Cooperstown officials are "preparing for record-breaking crowds" for Sunday's Baseball HOF induction of Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith. The current record attendance of 82,000 was set in '07, when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were enshrined. This year's class is "expected to draw a loyal fan base from the cities they once played for," many of which are "just a few hours' drive from Cooperstown." The HOF did not provide an official attendance estimate, but one village official said that breaking the '07 mark "is a possibility" (Oneonta DAILY STAR, 7/19).

MLB Network will provide live coverage of the ceremony at 1:30pm ET, preceded by a HOF edition of "MLB Tonight" at 11:00am. The net's Brian Kenny will serve as the on-site emcee. The Athletic's Jayson Stark will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award (THE DAILY).

Rutgers has "signed a new naming-rights deal" with New Jersey-based IT solutions provider SHI Int'l in a multiyear partnership. A source said that the contract is for seven years, starting at $1.25M per year in '19-20 and "increasing by $100,000 annually" to $1.85M in '25-26. Rutgers' deal for SHI Stadium comes "three weeks after its eight-year deal with High Point Solutions expired" (NJ.com, 7/19).

ESPN on Friday told employees that its "no-politics policy is still in place even after Dan Le Batard violated and remained on the air without any known discipline." Sources said that Le Batard and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro have had "several conversations." During the first hour of his Friday show, Le Batard was not on the air. His sidekick, Jon (Stugotz) Weiner, said Le Batard was eating “breakfast.” Le Batard "returned, but never addressed his comments during the final two hours of the program" (N.Y. POST, 7/19). A source said that Le Batard skipping the first hour of the show was "his choice," and was "not because of any disciplinary action from ESPN" (TWITTER.com, 7/19).

Under Armour has "signed NCAA champion distance runner Morgan McDonald to a sponsorship deal, giving it a high-profile endorser in a segment of the sportswear industry long dominated by Nike." McDonald joins a "relatively small group of track and field athletes" sponsored by Under Armour, and becomes one of the athletic brand’s "most high-profile endorsers in the sport." McDonald "wore Under Armour as a collegian," as the company signed a $96M deal in '15 to outfit the Univ. of Wisconsin (BALTIMORE SUN, 7/19).

A heat wave stretching from the Midwest into the Eastern U.S. continues to disrupt sporting events. The New York City Triathlon, originally scheduled for Sunday, has been canceled due to the threat of "extreme heat." This marks the "first cancellation of the triathlon," which was founded in '01. Also, N.Y. Road Runners canceled their 10-mile Marathon Training Series Race, scheduled for Saturday (N.Y. TIMES, 7/19).

The Cubs host the Padres for a three-game series Friday-Sunday, and the forecast calls for a "high that could reach 100 degrees Friday and a heat index" of 109-115. The Cubs said that they will provide cooling stations at Wrigley Field and offer "complimentary water at all concession stands and ice packs in the Fan Services Booth" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/19).

Meanwhile, NBCSN's "NASCAR America" provides a look at how drivers will keep cool during this weekend's races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Roundtable participants from this week's SBJ In-Depth examine how creating pipelines is influencing inclusion in the sports industry. Appearing in the video are Braves exec Adrian Williams, USADA Chair and Olympic legend Edwin Moses, Morehouse College's David Wall Rice and the Hawks/State Farm Arena's Nzinga Shaw. See more video excerpts.

Ally Financial officially announced its multiyear deal to support Charlotte's MLS bid. Ally becomes the founding and lead partner of a potential MLS team there (THE DAILY).

The Athletic's Jonah Keri was released from jail Friday "following an alleged assault on his wife." He "faces four charges including three counts of assault causing bodily harm and uttering death threats" (CTVNEWS.ca, 7/19). The Athletic in a statement said it has "suspended" Keri pending further investigation (TWITTER.com, 7/19).

The AHL Milwaukee Admirals have signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Landmark Credit Union, the "largest credit union in the Milwaukee area" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/19).

"I absolutely love calling Yankees games, but I hate the circumstances it's coming under" -- Yankees fill-in announcer Ryan Ruocco, who is calling games while Michael Kay recovers from vocal-chord surgery (N.Y. POST, 7/19).

"To censor myself, it's BS. I don't think one person is happy about the night game travel. I think it's a complete misjudgement on how they make a schedule. It's absurd" -- Astros RF Josh Reddick, on the team arriving at 5:00am CT in Houston on Friday ahead of a game 14 hours later against the Rangers (CHRON.com, 7/18).

"They are going to have to really think hard about those kinds of partners that they have that have license agreements with territories assigned to them that they can't violate" -- TradeWinds Island Resorts COO Keith Overton, on how Rays sponsors who are tied to the Tampa Bay market will handle the team's Montreal proposal. TradeWinds is a Rays partner (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/19).

A guy at the next table says “supermax” and I eavesdrop for talk about Kemba’s contract but, nope, somebody’s got a cousin in prison

— Tommy Tomlinson (@tommytomlinson) July 19, 2019

Phil needs a fashion consultant he looks like a repairman @TheOpen

— Bill Sutton (@Sutton_ImpactU) July 19, 2019

UM AD Warde Manuel tells me "nothing finalized" on the Michigan football game on "foreign soil"

— angelique (@chengelis) July 19, 2019

SHI Stadium is new name of Rutgers football stadium after company, that is “global provider of technology solutions & products,” signs multi-year naming rights deal. Can’t imagine how many jokes will be made about the letter missing from stadium name

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 19, 2019

And now for some news: With apologies to Pete Carroll, I'm beyond "pumped and jacked'' to announce I've been hired by the Las Vegas Review-Journal @RJ_Sports to serve as their NFL writer, starting Aug. 1. Looking forward to covering the league as the NFL arrives in Las Vegas!

— Don Banks (@DonBanks) July 19, 2019

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

USWNT F Megan Rapinoe will host a skills training session at Charlotte's House of Soccer on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, Rapinoe will be at OZY Fest in N.Y. for a live discussion at noon ET.

The NFL Panthers posted this video of Owner David Tepper belting out the opening notes of "Heartbreak Hotel" at last night's premiere for Amazon's "All Or Nothing" docu-series.

Dave Tepper can sing too pic.twitter.com/9V3DOdo0fS

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) July 19, 2019

World TeamTennis makes its broadcast debut Sunday on CBS with the Philadelphia Freedoms-Vegas Rollers matchup. The broadcast airs at 4:00pm ET. 

1 -- Number of times, in 83 instances, that both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have missed the cut in a major that they both have played. Both will miss the weekend at the Open Championship (“The Open Championship,” Golf Channel, 7/19).