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| Monday October 28, 2019 |
| After a long drought, DC’s sports scene has seen quite a run in the last few years. The Mystics just took their first WNBA title, the Nats are in the World Series, and the Capitals took home their first Stanley Cup last year. One company at the center of such much success and innovation is Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which is driving everything from sports gambling and esports to their signature teams and facilities along with a burgeoning OTT platform as they help reshape the culture of Washington. In addition, MSE is already driving global partnerships as well, since being unleashed by the NBA last year, with the company recently adding NEC as their latest multinational partner. Cynopsis asked Jim Van Stone, president of business operations for MSE, about the company’s approach on all fields and as the hub of DC sports business. On lessons learned from the success of the Nats and Mystics: Be prepared to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself. We share a firm belief that a rising tide lifts all boats during a successful run. The Nats have an opportunity to build that next generation of fans. Similar in scope and space to our hockey and basketball business, they’re highly focused on youth sports and athletics and building fans at an early age. Success breeds success and winning championships allows you to create business opportunities you’ve never done before. On the NBA opening the door to foreign markets: Our success globally and internationally really goes back quite some time. We’ve had long-term partnerships with a couple global companies such as Etihad Airways and ORG Packaging, migrating into Alibaba and most recently our Wizards partnerships with NEC and others to come. D.C. is also unique and different with 190 embassies and 1-in-5 residents being foreign born. On the first adopter push into Japan: We were very fortunate to draft Rui Hachimura, who is a fantastic player and fun to watch on the court but also truly charismatic off as well. It was important for us to create content that is unique about the Japanese marketplace and show Rui off the court and build our profile as an NBA basketball team globally, specifically in Japan, so we hired a Japanese-language correspondent who is capturing authentic content which we are now able to share on the Japanese-version of our Washington Wizards website and Twitter as well as our weekly Japanese podcast. On OTT success: We’ve been a trendsetter. We looked at the value of live content and what it brings to the table early on as far as the major media demand for the four major sports but also the opportunity for people to consume content on the youth and amateur athletic side along with some emerging sports opportunities. With Monumental Sports Network, we created a platform that allows us to distribute live content for properties where there certainly is an interest and a demand. This year, we will broadcast and stream about 600 sporting events which rivals any regional sports network. Younger audiences have a heavy appetite for an a la carte style of consumption and having an OTT space to allow us to tap into that demographic is very helpful organizationally. On Ted Leonsis as chairman: We are all a byproduct of Ted as chairman and all our owners as forward-thinking entrepreneurs, mainly in the tech realm. That is the DNA of Monumental Sports & Entertainment. We are very good organizationally at looking at things from a long-term strategic viewpoint with a lot research, including our focus in business intelligence and strategy analytics areas, not only from the team operations side but also in business operations. Being very entrepreneurial in spirit, I believe we are very nimble and also fearless top to bottom. PROGRAMMING Game 4 of the World Series once boosted FOX numbers as the Astros’ victory to hand the network with its top performance for a Saturday night since January. Although the Series is still down from last year, the telecast still scored 10,646,000 viewers across all FOX Sports platforms, with FOX alone reeling in over 10.2 million viewers with a 5.9 household rating, according to Nielsen. The matchup also drew ratings of 30.4/54 in Houston and 17.3/36 in DC. Meanwhile, FOX Sports also reports that its noon college football telecast on Saturday, which saw Ohio State topple Wisconsin, rank as the top-rated college football game on any network, according to the company, drawing a 4.6 metered market overnight rating. Continuing the theme, the NFL saw last week’s edition of Thursday Night Football delivered an average of 14.1 million viewers across all platforms for the Vikings’ win over the Redskins, including FOX, NFL Network, FOX Deportes, NFL digital, FOX Sports digital, Amazon Prime Video, Twitch and Yahoo Sports. The league reports that the 14.1 million viewers for the game was up 13% over last year’s Week 8 TNF matchup. Season-to-date, the Thursday Night Football tri-cast is averaging 16.0 million viewers – up 20%. DAZN is partnering with Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions for documentary series, One Night, which will spotlight famous nights in recent boxing history. The group of films premieres on DAZN and the DAZN YouTube channel on Nov. 20, and will offer a focus on the battle between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua before their rematch on Dec. 7. ”My Hollywood script came to life that historic June night when unknown boxer Andy Ruiz achieved a victory that shocked the world. It was the real-life Rocky and the perfect story to kick off our partnership with DAZN,” Stallone said. “There is nothing like the world of Boxing…the drama, the humanity, the agony, and the ecstasy. This sport reveals the souls of these courageous warriors like no other sport can so it’s a privilege to be very involved with DAZN and their revolutionary programming.” FOX Sports is gearing up for its turn with the Super Bowl with the launch of a new weekly video series, Super Bowl Stories: Road To Miami, that “takes viewers down memory lane through the lens of the network’s personalities as they recount their favorite Super Bowl moments.” The video series will be available across the FOX Sports and FOX Deportes digital and social media platforms and kicks off with three-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski as he reveals details from his Super Bowl XLIX experience. GOLF Channel serves up over 30 hours of news and tournament coverage to one of the final collegiate events of the 2019 fall season, the East Lake Cup collegiate match play championship, with coverage starting today and running through Wednesday. With the coverage, Golf Channel launched College Golf Talk, diving into the college golf scene. GOLF Channel’s on-air team for the East Lake Cup will feature Bob Papa and Curt Byrum serving as play-by-play host and analyst, respectively. NBC Sports’ new digital series, Off the Dribble, is open for business, debuting on NBC Sports’ YouTube Channel. The NBA-focused show will premiere every Friday throughout the year, hosted by Jacques Slade. From sneakers to burner accounts, the series will “cover all things in the modern NBA, with a classic nostalgic vibe.” Each ten-minute episode will explore and break down the biggest trends and viral content across the Internet. |
