CynopsisSports

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

Yankee Global Enterprises, in partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group and Amazon, completed the purchase the YES Network from The Walt Disney Company, acquiring the 80% of the YES Network not already held by Yankee Global Enterprises at a total enterprise value of $3.47 billion. The three companies will work together to enhance the network and position it strategically to continue its leadership in sports broadcasting across all forms of distribution. Jon Litner will remain in his existing role as President of the YES Network.

"This transaction brings the YES Network and all of its popular programming even closer to the organization that inspired its very development," said Hal Steinbrenner, CEO, Yankee Global Enterprises. "Along with our partners, we look forward to greatly expanding the way that sports content is delivered and consumed by fans everywhere."

PROGRAMMING

ESPN’s Summer continues to sizzle. The network is reporting increased viewership for multiple editions of SportsCenter and other studio shows with viewership rising 8% in August compared to the year before, from an average of 451,000 viewers to 486,000 on a total day basis, according to Nielsen. Primetime, meanwhile, saw a 17% uptick to an average of 1,166,000 viewers. “We are focused on keeping all of our studio shows on top, led by our flagship SportsCenter, and it’s rewarding to see audience increases month after month,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president and executive editor, production. “That’s been the ESPN way for 40 years and a mantle we assume gladly to keep ESPN in the center of sports fans lives.”

Meanwhile, with three days of exclusive live coverage under its belt, ESPN also saw overnight ratings for the US Open rise 33% over 2018 numbers to hit a 0.8 rating (includes ESPN2 telecasts). Wednesday night’s rating on was a 1.1, the best so far and equaling the best achieved in the first or second round on record (back to 2009).

FOX Sports will see welterweight contender Josesito Lopez joins International Boxing Hall of Famer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and host Kate Abdo for FOX PBC Fight Night: Erislandy Lara vs. Ramon Alvarez programming tonight. Saturday’s programming on FOX and FOX Deportes starts at 8p, led blow-by-blow announcer Kenny Albert, analysts Lennox Lewis and Joe Goossen and reporter Heidi Androl.

CBS Sports Networks serves up coverage of the BIG3 Championship this weekend starting Sept. 1 beginning with the BIG3 Championship Game Preview Show at 2p. The final two games of the season will then broadcast live on CBS at 3p. CBS coverage begins with the 3rd place game between Power and the 3 Headed Monsters prior to the Championship game between the Triplets and the Killer 3’s. Brian Custer, Jim Jackson and Michael Rapaport will be on the call for both games.

Less than two weeks to go and the names keep growing! Don’t miss an up-close and personal chat with 12-time MMA Champion Demetrious Johnson at Esports Business Summit, where he will discuss ONE Championship’s esports plans, his love of gaming, being a celebrity streamer and more! Tickets are going fast so get yours now!

NBC Sports NASCAR analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. is set to drive in this Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Darlington Raceway. Meanwhile, coverage of Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 will feature Earnhardt Jr., along with Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett to call Stage Two of the race on NBCSN. In conjunction with NASCAR Productions, NBC Sports profiles The Wood Brothers in a new documentary looking at the legacy of NASCAR’s longest-running team on Friday at 6p on NBCSN.

Amazon Prime Video announced coverage plans to its carriage of Thursday Night Football for its third season, with 11 matchups in 2019, beginning with Eagles/Packers on Sept. 26. The games will be streamed in over 200+ countries and available to watch globally on Amazon’s Twitch channel. Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer will return to provide their commentary and analysis, available exclusively on the Prime Video platform.

On the local front, Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz announced is giving an overhaul to the Knights’ broadcast team. Daren Millard has been named the lead pregame, intermission and postgame host, while former NHL goaltender Mike McKenna will serve as the lead studio analyst on the pregame, intermission and postgame panel. In addition, the team has selected Stormy Buonantony as the club's rinkside reporter. Darren Eliot will also be featured as an analyst in select games throughout the 2019-20 season.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Talk About a Breakfast of Champions…

The Cynopsis Model D Awards

NOV 8 | ThreeSixty | NYC

Join Cynopsis and your peers for the ultimate gathering of the industry's innovators pushing boundaries in digital media. The awards breakfast will include a celebration of The 2019 Cynopsis Model D Awards Finalists, and a salute to inductees on the Cynopsis Digital "It List."

Finalists will be announced in late-September so stay tuned!

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

MLS WORKS, Major League Soccer’s social responsibility platform, is launching the 6thannual Kick Childhood Cancer campaign benefitting Children’s Oncology Group on Saturday as part of childhood cancer awareness month. Supported by all 24 Major League Soccer clubs, the month-long campaign will feature a commemorative gold adidas Nativo Questra 2019 Official Match Ball to be used during all matches as well as gold corner flags and goal nets. Kick Childhood Cancer gold captain’s armbands and gold ribbon jersey patches will be worn by the players, while coaches and technical staff will wear Kick Childhood Cancer pins and New Era caps on the sideline.

Driver Matt DiBenedetto secured a sponsorship from Barstool Sports. Barstool president Dave Portnoy announced that news yesterday, sponsor DiBenedetto’s No. 95 for Leavine Family Racing for two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Notre Dame Global Partnerships entered into a new partnership with Resonado, a startup company founded on the University’s campus. As the new “Official Sound Partner of Notre Dame Athletics,” Resonado’s logo will adorn the headsets for the Fighting Irish football coaching staff.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Lunatix announced the expansion of its ticket reservation marketplace, offering fans the opportunity to secure advance ticket reservations for the entire NFL postseason including the Super Bowl, all NHL Playoff games including the Stanley Cup Finals, every NBA Playoff game including the NBA Finals and MLB’s wild cards, divisional championships, and the World Series. “There is nothing like experiencing the postseason in-person, along with tens of thousands of fans, when every play matters,” said David Lane, CEO, Lunatix. Unfortunately, supply and demand has made tickets to the biggest games in pro and college sports unaffordable and unattainable for fans. At Lunatix, we believe every fan deserves the chance to experience the game of a lifetime.”

Youth soccer organization Super Soccer Stars locked in a partnership with Famer, a recently launched online youth sports coaching and mentoring platform that enables personalized training programs, messaging, and interactive feedback between coaches and athletes. Famer’s mobile app allows coaches to share videos and instructions on how to perform skills & drills at home, as well as assign weekly workouts and provide progress reports to athletes and parents.

Taymar Sales U. announced a contract with the University of Mississippi to provide services under TSU’s Sales Support Program for in-house ticket sales operations. Ole Miss marks the sixth school to contract with Taymar and the fifth in the last two months.

ESPORTS

Overwatch League unlocked an exclusive deal with Kellogg Company, which will include co-marketing initiatives with both the Cheez-It and Pringles products. Activation will kick in during the playoffs in the US, where Cheez-It Grooves and Pringles Wavy brands will serve as the presenting sponsor of the halftime show and highlights segments during the 2019 Grand Finals. In 2020, as part of the deal, Kellogg will release co-branded packaging for both Cheez-It Grooves and Pringles Wavy products featuring Overwatch League branding. This initiative will also include a US sweepstakes where consumers will have the chance to win tickets to the Overwatch League finals and other prizes related to the Overwatch League. Pringles products will extend globally, while Cheez-It will remain US-only.

The NFL and partner Pizza Hut opened the doors to the first-ever virtual stadium deal in esports in Pizza Hit Stadium as part of the EA SPORTS’ Madden NFL 20 Championship Series. Stadium specs feature a seating capacity is about 71,000, with a footprint is about 770,000 sq. ft. and 381 total luxury suites in the stadium. The Madden NFL 20 Classic takes place August 30-September 1 and is held at Esports Stadium Arlington.

Call of Duty stalwarts 100 Thieves are bowing out of the title’s competitive scene, with team founder Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag announcing that the team was withdrawing from the franchising process for what would be a city-based league next season. Nadeshot said that the organization didn’t want to commit to the costs of purchasing a spot in the franchised league, in addition to the operating costs that would come with fielding a team.

LiveXLive Media and Allied Esports announced a multi-year partnership to create original live esports experiences and related content at music events and festivals throughout the world. Allied Esports’ fleet of mobile esports venues, the HyperX Esports Trucks, will serve as content generation hubs. Under the terms of the agreement, LiveXLive and Allied Esports will collaborate to activate LiveZone, LiveXLive’s traveling studio that originates from music festivals and events to broadcast a hosted mix of music news, commentary, festival updates and artist interviews.

THE MAIN EVENT

Oregon/Auburn square off on ABC at 7:30p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The 7^th Annual Cynopsis Rising Star Awards

The Cynopsis Best Of The Best Awards Featuring The Rising Stars will spotlights performers, innovators and emerging leaders in the TV Media industry. These young professionals’ experience spans research, digital, content and marketing and this awards program is designed to encourage and reward their exceptional accomplishments. Check out last year’s honorees .

Honorees will be celebrated alongside Best Of The Best Award finalists, at an awards gala this February in NYC.

NOMINATE

ON THIS DAY in 1997: The Houston Comets become the first WNBA Champions.

In the Know: Which player has the most career kick/punt return touchdowns in NFL history? (Email cpursell@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Who is UCLA’s all-time leader in passing yards? Answer: Cade McNown. Kudos: Andrew Feingold-Fox News/NY; Rick Ramage-UTA/NY; John Duff-beIN Sports/Miami; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Andy Babb-Super League Gaming/Santa Monica

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

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NETWORK SALES, ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
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Focus on developing new and growing business among major agencies via strong relationships and superior client service. 5+ yrs of sales exp w/national cable, broadcast ad sales or media buying background required.
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