• Sports broadcaster Bob Costas told Outside the Lines that he was sidelined from NBC’s NFL coverage due to his willingness to speak out about concussions and the physical dangers of football. Costas, who told OTL he regretted participating in its story, was removed from the network’s coverage team for last year’s Super Bowl following remarks he made about concussions and brain injuries during a journalism symposium at the University of Maryland. (ESPN)

• The Alliance of American Football debuted on Saturday evening with a pair of games on CBS, registering a 2.1 rating — similar to the viewership numbers garnered by the NBA’s primetime ABC broadcast of the Houston Rockets versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. The AAF, an eight-team pro league founded by TV producer Charlie Ebersol and former NFL executive Bill Polian, will continue to air on most Saturdays and Sundays into late April. (New York Post)

• Adidas AG CEO Kasper Rorsted said the apparel giant wants to accelerate the speed at which it brings a new shoe to market — from 15 months to six months or less — aiming to generate 50 percent of its revenue with quick-turn products by 2020. Rorsted said Adidas hopes to use its highly automated “Speedfactories” in Atlanta and Ansbach, Germany, to produce special lines of championship edition shoes immediately following major events and predicted in-store shoe printing will probably be possible in 10 years. (Bloomberg)

South Korea picks Seoul for 2032 Olympic bid
Kim Tong-Hyung, The Associated Press

South Korea has chosen its capital, Seoul, for its bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics, which it hopes to jointly host with rival North Korea as a peace gesture. South Korea’s Olympic committee announced the decision after a meeting Monday in which Seoul received 34 of 49 votes, edging out the southern port city of Busan.

Fanatics’ Rubin sets sights on ‘marketplaces’
Terry Lefton, SportsBusiness Daily

As a follow-up to Fanatics’ recent and much talked-about distribution agreement with Walmart.com, Chairman and Founder Michael Rubin said he has two similar deals signed, which will put Fanatics “marketplaces” on two large retail sites, based offshore. As was the case with the Walmart.com deal, they are both 10-year pacts.

Complex is licensing 16 shows to Netflix and Hulu in 2019
Sahil Patel, Digiday

“QB1: Beyond the Lights” is a reality show that follows three star high school quarterbacks during their final season before they move on to play college football. Produced by Complex Networks with “Friday Night Lights” director Peter Berg, the first two seasons of the show originally aired on Go90, the now-defunct video streaming platform from Verizon, which funded “QB1” and other Complex shows as part of a lucrative content deal between Go90 and Complex Networks.

NWHL All-Star captain’s hope for future? Combined league
Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press

On a day the NWHL wanted to keep the focus on its All-Star celebrations and a record crowd for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States, Lee Stecklein couldn’t help but look beyond to what the future might hold. It was a vision of one combined league, as opposed to the current reality of splitting the best women in the world between two competing North American leagues: The U.S.-based National Women’s Hockey League and the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

Signs point to Bears-Packers for ’19 kickoff game
John Ourand, SportsBusiness Daily

The NFL is leaning toward having the Bears host the Packers for next season’s opening kickoff game on Thursday, Sept. 5, according to multiple sources. The move would mark the first time since 2006 that the Super Bowl champion will not appear in the league’s opening game.

Relationship between AAF and NFL grows but there’s no investment, yet
Mike Florio, Profootballtalk.com

The Alliance of American Football emerged in early 2018. In early 2019, the relationship between the AAF and the NFL began to gradually expand. With the new league due to launch tonight, six days after the conclusion of the NFL’s 2018 season, PFT asked both the NFL and the AAF to comment on where things stand between the league that will soon launch its 100th season and the league starting its first.

A Super Bowl Mermaid Ad and a Sexist Audition
Sapna Maheshwari, The New York Times

In the first quarter of the Super Bowl on Sunday, in front of nearly 100 million viewers watching on CBS, Anheuser-Busch ran a commercial for its Bon & Viv hard seltzer brand. Two women, clad in cropped short-sleeved collared shirts, played the mythical mermaid founders of the brand and pitched the beverage to a group of talking sharks under the sea.

Robey-Coleman fined $26,000 for Super Bowl hit
Reuters

Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman has been smacked with a hefty fine for a hit in a second straight playoff game. Robey-Coleman was fined $26,739 by the NFL for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a prone New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead in the first quarter of Super Bowl LIII, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Report Shows Which Brands Added Followers Thanks To Super Bowl Commercials
Simon Dumenco, Ad Age

With the Super Bowl receding in the rear-view mirror, one question we ask every year is: Which advertisers achieved something lasting for all their spending? By one measure, TurboTax, whose vaguely creepy Big Game ad starred “RoboChild,” is doing the best so far.

Magic Johnson: Pelicans’ Anthony Davis trade talks with Lakers weren’t in good faith
Tani Ganguli, Los Angeles Times

Magic Johnson has no regrets about the public nature of his conversations with New Orleans Pelicans general manager Dell Demps during the past two weeks, as the Lakers tried to trade for Anthony Davis. Johnson believes his players are professional enough to handle hearing their names in trade rumors.

