Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg today said that the project that was "intended to result in a new ballpark for the team in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa has fallen apart." Sternberg at the MLB Winter Meetings in Las Vegas added that "no new ballpark will be built and the three-year window granted to the team by the City of St. Petersburg to negotiate for a new ballpark will come to a close without any deal." This comes hours after it was reported that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred sent a "sternly-worded letter to Hillsborough County officials, blasting the framework for the deal for the new stadium in Ybor City, saying it lacked specifics and criticized 'the actual level commitment' from the public side" (NBCSPORTS.com, 12/11).

The city of Oakland today in federal court "filed a lawsuit challenging the relocation of the Raiders" to Las Vegas. The "long-awaited suit does not ask for the team to remain in Oakland, but seeks monetary damages for the 'illegal move.'” Defendants "include the NFL and each of the 32 teams." The city said that they "colluded together as an 'illegal cartel' to demand that cities such as Oakland bankroll new stadiums with public funds or else be shut out of the marketplace with team relocations." On top of antitrust violations, the complaint "alleges that the Raiders and NFL breached their contract with the city" (SFCHRONICLE.com, 12/11).

LA '28 CEO Gene Sykes will step down Jan. 1 after three years and return to his position at Goldman Sachs, where he had been a member of the firm’s management committee and co-chair of its global M&A and technology/media/telecom groups. Group Chair & President Casey Wasserman will continue to lead LA '28 for the time being, but the organization does intend to eventually hire a new full-time CEO. Sykes, who has not taken a salary since first joining the bid group in November '15, will remain an adviser and has been asked to join the LA '28 BOD.

Oak View Group named Mortenson the new general contractor for the $850M renovation and modernization of KeyArena, replacing a joint venture between Skanska and AECOM Hunt. The venue will become the new Seattle Center Arena and house an NHL expansion team, the WNBA Seattle Storm and Seattle Univ. OVG construction exec Ken Johnsen announced the change earlier today. Mortenson’s arena work includes the Chase Center in S.F., Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum and renovations of Target Center and Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. OVG also has tapped N.Y.-based architectural firm Rockwell Group to design suite and club levels at the arena. Rockwell joins architect of record Populous on the project.

MLB analyst Pedro Martinez is "re-signing with TBS for its playoff coverage in a multi-year, seven-figure deal." The Baseball HOFer is also "likely to return to MLB Network as well, though a contract has not been worked out yet, according to sources." On his "old TBS/MLBN deals, Martinez was making a little more than a million dollars." He is "expected to receive a substantial raise when both new contracts are completed." Martinez "did not speak with Fox about leaving via free agency," though there were "brief overtures from ESPN." Those talks "never really got off the ground because it was an uncertain fit" (NYPOST.com, 12/11).

The Baseball Writers' Association of America today named The Athletic's Jayson Stark the '19 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which recognizes "meritorious contributions to baseball writing." Stark, who also works as an MLB Network studio analyst, will be feted during HOF weekend in July. Stark is the 70th winner of the Spink Award. This year's runner-up was the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram's Jim Reeves, while the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Patrick Reusse "finished third in the voting" (MLB.com, 12/11). The Washington Post's Thomas Boswell tweeted, "Couldn't happen to a better or more deserving person." N.Y. Times' Tyler Kepner: "I wouldn’t be doing this w/o his inspiration and friendship." ESPN's Buster Olney: "Jayson Stark, Hall of Famer. As it should be" (TWITTER.com, 12/11).

Meanwhile, horse racing broadcaster and NBC Sports mainstay Tom Hammond has been selected to the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor, along with cinematographer Joe Burnham (National Museum of Racing).

The Canadian Olympic Committee today announced that David Shoemaker will be its new CEO & Secretary General, effective Jan. 7. Shoemaker, who spent seven years as NBA China CEO before stepping down earlier this year, replaces Chris Overholt, who left the COC on Sept. 5 (COC). With Beijing hosting the '22 Winter Games, Shoemaker "acknowledged his sports experience in Asia may have been a factor in earning the COC position." The organization's mandates include "preparing athletes for games environments and looking after their needs on the ground during games" (CP, 12/11).

The latest '30 for 30' installment, "42 to 1," debuts on ESPN tonight at 9:00pm ET, recounting Buster Douglas' upset of Mike Tyson in '90. It is a "solid installment" of the documentary series, offering a "thorough and insightful retelling of one of the most unexpected outcomes in sports history." While the fight footage is "pretty remarkable," the rest of the story is "at times a bit flat." The film "could’ve used some additional participation" from Tyson's side (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 12/10). Compared to Tyson's, Douglas' story is "lesser-known and gets a fuller airing in '42 to 1,' which gets its name from the odds on the fight." Much of the film was shot in Columbus, Ohio (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 12/11).

Houston will host the '22 U.S. Bowling Congress Open Championships, which will be the first major event held in a new mixed-use sports facility currently being developed in North Houston. The annual event, which typically is held daily across six months from March-July, attracts around 50,000 bowlers from around the world.

The NHL unveiled the '19 Draft logo, featuring the Vancouver skyline against a mountain backdrop (NHL).

The Steelers have invested in the Pittsburgh Knights, a startup esports organization that fields teams in five second-tier esports titles (THE DAILY).

Usain Bolt has signed on as a global brand ambassador for Xoom, PayPal's international money transfer service. Bolt will also be part of a Xoom marketing campaign later this month in the U.S. and Canada (Xoom).

TSN and RDS have agreed to multiyear renewals to continue to serve as broadcast partners of UFC in Canada (Bell Media).

Oasis Outsourcing will be the title sponsor of the Oasis Championship, the annual PGA Tour Champions event in Boca Raton. A three-year agreement is in place through '21 (PGA Tour Champions).

The latest issue of ESPN The Magazine features gymnast Simone Biles on the cover, labeling her the "most dominant athlete of 2018" (THE DAILY).

"Players have really just started figuring out that this is a business. You have to weigh the upside versus the downside in these decisions" -- Select Sports Group agent Erik Burkhardt, on the rising number of college players skipping bowl games to prepare for the NFL Draft (WSJ.com, 12/11).

“I completely understand when I was getting criticized and there was talk about cleaning house. I completely understood that. You have to win games" -- Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, on the team's 3-5 start (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 12/11).

The Tom Benson logo is now featured on the Saints indoor practice field at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/UhnpZSlGg8

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 11, 2018

Sad news from #Rays: Longtime minor-league field coordinator Jim Hoff passed away unexpectedly on Monday in Tampa. He was 73

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 11, 2018

Just bumped into #TNT crew and said quick hi to Stu Holden. He was with the great @SteveNash but I was too shy to say hi to the great man. I’ll forever regret it,I’m sure.

— Ray Hudson (@RayHudson) December 11, 2018

The San Diego #Padres are aggressive as any team at baseball winter meetings. Executives say they are in and on virtually everybody in trade market

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2018

Bulls just had 1-hour practice. Take that for data!

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 11, 2018

Excited to welcome Malcolm Turner to the Vanderbilt family as our new AD!!! Welcome to a great city and #AnchorDown

— Brandt Snedeker (@BrandtSnedeker) December 11, 2018

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

Golf Films' "27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon" premieres at 8:00pm ET on Golf Channel. 

Raiders RB Marshawn Lynch appears in a series of ads from Common Sense Media in collaboration with Goodby Silverstein & Partners as part of its #DeviceFreeDinner campaign.

20.5 billion -- Number of views for NBA GIFs on GIPHY. The NBA is the first channel to reach 20 billion GIPHY views. It has uploaded about 14,000 GIFs to the site (GIPHY.com, 12/5).