08/16/19: LaLiga stays home

Good morning. It’s Friday August 16, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

LaLiga is going another round with beIN Media Group, inking an extension that will see beIN SPORTS USA and Canada will exclusively broadcast LaLiga until 2024. The new agreement comes just days before the start of a 2019-20 season, which kicks-off later this week.

“We have always believed that LaLiga is one of the preeminent sporting competitions in the world, so we are delighted to super serve our dedicated fanbase having renewed our exclusive broadcast rights agreement with the Spanish league until 2024,” said Antonio Briceno, Deputy Managing Director of beIN Sports for the USA and Canada. “This year’s competition is set to be one of the most exciting in recent years, as a hungry Real Madrid and an always competitive Atlético Madrid look to deny FC Barcelona their fifth consecutive title. Both clubs have spent much of this summer’s transfer window looking to match their Catalonian rivals, with new superstars such as Eden Hazard and João Félix promising to make it a thrilling season.”

PROGRAMMING

ESPN landed Jack Del Rio, the former Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders head coach, to serve as an NFL analyst. He will appear on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio and more throughout the year, beginning today, when he makes his debut. “I’ve visited several training camps over the last few weeks, and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming football season and my new role with ESPN!” said Del Rio, who made an ESPN guest analyst appearance in March.

Episode two of HBO’s Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Oakland Raiders continued the show’s upticks, notching 887,000 premiere night viewers to rank as the highest for a Hard Knocks episode since 2015. Tuesday Night’s Viewership is an 18% Increase Over Last Season’s Episode 2 with Cleveland.

Sunday sees ESPN exclusively carry the third annual MLB Little League Classic presented by GEICO on Sunday Night Baseball. The matchup sees the Cubs and Pirates played at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pa., the same town as the Little League World Series. Matt Vasgersian will provide commentary with Alex Rodriguez and analyst Jessica Mendoza, along with veteran reporter Buster Olney. Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown presented by Chevrolet will also emanate from Williamsport, Pa. with a special 90-minute pre-game show starting at 5:30p.

adidas, Twitter and Intersport announced that ‘Friday Night Stripes’ Season two will launch this fall. Spotlighting Friday night high school football, season one generated over 32.6M total video views and over 15.6M total live viewers. Returning to announce the Season 2 games are ESPN and SEC Network’s play-by-play announcer Courtney Lyle, with analysis A.J. Hawk. Special guests will make appearances and join the play calling throughout the series of games, including adidas Football NFL athletes and entertainment partners and influencers.

Last call to get in on the room blocks. We are less than one month out! Get your tickets to the Esports Business Summit, running Sept. 10-12, and plug in to the biggest names in the industry, from media and streaming to brands and technology. Don’t miss it and get your tickets now!

30 for 30 Podcasts, with The Undefeated, will debut all five episodes from a new season of audio documentaries on Tuesday. “The Sterling Affairs” will examine the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, “his rags to riches rise, his ultimate downfall, and how it all impacted the NBA.” The series is reported on and hosted by ESPN Senior Writer Ramona Shelburne.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

***SOLD OUT***

CYNOPSIS TOP WOMEN IN MEDIA AWARDS GALA

September 9 | 5:45PM – 8PM | Tribeca Rooftop, NYC

Cynopsis is celebrating the 2019 Top Women in Media — the outstanding women across every facet of the media industry — TV, digital/tech, esports, sports, marketing and more. From corporate visionaries to rising stars, they are making bold decisions and driving their businesses forward and they deserve their moment in the spotlight.

Platinum Sponsor: Turnkey Search

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The American Cornhole League landed Subway Restaurants as the primary sponsor of the 2019 ACL College Championship season. ACL fans attending the College Cornhole Tour will now be able to try a sampling of signature sandwiches from Subway’s Tailgate experience which will also include VIP lounge areas and ACL cornhole tailgate tournaments for students, alumni and boosters. The slate of events kicks off on Aug. 31 in Memphis for the Ole Miss/Memphis college football matchup. The tour will conclude at the National College Cornhole Championship, hosted at Myrtle Beach from December 27-29

Taymar Sales U. launched a new Sales Support Program to help develop collegiate athletic departments’ in-house sales teams. Concurrently, the company announced that it signed Tulane University, a member of the American Athletic Conference, as its first Sales Support Program client. The program offers in-house sales operations with a comprehensive menu of options including sales team evaluation, training and professional development, staff recruiting and ongoing evaluation and strategy assistance.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

FanDuel Group and Major League Baseball announced a multi-year partnership designating FanDuel as an Authorized Gaming Operator of MLB. The deal marks the company’s first partnership with Major League Baseball or an MLB team and provides FanDuel access to official MLB data, along with league and team marks and logos, across FanDuel’s online sports betting products and retail sportsbook locations.

