PGA Tour golfer Rory McIlroy, "among the most outspoken opponents of his sport’s swelling ties to Saudi Arabia," has resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board. He "gave no hint that an exit was in the offing," and his resignation comes after the 12-member board finished a meeting at the tour’s headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. on Monday. McIlroy is the second person to resign from the tour’s board since the summer -- the other being Randall Stephenson, whose departure in July "turned heads on Wall Street and in golf’s inner sanctums." But the decision by McIlroy is "a particularly public blow to the tour and its board" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/14).

McIlroy's resignation is "a stunning blow to the status quo." He began his term in 2022 "in the midst of an unprecedented threat from LIV Golf" and he had been the Tour’s "most outspoken supporter." But at this week’s DP World Tour finale, he "conceded his duties as a player director were more than he bargained for." The remaining player directors on the policy board -- Tiger Woods, Webb Simpson, Charley Hoffman, Patrick Cantlay and Peter Malnati -- "will select a replacement for McIlroy to serve out the remainder of his term through 2024" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 11/14).

McIlroy served as "the de facto face of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf," and he admitted that "putting himself out there in the game’s civil war took an emotional and physical toll." McIlroy said he was "still reckoning with" that toll this year (GOLF DIGEST, 11/14). 

Fellow PGA Tour player Jon Rahm said today that "there was no chance of him replacing McIlroy" as a director. Rahm: "You won’t see me there. I don’t know how many meetings they have but they are six or seven hours long. I’m not here for that. Rory has been put in a situation where a lot has been expected of him" (London TIMES, 11/15).

McIlroy's resignation comes as the PGA Tour Policy Board had just met on Mondaygetty images

Washington State and Oregon State will “remain the only two voting members on the Pac-12 Conference board” after Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey granted the two schools preliminary injunction yesterday. After hearing two and a half hours of oral arguments, Libey said that WSU and OSU are “likely to succeed in the case.” Libey added that the ten departing schools, who will depart to their new conferences after next summer, “should be allowed to continue to participate in meetings by providing comments and suggestions,” but they will “longer be able to vote while WSU and Oregon State’s lawsuit against the conference moves forward.” WSU and OSU feared that if all 10 schools were allowed to continue to vote, they “might have divided up all of the conference’s assets and left nothing behind” (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 11/14).

However, Libey “stayed his ruling until the end of the week” as the defendant, the Univ. of Washington (acting on behalf of all 10 departing members), seeks an appeal from the Washington Supreme Court in Olympia.  But the ruling last night “begins to clear the way” for WSU and OSU to control more than $400M in revenue for the current fiscal year and “whatever long-term assets the conference maintains following the departure of 10 schools next summer” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 11/14).

DaBella is the new sponsor of the Timbers game jersey as part of a deal that will take effect for the next MLS season. Terms were not revealed. The deal is the first sports marketing venture for the roofing/home improvement company founded in 2011 outside of Portland. Since then, DaBella has been on a remarkable growth trajectory and is now one of the largest home remodelers in the country, with $360M in annual revenues and 1,600 employees.

Principals from both DaBella and the Timbers gathered at the team’s home Providence Park last night to take the wraps off the deal, around five months in the making. DaBella will sponsor the Timbers local youth teams and camps, as well as its annual “Stand Together” community service week. Innovative Partnerships Group was the sales agency for the Timbers and will activate the sponsorship for DaBella. Alaska Airlines has been the Timbers' kit sponsor since it joined MLS in 2011.

Timbers

Emma Hayes will become the "highest-paid female coach in world football" after being appointed as the new head coach of the USWNT on a $1.6M-a-year contract. Hayes will leave her post at Chelsea "at the end of the season after signing a long-term deal." Her contract will "bring her in line with the salary" of the current USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter. Former USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski reportedly "earned three times less than Hayes." Her deal is "a landmark contract for the game and for women in coaching." Hayes is "very unlikely to conduct any media interviews regarding her next job for the rest of the season" and will not speak from the position of USWNT coach "until next summer" (London TELEGRAPH, 11/14).

Hayes agreed to the contract, which "will run through at least the 2027 World Cup," nearly two weeks ago, but the announcement was "delayed as the sides continued working on the logistics." It "remains unclear" whether Chelsea will "provide Hayes the flexibility over the next six months to join U.S. training camps" as leagues pause for international matches (WASHINGTON POST, 11/14).

Chelsea’s season doesn’t end until late May, so Hayes "will have four matches with the USWNT between the end of Chelsea's season and the Olympics," with Twila Kilgore "continuing as the interim manager until then." Hayes and Kilgore are "expected to be in communication over roster selection and player development" (USA TODAY, 11/14).

Hayes will take over a U.S. team "in transition," with young players like Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma emerging while veterans such as F Megan Rapinoe and MF/D Julie Ertz retire. As U.S. coach, Hayes "will face sky-high expectations and a range of challenges" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/14).

Manchester City’s “unprecedented commercial success” making $888M in revenue during the 2022-23 season, has “set a new Premier League record.” The figure surpasses the previous high of $808M announced by Manchester United last month -- that “also saw a rise of 30 per cent in matchday revenue.” This was “largely due to playing four additional home games” as well as “considerably more money earned from the summer tour to the United States” after not going anywhere the year before “while Covid restrictions were still in place.” Man City also recorded a club-best $99.7M profit, “almost doubling the number from the previous year.” However, the cost of attracting F Erling Haaland and others to the Etihad as well as “bonuses and securing a number of contract extensions saw the wage bill jump up” to $526M to “set another record high in the league” (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 11/15).

Man City is “ramping up investment in media and content to boost growth” after setting a revenue record for an English Premier League club. The club’s investment in content comes as clubs and leagues “compete for global audiences and fans.” The Premier League side’s earnings were “bolstered by transfer market gains, which rose” to $150.8M from $83.5M a year earlier. The club would “not have made a profit without those gains.” Player trading also has helped Man City “emerge from decades in the shadow of United to become England’s dominant football force” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/15).

The NHL, along with the NHL Players and NHL Alumni associations, have partnered with Sweet to launch a new online platform called NHL Breakaway. NHL Breakaway is digital collection hub of highlights past and present for fans to acquire as NFTs.

The site features a space called “The Trade Lounge,” where collectors can trade highlights and packs with one another. Users will have public Breakaway profiles to display their collections, and they’ll also be able to secure exclusive packs and real NHL experiences through gamification components. The unveiling of NHL Breakaway is another push from the NHL to engage younger fans. This year, the NHL debuted the Big City Greens Classic alt-cast, as well as multiple Roblox activations. ESPN recently confirmed that the Big City Greens Classic will return in 2024. 

Sweet has multiple NBA partnerships -- the Cavaliers, Bucks and Knicks all have marketplaces with the company -- as well as the Blackhawks, McLaren Racing and Clemson Univ.

The Univ. of Nebraska has extended AD Trev Alberts' contract through 2031 in a deal that "will make Alberts the highest paid university employee not named Matt Rhule or Fred Hoiberg." He will get "an increase in base salary" from $853,882 to $1.7M as well as a $500,000 retention bonus "if he remains at NU through September 2025. There is also an annual retention bonus of $300,000 "for every year he remains through the end of the new contract." The contract "offers liquidation damage buyouts to be paid to the university if Alberts leaves for another opportunity before 2031" (Lincoln JOURNAL STAR, 11/14).

The extension is "not subject to a formal vote" by the NU Board of Regents and was signed yesterday afternoon. The contract includes a clause that "calls for a review every three years of his total annual compensation," which would "compare it to the average of the three highest-paid athletic directors in the Big Ten and the average of the 10 highest-paid at NCAA public institutions." In the two years since Alberts took over Husker athletics, there has been "near across-the-board improvement in sports performance" (Lincoln JOURNAL STAR, 11/14).

PGA Tour player Justin Thomas and F1 driver Carlos Sainz were the first winners in the Netflix Cup, which was played at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas yesterday. The competition "qualified as silly at times," but the spectators lining the course to watch "seemed to find it entertaining." Protesters, apparently representing PETA, "came onto the course to demand" that F1, with parent company Liberty Media, "cut ties with the Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska." While golf was the designated sport, "it was far from any typical round," as there were "plenty of antics with the golf itself" (REUTERS, 11/15).

SI's John Hawkins writes "a wheelbarrow race or water-balloon fight might have been more interesting." Hawkins: "Anything to put all eight men on equal ground, engaging in competition that wouldn’t have left the guys behind the wheel looking like chumps." But "maybe that’s what Netflix was looking for" – an "unprecedented venture without an ounce of nutritional relevance." Hawkins: "If anything rescued this program from the Land of Complete Shambles, it was the Tour pros themselves." For the most part, "all four played well" (SI, 11/15).

The Sphere was one of the highlights for many viewers of the Netflix Cupgetty images

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently announced the year -- 2025 -- when ESPN will take its main cable channel direct-to-consumer. Host Andrew Marchand, who has reported on 2025 as the date for a couple of years, and John Ourand discuss what needs to happen before the 2025 launch date. The two hosts identify storylines that should develop over the next two years, as it heads direct-to-consumer. In light of SBJ’s report on Netflix’s interest in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, Marchand and Ourand discuss Netflix’s aspirations to invest in live sports. The hosts also dive into Marchand’s exclusive interview with Al Michaels and talk about the future of the broadcasting legend. 

Former NFL legend and current TV star Eli Manning joins the podcast as The Big Get and addresses how his brother Peyton Manning convinced him to do the “ManningCast” and when he knew that the Monday night show would be a success. Manning also dives into how he dealt with the media as a star quarterback in New York, what he learned from Derek Jeter when talking with the media and who his media influences were in his younger days. Manning also discusses the 2-8 New York Giants and offers suggestions on how his former team can improve. 

The LPGA and CME Group have agreed to an extension of the title sponsorship to the CME Group Tour Championship and the season-long Race to the CME Globe through 2025 (LPGA).

Bay FC will "have its practice facilities on the campus of San Jose State" while it "continues to seek a location for permanent facilities" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/14).

Georgia Tech’s 96,000-square-foot Student Athlete Performance Center "will be named the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center in honor of Tech alumnus" Dr. Thomas A. Fanning -- who had a 43-year career with Southern Company, which included serving as President & CEO from 2010-23 (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 11/14).

“Outside all of the colors the court today was really bad. It was really slippery. And then some places the ball didn’t really bounce. So you know, if we’re going to have these courts we’re going to make sure that it’s a stable court, so you can play on it” -- Mavs G Luka Doncic, on the NBA In-Season Tournament court at the Smoothie King Center last night (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/14).

“We need to double-down on women’s sports and if you don’t want to hear me and you say, ‘Oh gosh, here comes another woman talking about women’s sports,’ then you need to listen to your favorite male athlete” -- CBSSN’s Renee Montgomery, on Eli Manning, Magic Johnson and LeBron James promoting the WNBA and attending the games (“We Need To Talk,” CBSSN, 11/14).

The WASHINGTON TIMES goes with the header, "Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still loves the spotlight in his 80s, despite reasons to shrink from it." Jones, also the team’s President & GM, "went through his first training camp as an octogenarian" this past summer, and has since turned 81. The former Arkansas oilman "relishes the spotlight the same way he did when he bought the club" almost 34 years ago, and that's despite several recent episodes -- "some involving the team, others his personal life" -- that "would make plenty of people in his position cringe in front of the cameras." But "through it all, Jones … never shrank from the spotlight."

Also:

• Sure, the NBA could come back to Vancouver. There's still a huge 'BUT ...'

It was a SPEEDY start to the Netflix Cup. ⚡pic.twitter.com/yHqEnYrwIE

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 15, 2023

What a photo of Wemby and Chet's jumpball 😳

📸: Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images pic.twitter.com/JyCxnQovla

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 15, 2023

It looks like LaMelo Ball might have been told by the NBA to cover up his new tattoo.

The “LF” tattoo is also the logo for Ball’s clothing brand “LaFrancé” pic.twitter.com/YPz2V5qcux

— James Plowright (@British_Buzz) November 15, 2023

Yu Darvish arrives at Petco Park with flowers to place at Peter Seidler’s memorial: pic.twitter.com/tfRlRcL282

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) November 14, 2023

The amount of work that went in from Aug. - Nov. to pull this off was astonishing.

Enjoy the sportsbook, responsibly 🙌 https://t.co/6dcgOfTzIV

— John R. Manzo (@JohnRManzo) November 14, 2023

“The inscription on this, made in 1753, concludes, ‘unto all the inhabitants thereof.’”

“What is the Liberty Bell?”