CynopsisSports

Good morning. It’s Thursday November 8, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

After receiving global headlines with the announcement of an unexpected fight with Japanese kickboxing superstar Tenshin Nasukawa on New Year’s Eve, Floyd Mayweather is now backing off the hype surrounding the Japanese event. The fighter posted on Instagram that he had never agreed to a formal bout with Nasukawa, noting that – despite appearing at the press conference - he and his team were "completely derailed" by the details of the event.

"Ultimately, I was asked to participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds with an opponent selected by the Rizen Fighting Federation," Mayweather wrote. "What I was originally informed of (it) by Brent Johnson of One Entertainment was that this was to be an exhibition put on for a small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee. This exhibition was previously arranged as a 'Special Bout' purely for entertainment purposes with no intentions of being represented as an official fight card nor televised worldwide."

ON THE AIR

The NBA is poised to bring the 2019 All-Star draft to TV, reaching an agreement with the NBA Players Association to showcase the event on TNT, according to the New York Times. The report states that while the league has not finalized a date for the event, " Jan. 30 or Jan. 31 have emerged as two potential targets for a TNT broadcast." Last year marked the first time the league used a draft process to fill out the All-Star squads as LeBron James and Stephen Curry selected their teams from the All-Star pool.

The PGA Tour Champions lined up its schedule for the 2019 season with the over-50 circuit set to showcase 27 events next year, including a three-tournament postseason that will wrap up in November with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The season begins Jan. 17-19 with the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii. Overall 19 states will host a Champions event next year, along with three countries outside the US: the June 7-9 MasterCard Japan Championship, the Shaw Charity Classic in Canada Aug. 30-Sept. 1, and the Senior Open July 25-28 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in England.

LL Cool J and Ice Cube are reportedly partnering up in a move to bid on 22 regional sports channels that are poised to be sold following Disney’s acquisition of FOX., according to TMZ. The deal for all 22 sports channels is expected to draw between $15 and $25 billion, with the entertainers partnering with billionaire Alex and Ani jewelry founder Carolyn Rafaelian. Initial bids for the channels are due today.

Stadium revealed its lineup of over 70 college basketball games from five conference partners for the new season, running on Stadium’s over-the-air network and its digital platforms. Additionally, 31 games will air exclusively on the Facebook Watch platform. Overall, the Stadium lineup features games from Conference USA, Mountain West, Patriot League, West Coast Conference and the Atlantic 10 conference, and will see the season kick off with Nevada faacing on Cal Baptist on November 19. Stadium will also be the official home to the Cayman Island Classic, a NCAA Preseason Tournament that includes Clemson, Georgia, Creighton, and Boise State. Stadium’s broadcast team will feature a collection of talented commentators such as Chris Hassel, Doug Gottlieb, Jeff Goodman and Kristen Balboni, who will be featured heavily throughout the season.

Ride Television Network, Inc. is roping in the Professional Bull Rider’s Velocity Tour to RIDE TV in 2019. PBR will produce these broadcasts in association with RIDE TV. RIDE TV will air 40 one-hour highlight shows of the PBR Velocity Tour events in prime time on the network each week for both the 2019 and 2020 seasons. This is the largest sports rights deal in RIDE TV history.

Telemundo Deportes detailed plans for exclusive coverage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018, the sixth edition of the biennial international women’s youth soccer championship featuring 16 teams competing for the title. Universo and the Telemundo Deportes EN VIVO app will present all the matches live, providing 64 hours of coverage across platforms. Nine matches will air live on Universo while the rest will stream exclusively on Telemundo Deportes App and via TelemundoDeportes.com. The 19-day event kicks off Nov. 13 with four matches including Brazil vs. Japan at 11:55a.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The Cynopsis TV Awards

SUBMIT BY 11/14

The Cynopsis TV Awards salute excellence in national TV programming, from writing and directing to casting and hosting. In addition, we recognize outstanding achievement across teams, platforms, and overall merit. In short, winning a Cynopsis TV Award is acknowledgement that your work has risen to the top in entertaining and enriching a broad audience. Winners will be announced at the highly-anticipated awards gala, this February in NYC.

