PROGRAMMING

Zion Williamson’s regular season NBA debut was a draw for ESPN, which reports that the game delivered an average audience of 2.357 million viewers, and drew a 1.6 Nielsen household rating to rank as the network’s top non-Christmas NBA game this season. Viewership was up 88% over last year’s comparable game while the rating was up 100%. Meanwhile, pregame show Hoop Streams drew 1.6 million viewers across ESPN digital outlets to score a record regular season audience.

On the Super Bowl front, multiple networks are plotting their ground game for this year’s event. NFL Network and NFL Digital Media hit Miami with more than 85 hours of live Super Bowl week coverage featuring a roster of more than 40 on-air personalities beginning Monday. Over 11 hours of pregame and postgame coverage on Super Bowl Sunday are on deck, including live on-location telecasts of Good Morning Football, NFL Total Access, Super Bowl Live and NFL Players Only. In addition to content across NFL Network, NFL Digital Media will deliver an array of product features and exclusive programming including live shows, video features and audio content to keep fans connected all week long, with live shows such as Super Bowl Today, Around the NFL, NFL GameDay View and more on NFL.com and the NFL app.

ESPN takes on Super Bowl week with over 70 hours of coverage from Miami, including live editions of Get Up!, SportsCenter, NFL Live, Postseason NFL Countdown and more from ESPN’s main set at Lummus Park on South Beach and First Take and PTI from the Clevelander. ESPN Radio’s Golic and Wingo, The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, the brand new First Take, Your Take with Jason Fitz and The Will Cain Show will come from Radio Row. The Undefeated will provide extensive coverage of Super Bowl LIV from Miami, anchored via a week-long collaboration between the ESPN multiplatform initiative on sports, race and culture, and the popular LA-based designer Jhoanna Alba. As part of the collaboration, Alba’s multifaceted pop-up custom clothing store will anchor The Undefeated’s social and sense-of-place coverage of Super Bowl LIV week.

NBC Sports surrounds Super Bowl LIV with coverage across all platforms leading up to the game on Sunday, providing more than 20 hours of television, 25 hours of radio coverage and more than 10 podcast episodes from Miami. PFT Live will have a set near Radio Row to discuss major storylines and conduct interviews with players and coaches across the NFL with NFL insider Mike Florio and analyst Chris Simms hosting. Football Night in America analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison will also be in Miami, as Harrison hosts “The Safety Blitz” on NBC Sports Radio and Dungy will contribute content during the week.

The launch of non-profit organization USA Cornhole has quickly nabbed a partner in NBC Sports, which will carry four National Events on NBCSN in 2020. Coverage begins NBCSN on May 24, 2020 with the USA Forces Cornhole Championship, and will be followed by presentations of the USA Cornhole Club Championship, USA Cornhole Pro-Celebrity Charity Invitational, and USA Cornhole National Championship, in the second half of 2020. USA Cornhole will be based out of Denver, CO. Kevin Warner will serve as the Executive Director, and have a Board of Directors with representation from around the country made up of athletes and individuals from the business community.

FloSports and Loud And Live Sports announced an expansion of their partnership heading into 2020. FloSports will exclusively stream the Loud And Live Sports events set to occur in the United States, Spain and Mexico on FloElite. The multi-year deal will include the West Coast CrossFit Classic, Madrid CrossFit Championship (Spain) and the Mayan CrossFit Classic (Mexico) in addition to the Wodapalooza CrossFit Festival and the Granite Games for which the two had previously partnered.

ACC wrestling fans will receive a dedicated night of programming on ACC Network throughout the remainder of the regular season with Friday Night Duals launching this evening. Five straight Fridays of ACC dual matches highlight the winter wrestling season starting tonight at 7p. Shawn Kenney and Rock Harrison will be on the call for all five regular season Friday Night Duals this season. Additionally, ACC Network will carry the finals of the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship on March 8, beginning at 7p.

Hertz announced a new campaign that recognizes “the people who helped make Hertz #1 in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power.” The brand is tapping Jerome “The Bus” Bettis to celebrate customers with special experiences at the Super Bowl and offering a promotion with a grand prize of a Hertz helicopter tour of the host city and chauffeured car service to the stadium. In addition, 100 customers (50 winners plus guest) will ride in style to and from the “Big Game” in a decked-out Hertz bus.

Meanwhile, the NFL reports that more than 30 charitable activities and community outreach events are on deck ahead of the Super Bowl, which will serve as the conclusion of the NFL’s season-long Huddle for 100 initiative, which encouraged people to donate 100 minutes of their time in honor of the NFL’s 100th season, totaling 100 million minutes – a goal in which the league surpassed in November. Super Bowl Week activities include the announcement of the annual Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide winner, a series of community projects made possible by NFL Foundation Super Bowl Legacy Grants and the Super Bowl LIV Host Committee and a number of youth health and wellness events including the NFL PLAY 60 Kids’ Day. During the week, the NFL and Verizon will also host an Unsung Heroes luncheon for volunteers and employees at local domestic violence and sexual assault prevention organizations and shelters, among other activities.

The XFL is cozying up with Navigate Research and Connect Partnership Group to launch a corporate partnership strategy for the league. Jordan Schlachter, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer at the XFL leads Navigate and Connect in their collaboration that will utilize both agencies’ skill sets, “creatively linking valuation, strategy and sales under one team and creating a turnkey commercial value proposition for the league and the league’s brand partners.”

MLB signed on as the Official Presenting Sponsor of the training tour of the Women’s National Softball Team representing the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. The “Stand Beside Her” tour will span more than 35 U.S. Cities from February through June and feature training & exhibition appearances by members of the team. In select cities, MLB will work in conjunction with USA Softball, the national governing body of the sport, to host “PLAY BALL” events.

