Sources said that Warriors G Stephen Curry "has left Nike to become the centerpiece endorser for Under Armour," and the deal is "expected to be formally announced next week." Other NBA endorsers for the company have included Pistons G Brandon Jennings and Clippers C DeAndre Jordan (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/27).

Meanwhile, UA has tabbed Droga5, N.Y., to "lead creative work on its products for women." Droga5's first work for UA will launch in '14. The agency also is expected to "help the brand's in-house creative team ... on other aspects of its business." The move coincides with Droga5's split with longtime client Puma. UA "considered pitches from three other agencies for the women's business, and works with a number of shops on a project basis" (ADWEEK.com, 9/27).

Sources said that NBCSN’s Michelle Beadle “is in the process of leaving the network altogether – and possibly returning to ESPN” (THE BIGLEAD.com, 9/27). Beadle’s show “The Crossover” was canceled earlier this week. ESPN called reports of Beadle's return "premature." An ESPN spokesperson said, "While we appreciate her work, we have not discussed or explored a return" (THE DAILY).

5-Hour Energy on Friday announced that it will return as a sponsor of Michael Waltrip Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series No. 15 Toyota driven by Clint Bowyer in '14. The energy drink is in its second year of a three-year deal to sponsor Bowyer for 24 races a season. The '14 commitment "came into question following the recent integrity controversy embroiling MWR, sparking 5-Hour Energy officials to say they would wait until the end of the year before making a decision." NAPA Auto Parts is leaving MWR after this season (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 9/27).

ESPN's Ryan McGee said that NAPA is now "reevaluating the return on investment" in NASCAR. McGee noted they "write the one big check, they're the one sponsor on the hood," and the sport is "down to only four or five connections that do that." McGee noted the company's NASCAR spend is $16M, and they are "evaluating whether they're going to be in the sport at all next year" ("NASCAR Now," ESPN2, 9/27). 

Golfer Rory McIlroy has formally "terminated his contract" with Horizon Sports Management, and his business interests "will be managed by Rory McIlroy Incorporated from now on." Donald Casey will serve as RMI CEO, and the Rory Foundation will be run by longtime McIlroy family friend Barry Funston. Media relations will be handled by a team from The Communications Clinic headed by Terry Prone (BELFASTTELEGRAPH.co.uk, 9/27). This marks the "second change in two years" for McIlroy, who left Int'l Sports Management for Horizon in October '11 (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/27).

When Yankees P Mariano Rivera was throwing his last pitches at Yankee Stadium Thursday night, MLB Network decided to stay with two close games that had playoff implications – Angels-Rangers and Indians-Twins – rather than provide a cut-in from the Bronx. The network showed video of the emotional scene afterwards, including an essay by Tom Verducci (John Ourand, Staff Writer).

ESPN's Chris McKendry said to YES Network's Michael Kay of his coverage of Rivera's final home game, "Wonderful job last night. Thank you for allowing all of us simply to watch and take in that moment." Kay said, "There wasn't much to say. The pictures said it all. It was an extraordinarily emotional night just watching it. Even if we would have talked a lot in the booth, we probably would have been crying. Both Ken Singleton and I were both choked up as well" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 9/27).

Kraft Food Group is rolling out a new ad campaign for its Capri Sun Roarin' Waters beverage featuring Red Sox DH David Ortiz, Warriors G Stephen Curry, U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas and WWE star John Cena. The effort includes TV spots, a social media campaign and a sweepstakes around the Playground Throwdown. Prizes include "autographed swag and Grand Prize trips to compete against the pros in a nationally televised field day" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/27).

Capitals and Wizards Owner Ted Leonsis appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday morning, and the net's Andrew Ross Sorkin asked him, "When do you see a time when sports rights are sold not to the networks like NBC and CBS and ABC, but are sold to Netflix and Google and Hulu and you name it?" Leonsis: "I think Apple would be a bidder too and I think you're going to see that soon. ... The cable model is going to be under a lot of stress and demand and sports programming will be increasing in value, because it's really the only programming that brings large audiences together and it's what consumers will pay for" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 9/27).

