Good morning. It’s Thursday April 11, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

ESPN and the Big 12 Conference tied up an expansion of the current rights agreement, which runs through the 2024-25 season. The tweaked deal now adds the Big 12 Football Championship exclusively on ABC or ESPN every year through 2024 – adding three additional championship games (2019, 2021 and 2023) overall. In addition, the del will bring hundreds of Big 12 events – including exclusive football and basketball games, as well as multiple other sports, conference championships and original content – to ESPN+. As part of the agreement, all ESPN+ events will be produced and presented under a Big 12-branded offering to be developed by the conference and ESPN, and launched on ESPN+ ahead of the start of the 2019-20 athletic season.

 

“We appreciate the continued collaboration with our friends at the Big 12 Conference and their commitment to innovation,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming & scheduling. “This enhancement to our rights agreement reflects an ongoing desire to give Big 12 fans access to their favorite teams and hundreds of more contests, while embracing the power of technology and the expanded nature of sports consumption with ESPN+.”

 

 

PROGRAMMING

The Breeders’ Cup and NBC Sports unveiled the 2019 “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, TV slate this year, lining up 11 live programs featuring more than 20 automatic qualifying races, and other major stakes on the road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The 2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park on November 1-2, which will also be televised live by NBC Sports. The series begins during NBC Sports’ coverage of Belmont Stakes Day on June 8, with the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap and the Ogden Phipps live from Belmont Park. New this year will be the one-mile Fourstardave Handicap and the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park.

 

Bellator booked plans for NYC for June 14, hosting its second event at Madison Square Garden and carried exclusively on DAZN. The main event features Lyoto Machida (25-8) and Chael Sonnen (31-16-1), who will finally meet after years of parallel MMA careers.

 

April 30 will see ESPN debut the next installment of its 30 for 30 series with “The Dominican Dream.” Featuring the incredible journey of retired professional basketball player Felipe Lopez, the episode” will premiere at 9p on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, marking the first time 30 for 30 debuted the English and Spanish-language versions of a film simultaneously on both networks.

 

Speaking of documentaries, PBS’ American Masters documentary, Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, was picked up and is now streaming on Netflix. The program premiered last summer on PBS.

DIRECTV NOW reports that it saw nearly 5 million total hours streamed across all games for the NCAA Men’s basketball Tournament. Here are the top five most streamed individual games on DIRECTV NOW:

1. Virginia vs. Texas Tech (National Championship): 280,575 hours
2. Texas Tech vs. Michigan State (Final Four®): 232,205 hours
3. Michigan State vs. Duke (Elite Eight®): 204,690 hours
4. Auburn vs. Kentucky (Elite Eight®): 196,148 hours
5. Auburn vs. Virginia (Final Four®): 177,594 hours
   

In local news, NESN’s coverage of Tuesday’s Red Sox Championship Ring Ceremony drew an 8.1 average household rating with a 27 share in the Boston DMA according to Nielsen overnights. That marks the network’s best pre-game ceremony rating since 2005 with an estimated 1.1 million viewers watching the pre-game ceremony throughout New England.

 

In international waters, IMPACT Wrestling signed a new broadcast deal with Viacom-owned Channel 5 to broadcast its flagship weekly show IMPACT! on 5STAR across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland starting April 26. New episodes will premiere on 5STAR at 11p with weekly episodes airing in the same timeslot on Friday nights.

SB Nation and the Vox Media Podcast Network launched the new podcast, Against All Enemies, showcasing “the accomplishments, rivalries, and passion” of the three United States service academies – Army, Navy, and Air Force. The show will be hosted by U.S. Naval Academy graduates Lieutenant (LT) Justin Mears and Lieutenant (LT)  Austin Lanteigne, U.S. Air Force Academy graduate Scott Lopez, and Army National Guard veteran Specialist (SPC) Kaylah Jackson with news from all of the nearly 30 different sports offered by the service academies.

