ESPN and Jemele Hill have agreed to an "amicable departure/buyout" that will become official at the beginning of September, and the separation has been a "long time coming" (TWITTER.com, 8/25). The buyout of Hill's reported $2.5M per year contract was "fortunate for Hill and ESPN in an attempt to lessen the news coverage of what had been a huge national story, both in politics and in sports." Hill "wants to continue her involvement in politics, and ESPN wants out of politics." She had a "very loud career at ESPN, but it is ending -- quietly" (N.Y. POST, 8/26). Hill's departure comes after ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro "made it clear he wants less politics intermixed with ESPN's sports coverage" (PHILLY.com, 8/26). 

On the heels of ESPN’s Michelle Beadle saying on Thursday’s episode of “Get Up!” that she will be "skipping both the upcoming college football and NFL seasons, the network announced Friday evening that it will be moving the hub of its NBA coverage back" to L.A., with Beadle "playing a lead role." NBA Countdown will "originate from L.A. again this season after it moved" to N.Y. with Beadle and co-host Jalen Rose. The net said that Beadle has "agreed to a contract extension with ESPN, and 'will return to Los Angeles to focus on the NBA.'" Her last “Get Up!” episode, which she has co-hosted with Rose and Mike Greenberg since its inception, "will be Aug. 29." In addition to the change among its hosts, “Get Up!” will be "cut by one hour and air" from 8:00-10:00am ET on ESPN. A source said that Beadle’s new role has "been in the works for some time, and had nothing to do with her comments" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/24). "Get Up!" has "widely been seen as a ratings failure this summer." On most days, the show "doesn't reach 300,000 viewers, and has drawn a smaller audience than the 'SportsCenter' it replaced" (PHILLY.com, 8/25).

Comcast and Fox have "settled a high-profile carriage dispute over the Big Ten Network." Comcast will "continue carrying the net and the companies also reached an agreement for Comcast to continue carrying all of the Big Ten games on FS1." Comcast will also continue to "offer Big Ten Network to customers in states with Big Ten universities." Subscribers to the company's Xfinity cable tier who live in DC, Delaware and the Northern Virginia area "will also continue to receive the network." The companies also announced "customers outside of the Big Ten states will have access" to BTN in the coming months (DEADLINE.com, 8/24). The INDIANAPOLIS STAR went with the header, "Breathe Easy Big Ten Football Fans, Big Ten Network and FS1 Agree To Deal With Comcast" (8/24).

Multiple people "are dead, including at least one suspect, after a mass shooting" at Jacksonville Landing during a "Madden" tournament at GLHF Game Bar (JACKSONVILLE.com, 8/26). The sheriff's office said that it is "unknown if there was a second shooter." Complexity Gaming was among the esports teams with a player participating in the event, and the organization said that its player Grini Gjoka was "grazed in the hand but was 'away from the scene and safe'" (USATODAY.com, 8/26). 

Knicks Gaming yesterday "swept" Heat Check Gaming 2-0 to "become the inaugural NBA 2K League champions" and "hoisted the first championship trophy for the Knicks organization" since '73. In the regular season, the Knicks "finished 14th overall, which would have otherwise removed the team from playoff contention." However, Knicks Gaming "won The Ticket tournament as the 15th seed, completing four back-to-back upsets to earn an automatic bid to playoffs" (ESPN.com, 8/25). Knicks Gaming's Dayvon Curry was the league's "top earner" and made "nearly $100,000 in five months." The grand prize for yesterday's Finals "was $300,000" split among the team's six players (OREGONLIVE.com, 8/25). 

Lilly Diabetes on Friday "pulled its sponsorship" of Conor Daly's No. 6 Ford for yesterday's NASCAR Xfinity Series Johnsonville 180 at Wisconsin's Road America, "citing a racial slur made by the driver's father in the 1980s that surfaced this week." Daly, "primarily an IndyCar driver," made his NASCAR debut yesterday with Roush Fenway Racing despite the lost sponsorship. Daly posted a message on Twitter on Friday that said, "The last 24hrs have been quite an unnecessarily difficult ride for my family." Derek Daly, a freelance racing analyst and former F1 driver, in a statement said that he "admitted to using a racial slur for African-Americans during a radio interview in the early 1980s" (AP, 8/24). Conor Daly is "paying for the sins of his father" despite not being alive when Derek Daly's comments were made. Lilly was sponsoring Conor Daly, who has Type 1 diabetes, for the first time (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/25).

