Amalie Oil Co. today announced that it is assuming naming rights of the Lightning's home venue in Tampa, which will now be called Amalie Arena under a long-term deal. Financial terms and the exact length of the deal "were not immediately disclosed." The Tampa Bay Times, which previously titled the arena, is "shifting to become the exclusive print sponsor" of the recently renovated space. Amalie supplies motor oil and industrial lubricants to oil companies, automotive retailers, distributors, retailers, mass merchandisers and private-label customers in the U.S. and globally (TAMPABAY.com, 9/3).

Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik at today's press conference said of choosing a Tampa-based sponsor, “We could have gone national, but this is about the Tampa Bay region and celebrating what’s great in the region” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/3). 

The Bengals have decided to "take the NFL option to remove a TV blackout from any home game" if they sell at least 85% of their seats at Paul Brown Stadium. This marks a "big shift for the Bengals, who sold out all eight regular-season home games last year and have sold out their last 10 home games in the regular season." The NFL put the 85% option into effect two years ago. The league in determining whether a game is sold out "counts non-premium seats," of which Paul Brown Stadium has 55,449 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/3).

NASCAR and Comcast today announced a 10-year deal to create the Xfinity Series. Sources valued the deal at close to $200M. Comcast Senior VP/Marketing Communications Peter Intermaggio said, “One of the things that is especially important to us is live sports. We know live sports is important to television viewers everywhere. … We’re really excited about participating and sponsoring this incredible sport that people follow with tremendous passion and intensity.”

The deal followed nearly a year of talks and several months of serious negotiations. Intermaggio said that the appeal of pairing a title sponsorship deal with Comcast-owned NBC’s 10-year TV deal with NASCAR, a $4.4B deal signed last year, helped drive the deal.

Vin Scully "could reduce his workload next year by as much as 25%" in his 66th season as the voice of the Dodgers. Scully said that he "decided to skip road games, at least early in the season." The team "could play a total of 29 games" in Arizona, San Diego and S.F. next season. Scully said that he "anticipated calling some of those games late in the season, assuming the Dodgers are in contention." He said, "I won't just go to go" (LATIMES.com, 9/3).

Monster Energy Drink will title sponsor a new PBR event in Huntington Beach, Calif., this fall under a one-year deal. The Monster Energy Bulls on the Beach is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, and will invite 15 riders and 15 bulls to compete for a chance at earning additional points in the PBR world standings. The event, to be held at a temporary arena on the beach, will air the following day on CBS after NFL coverage. The PBR World Finals take place Oct. 22-26 at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center.

PBR Chair & CEO Jim Haworth said in a statement, “The PBR prides itself on finding cutting edge ways to expand the sport and bring it to new venues and audiences.” Monster also title sponsors PBR’s “Buck Off At The Garden” season-opening event at MSG.

The Wheaties NEXT Challenge consumer initiative has landed UFC fighter Anthony Pettis on the box of the General Mills cereal brand starting in early '15. This marks the first time in Wheaties' 91-year history that it has allowed consumers to choose the athlete who will appear on the packaging. More than 71,000 people participated, with fans of Pettis logging a total of 324,025 workouts. A total of more than 873,000 workouts were logged.

Meanwhile, the House of Marnier Lapostolle today announced a deal with UFC fighter Cain Velasquez, who will endorse its new GM Titanium brand of cognac. Velasquez will engage with fans via personal appearances, one-on-one training sessions and social/digital media activations.

Also today, MindBody has signed UFC fighter Tyron Woodley to endorse its Martial Arts Business Management Software (THE DAILY).

The N.Y. Daily News today announced the launch of a partnership with the Yankees in honor of retiring SS Derek Jeter. The paper will be giving away 25 pairs of tickets to Derek Jeter Day on Sunday. It also will make a donation to Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation in the amount of $22,222.22, to be presented at a ceremony on Sept. 19. On the editorial side, the Daily News will run a special Jeter-themed section in its Sunday print edition, featuring 30 pages of coverage (N.Y. Daily News).

Tennis HOF Chair Chris Clouser presented ESPN broadcaster Cliff Drysdale with his HOF ring during today's U.S. Open coverage. Drysdale, who was part of the '13 HOF class and has been with the network since its launch, thanked the "people behind the scenes at ESPN for all of these years." Drysdale: "It's a great honor. It's a tremendous privilege." Also on-camera were ESPN's Darren Cahill, Brad Gilbert, Pam Shriver, Chris Evert, Patrick McEnroe, John McEnroe and Chris McKendry, who each talked about the influence Drysdale has had on their personal and professional lives ("U.S. Open," ESPN, 9/3).

Protein milk beverage Shamrock Farms Rockin' Refuel today announced an endorsement deal with WNBA Shock G Skylar Diggins (Shamrock Farms Rockin' Refuel).

Spurs G Danny Green has renewed his deal to endorse health and technology company Alkame Holdings and will participate in ongoing marketing initiatives via TV, radio, internet, social media and personal appearances (Alkame Holdings).

Magic Johnson's Aspire network will partner with Urban Sports & Entertainment Group to televise 11 "live and encore" HBCU college football games "beginning this Saturday" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 9/3).

Southern California BMW Centers agreed to be the presenting sponsor of the USC-UCLA football rivalry game, starting this fall. The winner of the game will earn the SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup, also known as The Gauntlet (Southern California BMW Centers).

Regions Bank today announced that customers can now customize their Regions CheckCard with the Vanderbilt logo. The new marks add to Regions' suite of CheckCard collegiate rights, which also includes Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee (Regions Bank).

Paciolan announced a renewal of its partnership with the Univ. of Cincinnati, which has been a Paciolan partner since '90 (Paciolan).

"Selfies are positively encouraged and I expect to see plenty of them during the event" – Ryder Cup Match Dir Edward Kitson, on officials retracting their social-media ban for spectators at the upcoming match at Gleneagles (GOLF.com, 9/3).

"We're focused on football. That's where our attention is, and what people say outside this organization is really up to them" – Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, on the team signing Michael Sam to its practice squad (AP, 9/3).

Former Browns CEO Joe Banner: "7 Ian Rappaport tweets related to Michael Sam in the last 23 minutes, and there is nothin new. Is it unreasonable for us to expect better. … My comment is not about Michael Sam or liberals, it is about the media obsession with topics that the public may follow, but isn't obsessing."

Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel: "The distractions Michael Sam brings to Cowboys practice squad will be crushing. Predicting the practice squad fails to win a game all year."
 
NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy: "Random sighting in #NFL Seattle #kickoff2014 compound - Mike Holmgren chatting w/ members of Soundgarden."

The city of Las Vegas' official account: "There have been 5,400 seat pledges and 21/34 suite pledges so far for potential MLS team."
 
If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

Telegraph soccer writer Henry Winter posted a series of images meant to show a less-than-fervid fan response to tonight's Norway-England friendly at Wembley Stadium. The box office image was posted with the comment "Not a huge rush." The in-stadium image was accompanied by the comment "Wembley 20 mins from kickoff."

With the start of the NFL season approaching, Mars' Skittles brand launched this spot leveraging Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch's well-known affinity for the candy.

FS1's Andy Roddick will appear on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" at 12:35am ET.

22% – Percentage of those in the U.S. who have moved in the past year that do not currently subscribe to a pay TV service. The figure is up from previous years (Leichtman Research Group).