Last night's Florida State-Duke ACC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium had an announced attendance of 67,694 at the 73,000-seat venue, and the event "appears to be safe in Charlotte, at least for the short term." ACC ADs have "given numerous indications that they want to keep the game" there. Last night's game was the last scheduled under the current agreement between the ACC and Charlotte Sports Foundation, but both sides are negotiating "over an extension" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/7). The foundation took out a full-page ad in today's Charlotte Observer thanking the ACC and its fans.

Meanwhile, Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson on Friday "provided the proper closing" to the banquet when he ended his speech by quoting the late Nelson Mandela. Johnson concluded the speech by saying, "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. That's true. That's NASCAR" (MRN.com, 12/7).

Sporting KC yesterday beat Real Salt Lake in a league-record 10 rounds of penalty kicks to win the club's second MLS Cup. A crowd of 21,650 at Sporting Park "sat through the coldest game in MLS Cup history," as it was 20 degrees at kickoff (K.C. STAR, 12/8). SKC used a sub-terrain heating system to warm up the pitch, but RSL coach Jason Kreis said that the plan "didn't quite cut it." Kreis: "Whatever kind of system they’ve got, they need to look at revising it and making it better because it was frozen" (K.C. STAR, 12/8).

Meanwhile, Sporting Park's apparel kiosks and stores were "nearly empty midway through the game" after fans bought out scarves, jackets, gloves and blankets due to the cold. SKC retail assistant Jalynda Cervantes said that the club emptied its warehouse after a shipment of MLS Cup scarves scheduled to arrive on Friday was "lost in transit" (K.C. STAR, 12/8).

S.F. police today "will be going undercover" at the Seahawks-49ers game to "make sure football fans behave at Candlestick Park." The crowd "will include an undisclosed number of undercover San Francisco police officers, who'll be wearing 49ers and Seahawks gear," and the goal is to "keep the physical contact on the field and prevent a repeat of brawls in the stands and around the 'Stick that have been seen in recent years" (KTVU.com, 12/6).

CBSSN’s Jason La Canfora reports that the Steelers are “going to lose a draft pick” as punishment for Mike Tomlin’s sideline incident. La Canfora: “Whether they get a compensatory pick and it’s taken away from them, or they get one in the fifth and they move it back to the seventh, there will be an alteration or a forfeiture of a draft pick” (“That Other Pregame Show,” CBSSN, 12/8). But ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports, “Wait until we get to the end of the season. A league official said this morning that you should not expect that it's automatic that the Steelers will lose a draft pick” (“Sunday NFL Countdown,” ESPN, 12/8).

Under Armour on Friday completed its $150M purchase of fitness technology firm MapMyFitness, its "first-ever acquisition." MapMyFitness is "expected to help Under Armour compete" with Nike and others in the "growing fitness technology market." MapMyFitness "will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Under Armour" (Baltimore SUN, 12/7).

The Vikings and Wells Fargo last night "reached a preliminary agreement" regarding roof signage on a pair of 17-story office towers near the team's new stadium site (AP, 12/7). Asked what prompted the change, Vikings VP/Public Affairs & Stadium Development Lester Bagley "cited the limited size of the signs, as well as a desire to see the massive Ryan Cos. development realized." Wells Fargo previously had "indicated that it might back out of the project if it were not allowed to place its signage" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/8).

All this week, we will present our Anniversary Special that looks back at 20 years in sports business, as well as the stories surrounding the launch of both SportsBusiness Daily (launched in '94 and entering its 20th year of publishing) and SportsBusiness Journal (launched in '98 and published for the last 15 years). A special SBJ print issue hits tomorrow and all week in SBD, we will roll out some of our favorite highlights of the two decades -- including fun lists, trends in naming rights and facility development, our Quotes of the Day through the years and anecdotes from industry executives remembering when they first started reading the publications and the impact the publications have had. 

ESPN President John Skipper: “SportsBusiness Daily is just essential now. I read The Daily within the first 15 minutes I get it. It’s the source of an unbelievably frequent passing around. ‘Hey, have you seen this?’ ‘What do you think about this?’ ‘Is this true?’ ‘Did you know about this?’ It really works.”

CAA Sports co-Head Mike Levine: “SportsBusiness Daily was my training wheels. My road map for learning the industry.”

We hope you’ll enjoy the ride this week.

