With the Women’s World Cup underway and an estimated billion people around the world expected to tune in, are sponsors or even FIFA finally buying in to the sport? While the tournament is being carried in an estimated 187 territories, ESPN’s primary talent for the tournament, Julie Foudy, says that there are still roadblocks in place, even with Sepp Blatter announcing his resignation.

Foudy was, of course, part of the winning 1999 team and has been a proponent for the changes needed and opportunities available to bolster the sport. This year’s tournament will see Foudy headline ESPN’s analysis, news and information coverage of the 2015 Women’s World Cup for programs that include SportsCenter and ESPN FC, while producing previews, reports and commentary for espnW.com. Cynopsis Sports spoke with Foudy about the state of soccer, untapped markets and being courted by other networks.

Foudy on the evolution of women’s soccer: It has obviously taken steps forward. I think the challenge, which isn’t being handled as quickly as I would hope, is that if you look at the ’99 World Cup and across a lot of these countries, they still struggle with funding and infrastructure for a lot of these women’s programs. So, the sponsorship side in the United State is vibrant, and we’ve seen the energy generated from that, but you hear of some of the FIFA sponsors who aren’t activating in Canada, and that just kills me. It is really interesting, because I see the women’s game as a completely untapped frontier that has a tremendous upside and potential for money, which you think would resonate. Unfortunately, we aren’t tapping into it yet.

On barriers: In so many other countries, culturally, the sport isn’t even accepted, so I can see the hesitation there. But the second part of that is that I get frustrated with FIFA’s unwillingness to push these federations to support their women’s programs. That are mandated to give some of their funding to the women’s programs, but there aren’t any checks and balances. There’s no transparency. There are billions of dollars here but FIFA, as the guardian of the game, has shown little initiative to get that done.

On Blatter’s resignation: I am hopeful there will be change. But, right now, if you went to different federations to find someone who would be proactive in the women’s game, there aren’t a lot of people who are making it a priority. I get that it isn’t a big money-maker but you could build it into a wonderful market.

On renewing with ESPN: I decided that this is the best fit for me, having been there from the beginning with espnW. I feel like we are turning the corner and producing great content that is much more integrated into the ESPN fabric and I wanted to stay with that. I wanted to help it grow more, that was the driving factor for me. Obviously, I love calling games and doing events, but I just felt there were too many positives here for me. In addition, I love producing and really see a chance to go do something powerful for television and I wanted to keep doing that.

Meanwhile, NBC’s coverage of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final handed the network with its best Game 2 overnight ever. The win by the Lightning delivered a 4.8 metered market rating and was up 5% over last year’s double overtime Game 2. Locally, it scored a 22.6 rating in Chicago and a 15.1 in Tampa. In addition, Serena Williams’ three-set French Open victory against Lucie Safarova pulled in a 1.88 metered market rating on NBC, up 21% from last year’s women’s final; Premier Boxing Champions on NBC drew a 95 overnight  up 12% from NBC’s prior PBC on NBC afternoon telecast on May 23; and the Firestone 600 on NBCSN on Saturday reeled in a .37 metered market rating, up 6% from last year’s Texas race.

More high notes saw ABC nab a record 17,768,000 viewers for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, which is the most ever for the first contest of the series, according to Nielsen and up 21% over last year’s corresponding game. The contest pushed the network to win the night across all of television as well as on key demos, scoring a record 10.6 U.S. household rating, which also makes it the highest-rated NBA Finals Game 1 ever on ABC.

A federal judge tossed a lawsuit against television networks and college conferences brought on by former college athletes who claimed the networks and conferences profited from their names and likenesses without their permission. The AP writes that District Judge Kevin H. Sharp ruled that the plaintiffs didn’t show that they are entitled to be compensated for playing in televised games, and named ESPN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and the Southeastern Conference among the defendants.

Univision Local Media announced dates for the 2015 Copa Univision, which kicked off in Houston on June 6 and tours 14 local communities in key markets across the country through the end of the year. Cities will also include Dallas, Austin, San Francisco, LA, Fresno, Chicago, NY, Sacramento, Bakersfield, Phoenix, San Antonio, Miami and Atlanta. Participants and soccer fans will also have the opportunity to stay connected via the new Copa Univision app, which offers real-time scores, standings, and results of games from every tournament venue and the ability to share and explore others’ experiences during the tournament by posting photos and videos.