A "huge crowd" was at Fiserv Forum today for the grand opening of the Bucks' new arena. Bucks CMO Dustin Godsey said, "It's going to be one of our largest events ever. It just happens to be our grand opening." As of Friday morning, more than 40,000 people had "registered for free tickets at the Bucks website." Current and former Bucks players, including F Giannis Antetokounmpo and Basketball HOFer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, are "among those expected to attend" today's events. Godsey said that "about 10,000 visitors at a time will be allowed inside" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINTEL, 8/25). Bucks co-Owners Wes Edens, Marc Lasry, Jamie Dinan and Mike Fascitelli, as well as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the free public event. Former Bucks Owner Herb Kohl was also "honored with the dedication of Herb Kohl Way" (JSONLINE.com, 8/22).

BUCKS

The sports world reacted to yesterday's death of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) McCain, 81, was suffering from brain cancer. He was a big sports fan and boxed at the U.S. Naval Academy. He advocated for better protections for professional fighters and more oversight over boxing judges and promoters. McCain also once called MMA “human cockfighting,” but is also credited with moving the sports towards better safety regulations and oversight. McCain also long advocated for a posthumous pardon of boxer Jack Johnson. President Trump issued that pardon earlier this year (Michael Sunnucks, Staff Writer). Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald last year penned a column for SI.com right before Christmas paying tribute to McCain as a war veteran.

D-backs President & CEO Derrick Hall said, "McCain has always been a member of the D-backs' family & was one of this team's biggest fans since day 1." Before the fifth inning of Mariners-D-backs last night, the team "paid tribute to McCain on the jumbotron." NFL Cardinals President Michael Bidwill also "released a statement on McCain’s death" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/26). Top Rank Founder & CEO Bob Arum remembered McCain as a "great man" and a "great boxing fan" (L.A. TIMES, 8/26).

The NWSL Washington Spirit played in DC for the "first time in its six-season existence," drawing the "largest announced home crowd in its history -- 7,976" in a defeat to the Portland Thorns at Audi Field. Attendance for yesterday's game "more than doubled the Spirit's typical crowd" at Maryland SoccerPlex in upper Montgomery County, where the Spirit have been based since their inaugural '13 season, "averaging between 3,330 and 4,100 spectators annually." But with Audi Field being "almost four times larger, it lacked the SoccerPlex's intimacy." Spirit MF Andi Sullivan said of the game's atmosphere, "There were moments where I felt like I could feel the electricity." Spirit Owner Bill Lynch said that he would "probably try to play 'at least a couple games' next year" at the 20,000-seat Audi Field (WASHINGTON POST, 8/26).

ESPN's Scott Van Pelt "closed his 'SportsCenter' broadcast" yesterday morning by "touching on the controversy swirling around the Maryland football program." He did "admonish the school for being slow in acknowledging its mistakes." Van Pelt, a UMD alumnus, said, "What I will never grasp is why it took two months to say as much. I understand there were internal reviews ongoing, and those do take time. But public silence creates, at a minimum, the appearance that leadership wasn’t proactive in the months after [Jordan] McNair passed and before the story was written. And I imagine that will ultimately prove costly." Van Pelt added, "The fallout may be an entire reset of the culture across the university" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/26).

Univ. of Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart has "become the latest to join the world of podcasting, launching The Mitch Barnhart Podcast on Friday." Barnhart will "host one guest during each weekly episode of the podcast, with most guests directly tied to UK Athletics and ranging from coaches to support staff to student-athletes and beyond." Barnhart's first guest is UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner, while UK football coach Mark Stoops "will join Barnhart" next week ahead of the team's season opener. Barnhart is the "longest-tenured" AD in the SEC (247SPORTS.com, 8/24).

