SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
FanDuel and the National Hockey League announced a multi-year partnership that designates FanDuel as the exclusive official daily fantasy partner and an official sports betting partner of the NHL. FanDuel also signed a partnership with the New Jersey Devils, marking FanDuel’s first agreement in the sports betting category with an NHL team. The new NHL agreement will provide FanDuel with opportunities to offer its daily fantasy customers access to exclusive NHL content and special prizing such as VIP experiences to NHL events. FanDuel plans to promote free-to-enter single-game fantasy contests for the NHL Winter Classic, NHL Stadium Series and other marquee matchups throughout the NHL season.
Watch brand Rolex signed on as the new official watch partner of the French Open tennis tournament. The multi-year deal now sees the brand hold partnerships with all four Grand Slam tennis events.
Electronic Arts Inc. and On Location Experiences unveiled the musical lineup for EA SPORTS BOWL at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest in Atlanta taking place Jan. 31 from State Farm Arena for the Welcome to Atlanta Showcase. The show will feature Ludacris and friends, a Quality Control Music showcase featuring rap group Migos, Lil Yachty, and Lil Baby, plus Metro Boomin and a special guest will hit the stage, as well as a DJ set from Lil Jon and more. The Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest will span three days from Jan 31-Feb 2.
AT&T is entering a strategic relationship with Learfield, a collegiate marketer, to help deepen its reach within universities. The brand announced that it will work with Learfield's Campus+ division, along with administrators and other campus stakeholders “to understand the unique challenges each university faces. Then, we'll help design customized solutions that will deliver new and engaging experiences to students, faculty and alumni.”
DIGITAL & STREAMING
ESPN+ subscribers will be able to access to more than 200 NBA G League season games per season, offering multiple NBA G League games per day each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday throughout the season. The new agreement significantly expands coverage of the G League across ESPN platforms, adding to existing coverage of G League games, including regular season, Playoffs and the G League Finals on ESPN’s linear television networks.
FloSports and the NCAA and NCAA Digital - managed by Turner Sports - announced the third year of a four-year agreement, to provide live and on-demand coverage of the 2018 Division I, II and III Cross Country Championships on FloTrack.com. This year’s live and on-demand coverage will feature enhanced production of the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I, II, and III Championships, as well as the NCAA Division I Regionals, including the NCAA Division I West Regional Cross Country Championships, the NCAA Division I Mountain Regional Cross Country Championships and the NCAA Division I Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championships. In anticipation of the NCAA postseason coverage, FloTrack has featured season-long content for all three divisions, including weekly rankings, team features, editorial features, podcasts and more.
CBS Sports Digital launched a new podcast, The Season: 2008 Steelers, with former Pittsburgh cornerback and current CBS Sports HQ analyst Bryant McFadden as he brings in teammates and coaches to break down that season week-by-week.
ESPORTS
The NFL’s newest target is Epic Games’ Fortnite, with the league announcing that – beginning Nov. 9 – official NFL team “outfits” will be available in the Battle Royale Item Shop allowing fans to purchase and customize up to eight outfits representing their favorite NFL teams. In addition to NFL team outfits, football-themed emotes, harvesting tools, gliders, and even a referee outfit will be offered. Once a player owns an NFL team outfit they will be able to choose a uniform from any of the League’s 32 teams and customize the jersey with a number of their choice (1-99). The NFL team outfits will be available as both male and female figures and can be customized with a different team/number each time a player uses the outfit in Fortnite.
G2 Esports and paysafecard are teaming up to invite Fortnite influencers from around the world to enter the newest talent show aimed at finding the next four top content creators in Fortnite, titled Making the Squad. The show, further backed by Logitech G and Esport-Management, will have Fortnite enthusiasts and influencers compete in a series of interactive online challenges, for a chance to secure one of four full-time streaming contracts with the club and access to a global audience in the #G2ARMY.
The Global Association of International Sports Federations announced that Los Angeles won the bid to host the inaugural World Urban Games in September 2019, and stage the next edition of the Games in 2021. The Games will “showcase the skill, style and power of athletes from around the globe in a variety of new-generation sports competitions” and include a World Urban Games festival and esports program. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, chairman and CEO of NantWorks, will chair the World Urban Games L.A. Organizing Committee, which is responsible for staging the event. Jenny Mann and Rick Fox will serve as co-managing directors of the organizing committee.
THE MAIN EVENT
Michigan State/Kansas and Duke/Kentucky open the college basketball season tonight on ESPN starting at 7p.