Detroit officials "kicked off a flashy media event" today to "hype up Detroiters" for the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft set to take place in the city from April 25-27. Visitors "can expect a plethora of free experiences and events." The Detroit Experience initiative "will involve a neighborhood engagement program" with multiple pre-NFL Draft events at city parks and recreational facilities. Several businesses within the Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance and Detroit Economic Growth Corporation "will be involved in business opportunities" for the event. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that programs including "football clinics and flag football competitions for youth, along with tailgating are expected." Detroit will see "some infrastructure upgrades" leading up to the draft, and "security will be heightened" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/27).

Duggan was one of several event organizers to speak at today's "planning update" event, and he said that the 2024 NFL Draft "has the chance to leave a bigger imprint than the Super Bowl XL made in Detroit in 2006." There are "still many details to be ironed out," such as the "actual layout of the draft stage and the surrounding area." More details on that are "expected to emerge in the new year," according to event co-chair and Visit Detroit President & CEO Claude Molinari (DETROIT NEWS, 11/27).

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The host television market was dialed in for the inaugural F1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Vegas area led all local markets with a 7.4 television rating, while L.A.-- the nation’s No. 2 media market -- came in No. 2 with a 1.5. The local figure in Vegas was double what the inaugural Miami Grand Prix drew on ABC in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale TV market in May 2022 (3.7). That race was in a normal Sunday afternoon window. Nine of the top 10 markets for the Vegas race were in the Western half of the U.S., with only the racing-mad hotbed of Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. making the list from the Eastern side of America.

The event started at 1am ET, a controversial move that was not well-received among some racing fans on the East Coast. Despite the unprecedented start time, ESPN scored an average of 1.3 million viewers for the race, which was the third-largest race of the season on cable and sixth largest overall. This was the first U.S. F1 race to not air on ABC since ESPN picked rights back up to the series in 2018. ESPN said that 668,000 of the viewers were in the coveted 18-49 demo. For qualifying, which aired at 3am, an average of 626,000 viewers tuned in.

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The Padres' plans to honor late Chair Peter Seidler in 2024 include "a public celebration of life at Petco Park during the weekend of March 22, a patch that will be worn on Padres jerseys and a legacy fund aimed at impacting charitable projects that align with bettering the city." The plans were announced in conjunction with Seidler's family. All donations made to the Peter Seidler Legacy Fund up to $1M will be "matched by Padres foundation, Padres players, Padres ownership and the Seidler family." The date and time of the celebration of life as well as the design of the jersey patch will be announced at a later time (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 11/27).

The Orioles and the state of Maryland are "considering separating out the complex -- and potentially contentious -- issue of stadium-area development rights and proceeding for now with a scaled-down lease binding the team to Baltimore for the long term." Such an approach would represent a "pivot from a nonbinding memorandum of understanding the parties signed Sept. 27 calling for not only keeping the team at Camden Yards for at least 30 more years, but granting the Orioles rights to develop land around Camden Yards." The new proposal comes as the team's lease is "expiring in five weeks." However, talks remain "fluid" and "no decision has been made on the proposal" (BALTIMORE SUN, 11/27).

IndyCar driver Alex Palou conceded in court documents that he "breached his contract with McLaren Racing" when he did an "about-face and stayed at Chip Ganassi Racing." The admission came in Palou’s response to a lawsuit filed against him by McLaren in September seeking to recoup at least $23M in "losses the team calculated Palou’s reversal cost the organization." Palou In the response said that he "changed his mind about joining McLaren ahead of the 2024 season when he 'lost trust and confidence that (McLaren) genuinely intended to support his ambition to race'" in F1. Palou “therefore admits that he renounced his contractual obligations” with McLaren and “the real issue between the parties is as to the quantum of any damages which the Defendants are liable to pay" (AP, 11/27).

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Leveraging its in-house media resources and the vision of team owner Ryan Smith, the Jazz released the first teaser of its upcoming docuseries on the 50-year journey of the franchise. Co-produced by Smith Entertainment Group and directed by Rashad Floyd of Heart & Hustle Productions, the film encompasses the team’s debut as the New Orleans Jazz in 1973 with star guard Pete Maravich, its eventual move to Utah, its championship run with Karl Malone and John Stockton and its current role in the Salt Lake City community. 

Titled “Note Worthy: 50 Seasons of Jazz Basketball,’’ the full docuseries will air in the spring of 2024 on the team’s direct-to-consumer app Jazz+, its proprietary 50th season webpage, YouTube and other Jazz digital outlets. Smith -- a Salt Lake City native who tells stories of sneaking into Jazz games as a child -- created Jazz+ and negotiated a free-over-the-air broadcast deal this season with Sinclair’s KJZZ with the intent of creating original content to accompany game broadcasts. 

“What we're really excited about is showing our fans content that they never see,’’ Smith told SBJ earlier this year. “Like, there's 18,000 cameras per se on our team every day. And this is a chance for us to be able to show and tell some stories in a different way…It’s being self reliant and betting on yourself.’’ 

The team released its first trailer today in conjunction with its first “Decade Night’’ of the season, celebrating Jazz teams of decades past. Five more trailers will be released in the coming months. 

