The NHL is "ramping up its original programming" in order to "draw in casual fans" as the league today unveils the new series, "The Great One On One With Wayne Gretzky." In the "roughly 10-minute episodes," Gretzky "chats with celebrities, including Jon Hamm, Taylor Kitsch and David Boreanaz." The show will be "available on the NHL's YouTube channel and across social media platforms." The league last month launched "Hockey 101 With Snoop Dogg," in which the rapper "explains hockey terms and traditions in about three-minute episodes on YouTube." Meanwhile, the league released the third season of the "Quest For the Stanley Cup" docuseries on ESPN+ in the U.S. and on YouTube for Canadian viewers (ADWEEK.com, 5/29).

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Serena Williams returned to Grand Slam play today at the French Open, where she "ditched the traditional tennis dress for a body-hugging black Nike catsuit offset by a red waistband." The outfit "turned plenty of heads" at Roland Garros. Reaction was "evenly split with fans celebrating her comeback and her choice of outfit with silvery glitter Nike shoes to match" (THESOUTHAFRICAN.com, 5/29). Williams, playing in her first Grand Slam since she gave birth in September, said the outfit was for "all the moms out there that had a tough pregnancy and had to come back and try to be fierce." She added, "You can't beat a catsuit, right?" ("French Open," Tennis Channel, 5/29).

Subtropical Storm Alberto is disrupting preparations for the U.S. Women's Open in Shoal Creek, Ala. USGA officials as a "preventative measure" originally delayed the opening of the course until noon CT before "ultimately deciding to cancel all practice rounds for day." Spectators with tickets for today "will have them honored for Wednesday." But tomorrow's forecast calls for a 40-60% chance of rain for "almost the entirety of the day." During the four days of competition (Thursday-Sunday), there is the "potential for thunderstorms in the afternoon every day with temperatures expected to reach the 90s all week" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 5/29).

The Bills today named Tailgate Guys the official tailgate provider for the team and New Era Field starting in '18. The deal applies to all Bills home games this coming season. It also marks Tailgate Guys' third NFL partnership to date, joining the Texans and Rams. The company's premium tailgating packages can be reserved on a full-season, multi-game and individual game basis while space is available (Pegula Sports & Entertainment).

USA Swimming will launch a new $20 “flex swim membership” for children and families who are interested in swimming as a competitive sport but not yet prepared for a full-fledged annual membership, which costs $60 plus other fees. The introductory tier will allow a holder to compete in two sanctioned meets per year, insurance and access to members-only content USAS publishes. The cost can be applied later to a full membership. USA Swimming President & CEO Tim Hinchey said the new product is designed to keep swimming competitive with other youth sports and encourage multi-sport participation.

USA Swimming will promote the new membership tier with digital ads and linear ads during the NBC/NBCSN broadcast of the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships July 25-29. Minneapolis-based Colle-McVoy helped develop the campaign.

Our sister publication, The Esports Observer, runs a weekly briefing recapping the week that was in esports. This week: Fortnite gears up for esports with a $100M prize pool, ESL One debuts multiple new sponsors in Birmingham, and the NA LCS is coming to ESPN.  

Towson Univ. has "extended its outfitting and endorsement deal with Under Armour" in a deal that will extend through the '22-23 academic year (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/29).

Herbalife Nutrition has signed Galaxy MF Jonathan dos Santos to a sponsorship deal through the '21 MLS season (Herbalife Nutrition).

HBO Sports is "teaming up with Bill Simmons Media Group for 'Courtside at the NBA Finals,' an unscripted hourlong special" chronicling the Warriors-Cavaliers matchup. The show will premiere Tuesday, June 19 at 9:00pm ET (DEADLINE.com, 5/29).

Boston Uprising, the Overwatch League team owned by the Kraft Group, has signed a deal with Twitch making the streaming platform its exclusive distribution channel for player live streams. Twitch is the already the exclusive third-party distributor of OWL competitions (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer).

"At the end of the day, the league is about money, it's a business. To try to silence those guys when they're trying to do the right thing for our country, I don't know what to say about it" -- Panthers WR Torrey Smith, on the NFL's new anthem policy (ESPN.com, 5/29).

“Our long national nightmare is over. That’s the lengthy drought of living without the wit, wisdom and edge of Keith Olbermann” -- ESPN’s Bob Ley, on Olbermann rejoining the network (“OTL,” ESPN, 5/29).

“I have about one a year, but they’re pretty solid” -- Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw, after NBC's Kathie Lee Gifford noted the team sells 3 million Dodger Dogs per year (“Today with Kathie Lee & Hoda,” NBC, 5/29).

I've accepted a buyout today after the News took away my column. They felt my voice was becoming bad for business. It's been a privilege to cover Buffalo sports for 29 years. I wrote for the readers, who deserved a fair, objective and passionate perspective, even when it stung.

— Jerry Sullivan (@ByJerrySullivan) May 29, 2018

Saban "Being here at the SEC (spring meetings) brings to mind losing commissioner Slive The guy was probably as influential and had impact on cfb and the Southeastern Conference … I think he could articulate it in a way to all of us and all our big egos, we sort of accepted it."

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) May 29, 2018

Team shop at @spectrumcenter will begin selling 2019 @NBA All-Star Game hats and T-shirts today. @hornets will host the All-Stars in February

— Erik Spanberg (@CBJspanberg) May 29, 2018

Note on Pistons continuing front-office search: Shane Battier has withdrawn from consideration for a leading front-office role in Detroit, sources tell ESPN.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) May 29, 2018

Chance, the Golden Knights mascot, delivered “VEGAS BORN” onesies to newborns at Summerlin Hospital this morning. No one’s crying! pic.twitter.com/nuCpJqpdCk

— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) May 29, 2018

IndyCar driver Scott Dixon and team owner Chip Ganassi are featured in this trailer for the upcoming documentary "Born Racer."

15 -- Number of FBS college programs that made the postseason in football, men's basketball and baseball for the '17-18 academic year. The ACC has the most schools in that group with four. The Big 12 "led the way on a per capita basis" with three of its 10 schools (FOOTBALLSCOOP.com, 5/28).