NHL All-Star Weekend ramps up Friday night with the Skills Competition in San Jose, and NBCSN "will showcase puck and player tracking as part of its broadcast," then make it the "centerpiece of a digital-only broadcast of the All-Star 3-on-3 tournament Saturday night." It will be the "first chance for American hockey fans to get an up-close look at the system that could be in place as soon as next season." Features will include "bubbles over players’ heads to skating and shot speed to ice time and even a small trail behind the puck" (AP, 1/23).

After the Skills Competition, Predators D P.K. Subban will host an "All-Star Special" on NBCSN. The hour-long special is "part-talk show taped at the San Jose Improv." Guests will include Jay Leno, IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe and Blue Jackets D Seth Jones. Subban said, "It allows me to have a platform to be able to talk about things that I care about." Starting his own production company -- PeeK Productions -- is "something Subban has wanted to do for a long time" (AP, 1/25).

See SBJ for more on NBC's All-Star coverage plans.

Sunday's Pro Bowl in Orlando "will be shown on four networks: ESPN, ABC, Disney XD and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes," and also will be "available via the ESPN app." ESPN Senior VP/Programming Scott Guglielmino said the NFL "has been great working with us to experiment." He added the goal is to "create more reach, get different audiences exposed to what we're doing." Enhancements to the game coverage include "microphones on the quarterbacks and team captains, cameras on the goal posts and cameras on the refs, an approach ESPN used" in its CFP coverage. Guglielmino:  "Access is a big deal for us. In this environment it’s a little bit easier for the league to provide access" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/24).

Longtime NFL Giants Exec VP & CMO Mike Stevens is resigning, effective Jan. 31. He has been with the team for 13 years. Stevens said he had no immediate plans, beyond watching more of his son’s sports competitions. “I’m truly grateful for my time at the Giants, but I’m excited to seek new opportunities and challenges," he said. "John Mara and Steve Tisch have been great to me and my family, and I greatly appreciate their understanding and support of my decision.’’ Before the Giants, Stevens held marketing jobs with the Redskins, NBA, Ebay and was a consultant for the Women’s United Soccer Association.

A Phoenix group wants to take the $230M deal to renovate Talking Stick Resort Arena to voters. The effort aims to delay or undo the agreement approved by the City Council Wednesday. The group, Common Sense Phoenix, filed paperwork on Friday for two potential ballot measures on the arena deal. Petition Partners has been hired to collect more than 27,000 valid signatures over the next month for the measures to make the ballot. That process could start as soon as Friday. Tim La Sota, an attorney representing Common Sense, said the measures would go on the November '20 ballot unless the Phoenix City Council calls a special election. The city of Phoenix is paying $150M toward the renovations.

La Sota said arena renovations could not be started until voters had a chance to decide the city deal’s fate. The bulk of the arena makeover is scheduled to start in the summer of '20. Suns attorney Jordan Rose said the city deal cannot be taken to voters and she does not expect a delay. “The action of the council was an administrative, non-referrable act and the courts will ultimately decide,” said Rose. She also wants more information on who is bankrolling the arena referendums. “This petition company is not inexpensive, to gather that many signatures someone will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, so this is absolutely not some grassroots effort,” she said.

NBC's Eddie Olczyk is set for an unusual broadcasting double-duty on Saturday, as the NHL All-Star Game and the Pegasus World Cup fall on the same day. On Saturday during the Pegasus broadcast (4:30-6:00pm ET on NBC) Olczyk will join via remote from San Jose, where he will call the NHL All-Star Game in primetime on Saturday (8:00pm on NBC). Friday during the NHL All-Star Skills Competition (9:00pm on NBCSN), Olczyk will offer his insight on the races, and may provide some early horse betting tips. A noted horse racing handicapper, Olczyk has predicted the Kentucky Derby trifecta -- the horses that win, place and show -- two times in the last four years.

The Pegasus World Cup begins on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, and in its third year the event has turned into a "sprawling, raucous affair with star horses from around the globe." Those in attendance can enjoy "DJs spinning tunes in a party pavilion, a concert with Snoop Dogg and Mark Ronson, and opportunities to eat, drink and bet like royalty." The track has lowered general admission this year to $60 (from $75 last year and $100 in '17). Gulfstream wanted to "create a big event to attract a diverse crowd of all ages beyond the cigar-chomping, Racing Form-toting gamblers of yesteryear" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 1/23).

Data from Ticketmaster shows the average price of Super Bowl tickets purchased on the secondary market is $6,477 as of Friday, a $300 decrease since Wednesday morning. The current get-in price is $2,500, about $1,200 lower than the figure as of Monday morning (Preston Bounds, THE DAILY).

The MLBPA reorganized its communications department, promoting Chris Dahl to Dir of Communications and adding longtime baseball writer Jerry Crasnick as Senior Advisor of Player, Agent & Media Relations (MLBPA).

Richmond Raceway has signed North Carolina-based barbecue sauce/rub brand Mike D’s BBQ as a sponsor for its group tailgate area, a reserved space near its Gate 6 entrance that the track sells to groups on race days (Adam Stern THE DAILY).

EA and the NFL announced Bose, New Era Cap and Snickers as official brand sponsors of the "Madden NFL 19" Championship Series (EA).

"You've even got Junior here, bloody hell, that's pretty big" -- IndyCar driver Scott Dixon, on the effort NBC Sports is putting into its coverage of the Rolex 24 at Daytona Int'l Speedway, including having Dale Earnhardt Jr. on air (TWITTER.com, 1/25).

"The lengths we'll go to convince guys to check their prostates" -- NBC's Al Roker, on suiting up in NHL gear for a prostate cancer awareness PSA in conjunction with the Devils ("Today," NBC, 1/25).

Sen. Cassidy on the Senate floor: "I'd like to bring up the NFC championship game. The state of Louisiana is outraged"

— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 25, 2019

This is looking increasingly like the first Super Bowl in which everyone will be coming to town by train.

— Ray Ratto (@RattoIndy) January 25, 2019

The memorial service for JD Gibbs was something that would make him proud: Incredibly moving, emotional and spiritual with some laughs, some tears and an uplifting message based on a strong foundation of faith.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 25, 2019

"It's like being in 'Game of Thrones.' “ Ronda Rousey says of WWE. “The chick that's playing Daenerys and the chick that's playing Cersei, those actors don't actually hate each other but the more that they can get you invested in it, the more successful 'Game of Thrones' is.”

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 25, 2019

We're ready! We've got (almost) all 17 of our @NBCSports @IMSA @Rolex24Hours commentators together ahead of the race on Saturday at @DISupdates.

Check out @MotorsportsNBC for the latest content - coverage on Saturday begins at 2 p.m. ET on @NBCSN. pic.twitter.com/YnxdBNh5Jn

— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) January 25, 2019

Friday

The Twins kick off their three-day annual fan fest at Target Field at 3:00pm ET.

Saturday

The Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality opens its Super Bowl LIII Champions of Change interactive fan experience at the Georgia World Congress Center.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s online MBA program created this infographic on some of the top athlete endorsement deals in sports. See the full infographic.

1,344 -- Of the Falcons' roughly 60,000 season-ticket holders, the number who are "known to have been guaranteed the right to purchase Super Bowl LIII tickets at face value" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/25).