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| SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION ESPN Events cut ties with an Albuquerque-based production company that signed on to serve as sponsor of the New Mexico Bowl. The deal was announced in recent weeks. According to the AP, after a report from the Albuquerque Journal stated that the company had no business license with the city of Albuquerque and that CEO Eric G. Martinez faced multiple judgments for unpaid debts. The DreamHouse New Mexico Bowl logo and all references to it have been scrubbed from the bowl's website. The game is set to be played on Dec. 21. Rob Gronkowski and CBDMedic locked in a deal with Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place in a “first-of-its-kind collaboration” that promotes efforts to help people understand CBD and pain management. "CBDMEDIC helped change my life and has been a major part of my pain recovery regiment post-retirement," said Gronkowski. "I'm passionate about sharing my recovery story and encouraging other people to experience the benefits of using CBD. Now, with this powerful promotional partnership with Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place, we hope to encourage others, especially athletes and sports enthusiasts, to try this pain management and recovery solution." DIGITAL, DATA & TECH PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan revealed on Saturday that the org is opening the door to allow wagering on Tour event at the venue where the event was taking place, according to AFP. He stated that the PGA TOUR would be unveiling live sports betting at Tour stops by next year. “When done right, it gives fans the opportunity to engage with your sport over a longer period of time and have more interest in what’s happening across the entire player field,” he said. ESPORTS Three more banners were revealed for the upcoming Call of Duty League. For the Atlanta franchise, the team announced that it would be partnering with FaZe Clan for the team, working with Atlanta Esports Ventures to run the squad. Subsequently, the team would be known as the Atlanta FaZe. “We found partners that we love, which is not easy on both sides,” said FaZe Clan CEO Lee Trink. “I wanted to look for a creative way to maintain our long-standing relationship with Call of Duty.” The Toronto team, meanwhile will be known as the Toronto Ultra. In addition, Toronto unveiled its mascot: Tilt the squirrel. “When we were thinking through what to call ourselves, our minds travelled through a galaxy of possibilities,” the team said in the announcement. “Animals, historical connections, tough guy references, and even deep sounding monikers. But in the end, we felt we were just trying too hard. We're Ultra, and like Toronto, we love that what we mean is whatever you represent. Proud, humble, smooth, or loud — whatever you are, Ultra is just the beginning of it. You fill in the rest.” Finally, in the least surprising announcement, Immortals Gaming Club confirmed that its team would be known as OpTic Gaming Los Angeles. The company acquired OpTic earlier this year, and opted to maintain the historical branding of the team. TV Azteca and its exclusive global esports programming partner, Allied Esports, announced that Azteca Esports will carry the Gears 5 Pro League in Latin America via a new alliance with Gears Esports. Starting today, Azteca Esports will produce live, weekly coverage of the four-team Latin America region, including a live finale on November 25 at TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City. "Mexico's incredible passion for the Gears franchise has resulted in fans expressing their love of Gears through everything from Gears Ink tattoos to themed weddings,” said Rose Gunson, Esports Creative Program Manager for Gears Esports at The Coalition. “This enthusiasm extends to the games themselves, as the player base in Mexico produces some of the highest activity for Gears titles and features more players playing Gears of War 4 at the highest professional skill levels than anywhere else.” ESL opened the doors to The ESL Academy delivered by DHL, set to provide Dota 2 talent with the “opportunity to display their ability on the big stage.” In cooperation with DHL as founding and presenting partner, the program will implement a system to develop and foster potential Dota 2 talent, accelerating their path to professional esports.The ESL Academy season features over $240,000 in combined prize-pools throughout year one. Following the shroud’s move from Twitch to Mixer last week, fellow streaming Cory 'KingGothalion' Michael – a six year veteran on the platform – also announced his move to Microsoft's streaming platform, where they will join Ninja. "I sat down thinking this was gonna be a tough decision, but it was actually kinda easy," he said on the announcement on Twitter. "It is my belief that working closer with Xbox and Microsoft is not only gonna help us propel what we're doing but also propel what's also has been important to the channel, which is doing good in gaming." THE MAIN EVENT Coyotes/Sabres on NHL Network at 7p. |
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| ON THIS DAY in 1959 The American Football League awards the Buffalo Bills franchise to Ralph C Wilson. In the Know With a win yesterday, Bill Belichick joined coaching’s 300-win club, which features which other two NFL names? (Email cpursell@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your company and city). Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question Which boxer had the nickname “Boom Boom”? Answer: Ray Mancini. Kudos: Justin Blair-Henimo Group/NY; Brian Ricco-MultiVision Media, Inc./BOXTV- The Boxing Channel; Art Salisch-Nielsen/NY; Michael Doherty-BC Media/NY; David Haney-Bosack & Co./Pottsville; Michael Narracci-New England Sports Network/Watertown; Derek Houston-Atlanta Braves/Atlanta; Paul Brewer-TV Talent Agents, Inc./North Augusta; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; John Kukla-KDFW/KDFI/Dallas; Matt Fumagalli-NBC/Chicago; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; David Hauptman/Denver; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; Wendy Holmes-KCNC-TV/Denver; Lawrence Fan-San Jose State University Athletics/San Jose; Dave Sikula-San Francisco State University/San Francisco; Bob Ware-NBC Palm Springs/Univision/Palm Desert; John Sutton-Charter Digital Media/LA Later - Chris |
Cynopsis Team
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