Turner has pulled out of the bidding for the NHL's TV rights, leaving Comcast and ESPN as the two remaining bidders. "We are disciplined in our approach to negotiating sports rights and are committed to providing quality programming that matters to our audience, advertisers and distribution partners," said Turner President of Sales, Distribution & Sports David Levy. "We think the NHL is an attractive property, but we could not come up with a business model that served our interests." Fox earlier decided not to bid on the rights, sources said.

The competition had pushed the league's rights fees to more than $200M per year, nearly triple the $77.5M Versus currently pays. NBC and Versus hold a significant advantage over ESPN in that their current contracts give them the right to match other offers the NHL gets, sources said.

Watch the "Clubhouse in the Corn" Spot

Pepsi has sponsorships with 15 of the 30 MLB teams. Max, Pepsi’s answer to the Coke Zero brand, is now tied to three of Pepsi’s largest sports sponsorships: the NFL, the NHL and MLB. "Max is very young-male focused, so it’s a primary focus of our sports," said PepsiCo Dir of Sports Marketing Mark Rooks. "But we still support our Pepsi brand some with baseball, and Aquafina is tied to our MLB youth and grassroots efforts."

ESPN today published a list of endorsements held by its personalities, and of the 57 on the list, only four – Scott Van Pelt, Erin Andrews, Sal Masekela and Jamie Little – are “not former players or coaches.” Former players and coaches are exempt from ESPN’s new policy of “restricting announcers’ sports-related product endorsements.” Nike has the “most sports-related deals” with ESPN personalities (25), while the “announcers with the most total endorsements come from ESPN’s product-driven X Games” (USATODAY.com, 4/18).

Read the list of endorsements held by ESPN personalities.

Browns RB Peyton Hillis today completed a startling upset of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers in the semifinals of EA Sports' "Madden NFL 12" cover vote, and will face Eagles QB Michael Vick in the finals. Hillis easily defeated Rodgers, 61% to 39%, while Vick defeated Vikings RB Adrian Peterson by a similarly wide margin, 59-41%. Hillis' candidacy was vigorously supported by the Browns' front office, who sought out fan votes on ClevelandBrowns.com and via the team's social media extensions, even as the league and NFLPA remain locked in a bitter labor dispute.

Vick's semifinal win extends his noteworthy, continued re-embrace by the public after his imprisonment on a felony animal cruelty conviction, and also extends his bid to be the first player to make the "Madden" cover twice. Vick, while with the Falcons, appeared on the cover of "Madden NFL 04."

The Pac-10 Conference today announced that former NFL exec Jim Steeg will work as a consultant to help plan and execute the inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship game. Steeg will serve as Dir of that contest, which is to be played Dec. 3 (Pac-10 Conference). Steeg is "best known for running the Super Bowl during its enormous growth in the 1980s and '90s." The conference's name will transition from Pac-10 to Pac-12 on July 1 (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/18 issue).

Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver for Allen Stanford's financial empire, has filed a joint suit against the owners of the Rockets and Grizzlies. The suit seeks to recover almost $1.6M combined in "allegedly sham CD proceeds from Stanford," but it "does not break the amount down between the two NBA teams." The suit says that "investigation is continuing and that the final amount might be higher" (MEMPHIS DAILY NEWS, 4/18).

Ticketmaster is partnering with L.A.-based analytics outfit MarketShare to develop a new set of dynamic ticket pricing tools for its clients. The two companies will collaborate on a suite of demand forecasting tools to allow for teams, leagues and venues to set and adjust prices for live events. The dynamic pricing component will be folded into LiveAnalytics, a new research venture recently created by Ticketmaster.

"Efficient pricing is one of the most important and untapped opportunities to unlock value for fans, clients, artists, and teams," said Ticketmaster President Nathan Hubbard in a statement. "Our partnership with MarketShare adds to our unparalleled combination of data and analytical resources that inform our clients on the true value of their tickets, while giving them the flexibility to rapidly respond as that value fluctuates." Products coming out of the partnership will be introduced to select teams, leagues and venues, including Live Nation theaters, later this year.