As the 2018-19 collegiate season ends, the Pac-12 is once again

the WINNINGEST conference in the country with 13 NCAA titles

Leading the nation in NCAA championships for 14-straight years and with 526 overall

Combining a history of dominance with a future of excellence , the Pac-12 is proud to

celebrate the full breadth of academic & athletics success among its student-athletes

Pac-12: The Conference of Champions

#BackThePac

Good morning. It’s Tuesday June 25, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

The IOC announced that Milan-Cortina, Italy had been selected to host the Olympic Winter Games in 2026, besting Stockholm by a vote of 47-34 for the honor. “Congratulations to Milan-Cortina,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “We can look forward to outstanding and sustainable Olympic Winter Games in a traditional winter sports country. The passion and knowledge of Italian fans, together with experienced venue operators, will create the perfect atmosphere for the best athletes in the world. The Olympic Winter Games Milan-Cortina 2026 will feature iconic venues and beautiful settings, combining the attractions of a modern European metropolis with a classic Alpine environment.”

PROGRAMMING

The Championships, Wimbledon are set to be served across the ESPN networks, offering coverage from all 18 courts beginning July 1 wih145 hours of action on TV and more than 500 matches from the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London leading into the Ladies’ Championship and the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Doubles Championships on ESPN on July 13, and the Gentlemen’s Championship on July 14, followed by the Mixed Doubles Championship. The first five weekdays, ESPN begins at 6a – marking a new earlier start time this year – for daylong coverage. The ESPN Tennis Team will include Darren Cahill, Cliff Drysdale, Chrissie Evert, Mary Joe Fernandez, Mardy Fish, Chris Fowler, Brad Gilbert, Jason Goodall, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John and Patrick McEnroe.

Around the dial, Tennis Channel takes on Wimbledon coverage starting July 1 with more than 200 hours of tennis, beginning at 4:30p the first day, with encore presentations throughout the night and a talent lineup that includes Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova, Jim Courier and Lindsay Davenport as analysts. Mary Carillo returns to London and will serve as host and reporter for the network.

In ratings news, France’s win over Brazil on Sunday drew the top metered market score for a non-US FIFA Women’s World Cup match ever, hitting a 2.3/6 and up 53% from its equivalent in 2015 in FOX., while England’s win over Cameroon was up 52%. Through day two of the round of 16, nmbers are up 25% overall on FS1.

Meanwhile, the battle between USA and Spain on FS1 yesterday averaged 2.9 million OOH viewers, according to Tunity Analytics. The game peaked at 1:35 PM with 3.9MM OOH viewers while audiences averaged 50% A25-54 and skewed 67% male.

NBC saw Sunday’s IndyCar Grand Prix at Road America reel in a 0.93 overnight rating, to rank as NBC Sports’ highest overnight for an IndyCar Race on record, excluding the Indy 500, in addition to being the highest overnight for an IndyCar race since last season’s St. Petersburg Grand Prix on ABC.

EPIX and NFL Films announced that Rich Eisen will host NFL: The Grind, described as a weekly destination for the final word on the week in football, as well as an up close and personal, inside look at life in the NFL. The series debuts Sept. 11, with a 17-episode season running Wednesdays at 9p throughout the entirety of the 2019 NFL season. In addition, Eisen will continue to be seen on Sunday mornings throughout the NFL season anchoring NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning, as well as hosting his daily talk show, The Rich Eisen Show on AT&T’s Audience Network, B/R Live and Premiere Radio Networks.

Big East presidents formally approved to invite and accept the University of Connecticut as a member on a league-wide conference call Monday morning, according to CBS Sports. The conference call was the first of three major/official steps expected to happen this week that will attach UConn with the Big East brand again.

FloSports locked in an agreement with Complete Sports Management to provide live and on-demand coverage of six Division I Men’s basketball teams’ foreign tours in three different countries on FloHoops.com. The teams include Syracuse, Seton Hall and Washington, alongside Georgia Tech, Xavier, and Georgetown. Coverage of the tours starts August 8 and will continue through August 20.

Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards Gala

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

Join us Monday night, September 9th to honor the outstanding contributions by women in every facet of the media industry -- TV, digital/tech, esports, sports, marketing and more. These are the women making bold decisions at every level – from corporate visionaries to rising stars -- driving their businesses forward.

This will be the biggest gala event celebrating women in the industry. Don’t miss it!

