NFL Exec VP/Communications Joe Lockhart is stepping down after two years on the job and the league has hired Korn Ferry to conduct a search for his replacement. He will stay on through Super Bowl LII. Lockhart in a note to his staff wrote he is leaving to spend time commentating on politics and to teach. He also has young children. Lockhart, who was a former Clinton White House press secretary, has been a lightning rod for some owners who feel the league has become too political, especially in its tolerant reaction to players kneeling to protest injustice during the national anthem.

• NFL Exec VP/Communications Lockhart Stepping Down After Super Bowl
• Atlanta United Is Big Winner At MLS Awards Ceremony In Philly
• Through The Looking Glass: KeyArena Lands Atrium Centerpiece
• Redskins' Legal Fight Over Trademark Registrations Comes To Close

NFL Exec VP/Communications Joe Lockhart is stepping down after two years on the job and the league has hired Korn Ferry to conduct a search for his replacement. He will stay on through Super Bowl LII. Lockhart in a note to his staff wrote he is leaving to spend time commentating on politics and to teach. He also has young children. Lockhart, who was a former Clinton White House press secretary, has been a lightning rod for some owners who feel the league has become too political, especially in its tolerant reaction to players kneeling to protest injustice during the national anthem.

MLS awarded its ‘17 club and exec awards last night in Philadelphia, with Atlanta United taking home a league-leading five awards. Atlanta United President Darren Eales was named Doug Hamilton Exec of the Year, while AMB Sports & Entertainment VP Don Rovak was named ticket sales exec of the year and Atlanta United Dir of Marketing & Fan Engagement Sarah Kate Noftsinger was named marketing exec of the year. The team also won awards for marketing and team administration. 

See THE DAILY today for a full list of winners. 

A "revamped plan for a new main entrance at the south end of a remodeled KeyArena got a mostly positive reception Thursday when officially unveiled to the Seattle Design Commission." Oak View Group and Populous have "scrapped" plans for an above-ground parking garage and "replaced it with a glass atrium serving as the arena’s main entrance" once the $600M remodel is completed. The 360-foot-long atrium will have glass "on all sides and its ceiling." Populous architect Geoff Cheong said that the idea was to "build 'a transparent lens' through which visitors could better see KeyArena’s Paul Thiry-designed roof" (SEATTLE TIMES, 1/19).

The U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday "vacated decisions that had canceled" the Redskins' federal trademark registrations, "officially ending a legal fight that lasted more than 25 years." The Fourth Circuit’s decision has been "inevitable since June, when the Supreme Court decided in another case that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds" (USA TODAY, 1/19).

NBA fans last night took to Twitter to "express frustration" over the 76ers-Celtics game "being blacked out across the country on TNT." The outage "seemed to be affecting Spectrum customers, and the company said it was trying to fix the problem." Fans said that they were "able to watch the pregame but then the game was blacked out" (SI.com, 1/18).

Meanwhile, the Celtics "honored" late HOFer Jo Jo White last night during the game with a tribute video (MASSLIVE.com, 1/18).

French tennis player Alize Cornet has "called for the extreme heat policy at the Australian Open to be re-evaluated" after she "nearly fainted in the broiling temperatures during her third-round match Friday at Melbourne Park." The policy "calls for the roofs to be closed on the main show courts and play to be suspended on outer courts when the temperature reaches" 104 degrees Fahrenheit and the wet-bulb globe temperature, which "takes into account humidity and wind speed, reaches" 90.5 degrees. The high temperature Friday "marginally topped" 104 degrees but the WBGT remained "below the threshold, so play was not halted" (AP, 1/19). The temperature is "expected to drop from" 108 degrees on Friday to 78 on Saturday (TENNIS.com, 1/19).

Royals front-office personnel, Baseball HOFer George Brett and Live Nation today will "release details about an upcoming concert" at Kauffman Stadium, something that has not occurred at the ballpark in "nearly 40 years." The last music concert held at the venue -- then called Royals Stadium -- was the Summer Jam Festival in July '78 that featured Van Halen, Eddie Money, Kansas and the Steve Miller Band (KCTV5.com, 1/18).

New Auburn AD Allen Greene "will be introduced at a press conference" this morning at 10:00am CT. Greene had been AD at the Univ. at Buffalo the past three years (OANOW.com, 1/18).

Eastern Washington Univ. President Mary Cullinan this afternoon "plans to meet with athletic department personnel, presumably to outline plans" to find a new AD "following Bill Chaves’ impending move" to the Univ. of North Dakota. Cullinan is "expected to publicly announce formation of a search committee" and an interim AD (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 1/19).

FAU is "prepared to name" Senior Associate AD/Internal Operations Brian Battle interim AD following Pat Chun's departure for Washington State (PALM BEACH POST, 1/19).

