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Tuesday 9:00am ET....Today's News....Is Carolina In NCAA's Mind?

  • NCAA To Announce Host Cities Today; Will HB2 Have Effect On N.C.?
  • MLBPA Launching Free Social Networking App Infield Chatter 
  • PGA Tour Elevating Web.com’s Dominican Republic Stop In '18
  • Mercedes-Benz Stadium Construction Timetable Update Expected Today

Start your morning with Buzzcast, a 3-minute podcast on today's top stories.

Today: When will Mercedes-Benz Stadium open? Could Boston College turn to a former NFL and MLB exec for its next AD?

NCAA To Announce Host Cities Today; Will HB2 Have Effect On N.C.?

The NCAA will "announce host cities for national championships or tournaments in 86 sports" this afternoon, "awarding sites for its next four-year cycle that runs through" the '21-22 school year. D-I men’s basketball tournament sites "were separate" from the last bid cycle in '13 but are "included" this time around. North Carolina will "find out what, if any, legacy" House Bill 2 had with the NCAA (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 4/18). The NCAA was "originally scheduled to reveal the hosts and sites in December, but the process was backed up when it relocated seven championship games out of North Carolina after the state passed" HB2 (DETROIT NEWS, 4/18).

MLBPA Launching Free Social Networking App Infield Chatter

By Liz Mullen

The MLBPA today is launching Infield Chatter, a social network app for players which is a combination of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but has a human monitor to silence trolls. More than half of MLBers have signed up to participate on the mobile app. Additionally, many minor league players have become members of the Infield Chatter community, so about 1,000 baseball players total will be on the app. Infield Chatter launches in the Apple Store and Google Play today and it is free for fans or anyone to download.

The MLBPA hired social media firm Lineage Interactive, a leading digital content production company that collaborates with top athletes, musicians and major brands to develop their online identities and help players with content creation. The MLBPA has also hired Honeycommb, a social media hosting company which works with Lady Gaga's Little Monster's social community, to curate the site. For more see today's DAILY.

PGA Tour Elevating Web.com’s Dominican Republic Stop In '18

By John Lombardo

The PGA Tour is elevating the current Web.com’s Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship held in the Dominican Republic to the PGA Tour schedule beginning next year. The event will debut March 19-25, 2018 -- the same week as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play -- and have a purse of at least $3M. The change comes after the Tour signed a four-year deal with Grupo Puntacana, which owns and operates Puntacana Resort & Club, to serve as the host organization. The Corales course will remain the tournament course for the PGA Tour event. The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship will be held for the second time on the Web.com Tour this year from May 1-7.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Construction Timetable Update Expected Today

An update on Mercedes-Benz Stadium's construction timetable "will be released" today, according to AMB Group Senior VP & Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes. Issues associated with the stadium’s complex retractable roof "already have delayed the opening twice, first pushing the target from March 1 to June 1 and then pushing it back further to July 30, and now threaten another delay." Questions also "loom about whether the roof will be completed and operable when the stadium opens" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 4/18).

18-Year-Old Soccer Player Mallory Pugh Opts To Go Pro Over UCLA

Mallory Pugh, an 18-year-old U.S. soccer player, has "decided to turn pro and leave UCLA before she ever played a game there." Sources said that Pugh is "set to sign with Wasserman agent Richard Motzkin." She also is "planning to meet soon with Nike and Adidas." According to NWSL rules, the Washington Spirit have the "first crack at Pugh through the league’s allocation process." However, the Spirit are "not a preferred destination for Pugh." Sources said that the Portland Thorns are "one of Pugh’s preferred destinations" (SI.com, 4/18).

SeatGeek Makes Its Largest Purchase, Buying TopTix For $56M

By Eric Fisher

SeatGeek has completed a $56M purchase of Israeli ticketing software company TopTix, a deal that is the largest acquisition in SeatGeek history and is designed in part to expand the company’s SeatGeek Open platform. The deal was financed by a $57M Series D investment round led by Glynn Capital, with participation by several existing SeatGeek investors including Accel, Technology Crossover Ventures, Haystack Partners, Mousse Partners and Causeway Media Partners, an investment fund led by Celtics Managing Partner & CEO Wyc Grousbeck. SeatGeek’s Series D round follows a total of nearly $100M raised in Series B and C rounds in ’14-15.

Shahid Khan's Firm Again Vying To Develop Jacksonville's Shipyards

Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan’s firm, Iguana Investments Florida, is “vying again to be master developer” of Jacksonville’s Shipyards, “this time against stiffer competition than two years ago.” Also “competing for the right to be master developer of The Shipyards and neighboring Metropolitan Park are two Texas-based firms whose teams bring the firepower of long track records in real estate development.” The Downtown Investment Authority board is “expected to make the call” when it meets today (JACKSONVILLE.com, 4/17).

Obama To Attend Funeral Services For Steelers Chair Dan Rooney

President Obama "will attend" Steelers Chair Dan Rooney's funeral services today, which will take place at 11:00am ET at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland, Pa. Obama is "not expected to deliver remarks" (TRIBLIVE.com, 4/17).

A public viewing for Rooney at the PNC Champions Club at Heinz Field yesterday drew remembrances from Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, Vikings Owner the Wilf family and country music singer Garth Brooks. Among the former Steelers players "spotted in the first two hours of the viewing were Lynn Swann, Kordell Stewart, Santonio Holmes and Kendrell Bell." Those who "arrived at the beginning" waited in line for "about an hour to see" Rooney's casket (TRIBLIVE.com, 4/17).

Speed Reads....

Kansas F Josh Jackson, who could be the No. 1 pick in June's NBA Draft, has turned pro and tapped Wasserman's B.J. Armstrong to be his agent (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/17).

An introductory press conference for new UNLV AD Desiree Reed-Francois "will be held" this afternoon (LAS VEGAS SUN, 4/18).

Advance Auto Parts has signed on as title sponsor for the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Michigan's Lake St. Clair set for Aug. 24-27. The company will also be a supporting sponsor for all Bassmaster Elite events (Advance Auto Parts).

The first base bag on which the Cubs' Anthony Rizzo "recorded the final out" of the '16 World Series last night sold for $101,237 at auction. The price, "recorded on MLB Auctions' site, was the culmination of a week-long online sale" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/18).

Investment firm Silver Lake today plans to announce that it has "closed its fifth buyout fund" at $15B, one of the "biggest ever dedicated to technology deals" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/18).

The Cleveland City Council yesterday "put off for a week the final vote" on whether to commit $88M in public money toward upgrades at Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 4/18).

Quick Hits....

"I really had to concentrate on, in all honestly, it doesn’t matter yet. It’s something that’s coming. It’s big news. It’s exciting for our organization and for fans that are Raider fans in Nevada, but at the same time we have our fans here that we need to take care of and that’s really important to me" – Raiders QB Derek Carr, on the team's impending relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/18).

"These people think they're going to cash in and 99.9 percent of the time, they're wrong" – DC-based sports trademark attorney Patrick Jennings, on people who have applied to trademark the "Las Vegas Raiders" moniker before the team can (LAS VEGAS SUN, 4/18).

"If there's greater diversity in athletic administration, I think you see that reflected in hiring practices across all sports. There's not a lot of women sitting in AD chairs nationally and there's a dearth of people of color in those chairs. That's reflected when you're looking at (who's hired as) head coaches" – Penn State's Coquese Washington, who is one of two black Big Ten women's basketball coaches (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/18).

Morning Hot Reads: The Dock Of The Bay

MLB.com does a Q&A with Giants Senior VP & GM Bobby Evans, who is "one of those rare cases" of a modern sports exec calling one place home for more than two decades. Evans just started his 24th season with the club and said of his longevity, "There are a lot of great executives that do move around and have good reasons for that just because of the opportunities, but I think from Day 1, this is a special place."

The PALM BEACH POST looks at statues of sports figures in and around major league venues, noting the monuments, regardless of who is depicted, "draw a lot of attention when first unveiled but as the generations pass become a mere curiosity to young people, provided they are noticed at all." But creating the statues is "romance, and we wouldn't be human without it."

Also:

Twitter Me This....

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com

Today's Back Pages....

The Morning Buzz offers today's back page sports covers from some of North America's major metropolitan tabloids:

 N.Y. Post  N.Y. Daily News Newsday   Boston HeraldChicago Sun-Times

Spanning The Global....

The most-read Global stories today on SportsBusiness Daily:

1) EPL To Announce £312M Loss Due To New Accounting Rules, Declining Value Of Sterling
2) Digital In-Stadium Signage Continues To Quietly Gain Value
3) Ecclestone Attends F1 Bahrain GP, Says New Owners Do Not Want His Input
4) Toronto Wolfpack CEO Hoping To Draw Canadian, U.S. Following
5) New Owners Of AC Milan To Invest In Stadium, May List Team On Stock Market

Final Jeopardy!

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

“This university on John C. Calhoun’s former plantation is named for Calhoun’s son-in-law, who gave the land.”

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “Sports Trophies.”
$400: “The first team awarded this hockey trophy was the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association in 1893.”
$800: “The Duchess of Kent Challenge Cup is the ladies’ doubles trophy at this event.”
$1200: “A Greek-like figure waves a checkered flag atop the Borg-Warner Trophy, presented to the winner of this race.”
$1600: “Here’s Colin Montgomerie with this cup he won as captain of the 2010 European team.”
$2000 (DAILY DOUBLE): “The Jules Rimet Cup was replaced by this trophy in 1974.”

Laugh Track: Little Bunny Foo Foo

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “I'm not sure what was going on here, but at the Washington Nationals game yesterday, their mascots got into a bit of a fight.” The broadcast aired footage of the mascots tackling the presidents during their race, with an Easter bunny form tackling Teddy Roosevelt as he ran by. Fallon: “On the bright side, that bunny just got a job at United Airlines” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 4/17).

Final Jeopardy....

“What is Clemson?”

Correct responses to the “Sports Trophies” category:
$400: “What is the Stanley Cup?”
$800: “What is Wimbledon?”
$1200: “What is the Indianapolis 500?”
$1600: “What is the Ryder Cup?”
$2000: “What is the World Cup?”