GET STARTED

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Today will see Reebok release Sole Fury, a new “performance-driven silhouette that seamlessly unites a fashion-forward aesthetic with street-level clout.” Driving promotion will be partners that include rapper Lil Baby, professional mixed martial artist and boxer Connor McGregor, rapper Future, and Game of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel. To celebrate the launch, Reebok created #SplitFrom, “a salute to all those who possess the spirit and confidence it takes to defy convention in order to drive culture.”

The Topps Company and the Major League Baseball Players Association inked an extension to their global trading card partnership. “Topps has been a great longtime partner of the MLB Players Association,” said Evan Kaplan, Director of Licensing and Business Development for the MLBPA. “Through its innovative trading cards and products, Topps has promoted Major League Baseball players in original ways giving a wide range of athletes the spotlight.”

DIGITAL & STREAMING

FloSports locked in a partnership with Infront to provide live and on-demand coverage of the 2018-19 Italian Men’s Superlega, 2019 Confédération Europeenne de Volleyball European Beach Volleyball Championships and any World Tour 2-Star events held in Europe, as well as the 2019 men’s and women’s CEV Volleyball European Championships semifinals and quarterfinals on FloVolleyball.tv in the US. This agreement adds more than 240 matches over the course of the 2018 and 2019 seasons on FloVolleyball.tv, including rights to the Italian men’s Superlega, Coppa Italia, and Super Cup.

One Cent, NBA Digital's latest Players Only Films installment is available on Facebook Watch, spotlighting the journey of Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway from Memphis, to a star-crossed career in the NBA, and then back home. In addition to Hardaway, One Cent also features interviews with Shaq, Chris Webber, and former NBA point guards Elliot Perry and Baron Davis.

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association released a statement applauding the voters of Louisiana for choosing to legalize paid fantasy sports contests. “The FSTA looks forward to working with the Louisiana state legislature and Gaming Control Board on creating fair rules, regulations and taxation so fans can begin playing in the parishes that voted for fantasy sports contests,” the org said. “The fantasy sports industry won a huge victory as residents of Louisiana have long sought to play all the contests our member companies offer,” said FSTA Chairman Peter Schoenke. “We hope the legislature will enact regulations that allow startups and companies of all sizes to offer their contests in the state.”

ESPORTS

In this week’s edition of Cynopsis Esports…

ONE Championship launches esports league
ELEAGUE gets another Rocket ride
Surveying gamers on election day
BlizzCon wrap
G’s playground
UYU dangles scholarships

THE MAIN EVENT

Panthers/Steelers on FOX and NFL Network at 8:20p.

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 1966: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs off on antitrust immunity for the AFL/NFL merger.

In the Know: Which university did Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway play for? (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 The Rams retired #29 in honor of which player? Answer: Eric Dickerson. Kudos: John Ferlazzo/London; Rob Casalaina-ITN/NY; Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Matt Meachem-Gracenote, Inc./NY; Eric Newman-ENEW FILMS/NY; Joe Schreiber-3 Penny Films/Bethesda; Jonny Codalata-CSM Sport & Entertainment/Zionsville; Randy Ingram-WISH-TV/MyINDY-TV/Indianapolis; Norm O’Reilly-University of Guelph/Guelph; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Matt Fumagalli-NBC/Chicago; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine/Houston; Greg Moloznbik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; David Hauptman/Denver; Anne Wettig-Fox Cable Networks S&P/LA; Jaymz Wooden-Bottelsen American Dart Lines/Santa Maria; Rich Greene-Casa Del Verde Entertainment/LA; Brian Robin-Pechanga Resort Casino/Temecula

Later - Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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