CynopsisSports

Good morning. It’s Thursday May 30, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

Major League Soccer and Liga MX are teaming up to launch Leagues Cup, an annual competition between the two top soccer leagues in North America that will debut this July with the support of Concacaf. The debut event will feature four teams from each league, with MLS represented by the Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, while Club America Cruz Azul, Tigres UANL and Club Tijuana will play for Liga MX. The quarterfinals will be held on July 23-24, played at MLS stadiums. The semifinals will unfold on Aug. 20 at a location to be determined based on the previous round with the final slated for Sept 18 at a venue in the US.

“We are excited to take our partnership with Liga MX to the next level with Leagues Cup,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “We have an intense rivalry between our national teams, and Leagues Cup provides a terrific opportunity to increase the growing rivalry between MLS and Liga MX clubs.”

PROGRAMMING

CBS Sports mapped out its college football plans, including the SEC on CBS, this year, unveiling broadcast windows and select games with 16 games overall in the cards. This year’s schedule kicks off Sept. 14 with reigning Alabama visiting South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium. In addition to the traditional Saturday SEC Game of the Week at its familiar 3:30 PM, ET time slot, there will be a primetime doubleheader on Sept. 21 and an afternoon doubleheader on Nov. 16. In addition, the CBS college football schedule also will feature the annual Army-Navy classic (Dec. 14) and the Hyundai Sun Bowl (Dec. 31). Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson, along with reporter Jamie Erdahl, are CBS Sports’ lead college football announce team.

Elsewhere in college football, FOX Sports’ bowl partners unveiled their dates and start times. The San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl will take place Dec. 27 at 8p on FS1, while the Redbox Bowl happens on Dec. 30 at 4p on FOX.

In ratings news, FOX Sports saw coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 deliver 4.258 million viewers, according to Nielsen, for a markup of 4% over last year’s race. For all racing running on the FOX broadcast channel this season, average viewership is hit 5.001 million, up 1%.

Elsewhere, Univision Deportes closed out the Torneo Clausura with the two-match Gran Final featuring Tigres UANL and Club León averaging 1.90 million Total Viewers 2+ and 976,000 Adults 18-49, and delivered the two-most watched soccer telecasts of the year on any network, regardless of language. The second leg on May 26 averaged 1.97 million Total Viewers, becoming the top-rated soccer match on any network for the current year.

NBA TV detailed programming plans for the NBA Finals 2019. Throughout the series, the network will feature 90-minute Live At The Finals pregame shows, postgame coverage and a full slate of original programming nightly throughout the series. On-site pregame and postgame studio coverage will once again feature a lineup of commentators that include integration with TNT’s Inside the NBA analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, pairing at times with Kevin McHale, Chris Webber, Grant Hill, Isiah Thomas and Steve Smith. NBA TV's pregame coverage - hosted by Matt Winer, Casey Stern and Jared Greenberg - will include two locations on site from both venues, one from the court and another at various points throughout the arena. Kristen Ledlow and Allie LaForce will report throughout the series.

Today at noon, BTN offers live coverage of Michigan Basketball’s press conference to introduce Juwan Howard as the 17thmen’s basketball coach in program history. BTN will also air two classic games from Howard’s playing era at Michigan before and after the press conference. At 11a, a 60-minute replay of Michigan’s 1992 Elite Eight win over Ohio State will debut, followed by a similarly condensed replay of the Wolverines’ 87-81 victory over Michigan State in March of 1993 at 1p.

Executive Producers Howard Taksen and Chris Costello announced the launch of the podcast, Building a Champion hosted by former LA Clippers GM and 40-year NBA veteran Dave Wohl. The pod takes listeners off the court and behind the scenes “into what it really takes to put a championship team on the court. ““There are a lot of stories no one’s ever heard before and some deep insight into the game that should change barstool conversations everywhere” said Taksen. Set to launch on today to coincide with the start of this year’s NBA Finals, Building a Champion’s guests include coach of the 2008 Celtics champs and current coach of the year candidate, Doc Rivers, NBA legend Jerry West, Rockets GM Daryl Morey, and former Cleveland GM David Griffin, who won a title in 2016 when LeBron returned to Cleveland.

Red Bull announced that it was grounding the Red Bull Air Race, which will not continue beyond the 2019 season with the world championship event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October also cancelled, according to local reports. There have been more than 90 races since Red Bull Air Race began in 2003. "These have given the world's most exceptional pilots the opportunity to compete in high speed flying at low altitude with extreme maneuvers," Red Bull Air Race said in a statement. "The Red Bull Air Race provided sports entertainment of highest quality but did not attract the level of outside interest as many other Red Bull events across the world."

