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Thursday 9:00am ET....Today's News....More Fallout In Hoops Scandal

  • Louisville Set To Name Interim AD Amid College Hoops Scandal
  • Trump Says NFL Owners "Afraid Of Their Players" On Protest Issue
  • Presidents Cup Tees Off Today; Trump's Attendance A Question Mark
  • Vanderbilt Eschews Sharing Stadium With Potential MLS Team


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Today: What’s next for college hoops and the NCAA after FBI scandal? Amazon Prime is ready for its NFL debut.

Louisville Set To Name Interim AD Amid College Hoops Scandal

As a federal corruption investigation continues to rock college basketball, Louisville interim President Greg Postel "hopes to name" an interim AD within 48 hours after the school placed AD Tom Jurich on paid administrative leave yesterday. Jurich’s fate will "not be decided" until the next BOT meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 19 "unless one is called sooner." One "possible candidate" for the interim AD job is Junior Bridgeman, who played basketball at Louisville from '72-75 and served on the university’s BOT from June '16 until February (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 9/28).

The Arizona Board of Regents today will "get legal advice" on the investigation, which has "resulted in the criminal charges against four assistant basketball coaches," including one at Arizona. The regents will get a "closed-door briefing" as part of their regularly scheduled meeting (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/28).

Meanwhile, Alabama Associate AD Kobie Baker's resignation yesterday is reportedly "tied to the FBI investigation." A source said that Baker admitted during a meeting with Alabama officials to "being 'Staff Member 1' in the FBI complaint" (AL.com, 9/27).

Trump Says NFL Owners "Afraid Of Their Players" On Protest Issue

President Trump this morning explained in part his ardent stance that NFL players should stand for the national anthem. Trump in a taped interview said he has “so many friends” that are NFL team owners, and he has “spoken to a couple of them.” Trump: “They say we are in a situation where we have to do something. I think they’re afraid of their players, if you want to know the truth, and I think it’s disgraceful.” He added the league has “got to be tough and they’ve got to be smart because … the ratings have gone way down” and there are a “lot of empty seats” in stadiums (“Fox & Friends,” Fox News, 9/28).

Presidents Cup Tees Off Today; Trump's Attendance A Question Mark

The Presidents Cup gets under way today at Liberty National in Jersey City, where former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama will "stand together on the first tee" to begin play. President Trump, the biennial event's honorary Chair, "could possibly show up for Sunday's final day." PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said that the Secret Service "has already been out to Liberty National to assess the security demands of Trump attending the event, and that the PGA Tour has helped in the process." There is "no guarantee that Trump will come," but regardless, this will be the first time "more than one former President has attended" since '05 (GOLFWEEK.com, 9/27).

Citi is activating extensively around the tournament, including with the "44 Million Yard Challenge," in which a mobile simulator encourages fans to help drive a golf ball around the world virtually. As part of the effort, Citi is donating to No Kid Hungry to provide 1 million meals to kids in need. Citi also will have multiple hospitality spaces around the course, including a lounge exclusively for Citi cardholders, plus a presence at an interactive fan zone. Citi also runs a full-page ad in USA Today: "The Power Of Partnership. On Full Display At The Presidents Cup" (THE DAILY).

Vanderbilt Eschews Sharing Stadium With Potential MLS Team

Vanderbilt announced that it "won't join in on a proposed shared-stadium concept" with a possible MLS team in Nashville, but the school is "still looking at using the potential stadium for one or two football games a year." The university in a statement said that the football program plans to "remain at Dudley Field." The decision is "not expected to hurt Nashville's chances of landing an MLS club," though the prospect of Vanderbilt sharing the venue "presented the possibility of an additional funding stream to help pay for the project" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 9/28).

NYCFC To Submit Proposal For New Venue At Belmont Park

NYCFC and the Related Companies will "submit a proposal" to Empire State Development Corp. to "build a soccer stadium on property at Belmont Park" ahead of an afternoon deadline today. Related "expressed interest earlier this year" in an ESDC site at the Harlem River Yards, and the MLS team is "investigating at least two sites in Willets Point, Queens." The Islanders are "also expected to submit a proposal to build an arena on the site" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/28).

Red Sox Unveiling Anti-Racism PSA, Hosting Panel Discussions

The Red Sox will be the first of five Boston-area pro sports teams to unveil their new PSA with "athletes imploring fans to take a stand against racism and hate speech at Fenway Park" for tonight's game against the Astros. There also will be "panel discussions before the game." When asked which players are appearing in the PSA, Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy said, "That's the one thing we're keeping confidential until we unveil it" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 9/27).

DraftKings Adds Voice Function Using Amazon's Alexa Platform

By Eric Fisher

DraftKings has developed a new voice-activated data function using Amazon’s Alexa platform. The new DraftKings “skill” for Alexa allows users to ask Alexa-enabled devices for information such as fantasy points earned, as well as realtime and historical player stats. The free “Ask DraftKings” service is starting with the NFL for users in the U.S. and U.K., but will be soon expanded to other sports and geographic territories.

Speed Reads....

The Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin fight Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena produced 1.3 million PPV buys, the "best showing between two world champion boxers" since Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s record-setting '15 triumph over Manny Pacquiao (L.A. TIMES, 9/28).

Raycom Sports and DirecTV have "struck a carriage renewal agreement for the broadcaster's 54 TV stations, and without any blackouts" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 9/27).

USOC sponsor United Airlines has signed Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Jamie Anderson to an endorsement deal ahead of the PyeongChang Games. Anderson has also signed with Ralph Lauren, MilkPEP and VISA (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer).

Brewers LF Ryan Braun, P Corey Knebel and 2B Hernan Perez are "teaming up to purchase 7,500 tickets" for today's home game against the Reds at 3:00pm CT (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/27).