Providence College's newly renovated Schneider Arena reopens Friday night after being "transformed into a thoroughly modern college hockey facility." The reported $14M overhaul includes a new three-story, 30,000-square-foot-plus atrium. Other featured upgrades are a "huge center-ice scoreboard that can show game highlights, a new stereo sound system and big flat-screen televisions" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 9/27).

The Pirates on Friday announced season ticket prices for '14, with the average price increasing to $18.32 per game from $17.21 in '13 (Pirates).

The FIA on Friday published a 22-race calendar for the '14 F1 season, and the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas in New Jersey is "one of three grands prix listed provisionally." The race "had looked doubtful earlier in the year" (REUTERS, 9/27).

During NFL Network's 49ers-Rams "Thursday Night Football" telecast, the channel did not go to commercial through three changes of possession in the third quarter. The reason, per an NFL Net spokesperson: "League and network rules give us max guidelines of number of breaks/commercials per quarter" (John Ourand, Staff Writer).

IMG Media has signed a three-year deal to globally represent and distribute media rights for the World Series Of Fighting. Plans are in place to expand the number of WSOF events to 8-10 for '14-15 and for shows to be staged internationally. NBCSN has a multiyear deal for exclusive U.S. coverage (IMG).

The Astros are "expecting their biggest crowd for a three-game series" with this weekend's season-ending games against the Yankees, with officials projecting an average attendance of 30,000 (CHRON.com, 9/25).

"As good as that is with the things that we can do globally, there's also the things we can do locally. When we do well as a company, we can do good" – Under Armour Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank, on the company's ability to make an impact in communities in Baltimore (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/27).

"I'm guessing that the reason Glen Grunwald is out of a job is because he did too many things that were good” – SNY's Chris Carlin, on the Knicks hiring Steve Mills as President & GM ("Loud Mouths," SNY, 9/26).

Houston Chronicle’s Reid Laymance: “It might be fun to party with Astros guys who came up with internal projections for 15 more wins for this season (only 51 so far)

SI’s Richard Deitsch: “The new TBS MLB postseason studio crew of Keith Olbermann, Pedro Martinez and Tom Verducci will debut this Sun. at 12:30 PM ET.”

Variety’s Brian Lowry: “Been doing some Breaking Bad finale radio interviews. A few seem to think the show is about sports medicine.”

Goodwin Spors’ Nate Jones: “Curry to UA is a huge move for that brand. Best player the brand has ever had for hoops.”

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

WACH-Fox' Derek Phillips posted an image of a Buccaneers ticket for Sunday's game against the Cardinals. The player highlighted on the ticket is QB Josh Freeman, who was benched this week for QB Mike Glennon.

OYO Sportstoys is celebrating the Red Sox' "Worst to First" season in '13 with a line of limited-edition Red Sox #Getbeard minifigures. Each of the 12 minifigures, which include 2B Dustin Pedroia (The Sick Flow) and 1B Mike Napoli (The Siesta), comes with a nickname and custom beard. Beards have been the public symbol of the team's turnaround this season (THE DAILY).

FRIDAY

The National Baseball HOF will host a screening of “42” at 7:00pm ET as the opening event of its film festival.

The NHL Kings will play the Rangers in the first leg of their two-game “Frozen Fury” preseason hockey series at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Kings will wrap up the series on Saturday against the Avalanche.

Colts LB Robert Mathis will be inducted into the National Black College Alumni HOF in Atlanta.

SATURDAY

The NFL will host a block party on Regent Street in London to celebrate Sunday’s Vikings-Steelers game at Wembley Stadium.

NC State will host the inaugural Ag Day in conjunction with the team's 3:30pm ET game against Central Michigan at Carter-Finley Stadium.

This behind-the-scenes video for a new Carl's Jr. ad starring Katherine Webb notes how the setup for the spot was inspired by Brent Musburger's famous on-air admiration of Webb during an Alabama football game.

$40M – Amount EA Sports and CLC will pay around to plaintiffs in order to settle lawsuits "brought by former players whose likenesses were used without compensation," according to a source (ESPN.com, 9/27).