The class counsel for the players in the Tom Brady v NFL case have written a letter to U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson, saying they are willing to engage in court-supervised mediation to resolve the lawsuit against the league immediately. Meanwhile, the league has sent a letter today to the decertified NFLPA, asking that the players engage in collective bargaining mediations under the auspices of Federal Mediator George Cohen, according to sources and media reports.

Any mediations between the players and the league could potentially result in a settlement to settle the labor dispute between the two sides. The NFLPA decertified as a union on March 11 and the NFL locked players out on March 12.

In the letter to Nelson, the counsel for the Brady plaintiffs wrote, "We are writing in response to the Court's suggestion that the parties engage the services of the federal court in Minnesota in an effort to mediate and settle the current litigation. We take your comments regarding protecting the parties positions to heart. As class counsel on behalf of the Brady class, we think this is an excellent suggestion and are prepared to engage in such mediation without delay."

Bid groups looking to land the '18 Games made 20-minute presentations today at SportAccord in London. Pyeongchang pledged a $500M "Olympic investment program," Munich "played up the financial strength of German sponsors" and Annecy "pushed its French Alpine traditions." IOC Exec Board member Craig Reedie said that "all three bidders helped their cause." The IOC will vote to select the host city July 6 in Durban, South Africa (AP, 4/7).

Organizers of the '16 Rio Games said that they have surpassed $700M for local sponsorships "with just two deals." The deals are with Banco Bradesco in the banking category and with Embratel Participacoes and America Movil SAB's Claro, both owned by Carlos Slim, for telecommunications. ROCOG CEO Leonardo Gryner said that both deals were for more than $320M and "set records for local Olympic sponsorships." Rio 2016 is now aiming to cap sponsorships at $1.2B, which "means it won't require government funds" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/6). 

USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club officials today ruled that golfers "nabbed in a rule violation via super-slo-mo replay after signing their scorecards no longer face tournament disqualification." The decision comes "just in time to be applied" at The Masters, but R&A CEO Peter Dawson said that is "a coincidence." Dawson: "We have issued this decision as soon as we came to a conclusion." Officials from both bodies "had been separately working on a modification for the past few months," but they "didn't unify the language" until this week (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 4/7).

UCLA today is expected to announce that it will play a majority of its home men's basketball games "at the Sports Arena next season, with a sprinkling of games at Honda Center" while Pauley Pavilion undergoes renovations. The team also is "expected to play an exhibition game at Citizens Business Bank Arena" in Ontario, Calif. Pauley Pavilion is expected to reopen in time for the '12-13 season (LATIMES.com, 4/7).

Golfweek today announced that it has agreed to a new business and content partnership with TourPlayers.com. The deal is "centered around a new video platform that allows users to easily share videos via Facebook." Beginning this week at The Masters, the two entities "will collaborate to create multimedia content throughout various PGA Tour events." The new features will feed into a new social media-friendly video player on both Golfweek.com and TourPlayers.com (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/7).