CBS' Bill Macatee, who was assigned to call today's Browns-Patriots game alongside Steve Tasker, "had weather-related travel issues out of Dallas" so Don Criqui was on the call instead (ESPNBOSTON.com, 12/8). Meanwhile, Fox' Terry Bradshaw also had weather-related travel issues out of Dallas, so he appeared on "Fox NFL Sunday" via phone (TWITTER.com, 12/7).

Tonight's Panthers-Saints "SNF" matchup at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome "will also be the Saints' shot to establish a record for crowd noise at indoor sports stadium as representatives from Guinness World Records will be in attendance." The record is currently held by the NBA Kings. The Saints also will "distribute 75,000 towels" to those in attendance (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 12/8).

Ticket sales for the '14 FIFA World Cup reopened today following Friday's group selection. For every match at the tournament, 16% of the allotted tickets will be reserved for fans from both teams (8% per team) (FIFA).

NHL COO John Collins said that more than 200,000 tickets "have already been sold" for Michigan Stadium's upcoming slate of hockey games, which includes the Maple Leafs-Red Wings Winter Classic (TORONTO SUN, 12/8).

Fired Texans coach Gary Kubiak "bought a full-page advertisement" on Page C3 of today's Houston Chronicle sports section to "deliver a message to Houston" (CHRON.com, 12/8).

"We hit the worst of the worst" -- U.S. men's national soccer team coach Jürgen Klinsmann, on the lengthy travel schedule his team was given for the upcoming '14 FIFA World Cup in Brazil (N.Y. TIMES, 12/7).

"You just have to believe there’s got to be a stopping point somewhere. You don’t know where that is or what’s going to drive that" -- N.C. State Senior Associate AD & CFO Diane Moose, on the possible bubble from coaching salaries (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/7).

"He’s horrible, he needs to step aside (and) let a football person come in” -- CBSSN’s Bart Scott, on Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones continuing to serve as the team's GM (“That Other Pregame Show,” CBSSN, 12/8). 

"I'd never be hired today, not by any network. I have no schtick, no profile, no gimmicks. I wouldn't get a second look" -- CBS' Verne Lundquist, on sportscasting today (N.Y. POST, 12/8).

"I haven't done so much math since I was in high school" -- SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, on the 59-42 score from yesterday's Auburn-Missouri conference championship game (WSJ.com, 12/7).

"I’m pretty happy with the way things are going" -- NFL Jets Owner Woody Johnson, on the direction of the franchise ("Jets Countdown To Kickoff," ESPN Radio N.Y., 12/8).

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's "fledgling youth football club has been suspended from its league for failing to pay required fees" (GLOBE & MAIL, 12/7).

The SEATTLE TIMES' Geoff Baker delves into the reported "problems at the top" of the Mariners organization. Former manager Eric Wedge said that the Mariners' front office is "plagued by 'total dysfunction and a lack of leadership.'"

The CHARLOTTE OBSERVER's editorial board examines the high rate of spending in collegiate sports under the header, "More Trouble Ahead For College Athletics?"

The DENVER POST's Gorski & Vuong in a front-page piece look at the state of the ticketing industry, writing, "Fans trying to get into popular concerts, shows and sporting events are increasingly getting shut out when tickets go on sale, restricted in what they can do with their tickets and pressured to use official outlets if they want to resell them." Buying and reselling tickets is "more complicated than ever." Gorski & Vuong in a separate piece report on the Broncos' ticket resale policy.

Elsewhere:

• A peek behind the scenes of ESPN's "College GameDay" yesterday in Indianapolis.
• Nelson Mandela's "brilliant courtship" of South Africa's rugby team unified the country.
• Nike and adidas to battle each other for supremacy during the '14 World Cup in Brazil.

N.Y. Times' Graham Ruthven: "I always hear that MLS couldn't introduce European-style schedule because of North American winters. Anyone watching Lions v Eagles game?"

NFL Network's Rich Eisen: "The great Don Criqui is calling the Browns-Pats on CBS. He called Brian Sipe games for crying out loud."

Writer Rick Snider: "I feel for Redskins fans having to endure 20 years of nothing with no real hope of ever seeing the team win regularly under Snyder."

Toronto Sun's Kurtis Larson: "How cool is Sporting KC's owner? Dude came over and emptied a bottle of booze on Vermes' head during an interview."

Writer JP Kirby: "The snow in Philly is so bad Fox is digitally inserting yard lines and numbers."

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