Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment CEO Brett Yormark "will step down from his post," according to sources. Yormark has been in the role since '05 and "helped usher" the Nets to Brooklyn from their prior home in New Jersey. With Mikhail Prokhorov "set to sell" the final 51% of the Nets -- and, eventually, Barclays Center -- to Joe Tsai, ending his tenure with the franchise, Yormark's time with the Nets is "coming to a close as well" (ESPN.com, 8/15). Yormark's departure, expected to be announced this morning, comes just days after BSE CRO Mike Zavodsky departed the organization for a role with Roc Nation (THE DAILY).

Joe Tsai is "expecting to sign a deal" valued at more than $700M to "buy Brooklyn’s Barclays Center" at the same time he acquires the 51% of the Nets that he does not already own, according to sources. The deal is "expected to be announced" as soon as today. Tsai is paying a record $2.35B for the remainder of the Nets, so the "total team and arena transaction will cost him" more than $3B (N.Y. POST, 8/16).

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family are "lucky to be alive after the jet they were on ran off a runway, crashed and burst into flames" yesterday afternoon in Elizabethton, Tenn. Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford said that he "suspects something mechanical may have caused the crash." Five occupants, including Earnhardt, his wife, Amy, and 1-year-old daughter, Isla, as well as two pilots, "managed to escape from the burning plane." JR Motorsports co-Owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Earnhardt’s sister, said that everyone was "safe and taken to the hospital for evaluation." Earnhardt will "take this weekend off" from his NBC duties at Bristol Motor Speedway to be with his family (BRISTOL HERALD-COURIER, 8/16).

THE DAILY learned that Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick quickly lent Earnhardt's management team his private plane yesterday afternoon to get them to the Bristol, Tenn., area as soon as possible following the incident. The family and management team were expected to make the roughly three-hour drive back to the Charlotte area rather than fly back. While Earnhardt has yet to speak publicly, he did text ESPN's Marty Smith and tell him he and his family are OK (Adam Stern, THE DAILY).

The Sabres are set to reveal their 50th anniversary alternate jersey this morning at 10:00am ET, and they are "returning to royal blue" for their primary color in '20-21. It is a switch the fan base "has been clamoring about for many years." Royal blue and gold were the Sabres' "primary colors from the birth of the franchise" through '96. The Sabres used royal blue as an alternate jersey in '10-11, with a script "Buffalo" across the front (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/16).

The NWSL N.C. Courage defeated Manchester City as part of the Women's Int'l Champions Cup last night in Cary, and though announced attendance was 5,436, only a "few hundred still lingered at WakeMed Soccer Park" for the end of the match. There was a lightning delay late in the match that "lasted more than an hour" before the Courage won 2-1. They advance to the WICC final on Sunday, where they will "defend their crown against Olympique Lyonnais, a rematch of 2018’s final in Miami." Olympique Lyonnais beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 last night to earn their place in the final (PROSOCCERUSA.com, 8/16).

The Braves host their Alumni Weekend starting today at SunTrust Park, featuring five Baseball HOFers and "more than 60 former Braves players and executives." The weekend will include a red carpet event on the field prior to tonight's home game against the Dodgers, while tomorrow's schedule features the "softball home run derby." Several members of the '95 World Series championship team are "expected to participate in the player Q&A and photo session on the field" prior to Sunday's 1:20pm ET first pitch (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/13).

USA Football is "piloting the game’s first long-term development program in the hopes of growing the game and catching up to other sports around the world." The sport’s governing body "launched its Football Development Model on Thursday, announcing six youth leagues will team up with USA Football in the hopes of attracting more young players and improving skills." The leagues will "experiment with new ways to coach fundamentals in practice, aiming to hone skills while cutting down on full-speed contact that ends with players hitting the ground" (AP, 8/15).

BUCKS

The Bucks and Milwaukee Fire Department are "jointly unveiling a co-branded T-shirt for sale" beginning today. It is "available for $18 in the Bucks Pro Shop inside Fiserv Forum and at a handful of Milwaukee-area fire stations, and full proceeds benefit the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation and MFD" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/16).

Ohio Univ. named Univ. of Arkansas Senior Deputy AD, Associate Vice Chancellor and Senior Woman Administrator Julie Cromer AD. A press conference is scheduled for today (Ohio Univ.).

