The NBA on Friday named Dick Parsons the interim CEO of the Clippers. Parsons, whose previous titles include Citigroup Chair and Time Warner Chair & CEO, is currently a Providence Equity Partners Senior Advisor. Parsons in a statement said, "A lifelong fan of the NBA, I am firmly committed to the values and principles it is defending, and I completely support [Commissioner Adam Silver’s] leadership in navigating the challenges facing the team and the league" (NBA). Parsons reportedly "will give up" his seat on the board of MSG (TWITTER.com, 5/9).

Sunday marks the final day of the EPL season, and all 10 of the matches scheduled for that day will be televised live simultaneously at 10:00am ET across 10 NBCUniversal networks: NBC, NBCSN, USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Esquire Network, Syfy, Oxygen, E! and Bravo. Spanish-language networks Telemundo and mun2 "will televise one match each, as well." NBC Sports Group President of Programming Jon Miller said, "There is no precedent for it in sports broadcasting" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/5 issue). Viewers also can stream all 10 matches via NBC Sports Live Extra. The "long awaited lineup" of matches was revealed earlier this week (NBCSPORTS.com, 5/7).

In conjunction with the matches, NBCSN is staging watch parties at 70 soccer pubs in the U.S. that will show all of Sunday's games. Pubs in N.Y., DC, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, S.F., L.A. and Miami are participating (NBCSN).

Meanwhile, EPL club Aston Villa will head into a "summer of uncertainty," with "question marks hanging over the heads" of Owner Randy Lerner and manager Paul Lambert. The club could finish as high as 12th or as low as 17th after Sunday's home match against Tottenham, with a difference in prize money of US$112.2M or US$122.3M (EXPRESSANDSTAR.com, 5/9).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said that attendance for Saturday's inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis road race "could top projections by a wide margin." He said tickets have been "really strong" since March. Boles: "Our goal was 40,000, and I really feel comfortable we're going to exceed that. If the weather is good, we could break that mark by quite a bit." He noted that a draw of 40,000 would be "three times the number who came to the opening weekend of May last year" (IBJ.com, 5/8).

The Kansas Lottery signed a five-year extension of its deal with Kansas Speedway, "ensuring it will remain the title sponsor" of the track's fall NASCAR Nationwide Series race. The Kansas Lottery 300 this year will be held on Oct. 4. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Kansas Lottery first partnered with the track in '04 and "later added title sponsorship" of the venue's IndyCar and NASCAR Nationwide Series races (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/9).

UFC returns to U.S. Bank Arena for Saturday's "Fight Night" card headlined by a Matt Brown-Erick Silva bout. The card, which will air live on FS1, marks the second time the MMA promotion has visited Cincinnati and the first since UFC 77 in '07. When asked about the seven-year gap, UFC President Dana White said, "If you look at what we've done since 2007 and where we've been with not only opening up new states in the U.S., but opening up new countries, we've been going to all these other places and now it's time to go back to Cincinnati" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 5/9).

Petco and the Padres this weekend will celebrate 10 years of their partnership, highlighted by the brand's ballpark naming-rights sponsorship. Special features of the weekend series against the Marlins will include a Petco-sponsored postgame fireworks show on Friday and a 10th anniversary commemorative canvas art collectible giveaway on Saturday. On Mother's Day, 25 fans sitting in the "lucky row" will receive a $100 Petco gift card. Also, the Petco Foundation will make a special donation to a local animal-welfare organization (Petco).

James Brown, Bill Cowher and Deion Sanders will "form the main set group that will appear" on CBS and NFL Network from 7:30pm ET leading up to the kickoff of "Thursday Night Football" this season (SI.com, 5/9).

The IOC on Friday said there is "not a shred of truth" to a report in the London Evening Standard that London has "been approached about replacing Rio de Janeiro" as host of the '16 Games (AP, 5/9).

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association on Friday announced that the purse for the '15 Daily Racing Form/NTRA Handicapping Championship is estimated to be $1.8M, which would represent a 13% increase from the '14 purse of $1.59M (NTRA).

The ECHL announced that it has retained Denver-based Impression Sports & Entertainment as its sponsorship sales and consulting agency of record (ECHL).

"It's up to the early adopters to make it easier for people to get into it. ... You're going to see more and more sponsorships, you're going to see more and more celebrities probably getting on board" – Bitcoin Alliance of Canada Founder Anthony Di Iorio, on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin making forays into sports sponsorship (CTVNEWS.ca, 5/9).

"I ain't gonna lie, I was scared" – Trail Blazers F Thomas Robinson, on finding a snake in his visiting locker at AT&T Center prior to last night's Western Conference Semifinals Game 2 loss to the Spurs (Mult., 5/9).

"We're good. Obviously, we wouldn't have signed up for three more years if we weren't OK with it" – 5-Hour Energy President Scott Henderson, who questioned NASCAR's integrity last season following the race manipulation scandal at Richmond Int'l Raceway (USATODAY.com, 5/9).

MLB Giants Digital Media Dir Bryan Srabian, on the sale of Beats by Dre to Apple: "Who would have thought that the founding member of NWA would one day be a Billionaire? Today is truly #DreDay."

Fox Sports Senior VP/Communications Lou D'Ermilio: "First day @FOXSports was 20 years ago today. Thanks to @TVvInce for recruiting me and all who helped along the way. Time flies, folks."

SI's Peter King: "Wish you could have heard Doug Whaley's voice last night. He knows it's a monumental risk. Thinks Watkins is worth laying career on line."

Golf.com's Alan Shipnuck: "There's no golf memorabilia in Nicklaus's office, just dozens of family photos. And a few hunting/fishing trophies."

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

Score Atlanta's Craig Sager II posted an image of an empty hospital bed and a series of tweets regarding his father, TNT's Craig Sager, being released from the hospital. Sager II tweeted, "Since Tue, My Dad's White Blood tests have gone from 6>100>220>a 600 just now & HE GETS TO GO HOME TODAY! We can't believe it. ... He will have to return to clinic every day for the next few weeks and he is still waiting on bone marrow procedure but he CRUSHED CHEMO!!!"

FRIDAY
Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie will receive the Roger Staubach Award at the annual Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational awards ceremony at the Omni Dallas Hotel.

SATURDAY
D-Backs President & CEO Derrick Hall will be honored by actress Jane Seymour’s Open Hearts Foundation for his efforts in raising awareness for prostate cancer.

NESN this week began airing a new in-house spot from presenting sponsor WB Mason for its "WB Mason Extra Innings LIVE" Red Sox postgame show. The ad, highlighting the office products dealer's brand association with NESN and the Red Sox since '03, shows a WB Mason delivery man bringing the '13 World Series trophy to the show's studio set.

$55-60M – Pre-tax costs for Omnicom in its efforts toward a now-scuttled merger with Publicis. The costs include "advisory and professional fees, most of which the company incurred last year and recorded in the first quarter this year," according to Omnicom CFO Randy Weisenburger (ADAGE.com, 5/9).