FOX Sports is expanding its relationship with Twitter for this year’s FIFA Men’s World Cup Qatar 2022 and next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023..The deal will look to offer “dynamic new opportunities to bring soccer fans robust coverage of one of the world’s biggest sporting events featuring hundreds of near real-time match highlights (including every goal of the tournament) via @FOXSports and @FOXSoccer, plus original content, weekly live analysis via Twitter Spaces featuring lively audio content around the games, interactive Q&As with FOX Soccer personalities, hand-curated Twitter moments and more.” Video clips via @FOXSports and @FOXSoccer, including custom franchises and platforms, will be available for advertisers to sponsor from FOX and through Twitter’s Amplify program.

“FOX Sports has been a pioneer in delivering soccer fans the best possible content experience around the game they love,” said Edward Hartman, Senior Vice President, Digital Partnerships & Wagering, FOX Sports. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Twitter to achieve that goal – their platform is core to FOX Sports’ digital strategy surrounding the World Cup tournaments. We look forward to continuing this relationship.”

PROGRAMMING

Georgia’s coronation in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship saw huge viewership of ESPN’s MegaCast presentation with with 22.6 million viewers tuning in across ESPN networks. That is up 19% over last year’s national championship contest and ranks as the top event on cable since the 2020 LSU/Clemson national championship game and the most-viewed non-NFL sporting event during that span on any network. The main ESPN telecast of Monday night’s showcase is the second-most-viewed non-NFL telecast (sports or non-sports) on a single network since February 2020. Across all ESPN3/ESPN App exclusive feeds, streaming minutes were up 33% over 2020.

Michele Tafoya is now set to work her final NBC Sunday Night Football game at Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13. Tafoya began her sports media career in 1993, and is the most-honored national television sideline reporter in U.S. sports. “My time with NBC Sports has been the most satisfying of my career. I’ve had the good fortune of collaborating with a team that is amongst the best at what they do, and the support I’ve received in this position has been unparalleled,” Tafoya said. “The list of people to thank is incredibly long, but for now, I will say I am immeasurably grateful to Fred Gaudelli, Drew Esocoff, Al Michaels, and Cris Collinsworth. They are the backbone of the Sunday Night Football family.

The Australian Open will see ESPN deliver its live presentation starting Sunday at 7p on ESPN. Live “first ball to last ball coverage” across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN3 from Melbourne will include every match from all 16 courts. ESPN+ will offer more exclusive hours than ever, including the 3a featured matches (prime time in Australia) on ESPN+ from Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena. In addition, for the first time, ESPN+ will offer simulcasts of all linear TV coverage, from Day One through the Championships. The Women’s and Men’s Championships will air late on January 28 and 29, respectively, both at 3:30a with encore presentations later that day on ESPN2. New to the schedule this year is a one-hour highlights show each weekend on ABC.

Meanwhile, Tennis Channel announced plans for its 15th year of Australian Open coverage, running Jan. 16-30 with live daily news, analysis, reports and highlights, hosted by announcer Steve Weissman. Tennis Channel Live at the Australian Open will run each afternoon at 5p.

The NFL has its official schedule of sites, dates, and times for Super Wild Card Weekend on January 15-17. With the addition of a Monday night game to the 2021 playoffs, Super Wild Card Weekend will now have two Wild Card games on Saturday with the Raiders/Bengals at 4:30p (NBC, Peacock, Universo) and Patriots/Bills at 8:15p (CBS, Paramount+). Sunday sees three matchups including the eagles/Bucs on FOX/FOX Deportes at 1p, the 49ers/Cowboys across CBS, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, and Amazon Prime Video and the Steelers/Chiefs at 8:15p (NBC, Peacock, Telemundo). Monday will offer the Cardinals/Rams via ESPN/ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes.

Speaking of the NFL, its broadcast partners are all touting big audiences with the regular season in the books. FOX Sports saw America’s Game of the Week average 23,141,000 viewers to project as the most-watched program on TV. For the regular season, FOX NF coverage averaged 18,572,000 viewers.

