CynopsisSports

Good morning. It’s Tuesday September 10, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

With results for ESPN’s Monday Night Football doubleheader yet to be tabulated, the NFL has kicked off its centennial season with solid ratings results. Despite New England’s 33-3 blowout of Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football, NBC Sports scored a Total Audience Delivery of 22.7 million viewers across the broadcast network, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital platforms. The most-lopsided SNF opener was up a tick from the 22.6 million TAD audience for Green Bay/Chicago a year ago, when Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers overcame an injury and a 17-point halftime deficit to post a 24-23 victory. Coupled with this year’s Packers/Bears game on Sept. 5 that began the league’s 100th season with a TAD audience of 22.7 million viewers, up 8% from Philadelphia/Atlanta in 2018, NBC Sports registered advances with both of its opening games for the first time since 2015.

FOX scored with its doubleheader window, despite Dallas drubbing the New York Giants. America’s Game of the Week notched a 15.9 rating/32 share in metered markets, up 3% from a 15.5 rating/30 share with the corresponding window in 2018. FOX Sports officials project the game will mark the network’s top telecast since the NFC championship game when final numbers are tallied and its best metered market performance for an opening week national game since 2016.

CBS, which was in regional mode, averaged a 10.2 overnight rating in the 1p window with two mostly two one-sided affairs, Kansas City/Jacksonville and Tennessee/Cleveland. That was down 4% from a 10.6 last year, which was highlighted by New England/Jacksonville.

PROGRAMMING

The 2019 U.S. Open tennis championships ended on a high note on court and for U.S. rights-holder, ESPN. Rafael Nadal earned his fourth Open title and 19th major of his career by outlasting Daniil Medvedev in a five-set match that lasted nearly five hours. ESPN netted a 2.0 overnight during its five-hour, 15-minute telecast, with ratings peaking at a 3.1 mark in the 9p quarter hour, during the final moments of the epic clash. The Nadal-Medevdev overnight was up 33% from a 1.5 for Novak Djokovic’s three-set triumph over Juan Martin del Potro last year and marked ESPN’s best performance with the men’s final since its inaugural year of coverage: a 2.4 overnight for Djokovic over Roger Federer in four sets in 2015. All told, the worldwide leader averaged a 1.1 overnight across ESPN and ESPN 2 with its 2019 Open coverage, a 38% jump from last year, with the delivery equaling its top performance in 2015.

Univision/TUDN’s simulcast of the Mexico-U.S.A. friendly on Sept. 6 averaged 2.7 million total viewers, including 1.5 million adults 18 to 49. El Tri’s 3-0 triumph over Sam’s Army peaked with 3.2 million viewers and 1.8 million in the demo during the last half hour of the match, and was up 17% and 26%, respectively, over those measures from the corresponding contest in 2018. FOX Sports 1 averaged 386,000 total viewers, with 229,000 in the demo.

In the wake of the shuttering of ESPN Deportes Radio, Univision’s TUDN Radio network has buttressed its affiliate base, signing 10 new deals, nine on the AM side of the dial. Six were previously in the ESPN Deportes camp: KWAC in Bakersfield and KTMZ in Pomona, Calif.; KWKW in Los Angeles;WTTM in Philadelphia; WJFK in Washington, D.C.; and WKRS in Waukegan, Ill. With 38 stations – 10 owned and operated, the balance affiliates – TUDN Radio reaches more than 60% of all Hispanic adults in the U.S., with a presence in top Latino markets including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, San Antonio and Phoenix.

Regional sports networkSNY jumped into the sports betting arena Sept. 8, with a one-hour block. DraftKings-produced The Sweat airs at 11a, with experts making their picks ahead of the week’s NFL action, while Place Your Bets follows at 11:30a, taking viewers inside the numbers with an assessment of weekly trends.

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

American Express has teed off a multiyear title sponsorship deal that returns it to the PGA Tour entitlement roster and provides the event that was played as The Desert Classic this year with a new moniker. The 2020 pro-am event, affording golfing experience for customers and clients alike, is scheduled for Jan. 13-19 in La Quinta, Calif. and will operate as The American Express going forward.

“American Express’ new multi-year partnership with this historic event on the PGA TOUR is a perfect match,” said Stephen Squeri, Chairman and CEO of American Express. “Golf consistently ranks as one of the top passions of our Card Members, and the TOUR provides some of the most exciting experiences at some of the best venues the game offers. We’re looking forward to making The American Express a ‘must-see’ event for fans and Card Members alike.”

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Following a soft launch in June, FuboTV is officially debuting its own free-to-view TV channel that not only resides on its streaming service, but will expand its reach via third-party connected-TV platforms Xumo, which also powers LG Channels; Samsung TV Plus; and the Roku Channel. Fubo Sports Network features a mix of original programming, licensed content from partners including FanDuel, Stadium, the Players Tribune, USA Today and Gravitas Ventures, as well as some live college football and basketball games, soccer matches, horse racing and cycling action. The channel will also offers news programming and a Friday night double feature of sports movies, including documentaries.

After serving as a consulting, Pamela Duckworth, founder of creative marketing production company Duckworth Entertainment is now head of Fubo Sports Network and original programming. Fubo Sports Network’s original lineup includes Call It a Night with Julie Stewart-Binks, the network’s flagship program on news and sports culture. The journalist/comedian will also sip-for-sip with athletes on Drinks with Binks. Soccer fare includes The Players Lounge with Cobi Jones and Pj Harrison, while The Cooligans sees New York comics Alexis Guerreros and Christian Polanco adding fun around futbol’s top stars, teams and circuits.

