The Knicks are "seeking more than" $10M in their lawsuit against the Raptors and claim NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is "compromised by his cozy relationship with Toronto minority owner Larry Tanenbaum," according to an explosive 24-page court filing. The Knicks’ filing, which was "a response to the Raptors' motion to dismiss the lawsuit," focused on "several reasons why the court should handle the dispute, rather than the NBA, most notably by arguing Silver is too 'conflicted' to judge the Raptors because of Tanenbaum’s position" as the league’s Chairman of the BOG. It’s "rare for a team to openly question the integrity of its league commissioner," but the Knicks "didn’t hold back." The Knicks added that Tanenbaum was "handpicked by Silver despite an election for chairman," inferring the process was "rigged by the commissioner to help his buddy." The Knicks’ lawsuit stems from allegations that Ike Azotam, a former Knicks video coordinator who was hired by the Raptors, "conspired with his new team to steal a trove of scouting and analytics secrets" (N.Y. POST, 11/20).

While the NBA’s constitution says that the commissioner has "exclusive, full, complete, and final jurisdiction" over disputes involving two or more members of the league, the Knicks are arguing that Silver should not be an arbitrator due to his close relationship with Tanenbaum and called the designation "unconscionable and unfair." The Knicks are asking the court to "void the arbitration agreement and assume jurisdiction of the case." The court document further argues that in Tanenbaum’s role as chairman of the NBA BOG, he "exercises control over and heavily influences Silver’s continued employment and salary," and that the commissioner himself has described Tanenbaum as "not just my boss as the chairman of the board of governors, but he’s very much a role model in my life" (TORONTO STAR, 11/20).

The Evanston City Council voted yesterday to permit Northwestern Univ. to "rebuild Ryan Field and to allow up to six full capacity concerts a year there." The council voted 6-2 on the demolition and $800M rebuild of the stadium, and in a 5-4 vote -- with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss breaking a tie -- the council "approved a zoning change for the concerts, an issue that had generated controversy, particularly among residents near the stadium." Evanston and Northwestern have agreed to a 15-year "expanded benefits agreement with the city," starting next year, that will see annual payments of $3M "to a Good Neighbor Fund with adjustments along the Consumer Price Index for the first 10 years." Other benefits tied to the rebuild completion include "potential advanced ticket windows for residents, free movie nights and festivals and a mural on the southeast facade of the stadium" (EVANSTON REVIEW, 11/21).

NASCAR expanded its proposed midseason package to 10 races, rather than the six that it had been shopping originally, according to several sources. NASCAR has been in the market to sell its media rights, starting with the 2025 season, for the better part of the year. Incumbent broadcasters Fox and NBC agreed to renew their packages months ago, though nothing has been announced formally.

Both Amazon and Turner remain front-runners to pick up the midseason package, sources say. It is possible that the two could split the package, with each getting five races. NASCAR hopes that one of the media companies will agree to take the entire 10 races. NASCAR is not operating under a deadline to finish a deal.

A midseason package of races has proved harder to sell. Originally, NASCAR planned to carve out a six-race package. But now it’s shopping a package that includes as many as 10 races in the hopes that the added races will entice new bidders to close the deal. NASCAR created the midseason package with races currently carried by Fox and NBC, meaning those two broadcasters will have less inventory in the next deals.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday was "the most wagered-on Formula One race in BetMGM history," company officials said yesterday. One bettor "risked $200,000" on Max Verstappen to win the race, collecting $100,000 for his first-place finish on the Las Vegas Strip. "The sportsbook took three times the number of bets on the race than any previous contest," Seamus Magee, trading manager of BetMGM, said in a statement. BetMGM operates in 26 markets (LAS VEGAS SUN, 11/20).

Rather than try to find value, many bettors "went for the near sure payoff" -- with 28.7% of money going to Verstappen, "the most in the 20-driver field." However, "he was third in ticket percentage" at 10.5%, behind Charles Leclerc (12.0%) and Lewis Hamilton (11.9%) (AP, 11/20).

Overland Partners have been selected as part of the design team announced today for the new Kawasaki Arena in Kawasaki, Japan, a city of nearly 1.5 million residents just south of Tokyo. The arena, scheduled to open in 2028 with capacity for 15,000 people, is part of a larger development that includes a commercial building housing a hotel, spa, food hall and a secondary, smaller arena and entertainment venue. The project site sits in the center of the city in between three rail lines on the banks of the Tama River. 

Overland, which opened an office in Tokyo this year, is producing the arena’s seating bowl, hospitality and premium areas and user experience design. The Dallas-based firm, whose sports practice is just over two years old, is also designing a new Single-A Minor League Baseball stadium in Spartanburg, S.C., as well as an ongoing renovation of the Cotton Bowl and surrounding Fair Park. Overland Partners’ sports practice is headed by Bryan Trubey, who formerly oversaw the sports design practice at HKS.

The arena will be home to the Kawasaki Brave Thunders basketball organization, which plays in Japan’s B.League, the top level of pro basketball in the country. The team is owned by mobile platform and e-commerce provider DeNA Co. Ltd., which is also a partner on the arena development project. 

Kume Sekkei is handling overall schematic design for the project, while Moreau Kusunoki, a design firm with offices in Paris and Sydney, will handle exterior design.

