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Thursday 9:00am ET....Today's News....Kroenke Buys Into Overwatch

  • Kroenkes, Cloud9 Buy Esports Franchises In New Overwatch League
  • Rainy Weather Could Wreak Havoc On PGA Championship Rounds
  • Aramark To Operate Concessions At Univ. Of South Carolina Venues
  • NBA Uniform Update: Suns' New Uniforms Said To Be Full Redesign

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Today: The day after Disney's decision.

Kroenkes, Cloud9 Buy Esports Franchises In New Overwatch League

By Ben Fischer

Stan and Josh Kroenke have acquired the startup Overwatch League’s second L.A. franchise, while esports team Cloud9 has agreed to buy the league’s first London franchise. The new deals bring the league’s total confirmed charter membership to nine. The transactions expand the league to Europe for the first time, and bring a second team to the esports hotbed of Southern California. Terms of these deals are not known, but Activision Blizzard has been hoping to get $20M for each spot. See THE DAILY for more.

Rainy Weather Could Wreak Havoc On PGA Championship Rounds

The PGA Championship got underway today at Charlotte's Quail Hollow Club, where weather is "threatening to wreak havoc" on the event, with "poor conditions predicted for at least parts of all four rounds." Today's forecast calls for a 40% percent chance of rain, with a 70% chance tomorrow, 30% Saturday and 60% Sunday. The PGA has been "forced by weather to a Monday finish three times," most recently in '05 (N.Y. POST, 8/10).

Meanwhile, tournament attendees "might be surprised to find out that there is no recycling option at Quail Hollow Club for their cans and bottles." The lack of recycling is "upsetting some fans and volunteers." Tournament Dir Jason Mengel in a statement said the tournament understands the "importance of recycling and will be looking at ways to incorporate this important element in the future" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/10).

Aramark To Operate Concessions At Univ. Of South Carolina Venues

By Don Muret, Staff Writer

The Univ. of South Carolina has signed Aramark to a multiyear deal to run food service at its on-campus sports venues, including Williams-Brice Stadium (football), Colonial Life Arena (basketball) and Founders Park (baseball). For premium dining in the suites and clubs, Aramark partnered with Southern Way Catering, a local firm which has run those services at the football stadium the past five years. In general concessions, Aramark replaces Centerplate, which held the contract for the last 15-plus years. The agreement marks Aramark’s fifth SEC contract, along with LSU, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky.

NBA Uniform Update: Suns' New Uniforms Said To Be Full Redesign

The Suns today will reveal their new Nike uniforms, and the team earlier this week "tweeted a video teasing the unveiling." The Suns are "reported to be one" of eight teams to have a Classic Edition uniform under the first year of Nike's leaguewide NBA jersey deal (AZCENTRAL.com, 8/8). The Suns' look will reportedly be a "full redesign," rather than "just adding a Nike logo after teasing 'NEW UNIFORMS!' like other teams have done" (TWITTER.com, 8/8).

The Spurs also will release their new Nike uniform design this week, and the team has released a video "showing the days of George Gervin, Mike Mitchell and James Silas," leading "many fans to believe the team may be foreshadowing a reemergence of the retro 'Fiesta colors' themed jerseys" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 8/10).
Finally, the T’Wolves today are slated to unveil their “new look,” and if the club “follows the same template as other teams for their reveal you should be ready to see the new look first via the Wolves’ official Twitter account” (STARTRIBUNE.com, 8/9).

Glazers Selling Another 2% Of Manchester United On NYSE

The Glazer family, which owns Manchester United, is "set to earn" about US$72.89M by "selling more of their shares" in the EPL club on the NYSE. The sale, which "equates to around 2% of the club's shares, is expected to conclude next Tuesday." ManU "will not receive any proceeds from the sale" (BBC.com, 8/9). The "latest batch will take the shares floated on the U.S. stock market" to more than 20% (ESPNFC.us, 8/10).

IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions Lands Colts As First Non-College Client

The Colts today announced a deal with IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions, marking the joint venture's first announced non-college client. IMGLTS will support the team's ticket sales throughout the '17 season with a focus on group sales at regular-season home games. The IMGLTS staff will work from the company's dedicated sales center in Indianapolis. The joint ticketing venture represents 36 college partners, generating more than $115M in ticket sales and fundraising revenue in '16 (THE DAILY).