SeatGeek today announced the renewal of its partnership with Yahoo Sports The new multi-year deal will give Yahoo Sports fans the ability to discover and purchase tickets, including new and optimized product integrations across the Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Fantasy platforms, mobile apps and more.

NBC Sports Gold’s “Figure Skating Pass” is available for purchase now on NBCSportsGold.com ahead of the 2019-20 season which begins next month, giving fans access to major domestic and international competitions from September 2019 to April 2020. The pass features live, commercial-free access to 400+ hours of event coverage, including more than 300 hours of exclusive coverage on NBC Sports Gold.

ADesk announced the launch of the ADesk.app designed to book crews for sports productions in the truck, field, and studio. The app’s algorithm is based on user feedback and ranking and gives preference to their rating along with the entire communities’ ratings. “We noticed a huge opportunity in the production industry to create a database where all crew contacts are stored in an accessible database, said ADesk Founder, Patrick Bryant. “The functionality of the app allows you to book any crew position that you need, instantaneously. We’ve eliminated the hassle of a vetting process and working through third-party services to find a crew member that may not be up to your standards. Through the simple click of a button you can crew an entire shoot and manage all of the details within the platform.”

ESPORTS

ELEAGUE and Nintendo are exploring new worlds, courtesy of a partnership designed to showcase high-level players and competitive moments through a three-episode ELEAGUE television series focused on three tournaments held in Los Angeles last June and slated to air on CBS. ELEAGUE Presents The Nintendo 2019 World Championships will air Aug. 25 at 1p on the network, taking fans backstage and behind the controller with professional players as they compete across three Nintendo Switch video games; Super Mario Maker 2, Splatoon 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The series will feature teams from around the world including Japan, United States, Europe and Australia/New Zealand competing, with additional episodes set to run on Sept. 7, at 2p and Sept. 14 at `1:30p on CBS.

Riot Games locked in Pringles to serve as its newest sponsor of the League of Legends European Championship Summer Finals. To celebrate the culmination of the very first LEC season, Pringles cans across Europe will carry a code that will allow users to enter a raffle to win an exclusive Legacy skin. “We’ve been steadily developing our esports foot print to gain stronger brand recognition with the community. We’ve been present at a series of major tournaments generating content and arranging activations but it’s important we keep expanding our outreach and that we’re able to speak to esports fans across different titles,” said Dominik Schafhaupt, Kellogg Company’s Marketing Manager Snacks Northern Europe. “We’ve seen the energy and passion of the LEC fans and were excited to work with the team at Riot to help us build our relationship with their community for the Summer Finals.”

FaZe Clan announced the addition of rapper Offset to its investor umbrella. “FaZe Clan goes beyond gaming and esports – we’re leading a transformation in culture and entertainment,” said Lee Trink, CEO, FaZe Clan. “Offset represents a new generation of cultural leaders who understand that shift. FaZe Clan is redefining what it means to be an iconic entertainment brand and working with a visionary like Offset is another step towards the future – we not only dominate in competitive gaming we are setting new trends across content, merchandise, brand partnerships, and beyond.”

Statespace landed $2.5 million in seed funding as its first product, Aim Lab, prepares to hit 1 million users. Funding was led by FirstMark Capitals, according to TechCrunch, with additional participation from Expa, Lux Capital and WndrCo to up the company’s total funding to $4 million. Aim Lab mimics the rules of a game in order to give gamers a practice space where they can improve their skills identify weaknesses.