Colgate athletics announced a five-year deal with Under Armour to serve as its official outfitter beginning this fall (Colgate).

beIN Sports formally signed a deal with LaLiga to broadcast its games in the U.S. and Canada through '24 (beIN Sports).

"You know how big it is. Without a new arena, there would not be the Islanders on Long Island. I think that says it all" -- Islanders President & GM Lou Lamoriello, on the team's new Belmont arena, which received final approval this week (NEWSDAY, 8/16).

"Many of you have heard us preaching this for over a year now. We're gonna keep on preaching it till we get it built" -- USF AD Michael Kelly, on the desire for an indoor football practice facility (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/16).

"Throw a shot clock out there. Put it up behind the green. It gets rid of the official saying: I like that guy, I’m not giving him a penalty" -- NBC Sports golf analyst Paul Azinger, on a possible solution to slow play in the sport (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/16).

“I’m up for anything that’s gonna get the fans as loud as possible. Maybe slash some beer prices or something, would be a good idea" -- Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, on how to make fans louder at games (WASHINGTON POST, 8/16)

GOLF.com writes under the header, "How Augusta National, CBS And IBM Teamed Up To Make Sure Online Masters Viewers Never Missed A Shot." During the '18 Masters, Augusta National "discussed the every-hole, every-shot concept with its media partners, leaving them less than a year to develop bulletproof technology." The fact that fans were "able to view every shot struck by every player is both a technical triumph and, perhaps, a template for the future of golf coverage."

Also: 

• UFC "Needs an Antihero: Nate Diaz Returns Just in Time."
• How SWAT experience helped Women's Professional Lacrosse League Founder.
• ADs discuss where college sports fit in Buffalo landscape.

When the next NFL rights are up, HBO should bid specifically on all four preseason games for the #HardKnocks team and air them live on Thursday nights.

It makes too much sense. pic.twitter.com/VSFt5rdCJR

— pat muldowney (@muldowney) August 16, 2019

interesting how many ppl are glossing over the stuff on stephen ross. you may expect more from jay, but ross is playing the same game and doing so even more cynically. https://t.co/V2N3Cna43P

— bomani (@bomani_jones) August 15, 2019

Only thought of NFL management during preseason: “please, just get up.” #NFLPreseason

— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) August 16, 2019

The Falmouth Road Race is a unique American experience when an entire section of Cape Cod stalls, but this the 45th year doesn't feel right without founder Tommy Leonard. We all wish we had as many friends. A weekend to give him thanks

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) August 16, 2019

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

The WNBA Connecticut Sun tip off their Rock The Pink weekend, celebrating survivors and raising awareness for breast cancer. Yale New Haven Health carries presenting sponsorship.

A brief hit on the stories you need to know ... Subscribe on iTunes ... Check out our podcast home. 

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “The Cold War.”

“The Cold War became entrenched in the mid-1950s after the formation of these two rival military alliances.”

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “Terms From Sports.”
$200: “The name of this style of boxing that lacked a key piece of gear now means ‘without conventional niceties.’”
$400: “I say, old chap, if you’re dealing with a tricky situation, it might be this two-word term from cricket.”
$600: “This three-word phrase meaning without rules or limits comes from a free-form style of wrestling.”
$800: “This term for a concerted effort is a defensive strategy in basketball.”
$1000: “It’s a two-word evasive football maneuver that presidents are regularly accused of making around Congress.”

CBS’ Stephen Colbert said The Ohio State Univ. “wants to trademark the word ‘The’” but he added, “I have a bone to pick with ‘The.’” Colbert: “We’re ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. God help us, if OSU gets this trademark, I'll have to become ‘A Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ or ‘That Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ or even worse, ‘The Ohio State University Late Show with Stephen Colbert Go Buckeyes!’” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 8/15).
 
NBC’s Seth Meyers: “Customs officials in Los Angeles announced yesterday they seized over 5,000 counterfeit luxury products, including almost 700 pairs of fake Nike shoes, which is bad news for people who thought they got a great deal on a new pair of Air Gordon’s” (“Late Night,” NBC, 8/15).

“What are NATO and the Warsaw Pact?”

Correct responses to the “Terms From Sports” category:
$200: “What is bare-knuckle boxing?”
$400: “What is a sticky wicket?”
$600: “What is no holds barred?”
$800: “What is a full-court press?”
$1000: “What is an end run or end around?”