TeamWorks Media announced that three veteran personalities - Jennifer Mercedes, Ozzie Guillen Jr. and Julie Alexandria - have joined the expanding team for “La Vida Baseball Live,” the daily four-hour show produced and formatted for major social media platforms - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Live, YouTube and LaVidaBaseball.com.

The Florida Panthers announced that they have reached a multiyear broadcast extension with Entercom. As part of the agreement, 560 WQAM Sports Radio in Miami will remain the broadcast radio home of the team, airing all Panthers games through the end of the 2021-2022 season.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Here’s to Top Women in Media.

May we know them.

May we be them.

May we CELEBRATE them.

Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards Gala

September 9 | 5:45PM – 8PM | Tribeca Rooftop, NYC

This will be the biggest gala event celebrating women in the industry.

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The National Hockey League, in partnership with the St. Louis Blues, will bring its 2019 Stanley Cup Final Party featuring live music and a viewing party to Market Street in St. Louis for Game 3 on Saturday, and Game 4 on June 3. Before Game 3, St. Louis native and “The Voice” finalist Kennedy Holmes will lead a sing-along of the Blues victory anthem, “Gloria,” while Grammy Award-winning artist Gary Clark Jr. will perform before Game 4. Portions of both events are expected to be featured in the game broadcasts.

Roush Fenway Racing announced a partnership with NOS Energy, that will see the High Performance Energy Drink serve as a primary partner with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 NASCAR Cup team, as well as a season-long associate. The No. 17 NOS Energy Ford will make its debut on June 9 at Michigan.

Combate Americas announced that Cricket Wireless signed on to serve as the exclusive wireless sponsor of the organization. In addition to its presenting sponsorship at “Reinas” and upcoming events, Cricket and Combate have developed a 17-piece video series to give fans a closer look into fighters everyday lives. Cricket will also bring fans closer to fighters by giving them exclusive access to a preliminary fight broadcast in Spanish and a post-fight show on social media featuring event highlights.

DIGITAL, DATA & STREAMING

Glu Mobile Inc. announced the availability of WWE Universe on the App Store and Google Play. As part of a multi-year agreement with WWE, WWE Universe allows players to build and train dream rosters before challenging others, complete with one-touch controls, console-quality graphics, and nearly 700 unique in-ring animations. “With a true passion for WWE and a best-in-class development team, Glu has created a unique mobile experience that will resonate with fans worldwide and enable them to further engage with our brand,” said Brian Flinn, WWE Chief Marketing & Communications Officer.

New Balance introduced the new Fresh Foam Roav shoe through a collaboration with avatar provider Genies. As part of the collaboration, mobile users who download the Genies app can customize their digital selves by selecting from the first athletic brand “wheel” including New Balance footwear and apparel. “The next generation of athletes are more connected to their fan base than ever before through the use of social media. Our collaboration with Genies enables this same connectivity through self-expression, a core principle of our Fearlessly Independent mindset. Fans and new consumers can explore New Balance’s latest footwear & apparel all while staying connected to their vast social network.” said Chris Davis, Vice President, Global Marketing & Sports Marketing at New Balance.

Ahead of the NBA Finals, online bookmaker PointsBet announced early payouts on all bets for the Golden State Warriors to win the 2019 NBA Championship. All PointsBet customers who wagered on the Warriors to win the Championship have now received payouts at the odds they placed their bets on those specific markets.

ESPORTS

In this week’s edition of Cynopsis Esports…

PEAK6 hears the call of Evil Geniuses
Puma makes den with Cloud9
100 Thieves Snatches CouRage
FACEIT opens fire with Apex Legends
What makes ESL tick?
EA gets ready to Play
ESA wants second opinion

THE MAIN EVENT

Warriors/Raptors on ABC at 9p.

ON THIS DAY in 1967: The Yankees’ Whitey Ford announces his retirement from baseball.

In the Know: What number did the Yankees retire to honor Whitey Ford? (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 basketball team was once stranded on Gilligan’s Island? Answer: The Harlem Globetrotters. Kudos: Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; David Weinberg-The Paley Center for Media/NY; Lori Paterson Spectrum Reach/NY; Matt Meachem-Gracenote/CBS; Melissa Freeman-WJZY/WMYT/Charlotte; Mike Seidel-CSI Sports/Jersey City; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Bill Graff-beIN SPORTS/Miami; Kyle Krebs-NBC5/Telemundo39/Dallas-Ft. Worth; Brad Stern/Carbondale; Barb Throm-True Media/St. Louis; Jean Edhlund-Cooperative Network Services/Menahga; David Hauptman/Denver; Wendy Holmes-KCNC-TV/Denver; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; Peter Steckelman-Tennis Channel/Santa Monica; Rich Greene-Casa Del Verde Productions/LA; Anne Wettig-Fox/Fox Sports S&P/LA; Allison Stevens-Comcast Spotlight/San Francisco

Later -- Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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