TWITTER

The Red Wings' "revamped center-ice presentation" at Little Caesars Arena for the upcoming season shows a "bigger Red Wings logo, but without 'Hockeytown' draped across it" (FREEP.com, 8/24). Meanwhile, the Canadiens after "sporting duo logos at centre ice since the times of the Montreal Forum," are "scrapping the traditional look in favour of one massive logo at the middle of the ice surface" at the Bell Centre (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/25).

A "20-minute power outage" delayed Padres-Dodgers last night, the "second at Dodger Stadium this season" (L.A. TIMES, 8/26).

The Power defeated 3's Company to win the Big3 championship on Friday night at Barclays Center before a crowd of 13,504 (Big3).

Adidas runs a two-page spread in today's N.Y. Times thanking Tennis HOFer Billie Jean King for her contributions to the sport ahead of the U.S. Open, which begins tomorrow (THE DAILY).

"Let me say here and now what I should have said on Wednesday: I sincerely apologize to Courtney Smith and her children for what they have gone through" -- Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, after declining to directly address Smith at the news conference about his three-game suspension (N.Y. TIMES, 8/25).

"Playing there is extremely fun because the crowd is more involved somehow -- I don't know if it's because they drink more beer -- or because the American tennis fan is maybe more of a sports fan, possibly. It actually smells of hamburger and you hear music on certain courts as well but it has its own atmosphere which is really cool" -- Tennis HOFer Mats Wilander, on the U.S. Open (NYTIMES.com, 8/25).

"The depth of his auto racing knowledge, I don't know, but he always took an interest" -- Las Vegas Motor Speedway President Chris Powell, on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" host Robin Leach, who died Friday (REVIEWJOURNAL.com, 8/25).

"What do they charge LeBron James in Cleveland these days?" -- ABC's Dan Harris, on Astros P Justin Verlander receiving a $1M charge on his lunch bill for being a "Dodger killer" ("GMA," ABC, 8/25).

"Look, he's a Yale guy, he could be condescending, but he doesn't have that in him. He's a fun guy to play off of" -- Turner's Ernie Johnson, on calling today's Red Sox-Rays game with SNY's Ron Darling (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/25).

"I'm growing into me. Those first two years (in the WNBA), I wasn't comfortable with that. This year has been a better representation of me and what I'm all about" -- WNBA Seattle Storm F Breanna Stewart, the league's MVP this season, on embracing social activism (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/26).

"I have a feeling Phil's going to start getting attention because of this, and we're not going to be able to contain him" -- ESPN's Matt Barrie, on Phil Mickelson joining Twitter this week ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/25).

I have to say the #F1 world TV feed is miles better this year, largely thanks to a Chase Carey hire called Dave Hill and F1’s director Dean Locke. Lots of detailed improvements and more accessible

— James Allen (@Jamesallenonf1) August 26, 2018

Neil Simon was so much more than The Odd Couple, but Oscar Madison forever holds a special place in the hearts of a generation of current sportswriters.

— Peter Botte (@PeterBotte) August 26, 2018

It’s not everyday that you bump into Jay-Z while leaving your hotel. But today is one of the days where I did.

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) August 26, 2018

Rest In peace @SenJohnMcCain, I will forever be grateful for you helping a kid from Finland get a visa to live out my dream of playing basketball in the States

— Lauri Markkanen (@MarkkanenLauri) August 26, 2018

The AP wrote under the header, "With Another Scandal In College Sports, Where Is The NCAA?" The question "often comes up when a serious scandal hits college sports" like the one at Ohio State. Why "isn't the governing body of major college sports, you know, governing?" The DALLAS MORNING NEWS wrote OSU coach Urban Meyer "proves he's a liar, and a lousy one at that." ESPN.com wrote to other university presidents, "Don't follow Ohio State's lead, or else."

Elsewhere: 

• How the Redeem Team is "still changing the game" a decade later.
• LAFC and the Galaxy's "El Trafico" rivalry is drawing attention in L.A.
• Boston-based WBZ-AM's Jonny Miller is the "hardest working guy" in the biz.

A sneak preview of SportsBusiness Journal's weekly editorial cartoon:

108,000 -- Number of people who have taken a tour of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the venue's first year of operation. The $1.5B  Atlanta stadium celebrates the one-year anniversary of its grand opening today (AJC.com, 8/25).