Good morning. It’s Tuesday April 9, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

The WNBA inked a multiyear marquee partnership with AT&T that makes the global communications and technology company the first non-apparel partner to have its logo featured on the front of all 12 team jerseys throughout the league. The jerseys will officially debut during this week’s WNBA Draft presented by State Farm on April 10 at NIKE’s NYHQ. With the deal, AT&T will be integrated into WNBA.com, the WNBA app, and WNBA social channels throughout the season as well as with broadcast partners ESPN networks and NBA TV. AT&T will also be title partner of WNBA All-Star with on-court logo placement, signage and unique activation opportunities beginning this year in Las Vegas. As part of the partnership, AT&T and the WNBA will collaborate on programming to support women in sports.

 

“The WNBA is deeply committed to empowering and inspiring women,” said Kerry Tatlock, Senior Vice President, Marketing Partnerships.  “AT&T’s groundbreaking commitment to our game, which is anchored on our shared values of diversity and inclusion, make it the perfect partner for the WNBA at this exciting time.”

 

 

PROGRAMMING

With the NHL postseason set to begin tomorrow, NBC Sports reports that its coverage of the 2018-19 NHL regular season – which included a record 112 games – scored viewership spikes across all platforms, according to Nielsen. Combined viewership across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 424,000 viewers, up 2% over the 2017-18 regular season. NHL regular season coverage on NBC drew a TAD of 1.316 million viewers across 12 games, up +2% from 2017-18, while game on NBCSN averaged 313,000 viewers, up+4%. Pittsburgh led all local markets with a 1.30 household rating for games on NBC and NBCSN.

 

In other ratings news, Sunday’s nail-biter NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship game, which saw Baylor top Notre Dame, averaged a 2.2 overnight rating, up 11% from 2018. The matchup peaked with a 3.4 rating in the final minutes of the game. Overall, the Women’s Final Four (semifinals and championship game) averaged a 1.6 rating, which is up 8% from last year.

 

In fighting news, April 12 will see ESPN+ on April 12 serve up a Top Rank battle between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Anthony Crolla in a title match with undercard action set to begin at 8p. Calling the action for ESPN will be Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Tim Bradley (analyst) and Andre Ward (analyst).The on-location desk team will feature analysis from Mark Kriegel and Max Kellerman.

 

Combate Americas announced that it will head to Stockton, for an MMA event at Stockton Arena on May 10, carried on television in Spanish in the U.S. on both Univision and UDN at midnight, as well as in English in the US and Canada on DAZN at 10p. In the main event, women’s flyweight former world champion Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto (14-5) will meet an opponent to be announced soon. “We are bringing Combate Americas’ style of Mucha Más Acción to the city of Stockton for the first time ever with some of our sport’s baddest men and women, beginning with Zoila Frausto, who exemplifies the essence of a world-class fighter and proud Latina,” said Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren.

 

PBR Canada extended its broadcast agreement with TSN for 2019. For the second consecutive year, TSN will broadcast PBR action for 32 weeks. Beginning on April 30, the weekly, one-hour highlight shows will feature events from both the U.S.-based PBR Unleash The Beast, the sport’s elite tour showcasing the Top 35 bull riders in the world, and the Monster Energy Tour, Canada’s premier bull riding series.

 

Univision Deportes will broadcast the unveiling of the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup groups and full schedule live from the Banc of California Stadium in LA tomorrow Univision Deportes Network. Hosted by Univision Deportes’ Adriana Monsalve and Fox Sports’ John Strong, the show look at the opening-round matchups and  feature appearances from participating coaches, including Gregg Berhalter (USA), Gustavo Matosas (Costa Rica) and Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino (Mexico).

 

The 2019 Pyongyang Marathon will be featured in a documentary scheduled to premiere worldwide this September on the Olympic Channel. The untitled documentary will be told through the journeys of Olympians Aimee Fuller, 27, from Great Britain, and Mirjam “Mimi” Jaeger, 36, from Switzerland, as they run the 2019 Pyongyang Marathon and experience the local sports culture during their trip to the intriguing country.