A group of current and former Fox Sports execs last night attended a closing party for Langan’s, a midtown Manhattan Irish pub that had long been favorite hangout for execs for the network, as well as well as other sports industry and media figures working in the area. Among those there were Fox Sports President Eric Shanks and Exec VP/Business Larry Jones, Comcast Spectator Head of Communications Tim Buckman, VMW Communications Owner Vince Wladika, MLB Senior Dir of Communications Ileana Pena, as well as SiriusXM Senior VP/Sports Programming Steve Cohen and VP/Communications Andrew FitzPatrick. Langan’s is closing after nearly a quarter century of operation amid a lease dispute.

How important was Langans?
The boss of @FOXSports came by to toast it closing. pic.twitter.com/EA9iKuCxPP

— Vince Wladika (@TVvInce) January 19, 2018

The MLS SuperDraft 2018 presented by Adidas will be streamed live on Twitter today beginning at 11:00am ET (MLS).

The Roots will "play at halftime" of the Vikings-Eagles NFC Championship on Sunday (PHILLY.com, 1/18).

Rhode Island state House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello yesterday said that the fate of the proposed Triple-A Int'l League Pawtucket Red Sox ballpark project will be "decided by the General Assembly and not a November referendum" (PROVIDENCEJOURNAL.com, 1/18).

"I made a mistake starting tackle football at 9 years old. Now, CTE has taken my life away. Youth tackle football is all risk with no reward" -- Pro Football HOFer Nick Buoniconti, on his battle with dementia and advice to youth football parents (PALM BEACH POST, 1/19).

"Most of this stadium is going to be digitized. So we're going to be able to, in simple terms, flip and switch and make it really Chargers oriented. We're not to that point right now, but that's our goal" -- Chargers Chair Dean Spanos, on the team's upcoming joint stadium with the Rams in Inglewood (ESPN.com, 1/18).

"Thomas is completed humbled by this. We set the goal earlier this morning, thinking it was a large number and that we wanted to be aspirational. It is not even 12 hours later and we have crushed it. It's pretty cool" -- What You Give Will Grow Exec Dir Dennis Lomonaco, who heads up Saints P Thomas Morstead's foundation, on Vikings fans donating more than $150,000 to Morestead's charity after he played through torn cartilage in his ribs in last Sunday's playoff game (NOLA.com, 1/18).

USA TODAY goes with, "No Forced Marriage Here: Jaguars' Shad Khan Rewarded For Pairing Tom Coughlin, Doug Marrone." The moves Khan made last offseason have "proven to be the formula that was needed to put the franchise on the fast track to success." Meanwhile, the WASHINGTON TIMES goes with, "How Jack Kent Cooke Helped Create The Jaguars."

THE UNDEFEATED writes under the header, "Why Diversity Is Important With Impending Sale Of Panthers." Once "considered the most popular sports league in America," the NFL has "faced a decline in viewership, particularly among its African-American fan base."

Also:

• With major venues booked up for Super Bowl LII, planners "get creative."
• Can Ole Miss AD Ross Bjork "make his vision a reality?"
• Big league sports "boost interest in Las Vegas Valley real estate."
• Does Duke's Marvin Bagley III have an NCAA issue on his hands?
• Mariners female scout Amanda Hopkins "making a name for herself."
• What awaits Georgia Tech's Todd Stansbury as CFP committee member.
• Boston Univ.'s latest CTE study yields surprising results.
• Figure skating reporter comes full circle with  Tonya Harding.

it’d be dope if all-star had a 3x3 competition but let twitter pick the teams

— Julie Phayer (@juliephayer) January 19, 2018

ESPN knows millennials and Generation Z members are cutting the cord; so, it went to them with a Snapchat show. Results? Snapchat SportsCenter earns 2 million unique visitors per day, 75% of which between the ages of 13 and 24.

— Alicia Jessop (@RulingSports) January 19, 2018

The one thing I learned about the NFL draft is a lot of people have no idea what’s going to happen but act like they do.

— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) January 19, 2018

Not sure what to think about Tom Brady's hand, other than the fact the Wise Guys will leverage this situation to their benefit.

— John L. Pitts (@JohnLPitts) January 19, 2018

The eBay auction for AHL Charlotte Checkers jerseys designed by Panthers QB Cam Newton ends today.

A 3-minute hit on the stories you need to know ... Subscribe on iTunes ... Check out our podcast home.

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

“The name of this cracker that’s been around since 1903 suggests that it was baked three times.”

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “The Athletes’ College.”
$400: “Gators Abby Wambach and Emmitt Smith.
$800: “Then in the Pac-8, Steve Prefontaine.”
$1200: “Lou Gehrig, who ended up playing professionally not far away.”
$1600: “In the Midwest, Drew Brees.”
$2000: “In purple and gold, Ben Simmons and Shaquille O’Neal.”

