LOCOG today unveiled the '12 London Games medals in a ceremony at Trafalgar Square. The medals were presented by Queen Elizabeth II and LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe. Designed by artist David Watkins, they "depict Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory, stepping out of the Parthenon to arrive in the host city." The front "also shows a bowl resembling an amphitheatre," and the back "features a portrayal of the River Thames." The overall circular shape is "a symbol of the world" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 7/27).

The London 2012 logo "features strongly in the abstract design" on one side, "appearing to rise out boldly from the center of the medal which is criss-crossed by lines which are meant to symbolise energy radiating out from the city." LOCOG member and former track & field Gold Medalist Jonathan Edwards said of the "chunky" design, "If you win seven or eight of them like Michael Phelps did in Beijing you'll need a strong neck" (REUTERS, 7/27).

See a rundown of Olympic medals through the years.

The NFLPA sent out a memo to NFL player agents today reminding them that the $120.4M salary cap for the '11 NFL season is a "soft cap" and that clubs can exceed that cap in actual cash spent under the terms of the Brady settlement agreement. "In addition, we want to emphasize that for 2011 there is a $3.0 million salary cap exemption available per club at their discretion, which if used fully by a club would effectively raise their salary cap another $3.0 million to $123.4 million," the memo stated. "The way this works is that a club may exempt from the salary cap the salaries (up to $1.0 million per player) of three players on the team who have more than five Accrued Seasons in the NFL. If a club chooses to exempt these salaries they will therefore have $3.0 million in additional cap room to sign other players."

The memo noted that NFL clubs can continue to use methods used in the past to exceed the salary cap in cash spent, including by negotiating signing bonuses as opposed to salary. When clubs pay players signing bonuses, only a pro-rated amount of the bonus will count against the club's salary cap. "These rules therefore give NFL clubs the ability to sign the players they want even though they may only have a limited amount of salary cap room left," the memo concluded.

The MLS All-Star team will take on Manchester United tonight before a "sold-out Red Bull Arena" in Harrison, N.J., with ESPN2 and Galavision offering coverage of the match at 8:30pm ET. MLS uses the All-Star Game as "an annual litmus test and a way to showcase both its imported stars and American talent" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/27). ManU defeated the MLS All-Stars 5-2 in last year's game, the "sixth consecutive year that the All-Stars played a British team" (USATODAY.com, 7/26).

The MLS All-Star team will be "missing some of their best and most-famous players due to injury," including Red Bulls MF Rafa Marquez and Galaxy F Landon Donovan, G Donovan Ricketts and D Omar Gonzalez. Futher undermining the match is that "actual competitive games – in this case CONCACAF Champions League matches – are forcing the likes" of Sounders FC G Kasey Keller and FC Dallas D Brek Shea to miss the event (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 7/26).

SPORTING NEWS' Brian Straus writes of the advantages of watching the MLS All-Star Game over other sports like the NBA, NFL and MLB: "America's fifth major professional sports league will show its big brothers how to stage an all-star game. The MLS version is a highlight of the season and, unlike the others, actually can brand itself as a legitimate athletic contest" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/26).

MLS Red Bulls Managing Dir Erik Stover is leaving the organization following tonight’s MLS All-Star Game, and he reflected on his time with the club today. Stover, who has been with the Red Bulls since '08 and was named MLS Exec of the Year last year, said getting Red Bull Arena built “meant a lot for the club, and to be a part of that was a privilege.” Stover:  “It was a big philosophical change to go from Giants Stadium into Red Bull Arena. I’ll remember the battles it took to get the team to this level.”

Stover said he is taking his time in deciding on his next step in sports business, though he said he would prefer to stay in MLS. The Red Bulls last month announced that Stover would be replaced by Chris Heck, who joined the club as President of Business Operations. Heck had been NBA Senior VP/Marketing Partnerships from '04-11.

IMG announced today that World Golf HOFer Annika Sorenstam has renewed her agreement with IMG for worldwide management and marketing representation. Sorenstam had been represented by Tiger Woods' agent Mark Steinberg, who recently left IMG and became a full partner in Excel Sports Management. "After much consideration and in light of my ambitions for the next phase of my career, I have determined that IMG remains the company best positioned to support me and the ANNIKA portfolio of businesses," Sorenstam said in a statement. "IMG's experience and global resources are unmatched and I look forward to continuing to work with them across all aspects of my business and charitable initiatives." Sorenstam will be represented by IMG VP/Golf Clients Jon Heaton, the longtime agent to golfer Steve Stricker.