 

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and the NHL announced a multiyear partnership that designates MassMutual as the Official Life Insurance and Retirement Planning Partner of the NHL. To launch the partnership, to pair unveiled NHL Most Valuable Hockey Mom presented by MassMutual campaign. Celebrating Mother’s Day and the sacrifices hockey moms across the United States make behind the scenes every day, the campaign runs until May 3. Starting with the 2019-20 NHL season, featured hockey moms and their stories will be celebrated throughout the season with unique content, including an invitation to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade featuring MassMutual as the presenting partner of the NHL’s Thanksgiving Day float.

 

ASICS revealed a five-year sponsorship deal with Conqur Endurance Group that will make the sports performance brand the official footwear and apparel partner and presenting sponsor of the Los Angeles Marathon beginning in 2020. This multi-year agreement comprises significant brand integration, on-site and in-store event activations, digital and social content, broadcast integrations and online retail promotions. ASICS and Conqur will re-launch their partnership in January 2020, beginning with the Pasadena Half Marathon. In addition to the 2020 Los Angeles Marathon, ASICS will expand its partnership in Southern California by becoming official partners of the Pasadena Half Marathon at the Rose Bowl, The LA Big 5K, and Santa Monica Classic 5K and 10K. ASICS will also look to support Conqur’s extensive youth running and community programs.

 

The Premier Lacrosse League signed a multi-year partnership with adidas to become the official athletic footwear and apparel brand for the league ahead of its debut season later this year. As the official sports brand of the PLL, adidas will design and manufacture all official on-field PLL apparel for players and coaches and athletes and staff will be outfitted with adidas adizero cleats and athletic footwear. adidas will also create brand activations at local tentpole experiences throughout the PLL’s inaugural season, including Opening Weekend, the All-Star Game and the League Championship. Additionally, adidas will host two PLL pop-up events at the brand’s flagship stores in both New York and Los Angeles.

 

Bleacher Report is bringing back Game of Zones for a sixth season ahead of the NBA Playoffs. The series will premiere exclusively on the B/R App at 5p today and roll out wide April 12 at 11a. To support the new season, Bleacher Report teamed up with Dame Lillard over the past weekend to reveal an exclusive Game of Zones sneaker.

 

 

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

With Masters Week beginning play today, underway, athlete marketing platform opendorse released its ranking of the Top 5 Most Engaging Players in Golf, shown above. Leading the way is Rory McIlroy whose Facebook engagements alone were nearly 8x that of the second player on the list, Rickie Fowler, with the list based off total engagements, which includes every like, share, retweet, comment and other social factors each players’ posts received during the indicated time period.

 

 

ESPORTS

In this week’s edition of Cynopsis Esports…

• The Weeknd steps up for Overactive’s Splyce & Defiant
• DreamHack COO talks festivals
• ESL Pro League’s new look
• Guns of Boom sets sights on Arlington
• BLAST Pro Series lines up deals
• March’s top tournament matches
• Rocket League Esports Shop opens its doors
  

 

INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES

The NBA, the International Basketball Federation and the Latvian Basketball Association announced that the 18th edition of Basketball Without Borders Europe will be held June 9-12 at Elektrum Olympic Center in Riga, Latvia, marking the first time that the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program will be held in Latvia. NIKE, a global partner of BWB since 2002, will outfit the campers and coaches with NIKE apparel and footwear.

 

June 25-26 will see the 2019 Pac-12 Sustainability Conference take place at the University of Washington, serving as a “high-level symposium focused on elevating approaches and enhancing sustainability efforts within collegiate athletics departments, designing new collective initiatives and sharing best practices for transforming college sports into a platform for environmental progress.”  

 

 

THE MAIN EVENT

First round action at The Masters on ESPN at 3p.

 

ON THIS DAY in 1989: The Flyers’ Ron Hextrall becomes the first goalie to score in the postseason.