CBS Sports saw NFL viewership average 18.034 million viewers this season to become the network’s most-watched regular season in six years and up 9% over last year’s figure. Furthermore, The NFL on CBS averaged 21.588 million viewers for its 10 national Sunday game windows. Paramount+ delivered its most-streamed NFL regular season ever with double-digit growth across total streams, streaming minutes and unique viewers.

ESPN’s first NFL Week 18 Monday Night Football: Doubleheader Saturday saw an average of 19.7 million viewers tune in for the two games. With the additions, MNF regular season viewership finished with an average of 14,182,000 million viewer a game (19 games), the best regular season viewership for ESPN since 2010. The franchise was up 16% from 2020 (17 games) and 13% from 2019 (17 games).

Sunday night’s amazing Chargers/Raiders battle propelled NBC Sports to once again wrap up its season of Sunday Night Football as the top primetime television series in the fall. NBC Sunday Night Football posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 19.3 million viewers for the 2021 season – up 11% from last season (17.4 million), according to official national live plus same day data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

HBO Sports and NFL Films are set to serve up the special Terry Bradshaw: Going Deep, directed by award-winning documentarian Keith Cossrow of NFL Films. The program debuts Feb. 1 at 9p on HBO. “There is no one in sports quite like Terry Bradshaw,” said Cossrow. “He’s been in our lives for more than 50 years. We’ve seen him struggle, we’ve seen him on top of the world, he’s made us laugh, and he hasn’t been afraid to cry. And there is no one better to tell his extraordinary story than Terry himself. We are thrilled to have made this special with him.”

ESPN networks will present the 2021-22 Supercopa de España semifinals and final live from King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 12-16. ESPN/ESPN2 will combine to carry the English-language telecasts of the three matches. Spanish-language coverage of all Supercopa matches will be on ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ will stream the matches in English and Spanish.

In collaboration with Ally, the National Women’s Soccer League is launching the first episode in Game Changers, a series devoted to showcasing NWSL athletes and their stories off the pitch. The series focuses on five specific topics, including the Black Women’s Player Collective, LGBTQ+, family, overcoming adversity and small business. The program debut tomorrow on the NWSL Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube channels. The first episode will spotlight former Houston Dash forward Jamia Fields, who during her time with the Houston Dash launched Stoic Los Angeles, a high-fashion clothing brand.

NBC Sports and INDYCAR announced the broadcast start times for the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, which will feature a record 14 races on broadcast network NBC, headlined by the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, with coverage on NBC beginning at 11a. The first six races of the season will air on NBC, including the season opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Feb 27, at noon.

The doors are open! Nominations for the Cynopsis Sports Media Awards are now being taken for their year’s ceremony, taking place on April 19, live (hopefully) in NYC. New categories are seeking champions! Have a gander by clicking here.

The NBA G League’s top young players will be on display at NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland in the inaugural NBA G League Next Gem Game featuring G League Ignite taking on the Cleveland Charge. The game tips off from the Charge’s home arena, the Wolstein Center, on Feb. 20 at 2p, live on NBA TV.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Olive.com and the NHL are teaming up for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, courtesy of a partnership which will include olive.com brand exposure in approximately 25 nationally broadcast regular season NHL games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and Hulu, and all 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs games shown on ESPN and ABC. Additionally, olive.com will be the official auto mechanical breakdown coverage partner of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final. “A partnership between the NHL and olive.com is the perfect opportunity to connect with hockey fans all across North America and show them how our digital platform is the easiest and most convenient way to protect their vehicles from unexpected auto repairs,” said olive.com Founder and CEO Rebecca Howard. “We look forward to engaging with the NHL in both the U.S. and Canada and all of their teams’ fans for the remainder of the season, as well as throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final.”

lululemon named Canadian tennis star Leylah Fernandez as its newest ambassador, where she will work closely with lululemon as it grows its presence in tennis with new products intentionally designed to move with athletes on the court. She joins a roster of ambassadors that includes NBA star Jordan Clarkson and runners and activists Colleen Quigley and Mirna Valerio, and fitness coach and YouTube sensation Joe Wicks.