Puma reported net earnings rose 10.6% and revenue rose 14.1%, and the company expects profits to rise by a mid single-digit percentage for the year. In currency-adjusted figures, footwear rose 16% to $507M, apparel was up 10.7% to $323M and accessories increased to $139M. Puma's running business grew significantly, boosted by the Puma Faas shoe. Latin American and Asian sales both posted a strong double-digit rise. Asia/Pacific sales were up 20.1% to $227M, as sales in Japan have recovered much faster than anticipated (Puma).

FAU Soccer Field in Boca Raton, Fla, is expected to be able to seat a crowd of about 2,800 and "will try to accommodate as many standing-room fans as possible" for tonight's WPS Sky Blue FC-magicJack match. The contest reunites seven members of magicJack who also played on the U.S. team, including club player/coach Abby Wambach, for their "first home match" since the FIFA women's World Cup. The venue "originally held only 1,500 in lawn seating, short of WPS standards." As of yesterday afternoon, 600 seats remained (PALM BEACH POST, 7/27).

WPS has had a "watershed week," drawing "two of its top-three all-time crowds in the past seven days." SI.com's Jeff Kassouf writes, "Those types of numbers will not last very long, but they provide a glimpse of hope for a league that was more than in need of one" (SI.com, 7/26).

ESPN's Jalen Rose today in Michigan was handed a jail sentence for drunken driving, "but was given until Tuesday to report to the Oakland County Jail." Rose was sentenced to 93 days, but state District Court Judge Kimberly Small said that he "must serve only the first 20 days behind bars." The rest "will be held in abeyance if he completes an alcohol awareness program and attends alcohol impact sessions with the victims and survivors of drunken driving incidents during one year of probation" (DETNEWS.com, 7/27). 

Sporting News this week features Rays 2B Sean Rodriguez turning a double play against the Yankees with the copy, "The Big East ... Lessons Learned From A Week Inside Baseball's Toughest Division."

SI this week features an image of NFL Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald with the header, "Are They Ready? Game Time."

Sporting News	Sports Illustrated

Pro Football Talk posted a new all-time traffic record yesterday, the first day in which NFL teams could speak with free agents following the resolution of the labor dispute. The site received 3.889 million page views and 640,000 unique visitors. The record could be short-lived, as the site is on pace today to receive more than 4 million page views (THE DAILY).

Hilton Worldwide today announced a deal for its Hilton HHonors guest loyalty program to serve as the official hotel sponsor of the Chinese Olympic Committee through '19 (Hilton Worldwide).

Royal Birkdale Golf Club will host the Ricoh Women's British Open in '14, which will mark the sixth time the club has hosted the event (THE DAILY).

"If it will prove to be accurate and to be affordable, then it is possible the international board will decide goal-line technology shall be introduced for the World Cup 2014" – FIFA President Sepp Blatter, on the organization possibly using goal-line technology as early as next year for national leagues and in '14 for the World Cup (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/27).

"I think the soccer will sell out. My view is that once we see the draw, once people know which team is playing where ... that will be the catalyst we need to be able to put the effort behind selling the remaining tickets" – LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton, on nearly 1.5 million tickets being available for '12 London Olympics soccer matches (REUTERS, 7/27).

"If you sit there and really believe you could win it, then yeah, you should play in it. But I'm not harboring that fantasy" – Actor Don Cheadle, co-Founder of the Ante Up for Africa poker tournament, on not playing in this year's WSOP Main Event (NYMAG.com, 7/25).

NFL Media Publicity Manager Brenna Webb: "Glad this is all over b/c I've had my fill of birthing references. @RichEisen brings us the final one RT @richeisen: Post-lockout Partum."

SI.com's Richard Deitsch: "Power of the ESPN brand: @ClaytonESPN started tweeting 10 minutes ago. He now has more than 24,000 followers. Big-time twitter pals."

Stats LLC GM/Consumer Fantasy Games Greg Ambrosius: "Fantasy football will set new records for participation this year. This condensed off-season is like a drug that will get fans addicted."

Bloomberg TV's Michele Steele: "Artest in talks w DWTS; Amare partners with Big Lead Sports; Kevin Love promoting Cuervo volleyball tour. Welcome to NBA lockout."

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

The Pac-12 will hold a media cocktail reception with Commissioner Larry Scott and the conference's head football coaches at Hotel Gansevoort in N.Y. at 6:00pm ET.

Golf Channels’ David Feherty will appear on CBS’ “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 12:35am ET.

The MLS Dynamo have set up a virtual venue application that offers fans the ability to select seats in the team's new stadium, which is slated to open next year. The application allows fans to see the view from any seat in the stadium, as well as the ability to purchase season tickets.

7,491,000 – Number of tickets to sporting events sold in the first three months of '11 via Live Nation outlets Ticketmaster, TicketWeb and TicketsNow, accounting for 22% of Live Nation's ticket sales during that period (FAST COMPANY, 8/ '11 issue).