Partnerships

• The NBA’s Bulls, NHL’s Blackhawks and MLB’s White Sox have agreed to a multiyear media rights deal with NBC Sports Chicago, set to begin with the 2019-20 seasons. As part of the agreement, which is pending approval by the leagues, the regional network will show all preseason and regular-season games and provide first-round playoff coverage for the Bulls and Blackhawks while games will also continue to be streamed on two online platforms, NBCSportsChicago.com and the MyTeams by NBC Sports app.

• Caesars Entertainment Corp. agreed to pay the NFL about $30 million a year, according to a source familiar with the situation, as part of a multiyear deal for exclusive rights to use the league’s marks to promote casinos in the United States and Britain. Under the terms of the agreement, Caesars will not use the league’s logos to market its sports betting.

• As part of its new multiyear TV deal with Walt Disney Co., Verizon FiOS will carry the ACC Network when it launches on Aug. 22. The agreement between Disney and Verizon Communications Inc., whose FiOS service has about 4.5 million U.S. subscribers, also ended a potential blackout of NFL playoff and college bowl games.

Football

• The NFL’s year-over-year TV viewership rose in the 2018 regular season, putting an end to a two-year slide in ratings. NBC, CBS and ESPN each recorded 8 percent improvements and Fox was up 4 percent, according to data provided by the networks, while the NFL Network and Amazon.com Inc., which began streaming Thursday night games this season, are expected to release their numbers later this week.

• The NFL launched “The Rookie’s Guide to the NFL,” voice-recognition content for Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa that explains the rules of the game and provides information on the league’s players and history. It’s the NFL’s second foray into the technology after it launched “NFL in :60,” which provides daily updates, on Google Home.

Golf

• NBC Sports Group said 2018 brought its highest viewership numbers for a PGA Tour season in 12 years, seeing a 54 percent increase from the 2017 tour season. The heightened viewership comes as NBC Sports Digital’s streaming service, NBC Sports Gold, will begin hosting PGA Tour Live, the organization’s over-the-top platform, in 2019.

Hockey

• The NHL announced venues for its next three outdoor games: the 2019 Heritage Classic between the Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets will be held in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Oct. 26; the next Winter Classic will be held on Jan. 1, 2020, in the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, with the Stars playing host; and the Colorado Avalanche will host an outdoor game at the United States Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs on Feb. 15, 2020. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks, who competed in the 2019 Winter Classic, would “probably not” be considered for the newly scheduled outdoor contests.

Soccer

• Chelsea Football Club paid Borussia Dortmund 64 million euros ($73 million) for 20-year-old U.S. winger Christian Pulisic, making him the most expensive American soccer player in history. As part of the deal — which is more than three times the reported 20 million euros Wolfsburg paid for John Brooks in 2017  — Pulisic will finish the rest of the season with Dortmund on a free loan.

• The College Football Playoff National Championship on ESPN will be held tomorrow at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

• The deadline for MLB teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit 2019 salary figures is Friday.

• The Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs are Saturday and next Sunday. In the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Indianapolis Colts on NBC, while on CBS, the New England Patriots will host the winner of today’s matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens. In the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys booked a spot to play either the Los Angeles Rams or the New Orleans Saints on Fox, pending the outcome of today’s game between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles.

• Jan. 24-27 is the NHL All-Star Break.

• Super Bowl LIII on CBS will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Feb. 3.

• Feb. 7 is the NBA trade deadline.

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