The Coastal Plains League's new franchise in Macon, Ga., yesterday "unveiled its nickname: Macon Bacon," along with uniforms "featuring bacon strips as numbers." The team is owned by former Mandalay Baseball Properties Exec VP & CMO Steve DeLay and former Nets President Jon Spoelstra (Macon TELEGRAPH, 9/28).

Univision's in-house experiential marketing unit UCI Live has tapped N.Y.-based digital video outfit Sportsrocket to live stream the inaugural U12 soccer Prospects Cup in December (Univision).

Quick Hits....

"That's tough. ... At the end of the day, I made the decision I wanted to do. I didn’t let anybody influence my decision. I didn’t take anything from anybody. But as a kid, you got to try to make the best decision you can" -- Celtics F Jaylen Brown, on how he determined nefarious college recruiters from honest ones (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/28).

"Yes and no" -- Patriots RB Brandon Bolden, on whether or not he would like to know if he hypothetically had CTE (BOSTON HERALD, 9/28).

"He’s got to stick to his politics. He worrying about the wrong thing. Puerto Rico just got total destruction and he worrying about football players" -- Giants S Landon Collins, on President Trump's recent comments regarding the NFL (USA TODAY, 9/28).

"We’re not looking for a rules change or anything, but we want to provide her this opportunity" -- U.S. Ski & Snowboard VP/Communications Tom Kelly, on proposing to let Lindsey Vonn race in a men's Int'l Ski Federation event next season (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/28).

Morning Hot Reads: Basketball Diaries

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-TimesPhiladelphia
Daily News

Spanning The Global....

The most-read Global stories today on SportsBusiness Daily:

1) West Ham United Targeting Spanish-Speaking Fans After Signing Javier Hernández
2) PwC Sports Survey Reveals Leaders Expect Sports Growth To Slow
3) Sky Will Not Renew David Beckham's $5M-Per-Year Ambassador Contract
4) Red Bull Racing Generates Turnover Of £197M, Profit Of £385,000 In '16
5) Cash-Rich Indian Premier League Drawing Comparisons With NBA, EPL

Final Jeopardy....

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

“A collection of her writings includes letters to her famous husband and articles like ‘Eulogy on the Flapper.’”

Laugh Track: Capital Hill

Last night’s edition of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” featured the segment “Pros and Cons of Being Uninvited to the White House.” Host Jimmy Fallon: “As we all know, President Trump recently uninvited the Golden State Warriors from visiting the White House after receiving criticism from Steph Curry. It's drawn a lot of reactions from everyone.”

PRO: “You’re still the best team in the NBA.”
CON: “Or as Trump pronounces it, ‘The Nambia.’”

PRO: “Charles Barkley says Trump’s decision ‘sets a bad precedent.’”
CON: “Trump responding, ‘Who are you calling a bad precedent? I’m the best precedent.’”

PRO: “Steph Curry had already said he didn’t want to go -- then he got uninvited.”
CON: “It’s like when you have dinner plans with that friend that you don’t really like, and you want to cancel but you don’t wanna be rude, and then they cancel. SAH-WEEEET!”

PRO: “The Golden State Warriors won’t be going to the White House.”
CON: “So in a way, they won twice” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 9/27).

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel: “The president is also doubling down on his war against the NFL. I should probably note Trump has been ranting and raving at football players who choose to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. He's very opposed to men getting down on a knee and for good reason. Every time he does it he winds up married to a woman who hates his guts. The president called for boycott of teams that allowed these peaceful demonstrations, told people to turn off the TV. By the way, how hilarious is it that Trump supporters now have to stop watching football, bet you didn't see that coming” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 9/27).

TBS’ Conan O’Brien: “There are rumors that NFL legend Peyton Manning may run for Senate. … Experts say there's no way that mixing the NFL and politics could possibly go wrong” (“Conan,” TBS, 9/27).

TBS’ Samantha Bee: “It's been a tough couple of weeks for the CSPAN nerds in shrill blue stockings who watch our show. Looks like from now on we have to know about sport and I am here to help. Check me out!” Bee turned around to reveal she was wearing a red jacket with “Kaepernick” on the back. Bee: “Richard Sherman! Heard of him? First things first, sport is played with balls. This one is a basketball and this one, I believe, is a feet ball. I'm sorry, it's a football. … Some of the best basketball players are Michael Jordan, Bill Murray and aliens. Fun fact: O.J. Simpson used to be a football player before he became a symbol of institutional racism and the power of fame. You can impress your jock friends with that bit of trivia. Now you know everything about sport!” (“Full Frontal,” TBS, 9/27).

Last night’s edition of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” featured host Trevor Noah addressing the unfolding scandal in the NCAA: “When you think of the FBI you probably think of the beef between Trump and Comey. But the Bureau is working on other cases too and yesterday we found out that in the NCAA some coaches are going from basketball courts to the law-judgey place.” When asked what can be done to stop the corruption in college sports, correspondent Michelle Wolf said, “Pay the athletes. Done” (“The Daily Show,” Comedy Central, 9/28).


NBC’s Fallon: “Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino has apparently been fired after a federal investigation for fraud. If he's convicted of any crimes, he could be sentenced to 10 years of coaching the Knicks” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 9/27).

TBS’ Conan O’Brien said in Patriots QB Tom Brady’s “new book he says that drinking a lot of water prevents sunburn.” O’Brien: “Do not get me wrong. I'm a huge Patriots fan and I'm a Tom Brady fan. I'm from Boston. But that doesn't sound right to me.” At this point, two Patriots fans in the audience took offense and said, “You calling Tom Brady a liar?” (“Conan,” TBS, 9/27). See the full clip.