CynopsisSports

Good morning. It’s Wednesday October 31, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

NBC Sports showcases $30 million in prize money and awards this weekend, anchored by the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at 3:30p on NBC. The 35th Breeders’ Cup World Championships return to Churchill Downs in Louisville for the first time since 2011, and culminates nine hours of Breeders’ Cup World Championships coverage this week on NBC and NBCSN from Louisville, including live coverage of 11 races. NBCSN’s coverage begins Thursday at 7p with handicapping special “Betting the Breeders’ Cup.” For the first time ever at the Breeders’ Cup, NBC Sports will be using the “rail bird” camera to cover 2,000 feet on the front stretch, providing a new perspective for the finish of a horse race. The company will also showcase the return of the ‘Jockey Cam’ mounted on the helmet of jockey Mike Smith in the Classic.

ON THE AIR

The NFL confirmed plans to play a quarter of the regular season in London. For the first time, the season will see four games played in London in 2019, adding another week to the three that are being played there this year. Next year two games will be played at Wembley with two games to be played at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium.

The Patriots’ romp over the Bills in Monday Night Football handed ESPN with an average of 11 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, according to Nielsen. That marks an uptick of 4% over last year’s equivalent, and ranks as the most-watched telecast of the night among all networks in households, viewers and all key male and adult demos. Season to-date, Monday Night Football is averaging 11.3 million viewers, up 2% from last year’s average among in total viewers.

MLB Network will nationally simulcast NESN’s coverage of the Boston Red Sox’ championship parade today while MLB.com will have a live stream beginning at 11a. Leading up to the parade, MLB Network’s weekday morning show Hot Stove will air at 9a, co-hosted by Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds, Lauren Shehadi and Ken Rosenthal. Following the parade, MLB Network’s MLB Now will air at 2p, followed by Intentional Talk at 3:30p.

FS1 has its MLS postseason plans locked and loaded with two single-elimination matches in the Knockout Round of the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. New York City FC face Philadelphia Union tonight at 7p, followed by D.C. United vs. Columbus Crew SC tomorrow at 8p. Thursday sees Wayne Rooney make his MLS postseason debut with John Strong announcing and joining Stu Holden and reporter Katie Witham are on the call.

FOX Deportes will showcase the Copa MX Final for the first time tonight as CF Monterey and Cruz Azul F.C. battle for the championship. The network’s exclusive presentation begins at 10:30p with pregame at 8;30p.

PBR and World Champions Rodeo Alliance announced a western sports weekend in Chicago, blending the two sports across three days. PBR’s elite series returns to Allstate Arena on Jan. 12-13 for two days of rides and wrecks, with a rodeo now being added to the bull-riding event. The WCRA Windy City Roundup – a $1 Million Major Rodeo – will open the WCRA’s 2019 series at Allstate Arena on Jan. 11.

NBC Sports Chicago announced that recently retired Chicago Blackhawks legend/three-time Stanley Cup Champion Patrick Sharp will join the network as an additional game night Blackhawks Pregame Live/Postgame Live studio analyst. Sharp’s first official appearance on NBC Sports Chicago takes place tomorrow for the network’s multi-platform coverage of the Blackhawks battle against the Oilers.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The 2^nd Annual Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival

[Accepting Entries Now Through November 8]

Illuminate your work, gain high-level exposure and join your short form peers for a festival like no other. Finalists will be announced in November and winners’ videos will be screened at the festival this March in NYC. This is your chance to have your work celebrated by industry leaders! ( Take a peek at our jurors ).

Questions? Contact Cathy Pearson at 203.899.8470

[ SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO ]

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment announced a multi-year partnership with Caesars Entertainment and the sports and entertainment conglomerate's sports properties: the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center. The partnership will introduce New Jersey sports fans to Caesars Entertainment's new sports book experience at two of its Atlantic City properties and The Caesars Casino & Sports app through special promotions and activations inside the exclusive Caesars Club at Prudential Center. In addition to exposure on Prudential Center's 80 digital boards and colossal 4,800-square-foot outdoor LED board, Caesars' branding will appear on Club Level tickets, premium wristbands, concourse pillars and more. Caesars branding, including signage and waitstaff attire, will complete the Caesars premium experience in Caesars Club.

