Due to the U.S. government shutdown, the Department of Defense has "suspended all intercollegiate athletic competitions at the service academies." The DoD said that a "decision will be made" by Thursday at 12:00pm ET on Saturday's Air Force-Navy football game. Army is scheduled to play at Boston College Saturday, and BC AD Brad Bates indicated that the school is "working to keep the game on the schedule" (CBSSPORTS.com, 10/1).

Two military running events – the Oct. 20 Army 10-Miler and Oct. 27 Marine Corps. Marathon – will be "largely unaffected" by the shutdown (RUNNERSWORLD.com, 10/1).

Meanwhile, the Single-A Carolina League Potomac Nationals are offering free '14 Opening Day tickets to government employees who have been furloughed as a result of the shutdown, "in addition to the opportunity for these government workers to serve the team in a game operations role" as part of gameday staff in '14. All furloughed federal employees can get a free ticket by presenting their government ID at the team's front office during regular business hours while the shutdown persists (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/1).

Georgia-based Herschend Family Entertainment has acquired the Harlem Globetrotters from Shamrock Capital Advisors. Terms of the deal were not revealed. Herschend owns and operates 26 theme parks, aquariums and "other attractions nationwide." Shamrock, which purchased the Globetrotters in '05, "reportedly had been shopping the team in recent months." Herschend said that the "Globetrotters management team and roster would remain in place" (AP, 10/1).

A Blue Jays spokesperson today "shot down" an MLB.com report that "implied the Jays' move from Dunedin to a new spring training home on Florida's east coast is a done deal." Single-A Florida State League Duenedin Blue Jays Senior Advisor Ken Carson said that a move to Palm Beach Gardens "remains an option," but the "matter's 'definitely not' decided." Carson: "There's nothing carved in stone." Dunedin officials are "still pursuing dialogue with the Jays" (TAMPABAY.com, 10/1).

Indy Eleven, which will join NASL as an expansion franchise in '14, has signed Honda as its jersey sponsor. The three-year agreement is for an average of more than $300,000 per year and is a joint deal with Honda Manufacturing of Indiana and Central Indiana Honda Dealers. The Indy Eleven become the fifth NASL club with a shirt deal. The other clubs are the Carolina Railhawks (Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina), FC Edmonton (United Way), N.Y. Cosmos (Emirates Airline) and San Antonio Scorpions (Toyota).

Realtor.com today announced a deal with the Sharks, making it a category-exclusive team sponsor for the '13-14 season. Assets will include exposure inside SAP Center and mentions during national and regional TV and radio broadcasts of all regular-season home games.

Also today, the Sharks renewed their sponsorship deal with Orchard Supply Hardware, the franchise's official retailer for home improvement, garden and outdoor living products. The company also will serve as the team's presenting sponsor for the '13-14 season (THE DAILY).

The Bruins and JetBlue announced a multiyear sponsorship deal designating JetBlue as the official airline of the team and TD Garden (Bruins).

Stewart-Haas Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series No. 10 Chevy driven by Danica Patrick will sport a pink paint scheme for each of the four October races to raise breast cancer awareness. The first pink race for the Go Daddy-sponsored car will be Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (Go Daddy).

SXSW announced the addition of SXsports as a new component of the annual event, next scheduled for March 7-9 in Austin, Texas. Featured personalities will include Grantland's Bill Simmons, ESPN's Nate Silver, Mandalay Sports Media Chair Peter Guber and MLB Giants Social Media Dir Bryan Srabian (SXSW).

USA Rugby has reached a broadcast deal with Fox Sports for coverage of the inaugural "Black and Blue Match" Nov. 9 at PPL Park. FS1 will televise the match pitting the USA Men's Eagles against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks (Fox Sports).

Monumental Sports & Entertainment today announced the launch of the second phase of Monumental Network, which now includes a series of 15 additional websites and blogs, as well as a third-party affiliate program (MSE).

WWE today announced an integrated partnership with Totino's Pizza Rolls (WWE).

"His legacy will be the universality of the game being taken to new territories and becoming the world’s No. 1 sport, unquestionably. His difficulty will be the ‘but’ which will come after that" – Former FIFA Dir of Int'l Relations Jerome Champagne, on the tenure of FIFA President Sepp Blatter being surrounded by controversy and allegations (NYTIMES.com, 10/1).

"We stayed away from chicken and beer. That helped" – Indians manager Terry Francona, on the team wrapping up an AL wild-card spot with 10 straight wins to finish the regular season (ESPN.com, 10/1).

CSN New England's Rich Levine: "Sad how Michael Jordan's become the face of NBA video games in retirement but wouldn't let us ball as MJ back when he actually played."

Sporting News' Jesse Spector: "Gonna be fun here when the Yankees luxury tax themselves into oblivion for years to come so they can maybe finish third in the 2014 AL East."

Taylor Strategies' Zack Smith: "For flacks thinking SI's MMQ is impossible to get brand mentions in, look no further than Texas Lottery/Cowboys note today. All hail Jerry!"

USA Today's Dan Wolken: "Perusing Saturday's schedule, CBS wouldn't have a ton of options to replace AFA-Navy unless it worked a deal with another network."

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

On the heels of FS K.C. seeing a 70% jump in ratings for Royals games during the regular season, the RSN today posted on its Twitter feed an image of a highway billboard thanking fans for their support.

As baseball heads into the postseason, MLB Network created this montage of memorable moments from the '13 regular season. The footage originally aired Sunday during "MLB Tonight."

NFL Network’s “A Football Life,” which airs at 9:00pm ET, will look at the life and legacy of late NFL Films President Steve Sabol.

Former talk-show host Larry King will begin a three-night stint as a guest host of ESPN2’s “Olbermann” at 11:00pm ET. Host Keith Olbermann is taking a temporary leave to host the MLB postseason studio show on TBS.

NFL Network’s Rich Eisen will appear on the syndicated “The Arsenio Hall Show."

17,000 – Approximate number of man-hours it will take to install seats at the 49ers' new Levi's Stadium. The first lower bowl seats are being installed today in a 4:00pm ET ceremony (49ers).