Good morning. It’s Tuesday June 26, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

CBS and the NFL locked in an extended agreement to stream all NFL on CBS games on CBS All Access through the 2022 season. In addition, CBS will also now expand its NFL game streaming access for CBS All Access subscribers and TV Everywhere to include mobile devices beginning this season with the entire 2018 NFL ON CBS schedule, highlighted by Super Bowl LIII, set to be streamed live on all CBS All Access platforms, online at CBS.com, and on connected devices. In addition to extending CBS All Access streaming rights to mobile devices for the first time, NFL ON CBS authenticated streaming rights will extend to mobile for its cable, satellite, telco and vMVPD partners beginning this season.

“We’re very pleased to extend and expand our partnership with the NFL and give our viewers and CBS All Access subscribers the ability to stream NFL ON CBS games on mobile phones in addition to all other platforms for years to come,” said Marc DeBevoise, President & Chief Operating Officer, CBS Interactive. “This deal enables us to deliver even more value to NFL fans, our subscribers and our distribution partners.”

ON THE AIR

Three-time World Series Champion, World Series MVP and ten-time MLB All-Star David Ortizinked a multi-year deal to appear onFOX Sports as studio analyst for the network’s pregame and postgame coverage. Ortiz contributed as studio analyst throughout FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2017 postseason and will again be alongside Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Burkhardt. Ortiz will contribute to FOX Sports’ spring training, regular season, All-Star Game, postseason and World Series coverage. He makes his 2018 debut during the network’s coverage of the 89th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard from Nationals Park in Washington, DC.

ESPN serves up Wimbledon coverage this year that will include – for the first time - every match from the 18 courts will be played in front of cameras and presented exclusively by ESPN for the fortnight from London beginning July 2. The coverage includes more than 500 matches and available for fans between ESPN3 and the new ESPN+ on the ESPN app, with 140 hours of action on TV. The action will climax with the Ladies’ Championship and the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Doubles Championships on ESPN on July 14, and the Gentlemen’s Championship on July 15, followed by the Mixed Doubles Championship. The first five weekdays, ESPN coverage begins at 7a.For the 11th year, ESPN will provide multi-screen coverage with commentary of five matches in addition to ESPN or ESPN2 network program through the second Monday of the Championships, on DirecTV.

Tennis Channel, meanwhile, will be in London for its 11th year of Wimbledon coverage beginning July 2. Over the course of the two-week tournament the network will show more than 200 hours of action, beginning every afternoon at 4:30p, followed by encore presentations that run through the night. The network's time-shifted coverage will be based from an in-stadium set and studio, and from booths in Centre Court and Court 1.

NBC Sports Group has selected ZZ Ward to record an all-new show open and theme song for the 2018 NASCAR on NBC season. Set to Tom Petty’s classic song “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” the new show open kicks off NBC Sports’ fourth season of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series coverage on July 1 at 2:30p on NBCSN, live from Chicagoland Speedway. This year’s show open features both current and past NASCAR drivers, including NBC Sports’ newest on-air contributor Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Bill Elliott and Richard Childress, hanging out with the future stars of the sport Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez. Each week throughout the 2018 NASCAR on NBC season, NBC Sports will present a fresh version of the show open, including updated on-track highlights and unseen footage from the shoot.

Gray Television snatched up Raycom Media in a deal valued at $3.65 billion, according to a statement released Monday morning. The new deal now only brings together 142 television stations serving 92 markets, making it the third largest television station group in the US, but also includes Raycom Sports, which owns the ACC Network; Tupelo Raycom, a production company; RTM Productions, an automotive programming and production company; and Broadview Media, a post production and digital sign company.

Telemundo Deportes’ Spanish-language presentation of 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia has now reached 25.7 million viewers in the first 10 days of the tournament’s Group Stage through Saturday, according to fast cumulative data provided by Nielsen. Telemundo Deportes’ digital presentation also scored records, surpassing one billion live minutes streamed on Saturday.