Panini America announced an exclusive multi-year partnership with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans that will feature real-time trading cards of the team’s biggest performances as well as in-arena activations and giveaways. In addition, Panini will be part of an integrated “Rookie Spotlight” content series that profiles the Pelicans top rookies and their journey through their rookie season in New Orleans – including Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, Josh Gray, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Zylan Cheatham and Nicolò Melli.

The Citadel Department of Athletics is teaming with college sports marketing company Taymar Sales U. “The Citadel is excited to partner with Taymar Sales U. and create a great opportunity for future ticket sales and increased revenue,” said director of athletics Mike Capaccio. “Our goal is to increase our attendance at all events and this partnership will allow us to do that. We are working on a plan to add over three thousand new seats to our football stadium so the timing is right. Working with The Brigadier Foundation made this possible and it will allow us to better serve our season ticket holders and make new connections for future group and individual tickets sales.”

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

NBC Olympics and Snap Inc. are teaming up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, producing a slate of customized content leading up to and during the Games. NBC Olympics will release more than 70 episodes across four daily Shows for Snapchat leading up to and during the Games, more than triple the amount of episodes compared to the 2018 Games. In addition, for the first time, NBC Olympics will create two daily Highlights Shows for Snapchat, which will be updated in near real-time throughout the day with must-see moments from the day in Tokyo. During the Games, two unscripted Shows will air two new episodes per day. Chasing Gold, following the journeys of Team USA athletes, and a second show that will serve as a new, daily recap. Snap will also curate daily Our Stories during the Games and event coverage during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials from Olympic photo and video content generated by fans throughout the world and NBC Olympics.

Score Media and Gaming Inc. became an Authorized Sports Betting Operator of the NBA in a new multiyear partnership.Effective immediately, theScore will gain access to official NBA betting data, including league marks and logos, for its mobile sports betting app, theScore Bet.

ESPORTS

Jersey Mike’s Subs is extending its partnership with Team Liquid through 2022, with the pair continuing to create co-branded content with all of the org’s top tier teams, as well as create unique rewards for fans. Program elements include: Jersey Thursdays; Jersey Mic’d.; Subs for Dubs; and New! Sub Bombs. The program kicks off this weekend during LCS, when Team Liquid will take over the West Los Angeles Jersey Mike’s restaurant next to the LCS arena for a special co-branded experience.

Riot announced that a roster of partners that will be return to the LEC in 2020. Returning as a National Partner for the DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) region, Tchibo is back to provide the LEC with its coffee kick. Logitech G renewed its partnership and returns as an official supplier for the 2020 season. Another returning partner, Warner Music will be rejoining the LEC as Official Music Partner in 2020. The league also announce the return of global home appliances brand Beko back to the LEC as Official Domestic Appliances Supplier for the Spring and Summer Split.

Misfits Gaming extended its partnership with Milk It!, courtesy of the Milk Processor Education Program. The deal will focus on the team’s Fortnite players and streamers throughout 2020, and will include a Milk It! logo on the players’ jerseys. Activation will sponsor content including further “Misfits Story” videos

The Pokémon Company International confirmed that this year’s Pokémon World Championships will be held at ExCeL London from August 14–16, 2020. Top Pokémon Trading Card Game and video game players from around the world will be invited to compete. The 2020 Pokémon World Championships will also be home to a Pokémon Center store, where fans will be able to purchase a slateof products including a range of items themed around the tournament.

Turtle Beach unlocked a new working partnership with the Chicago Huntsmen CDL Franchise. The partnership with the Chicago Huntsmen will see the team using Turtle Beach’s original Elite Pro and Elite Pro 2 gaming headsets for team play, as well as all streaming activities. Additionally, Turtle Beach intends to work directly with H3CZ and the Chicago Hunstmen players to create a wealth of “unique, engaging and fun content” to support the Turtle Beach brand.

Saturday sees 2K, the NBA, the NBPA and ESL, host the European Regional Finals of the NBA 2K20 Global Championship in Paris. Eight players from Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom, will compete for the opportunity to be crowned the NBA 2K20 Global Championship European Regional Champion. The top two finalists from the European Regional Final will also qualify for the Global Finals, which takes place on February 22 in Los Angeles.

As Call of Duty League launches this weekend in Minneapolis, Vince Staples will face NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns in the league’s first-ever Hype Battle. Hype Battle will become the first-ever 2 v. 2 show match to take place during a professional Call of Duty esports tournament on the main stage.

Nerd Street Gamers and the New York Riptide have partnered to produce a 3-leg Fortnite tournament at Nassau Coliseum. Nerd Street Gamers will provide the staffing, equipment, and design planning required to execute the esports tournaments at Nassau Coliseum on January 25, March 28, and April 11.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Christa Carone has joined global marketing agency CSM Sport & Entertainment as President of CSM North America. Carone was most recently President of Group Nine Media.

Sales and marketing executive Jere Hanks has been named Director of Sales of NBC Sports Northwest. In this role, Hanks will oversee the regional network’s multi-platform partnership solutions team.

THE MAIN EVENT

NFL Pro Bowl on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ABC and Disney XD on Sunday at 3p.

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In the Know
Only one player has earner MVP honors at the NHL All-Star Game in back-to-back years (1970 and 71). Who was that player? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
In Olympic archery, how far away is the target from competitors? Answer: 70 meters. Kudos: Leonardo Penagos -ESPN Deportes/Bristol; Roger Furman-Sports Marketing Communications/Greentown; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank