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Tuesday 9:00am ET....Today's News....Public Funds For The Q Approved

  • Cleveland City Council Approves Public Funding To Renovate The Q
  • Pro Football HOF Village Closer To Reality With Hotel Groundbreaking
  • Hyundai Debuts Mini-Documentaries About NFL Draft Prospects
  • ACBJ Acquires Remaining 50% Interest in London-Based Leaders

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

Today: Don’t sleep on San Diego’s MLS bid, and Martin Jarmond meets the media in Boston.

Cleveland City Council Approves Public Funding To Renovate The Q

The Cleveland City Council yesterday approved committing an estimated $88M for upgrades to Quicken Loans Arena. The ordinance, approved by a 12-5 vote, "takes effect immediately." The City Council chambers were "filled with several hundred people, many vocal opponents of the deal" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 4/25). In the face of opposition to the $140M project, the Cavaliers have made the deal a "little sweeter." The team "agreed to commit money to help support the city of Cleveland and its neighborhoods" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 4/24).

Pro Football HOF Village Closer To Reality With Hotel Groundbreaking

Officials in Canton today will break ground on the luxury hotel at the Johnson Controls Pro Football HOF Village, and developers "already are planning a second hotel, while eyeing land where visitors can stay in recreational vehicles." From "start to finish, it could take as long as 15 years for the whole thing to be fully developed." People behind the scenes "enthusiastically use the word 'Disney' in describing not just the on-site sports and other entertainment but also in the impact" of the 100-plus acre development on the region (OHIO.com, 4/24).

Hyundai Debuts Mini-Documentaries About NFL Draft Prospects

NFL sponsor Hyundai today released four videos of original content as part of its "Rolling with the Rookies" activation around Thursday's Draft in Philadelphia. The videos feature four projected first-round picks: QB Mitchell Trubisky, TE O.J. Howard, WR Mike Williams and LB Haason Reddick. The mini-documentaries and all other "Rolling with the Rookies" content will live on Hyundai's YouTube channel as well as Hyundaiusa.com/NFL and HyundaiNews.com (Hyundai).

Western Kentucky To Sign With Nike After Parting Ways With Russell

Western Kentucky Univ. and Nike today will unveil a five-year apparel partnership, "less than 24 hours after WKU announced Monday it had mutually discontinued its exclusive on-field sponsorship agreement with Russell Athletic." The new deal takes effect July 1, making Nike the "on-field provider for all 16 Hilltopper and Lady Topper sports programs." The money WKU will earn is "still to be determined." Sources said that WKU "won’t have to pay anything to Russell because of the move" (BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS, 4/25).

Puma Reports Strong Start To '17, Especially In The Americas

Puma today said that its "businesses in the Americas and Europe had had a strong start to the year." Sales "grew fastest in the Americas," up 17%. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa they were up 15.9%, and in Asia they rose 12.4%. In light of its "rapid start to the year," Puma earlier this month "raised its sales and earnings forecasts" for '17. It expects sales to grow at a “low double-digit” rate and its annual operating profit to be between US$201-218M (FT.com, 4/25).

Bouchard Says She Cannot Take Part In Settlement Talks With USTA

By Daniel Kaplan

Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard told a federal court she is unable to participate in settlement talks with the USTA, including via Skype. As a result, the court declined to schedule a third round of the talks. The parties may try private mediation. The disclosure was made yesterday by the magistrate judge, Lois Bloom, who is overseeing Bouchard's case against the USTA for a concussion she suffered at the '15 U.S. Open after falling in a locker room area. Bloom did not give a reason for Bouchard backing out, though presumably she is busy with the tennis season.

However, Bloom did give lawyers for Bouchard the right to file a motion alleging the USTA destroyed video evidence. The USTA has said its evidence retention protocols were proper.

ACBJ Acquires Remaining 50% Interest in London-Based Leaders

American City Business Journals, parent company of SportsBusiness Daily/Journal, has acquired the remaining 50% interest in London-based Leaders that it did not own. ACBJ acquired an initial 50% in Leaders in August '14. Leaders produces sports business summits in London and N.Y. and will be expanding to Beijing this summer. In addition, the Leaders Performance Institute produces events in London, L.A., Chicago, N.Y. and Doha, Qatar, and publishes insights and research for coaches, GMs and others responsible for athlete performance. The acquisition significantly extends and complements ACBJ's sports business properties, which include SBD/SBJ and its affiliated conference and events group.

"Leaders provides us a platform that addresses the truly global nature of sports business," said ACBJ President & CEO Whitney Shaw. "U.S. companies are not only involved in sports internationally, they're looking for ways to make a more significant impact, especially in emerging sports and markets. And companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere are becoming more involved in U.S. sports business. On the performance side, coaches and managers around the world speak a common language and share a common challenge – how do I help athletes and teams maximize performance on the field? Leaders Performance Institute furthers that conversation with events, research and insights."

Leaders Founder & CEO James Worrall and co-Founder & COO Simon Lau will remain with the business to spearhead the company's further international expansion beyond its original sports-business roots. That expansion will come geographically and by diversifying across additional industry sectors (THE DAILY).

Speed Reads....

Little Caesars Arena in its inaugural year will host a men's college basketball doubleheader "early in the 2017-18 season" featuring Michigan-Detroit Mercy and Michigan State-Oakland. A press conference will be held today to announce the event (MLIVE.com, 4/25).

ESPN has picked up next Monday's Orioles-Red Sox game at Fenway Park in the "wake of the controversy" on-field between the two teams (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/25).

Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson "will be the public face of the team" during the May 16 NBA Draft Lottery. The team will have GM Rob Pelinka "backstage" (L.A. TIMES, 4/25).

Video game developer 704Games today announced the release of "NASCAR Heat Mobile," the first NASCAR-licensed mobile game to feature 40 cars racing simultaneously (704Games).

Sunday's DC United-Atlanta United game is a sellout, "the third in as many home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium" for the MLS expansion team (AJC.com, 4/24).

Quick Hits....

"I would have blocked it" – Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, saying he would not have allowed driver Fernando Alonso to compete in the '17 Indianapolis 500 (N.Y. TIMES, 4/25).

"If you're looking for a bunch of choirboys, that ain't happening. It would be hard to fill a team. But we believe in football character. Do they love football? Are they dependable? Are they accountable?" – 49ers GM John Lynch, on his approach to drafting and building a team (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/25).

"I mean, it's nice to see the Habs jersey, or the Alouettes, but seeing the Expos cap is, you know, keeping hope alive" – Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after receiving an Expos hat from author Jonah Keri (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/24).

"You look at the golf world right now, it's just not that cool. I've got boys that are 26, 25, and they're not into golf like we were growing up. They think it takes too long" – Actor and Murray Brothers Golf CEO Joel Murray, on the line of golf wear produced by the company and sometimes worn publicly by Bill Murray (N.Y. TIMES, 4/25).

Morning Hot Reads: Island Hopping

The HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER writes, "Most of Hawaii’s $9.7 million sports marketing budget last year was spent on football and Oahu, but the loss of the high-ticket NFL Pro Bowl might finally give other sports, and islands, a chance to get some skin in the state’s lucrative sports tourism game."

The SEATTLE TIMES goes with the header, "Evaluating 3 Arena Proposals Leads To Apples-To-Oranges Comparisons." Comparing and contrasting the city’s three arena proposals is "no easy task." For one, "they aren’t on an even footing."

Also:

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Today's Events....

Northwestern at 1:00pm CT at the Under Armour Brand House in downtown Chicago will announce contract extensions for men's basketball coach Chris Collins and football coach Pat Fitzgerald. A source said that Collins' extension will run through the '24-25 season and that he "got a huge raise." Another source said that Fitzgerald's extension is for 10 years, "tying him to his alma mater" through '26 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/25).

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) Sauber Formula 1 Close To Honda Engine Deal For '18 Season
2) Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao Fight May Set New Suncorp Stadium Record
3) FIFA Considers Giving Israel Six Months To Stop Football Matches In Settlements
4) J.League Signs Two-And-A-Half-Year Deal With Japanese Retailer Rakuten
5) Australian Open Venue Getting New 5,000-Seat Multi-Sport Stadium

Final Jeopardy!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. Presidents.”

“Though he graduated from high school in 1901 and later graduated to the presidency, he never graduated from college.”

Laugh Track: Did He Do That?

Kobe Bryant appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” last night where he performed slam poetry about “Steve Urkel” from the ‘90s sitcom “Family Matters.” Bryant said of Urkel, “Suspenders to lapels, from nerdy Steve, ‘got any cheese?’”

Host Jimmy Fallon said Bryant’s animated short film “Dear Basketball” was “so moving.” Bryant: “I can’t play basketball forever. Understanding that love that I’ve had from the age of 2 until 37 has to change, has to move on and finding the acceptance of letting something go.” Bryant noted composer John Williams wrote the score for the film and he had “reached out to John years ago because I just wanted to talk to him about how he composed because I believed there was some kind of connection between how he orchestrates with how I could possibly conduct a basketball game.” Fallon asked, “So you just cold call people?” Bryant said he “cold calls” people “all the time” because if “you want to learn something the best way to learn is to reach out and ask.”

Bryant also sat with SI Kids child reporter Max Bonnstetter, who became known for asking Univ. of South Carolina men’s basketball coach Frank Martin a question during the Final Four. Bryant said of answering Bonnsetter's questions, “I actually get smart questions for once.” After a groan from the audience, Bryant said, “Wait, I’m not talking about this guy,” and pointed to Fallon. Bonnstetter asked Bryant who he “sees in his nightmares” from his NBA career. Bryant said, “I see Shaquille O’Neal’s lip-sync battle with Jimmy” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 4/24).