Sources said that William Morris Endeavor’s $2.375B acquisition of IMG is expected to be finalized today. The deal was supposed to close last week but some minor issues pushed the closing into this week. In anticipation of WME taking control of the company, IMG Chair & CEO Mike Dolan this morning sent an email to IMG employees thanking them for the work and congratulating them on all that they had accomplished. Dolan wrote, "As I look back today, I am convinced that both Teddy (Forstmann) and Mark (McCormack) would be delighted with our achievements. …Earnings soared from $80 million in 2009 to over $190 million for 2013. … None of this could have been accomplished without the dedication, hard work, creativity, and pursuit of excellence by each and every one of you around the globe. It is your dedication to the values of Mark and Teddy and to their legacies that made this all possible.”

Dolan is not expected to stay on with the company after WME co-CEOs Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell assume control. Dolan said that he expects IMG “to continue to grow and prosper” under their leadership. He wrote, “I have tremendous personal admiration for Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell of WME and I wish them great success. I hope they have as much fun running our business as I have.” Dolan joined IMG as CFO in ‘10 after years at Viacom, Y&R and PepsiCo. He was named Chair & CEO after Forstmann was diagnosed with brain cancer.

The Big Ten today will hold a press conference at Verizon Center, where it is expected to announce that the conference’s men's basketball tournament “will move to D.C. for at least one season, in 2017.” The postseason conference, which began in ’98, “has only been held in Chicago or Indianapolis.” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany has been “very public about his efforts to expand the conference’s exposure Eastward” (STARTRIBUNE.com, 5/5).

The NHRA has signed a 10-year deal for Sunoco to become the official racing fuel of the drag-racing circuit in ’15. Sunoco will also be the exclusive on-site gasoline and nitromethane supplier at all NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series national events. Activation of the sponsorship will include a package of TV spots, digital ads, on-site branding and NHRA-themed consumer and retail promotions (NHRA).

The NBA and Jabong today announced the launch of the first official NBA online store in India. NBAStore.in will complement the league’s partnership with adidas, which already offers NBA products in more than 200 stores in the country. The India store marks the NBA’s fifth int’l online store since ’12 (NBA).

U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn is the latest athlete to get an equity position in Hyperice, which markets an ice compression device for healing muscles. The company plans to announce the news on tomorrow. Vonn joins Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, Clippers F Blake Griffin, U.S. women's soccer team G Hope Solo, Steelers S Troy Polamalu and NBA Kings F Rudy Gay as endorsers. Each received equity in lieu of cash payment.

The Champions Tour Constellation Senior Players Championship has “found a new home” for ’15 after its three-year run at the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh ends next month. The tournament will move to Belmont Country Club in Boston next year “with the possibility it could return to Fox Chapel” in ’17. The event is moving because it does not “want to compete for corporate sponsorship” with the ’16 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club (POST-GAZETTE.com, 5/5).

Little Brown and Co. today officially released “Michael Jordan: The Life,” a “comprehensive biography” of Bobcats Owner Michael Jordan from author Roland Lazenby. The book, which is nearly 700 pages, is “the most definitive” book on Jordan “since he retired from basketball for the last time" in '03. Lazenby’s book does not uncover any new revelations, but attempts to “explain what led to Jordan becoming his generation’s Babe Ruth” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/2).

The Colts this morning will make approximately 2,000 season tickets available for the '14 season after about 95% of the team's season-ticket holders renewed their seats. The team has "a season-ticket waiting list of approximately 7,000" (INDYSTAR.com, 5/5).

The Jaguars announced the "official unveiling of the EverBank Field video boards will take place" on July 26. The day's festivities will include a DC United-Fulham friendly and a Carrie Underwood concert (JACKSONVILLE.com, 5/5).
 
Sony has selected Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie to appear on the Canadian cover of its "MLB 14: The Show" video game, which was released today. Blue Jays LF Jose Bautista has appeared on the Canadian cover of the game the past two years (QMI AGENCY, 5/5).

The Flames announced that the AHL BOG has approved the relocation of the Abbotsford Heat from British Columbia to Glen Falls, N.Y., beginning with the ’14-15 season (Flames).

The Wizards announced that Geico will return as the presenting partner of the second round of home playoff games against the Pacers. The Wizards host their first home game of the second round on Friday (Wizards).

Evian today will announce a deal with tennis player Stan Wawrinka in his home country of Switzerland. Wawrinka is represented by Starwing Sports (Dan Kaplan, Staff Writer).

“It’s not going to be as easy for us. There’s no question that we’re going to have to work, but ESPN is our TV partner and they help us find really good matchups” – AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco, on finding marquee out-of-conference football opponents after the SEC stipulated that its teams must play at least one game against an ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12 team (USA TODAY, 5/6).

“It’s fun to be here. … I never doubted Southern California would be great for hockey on all levels” – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, during his visit last night to Honda Center for the Kings-Ducks Stanley Cup Playoffs game (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 5/6).

“We’re disappointed in the past two seasons, but we’re very comfortable with Kevin and the job he’s done, his whole approach” – Steelers President Art Rooney II, on Steelers GM Kevin Colbert (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/6).

“Tennis has really moved away to other countries. This will be the only professional tennis you have in this area and I hope people will come out and support it” – World TeamTennis co-founder Billie Jean King, who yesterday helped introduce the WTT expansion San Diego Aviators (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/6).