Study: Univ. Of Hawaii's Athletics Income Outweighs School's Support

The Univ. of Hawaii athletic department "brings at least" $2.5M more to the school than it "receives," according to a study scheduled to be presented today to the Regents' Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics. UH AD David Matlin is set to discuss the “value proposition of UH athletics” and how “athletics provides positive net benefits" to the school. UH's athletic department was "projected to run" at a $2-2.2M deficit for the FY that concluded June 30 (HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, 8/10). 

Gatorade, Univ. Of Wisconsin Agree To Six-Year, $1.5M Marketing Deal

The Univ. of Wisconsin Board of Regents has "approved a six-year deal with Gatorade" worth $1.5M. The deal includes a $100,000 annual rights fee to the school, plus $150,000 a year in Gatorade products such as "cups, coolers, ice chests, squeeze bottles, sideline carts and other items." In return, Gatorade is "granted the exclusive right to market their products within what is referred to as the 'Player's Areas,' including the sidelines and post-game interview rooms" (CHANNEL3000.com, 8/9).

NCAA Adopts TBT's Postgame Bracket Celebration For '18 Tourney

NCAA Dir of Media Coordination & Statistics David Worlock last night confirmed that the organization "has adopted The Basketball Tournament's post-game bracket celebration," beginning with the '18 NCAA Tournament. After TBT games, the "winning team goes over to a giant replica of the tournament's bracket" to move a "card with the team's name ahead to the next round." Worlock, who first revealed the move via Twitter, said that the NCAA men's basketball committee "has approved" the celebration (SYRACUSE.com, 8/9).

Speed Reads....

The NBA and AEG today announced that the '18 NBA London Game will feature the 76ers and Celtics in a Jan. 11 regular-season contest at The O2 (NBA).

Tennessee and Georgia Tech will "play before a sellout crowd in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium" on Sept. 4. The game will air on ESPN (Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL, 8/10). 

Sky is set to retain the rights to the Football League in a "blockbuster bidding battle" with BT Sport that has seen the price "as much as double" to $234M a season (GUARDIAN, 8/9). 

The Dolphins and Univision have reached a multiyear deal for WQBA-AM to become the team's flagship Spanish-language station (Dolphins).

Quick Hits....

"We thought it would be a good time to show support of our teammates and coaches that have to deal with a lot more adversity in their home country than we do right now" -- Rays P Chris Archer, on the team wearing T-shirts with the Venezuelan flag for pre-game work Tuesday in a show of support for Venezuelans dealing with political unrest (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/10). 

"Mainstream consumers need to have something that’s a little more digestible. The key to creating (esports) content for television is to make it understandable for regular joes" -- Esports bookmaker Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood, on esports' efforts to make TV programs more accessible to casual fans (SEATTLETIMES.com, 8/9). 

Morning Hot Reads: Up In The Air?

USA TODAY writes, "As the rhetoric and the fear ratchet up over North Korea," the '18 PyeongChang Games "loom in the not-too-distant future." And with the "alarming developments between North Korea and the U.S.," there "naturally will be uncertainty" in the next six months. 

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS writes NFL players now "have a real understanding of the dangers" of football,  and "it's a matter of individual choice" whether they want to discuss health concerns with the public. 

Also:

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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) Kroenkes, Cloud9 Buy, L.A., London Franchises In Esports Startup Overwatch League
2) Liverpool Will Unveil More Than 70 Improvements At Anfield Before Season Opener
3) Mailman Sports Lands $3M Investment From Kaixing Capital, Yao Capital
4) Liverpool, Western Union Agree To Five-Year, £25M Sleeve Sponsorship Deal
5) Sydney Roosters Launch Legal Action Against Ex-Sponsor Infinity Group Australia

Final Jeopardy!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Science and Math Vocabulary.”

“These two words are just one letter different; one is a whirlpool and the other a geometry term for a meeting point.”

Laugh Track: Prime Real Estate

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “Kim Jong-Un actually threatened the U.S. territory of Guam. When he heard that, Trump said, ‘Oh my God, do I have any golf courses there?’" Fallon added, "I saw that the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea are now just six months away. Hopefully” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 8/9).