• Fanatics Starting College Division, Acquiring Fermata Partners Assets
• Al Michaels Apologizes After Making Harvey Weinstein Joke On "SNF"
• Jaguars See Lowest Attendance Under Khan; Did Protest Contribute?
• Pacers Draw Big Crowd For Annual Preseason FanJam Event

Fanatics is expanding the college segment of its ecommerce empire with the creation of a new division -- Fanatics College -- and the acquisition of collegiate licensing agency Fermata Partners. Derek Eiler and Chris Prindiville, two of the four founding partners of Fermata, will join Fanatics College and lead the startup of the new division along with Fanatics Senior VP/Business Development Brian Swallow. Fanatics’ acquisition includes just the collegiate licensing portion of Fermata, which is owned by CAA Sports. Fermata’s collegiate licensing business, which has the rights to seven schools, will operate as a separate division of Fanatics from its Atlanta base.

The other part of Fermata, which owns licensing rights for a variety of sports brands -- including the PGA Tour, Kentucky Derby and a dozen EPL clubs -- will stay with CAA Sports under the guidance of Kit Walsh and Scott Bouyack. Within Fanatics College, Eiler will be Exec VP and Prindiville will be Senior VP. Eiler will report to Fanatics Chief Commercial Officer Cole Gahagan. They will be charged with building a college vertical similar to what Fanatics has done in several pro leagues, where Fanatics designs and manufactures the items, markets them and sells them.

NBC's Al Michaels apologized on air for a comment he made in the third quarter of last night's Giants-Broncos "SNF" game, when he said, "The Giants are coming off a worse week that Harvey Weinstein." Michaels was discussing with broadcasting partner Cris Collinsworth how the then-winless N.Y. team "lost three wide receivers" to season-ending injuries last Sunday. Michaels following a commercial break later said, "Sorry I made a reference earlier, I was trying to be a little flip about somebody obviously very much in the news all over the country, and it was not meant in that manner. So, my apologies, and, um, we'll just leave it at that." Collinsworth "agreed that it was best to 'move on'" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/16).

Rams-Jaguars yesterday at EverBank Field saw the "smallest announced crowd in the Shad Khan Era." The announced attendance was 56,232, "either a show of disinterest in the Jaguars despite their 3-2 start or a show of anger by the fan base for the 15 players who took a knee for the National Anthem three weeks ago in London and Khan’s decision to stand arm-in-arm with the captains at that same game." The Jaguars went on to lose 27-17 (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/16). Before the game, a "plane took to the skies above EverBank Field and Jacksonville’s downtown" with a message reading, “Be American. Boycott the Jags & the NFL” (FIRSTCOASTNEWS.com, 10/16).

The Pacers drew a "large Sunday afternoon crowd" to Bankers Life Fieldhouse for their annual FanJam, as the lower level was "full, with fans also sitting in the upper level." Pacers rookie F T.J. Leaf said, "It shows how much people really care about Indiana basketball." The Pacers "made the FanJam festivities as entertaining as they could during their intra-squad scrimmage." Coach Nate McMillan was "pleased with the fan turnout." He said, "It’s probably the largest crowd I’ve seen the last few years" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/16). C Myles Turner tweeted, "Fan Jam was a HUUGGEE success this year best crowd I've seen since I've been here! s/o to you guys, the fans!" (TWITTER.com, 10/15).

.@GRIII couldn’t join #PacersFanJam today since he’s recovering from surgery but we made sure he didn’t miss the Rookie Show. pic.twitter.com/1VUqkWhjQU

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 15, 2017

The NBA today is debuting a new mobile app allowing fans to play a virtual game of pop-a-shot from anywhere in the world. "NBA AR," the first augmented reality game from a U.S. sports league, is available for iPhones and employs Apple’s new ARKit developer technology. This is the same platform being tested by MLBAM for fan experience purposes. The free NBA game pins a virtual NBA backboard and court into a real-world environment and uses the phone’s accelerometer to launch shots. “We’ve always said that basketball can be played virtually anywhere, and today that takes on an expanded meaning,” said NBA Senior VP/Digital Media Melissa Rosenthal Brenner. The league intends to include additional AR experiences in the app during the course of the '17-18 season.

