Humana reportedly will be the title sponsor of the PGA Tour Bob Hope Classic, which "has been without a title sponsor for the past three years." An announcement is "imminent" that the health-benefits provider has made a seven-year commitment, beginning next year. The PGA Tour in January "released a statement indicating its desire to partner with the Clinton Foundation" as a charitable participant with the tournament. The Humana sponsorship will include the foundation "to be part of the Hope's charitable recipients" (GOLFWEEK.com, 4/4).

Augusta National Golf Club beginning next year “will make a limited number of Masters Tournament badges available to the public via its website.” Fans can submit ticket applications for both the tournament and practice rounds at Masters.com. The club is “moving all of its ticketing online, including ticket services for annual patrons.” The Masters traditionally is “one of the toughest tickets in sports, with a waiting list for patron badges dating back to 1971.” Only fans “on the club’s list are allowed to buy tournament-round badges each year” (ESPN.com, 4/4).

The NFL today told a Minnesota federal court that for the same reasons it should reject an antitrust lawsuit brought by nine active NFL players, it should reject one brought by four retired ones. In addition, the NFL said the retired players, led by Carl Eller, also lack standing to bring the antitrust lawsuit. The 24-page legal brief focused extensively on the same arguments the league made against the Tom Brady lawsuit, contending that federal law disallows courts from getting involved in labor disputes. The NFL and class counsel for the Brady class will square off in court Wednesday over whether the lockout should be lifted. The league will not stand in the way of the Eller and Brady classes merging, though the active players have not said if they want the cases to be joined.

The NFL reply to Eller did add another piece of evidence to its arguments, noting in the last edition of the NFLPA publication the Huddle the group wrote, “The NFLPA members gave the NFLPA permission to renounce its union status in the event of a lockout.” The NFL contends this amounts to a tactic, which labor law disallows as a reason for renouncing union status. Unions cannot sue under antitrust law, so for Brady to succeed the class must not be part of a union. The former union maintains all it has to do is announce it is no longer a union and that is enough.

The Eller class grew from four to five, adding Univ. of Wisconsin-Stout WR Antawan Walker. The Eller class seeks to represent all retired and incoming players, the groups largely not covered by Brady (though the named plaintiffs include Texas A&M LB Von Miller).

The NHLPA today announced five-year apparel agreements, highlighted by the continuation of its partnership with Reebok. The union is expanding its roster of apparel licensees to include Old Time Hockey, Knights Apparel and Elmau & Associates. The new player apparel deal with Reebok, which starts in July, sees the company maintain exclusive rights to produce replica jerseys and T-shirts. Reebok will also have non-exclusive rights to produce all other apparel featuring NHL players together with their team logos (NHLPA). The total value of the four partnerships "is in the high seven-figure range" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/4 issue).

The Braves today unveiled a TV ad campaign, via Blue Sky Agency, Atlanta, for the '11 season. The first of six commercials began airing a few weeks ago and features GM Frank Wren and Assistant GM Bruce Manno and refers to RF Jason Heyward's damaging Manno's car with a home run during a Spring Training game last year. The second spot currently airing shows 3B Chipper Jones skeet shooting clay pigeons by hitting balls off of a tee. The series of spots, which are being released every 2-3 weeks during April, May and June, are in support of the "This Is Braves Country" campaign (Braves). The first two commercials can be viewed on the Braves' website.

IOC Olympic Games Exec Dir Gilbert Felli today revealed a "two-pronged plan to increase collaboration between the IOC and future Olympic bid cities." The first prong of the plan to "attract more and better bidders" is to host a "forum for interested candidates to receive highly detailed information about bidding for both the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games." The second prong of the IOC's plan is "an allowance for one-on-one discussions in between" a National Olympic Committee's decision to bid and a city's submission of its candidature file (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 4/4).

The four Italian players who sued the ATP World Tour for suspending and fining them have appealed their loss to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. A U.S. Federal district court judge dismissed the case last month. The players were disciplined by the ATP for gambling, but they contend the circuit did not effectively communicate the policy with them. The district court ruled their dispute was covered under the arbitration process players agree to in signing their commitment forms.