Olympic organizers have “withdrawn 500,000 football tickets from public sale as they admitted the market was ‘saturated.’” Larger venues such as Millennium Stadium, which hosts the opening game of the Great Britain women’s team, “will be curtained off to hide the empty seats.” About 37,000 of the 80,000 tickets “have been sold.” A further 150,000 tickets are “to be given away to school children through a sponsor-backed scheme” (THETIMES.co.uk, 7/17).

The decision to withdraw the excess soccer tickets, most of which were on sale for US$31, "will cost organizers lost revenue" of about US$16M. The tickets at Hampden Park, Glasgow and Millennium Stadium “have been particularly hard to sell.” LOCOG officials say that they are “still on track to reach their ticket revenue target” of US$939M by the Opening Ceremony on July 27 (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 7/17).

G4S CEO Nick Buckles in an appearance before the U.K. House of Commons “repeatedly apologised today for the Olympic Games security fiasco, but insisted the company would still claim” its US$89.2M “management fee” for the contract. Buckles said, "We still expect to deliver a significant number of staff" (INDEPENDENT.co.uk, 7/17). Buckles said that G4S is now aiming to “provide a minimum of 7,000 security guards, 3,400 less than its contractual obligation, but can only currently deploy 5,000 accredited staff” (THETIMES.co.uk, 7/17).

LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe today insisted that security “would not be affected” despite G4S' failure to provide enough staff. Coe: “The numbers really haven't changed, it's really simply about the mix of security on the park, at this very moment our teams are working alongside G4S to ensure that they deliver as many of those guards as they possibly can” (INDEPENDENT.co.uk, 7/17).

Saints interim coach Joe Vitt today denied there was a team bounty program in an affidavit filed in federal court. He is the first of the three coaches suspended to outright deny the team deployed a bounty system between '09-11, as alleged by the NFL. Previously he had denied the allegations against him personally, but his statement here is far broader. The four suspended players have filed lawsuits, denying the allegations. Vitt filed the affidavit on behalf of Saints LB Jonathan Vilma, who was hit with a one-year suspension. Vilma is seeking an injunction to lift the suspension, and contends his recovery from injury will be severely affected by not being able to train with the team. Vitt backed him on that contention, but it is the opening of the affidavit where the coach makes his strong statement.

“While I anxiously await being able to provide substantive and truthful testimony and information about the allegations made by Mr. Goodell regarding the so-called but non-existent Bounty program, and to refute that the Saints ever had a bounty program or that any member of our defense, including Mr. Vilma, ever placed a bounty on an opposing player and set out to injure anyone or to encourage any other Saints player to injure anyone,” Vitt wrote before then saying he would restrict his further comments to Vilma’s motion. The NFL could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier today the league said in a motion opposing Vilma’s injunction request, that his being barred from team facilities would not be an issue because team doctors could monitor his recovery from afar. That contention was refuted by another affidavit supplied today by Saints trainer Scottie Patton, who said he needed Vilma on the club grounds to monitor him.

The USTA and Starwood Hotels & Resorts today announced an extension of their deal that will keep Westin Hotels and the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program as official U.S. Open sponsors through '14. Westin remains the official hotel brand of the tournament, as well as a presenting sponsor of U.S. Open Live on USOpen.org. New onsite activation for SPG will include digital displays in the SPG promotional booth at the tournament.

The USTA today also announced the lineup of musical acts and celebrity appearances for the 17th Annual Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Music groups The Wanted and Owl City, singer Carly Rae Jepsen and actors Cymphonique Miller and Max Schneider will join tennis players Novak Djokovic, John Isner, Kim Clijsters and Mardy Fish as part of the festival (THE DAILY).

Sources said that Indianapolis will "soon, perhaps as early as this week, announce plans to bid for a second" Super Bowl. However, it is "not yet clear which year's game the city will seek to host." The INDIANAPOLIS STAR's Matthew Tully writes the "decision is not surprising, coming only months after the city won rave reviews, and enjoyed unseasonably warm weather" in hosting the Giants-Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. The league this fall is scheduled to vote on a host city for the '16 Super Bowl, which is the "next available game" (INDYSTAR.com, 7/17).