Knicks remove photo with Kevin Durant from season ticket pitch
Des Bieler, The Washington Post

The New York Knicks have removed a photo that features their promising rookie center, Mitchell Robinson, from a website used by the team for season ticket holders. Why? Well, the photo also happened to prominently display Kevin Durant.

MLBPA’s Clark says ‘cold hot stove’ is hurting industry
Liz Mullen, SportsBusiness Daily

MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark did not know exactly what to expect after last year’s cold free-agent market, but this offseason is turning out to be about the same when it comes to unsigned players. “There was a lot of rationale as to why last year was the way it was,” Clark said last week.

Harper, Machado, Kimbrel, Keuchel on market as camps open
Ronald Blum, Reuters

Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel won’t be around when the bat and ball bags are opened at spring training throughout Florida and Arizona this week. They are among the dozens of free agents still looking for jobs, joined by Mike Moustakas, Marwin Gonzalez, Carlos Gonzalez and Gio Gonzalez.

Ducks fire coach Randy Carlyle amid losing streak
Emily Kaplan, ESPN

Mired in a two-month tailspin, the Anaheim Ducks fired coach Randy Carlyle. Bob Murray, the team’s general manager, will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

Chelsea struggle with the long term and time looks nearly up for Sarri
Jonathan Wilson, The Guardian

How bad is too bad? What level of defeat forces a club to change its long-term plans?

‘He is a free man’: Thailand releases refugee Bahraini footballer after extradition bid dropped
Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat, Reuters

Thailand on Monday freed a jailed refugee Bahraini footballer with residency status in Australia, after Bahrain abandoned its bid to seek his extradition, and immigration officials said he was immediately driven to the airport. Hakeem Al Araibi, 25, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and received refugee status in Australia, was arrested in November last year at a Bangkok airport while on a honeymoon trip, following an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain’s request.

William Byron wins Daytona 500 pole, puts Hendrick Motorsports up front again
Mark Long, Chicago Tribune

William Byron has won the pole for next week’s Daytona 500, giving Hendrick Motorsports the top starting spot for the fifth consecutive year. Byron and teammate Alex Bowman locked in the front row for “The Great American Race” during qualifying laps Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

Wait is on: Mickelson’s 44th PGA Tour win on hold until Monday
Randall Mell, Golf Channel

Phil Mickelson gave himself a chance Sunday to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for the fifth time in a final-round charge he desperately wanted to finish in the dark. That’s about all Mickelson didn’t get to go his way in the suspended final round.

Arizona AD throws support behind basketball coach Sean Miller amid potential NCAA inquiry
Kyle Boone, CBS Sports

Amid recent reports that Arizona’s basketball program has become the target of an official NCAA inquiry related to the ongoing college hoops corruption case, its athletic director, Dave Heeke, put rumors to bed Saturday that coach Sean Miller’s job is in jeopardy. Heeke offered his full support of Miller at halftime of Arizona’s 69-55 loss to Washington State, and pushed back on the idea that the Wildcats’ recent firing of assistant coach Mark Phelps was part of a grander scheme to eventually part ways with him.

Duke investigating sexual assault allegation made against former basketball player
Myron Medcalf, ESPN

The sexual assault allegation made recently against a former Duke men’s basketball player is being investigated, the university announced Saturday. In a series of statements released Friday through her attorney, Meredith Watson said a former Duke basketball player raped her in 1999.

Overwatch League inks Coca-Cola, Toyota, T-Mobile as sponsors
Rachel Samples, Dot Esports

Activision Blizzard has signed Coca-Cola as the official non-alcoholic beverage of the Overwatch League and the entire Overwatch ecosystem. In the multi-year deal, Coca-Cola will get exclusivity with the league’s 20 teams and the Overwatch Contenders in addition to the Overwatch World Cup, BlizzCon, and collegiate events.

Newzoo CEO Says Esports Analytics Have Reached ‘Phase Two’
Trent Murray, The Esports Observer

As the esports industry continues to grow, the role of data and analytics has continued to evolve. For analytics firm Newzoo, esports has evolved from simply a segment of the broader gaming industry into its own distinct ecosystem connected to gaming.

In AAF debut, Christian Hackenberg showed why he never played a down in the NFL
Des Bieler, The Washington Post

The Alliance of American Football may have enjoyed a solid debut over the weekend, but it didn’t go so well for Christian Hackenberg. The former Penn State star and second-round pick of the New York Jets, who never played a regular season down in two-plus NFL seasons, struggled as his Memphis Express was shut out Sunday in its opener.

The Goalie Is a Hired Gun, and He’s Yours for $50 a Game
Curtis Rush, The New York Times

Keith Hamilton carried himself like an N.H.L. goaltender even before he made his first save in a pickup game at Moss Park Arena. Standing 6 feet tall — and looking much bigger in skates — he made the net behind him appear to shrink.

Column: A perfect day and a perfect goodbye for Vonn
Tim Dahlberg, The Associated Press

Lindsey Vonn just wanted to win. Win every time she put on skis.