Raiders Owner Mark Davis "arranged for 30 firefighters, police officers and dispatchers to be flown" yesterday morning from Las Vegas to Oakland to attend the team's home game against the Chargers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. All of the first responders present "worked on Oct. 1 during the Las Vegas mass shooting." The Raiders are slated to relocate to Las Vegas in '20 (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 10/16). The Raiders also pledged $1M for "wildlife relief and recovery" related to the Northern California wildfires in an "announcement just before kickoff" yesterday. The donation was "facilitated by American Red Cross" (EAST BAY TIMES, 10/16).

Circuit Of The Americas officials said that ticket sales for this coming weekend's F1 U.S. Grand Prix are "running at least level, if not slightly above, last year." COTA in '16 reported that a "track-record 269,889 tickets were sold" for the event, "representing the combined number for the three-day weekend." COTA COO Katja Heim said, "We're a little bit above last year's pace. It's been good. International sales, in particular, are up." Track Chair Bobby Epstein: "What’s improved are the numbers for premium grandstand and reserved seating" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 10/15).

Toyota today will unveil its first global ad campaign as an IOC TOP sponsor, covering 40 markets with a message that it is more than just an automaker. The campaign, called “Start Your Impossible,” emphasizes the category definition Toyota has with the IOC: mobility. It is a category that gives Toyota exclusivity over a broad range of advanced transportation technology and products to help disabled and elderly people get around better, along with the more mundane role of providing cars to the Olympics. A flagship 60-second TV spot, titled “Mobility for All,” will launch Nov. 1.

Innsbruck "will not bid to host" the '26 Games after voters in the Austrian city "defeated a public referendum" yesterday (NBCSPORTS.com, 10/15).

The Univ. of Louisville Athletic Association today will look to determine basketball coach Rick Pitino's "employment status." Pitino has been on administrative leave as part of the federal investigation into college hoops corruption (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 10/15).

Saturday's Cincinnati-USF game drew 38,121 fans to Raymond James Stadium, USF's "largest home crowd for a game against a non-Power Five foe" since a game against Florida A&M on Sept. 17, 2011 (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 10/16).

“If the NFL . . . is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest ... should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government" -- Attorney Mark Geragos, in a statement on the collusion claim his firm filed on behalf of Colin Kaepernick (WASHINGTON POST, 10/16). 

"You are not just the best fans in the NWSL. You are not just the best fans in women's soccer. You are the most important fans in all of professional sports. You've shown the world how a women's professional team can and should be supported" -- Portland Thorns Owner Merritt Paulson, thanking fans after the club captured the league championship on Saturday (Portland OREGONIAN, 10/16).

The N.Y. TIMES goes with, "How The Astros Went From Nowhere To The Brink Of The World Series." Back in '12, Jeff Luhnow "inherited the worst team in baseball," and he knew fixing it "would take time." Now with homegrown prospects leading the way, this was "all part of Luhnow’s plan, the reward for suffering while adhering diligently to a blueprint."

PEN America Exec Dir Suzanne Nossell in a special to the WASHINGTON POST goes with, "NFL Owners Need To Play Defense To Protect Free Speech." League leaders "need to view themselves as a bulwark in defense of core freedoms for their players."

Also:

• Will Dallas land the '18 NFL Draft?
• Five areas that can help fix college basketball.
• Aaron Judge a rare example of "best all-around athlete" choosing baseball.
• Toronto FC supporters play significant role in club's resurgence.

Among Trump's largest donors in the last quarter: Knicks owner James Dolan, to the tune of $125k.

— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) October 15, 2017

Forget politics. My reason for turning off #Jets game is I can't invest in a league that lets something like what just happened happen. Bye

— Neil Best (@sportswatch) October 15, 2017

I'm covering the same game Tony Romo is calling. Really tempted to ask him if he wants to go to Green Bay 🤷🏻‍♀️

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) October 15, 2017

You know what I think is cool? Those Star Wars-type sound effects at Dodger Stadium. Just great stuff.

— Jon Sciambi (@BoogSciambi) October 16, 2017

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

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Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Flags of the World.”

“The flag of Laos shows the whole circle of the moon over the blue band, representing this river.”

“What is the Mekong River?”