 

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Riding into the Masters, Michelob ULTRA is extending and expanding its partnership with back-to-back U.S. Open champion and 2018 PGA TOUR Player of the Year Brooks Koepka. The new agreement launches at the 2019 Masters and, for the first time, expands to global territory in addition to including IP rights, which Michelob ULTRA plans to bring to life through digital content, social media, point of sale and more. The brand will continue to use Brooks as part of its marketing campaigns, and will be introducing new ways for fans to connect with Brooks and the brand this golf season

 

The Professional Fighters League announced a fully integrated partnership with the Air Force Reserve. As part of the partnership, Air Force Reserve will receive logo placements in and around the cage, in-venue commercials and on-air advertising units that will be broadcasted on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+in the United States. Air Force Reserve and the PFL will also collaborate on exclusive content across digital platforms.

 

 

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

 Univision agreed to sell the Gizmodo Media Group and The Onion to Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm. The combined assets, which include sports site Deadspin, will form a new company named G/O Media Inc. that will be led by digital content industry veteran James Spanfeller. Other sites included in the deal include, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Lifehacker, Kotaku, and The Root. “This opportunity comes at a time when the entire digital media category is beginning to be recognized again for its unique ability to meet the diverse content and delivery needs of consumers and advertisers,” said Spanfeller. “As the largest player in our space, G/O Media is in an ideal position to capitalize on this dynamic, and I am excited to collaborate with a great team that boasts an incredible track record to further expand our reach, add value to our advertisers and enrich our visitors’ lives. G/O Media is already the leader among digital media companies speaking to the 10-to-34 year-old market, and we are confident and excited to see that lead expand.”

 

 

ESPORTS

Epic Games served up news that the Fortnite World Cup Finals will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY from July 26-28. The company stated that pre-registration is now available for a chance to purchase tickets to the tournament final. The top 100 Solo players and the top 50 Duos teams from around the world will attend the Fortnite World Cup Finals with a $30,000,000 prize pool up for grabs. Each player will be guaranteed at least $50,000 and the Fortnite World Cup Solo Champion will walk away with $3,000,000. Plans call for the venue to be transformed into a Fortnite environment for the crowds of global players in attendance.

 

N3rd Street Gamers entered a formal partnership with Spectra, which specializes in venue management, hospitality, and partnerships. Spectra will provide sponsorship sales representation for NSG’s expanding esports venue portfolio of Localhost Arenas in Philadelphia and Denver as well as the Ignite LAN Center in Chicago, plus the org’s slate of esports competitions. Spectra Partnerships reps both Philadelphia Fusion and Fusion Arena in the esports space, as well as a number of other Philadelphia-based properties: Xfinity Live!, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Wings and Wells Fargo

 

H-E-B and Overwatch League’s Houston Outlaws entered into an official partnership to bring the family-owned food retailer into the world of esports. The partnership marks Houston Outlaws' first partner branding integration on the sleeves of their uniforms, with H-E-B adorned on all home and away jerseys beginning Saturday. The partnership will also see the companies collaborate to create unique reusable grocery bags, while H-E-B will act as the official Food Delivery partner of select Houston Outlaws watch parties. 

 

Regional grocery chain Giant Food and Proctor & Gamble announced that they will partner exclusively as sponsors of Wizards District Gaming, NBA 2K league team, for the 2019 season with Monumental Sports & Entertainment. As the official grocery sponsor, Giant will be featured through in-game virtual assets, on-court signage during games and at the Wizards District Gaming Practice Facility.

 

 

INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES

WWEreports that WrestleMania 35 broke the record for MetLife Stadium’s highest-grossing entertainment event where the event grossed $16.9 million, courtesy of a sold-out crowd of 82,265 fans from all 50 states and 68 countries. WrestleMania 35 was the second highest-grossing event in WWE history, only behind WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Texas.

 

 

THE MAIN EVENT

Rockets/Thunder on TNT at 9:30p.

 

ON THIS DAY in 1941: The PGA establishes the Golf Hall of Fame.

 

In the Know: Masters week! There are three dedicated bridges at Augusta National, name one of the players that they are named after. (Email chris-sports@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

 

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Who was the last back-to-back champion of The Masters? Answer: Tiger Woods. Kudos: Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Michael Ritz-Northwestern Mutual/NY; Randy Ingram-WISH/WNDY-TV/Indianapolis; Paul Brewer-TV Talent Agents/North Augusta; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; John Tingue-Hulu/Chicago; Rich Wolfe-RichCraft/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Larry Hutchings/Nipomo; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Brian Robin-Pechanga Resort Casino/Temecula.

Later -- Chris

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