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said, “I saw that two new axe-throwing bars will open in Boston this year. That’s right, Boston is getting a new bar where people can try axe throwing. So far, all the customers give it one-and-a-half thumbs up.” Fallon: “Sunday is the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and the Jaguars, but I saw that Tom Brady injured his hand. People said, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘You know that new axe-throwing bar?’” 

WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, Exec VP/Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque and wrestlers The New Day participated in a Tag-team Lip-Sync Battle (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/18).

“What is Triscuit?”

Correct responses to the “The Athletes’ College” category:
$400: “What is the University of Florida?”
$800: “What is the University of Oregon?”
$1200: “What is Columbia University?”
$1600: “What is Purdue?”
$2000: “What is LSU?”

MLS awarded its ‘17 club and exec awards last night in Philadelphia, with Atlanta United taking home a league-leading five awards. Atlanta United President Darren Eales was named Doug Hamilton Exec of the Year, while AMB Sports & Entertainment VP Don Rovak was named ticket sales exec of the year and Atlanta United Dir of Marketing & Fan Engagement Sarah Kate Noftsinger was named marketing exec of the year. The team also won awards for marketing and team administration. See THE DAILY today for a full list of winners.

A "revamped plan for a new main entrance at the south end of a remodeled KeyArena got a mostly positive reception Thursday when officially unveiled to the Seattle Design Commission." Oak View Group and Populous have "scrapped" plans for an above-ground parking garage and "replaced it with a glass atrium serving as the arena’s main entrance" once the $600M remodel is completed. The 360-foot-long atrium will have glass "on all sides and its ceiling." Populous architect Geoff Cheong said that the idea was to "build 'a transparent lens' through which visitors could better see KeyArena’s Paul Thiry-designed roof" (SEATTLE TIMES, 1/19).

The U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday "vacated decisions that had canceled" the Redskins' federal trademark registrations, "officially ending a legal fight that lasted more than 25 years." The Fourth Circuit’s decision has been "inevitable since June, when the Supreme Court decided in another case that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds" (USA TODAY, 1/19).

NBA fans last night took to Twitter to "express frustration" over the 76ers-Celtics game "being blacked out across the country on TNT." The outage "seemed to be affecting Spectrum customers, and the company said it was trying to fix the problem." Fans said that they were "able to watch the pregame but then the game was blacked out" (SI.com, 1/18).

Meanwhile, the Celtics "honored" late HOFer Jo Jo White last night during the game with a tribute video (MASSLIVE.com, 1/18).

French tennis player Alize Cornet has "called for the extreme heat policy at the Australian Open to be re-evaluated" after she "nearly fainted in the broiling temperatures during her third-round match Friday at Melbourne Park." The policy "calls for the roofs to be closed on the main show courts and play to be suspended on outer courts when the temperature reaches" 104 degrees Fahrenheit and the wet-bulb globe temperature, which "takes into account humidity and wind speed, reaches" 90.5 degrees. The high temperature Friday "marginally topped" 104 degrees but the WBGT remained "below the threshold, so play was not halted" (AP, 1/19). The temperature is "expected to drop from" 108 degrees on Friday to 78 on Saturday (TENNIS.com, 1/19).

Royals front-office personnel, Baseball HOFer George Brett and Live Nation today will "release details about an upcoming concert" at Kauffman Stadium, something that has not occurred at the ballpark in "nearly 40 years." The last music concert held at the venue -- then called Royals Stadium -- was the Summer Jam Festival in July '78 that featured Van Halen, Eddie Money, Kansas and the Steve Miller Band (KCTV5.com, 1/18).

New Auburn AD Allen Greene "will be introduced at a press conference" this morning at 10:00am CT. Greene had been AD at the Univ. at Buffalo the past three years (OANOW.com, 1/18).

Eastern Washington Univ. President Mary Cullinan this afternoon "plans to meet with athletic department personnel, presumably to outline plans" to find a new AD "following Bill Chaves’ impending move" to the Univ. of North Dakota. Cullinan is "expected to publicly announce formation of a search committee" and an interim AD (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 1/19).

FAU is "prepared to name" Senior Associate AD/Internal Operations Brian Battle interim AD following Pat Chun's departure for Washington State (PALM BEACH POST, 1/19).

A group of current and former Fox Sports execs last night attended a closing party for Langan’s, a midtown Manhattan Irish pub that had long been favorite hangout for execs for the network, as well as well as other sports industry and media figures working in the area. Among those there were Fox Sports President Eric Shanks and Exec VP/Business Larry Jones, Comcast Spectator Head of Communications Tim Buckman, VMW Communications Owner Vince Wladika, MLB Senior Dir of Communications Ileana Pena, as well as SiriusXM Senior VP/Sports Programming Steve Cohen and VP/Communications Andrew FitzPatrick. Langan’s is closing after nearly a quarter century of operation amid a lease dispute.

