In a big surprise, Minneapolis won the right to host Super Bowl LII in '18, on the fourth vote by NFL owners this afternoon. New Orleans had long been considered the favorite. Indianapolis was eliminated first, and Minneapolis won when the voting went to simple majority. Minneapolis will have a new stadium by '16, and the NFL often awards Super Bowls to cities with new stadiums, especially those paid with public money like in Minneapolis.

New Orleans is celebrating its 300th anniversary in '18, and aging Saints Owner Tom Benson, hobbled by knee surgery, made the visit to Atlanta to pitch the bid. The New Orleans bid committee appeared confident after their presentation, but in the end, the new stadium in Minnesota proved too much. It is the first time New Orleans has ever lost a Super Bowl vote.

The Hornets today formally executed their transition away from the Bobcats brand and laid out a timeline for upcoming rebranding events. The team on June 19 will unveil its new uniforms and on June 26 will reveal a new floor design at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Hornets brand will return to the court during the July 11-21 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The Hornets in October will host the inaugural Buzz Fest fan festival. The team is collaborating with the NBA and the Pelicans to reclaim all of the statistical information, records and history of Charlotte NBA basketball (Hornets).

Team Owner Michael Jordan did not attend today's press conference but issued a statement saying it is a "historic day for our franchise, our city and our fans." Several hundred fans attended the announcement at the arena. Hornets Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Pete Guelli said that 90% of last year's season-ticket holders "have renewed" for '14-15, and the Hornets are "No. 1 in the league for new season-tickets sales" (AP, 5/20).

The Sacramento City Council tonight is expected to formally approve a financing and development plan for the NBA Kings' new arena. City and team officials are planning a rally outside City Hall tonight to "celebrate both the City Council vote and the NBA draft lottery." Four council members have said publicly that they "intend to vote in favor of the plan," and a fifth said that he "was '95 percent comfortable' voting to approve the deal, meaning it will likely have the five votes needed to pass" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 5/20).

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez today confirmed that the Dolphins "plan to abandon their push for tax relief" in favor of asking the county to pay the team for bringing Super Bowls and "other major events to a renovated Sun Life Stadium." Team Owner Stephen Ross "would use private dollars to renovate the stadium, and Miami-Dade would then pay the team an unknown amount of money for each major event the stadium brings." Gimenez said that the money "would come from county hotel taxes" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 5/20).

The Dolphins "want the 2019 Super Bowl and need to have their plans in place by this summer to be in the running." A source said that the team "could begin construction on stadium renovations this summer" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 5/20).

Dick's Sporting Goods today in its Q1 earnings report lowered its full-year earnings outlook "to reflect negative trends in the key categories of golf and hunting." Dick's Chair & CEO Edward Stack in a statement said, "After a very challenging first quarter in golf last year, we expected some further headwinds and only modest improvement, but instead we saw a continued significant decline" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/20). Profit rose to $70M, up from $64.8M in the year-ago period. Dick's-owned specialty retailer Golf Galaxy "saw sales at stores opened a year or more decrease 10%" in the period (WSJ.com, 5/20).

At presstime, shares of Dick's Sporting Goods were trading at $43.72, down 17.8% (THE DAILY).

The Miami-Dade County Commission today "eliminated from contention the public location" David Beckham's MLS ownership group "had initially set its sights on at PortMiami" for a soccer-specific stadium. This comes after Miami Beckham United yesterday "conceded that the port location was now its Plan B." As of today, the investor group "will have no fallback plan." The commissioners voted 11-1 against a PortMiami stadium (MIAMIHERALD.com, 5/20).

The Big East tonight begins its three-day spring meetings in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and among the "key issues" to be addressed is "re-evaluating sites and formats for the league's championship events." Also on the agenda are a discussion of the "minimum requirements each school needs to meet in the sports sponsored by the league," tweaking the men's basketball broadcast schedule and the "ramifications that could arise" from NCAA governance restructuring. Men's basketball coaches and administrators will talk about "ironing out details" with FS1 (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 5/20).