Meanwhile, FOX Sports announced that it recorded its two most-watched days of the 2018 FIFA World Cup over the weekend with average viewership of 3,875,000 on Saturday and 3,158,000 on Sunday. Through Matchday 11, 2018 FIFA World Cup matches on FOX and FS1 are now up 31% over the complete Group Stage average of the last four World Cups combined, excluding US matches, according to the company. Sunday’s Colombia/Poland match was the most-watched match of the day and drew 4,555,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network and FOX streaming sources.

ESPN will see SportsCenter carry a three-part series following Paul George’s off-season activities. Paul George: My Journey will look to take viewers behind the scenes with the five-time NBA All-Star with exclusive access during his offseason in the 6p edition starting today.

Mike & Mike, ESPN Radio’s long-running morning drive program, will be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame this November. Traug Keller, ESPN senior vice president, ESPN Audio, commented, “Two great guys getting recognized for making millions of people enjoy their ride to work each day. They left them smiling. That is no insignificant contribution.”

The Cynopsis Digital Model D Awards

Celebrating the Best in Online Video Content & Advertising

An annual must for all digital innovators, entries for the 6^th Annual Cynopsis Model D & Digital “It List” Awards are ramping up. And with over 50 categories to choose from, teams are shining a light on new technology, fresh formats and a pioneering spirit in the digital media landscape. The awards luncheon will take place in early November in NYC.

[ ENTER BY AUGUST 1 ]

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

HyperX announced that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and dedicated gamer JuJu Smith-Schuster signed on to serve as a brand ambassador for the company. Smith-Schuster will exclusively use HyperX headsets during his gaming sessions as part of the deal. As an ambassador, Smith-Schuster will include HyperX branding on his live streams, participate in HyperX marketing campaigns and appear at HyperX fan events. Smith-Schuster recently gained notoriety in the gaming world when he and other notable gamers, including Ninja, Drake and Travis Scott, shattered Twitch viewing records together.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

CampusLore, a sports media platform that is the “voice of former players on the college game,” unlocked a multiyear agreement with IMG College. Through the content partnership, CampusLore will now provide IMG College schools and official sites with customized video content featuring the stories and insights around college football from former stars now playing professionally. IMG will now act as a sales agent for sponsorship and advertising around this new type of school and player-led content initiative.

With the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine marking the 10th edition of its BODY Issue with an immersive digital experience for BODY10 and featuring 16 world-class athletes from various sports worlds including the Olympics, NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, golf and soccer. Photos, videos, and interviews of the athletes are showcased in the unique digital gallery. In addition, a digital photo archive gallery is available of all athletes over the past nine years.

ESPORTS

Esports staple Splyce announced a $2.6 million funding round anchored by the participation The Ledger Group with other investors that are set to include former Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace and former New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper, along with sports agent David Meltzer. Splyce current fields teams in League of Legends, Call of Duty, Halo, Rocket League, StarCraft 2, Smite, and Paladins.

Rainbow Six Siege is launching a new esports series dedicated to the top players in the US. The US Nationals launches on July 14 and will offer $50,000 in prizes with play that will begin with online tournaments every Saturday. “The phenomenon that is Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege esports has been truly amazing to witness firsthand. With the US Nationals, we have entered into a new and exciting time for our community’s growth,” said Robb Chiarini, esports associate director at Ubisoft. “Our goal is to provide a comprehensive esports ecosystem that offers our players and ever-growing community opportunities to participate, watch and aspire to. The US Nationals expands this initiative by offering another layer of activity for all players across the United States.”

Com2uS unveiled the second worldwide tournament series for the mobile RPG, Summoners War. The championship tournament will see three regional cups (Asia, Europe, US) and a world final in Seoul. Players will be fighting it out for a total prize fund of $110,000. Regional cups will take place on Aug. 25 in Toyk0, Sept. 8 in LA and Sept. 22 for the European tournament. The global final will see the world’s top-8 players travel to Seoul to determine the greatest Summoner on October 13.