Nissan and the USA Pro Challenge today announced that the automaker has extended its agreement with the cycling event for two more years through '13, retaining its Founding Partner designation. As part of its activation, Nissan will provide more than 40 vehicles for the event, including the lead, operations, medical and VIP cars (THE DAILY). This comes as the event in its second year has "taken a step forward with its sponsorship business" and "could be self-sufficient in three to four years" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/18 issue).

More than 200 taxi drivers "brought central London to a halt in a protest at the Olympic Games lanes." The cabs created gridlock in Parliament Square to protest "being excluded from the 30 miles of games lanes, which have been reserved for Olympic competitors, officials and sponsors" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 7/17).

Australia's Fox Sports has signed a multi-channel deal with the UFC to "screen six live events a year, with all channels pointing back" to Fox Sports Fuel as the home channel for the MMA promotion. The UFC had been confined to Fuel in a previous deal, but will now be also be seen on Fox Sports and Main Event PPV. The Australian Fox Sports deal "mirrors a similar arrangement with Fox in the U.S." (THEAUSTRALIAN.co.au, 7/18).

The USA Today Sports Media Group today announced the re-launch and re-branding of its high school sports website, highschoolsports.net, as USA Today High School Sports. Ben Sylvan has been named exec producer in charge of all content on the re-launched site (USA Today Sports Media Group).

Nike Golf announced multiyear endorsement deals with four former All-American collegiate golfers: Lee Bedford (Wake Forest), Hunter Hamrick (Alabama), Daniel Miernicki (Oregon) and J.J. Spaun (San Diego State). Also, the company's deal with Eugene Wong (Oregon) was formally announced (Nike Golf).

"Take The Statue Down Or We Will" – Banner that an airplane today flew over the Penn State campus, referring to the statue of late football coach Joe Paterno outside of Beaver Stadium (CENTREDAILY.com, 7/17).

"There are yet still some people who say this is a great public relations campaign by a guy who needs public support” – NBC’s Matt Lauer, interviewing Eagles QB Michael Vick about his new book, "Finally Free" (“Today,” NBC, 7/17).

Lance Armstrong Foundation CFO Greg Lee: "Flying today to ‪#ACCGOLF. I see lots of ‪#LIVESTRONG wristbands. Any guesses on how many we have sold and distributed? … Lots of good guesses. @LIVESTRONG has sold and distributed 86,176,170 wristbands since it was introduced in 2004."

Sports Media Watch's Paulsen: "One of these Team USA ads is using the same music CNN once used for war coverage. That's on CNN, though (theme music for war?)."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz: "Mike Slive quotes Winston Churchill. Let's see John Swofford top that. … Now Slive is quoting Shakespeare....Still waiting for him to break into 'Green Eggs and Ham.'"

Columbia Daily Tribune's Dave Matter: "For the record, Slive pronounced Missouri as Miz-ur-uh."

FoxSports.com’s Todd Behrendt: "Report: James Bond will participate in Opening Ceremony. Russian athletes, you have been officially warned. #licensetokill"

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

Using the Twitter moniker Wimbledon Groundsman, one of the groundskeepers at the All England Club posted this image of a concession stand at the venue converted to a "Treat Hut" for the London Games tennis competition.

U.S. track & field Paralympian Jerome Singleton Jr. will be the featured speaker at the GMR Networking Breakfast in Charlotte.

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban will appear on ABC's "Trust Us With Your Life" at 9:00pm ET.

Eagles QB Michael Vick will appear on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" at 9:00pm ET.

Dodgers CF Matt Kemp will be profiled on HBO's "Real Sports" at 10:00pm ET.

Under Armour laces up a Charlotte-centric spot in its Spine Shoe campaign, tapping Bobcats G Kemba Walker and Panthers QB Cam Newton to help Patriots QB Tom Brady show off the new shoe.

32 – Number of NFL teams that made Forbes' list of the 50 most valuable pro sports franchises in the world, with 15 NFL teams valued at $1B or higher (THE DAILY).