Ahead of tonight's Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final Game 7, THE DAILY looked at the three previous Game 7s aired by NBC, which took over the rights from ABC following the NHL lockout in '04-05. In '06, NBC drew a 4.1 overnight rating for the Hurricanes' win over the Oilers on a Monday night, down from ABC's last Game 7 broadcast in '04 (5.4). For the Penguins' 2-1 victory over the Red Wings in '09 on a Friday, NBC drew a 4.3. Finally, in '11, the Bruins beat the Canucks 4-0 in Game 7 on a Thursday, drawing a 5.7 for NBC (John Aceti, THE DAILY).

With tonight's game, Doc Emrick will call the 45th NHL Game 7 of his career. Emrick has broadcast more than 3,500 games total, so the fact that he has only called 44 Game 7s "speaks to how rare Game 7s are" (USATODAY.com, 6/12).

For Stanley Cup Final Game 7, Busch Stadium is hosting the One Nation Watch Party tonight in St. Louis, and a "limited number of $20 tickets will be offered." The gates open at 5:30pm CT, with a "limited food and drink menu" available at ballpark concession stands. Proceeds from the event "will benefit Cardinals Care and Blues for Kids charities" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/12). Game 7 "will be shown on the main scoreboard at the ballpark," while the Cardinals' away game against the Marlins "will be on a secondary scoreboard." A Blues watch party at Enterprise Center "sold out within 10 minutes of tickets going on sale Monday" (AP, 6/11). NHL Network plans to utilize MLB Network’s Ballpark Cam inside Busch Stadium, to show footage on “NHL Tonight” from the Blues’ watch party (THE DAILY).

Nationwide Insurance will end its sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports after this year, using an early out clause in its contract as the company goes through several significant changes to its business structure and executive team. This marks a big blow for HMS, as Nationwide had 20 primaries per year on Alex Bowman’s No. 88, which likely took the deal into the eight figures annually. The Ohio-based company will retain a presence in NASCAR -- albeit a much smaller one -- by continuing to run PSAs featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. and hosting partners at select races next year.

After informing NASCAR in ’14 that it would end its title sponsorship of NASCAR’s secondary series after that season, Nationwide joined HMS to become a primary sponsor of the No. 88 driven by Earnhardt starting in '15. The company signed a two-year extension last year through the ’20 Cup season, but that agreement now will end early. Bowman is still signed with HMS through ’20. Nationwide also vacated its role as NASCAR’s official insurance sponsor after '17, being replaced earlier this year by Geico.

The loss is a significant one for HMS, which will need to quickly upsell with current partners and/or get out in the market to try to find a new sponsor with a hefty marketing budget. HMS has been able to overcome such losses before, as evidenced by it replacing Lowe’s last year with a full-season deal with Ally. The team has added or extended 18 partners from the start of ’18 through the early part of ’19. Sponsors that remain on the No. 88 include Axalta, Valvoline and LLumar.

The upcoming merger of SunTrust Bank and BB&T will create Truist Bank, with the new name revealed today. The Braves' ballpark "will still be known as SunTrust Park through the end of this season and possibly next season" before the venue is "rechristened with the Truist name" (AJC.com, 6/12). The Triple-A Int'l League Charlotte Knights have been informed that the name of BB&T Ballpark "will change." Knights COO Dan Rajkowski said that the team "didn't have any other details" (CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.com, 6/12).

Various other sports facilities could be affected, including the NHL Panthers' BB&T Center, Wake Forest football's BB&T Field, the Single-A Carolina League Winston Salem Dash's BB&T Ballpark and the independent Atlantic League High Point Rockers' BB&T Point. BB&T is based in Winston-Salem (THE DAILY).

Immortals Gaming Club has acquired Infinite Esports & Entertainment, parent company of OpTic Gaming and the Houston Outlaws Overwatch League team. Immortals GC has added OpTic "alongside its current Immortals and MIBR brands," as well as the L.A. Valiant OWL franchise. Existing Infinite investors, including MLB Rangers investors Neil Leibman and Ray Davis, "will become IGC shareholders," with Leibman joining the company’s BOD. The deal values Infinite at more than $100M (ESPORTSOBSERVER.com, 6/12). The valuation "includes the purchase price, debt and other liabilities, including franchise fees still owed to the leagues" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/12).

Baltimore officials today "withdrew a lawsuit" against The Stronach Group, owners of Pimlico Race Course, saying that the two sides "had a productive discussion during the Preakness and have 'discussed the resumption of good faith negotiations.'" The city filed the suit against The Stronach Group in March. Lester Davis, a spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, said that the "talks are expected to begin in coming weeks and that the mayor’s 'baseline' for the talks is that the Preakness continue to be held at Pimlico" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 6/12).

Bones Love Milk, a youth-oriented campaign from the California Milk Processor Board, has signed on to sponsor the summer Dew Tour event set to begin tomorrow in Long Beach. Bones Love Milk joins returning sponsors Boost Mobile, Subaru, Frontier Communications, Otterpops and Mtn. Dew, all of which will activate around the three-day competition. Once again, event operator Adventure Sports Network Group has invited a bevy of Southern California endemic skate shops and brands to activate. The Dew Tour stop is the first qualifying event on U.S. soil for skateboarding’s Olympic debut at the '20 Tokyo Games.

Ironman is set to announce a new triathlon event in Tulsa, scheduled for late spring/early summer in '20 (THE DAILY).

Adidas and Little League Baseball & Softball today unveiled the uniform designs for the '19 Little League World Series (Adidas).

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"Teams are not lining up for this. They're not lining up, 'Oh please, pick us, pick us!'" -- ESPN's Tim Hasselbeck, after the Raiders were chosen for this season's "Hard Knocks" ("NFL Live," ESPN, 6/12).

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"He connects and understands what his clients are trying to achieve. He builds incredible personal relationships, and they believe in him. That’s the essence of a good agent" -- Pistons Vice Chair and longtime NBA agent Arn Tellem, on Klutch Sports agent Rich Paul (SI, 6/17 issue).

"I'm definitely against it on the road. You want to rest, rest one of the 41 home games you have, not one of the couple of road games that the fans are going to get a chance to see a player, purchase a ticket and then you show up and all of a sudden the marquee player isn't there” -- ESPN's Jalen Rose, on NBA teams possibly increasing rest for star players in light of Kevin Durant's injury ("Jalen & Jacoby," ESPN2, 6/12).

Just asked Trump about Team USA women's soccer: "Big win," he said.
"Should they get paid the same as the men?"
Trump to me: "We'll talk about that later."

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 12, 2019

Warriors say they have no update on Kevin Durant, moments before Kevin Durant announces his Achilles surgery is over.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 12, 2019

Arsenal have announced they will now play Fiorentina on Saturday, July 20 in Charlotte after Roma had to withdraw from the ICC due to their Europa League qualifying commitments.

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) June 12, 2019

Longtime Charlotte 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose will be one of eight AD's inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) at NACDA's 54th Annual Convention at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Fla., June 12.

— Steve Reed (@SteveReedAP) June 12, 2019

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

Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York, 80 years ago today: pic.twitter.com/pa4dKBKkOu

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) June 12, 2019

In this video from USA Today Sports, golfer Adam Scott provides some insight into what to expect at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open, which gets underway tomorrow. Scott also gets in a plug for sponsor Uniqlo.

1.53 million -- Daily users of "Golf Clash," the No. 1-ranked sports mobile game on iOS and Google Play. The game is developed by Playdemic and published by Warner Bors. Interactive Entertainment (THE DAILY).