SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
To celebrate the tipoff of the NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, ESPN announced plans to transform The Rooftop at Pier 17 –above ESPN’s South Street Seaport studio in New York City into the ESPN House featuring a live headlining concert from Top Dawg Entertainment recording artist, ScHoolboy Q, in addition to recording artist YG, followed by fan experiences during Game 1 of the NBA Finals live on ABC. ESPN and ABC coverage for Game 1 will include live look-ins during the concert and fan experience and include fan activations.
Meanwhile, the NHL, in partnership with the City of Boston, will celebrate the start of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final with a free outdoor concert and viewing party at Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Monday with the line-up of performers, announced at a later date.
FanDuel Group and fuboTV announced a partnership that will make FanDuel Group the exclusive sportsbook, online casino, horse racing and DFS partner of the live TV streaming service. The companies have also signed a media buy which will make FanDuel the exclusive advertiser on fuboTV in these categories. Additionally, TVG and TVG2, America’s horse racing network and an affiliate of FanDuel Group, will also be available to fuboTV subscribers nationwide.
UFCannounced a new multi-year, global marketing partnership with Thorne that names the company as the “Official Sports Performance Nutrition Partner” of UFC. Thorne also becomes an “Official Partner of the Performance Institute”, UFC’s training and research. Under the terms of the agreement, Thorne’s line of NSF Certified for Sport products will be integrated into supplement plans.
The Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year partnership with Kaged Muscle, establishing the brand as the “Official Sports Nutrition Supplement” of the PFL. Kaged Muscle joins a growing portfolio of PFL brand partners, including ESPN, GEICO, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Air Force Reserve.
United World Sports, the owner and operator of the largest annual rugby events in the United States, announced that Dunkin’ of Greater Philadelphia will come back for the second consecutive year as the presenting sponsor of the Collegiate Rugby Festival Powered by Dunkin’ during the 2019 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship on June 1-2. Dunkin’s presenting sponsorship features the second annual “Munchkin Rugby” coaching and demonstration area, featuring instruction for children in the sport of rugby by Rugby PA. This year, there will be multiple rugby matches in the “blow-up” stadium on the festival grounds. New sponsors, meanwhile, include Four ‘N Twenty and Wild Bill’s Olde Fashioned Soda Pop Co.
DIGITAL, DATA & STREAMING
EA Sports renewed its partnership deal with LaLiga through the 2023/24 season. The collaboration between the pair offer a number of integrations into the FIFA game, including a full broadcast package, and bring the authenticity of LaLiga to life in stadiums, banners, players and more.
ESPORTS
Twitch locked on a multi-touch advertising and sponsorship program with the Hershey’s and Reese’s brands designed to connect the brands across the spectrum of Twitch including media, team sponsorship, influencer sponsorship, event sponsorship, and ecommerce. In addition to video advertisements, the program will include all the following additional elements:
- TwitchCon North America 2019 participation
- Sponsorship with DrLupo and his wife, MrsDrLupo
- Sponsorship with TimTheTatman
- Additional Twitch influencer sponsorships to support key product initiatives
- Twitch Extensions creation and bits usage
DreamHack Dallas announced that it will see The American Video Game League and High School Esports League launch high school and college esports matches at this year’s event form May 31-June 2. As part of the ongoing DreamHack + AVGL Collegiate Series, the AVGL will run Rocket League and Apex tournaments among 20 teams on the main stage of DreamHack Dallas. Rocket League tournaments will be held Friday, May 31 from 10a-3p, and Apex tournaments on Saturday, June 1 from 10a-3p. Participating universities include: University of North Texas, UT Austin, UT San Antonio, UT Arlington, Texas A&M, Louisiana State University, University of Oklahoma, Baylor University, Texas Christian University. The High School Showdown: Smash, presented by HSEL, will feature eight teams from area high schools who are showcasing five of their best Smash players each by busing them to Dreamhack where they'll compete in a Crew Battles tournament.
Turtle Beach announced its continued partnership as the preferred audio partner for gaming YouTuber Ali-A. The partnership will see Ali-A continue to use Turtle Beach's range of audio products and participate in community engagement. Ali-A has the largest Call of Duty channel in the world and has recently achieved the accolade of being the most popular global Fortnite YouTuber. Ali-A currently has over 22 million combined subscribers, and 12.9 billion minutes of his content was viewed on YouTube in 2018.
INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES
First Tee, a youth development organization dedicated to helping young people build character through the game of golf, will expand its programs and deepen its impact on young people in Texas courtesy of a challenge grant provided by Charles Schwab. The $5 million donation will also support further development of a First Tee College Scholarship program.
World TeamTennis’ Vegas Rollers added LMFAO singer Redfoo as an assistant coach to the team. Redfoo, aka Stefan Kendal Gordy, will be at every home match from July 20 - Aug 3. He previously attempted to qualify for the 2013 U.S. Open and is a member of the USTA while his Party Rock clothing line was the title sponsor of the USTA Pro Circuit Women’s $50,000 event played at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas in 2012 and 2013.
THE MAIN EVENT
Sunday sees the Coca-Cola 600 on FOX at 6p, while NBC carries the Indianapolis 500 at noon.
ON THIS DAY in 1935: The first Major League night game is played.
In the Know: What is the name of the trophy presented to the winner of the Indianapolis 500? (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: Name the only two cities that have seen their teams square off against each other in the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final. Answer: Boston and St. Louis (most popular answer: New York and Los Angeles). Kudos: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Michael Ritz-Northwestern Mutual/NY; Bob Dudelson-Leverage Agency/NY; Joe Cassidy-Rowan University/Glassboro; Larry Kahn-GOLF Channel/Orlando; Steve Scheer-FOX Sports/Morristown; Stephanie Ann-Freelance Sports Producer/Baltimore; David Hauptman/Denver; Stacey Schuman-Ten100 TV/LA; Brian Robin-Copywriter-Pechanga Resort Casino/Temecula; Greg Dudsic/Venice; Allison Stevens-Comcast Spotlight/San Francisco
Later -- Chris
