The NFL okayed NBC’s request to use Mike Tirico as the play-by-play announcer for its “Thursday Night Football” productions this season, a change from last season when Al Michaels called almost all of NBC’s Thursday night games. Michaels will remain the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” games and is under contract for multiple years. Cris Collinsworth will be the analyst on both the Thursday night and Sunday night games. “We’re excited to have Mike join Cris for ‘Thursday Night Football,’ giving us two top teams in the booth for TV’s two most watched primetime shows,” an NBC Sports Group spokesperson said.

The NFL’s decision comes as CBS also will use a new broadcast booth on its Thursday night games, with Tony Romo replacing Phil Simms. Last year, the NFL cited its deal that specified that NBC and CBS had to use their top broadcast team on the Thursday night games, which would have meant Michaels and Collinsworth for NBC.

In a statement emailed to THE DAILY, an NFL spokesperson said, “Although there have been a number of changes in the networks’ broadcast booths over the past couple of seasons, our priority, and the priority of our network partners remains the same – produce a high quality, engaging broadcast that our fans love whether its Thursday, Sunday or Monday. For ‘TNF,’ we get that with Mike Tirico, a terrific broadcaster, and Cris Collinsworth at NBC and the new team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo at CBS.”

FIFA today "signed another Chinese sponsor for the World Cup" by agreeing to a six-year deal with smartphone/software maker Vivo. The second-tier sponsorship runs through the '22 World Cup in Qatar. The "value of the deal was not disclosed." Vivo becomes the "third World Cup sponsor signed from China since FIFA President Gianni Infantino took office 15 months ago," joining Wanda and Hisense (AP, 5/31).

Under Armour Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank today said that the company's stock has not "'held to the standard' shareholders have to come to expect." The stock has dropped by 50% over the past year "as the company's growth has slowed." Plank, addressing about 300 shareholders at UA's Baltimore HQ, said, "We want to be clear that we do not accept it and we are not happy about it." The shareholders' meeting "lacked the star power of past years, with no big-name professional athletes in attendance" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/31).

Meanwhile, UA and Warriors G Stephen Curry are “returning to Asia this summer for a third consecutive year, piggybacking off the sportswear maker’s roadshow in China and Japan” a month before with endorser Patriots QB Tom Brady. Curry will “participate in a series of basketball clinics and promotional events during the week-long tour kicking off June 23 in Beijing” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/31).

The Cavaliers this afternoon "introduced new, updated logos" for the '17-18 NBA season. The team "collaborated with Nike on the designs," and new uniforms "will be unveiled later this summer." The popular "C" logo and "wine and gold color scheme remains." A pair of shield logos "will be added to the team's collection as secondary logos, and the font has been revamped." Navy "stays the complimentary color, while black is the new staple to the team's color palette" (WKYC.com, 5/31).

To kick off the marketing campaign for its half of the NASCAR season that starts in a month, NBC Sports tonight is debuting a new spot involving Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s upcoming final race at Daytona Int'l Speedway as a full-time driver. The ad, which features Earnhardt talking about what it will mean to run and potentially win his final race there, will start airing during tonight’s Stanley Cup Final Game 2 on NBCSN. The July 1 Coke Zero 400 at DIS marks NBC Sports’ first race of its half of the Monster Energy Cup Series season.

Eiger Marketing Group today announced that the LPGA and ShopRite’s parent company, Wakefern Food, have agreed to continue the ShopRite LPGA Classic until '23. This year's $1.5M Classic will be held Friday-Sunday on the Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, N.J. Classic Exec Dir Tim Erensen said that he expects the tournament to "soon reach an agreement with Stockton and Seaview officials to continue to hold the event at the resort." As a "result of the new deal, the Classic’s purse will be raised" to $1.75M beginning next year (PRESSOFATLANTICCITY.com, 5/31).

Zebra Technologies has struck a long-term partnership with data and analytics software developer Kinduct to provide a combined player tracking solution to college and pro teams. The joint product will combine Zebra’s RFID tag-based system that tracks info such as player speed and proximity with Kinduct’s Athlete Management System. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the two companies will share revenue on jointly acquired clients. Zebra Technologies VP & GM of Location Solutions Jill Stelfox said the partnership "provides a much deeper and wider view into the athlete" by bringing in more information. Kinduct CEO & Founder Travis McDonough: “What we’ve done with Zebra is put together a seamless merging of our products that we believe will yield new insights.”

Zebra Technologies is the NFL’s official on-field player tracking provider, and this fall is entering its third season of work with that league. The company also works with about a third of NFL teams in practice settings, and has a growing profile among college programs. 

Northwestern Univ. Medill School of Journalism Professor Candy Lee offered three tips for connecting with Generation Z: be tech-savvy, be mindful of content to win attention and be responsive, as the average response time for those in Gen Z is eight seconds. During a two-part presentation at the '17 Intersport Brand Engagement Summit, Lee discussed how the habits of Gen Z compare to those of millennials. Some interesting qualities of people 20 years old and younger that Lee highlighted were diversity – she cited a 50% increase since '00 in youth identifying as multi-racial – an affinity for mobile apps like Snapchat and a love of reading. Lee also pointed out that Gen Z is more conscious of money than millennials.

See a full agenda, and follow all of our social media posts throughout the conference using our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram feeds.

Fanatics today announced via Twitter that it has signed Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott to an exclusive autograph and memorabilia agreement (THE DAILY).

Great Clips will "end its sponsorship" of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne after the '17 season. This leaves Hendrick Motorsports "needing an anchor sponsor" for its No. 5 car for '18 (ESPN.com, 5/31).

NBC Sports Group and USA Swimming have partnered on a media-rights agreement that provides NBC Sports Group with exclusive TV and digital streaming rights through '24 (NBC).

Daily fantasy sports website Boom Fantasy has closed a $2M Series Seed round. In conjunction with the raise, Boom Fantasy has acquired primary assets of market competitor Draftpot (Boom Fantasy).

"I don't, I'm not one of the 500 people" – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, on whether he owns a pair of Big Baller Brand’s ZO2 sneakers ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 5/31).

"Just an awful pace. You’re talking high pitch counts. You could sense that it was a different vibe. Pitching typically controls the pace, and we just had a rough time getting the quick outs. It dragged" – Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, on last night's game against the Dodgers that lasted 3 hours and 55 minutes, marking the lengthiest nine-inning game in the history of the current Busch Stadium (STLTODAY.com, 5/31).

By the way I am keeping the ponytail

— John Clayton (@ClaytonESPN) May 31, 2017

DUI isn't fatal to athlete brands. Michael Phelps has 2. But MP could redeem image w/wins. Tiger must rely on PR. Not his team's strength.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) May 31, 2017

Source: No movement expected this week on in-stadium alcohol this week at SEC meetings

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) May 31, 2017

Congrats to Cubs announcer Pat Hughes, who will inducted into the Irish Sports Hall of Fame June 13 at Foley's Pub and Restaurant in NY.

— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) May 31, 2017

UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt posted this video of some of his training partners (and actor Jason Momoa) performing a traditional Haka dance for Hunt ahead of his June 10 UFC Fight Night headlining bout in his native New Zealand.

$22.4M – Amount of Bundesliga club Wolfsburg's fee to sign D John Anthony Brooks from rival club Hertha Berlin, marking a "record transfer for an American player" in international soccer (AP, 5/31).