BETHLEHEM, PA.
Eagles keep camp at Lehigh
The Philadelphia Eagles and Lehigh University signed a deal for the team to continue hosting its training camp at the school through the summer of 2013. Lehigh has hosted the Eagles’ training camp since 1996.
BUFFALO
Bills sign Moe’s Southwest Grill
The Buffalo Bills agreed to a deal with Moe’s Southwest Grill that makes the restaurant chain the team’s ticket-back sponsor for the 2012 season. Moe’s will be represented on individual game and print-at-home tickets for all preseason and regular-season games.
COLUMBUS
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The new FC Dallas kits will make their debut on July 28 against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Photo by: FC DALLAS
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Jackets, TWC extend deal
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Time Warner Cable reached a multiyear extension of their agreement in which TWC will remain the exclusive provider of entertainment and information services for the team and Nationwide Arena. Time Warner Cable has been a Blue Jackets partner since the club’s inaugural 2000-01 season.
DALLAS
FC Dallas puts AdvoCare on jerseys
AdvoCare signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear partnership with FC Dallas, becoming the club’s first jersey sponsor. AdvoCare offers nutrition, weight loss, energy and sports performance products. The company will have a major presence throughout FC Dallas Stadium as well as in team media and promotional initiatives.
DETROIT
New citizens sworn in at Tigers game
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A large group of new U.S. citizens takes the Oath of Allegiance at Comerica Park.
Photo by: DETROIT TIGERS
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Sixty people were sworn in as American citizens during a pregame ceremony July 3 at Comerica Park. The new citizens and theirfamily members received game tickets courtesy of the Detroit Tigers. This is the fifth year the Tigers have hosted a naturalization ceremony at Comerica Park. The ceremony is typically held on the field, but thunderstorms forced this year’s event indoors.
FOXBORO, MASS.
Gillette Stadium goes smoke-free
Gillette Stadium is now a fully smoke-free facility. The new policy will be in place for all ticketed events at the venue, home of the NFL Patriots and MLS Revolution. In a partnership with Tufts Health Plan, signs will be erected throughout the stadium, anti-smoking literature will be available on-site and there will be anti-smoking PSAs during events.
KANSAS CITY
Fans will decide T-shirt giveaway design
The Kansas City Royals’ T-Shirt Tuesday Design Contest will feature the original artwork of one Royals fan for a T-shirt giveaway next month. Submissions were due by July 12. Beginning Tuesday, fans will have the opportunity to vote on designs of five finalists at www.royals.com/tshirtdesign and decide which design will be featured for the T-shirt that will be given to 10,000 fans on Aug. 14, courtesy of Champion Windows.
LAS VEGAS
Hoops for Troops series begins
USA Basketball last week tipped off its Hoops for Troops program, a series of military-themed activities this month tied to the training and exhibition schedules of the men’s and women’s national teams. Last Tuesday’s event was a youth clinic at Nellis Air Force Base.
LOS ANGELES
ESPY golf event raises $1 million
The 12th annual ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic helped raise $1 million in net proceeds for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. ESPN Executive Chairman George Bodenheimer announced the total at the site of the event: Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms in Industry Hills, Calif.
MONTREAL
NBA preseason games scheduled
The NBA will hold its first NBA Canada Series this coming preseason, with a Knicks-Raptors game at Montreal’s Bell Centre on Oct. 19 and a Timberwolves-Pistons game at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre on Oct. 24. This marks the first time Canada is being included in the league’s marquee international exhibition schedule.
MLS Impact plans ticket promotions
Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo acknowledged that the team miscalculated the market when it established ticket prices for the club’s inaugural MLS season this year, according to a Montreal Gazette report. As a result, Saputo said, the Impact plans to introduce a series of promotions to boost the team’s sagging attendance.
PHILADELPHIA
Union announcer chosen for Olympics
JP Dellacamera, the play-by-play announcer for the Philadelphia Union, was picked to be part of NBC’s broadcast team for soccer coverage at the Summer Olympics in London. Dellacamera has handled play-by-play for Union broadcasts since the team began play as an MLS franchise in 2010.
State budget includes horse racing
The $27.7 billion state budget approved for fiscal 2013 includes $72 million for the state’s Race Horse Development Fund, money that had been targeted for use elsewhere in the state’s preliminary budget. The Pennsylvania Equine Coalition, a statewide group representing more than 10,000 owners and trainers of the horse racing industry in the state, lobbied hard against diverting the funds, which they say were needed to provide competitive purses and breeders awards.
AFL Soul holds zoo practice
The Philadelphia Soul found another unusual setting for a team practice when the AFL club worked out at Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Pa., earlier this month. The practice was free to the public and did not require a zoo admission. During the practice, attendees were asked at random to participate by running plays with the Soul. The team previously has held practices on neighborhood streets and on a waterfront pier.
SAN ANTONIO
NASL team excels; new facility going up
The North American Soccer League’s San Antonio Scorpions, owned by former real estate developer Gordon Hartman, are drawing an average of 8,000 fans a game to Heroes Stadium while Hartman’s privately financed soccer facility is being built, according to a New York Times report. The report quoted Hartman: “I have not talked to [MLS Commissioner] Don Garber, but I am building a soccer stadium.”
SEATTLE
Storm uses social media for ‘bobblehunt’
The Seattle Storm sent Sue Bird off to the Olympics by hosting Sue Bird USA Bobblehead Night at KeyArena July 8. The Storm held a “bobblehunt” promotion in which fans attempted to be the first to find a hidden bobblehead by using clues released via social media. The winner received a signed bobblehead, game tickets and other prizes.
TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG
Antenna system set for the Trop
Genesis Group Holdings secured a contract for the installation of a wireless distributed antenna system at Tropicana Field. The contract value is $380,000. The work is expected to begin immediately and be completed before the end of the summer.
READING, PA.
Caps align with ECHL Royals
The Washington Capitals signed an ECHL affiliation deal with the Reading Royals. Reading is about 130 miles northeast of Washington. The Capitals’ previous ECHL affiliate was the South Carolina Stingrays.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.VA.
Slammin’ Sam beer debuts
Slammin’ Sam Beer Co. introduced Slammin’ Sam, a craft-brewed lager inspired by late golf legend Sam Snead. The beer debuted this month at The Greenbrier Classic PGA Tour event in conjunction with the centennial of Snead’s birth. Slammin’ Sam is made in Wisconsin by Stevens Point Brewery. Snead was The Greenbrier Resort’s head pro in 1944.
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