“When Tony Khan first shared with me his idea of starting a new wrestling league, I was impressed by his audacity to go up against a contender that has been the only game in town for twenty years, and ultimately believed that together we could bring his vision for a new, authentic, gritty product to bear,” says Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max, president, TNT, TBS, and truTV. “The fans have spoken and after only three months, we have seen AEW shake up the wrestling world and this will only continue as we build upon this momentum.”

PROGRAMMING

SHOWTIME announced plans for Outcry, a five-part documentary series examining the story of high school football star Greg Kelley, his controversial conviction and “the quest for truth and justice as the case unfolds.” Produced and directed by Pat Kondelis, the series will premiere at SXSW ahead of its TV debut on April 3 at 9p. “Outcry is a riveting depiction of a criminal investigation and conviction that raise more questions than they answer, with so many twists and turns in the case that it feels too dramatic to be believed,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “This gripping film explores the often murky area between facts and perceptions, motives and biases, and ultimately, innocence and guilt. Pat Kondelis and his team have created an powerful docuseries that pursues the truth with integrity and seeks clarity in a confounding case.”

NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Under Armour returns for its fifth season on Jan. 18, with ESPN prepping its largest on-site coverage presence ever this season for the Lakers/Rockets at 8:30p on ABC. The network will broadcast a special matinee edition of its Saturday NBA series on Jan. 18 when the LA Clippers visit the Pelicans at 3:30p. NBA Countdown will lead into the game beginning at 3p. Meanwhile, ESPN’s The Jump has expanded to a big-event, on-site format this season. The show will precede the NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC broadcasts each week at 8p from courtside. Hoop Streams will also be on site for NBA Saturday Primetime with host Cassidy Hubbarth.

NBC Sports tees off its 2020 coverage of the LPGA Tour this week at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. The year will feature the most number of hours and events ever dedicated to women’s golf across NBC Sports, headlined by a global schedule of 33 LPGA Tour events that includes live coverage of four of five major championships and the biennial UL International Crown team competition plus the addition of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Overall, NBC Sports will produce more than 500 tournament hours of women’s golf coverage in 2020, the most hours and events ever dedicated to the women’s game in a single year.

The X Games mapped out its year ahead, lining up programming that includes five live X Games events around the globe, five new Real Series projects and a full slate of original content across X Games linear TV, digital and social platforms, including programming on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 all 52 weeks of the year. For the first time ever, X Games will host three winter events, including the first-ever X Games winter event in China, X Games Chongli, and see the fifth year of the X Games Norway returning to the Hafjell ski resort. The second half of the season will host two summer events, including the second year in Shanghai and the final year of our domestic flagship event in Minneapolis.

FOX Sports will see Steve Cunningham join Joe Goosen and Brian Kenny to call FOX PBC Fight Night prelims on FS1 on Saturday at 6:30p. The main card continues at 8p live on FOX and FOX Deportes, with Lennox Lewis calling the fights with Goossen and Kenny. In addition, Andre Berto serves as an analyst with host Kate Abdo for the FOX PBC Weigh-In on FS1 on Friday at 6p.

Ahead of its fourth season in 2020, the BIG3 unveiled changes to the league as well as the official creation of a “new global sport”, with its version of 3-on-3 basketball becoming known as FIREBALL3. “There are a lot of sports out there that require similar skill sets, like MMA and boxing, football and rugby, baseball and cricket. Our fans let us know that we were playing something extremely unique, FIREBALL3, which is nothing like the typical 3-on-3 FIBA game coming to the Olympics,” said BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube. Innovations this season will include a lower minimum age, opening play to all athletes instead of former basketball athletes, and the BIG3 will host sports and entertainment festivals in a different city every Saturday during the summer.

Have you seen the new “Sports Betting” categories included in the Cynopsis Sports Media Awards? These brand new categories (sponsored by SeventySix Capital) spotlight the incredible and groundbreaking work that’s been done in the sports betting arena in 2019. View all categories here and be sure to enter your content, campaigns or individuals by Jan. 28.

Quibi and WWE announced the lineup of WWE Superstars participating in the series Fight Like a Girl. Leading individual episodes of the upcoming series are WWE Superstars Sasha Banks, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Sonya Deville, Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, Becky Lynch and Natalya. In each episode of Fight Like a Girl, Stephanie McMahon pairs a WWE Superstar with a young woman struggling with a personal issue that has been holding her back. The WWE Superstars draw from their own life experiences to help their trainees overcome obstacles and become tougher, stronger and healthier versions of their former selves inside and out.

Pepsi unveiled some of its Super Bowl plans, which include plans for a promotion that will give every fan in America a free Pepsi Zero Sugar if the game ends in zero. Activations beyond the “America Wins Zero” promotion will also see the Pepsi Zero Sugar NFL “Rookie of the Year” as well as the brand hosting a Friday night party in Miami that weekend while blanketing the Super Bowl LIV host city with the new Pepsi Zero Sugar matte black can.

International sports and lifestyle brand New Era Cap Co., Inc. celebrates 100 years and will launch special collections featuring new designs, product collaborations and re-issues of classic caps and apparel throughout the year. The collections will also celebrate the future of New Era through global partnerships with fashion brands Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Levi’s and Havaianas; visual artist Daniel Arsham; contemporary furniture brand Modernica; watch brand Casio G-SHOCK; and the brand’s first-ever circular economy product with Pentatonic. As part of the centennial year, New Era will also partner with the Buffalo History Museum to present the first comprehensive exhibit for the brand.

Winning Streak Sports and Jardine Associates announced an exclusive five-year partnership and representation agreement that will service nearly 95% of the entire U.S. college bookstore and campus retailers via Jardine’s retail clients; Barnes and Noble College, Follett Corporation and the Jardine’s’ independent college bookstore and campus clients. The makes Winning Streak the top retailer in their category and one of the elite distributors in the $4.6 billion collegiate licensed retail space. In addition to a massive retail presence, their sales will be backed by large scale digital and targeted social campaigns to drive awareness, distribution and sales across the college space.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

The National Lacrosse League unveiled a landmark deal with MGMResorts International and Roar Digital to make BetMGM “The Official and Exclusive Gaming Partner of the NLL,” marking the first-ever gaming partnership for the sport of lacrosse in the United States. “We are so proud to welcome BetMGM as yet another world-class brand to our family of national partners,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “The growth of our league as a sports and entertainment property and the amount of engagement we will be able to generate through this innovative partnership with MGM Resorts and Roar Digital will be very exciting and add tremendous value to avid, casual and new fans. The likeminded vision both our organizations share will continue to increase the relevance of the NLL and draw a wider audience of fans as we continue the great momentum we have enjoyed over the last four seasons.”

ESPORTS

In this week’s edition of Cynopsis Esports…
· FIFA books Milan trip
· ONE Esports’ power play
· 2019’s top leagues
· NBA 2K League scouts Asia
· Combo Breaker lands Chicago date
· LEC’s resigns brand vets
· Fortnite is feeling Iconic

THE MAIN EVENT

Celtics/Bucks on TNT at 8p.

In the Know
How many minutes is a rugby match? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
The NHL’s oldest mascot is Harvey the Hound, representing which team? Answer: Calgary. Kudos: Traci Liner-Endeavor/NY; Chris Long-DraftKings/NY; Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Jim Bono-NBCUniversal Hispanic Sports/Hispanic Group/NY; Kathi Gillin-effectv/North Games; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Thomas Yoon-NBC Sports/Stamford; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Bryan Geidt-Cannella Media DTC/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Nicole Payne-Geometry Global/Costa Mesa