PlayStation Vue, which has bolstered its sports offerings with recent launches of NHL Network, ACC Network and Tennis Channel, provided pro football fans with a free preview of highlights and scoring channel NFL RedZone during the opening Sunday of the season.

Tunity Analytics Top 10 Out-of-Home Sports Programs

Week of September 2, 2019

Show Network Date/Time (000's)

NFL - Fox Early Games FOX 9/8/19 1:00 PM 10304
NFL - Fox Late Games FOX 9/8/19 4:00 PM 9251
NFL - Packers vs. Bears NBC 9/5/19 8:15 PM 9029
NFL - CBS Early Games CBS 9/8/19 1:00 PM 7955
The OT FOX 9/8/19 7:30 PM 4789
NFL - Steelers vs. Patriots NBC 9/8/19 8:20 PM 4783
NFL - CBS Late Games CBS 9/8/19 4:00 PM 3415
CFB - LSU vs. Texas ABC 9/7/19 7:30 PM 3038
CFB - Texas A&M vs. Clemson ABC 9/7/19 3:30 PM 2520
Fox NFL Sunday FOX 9/8/19 12:00 PM 1993

Source: Tunity Analytics. Viewing estimates are derived from Tunity mobile app usage for the week beginning September 2, 2019. OOH viewer impressions are calculated using Tunity Analytics proprietary estimation model.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Less than a year after claiming the 2018 World Series crown, theBoston Red Sox fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and elevated senior vice president Raquel Ferreira and assistant general managers Eddie Romero, Brian O'Halloran and Zack Scott to jointly lead the club’s baseball operations department for the balance of the 2019 season. With the departure of Dombrowski, who had also constructed rosters that earned three consecutive AL East titles, Ferreira, who is in her 21^st year with the club, is now the highest-ranking woman ever in a Major League Baseball team's baseball operations department.

L.A. Sparks starCandace Parker has reached a multiyear extension with Turner Sports under which she will continue to serve as an analyst and commentator for the NBA on TNT, NBA TV and Division I Men’s Basketball championship. The WNBA veteran, who joined Turner last year, will also tip off a podcast with Kristen Ledlow for the upcoming hoops season.

Cabral “Cabbie” Richards is joining Bleacher Report as a host for its betting fare originating from B/R Studio at the Las Vegas Caesars Sportsbook. Richards, the long-time TSN on-air personality, will share hosting duties with Kelly Stewart, and will contribute to other original programs across Bleacher Report.

ESPORTS

Twitch is bringing a taste of esports to the NFL’s Raiders and the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas next year, locking in a partnership that will include a Twitch-branded lounge in the lower level of Allegiant Stadium, with interactive elements that are native to the Twitch experience, including streamer stations, Twitch viewing screens, esports competitions and future Twitch events. The Twitch lounge will also bring Twitch’s unique live streaming capabilities and active community to a variety of entertainment experiences that will take place at the Allegiant Stadium, such as key sporting events, concerts, esports competitions and more in the years ahead.

DreamSeat and its affiliates, Zipchair and Zipchair Gaming inked a deal with the Overwatch League and with the seating and furniture company now designated as the league’s official chair supplier. The Zipchair Gaming brand partnership kicks in with the remainder of the 2019 Overwatch League postseason as well as for the 2020 season. The partnership includes the license to distribute and sell chairs within the United States and Canada branded with official Overwatch League team logos. Overwatch League players will be competing for the rest of the 2019 season—and the upcoming 2020 season—in the Xpression gaming chairs from Zipchair Gaming that feature official team logos.

Kapersky has introduced a beta version of a new solution aimed at helping esports tournaments counter in-game cheating. Kapersky Anti-Cheat is a cloud-based solutions through the API of esports platforms and provides real-time cheat detection in addition to automated reports for players who have the ability to make disciplinary decisions on the rule-breaker. According to the latest Irdeto Global Gaming Survey, about one-third of gamers have confessed to cheating, while only 12% indicated that they have never had their multiplayer gaming experience spoiled by unfair actions from other players.

THE MAIN EVENT

Soccer friendly doubleheader: U.S.A./Uruguay on Fox Sports 1, Univision and TUDN at 8p; Mexico/Argentina on TUDN at 10p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

ENTRIES ARE OPEN:

The Cynopsis Best Of The Best Awards Featuring The Rising Stars

The Cynopsis Best Of The Best Awards salute excellence in national TV programming, from writing and directing to casting and hosting. Also, be sure to join Cynopsis as we honor stand-out performers, innovators and emerging leaders in the TV Media industry f or the 7th Annual Rising Star Awards . These young professionals’ experience spans research, sports, digital, content and marketing. Enter before October 23!

RISING STAR INFO BB CATEGORIES MORE INFO

ON THIS DAY in 1962: Rod Laver tops Roy Emerson to win the U.S. Open tennis championship and completes the first of his two calendar Grand Slams.

In the Know: Which tennis players have won the Golden Slam and who netted the prize in a single year?(Email cpursell@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Pistol Pete. Michael Ritz-Northwestern Mutual/NY; Joshua Duboff-Reuters Sports/Philadelphia; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/Harrisburg; Kathi Gillin-Comcast Spotlight/Langhorne; Mike Wexler-Moroch/Atlanta; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/ Boca Raton; Dan Wilhelm-Caddo Lake Capital/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; PeterSteckelman-Tennis Channel/Santa Monica; Kevin Landy.

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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