The NFLPA Exec Committee is expected today to recommend approval of a new CBA, paving the way for the end of the four-and-a-half-month long NFL lockout. The NFLPA is expected to follow the recommendation with a press conference at its headquarters in DC. The board of player reps would still have to vote, and the PA reconstitute as a union by the end of the week (Dan Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal). The two sides reportedly "came to an agreement on terms in the wee hours of Monday morning," and the PA's approval "appears a formality" (FOXSPORTS.com, 7/25).

The 32 player reps have an 11:00am ET conference call scheduled to approve the 10-year deal, and the PA is "hoping for a unanimous vote." Sources said that "chances are very good that the deal will include an opt-out for both sides, not just the players" (SI.com, 7/25). A late request by players to have an opt-out clause at the seven-year mark in the CBA was the "last loose end to be settled before a vote could be taken" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/25). There is "a chance" the PA's deliberations "could spill over into tomorrow" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/25).

Sources said that "team facilities will open as early as Tuesday and training camps will begin Wednesday for 10 teams, Thursday for 10 teams, Friday for another 10 teams and the remaining 2 on Sunday" (FOXSPORTS.com, 7/25). The N.Y. Times' Judy Battista tweeted this morning, "NFL teams can sign draft picks & rookie FA starting Tues., and can begin negotiating with FA then. Full free agency starts 6 p.m. Friday" (TWITTER.com, 7/25). Saints QB Drew Brees yesterday in an e-mail to teammates "laid out a timeline for an extremely fast start to the 2011 season" (NOLA.com, 7/24).

The NBA late Friday released results of its '10-11 season audit of basketball-related income that showed a 4.8% increase in BRI this past season to $3.817B, compared to $3.643B in the '09-10 season. The league also announced that total player compensation also grew by 4.8% to $2.176B from $2.076B during the '09-10 season, the sixth consecutive season of salary increases. The average player salary was $5.15M this past season, and salaries grew by an average of 16% over the six-year period of the previous CBA. The audit results comes as the league enters the fourth week of its lockout. The league did not comment on its release of the financials.

KeyArena on Saturday hosted the H2O6 Charity Basketball Classic, the "first NBA-sanctioned game in Seattle since the Sonics left" in '08. The crowd of 5,070 for the 2½-hour exhibition was "smaller than expected," and a "handful of local players who were slated to play" did not. The game "pitted Seattle-area NBA standouts against various players from the league." Also, a five-person panel that included T'Wolves F Martell Webster "discussed the chance of an NBA team returning to Seattle." Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sat courtside (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/24).

Meanwhile, a group of NBA stars including Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and NBPA President Derek Fisher played two exhibition games this weekend in the Philippines, drawing sellout crowds at the Araneta Coliseum. A source said that the "exhibition agreement calls for a return trip to the Philippines in August" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/24). The PHILIPPINE STAR's Nelson Beltran writes of the NBA players, "everywhere they went, they were mobbed like the pope."

The Yankees beginning today are holding their third annual Hope Week community event. The initiative, which runs through Friday, is the "brainchild" of team Dir of Media Relations Jason Zillo, who said, "It's the third year now, and it's grown some roots." Zillo: "You're gonna see our guys on Broadway, helping out as best they can, a musical performance." Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Curtis Granderson, Phil Hughes and others will appear tomorrow to "honor a special group of honorees as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 nears" (N.Y. POST, 7/24).

NBC's "Today" show this morning aired a live Hope Week segment featuring Yankees 2B Robinson Cano, SS Derek Jeter and P CC Sabathia. Jeter: “’Hope Week’ for us as an organization is a very fun time. As athletes, we have a platform, and we use that platform to impact lives in a positive way.” Jeter added, “You can give money, but I think giving your time is something that makes it a lot more worthwhile.” NBC’s Lester Holt hold told Cano, “This was a Yankees thing for awhile, but now it’s spreading to other teams who are starting to embrace this. Do you hope this to become a league-wide effort?” Cano: “Now the Minnesota Twins are doing it, so I hope more teams can join us every year” (“Today,” NBC, 7/25).