The MLS SuperDraft 2018 presented by Adidas will be streamed live on Twitter today beginning at 11:00am ET (MLS).

The Roots will "play at halftime" of the Vikings-Eagles NFC Championship on Sunday (PHILLY.com, 1/18).

Rhode Island state House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello yesterday said that the fate of the proposed Triple-A Int'l League Pawtucket Red Sox ballpark project will be "decided by the General Assembly and not a November referendum" (PROVIDENCEJOURNAL.com, 1/18).

"I made a mistake starting tackle football at 9 years old. Now, CTE has taken my life away. Youth tackle football is all risk with no reward" -- Pro Football HOFer Nick Buoniconti, on his battle with dementia and advice to youth football parents (PALM BEACH POST, 1/19).

"Most of this stadium is going to be digitized. So we're going to be able to, in simple terms, flip and switch and make it really Chargers oriented. We're not to that point right now, but that's our goal" -- Chargers Chair Dean Spanos, on the team's upcoming joint stadium with the Rams in Inglewood (ESPN.com, 1/18).

"Thomas is completed humbled by this. We set the goal earlier this morning, thinking it was a large number and that we wanted to be aspirational. It is not even 12 hours later and we have crushed it. It's pretty cool" -- What You Give Will Grow Exec Dir Dennis Lomonaco, who heads up Saints P Thomas Morstead's foundation, on Vikings fans donating more than $150,000 to Morestead's charity after he played through torn cartilage in his ribs in last Sunday's playoff game (NOLA.com, 1/18).

USA TODAY goes with, "No Forced Marriage Here: Jaguars' Shad Khan Rewarded For Pairing Tom Coughlin, Doug Marrone." The moves Khan made last offseason have "proven to be the formula that was needed to put the franchise on the fast track to success." Meanwhile, the WASHINGTON TIMES goes with, "How Jack Kent Cooke Helped Create The Jaguars."

THE UNDEFEATED writes under the header, "Why Diversity Is Important With Impending Sale Of Panthers." Once "considered the most popular sports league in America," the NFL has "faced a decline in viewership, particularly among its African-American fan base."

Also:

• With major venues booked up for Super Bowl LII, planners "get creative."
• Can Ole Miss AD Ross Bjork "make his vision a reality?"
• Big league sports "boost interest in Las Vegas Valley real estate."
• Does Duke's Marvin Bagley III have an NCAA issue on his hands?
• Mariners female scout Amanda Hopkins "making a name for herself."
• What awaits Georgia Tech's Todd Stansbury as CFP committee member.
• Boston Univ.'s latest CTE study yields surprising results.
• Figure skating reporter comes full circle with Tonya Harding.

it’d be dope if all-star had a 3x3 competition but let twitter pick the teams

— Julie Phayer (@juliephayer) January 19, 2018

ESPN knows millennials and Generation Z members are cutting the cord; so, it went to them with a Snapchat show. Results? Snapchat SportsCenter earns 2 million unique visitors per day, 75% of which between the ages of 13 and 24.

— Alicia Jessop (@RulingSports) January 19, 2018

The one thing I learned about the NFL draft is a lot of people have no idea what’s going to happen but act like they do.

— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) January 19, 2018

Not sure what to think about Tom Brady's hand, other than the fact the Wise Guys will leverage this situation to their benefit.

— John L. Pitts (@JohnLPitts) January 19, 2018

The eBay auction for AHL Charlotte Checkers jerseys designed by Panthers QB Cam Newton ends today.

A 3-minute hit on the stories you need to know ... Subscribe on iTunes ... Check out our podcast home.

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

“The name of this cracker that’s been around since 1903 suggests that it was baked three times.”

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “The Athletes’ College.”

$400: “Gators Abby Wambach and Emmitt Smith.

$800: “Then in the Pac-8, Steve Prefontaine.”

$1200: “Lou Gehrig, who ended up playing professionally not far away.”

$1600: “In the Midwest, Drew Brees.”

$2000: “In purple and gold, Ben Simmons and Shaquille O’Neal.”

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said, “I saw that two new axe-throwing bars will open in Boston this year. That’s right, Boston is getting a new bar where people can try axe throwing. So far, all the customers give it one-and-a-half thumbs up.” Fallon: “Sunday is the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and the Jaguars, but I saw that Tom Brady injured his hand. People said, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘You know that new axe-throwing bar?’”

WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, Exec VP/Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque and wrestlers The New Day participated in a Tag-team Lip-Sync Battle (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/18).

“What is Triscuit?”

Correct responses to the “The Athletes’ College” category:

$400: “What is the University of Florida?”

$800: “What is the University of Oregon?”

$1200: “What is Columbia University?”

$1600: “What is Purdue?”

$2000: “What is LSU?”