Iconix Brand Group, Inc., which owns, licenses, and markets a portfolio of consumer brands including Umbro, entered in a strategic partnership with For Soccer Ventures to continue to grow the iconic soccer brand in North America. FSV will work with Umbro and its partners through grassroots initiatives, strategic services, influencer marketing, content collaborations and worldwide fandom.

Velocity Global welcomed 11-time LPGA Tour champion, Lexi Thompson, and former Stanford collegiate standout and rising LPGA star, Albane Valenzuela, as global golf brand ambassadors. Both 2021 Olympians will display the Velocity Global logo on their hats throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

The Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year partnership with Century Martial Arts, to be the official striking equipment partner of the PFL. The deal kicks off in February with the 2022 PFL Challenger Series, which will be streamed on fubo Sports Network, and spans through December, 2025. Century will supply co-branded PFL fight gloves for use at all PFL events.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECHNOLOGY

LEARFIELD and U.S. Integrity locked in a joint venture, titled BetDetect, to offer collegiate athletics departments monitoring, education, and advisory services. BetDetect will provide integrity monitoring to collegiate institutions, whether or not those schools pursue sponsorships in the category. “We’re deeply committed to serving the industry, and with U.S. Integrity’s exceptional reputation and services, we’re confident together we will enable growth and also protect the stakeholders in and around college athletics,” said John Brody, Chief Revenue Officer, LEARFIELD. “By combining LEARFIELD’s established leadership and connectivity in college athletics with U.S. Integrity’s expertise in online sports betting fraud prevention, our companies are delivering a first-of-its-kind solution to usher in this new phase of exciting possibilities.”

Telecommunications infrastructure company Mobilitie and AEG partnered to bring “next-generation wireless technology and state-of-the art connectivity” to downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena as well as the adjacent 4 million square foot sports and entertainment district, L.A. LIVE. The wireless network is already being deployed and will be integrated with all the major wireless carriers. “Through our long-standing partnership with Mobilitie, we’re providing sports and live-entertainment fans who visit us from around the world with an unrivaled wireless experience at two of the most iconic downtown Los Angeles venues. This next step in our relationship underscores AEG’s enduring commitment to deliver an unmatched fan experience through cutting-edge technology that also takes our venue operations and efficiencies to the next level,” said Nick Baker, chief operating officer, AEG Global Partnerships.

The PGA TOUR and FanDuel announced a three-year extension through 2024 to their content and marketing relationship designating FanDuel an Official Betting Operator of the PGA TOUR. Additionally, the PGA TOUR and FanDuel will collaborate to deliver odds-based content to fans exclusively via the TOUR’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

BestOdds.com reached affiliate-partnership agreements with Caesars and FanDuel, two of the major US online sports betting operators licensed in New York. The partnerships will allow BestOdds to provide New York bettors with a wide array of tools, educational information and signup offers in the biggest US market to go live with legal online sports betting.

Ahead of CBS Sports and Nickelodeon’s special slime-filled presentation of the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend game on Sunday, the NFL and Nickelodeon will launch the NFL x Nickelodeon collection. The initiative will feature designs and logos of NFL teams with a mix of ‘90s fan-favorite Nickelodeon characters from hit series such as Rugrats and Hey Arnold!, as well as pieces with the iconic SpongeBob SquarePants and Nickelodeon Slime. The collection is now available on NFLshop.com/Nick, as well as other sites.

Playmaker Capital acquired Mexico-based video-first sports platform, Cracks. Cracks is a soccer-centric collection of digital media assets that has a total audience across all channels in excess of 12.6 million subscribers worldwide. Across the entire Cracks YouTube portfolio, including Cracks Global, Cracks Mexico, Cracks Colombia, and Cracks Argentina, there are over 7 million active subscribers.

