• The World Anti-Doping Agency imposed a four-year ban on Russia participating in a range of global sporting events, including the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The unanimous decision, which also prohibits Russia from hosting major sporting events during the four-year period, came after the organization’s executive committee concluded that the Russian government had tampered with laboratory data. (Reuters)

• A group of senators led by Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) launched a bipartisan working group that will examine issues surrounding compensation for college athletes beginning early next year. Murphy said he and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have discussed a federal bill that would allow athletes to benefit financially from their names, images and likenesses in the wake of California passing a similar law in September. (The Washington Post)

• The University of Texas reached a deal with Collegiate Licensing Co. that will see the company manage the school’s licensing rights through 2032 pending approval by the school’s board of regents expected this week. Texas had been CLC’s best-selling school for a decade before deciding not to renew in 2016 under then-AD Steve Patterson. (Sports Business Journal)

Endeavor’s Acquisition Of On Location Wins Final Approval
Ben Fischer, Sports Business Daily

Endeavor’s pending acquisition of the NFL-backed hospitality agency On Location Experiences has won final approval from federal antitrust regulators, a source said, paving the way for the deal to close by Dec. 31.

A-B InBev planning massive media blitz, in-stadium signage for Bud Light Seltzer
Terry Lefton, Sports Business Journal

Is a Super Bowl spot fizzing up in the future for the imminent introduction of Bud Light (hard) Seltzer? With Anheuser-Busch InBev stockpiling the rest of its top-shelf sports armada for the Q1 launch of the brand extension, it sure looks that way.

Anthony Joshua in line for Spurs stadium bout
Ed Dixon, SportsPro Media

Heavyweight boxing world champion Anthony Joshua is poised for a London homecoming, with his next bout potentially taking place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Queensland to bid to bring Games back to Australia in 2032
Reuters

Queensland will launch a bid to bring the Summer Olympics to Australia for the third time in 2032 if it can get financial support from central and local government, state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday. The bid would be centered on the city of Brisbane and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast beach resort areas of the southeast of the state, and take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 2032, she told a news conference.

It’s never too early for NBC to prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo
David Wharton, Los Angeles Times

The network recently summoned 110 U.S. athletes to a West Hollywood studio, shepherding them through soundstages, photo shoots and recording booths, taping interviews for use during the Games and, just as important, gathering raw material for ads and promos right now.

MLR taps Killebrew as new commissioner
Ben Fischer, Sports Business Journal

Longtime Dallas Mavericks executive George Killebrew will become the next commissioner of Major League Rugby, which will launch its third season in February. Killebrew replaces founding commissioner Dean Howes, whom the 14-member MLR board of governors ousted after the season ended this summer in pursuit of a more aggressive commercial strategist.

Sources think Panthers owner David Tepper considering Steelers executives
Adam Schefter, ESPN

There are those around the league who believe that Tepper is eyeing Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, whose contract is up after this season, and/or vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan, according to league sources.

Chiefs get gear after it’s mistakenly sent to New Jersey
Adam Schefter, ESPN

An equipment container containing some of the Kansas City Chiefs’ shoulder pads, helmets and footballs has arrived in Foxborough, Massachusetts, after it was mistakenly sent to Newark, New Jersey, a team spokesman said Sunday. The container was not unloaded Saturday and instead accidentally made its way to Newark, then had to be rushed back to Boston in time for Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. ET kickoff between the Chiefs and the New England Patriots.

1980s Los Angeles Lakers Drama Scores Series Order at HBO
Joe Otterson, Variety

HBO has given out a series order to the untitled one-hour drama about the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. The project had originally been ordered to pilot at the premium cabler back in April.

Spurs team store sets up shop in San Antonio airport
W. Scott Bailey, San Antonio Business Journal

Spurs Sports & Entertainment opened a new Spurs Fan Shop at San Antonio International Airport on Friday. The store, which also carries merchandise from SS&E’s other teams — the AHL Rampage and USL San Antonio FC — will be in the airport’s Terminal A.

Union leader Marvin Miller, eight-time All-Star Ted Simmons voted into Cooperstown
Katherine Acquavella, CBS Sports

On Sunday night, the Hall of Fame announced that groundbreaking union leader Marvin Miller and eight-time All-Star Ted Simmons were voted into Cooperstown by the 16-person Modern Baseball Era Committee.

Diversity agenda high on MLB’s priority list this winter
Eric Prisbell, Sports Business Journal

MLB is rolling out a robust diversity and inclusion agenda at this week’s Winter Meetings in San Diego, including launching new six-month internship programs geared toward helping former players with diverse backgrounds transition from the playing field to front office and on-field coaching roles.

All eyes on NHL regarding possible code of conduct
Chris Johnston, Sportsnet

All eyes turn to Gary Bettman and Bill Daly. With NHL owners set to gather for a Board of Governors meeting unlike any other in recent memory, the league’s most powerful men will speak publicly for the first time since Bill Peters resigned from the Calgary Flames, Marc Crawford was suspended by the Chicago Blackhawks and hockey’s culture was placed under the microscope by a series of allegations from former players.

U.S. Soccer 2020 deficit grows by $5.5 million due to legal fees from lawsuits
Jeff Carlisle, ESPN

U.S. Soccer’s projected 2020 deficit is set to grow $5.5 million due mostly to expenditures of $9 million on legal fees devoted to various lawsuits. The federation had already projected a loss for the upcoming year, but legals costs — including those due to the equal pay lawsuit filed by the U.S. women’s team — are the primary reason for the increase.