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The International Olympic Committee, The Coca-Cola Company and China Mengniu Dairy Company signed the first-ever Joint TOP Partnership Agreement, blending the non-alcoholic beverage and the dairy categories into a new joint category. The new joint agreement has a 12-year term running through to the Olympic Games 2032 and extends The Coca-Cola Company’s association with the Olympic Movement to a historic 104-year-long relationship.

Seattle’s upcoming NHL franchise locked in their first corporate sponsor in life-insurance brand Symetra Financial Corp. The Bellevue, Washington-based company will see its logo placed throughout the team’s new arena, along with naming rights to one of the building’s two club areas.

The NCAA is reportedly looking to hit the brakes on a California bill that would allow college athletes in the state to earn compensation for the use of their own name, image or likeness, beginning in 2023. USA Today writes that - in a letter to the chairs of two State Assembly committees last week - NCAA President Mark Emmert implied that if the bill becomes law as it is written, California schools could face the prospect of being prohibited from participating in NCAA championships and asked the committees to postpone consideration of the bill while the NCAA reviews its rules concerning athletes’ ability to make money from their names, images and likenesses.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Tunity Analytics Top 10 Out-of-Home Sports Programs, Week of June 17. Show Network Date/Time (000's):

WWC - Sweden vs. United States/Fox on 6/20 (3165)
NBA Draft/ESPN on 6/20 (2625)
NBA Pre-Draft Show/ESPN, 6/20/ (2448)
FIFA Women's World Cup Today/FOX on 6/23 (1312)
France vs. Brazil/FOX on 6/23 (978)

Source: Tunity Analytics. Viewing estimates are derived from Tunity mobile app usage for the week beginning June 17, 2019. OOH viewer impressions are calculated using Tunity Analytics proprietary estimation model.

ESPORTS

The ESL Pro League announced that the longest-running CS:GO league in the professional circuit will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a return to Odense, Denmark for the Pro League Finals from Dec. 6-8. The 16 top teams from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific will compete for the lion’s share of the $750,000 prize pool at the Jykse Bank Arena. In addition, gaming expo ODINCON will take place parallel to the Pro League Finals for the third consecutive year. “We are extremely proud on the overall development of the ESL Pro League,'' said Ulrich Schulze, Senior Vice President of Product at ESL. “Following our great success stories and sold-out Odense tournament in 2017 and 2018, we are working hard to make the Season Ten Finals even bigger and better.”

Meanwhile, ESL also announced that ESL One Birmingham drew record breaking numbers to draw the highest viewership for an ESL One Dota 2 event ever. The tournament reached a new peak concurrent viewership record of 306,070 for a markup of 12.4% since it’s last record during the Hamburg Major in 2017. Hours watched also saw over 7.6 million hours being consumed over the course of the weekend.

The Renegades announced the grand opening of GAMETIME Detroit with doors opening at 6p on Friday in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The site will serve as the official headquarters of the team and serve as the only esports facility located in the Midwest that offers open play access for professional and casual gamers as well as events, tournaments and more.

GameWorks announced plans to host the national finals in its $25,000 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Showdown tournament in Las Vegas, wrapping up competition that spanned all seven GameWorks venues around the country. Seven local winners from each market will compete at GameWorks Las Vegas – Town Square, with sponsors that are set to include COUGAR, a manufacturer and provider of gaming gear, Alienware, and Tabasco.

INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES

DraftKings announced the hiring of new Chief Financial Officer Jason Park as more states in the U.S. begin to welcome sports betting and pass laws allowing for daily fantasy sports play. Park will also serve as a strategic advisor to CEO Jason Robins and senior management in navigating operations.

THE MAIN EVENT

College World Series Finals: Vanderbilt/Michigan at 7p on ESPN.

ON THIS DAY in 1988: Cal Ripken Jr. plays his 1000th consecutive game.

In the Know: The first MLB All-Star Game was played in which venue? (Email cpursell@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Which athlete has played the MLB All-Star Game the most times? Answer: Hank Aaron. Kudos: Pete Gautieri-A&E Networks/NY; Andrew Feingold-FOX News/NY; Roger Furman-Lange Marketing/Greentown; Mark Lehman-Atlanta Braves/Atlanta; Randy Ingram-WISH-TV & MyINDY-TV/Indianapolis; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

Later--Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Kerry Smith Division President Access Intelligence Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina 203-218-6480 Albert Nassour 917-545-3129	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak 203-899-8459 Director of Operations