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Wednesday 4:00pm ET....Latest News....TaylorMade Selling For $425M

  • Adidas Agrees To Sell TaylorMade To Private Equity Firm For $425M
  • NFL Names Riveron, Yurk, Mackie To Key Officiating Roles
  • Big Night For DC Sports As Capitals, Wizards Near Conference Finals
  • T'Wolves, Lynx Reach Deal With AEG Merchandise For Team Retail

Adidas Agrees To Sell TaylorMade To Private Equity Firm For $425M

Adidas "has agreed to sell" TaylorMade Golf to a newly formed affiliate of KPS Capital Partners for $425M. About half of that amount "will be paid in cash, while the remaining portion will be paid in the form of a secured note and contingent considerations." The final sale is "expected to be completed" later this year. This comes nearly a year after Adidas announced it would sell its TaylorMade, Adams and Ashworth brands to "focus on higher-growth opportunities, especially in apparel and shoes" (GOLFWEEK.com, 5/10).

This comes the same week as a formal announcement of TaylorMade's 10-year, $100M endorsement deal with Rory McIlroy.

NFL Names Riveron, Yurk, Mackie To Key Officiating Roles

The NFL today named Alberto Riveron Senior VP/Officiating, the position previously held by Dean Blandino before he left the league last month. Riveron was Senior Dir of Officiating under Blandino. The league also appointed Russell Yurk VP/Instant Replay & Administration and Wayne Mackie VP/Officiating Evaluation & Development. Yurk "will direct the league's instant replay operations" at its N.Y. HQ on game days and "oversee all instant replay-related personnel." Yurk for the past seven years has been an NFL instant replay official (AP, 5/10).

Big Night For DC Sports As Capitals, Wizards Near Conference Finals

Tonight "could be the biggest night for Washington sports fans in at least a decade – and possibly a lot longer than that." The Wizards visit the Celtics for Game 5 of their playoff series, the Capitals host the Penguins in a Game 7 at Verizon Center and the Orioles are playing at Nationals Park. Since '98, no DC pro team has "reached the conference final round" of its league's postseason. But the Capitals tonight "could wipe out that haunting history, while the Wizards could put themselves in prime position to do the same" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 5/9).

T'Wolves, Lynx Reach Deal With AEG Merchandise For Team Retail

The T'Wolves and Lynx today announced a deal with AEG Merchandise to manage all team retail operations. Once Target Center's renovation is complete, the team store in the skyway will be doubled in square footage and a second store will be added in the lower concourse. AEG also will operate the new online store for the T'Wolves starting with the '17-18 season, the Lynx for the '18 season and eventually the organization's new D-League franchise (T'Wolves).

Meanwhile, MainGate this week signed a one-year deal to become the Colts' "official provider of promotional and premium merchandise." Financial terms were not disclosed. The team "did not have an official partner in this category previously." MainGate formerly handled retail and merch for the Colts for seven years "until that deal was handed off to Lids" in '15. MainGate's new deal "doesn't affect Lids' relationship with the Colts" (IBJ.com, 5/10).

PNC Park Hosting Makeup West Virginia-Penn State Baseball Game

Penn State and West Virginia baseball will play tonight at PNC Park in a makeup date for a snowed-out March 22 game in State College, Pa. WVU Senior Associate AD/External Affairs Matt Wells is "aiming for a crowd in the neighborhood of 5,000." The Pirates will "keep ticket sales and merchandise and concession revenue." WVU has "no more responsibilities than they do for a typical road game." Pirates President Frank Coonelly is a PSU alum, and Pirates Owner Bob Nutting's family "has a bond" with WVU and the state of West Virginia (CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL, 5/10).

Tony Gonzalez Joins Fox As NFL Studio Analyst; CBS Adds Lofton

Former NFLer Tony Gonzalez will join Fox Sports as a studio analyst beginning with the '17 season. Gonzalez, formerly with CBS Sports, will appear regularly on "Fox NFL Kickoff," the net's hour-long pregame show airing each Sunday at 11:00am ET.

Meanwhile, CBS Sports named Pro Football HOFer James Lofton an NFL game analyst (THE DAILY).

Speed Reads....

NASL today announced plans for an expansion team to begin play in Orange County, Calif., in '18. Area fast food entrepreneur Pete Capriotti will be the club's majority owner and league board rep (NASL).

BBVA Compass reached a deal making NWSL Houston Dash F Kealia Ohai the bank's newest brand ambassador (BBVA Compass).

Quick Hits....

"I met Chris Pratt. He had a huge effect on me"  – Former MLBer David Ross, suggesting Pratt could play him in the film adaptation of Ross' book, "Teammate," for which Radar Pictures has purchased the movie rights (“GMA,” ABC, 5/10).

“Most importantly, there’s harmony now between a Bills general manager and a Bills head coach, something that has been absent for probably close to a decade now” – ESPN’s Field Yates, on the relationship between Bills coach Sean McDermott and newly hired GM Brandon Beane (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 5/10).

"I realize that assumptions are very dangerous. There's a cliche about 'assuming,' isn't there? It can make Patriots out of you and me" – Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, in his commencement address at Robert Morris Univ. The speech also included a tribute to late Steelers Chair Dan Rooney (Mult., 5/10).

Twitter Me This....

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

The Starting Five....

The most-read stories today on SportsBusinessDaily.com:

1) MLB Cardinals Draw Ire Of Fans, Internet After Promotional Tweet Draws Claims Of Sexism
2) ESPN A Drag On Disney Q2 Financials; Iger Touts Net's Upcoming OTT Service
3) Clause In PGA Tour-FedEx Deal Could Keep Players From Competing In Points Race
4) Clippers To Work Key Sponsor Into Name Of D-League Team Set To Debut Next Season
5) FS1, Fox Lead Way At Sports Emmy Awards, With NBC's Olympic Coverage Also Recognized

Daily Download....

Tonight's episode of IFC's "Brockmire" will feature sports media cameos from Fox' Joe Buck, ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, MLB Network’s Brian Kenny and CBSSports.com's Jonah Keri.

Headliners....

Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
“The Tonight Show” Tina Fey
“The Late Show” Nick Offerman
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” Billy Crudup
“Late Late Show” Betty White
“Late Night”  Zach Woods
“Conan” Rashida Jones
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
Kevin Hart 
David Spade
David Spade
pre-empted for Rio Games
pre-empted for Rio Games
pre-empted for Rio Games
pre-empted for Rio Games
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton

Daily Digit....

17 – Number of D-I NCAA programs "across a variety of sports" that will be ineligible for postseason play in '17-18 because of low Academic Progress Rate scores, "down from 23 last year" (USATODAY.com, 5/10).