The Memento Group launched its new memorabilia platform, dedicated to official licensed UFC memorabilia. The new online ecommerce platform, UFC Collectibles features an extensive and exclusive collection of authentic UFC memorabilia. Under the terms of the agreement brokered by IMG, TMG has become UFC’s global distributor of official licensed UFC memorabilia.

ESPORTS

ESL Gaming is celebrating 10 years of Intel Extreme Masters with the return of IEM Katowice and a combined $1.5M prize pool at the event. In addition to CS:GO, IEM Katowice 2022 will host the StarCraft II EPT Championship. To celebrate the unique anniversary within the esports landscape, ESL Gaming is launching a dedicated campaign: “X Years of IEM Katowice — Celebrate the heroes” to commemorate ten years of the franchise. “Thinking back to when this place held an Intel® Extreme Masters tournament for the first time, what followed would not have been imaginable. This event represents a dream come true to everyone that wanted to build esports into something bigger and unforgettable memories shared by fans and players,” said Michal “Carmac” Blicharz, VP Product Development at ESL Gaming. “We are proud to be coming to Katowice again as an in-person competition and we are so looking forward to celebrating the commemorative anniversary together.”

Global esports organization Gen.G and Mobil 1, the Official Motor Oil of the NBA, have teamed up to launch The Tune Up, a program designed to help NBA2K players tune up their skills and tune up the community. The program runs through May 31 and will launch with a NBA2K tournament, giving gamers the chance to compete for cash prizes. “We are incredibly excited to work with Gen.G to create connections across the NBA ecosystem and deliver a one-of-a-kind experience for fans,” said Jeremy Blair, Mobil 1 brand strategy and communications advisor. “In the same way the Mobil 1 helps you tune up your car, The Tune Up program is all about finding ways to take the NBA2K experience to the next level, both in-game and out.”

Riot Games announced that LG UltraGear is now onboard as its Official Gaming Monitor Partner for the League of Legends European Championship 2022 and 2023 seasons. LG UltraGear joins as the Main Partner in the Official Gaming Monitor category, will be sponsoring all-important segments in the LEC such as Replays and Match of the Week. “We are thrilled to be partnering with LEC and to announce that LG UltraGear will be playing such a pivotal role in what is genuinely one of the world’s most popular esports competitions,” says Seo Young-jae, senior vice president and head of the IT business unit of LG Electronics Business Solutions Company. “We also look forward to seeing our monitors put through their paces by the league’s top players, and to getting to spend some time with LEC’s growing fanbase.”

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Good Gaming announced the appointment of David Sterling to the role of Chief Operating Officer. “David is a well-known expert in social media strategy and community development, and we are thrilled to add someone of his caliber to our dedicated team,” stated David Dorwart, Chairman and CEO of Good Gaming. “One of the things we have learned through experience is that success in gaming is about more than just game development. NFTs and crypto gaming really bolt onto the larger idea of creating a lifestyle and community.”

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ON THIS DAY in
1958: The NCAA adds the two-point conversion to football.

IN THE KNOW
What number did Joe Theismann wear for Washington? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
What kind of ball smashed Marcia’s nose on The Brady Bunch? Answer: A football. Kudos: Christine Ecklund-AMC Networks/NY; Lori Paterson-Spectrum Reach/NY; Jackie Mahon-Havas/NY; Traci Liner-Initiative/NY; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/Harrisburg; Art Salisch-Nielsen/NJ; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Rick Alessandri-TurnKeyz/NJ; Scott Beaver-FOX43/Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York; Barb Throm-Stealth Creative/Saint Louis; DJ Maragos-Danabelle Publishing/Chicago; Jean Edhlund-Cooperative Network Services/Menahga; Dory Petsrillo-CoxReps/Dallas; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Nick Monroe-Monroe Photography/San Diego; Stacy Adams-Apple TV+/Culver City; Anne Wettig-Fox Sports S&P/LA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo

Cynopsis Team