Speaking of the 76ers, the team unveiled its 2018-19 City Edition uniform, presented in partnership with Official Jersey Patch Sponsor StubHub. The 2018-19 City Edition uniform celebrates “Philadelphia’s rich history of the challenger’s mentality that inspired the Rocky and Creed films and will debut the outfit on Nov. 9. The uniform’s core “displays the iconic circle of 13 stars derived from the boxing ring where Rocky Balboa first squared off against Apollo Creed, while the gray sweatsuit-textured base was influenced by both Adonis Creed’s and Rocky’s legendary training scenes throughout the streets of Philadelphia. The crisp blue, red and white waistband trim on the shorts is inspired by Rocky’s championship belt.”

US Ski & Snowboard agreed on a new partnership deal with John Paul Mitchell Systems in the hair products category. The deal will highlight their product lines at domestic Freeski and Snowboard events, most notably the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freeski and Freestyle World Championships in February.

Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment and William & Mary agreed to a long-term partnership naming VWSE as the exclusive sales agent for campus-wide strategic business partnerships, athletic sponsorships and multimedia rights with an initial term through 2028. Per the agreement, VWSE will work with W&M leadership to explore opportunities that drive business relationships benefiting the community and the university, its students and faculty on a year-round basis.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

The new update to the ESPN App on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One now allow fans to subscribe to ESPN+ and immediately begin watching additional live sports events, original shows and series, as well as access the entire 30 for 30 documentary series and more.

FloSports and the Montverde Academy boys varsity basketball team announced a partnership that brings all eight of Montverde Academy’s home regular season games to the platform where they will be aired live and on-demand to a worldwide audience exclusively on FloHoops.com. This makes Montverde Academy the first high school basketball program to have a live digital streaming deal, according to the company.

Combate Americas announced its second annual Copa Combate one-night MMA tournament to DAZN, along with Univision and UDN. The event will feature eight fighters, representing eight different countries, battling it out for a $100,000 grand prize, at Save Mart Center in Fresno on Dec. 7.

ESPORTS

Blizzard is giving Overwatch Contenders an overhaul for the overall 2019 season. The Path to Pro will not only see prizing adjusted to better reward top teams, but Contenders North America will now be split into two regions, each with eight teams, bringing the total number of overall regions to eight. Meanwhile, other regions will now reduce the total number of teams from 12 to eight. Soft region locking is being introduced to “ensure that Contenders continues to develop local talent all around the world” and Contenders teams can have a maximum of three non-resident players on their roster. Seasons in Contenders 2019 will also be longer, and the total number of seasons will be reduced from three to two.

Gaming headset and audio accessory brand Turtle Beach is expanding its partnership with DreamHack ahead of the event’s Atlanta stop in mid-November. The festival becomes the third DreamHack event this year that Turtle Beach has sponsored and provided all gaming headsets for the Free to Play PC area, as well as the second consecutive event integrating the Elite Atlas Pro Performance PC Gaming Headset. This expanded partnership allows for the model to be used on-site in competitions that tap into the collegiate market, through the American Video Game League's Community League of Legends and Fortnite tournaments.

WorldGaming Network announced the start of a competitive tournament for Hearthstone, titled the Hearthstone Canadian Challenge powered by WorldGaming, with more than $20,000 in cash and prizes. The tournament will run through Dec. with closed qualifier to be held Dec. 8 to determine the top four players who will go on to compete in the Grand Finals in Toronto on Dec. 15 at The Samsung Experience Store.

THE MAIN EVENT

MLS postseason gets underway with New York City FC/Philadelphia Union at 7p on FS1 and UniMas, followed by FC Dallas/Portland Timbers at 9:30p on UniMas and ESPN+.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

TOP WOMEN IN SPORTS

celebrating female trailblazers in the sports industry

Honorees are change agents who empower + inspire with their drive for innovation and inclusion.

Categories include: marketing, on-air talent, production, social good, social media, sports-centric brands, and technology.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: December 4

ON THIS DAY in 1986: Dr. J. announces his retirement.

In the Know: For which school did Dr. J play college basketball? (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: Which team did Morten Andersen play for twice? Answer: The Atlanta Falcons. Kudos: Art Salisch-Hearst TV/NY; Michael Ritz-BucStar Consulting/NY; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Michael Goodman-Radio One/Atlanta; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Matt Fumagalli-NBC/Chicago; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine/Houston; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Jaymz Wooden-Bottelsen American Dart Lines/Santa Maria

Later - Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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