Super League Gaming announced a partnership with Metarama Gaming + Music Festival to produce a “Pros vs. Joes” League of Legends tournament in Las Vegas on October 19-20. Amateur League of Legends players nationwide will have the opportunity to compete for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas to compete on stage at the festival against teams made up of top League of Legends players. League of Legends streamers playing in the festival’s “Pros vs. Joes” event include VoyBoy, BunnyFuFu, SimplyHai, Yassuo, BoxBox, Alexa, Trick2g, FSN_Saber, Huhi, and Foggedftw2.

THE MAIN EVENT

Dodgers/Braves tonight at 7p on MLB Network.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

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THE CYNOPSIS JOBS SITE

Are you looking for a media job within the TV, Digital or Sports industries OR are you looking to hire a media professional? The Cynopsis Jobs site offers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors.

Check out our new Cynopsis Jobs site, here for a complete look on what’s out there.

ON THIS DAY in 1954: Sports Illustrated begins publishing.

In the Know: Which athlete has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated the most times? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What position did Tommy Lasorda play as a pro? Answer: Pitcher. Kudos: John Russo-INSP/NY; Rob Casalaina-ITN/NY; Michael Ritz-Northwestern Mutual/NY; Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Jeff Tirrell-Saga Communications/Greenfield; Rick Dascher-Turner Studios/Atlanta; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; Dave Sikula-San Francisco State University/San Francisco; Dan Weiner-Conde Nast/LA; Rick Pike-InterMedia Advertising/Woodland Hills; Greg Dudsic/Venice

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Kerry Smith Division President Access Intelligence Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina 203-218-6480 Albert Nassour 917-545-3129	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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Job of the day

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
Hallmark’s Home & Family
LA
Tech-savvy, self-starter professional, exp’d in SM to support strategic social media initiatives set in place. Able to multi task many projects; 1-2 yrs SM exp w/previous writing/editing/creating exp; strong knwlg SM platforms & social community mngmnt.
Full info HERE

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR >>
Hallmark’s Home & Family/LA: Tech-savvy, self-starter professional, exp’d in SM to support strategic social media initiatives set in place. Able to multi task many projects; 1-2 yrs SM exp w/previous writing/editing/creating exp; strong knwlg SM platforms & social community mngmnt. Full info HERE (8/29)

DIRECTOR, DISTRIBUTION >>
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SR DIRECTOR, IT OPERATIONS >>
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MGR, RECRUITING >>

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CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER >>
PointsBet/Denver: Exceptional candidate with broad, hands-on operational skills to lead our US company through our next stage of growth. Min 10+ yrs of operational exp; proven operational success in gaming, sports or technology sectors a +. Strong written/comm skills. Full info HERE (8/22)

DIRECTOR, OTT ADVERTISING STRATEGY >>
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SR ANALYST, AD SALES STRATEGY >>
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Overtime/NYC: Applicants should have a min of 2 yrs filming doc and/or reality content. Exp functioning as a one-person-band is mandatory since it will be a standard part of the job. Full info HERE (8/21)

CONSUMER INSIGHTS MGR >>
Gamut – Cox Media/NYC: Lead data-driven rsrch projects that align w/sales objectives & client needs. Thru analysis of mult rsrch sources, he/she will support the media ad sales team to consult clients on their ad strategies. 6-9 yrs of exp in a rsrch or insights role at a media agency. Full info HERE (8/20)

MEDIA INSIGHTS ANALYST >>
Gamut – Cox Media/NYC: Perform data runs & analysis through the use of multiple rsrch sources to support the media ad sales team & consult clients on their media plans. 1+ yr exp in a rsrch or insights role at a media agency, brdcst/dig co., or media rep firm. Full info HERE (8/20)

MGR, AD SALES MARKETING >>
Gamut – Cox Media/NYC: Lead planning/execution of multi-channel mktg strategies designed to drive ad sales revenue for the co. Must possess a demonstrated ability to comm & collaborate with all levels of the org; 5+ yrs of exp in Ad Sales Marketing at a Media, Brdcst or Ent co. pref’d Full info HERE (8/20)

DIGITAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE >>
AMI Entertainment Group/NYC: Secure digital advertising from a diverse list of Entertainment, CPG, Beauty, Fashion and misc. Strong knwldg NY based digital advertising mkt. 2+ yrs of exp selling online advertising; recent online sales req’d. Full info/apply HERE (8/20)

DIRECTOR, BUSINESS STRATEGY >>
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