SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
New Balance announced today the signing of 14-year-old tennis star Cori “CoCo” Gauff to a multi-year endorsement contract. Gauff joins an roster of Team New Balance tennis athletes including that include Milos Raonic, Sorana Cîrstea, Danielle Collins and Heather Watson.Gauff, at age 13, became the youngest girl to make a U.S. Open girls final. Eight months later, Gauff became the fifth-youngest winner of the French Open girls’ tournament in June 2018.
Fight For Children, the Washington D.C. based non-profit, announced the lineup for its 29th annual Fight Night fundraiser on Nov. 1 at the Washington Hilton. Highlights will include the integration of the movie Creed II, live boxing, and special appearances by legends of boxing including former Heavyweight Champion Buster Douglas, Ray Mancini, Gerry Cooney and Earnie Shavers; pro athletes including former Washington Redskins greats Ken Harvey, Gary Clark and Santana Moss and more.
We Are Golf, a coalition of the game’s leading associations and industry partners– announced that the 12thannual National Golf Day will be held May 1 on Capitol Hill in DC. In April 2018, more than 300 industry leaders held a record-high 230 meetings with Members of Congress, the Executive Branch and federal agencies representing 40 states. Globally, the #NationalGolfDay Twitter campaign eclipsed 77 million impressions, including nearly 200,000 total interactions.
DIGITAL & STREAMING
NBC Sports Gold launched “Snow Pass” so fans will have access to live and on-demand domestic and international competitions of seven Olympic winter sports from October 2018 through April 2019. The offering will feature 700+ hours – including nearly 100 exclusive hours – of coverage of FIS alpine skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, biathlon and snowboarding events. The pass is available for purchase now for $69.99 by visiting NBCSportsGold.com.
FloSports is partnering with Cycling Canada for the 2018-2019 season to provide live and on-demand coverage of the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup as well as the Canadian Track Championships exclusively for Canadian viewers on FloBikes.com. Through this partnership, FloBikes has 27 live events remaining in 2018 and more than 100 live events on their schedule in 2019.
The Players’ Tribune and Showtime partnered on the video, New York State of Mine, starring New York Knicks’ rookie Kevin Knox. Mirroring themes of the new season of Ray Donovan on Showtime, New York State of Mine features Knox exploring some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, ranging from “The Cage” basketball courts in Greenwich Village to Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn, while also taking his first trip on an NYC subway. The episode launched this week on TPT channels.
ESPORTS
Nadeshot and 100 Thieves announced the completion of its Series A funding round, led by Grammy Award-winning, platinum-selling recording artist Drake and SB Projects founder Scooter Braun. The two will now join founder Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag and Dan Gilbert, Chairman of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as 100 Thieves co-owners. Other new participants in the round include Sequoia Capital, WndrCo, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Tao Capital, Green Bay Ventures, and Advancit Capital.As co-owners, Drake and Braun will act as strategic advisors for 100 Thieves. Braun has also joined the 100 Thieves Board of Directors. 100 Thieves has already collaborated with Drake on the custom gaming stations that travel with his current Scorpion tour, and apparel collaborations are underway as well.
The brand new Overwatch League franchise based in Atlanta has a name, and will be called the Atlanta Reign. Atlanta Esports Ventures also announced brand details that include the team logo and colors ahead of the 2019. The Atlanta Reign official colors are light gray, red, and charcoal gray. The team logo features a red phoenix rising within a royal crest, referencing Atlanta’s city seal and making a nod to new beginnings. According to the announcement, the iconic phoenix “is crowned to complement the regal theme of the team’s name” while the “bold red typeface accompanies the emblem to offer a powerful announcement of the team’s brand.”
Activision Blizzard announced the addition of veteran NFL executive Johanna Faries to the company’s Esports Leagues leadership team, where she will serve as Head of Product for the Call of Duty World League. Faries brings over a decade of experience from the NFL with an emphasis on business and fan development. In her new role, Faries will oversee strategic leadership, business operations and product development for the Call of Duty World League.
Forbes unveiled its ranking of esports most valuable esports companies, led by Cloud9, which tops the list with a valuation of $310 million. The list, according to the article, was created after “talking to company owners, bankers, and industry experts,” noting that numbers were “applied during each company’s most recent capital raise, comparable esports transactions, and their prospects.” Here’s the rankings:
- Cloud9 — $310 million
- Team SoloMid — $250 million
- Team Liquid — $200 million
- Echo Fox — $150 million
- OpTic Gaming — $130 million
- Fnatic — $120 million
- G Gaming — $110 million
- G2 Esports — $105 million
- Immortals — $100 million
- Envy Gaming — $95 million
- 100 Thieves — $90 million
- Counter Logic Gaming — $50 million
N3rd Street Gamers and Blizzard Entertainment are partnering to bring a Hearthstone Championship Tour stop to Philadelphia, running Dec. 14-16. The tour stop will provide an opportunity for up to 256 players to compete in-person, taking place at Localhost Arena, an esports arena and LAN center located in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties district.
ROSTER MOVES
International Speedway Corporation announced that Julie Giese, Managing Director of Business Operations for ISC Design & Development, has been promoted to President of ISM Raceway. Beginning in November 2018, Giese will assume oversight of promotion and operation of the all-new ISM Raceway. Giese’s first major event, the Can-Am 500, will be part of the Raceway’s Opening Weekend on November 9, 10 and 11.
THE MAIN EVENT
Dodgers/Red Sox on FOX at 8p.