 

In the Know: Masters week! Who is the only player to record 500+ birdies at The Masters? (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: Which hole at Augusta National is the shortest? Answer: The 12th. Kudos: Chris Schwartz-Motor Racing Network/Concord; Paul Brewer-TV  Talent Agents/North Augusta; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; Roy Kessel-Sports Philanthropy Network/Chicago; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine/Houston; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas’; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Brian Robin-Pechanga Resort Casino/Temecula

Later -- Chris

STRATEGIST VIDEO MONETIZATION/History/NYC: Oversee all rev driven AVOD content creation & release strategy across YouTube, Daily Motion, FB watch, Twitter & Snapchat. Partner w/Preditor to strategically greenlight content to max rev & support linear priorities. 4-6 yrs exp working w/digital video strategies at brand/publishing level. Full info HERE (4/25)

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/Nickelodeon/NY: Review scripts & provide copywriting direction to writer/producers. Must have 5+ years of experience writing on-air promotional/brand content. Must be proficient creating brand content for social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Full info HERE (4/25)

SALES RESEARCH ANALYST/Ion Media/NYC: responsible for supporting Sales organization. 3-8 yrs work exp in media or advertising analytics, i.e. TV network, advertising agency or client experience positioning data for ad sales teams and clients; ability to "tell a story" with data. Full info HERE (4/25)

DIRECTOR, MARKETING/Viacom/NYC: Join the Marketing & Media Insights team for Viacom group Strategic Insights & Research dept. Conceptualize and conduct proprietary quantitative and qualitative studies resulting in strategic reports and actionable insights for key stakeholders. 5-7 yrs exp. Full info HERE (4/25)

ACCOUNT SERVICE REP/Crown Media Family Networks/NY: Train/mentor sales planners & sales assts. Present new prgrmng & mktg opps to clients & new bus. prospects. Negotiate scatter deals & build targeted sales pitches. Min 2 yrs sales plan’g or buying exp. Ability to create flowcharts & PP pres. BA/BS req. Full info/apply HERE (4/18)

SALES PLANNER/Crown Media Family Networks/ATL: Provide sales and support to the Ad Sales team for Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries & Hallmark Drama. Maintain media schedules, build sales plans, manage added value. BA/BS & min 1 yr exp. req. Apply HERE (4/18)  

DIGITAL RESEARCH ANALYST/Crown Media Family Networks/LA: Analyze subscriber behavior for SVOD, Hallmark Movies Now.  Create, maintain & present daily, wkly &monthly reports. Track/analyze Hallmark Channel Podcast data. BA/BS & min 1 yr exp. translating complex data into bus. insights req. Apply HERE (4/18)

MGR, AD SALES PARTNERSHIPS/A+E Networks/NY: Serve as ad sales partnerships resource & thought leader in the sales dept, managing ideation & response to RFPs, creating prod knwldg one sheets based on assigned network & disciplines, knowledgeable in digital/social mktg products & tools, effectively demonstrating how they can be leveraged in strategic 360 campaigns. Full info HERE (4/18)

 

SOCIAL MEDIA PRODUCER/Fox News Channel/NYC: Help produce content for all of our social media platforms. Team player with a positive attitude a must & comfortable working under pressure in a fast-paced envir. Your passion for news is bar none! Exc writing skills & 3+ yrs of exp in news, TV or web. Full info HERE (4/17)

ACCOUNT SERVICES REP /Weigel NTWRKS/CHI - Responsible for maintaining all aspects of account management for the Chicago advertising sales team and providing timely and accurate info to the sales team and to the client. BA deg or previous media exp pref’d.  MS PP, Excel, word exp a must. Full info HERE (4/16)

ACCT EXEC, SALES DEVELOPMENT (Consumer Tech)/ION MEDIA/NY: Seeking sales professional to generate new advrtg accts and revenue for ION’s linear television platform.  Dedicated category focus on companies which specialize in consumer technology, social media, e-commerce and OTT. Self-starter with 8-10yrs of TV selling or related adv sales exp. Full info HERE (4/13)

SALES-MARKETING COORD/AMERICAN TARGET NETWORK/NY: Ideal Candidate will work closely with sales managing client relationships and processing requests, inputting order and traffic. Be able to create mktg sales decks and promotional materials. Manage internal process for credit applications, monthly billing and weekly budget reports. Full info HERE Send resume and salary requirements to info@americantargetnetwork.com (4/13)