The IOC is mulling new events for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Competitions in snowboarding, freestyle skiing, speedskating and curling have been submitted for approval to the International Olympic Committee executive board, according to the AP. New events up for grabs include Big Air and mass start races, The snowboard parallel slalom event, meanwhile, has been submitted to be dropped from the Olympic program.

The Baku 2015 European Games locked in a deal with Fox Sports Africa to bring the inaugural European Games to its viewers in 25 countries and territories. The announcement comes a week before the Opening Ceremony, with most countries and territories in the African continent now able to watch the Games. Daily coverage of the Baku 2015 action will be broadcast in English and French on the Fox Sports and Fox Sports 2 channels, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

CBC/Radio-Canada today announced eight broadcast partners for the upcoming Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, inking deals with CIBC, Chevrolet, Atoma, Loblaws, OLG, Esso, Maytag, and Hotels.com. The brands will be highlighted throughout CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage via various integrations on TV, online, and through the CBC Sports App featuring Pan Am Games coverage, presented by CIBC.

This looked fun. CSE launched a gathering of “friends and family” to honor long-time client John Smoltz on Thursday for his upcoming induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Class of 2015. Well-wishers gathered at CSE’s Atlanta headquarters, including legendary players Tom Glavine and Dale Murphy along with Ernie Johnson Jr., Jeff Foxworthy and John Schuerholtz, and experienced the sounds of “authentic baseball radio calls and experienced video highlights of Smoltz’s career played on screens around the building” as well as projection mapping of Turner Field, Smoltz on the mound, a mockup of the Braves locker room and select memorabilia such as the 1995 Championship trophy. In addition, CSE Evolve created holograms of key memorabilia from Smoltz’s personal collection paired with audio by Smoltz describing the item and its importance to him. 

Pocono Raceway announced two new video screen towers will be installed at the track with each offering two high-definition quality video screens to offer new visuals of the races as well as real-time stats and fan engagement. The new towers are being designed, engineered, installed and operated by ANC Sports Enterprises, and will stand on the top of two new 60’ standalone structures with each of the four video screens measuring 24.15’ high by 30.45’ wide.

July’s National Fantasy Football Convention in Las Vegas had its plug pulled. The event, toplined by the likes of Tony Romo, was yanked after the NFL reiterated a policy banning appearances associated with casinos, according to USA Today. A league spokesman told the publication that the NFL "reminded the players association" of the policy and Romo then wrote that the league canceled the event, noting that he was "sad for the fans and players." The event is being rescheduled for next summer in LA.

EA is bringing back EA Trax Soundtrack with the return of Madden NFL this year. The platform offers a showcase to new music and offers a soundtrack from a multi-genre roster of “soon-to-be- breakthrough artists and superstar acts, with the full list to be revealed this summer.” In addition, EA SPORTS is teaming up with Spotify to offer a new Madden NFL profile on the streaming music service. The profile launches today, and currently features some of the greatest songs from the previous editions of the Madden NFL franchise.
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Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Who portrayed jockey Red Pollard in the move Seabiscuit? Answer: Tobey Maguire. Kudos: Tim DeLaney-Showtime Networks Inc./NY; Doron Haramati-Nielsen Sports/NY; Maxine Dillon-Mediavest/NY; Don Gorski-Westwood One Sports/NY; Mike Antolini-Tiger Woods Foundation/Boston; Keith Allo-Golf Channel/NBC Sports/Orlando; Cris Aguilar-WCBY-TV/Bristol; Melissa Pattillo-Turner Sports/Atlanta; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Will Allmendinger-Clear Channel Outdoor/Chicago; John Kukla-KDFW-KDFI/Dallas; Dacia Smith-Continental TV Sales/Chicago; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; David Hauptman/Denver; Steve Hirsen/Sherman Oaks; Mary Downey-Mary Downey Casting/Burbank; Aditya Putcha-NBC/Universal City;  Miriam Aardahl-OMD/LA.

Roberta Caploe: Associate Publisher @robertacaploe
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group

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