The 11:00pm ET edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led the broadcast with Wizards-Pacers, followed by Penguins-Rangers and Rangers-Rockies. The 11:00pm ET edition of FS1's "Fox Sports Live" went more NBA-heavy early on, leading with Clippers-Thunder and Wizards-Pacers, followed by a discussion of NBA news and notes. FS1 then aired Penguins-Rangers highlights. FS1 aired an NFL Draft report at about 15 minutes into its broadcast, while ESPN, which has been ramping up its NFL Draft coverage, aired its first report at about 23 minutes into the broadcast.

ESPN's Keith Olbermann called out his "world's worst" persons in sports: A youth baseball coach in Alberta, Canada, telling one of his players to cut his hair despite the player growing it out to be cut and made into wigs for sick children. Also irking Olbermann were Broncos WR Wes Welker handing out $100 bills to strangers at the Kentucky Derby after he won at the window, and Patriots QB Tom Brady's new "mini fauxhawk" haircut.

Newark Star-Ledger’s Steve Politi: “Rutgers has insulted the best represenative of its entire univ. in@EricLeGrand52. Make it right, Barchi.”

SI’s Michael Rosenberg: “Rutgers is so bad at PR that if a professor cures cancer, the school will probably fire him.”

Bleacher Report’s Diane Pucin: “With 24 and DWTS, TOTALLY forgot to watch the Clippers. Bad mistake. Have to manage DVR much better. But Derek and Amy? Awesome!”

ESPN N.Y.’s Wallace Matthews: “Boy, if they could get this many Yankee fans into Yankee Stadium some night, the place might really be loud.”

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

The proposed extension of the Cuyahoga County sin tax, which would help pay for repairs and upgrades to Progressive Field, Quicken Loans Arena and FirstEnergy Stadium, will appear on the county's ballot as Issue 7. 

The Arizona Biltmore will host the annual Pac-12 meetings, a two-day event that brings together the conference's football and basketball coaches with athletic administrators.

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Word Origins.”

“This word for a timid person comes from the last name of a character in a 1920’s newspaper comic called ‘The Timid Soul.’”

Broncos QB Peyton Manning appeared on CBS’ “Late Show” last night. Host David Letterman noted “ESPN did a wonderful" job producing the documentary "about the Manning dynasty." Manning said, "The documentary was great on my dad. It could have been a few less crying highlights of me.”... Manning said of his neck surgery, "That disk, Dave, was pressing on a nerve and had caused nerve damage in my right arm." Letterman said, “Because there was not enough blood flow to the nerve, that’s what it was?” Manning replied, “Dave, that’s way too technical for me. I went to Tennessee.” Letterman said of Manning saying 'Omaha' before the snap, “People tell me other teams use the word ‘Omaha.’" Manning replied, “These TV mics just pick up everything (and) … it reveals terminology that the opponent you are going to play the next week can use. I don’t like Bill Belichick hearing our plays that we’re using.” Letterman added, “As we know about Bill Belichick, he brings his own microphones so you don’t have to worry about that" (“Late Show," CBS, 5/5).

Former Yankees P Mariano Rivera appeared on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" last night to promote his new memoir, "The Closer." Host Jon Stewart, a well-known Mets fan, said, "You are the Michael Jordan, the Babe Ruth of relief pitching. No one comes close to you and I am so mad about it." Rivera presented Stewart with an autographed No. 42 Yankees jersey, to which Stewart said, "Thank you so much because I was going to clean my car." Rivera: "I feel bad for you. You've been suffering all these years" ("The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Comedy Central, 5/5).

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert said, "This weekend the flat-screen tube was loaded with people rehashing the racist comments of L.A. Clippers Owner and man who eats only one side of the black and white cookie, Donald Sterling. Now as I said last week, Sterling's comments are reprehensible. No one condemns them more than I do, and yes, it is a contest. But the man was fined $2.5 million and suspended for life. The story is over. Let's move along because I believe racism goes away naturally if you stop talking about it, just like STDs" ("The Colbert Report," Comedy Central, 5/5).

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel: “Is it possible that this whole controversy, this whole thing from the beginning was set up so that Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano could make a lot of money selling visors? … The 140th Kentucky Derby ran this weekend at Churchill Downs. Once again, a horse won it. … The horse that won was named California Chrome, which sounds like a smart phone nobody wants to buy. The jockey who won, who rode California Chrome, is Victor Espinoza. You know what these jockeys get for winning the derby? The official golden trophy goes to the owner of the horse. The jockey gets a small, silver replica of the trophy and a hundred dollar gift card to Baby Gap” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 5/5).

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “Did you guys see the Barbara Walter’s interview with Donald Sterling’s girlfriend? It was juicy, man. It was definitely worth watching. … Barbara did everything that she could to make V. Stiviano feel more comfortable." A video clip of the interview was aired with Barbara Walters wearing a visor that completely covers her face. Fallon added, “Can’t hear you, Barbara.” Another clip was aired of Stiviano calling herself Sterling’s "silly rabbit" and Fallon said, “I’m his Toucan Sam. I’m his Captain Crunch. Barbara was like, ‘Why didn’t I retire last year?’” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 5/5).

“What is Milquetoast?”

The character is Caspar Milquetoast.