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FIFA is "investigating why there were so many empty seats" at Friday's Uruguay-Egypt World Cup match. Large sections of Ekaterinburg Arena were unoccupied, "sparking criticism on social media." FIFA said that the match "had been near a sellout and announced it." A spokesperson said 32,278 tickets had been "allocated for the match," and the "stadium capacity is 33,061." FIFA estimated there were 6,000 "empty seats at the game in total, blaming 5,200 of them on no-shows" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 6/18). The "last World Cup match with a smaller crowd" was Paraguay-Slovenia in South Africa in '10, according to FIFA records. In Brazil in '14, "no game had fewer than 37,000 people in the crowd" (AP, 6/18).

MLB will make several league-wide efforts on Father's Day in an attempt to raise awareness about prostate cancer and raise funds to fight the disease. During games Sunday, players and on-field personnel will wear blue ribbons on their uniforms along with blue wristbands. Players also will wear specifically-designed caps -- light blue with a team-colored brim -- to raise awareness. Players have the option to wear multi-pattern, blue-dyed socks as well as a hooded fleece. MLB will donate all proceeds from sales of the caps and apparel to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer (MLB).

The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco on Saturday will host its first boxing card, headlined by an Errol Spence Jr.-Carlos Ocampo welterweight bout that will also air on Showtime. The fight could see Spence "take the next step in his career." If he "can show promoters he can attract crowds and big TV ratings, he can secure a greater split of a purse," as well as "dictate more favorable terms of his fights." Saturday also "marks Spence's debut as a co-promoter," and his company, Man Down Promotions, "has a part in making sure the Ford Center isn't empty" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/15).

The Broncos and Denver-based KUSA-NBC have signed a "long-term partnership for the coming seasons" that includes "preseason game broadcasts, an array of weekly shows and insider content." During all four preseason games this fall on KUSA sister station KTVD-MYT, ESPN's Steve Levy "will call the play-by-play" and former Broncos QB Brian Griese "will provide color commentary." The station also will "continue to air four exclusive weekly shows" during the season: "Broncos Huddle," "Broncos Sideline Stories with Jim Saccomano," "Broncos Game Day Live" and "Broncos Tonight" (9NEWS.com, 6/18).

San Jose-based KNTV-NBC on Friday debuts "Champions of Baseball," a new documentary that is part of the station's "Bay Area Revelations" series. Airing after the Giants-Dodgers night game, the hourlong special "recalls milestone moments that defined Bay Area baseball over the years." The program "mainly relies on vintage footage and interviews with past and present baseball greats representing both" the Giants and A’s. Among those interviewed are Barry Bonds, Madison Bumgarner, Jose Canseco, Bruce Bochy and HOFers Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and Rollie Fingers (MERCURYNEWS.com, 6/15).

bears

The Bears unveiled new orange jerseys, which the team will wear during their Oct. 14 away game against the Dolphins and Nov. 18 home game against the Vikings (Bears).

Former White Sox players Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski will be "making appearances in the broadcast booth" this season with retiring game analyst Hawk Harrelson. Thomas will join Harrelson and play-by-play broadcaster Steve Stone on WGN for Sunday's home game against the Tigers (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 6/15).

The Jets on Tuesday will debut a Facebook Watch docu-series from Jets 360  Productions titled, "One Jets Drive: The Road To Training Camp." The six episodes will post every Tuesday through July 24, offering an inside look at the seven months between the end of the '17 season and the start of camp (Jets).

"When you win you put butts in the seats. If you can average 40,000 for football instead of 31,000 and 7,000 for basketball instead of 3,000, you’d be surprised at what you can bring in" -- Rockets Owner and Univ. of Houston BOD Chair Tilman Fertitta, on helping the UH athletic department's bottom line (HOUSTONCHRONICLE.com, 6/15).

"If we have more returns and less concussions then the kickoff is here to stay, maybe forever" -- Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira, on the league's new kickoff rules and the impact they will have on player concussions (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 6/15).

Fargo-Duluth-Moorhead Fox stations are opting out of carrying Morocco-Iran. Airing "2 Broke Girls" instead.

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 15, 2018

Many reasons behind MLB attendance dip: more regulations on secondary market, weather, in-home TV exp, etc. But four AL teams have 97%+ playoff odds per @fangraphs ... Nine AL clubs have 5% odds or worse

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) June 15, 2018

My big question at this moment is how these announcers are going
to keep Tiger in the hunt after he misses the cut.

— Dan Jenkins (@danjenkinsgd) June 15, 2018

This Funny Or Die video features broadcasting greats Bob Costas, Brent Musburger, Kenny Mayne and Charley Steiner going to bat for Jim Brockmire -- the fictional title character of the IFC series -- to win an Emmy.

Sunday

ABC' "Celebrity Family Feud" at 8:00pm ET will feature a team of analysts from TNT's "Inside The NBA" taking on baseball and softball stars from "Team MLB." Another showdown will feature former NFLer Rashad Jennings and rapper Eve as team captains.

1,600 -- Approximate attendance for last year's inaugural Equestricon horse-racing convention in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The October event moves to Louisville this year, and Equestricon co-founder Dan Tordjman said that organizers hope to "double or even triple last year's attendance" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/15).