ACC Commissioner John Swofford, saying that college athletics has reached a crossroads, joined the chorus of administrators calling for reform Sunday during his address to the media at ACC Kickoff in Pinehurst, N.C. Swofford said he supported a restructuring of the NCAA enforcement process and increasing the value of the grant-in-aid to cover the full cost of education for all student-athletes on scholarship. “We’re at a tipping point right now,” Swofford said. “We’ve got to adjust in a progressive way to the times we live in.”

Swofford echoed many of the points made by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive last week. Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe addresses the media later this week, as does the Big Ten’s Jim Delany. They are expected to back up Swofford and Slive. “If we’re going to have any chance to make significant change, it’s critical that the commissioners, the conferences and ultimately the presidents are in lockstep,” Swofford said. “If we’re not, it will be very difficult to move any kind of significant agenda forward.”

The WPS Boston Breakers last night drew a season-high crowd of 6,222, "more than 2,000 above their average attendance," to Harvard Stadium for their game against the Western New York Flash, whose roster includes Alex Morgan and Marta. It was the Breakers' first game since the FIFA Women's World Cup ended. Breakers officials "are expecting a crowd near 10,000" for an Aug. 6 game against magicJack, whose roster features Hope Solo and Abby Wambach (BOSTON HERALD, 7/25). The Atlanta Beat drew a sellout crowd of 8,306 for Saturday's game against magicJack. A pregame celebration "honored all of the World Cup players" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/24).

FRS runs a full-page ad for its nutrition products in this morning's USA Today featuring U.S. D Christie Rampone (THE DAILY).

This past weekend featured a slate of four Herbalife World Football Challenge matches throughout the U.S. and Canada, led by the Manchester United-MLS Fire game on Saturday at Soldier Field, which drew a sellout crowd of 61,308. The attendance was "the largest ever to witness a Fire game and the most to view international soccer since new Soldier Field opened" in '03. ManU defeated the Fire 3-1 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/24).

A crowd of 57,305 attended Saturday's Real Madrid-MLS Philadelphia Union match at Lincoln Financial Field. Real Madrid bested the Union 2-1 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/24).

A crowd of 24,897 attended Sunday's Manchester City-MLS Galaxy match at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Manchester City defeated the Galaxy on penalty kicks after regulation ended in a 1-1 tie (L.A. TIMES, 7/25).

A "rain-soaked crowd" of 10,028 attended Saturday's Sporting Club Portugal-Juventus match at BMO Field in Toronto. Sporting defeated Juventus 2-1 (CP, 7/23).

An estimated crowd of 17,500 fans and 47 returning Baseball HOFers attended the HOF induction ceremony for Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven and Pat Gillick on a "steamy Sunday afternoon at the Clark Sports Center" in Cooperstown, N.Y. (Oneonta DAILY STAR, 7/25). With Alomar hailing from Puerto Rico, Blyleven from the Netherlands and Gillick having worked as GM for the Blue Jays, the ceremony "presented baseball at its multicultural best" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/25).

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE's Jim Souhan writes Blyleven delivered a "rare" induction speech that "unearthed new stories and bared raw emotions."

The Packers on Thursday will hold their annual shareholders meeting, and with NFL labor issues "reportedly nearing resolution," the event "should provide some opportunity for reveling." It will include a financial report, committee reports and a football report, normally given by GM Ted Thompson. Also, shareholders will elect 16 members to the 45-member BOD. A "special offering" will be 10 minutes of highlights from "Lombardi: A Reading by the Broadway Cast."

Also, team officials on Tuesday will discuss the past year's financial results. This is occurring "later than usual" due to the lockout "and the need for Packers officials to attend various meetings around the country" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 7/24).

adidas has announced that the official soccer ball for the '12 London Olympics will be called "The Albert," which was the winning submittion from a public poll. The word "ball" is a "cockney rhyming slang" term for iconic London venue Albert Hall (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 7/25).