The Jazz declined to share the cost of the project. The team said in a statement: "We anticipate each teaser and the resulting documentary will increase our following and engagement with fans across our digital platforms, help drive more Jazz+ subscriptions, and support an increase in residual benefits to the business.''

TV ad performance measurement firm EDO, Inc. President & CEO Kevin Krim discussed Amazon’s broadcast of Dolphins-Jets on Black Friday, noting the ratings “were quite good from Nielsen and then EDO’s data showed that the ad performance was also quite strong.” Krim added for advertisers, “there were a lot of QR codes, there were more retail ads than normal for Amazon’s first Black Friday NFL broadcast.” Krim: “A lot of what Amazon was experimenting with was at the beginning and the pregame where they did some very innovative things. They had one of their talent, Ryan Fitzpatrick, ... had to hit a certain number of passes to unlock a 30% discount on this Lego ‘Harry Potter’ castle and he did it, of course. There were those kinds of things that really marked a different kind of broadcast.” Krim said the ad time is “expensive, but it’s worth it” and there has been a “real synergistic relationship between the NFL and Amazon.” He added Amazon is “showing the NFL new things and the NFL is willing to try new things with new partners” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 11/27).

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron is "under pressure to finally tear up an agreement with Europe amid intensifying anger" that about $2.95B from the sale of Chelsea is "still in limbo after 18 months." Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich first promised proceeds for “all Ukraine war victims” after putting Chelsea up for sale on March 2 last year. However, the fund has "remained untouched in a frozen account since the club’s sale," in part because of "bureaucratic quagmire" between the U.K. government and Europe. U.K. ministers signed a "unilateral declaration in May with the European Commission stating the money would be spent 'exclusively' within Ukraine." The license granted by the U.K. government setting out the "next stage in this process expires on Nov 30" (London TELEGRAPH, 11/27).

Conference USA is "expected to add Delaware" as its 11th member for the 2025-26 season as the school makes the transition from FCS to FBS. Sources said that the sides "have been in talks and a decision is expected to be formalized in the coming days" (ESPN.com, 11/27).

All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan has revealed that they "agreed to speed up their set up at Wembley Stadium for next year's All In pay-per-view to accommodate more Taylor Swift shows" (London DAILY MAIL, 11/27).

Borislav Mihaylov, the president of the Bulgarian soccer federation and a former member of the national team, resigned today "following mass protests against him." A new president "will be elected at a federation congress next year." Several thousand soccer fans "had taken to the streets" in recent weeks to demand his resignation (AP, 11/27).

Nicole Livingstone "will step down" as the Australian Football League GM/Women's Football after this weekend’s AFLW grand final. Livingstone spent seven seasons in the role (BRISBANE TIMES, 11/27).

The Australian PGA Championship "will remain in Brisbane," with 2032 Olympic Games venue Royal Queensland set to again host next year’s tournament from Nov. 21-24 (Brisbane COURIER MAIL, 11/27).

More:

• Why Paris 2024 organizers are worried about geopolitics creeping into the Olympics.
• Why cricket and rugby are missing trick by clamping down on YouTubers.

"It makes it really hard for fans to have to keep learning all of these new faces and these new people, and the LPGA really needs one breakout superstar to get out of this niche of women’s golf and into the mainstream sports media, and if they fail to win consecutively and build on the momentum it really holds the Tour back” -- Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, on many of the LPGA’s better known players not winning titles this season (“Golf Today,” Golf Channel, 11/27).

“They have to play in Oakland this year. That’s going to be a rough situation. Only the diehards are going to come, the owner’s going to get pounded, nothing they can do. The stadium isn’t ready, they’ve got another year on the lease, but that makes for an aptly disastrous scenario. The owner’s not going to spend any money and team is going to win 50 games again. Better days are ahead” -- MLB Network’s Chris Russo, on where the A’s will play until their Las Vegas ballpark is built (“High Heat,” MLB Network, 11/27).

Toyota has a new body for 2024 Cup car to match the passenger 2025 Toyota Camry XSE. Here are some images. Bell and Jones should have new body style for Phoenix test next week. pic.twitter.com/JMfR4VPFny

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 27, 2023

Very important news: The @PopTartsBowl will have the first-ever edible mascot.

Per the bowl, when the final whistle blows, the winning team will celebrate by taking a bite of the giant pastry mascot. pic.twitter.com/obie6w1qrM

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) November 27, 2023

Due to new NFL rules, the Panthers cannot interview in-person a head-coaching candidate currently employed by another team until after the divisional round of the playoffs (week of Jan. 22).

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) November 27, 2023

Athing Mu was joined by fellow U.S. track & field athletes Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall at Sunday Night Football's Ravens vs. Chargers game in Los Angeles. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/42KEwoYRb9

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) November 27, 2023

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Per @ScrapDaddyAP, the FIRST HOUR of #WWERaw TONIGHT will be completely COMMERCIAL-FREE!

📺 8/7c on @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/h1GpB5oy1Y

— WWE (@WWE) November 27, 2023

NBC's TODAY profiles a group of Baltimore firefighters that is keeping a tradition alive as volunteers for the Ravens franchise.

59 million -- Peak number of concurrent viewers on streaming service Disney Hotstar for Australia's upset win over India in the Cricket World Cup (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/27 issue).