ROSTER MOVES

Veteran sports radio executive Eric Spitz joined SiriusXM as its new Vice President of Sports Programming. He will begin at SiriusXM on July 16, and will be involved in the daily operation of SiriusXM’s sports channels, including the hiring of talent, programming development and live sports scheduling. Prior to joining SiriusXM he had been the program director for CBS Sports Radio since 2012.

THE MAIN EVENT

Denmark/France at 10a on FOX and NBC Universo.

The Cynopsis Measurement & Data Conference

AUG 2 | 9:00AM – 3:30PM| NYC

Sponsored by TV Time, Discovery, Data + Math & GroupM

“Marketers have more insights into their customers than ever before. These sophisticated, data-rich perceptions should be embraced and not translated into a generic age and gender descriptions. Allowing marketers to dive deeper into consumer behavior and buy premium video through audience segmentation has been a crucial step forward for the industry.”

- Danielle DeLauro, EVP, Video Advertising Bureau

ON THIS DAY in 1996: Kobe Bryant is drafted.

In the Know: Which team originally drafted Kobe Bryant? (Not the Lakers.) (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: What was the first sports film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture? Answer: Rocky. Kudos: Marc Wollis-Cadent Network/NY; Aymon DeMauro-ADM Media & Marketing/NY; Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Frank Costa-CBS Sports/NY; Brianne Maciejowski-Miles/Sarasota; Rick Rosenfelt-New York Red Bulls/Harrison; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/Harrisburg; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Robert Teinowitz-Live Action Media/Chicago; Matt Fumagalli-NBC Chicago/Chicago; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine/Houston; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

Later - Chris

JOB OF THE DAY

MEDIA RESEARCH/WRITER
NYC

20 yr industry veteran w/print, digital and TV experience, including survey design, emerging trend analysis, case study profiles, web content, promo copy, industry reports, speech writing, etc. -- seeks FT or freelance opportunity.

Contact: robertisler23@gmail.com

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR/EXEC PRODUCER/HGTV/KNOXVILLE: Top creative to develop new programming for HGTV & manage all aspects of commissioned productions. Review/steer shows, cultivate brand rep, identify new talent. 7 yrs prod co/ ntwrk exp, showrunner exp pref. APPLY (7/10)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCER, E! News (Freelance)/NBCU/LA: Produce daily news stories, breaking news stories, as well as feature stories for future airdates. Minimum 4 years experience in a news production environment. To apply, please send resumes to ENews.Productions@nbcuni.com (6/30)

SITUATION WANTED: MEDIA RESEARCH/WRITER/NYC: 20 yr industry veteran w/print, digital and TV experience, including survey design, emerging trend analysis, case study profiles, web content, promo copy, industry reports, speech writing, etc. -- seeks FT or freelance opportunity. Contact: robertisler23@gmail.com (6/30)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCTION, OPERATIONS, CONTENT/STADIUM/Chicago: All Levels Stadium is changing the way fans watch sports. Broadcasting from the United Center in Chicago, we are looking for innovators to join our team. See yourself with a future minded multi-platform sports network? Apply HERE (6/29)

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JOB OPENING: MEDIA BUYER/Expedia/Seattle: Seeking a talented Media Buyer. You are data driven, analytical, and dedicated to staying abreast of the latest industry trends. You will play an integral role in negotiating, buying, and executing both national and local TV media buy using a multi-million dollar annual budget. Full info/apply HERE (6/28)

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JOB OPENING: AD SALES ASSISTANT/Baby First TV/NY: Reports to EVP & AE Ad Sales. Detailed & organized. Ability to multi-task in fast past env. Prof in EXL & PPT. College grad welcome! Reply to jobs@bf-tv.com (6/27)

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