Qatar postpones launch of new 2022 World Cup venue
AFP

Qatar has postponed to next year the opening of Education City stadium, its second newly built venue for the 2022 football World Cup, FIFA said on Saturday. The venue was due to be inaugurated when it hosted the semi-final of the Club World Cup between Liverpool and an as yet undetermined side on December 18.

Plans for new global football competitions branded ‘insane’
Murad Ahmed, Financial Times

European football chiefs have denounced talks between Real Madrid, Fifa and private equity over the creation of new global football competitions that threaten to undermine the biggest leagues in the world’s favourite sport. Aleksander Ceferin, president of Uefa, European football’s governing body, led an outcry on Friday against a proposal from Florentino Pérez, president of Spain’s Real Madrid, the world’s richest club by revenues.

Manchester United sign deal with Alibaba in China
Sky News

Manchester United have signed a partnership deal with Alibaba – the Chinese e-commerce company. Under the arrangement, aimed at raising the Premier League side’s profile in the world’s second-largest economy, Alibaba will provide club content on its online video platform Youku.com.

Mercedes can secure F1 future by reducing Daimler spending
Scott Mitchell, Motorsport.com

Mercedes will be in Formula 1 “for the long-term” if it is able to reduce the contribution from parent company Daimler, according to team principal Toto Wolff. Earlier this year Mercedes’ accounts, documenting its 2018 spend, revealed a net contribution from Daimler of less than £40m, with F1 prize money and sponsorship fronting the majority of its budget.

DraftKings to offer first-ever Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup contests, signaling the continued growth in golf DFS
Stephen Hennessey, Golf Digest

Anyone playing Golf DFS (daily-fantasy sports) might’ve thought they were done for the year with the PGA Tour’s fall season wrapped up. But based on the increasing popularity it’s seeing in the sport, DraftKings has told Golf Digest that it is hosting a Presidents Cup contest for next week’s matches at Royal Melbourne in Australia.

Fanatics’ Gahagan shifting to Learfield IMG
Sports Business Journal

Gahagan, 42, will take on the lengthy title of president, content, revenue and enterprise solutions, essentially overseeing every piece of Learfield IMG College’s business that makes money. His first day will be Jan. 6.

Wildcats, Pac-12 see crowds dwindle to lowest since ’70s
Greg Hansen, Arizona Daily Star

And then on Friday night at the Pac-12 Championship Game, Oregon vs. Utah, an announced crowd of 38,679 attended Santa Clara’s Levi Stadium, capacity 68,500. Fortunately, the championship game moves to Las Vegas’ new Allegiant Stadium next December.

CBS posts their best CFB viewership in 29 years, including 13.7 million viewers for SEC championship game
Andrew Bucholtz, Awful Announcing

2019 has been an incredible college football season so far for CBS. The network announced Sunday that they’d posted the best viewership numbers for their season-long coverage (to date; they still have Army-Navy next week, which will undoubtedly bring in plenty of further viewers) in 29 years, and that Saturday’s SEC championship game (which saw then-No. 2 LSU beat then-No.4 Georgia 37-10) averaged 13.703 million viewers.

Ole Miss hires Lane Kiffin as next head football coach
Nick Suss, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Ole Miss announced Saturday that Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin will be its next head coach. Kiffin, who won national championships as the offensive coordinator at Alabama and Southern California, has also previously worked as head coach at Tennessee, Southern Cal and with the Oakland Raiders.

Florida State football hires Memphis’ Mike Norvell as head coach
Wayne McGahee III, Tallahassee Democrat

Norvell, 38, has coached at Memphis since the 2016 season. He’s led the Tigers to a 38-15 record and has Memphis ranked 18th with a 12-1 record in 2019.

Sources: Missouri finalizing deal to hire Eli Drinkwitz as head coach
Mark Schlabach and Chris Low, ESPN

Eli Drinkwitz has reached an agreement to become Missouri’s next head football coach and a deal is being finalized, sources told ESPN. Drinkwitz guided Appalachian State to a 12-1 season and the Sun Belt Conference championship this season in his first year as a head coach.

Call of Duty Endowment Announces CODE Bowl Presented by U.S. Army Esports
Kevin Hitt, The Esports Observer

The Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) in conjunction with U.S. Army Esports has announced the first ever CODE Bowl, which will take place on Dec. 13. The event will feature eight teams, with each team captained by a streamer playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare alongside members of the U.S. Army esports team.

NBA 2K League’s first Europe event to be held at Gfinity Arena
Sam Carp, SportsPro Media

The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) NBA 2K League esports competition has chosen London’s Gfinity Arena to host its first-ever qualifying event in Europe. Taking place on 13th and 14th December, the tournament will feature NBA 2K players from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey and the UK, with the top gamers becoming eligible for the NBA 2K League Draft.

Atlanta is key destination in fast-growing e-sports industry
Randy Southerland, Atlanta Business Chronicle

Forget about that nerdy kid playing a video games in his parent’s basement. These days the games and the people who play them are cool. It’s a big industry and one that is getting bigger — bigger than movies and music combined, according to the experts.

2019’s Top 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business
Sports Business Journal
1. Roger Goodell; 2. Adam Silver; 3. Rob Manfred; 4. Eric Shanks/Mark Silverman; 5. U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team; 6. Sean McManus / David Berson; 7. Gary Bettman; 8. Jimmy Pitaro / Kevin Mayer; 9. Mark Lazarus / Pete Bevacqua; 10. LeBron James

4 enough for now to keep CFP expansion talk quiet
Ralph D. Russo, The Associated Press

Four was enough this season to accommodate the teams worthy of a crack at the national championship. Maybe more than enough.