A crowd of 52,670 "sun-baked fans" attended Sunday's MotoGP Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Sunday's crowd brought the attendance for the three-day event to 136,825, up from 116,000 in '10 (Monterey County HERALD, 7/25).

A crowd of 25,155 attended Friday's opener of the 143rd season at Saratoga Race Course despite temperatures in the mid-90s. The attendance was up 8.5% from last year's opening day. Friday's attendance was "on par with the 25,444 who showed up in 2009" (DRF.com, 7/22).

A crowd of 12,540 attended Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game at AT&T Center in San Antonio (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 7/24).

A crowd of 7,209 attended the Amir Khan-Zab Judah WBA championship bout Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 7/24).

"When people tell you to your face that you have got their vote, you want to believe them. Then the vote happened and you start to think, 'This is a little weird.' It just felt unfair. I've nothing against the countries who have got the bids, but it did feel unfair for us" – MLS Galaxy MF David Beckham, on England's bid to host the '18 FIFA World Cup receiving only two votes (LONDON TIMES, 7/25).

"I am very impressed with what Octane did in its first year. Their professionalism gets a '9'" – IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, on the Octane Motorsports Events group, which organized and hosted this past weekend's Edmonton Indy at City Centre Airport (EDMONTON SUN, 7/24).

Twins President Dave St. Peter: “Last night's Twins bash in Cooperstown was great. Selig, Carew, Molitor, Kaat, Oliva among the group on hand to pay tribute to Mr. Blyleven.”

Browns LB Scott Fujita: “Shame on whoever leaked the emails of Drew Brees, & shame on the ‘media’ who published what was clearly a private email to one's teammates.”

Manchester United D Rio Ferdinand: “Soldier field was a 60k SELL OUT 2day....the people in states are really starting to get serious with their football!”

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst: “If you plan to follow NBA (gulp, if there is one) into the future, learn the name Nick Arison.”

AP’s Brian Mahoney: “Best I can tell, winners in NBA lockout so far are WNBA 15th anniversary and Besiktas coach. Both getting more attention than deserved.”

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

The MLB Giants will meet with President Obama during their visit to the White House to celebrate the team's World Series victory.

The Big 12 Conference will begin its two-day football media sessions in Dallas.

See a full list of events in THE DAILY’s week ahead.

Friday night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Famous Americans.”

“In 1909 he sent the message ‘Stars and stripes nailed to the pole.’”

CBS' "Late Show" aired a rerun on Friday.

NBC’s Jay Leno: “Officials in London have fined President Obama $193 for not paying a $16 traffic fee he owed after his last visit. How scared does that make the Chinese, huh? We can't pay England 16 bucks? How are we going to pay them the $14 trillion we owe them? … This is not looking good: President Obama got pretty emotional earlier tonight. He could not work out a deal. Republicans walked out. In less than two weeks, the U.S. government defaults and the Federal Reserve announced it is now working on a plan to determine who gets paid first. I think we all agree. I don't care who gets paid first, just so Congress gets paid last. … And still no agreement on the NFL dispute. At least the football players have an excuse. They suffer from multiple concussions. I mean, what's the politicians' excuse? Okay, they don't have a backbone. But that shouldn't matter. … Actually, an NFL settlement, I understand, is very close. Negotiators say they are on the one-yard line. Let's just hope there aren't any Carolina Panthers involved. This could take forever. … The TSA has announced that new software for screening machines in airports will no longer show the passengers' naked image. However, they will keep the candles and the mood lighting for the patdowns. … In sports news this week, the Dodgers fired their hitting instructor, Jeff Pentland. You know I think Pentland's better off. At least his unemployment check won't bounce, at least not for another two weeks anyway. … Earlier this week, Paris Hilton stormed out of an interview with ‘Good Morning America.’ Can you believe that? People are still interviewing Paris Hilton? … Hey, let me tell you: Don't underestimate this Paris Hilton. Not only did she walk out, she was chewing gum at the same time” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 7/22).

“Who was Robert Peary?”