecutive games" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/30).

Fox Sports made a couple of hires for FS1 and FS2, bringing on Neal Scarbrough to the newly created role of Exec Editor and Gabe Spitzer as Exec Producer. Both execs will be based in L.A and report to FS1/FS2 Exec VP/Content Charlie Dixon. Scarbrough comes from NESN and will oversee news updates and breaking news topics for FS1/FS2's studio shows. A producer and director, Spitzer will oversee the channels' original programming, including the development and acquisition of short and longform documentaries.

The Packers on Thursday announced its public space in the Titletown District "will include a winter tubing hill as well as a skating rink, football-themed playground, full-sized football field and programmable spaces." Packers VP & General Counsel Ed Policy said that the addition of the tubing hill to the conceptual plans announced in August '15 "came from focus groups that stressed three points: 'Get us outside, get us outside in the winter and get us outside in the winter together.'" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 9/30).

The Japanese government today approved a $1.5B contract to "build a new main stadium" for the '20 Tokyo Games, a project that "has been delayed by more than a year." Officials said that the stadium construction "would begin in December after an earlier plan was scrapped because of spiraling costs and an unpopular design." The cost of an earlier design by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid had risen to $2.65B, "more than twice the initial forecast" (AP, 9/30).

Staff Writer Daniel Kaplan and SBJ Managing Editor Ross Nethery discuss a dispute over accusations that the NFL's interfered with NIH grants to study concussions.

Today is the last chance to sign up for our special offer for the 15th annual Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, which will be held Dec. 7-8 at the N.Y. Marriott Marquis at Times Square. To register and save $200 on the forum, visit IntercollegiateAthleticsForum.com. The offer expires today.

ESPN Radio will carry the final inning of Vin Scully's career on Sunday as part of an agreement ESPN reached with MLB. ESPN will go live with Scully's call of Dodgers-Giants as it starts the 9th inning (John Ourand, Staff Writer).

The NFL last night officially announced Lady Gaga will headline the Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl LI Halftime Show (THE DAILY).

Ford runs a full-page ad in the N.Y. Times touting its 360 virtual-reality experience for 24 Hours of Le Mans (THE DAILY). 

"Off the court, I can let it be known what I believe in and where I stand on the topic. But when it comes to the game, I'm going to be focused on the game" – Magic F Aaron Gordon, on opting not to take a knee during the National Anthem (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 9/30).

"You start getting pushback from the bean counters that work for us, like, ‘Wait a minute, there’s way too much money on this card.’ I don’t give a (expletive). I want people to remember the first time we rolled into MSG” – UFC President Dana White, on the outfit's foray in N.Y. with UFC 205 (NEWSDAY, 9/30).

"The show shifts to Boston Friday for a Fenway farewell Cecil B. DeMille weekend which promises to be larger and longer-lasting than anything ever done for Ted Williams, Bill Russell, Bobby Orr, or Larry Bird" – Columnist Dan Shaughnessy, on Red Sox DH David Ortiz' final series at Fenway Park (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/30).

"I always wanted to play in the Big Ten and wasn’t good enough. For about a four-minute stretch there, I felt like a dream came true" –  Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta, on modeling the team's new uniforms on Thursday night (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 9/30).

THE MMQB's Andrew Brandt examines the NFL's CBA at its halfway point, noting with "billions of dollars coming into the game, there is always dispute about how much each side should claim as 'their share.'” The owners, "to be sure, achieved their primary goal in this negotiation: to take more of it." The league’s top priority has been "simple: become more profitable by lowering their largest expense, player costs."

YAHOO SPORTS' Jay Busbee notes the Braves are closing out Turner Field this weekend, which "isn't architecturally out of date." The ballpark has "plenty of skybox room, a video screen large enough to be seen from orbit, and decent enough vehicle access in the transportation nightmare that is Atlanta." But the Braves are treating it "like a high school senior walking through the halls crowing how much more awesome next year’s gonna be at college."

Also: 

• Cam Newton, Panthers are struggling to "find rhythm amidst turmoil in their city."
• New Rutgers football coach wants to transform the program "from inside out."
• Old Dominion football is taking a "proactive approach with anthem protests."
• Colin Kaepernick's activism "began in college."
• For the Warriors' Rick Welts, making a difference "is an issue close to heart."
• Fellow broadcasters talk about the mark Vin Scully has left. 

Promo for Colts-Jags at 9:30 am Sunday that airs in a 22-7 Thursday game is just the NFL taunting us because they know we'll watch anything.

— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurke_SI) September 30, 2016

Colts-Jaguars will be the NFL's 15th game in London. Not a single one of them has matched up two teams with winning records.

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) September 29, 2016

They just fired up the DJ at the 1st tee of the Ryder Cup. Not Dustin Johnson, an actual DJ who's spinning Marky Mark's "Good Vibration".

— Kelly Tilghman (@KellyTilghmanGC) September 30, 2016

Potential exists for three-way and four-way in MLB this weekend. I'd be into that. You?

— Tony Massarotti (@TonyMassarotti) September 30, 2016

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Mythology.”

“Banished from Athens, this inventor found trouble on Crete too, but escaped.”

Last night’s edition of TBS’ “Conan” featured host Conan O’Brien joining comedian Kevin Hart at the gym because according to O’Brien, Hart is a “fitness fanatic.” O’Brien said of Hart’s Nike all-black workout clothes, “Good God, this looks like a tuxedo from the year 3015.” Hart said, “This is Nike.” O’Brien said, “Look what I’m doing.” O’Brien then pointed to his shirt and said, “Nike Up here,” and then to his shorts, “Reebok down here. Getting paid twice. Ka-ching!” Hart: “No, you don’t get paid twice. They have no idea that you’re wearing their product. They don’t care.” But O’Brien noted, “I just got the word out: Nike up here, Reebok down there. These sneakers, we don’t even know who made them. They’re Romanian. The point is, I get paid three times” (“Conan,” TBS, 9/29).

 Actress Piper Perabo appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night, with host Jimmy Kimmel asking her about being a Cowboys fan. Perabo: “The Cowboys tweeted at me this Sunday. … I was asking them about … this Dallas Cowboys emoji that I saw coming up. I didn’t know how to get it on my tweet so I just asked them.” Kimmel: “Did they reply to you?” Perabo: “Yeah, they tweeted me back. They were like, ‘Just do this,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God, the Dallas Cowboys just tweeted at me.’” Perabo also said she had never been to a Cowboys game, with Kimmel noting he has been to AT&T Stadium, “It’s unbelievable. It's like what people around the world imagine America is. It’s like if Costco had a team, that's what it would be. … I will tell you one thing about it is you're there and you are expecting to watch the players on the field, but the TV is so big you can't stop watching the TV” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 9/29).

“Who was Daedalus?”