MLB today announced the launch of the latest spot in its '14 "For The Love Of Baseball" campaign, and the ad depicts Mariners 2B Robinson Cano hitting pitches in different part of the strike zone. The 30-second spot, created by BBDO, debuts tonight on MLB Network and will run throughout the season on ESPN, Fox, FS1, TBS and MTV2. Cano joins other players such as Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Andrew McCutchen, David Price and Mike Trout who have appeared in the campaign (MLB).

The Orlando Municipal Planning Board today “unanimously approved” the Magic’s implementation plan for the $200M entertainment complex in downtown. The Orlando City Council will “still have to approve the project at a later meeting” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/20).

Rugby Canada has signed a multiyear deal designating Under Armour as its official technical partner. Under Armour will design and manufacture training and match day kits for Canada’s national teams. The match day kits for Canada’s senior teams will be unveiled next month (Rugby Canada/Under Armour).

The Red Sox have named 149-room Hotel Commonwealth the team's official hotel in a four-year deal (BOSTONHERALD.com, 5/20).

Paciolan today announced that Purdue has renewed its 32-year partnership with the company (Paciolan).

NASCAR today announced plans for its armed forces appreciation platform titled "NASCAR: An American Salute." The May 25-July 5 initiative includes a dedicated page within NASCAR.com, social media tie-ins and activation from partners Goodyear, BofA, Coca-Cola, Mars Chocolate, Mondelez and others (NASCAR).

Live Nation today announced that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' upcoming "Hypnotic Eye" tour will feature a stop at Fenway Park on Aug. 30 (Live Nation).

"You talk about individuals and talk about their qualification — there hasn't been anybody more qualified to be involved in sports ownership, or certainly ownership in the NFL, than Jon Bon Jovi" – Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, on the musician possibly being a bidder for the Bills (USATODAY.com, 5/20).

"Those guys at the Barclays Center made a tremendous offer for the Maidana fight, and I'm sure they'll be looking to be in the Floyd Mayweather business again come September, but the MGM is home and they are always the leading candidate” – Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, on the site of Mayweather's next fight (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/20).

“We were a little disappointed with our NBCU deal. Whether we failed or not, I’m not certain” – WWE Chair & CEO Vince McMahon, during his first conference call with analysts to discuss WWE’s multiyear deal with NBCU for “Raw” and “Smackdown” (VARIETY.com, 5/19).

PR consultant Joe Favorito: "Solid hire, pro's pro: ex #NBA pr guy @scottleightman as Communications Director for @USA_Swimming. #SwimToday #cosida"

Samford Univ. sports marketing professor Darin White: "2.25 million fans attended an SEC Baseball game on campus this season --- half was in the state of Mississippi #SECBaseballTournament"

TSN's Darren Dreger: ‏"Away from home much of postseason. Missed kitchen reno, roof redone + pool opening. As long as the locks haven't been changed...I'm golden."

Hornets official account: "Charlotte Hornets is now trending in the US! Thank you all for helping make this a great media rebranding day! #BuzzCity"

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

The Nation Sports Editor Dave Zirin posted this image and wrote, "This Brazilian graffiti piece protesting the World Cup is quickly becoming both viral and iconic."

Saints QB Drew Brees appears in this online video promoting BRP's Can-Am Spyder three-wheeled vehicle. The premise of the spot is that the vehicle gives Brees a loophole in his playing contract, which forbids him from riding a motorcycle. He joins other sports figures appearing in recent Can-Am Spyder endorsements, including Mark Messier, Danica Patrick and Georges St-Pierre.

ESPN will air coverage of the NBA Draft Lottery at 8:00pm ET.

$11M+ – Amount of the contract approved by the Osceola County (Fla.) Commission to move the PRCA Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo to the county for the next 10 years. The event, which has been held in Oklahoma the past four years, is one of the richest rodeos in the world (PRCA).