A Univ. of Central Florida committee next Tuesday "will look at a proposal" to issue $8M in debt for two projects in and around Bright House Networks Stadium. The $2.5M East Side Club project "would convert 1,485 current regular season ticket seats on the east side of the bowl to 800 premium seats," adding an "elevated deck with a potential tiki bar theme." The $6M Athletic Leadership Center would create a 23,500-square-foot facility to "house compliance, student services, academic support, tutoring, mentoring and a student lab" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/30).

Dannon today announced that it will sponsor the NFL as the league's official yogurt, starting in '15. The company in '12 began running Super Bowl ads for its Oikos Greek yogurt. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Dannon also has sports sponsorships with the Yankees, Impact, Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and WTA Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. Former boxer Laila Ali endorses the brand, as well (THE DAILY).

A federal court judge ruled against seven former NFL players seeking to intervene in the preliminary concussion settlement against the league. “The moving parties may object to or opt out of the settlement under the procedures set forth in my July 7, 2014 order,” Judge Anita Brody ruled yesterday. The seven, led by Sean Morey, allege the preliminary settlement does not represent their interest and short sells former NFL players.

On the same day Brody ruled against them, their attorney earlier had filed a 16-page motion explaining why they should be allowed to intervene in the case. The seven have also appealed to the Third Court of Appeals Brody’s decision to preliminarily approve the settlement.

The PGA of America has selected New Era Cap as the official cap for the '14 U.S. Ryder Cup team. The agreement gives the cap maker exclusive rights to the team’s headwear through '16. The New Era Ryder Cup headwear will begin showing up at retail, including the PGA.com shop and neweracap.com, later this week. A portion of the proceeds will go to the PGA’s 41 sections across the country. The '14 Ryder Cup will be held Sept. 26-28 at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland.

WME-IMG today announced it hired former Microsoft and GM CFO Chris Liddell. He will replace Peter Klein as CFO of the organization. Liddell is familiar with IMG, having served on the company’s board in '11 at the request of late IMG Chair Ted Forstmann. He previously served as Microsoft CFO from '05-09 and GM from '10-11. For more, see THE DAILY.

Sports fans tuning into the world premiere of Syfy’s “Sharknado 2: The Second One” will see Citi Field is front and center during a key point in the movie. However, a real-life weather event forced directors to change how they showcase the ballpark. Several scenes from the highly anticipated sequel, which debuts tonight at 9:00pm ET, were set to depict a July day game at the Mets’ home, team VP/Metropolitan Hospitality Heather Collamore said. But the February weather in the Big Apple decided otherwise. “We were in the middle of the polar vortex here in New York, and it literally started snowing during the shoot,” Collamore said. “Our entire field was filled with snow, so it was an interesting thing to see how they made some script changes.”

Trailers for the film show shots inside Citi Field’s lower bowl, as well as fictional grounds crew members attempting to keep the tarp down amid high winds. Despite the elements, filming was completed in one day. No Mets players or coaches were used. The Mets have already taken advantage of the film’s impending popularity, as Ian Ziering, one of the lead actors, threw out the first pitch for Monday’s Phillies-Mets game. “We were actually really inspired by how last summer, the initial one took the world by storm, everyone got behind it,” Collamore said. “It’s great press for us and it’s great exposure, so why not?” Other films shot at Citi Field include “Men in Black 3” and the soon-to-debut “Stereotypically You.”

Charter Communications is "finalizing a deal with ESPN to carry the SEC Network in time" for its Aug. 14 launch (USATODAY.com, 7/30).

The Packers today announced that they have signed GM Ted Thompson to a multiyear contract extension (Mult., 7/30).

The NFL named Pro Football HOFers Michael Irvin and Cris Carter the alumni captains for the '15 Pro Bowl in Arizona (NFL).

Leavine Family Racing today announced a multi-race deal for Thrivent Financial to sponsor the No. 95 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford driven by Michael McDowell. The deal includes primary sponsorship during the Aug. 23 Irwin Tools Night Race in Bristol and four associate sponsorships (LFR).

Churchill Downs Inc. and Saratoga Harness Racing Inc. today announced they are "finalizing a five-year management contract for the Saratoga Springs harness track and video gambling operation and the Saratoga Casino Black Hawk" in Colorado (AP, 7/30).

PNC Financial Services Group has agreed to a multiyear renewal of its deal to sponsor the PNC Father/Son Challenge. PNC in '12 became title sponsor of the event in Orlando (IMG Golf).

SI this week features four regional covers for its fantasy football issue. The cover athletes are Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles, UCLA QB Brett Hundley, Packers RB Eddie Lacy and Eagles RB LeSean McCoy (THE DAILY).

“We were on a Wings tour quite a while ago and when we played Detroit somebody gave me a Red Wings sticker, which I liked the look of, so I stuck it on my guitar and I have kept it there ever since” – Paul McCartney, on why one of his acoustic guitars has a Red Wings sticker on it (PAULMCCARTNEY.com, 7/30).

“Between the club and new edible garden, no other MLB stadium is doing what we do here for our fans” – Giants Enterprises VP & GM Stephen Revetria, on the unveiling the Gotham Clubhouse speakeasy-style lounge and restaurant at AT&T Park (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/30).

“What I’ve done at NBC is a pretty good body of work. I sort of changed in a lot of ways the way golf was covered in that it was a little bit more X-Games (with me), a little bit more ‘with it,’ so I hoped the younger people would enjoy the telecast” – Johnny Miller, on what he considers one of his biggest contributions to golf (CLEVELAND.com, 7/29).

ESPN's Mark Dominik: "All these new big signings make me think the deal between Direct TV and NFL must be getting finalized. Owners know it means more cap room."

HuffPost Live's Marc Lamont Hill: "The Sixers rightly feel like the NBA is targeting and punishing them for last season's tanking, which was WITHIN THE RULES OF THE GAME! … I agree that the NBA should delay the change at least at year. Otherwise teams that planned/strategized based on the rules are punished."

BTIG ‎Managing Dir of Media & Technology analyst Rich Greenfield: "The Q nobody asked Twitter was how much time does average US user spend with Twitter apps/website - @facebook reported 40 mins/day $TWTR"

DC-based WTTG-Fox' Lindsay Murphy: "Btw RGIII mom has a streaming show online they are shooting it live next to my tent she has over 2 million viewers already i was told."

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

The Philadelphia Union's official feed posted this image of the team taking part in a yoga session as part of its training: "#Namaste."

This pair of Duracell ads via Saatchi & Saatchi centers around a play in a hypothetical Seahawks-49ers matchup, showing the same sequence from the perspective of both teams.

84% – Percentage of respondents to a poll on BUFFALONEWS.com who want Terry Pegula to be the Bills' next owner. Following Pegula, Donald Trump earned 6% of votes, Jon Bon Jovi and his Toronto group 3%, Tom Golisano 3%, and a "yet-to-be-discussed owner" 2%. At presstime, 1,425 people had responded to the poll conducted by twiigs.com (BUFFALONEWS.com, 7/30).