Screenshot from Google Earth of the new arena’s site in KawasakiGoogle Earth

The Tigers received "unanimous approval" from the Lakeland City Commission yesterday to build a $33M "dormitory facility, which includes a cafeteria and recreation hall, at the team's spring training facility" in Lakeland, Florida. The Tigers also "agreed to extend their spring training agreement," with the new lease set to expire Dec. 31, 2044. The city of Lakeland will pay $4M for the new dorm, and the Tigers will pay an initial contribution of $4M. The city will finance the remaining cost of the construction -- "an amount not to exceed" $25M -- "through bonds or another borrowing mechanism." The Tigers "will be responsible for repaying any debt taken on by the city through additional rent payments." The Tigers will also have "exclusive naming rights to the facility," with the city "receiving 25% of the naming rights revenue and the Tigers receiving the remaining 75% of the revenue." The city will put its 25% share "toward improvements" at the facility, and the Tigers will match (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/20).

Premier League club Everton is "formulating its strategy for overturning" its "wholly disproportionate punishment" for breaking profit and sustainability (PSR) regulations, and it "may include zeroing in on one element of the judgment by an independent commission" to do it. The EPL's "failure to adopt a detailed 'sanction policy' for its financial rules could form a key plank" of Everton’s appeal against its point deduction. The original commission made clear Premier League rules "gave it the power to impose a range of sanctions that include deducting points," and that although the English Football League "did have sanctioning guidelines, commissions were not bound by them." An appeal board "would also have the power to increase Everton’s sanction," but the prospect of it doing so "is remote." Everton’s appeal "must be lodged by December 1" (London TELEGRAPH, 11/20).

RELATED: Top EPL clubs at odds with others over funding amid Everton issues

Labour MP lan Byrne has "tabled an 'early day motion' in parliament condemning Everton's 10-point deduction" and "called for an independent football regulator to be established immediately." Byrne said the points deduction was "grossly unjust" and that the level of sanction lacked "any legal or equitable foundation or justification" (REUTERS, 11/20).

The fallout from the decision "continues to reverberate throughout football," with Everton supporters "planning protests against the Premier League" during Sunday’s televised game against Manchester United at Goodison Park (London TIMES, 11/20).

General Motors "will sit out" the 2024 Super Bowl, "breaking a four-year Big Game ad streak." The move comes under new marketing leadership -- in July, GM hired former CVS Chief Marketing Officer Norm de Greve as its SVP & CMO, replacing Deborah Wahl, who parted ways with the automaker in March. Wahl, who had held the CMO role since 2019, "was a proponent of Super Bowl advertising." GM plugged electric vehicles with Big Game spots in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The decision to display EVs to the massive Super Bowl audience "came as automakers poured billions of dollars into EV development," but the EV market "has changed in the past 12 months." Automakers are also "watching their spending amid broader economic challenges." Stellantis, which is a regular Super Bowl advertiser, "has not commented on its plans" for the 2024 game (AD AGE, 11/20).

A vote is taking place today ahead of the Ladies European Tour's end-of-season Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De España, "where a 60% vote in favour by LET members will be required" for a merger with the LPGA "to go ahead." As far as LET players are concerned, "the decision to vote in favour of a merger, which has already unanimously been approved by board members of both tours, is surely a no-brainer" (GOLF MONTHLY, 11/20).

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, "performed the ceremonial puck drop for Canucks-Sharks" last night at Rogers Arena, as part of the lead up to the 2025 Invictus Games. Rogers Arena will be the host venue for the closing ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games (SPORTSNET.ca, 11/20).

A "sled hockey marathon of sorts" concluded Sunday with the final games of the 13th annual USA Hockey Sled Classic at AdventHealth Center Ice. The four-day event, featuring 30 sled hockey teams associated with NHL clubs, "included dozens of games held at various skill levels" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 11/20).

"Every chance you get, you throw out rumors about him. I’m not even gonna denigrate or sully his name by bringing up what those rumors have been over the years -- it’s spanned years! Even if those rumors were true, oh, it was years ago. It was years ago" -- ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, on Mark Jackson no longer having a part-time role on the Knicks’ broadcast team (N.Y. POST, 11/20).

The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER goes with the headline, "Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship is real -- and really great branding." While Taylor Swift’s career has "at times been (unfairly) defined by the company she’s kept," the pop star has "seemingly welcomed the spotlight on her latest relationship" with Chiefs TE Travis Kelce. The "clearest sign of that" came when she changed the lyrics of “Karma” to call out "the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me" during a tour stop in Argentina when Kelce was in attendance. Since rumors of the romance first began swirling, "we’ve been treated to what culture writer Anne Helen Petersen called 'a truly masterful drip of relationship content'" that has "drawn in folks who previously may not have been heavily invested in Swift, Kelce, or even the NFL." Even more, the relationship "has bridged the gap between two of the largest groups of fans -- and consumers."

Also:

• The NFL's billion dollars' worth of injured quarterbacks.
• Beneath NCAA gymnastics' glow, a familiar 'toxic' culture.
• F1 star Max Verstappen was right about everything.
• How is former Nashville Predators GM David Poile handling retirement? Better than expected.
• Rob McElhenney interview -- 'Wrexham has been one of the great joys of my life.'

“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL” - @TomBrady pic.twitter.com/xyZ1q3ztUg

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 21, 2023

In our winning era pic.twitter.com/SnnPIUyU0i

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 21, 2023

"I always say those playoff games in Oakland are the craziest atmospheres I ever pitched in ... I still can get goosebumps..."

Max Scherzer on how the Oakland A's situation is awful for everyone involved, especially the amazing fans there.

▶️ https://t.co/6KoSRqSO9A pic.twitter.com/otCMe9P596

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) November 20, 2023

"Seven U.S. Presidents were born in the state of Ohio, beginning with this man who entered West Point in 1839."

"Who is Ulysses S. Grant?"