01/09/18: ESPN/CFP get follow-up Dr. visit

Good morning. It’s Tuesday January 9, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

As college football crowned a new champion, ESPN and the CFP renewed vows with Dr. Pepper to extend the brand’s deal with both parties through 2026. The brand will also continue its presenting sponsorship of the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy and includes Dr Pepper’s renewal as an SEC official sponsor and its long-term commitment with ESPN and the SEC Network. The new accord expands on the original deal for a six-year term that now includes official sponsorship of the Big 12, including the Championship Games, PAC 12 Championship Game Partner designation when ESPN airs the game and multimedia presence across ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Audio, SEC Network and the forthcoming ACC Network.

“Dr Pepper is synonymous with college football. Since signing on as the first sponsor of the College Football Playoff four years ago, we’ve strengthened that connection exponentially, tapping into the extraordinary passions of fans of both football and Dr Pepper,” said Jim Trebilcock, chief commercial officer for Dr Pepper Snapple Group. “We are very proud to be extending our partnership with ESPN and the College Football Playoff for another six seasons, and we’re looking forward to giving our fans more of what they crave in the coming years.”

ON THE AIR

The NFL will see P!nk deliver the National Anthem as part of NBC’s Super Bowl LII pregame festivities from Minneapolis on Feb. 4. The performance will be televised live on NBC prior to kickoff. The league previously announced that Justin Timberlake will headline the Pepsi Sugar Super Bowl LII Halftime Show.

In ratings news, Sunday saw Ohio State’s upset win over Michigan State on CBS Sports rank as the highest-rated college basketball game of the season-to-date, drawing a 2.3/4, up 21% over last year’s numbers in metered markets. The previous high for the year was Duke/Michigan State on ESPN from Nov. 14.

Speaking of ratings, a new report from SurveyMonkey stated that that 33% of NFL fans boycotted the league this year, with those audience divided between those who boycotted in support of Colin Kaepernick and those who protested to show support for president Trump. Other results in the survey found that more than half (57%) of Americans say that no college football players should be paid a salary to play for their school, while 37% say all football players should be paid. Meanwhile, 70% support the continued use of taxpayer subsidies to pay for things such as building and renovating NFL stadiums.

It is time! Don’t miss out on the Cynopsis Sports Awards, once again honoring the best in the business in production, marketing, digital and more. Don’t miss out on our new categories for 2018, including: Awareness Campaign for a Social Good Initiative; Event of the Year for a Breakthrough Sport; League of the Year for a Breakthrough Sport; Live Coverage of a Breakthrough Sport; Reality Series; Shining Stars (individual); Shining Stars (team/company); and Social Good TV Special or Episode. Get your work in NOW by clicking here.

In talent news, FOX Sports announced that blow-by-blow announcer Brendan Fitzgerald and UFC lightweight contender Paul Felder will call FS1 UFC Fight Night: Stephens vs. Choi on Sunday with Laura Sanko reporting. Michael Bisping and Yves Edwards work as desk analysts with lead UFC host Karyn Bryant at the FOX Sports studio in Los Angeles. Sunday’s two-hour main card begins on FS1 and FOX Deportes at 10p.

ABC will debut MRB Productions’ new documentary Back To Life on January 13. Narrated Scandal’s Tony Goldwyn, the program chronicles Olympic freestyle skiing prodigy Torin Yater-Wallace’s climb from near death to rebounding in time to snatch the gold at the 2016 X Games in Oslo. The following day, January 14, Red Bull Media House will stream the documentary across all of its digital platforms, domestically and internationally.

United Soccer League officials announced that Memphis will be the latest city to host an expansion club, expanding the league for the 2019 season. The club’s ownership group is led by Peter Freund and Craig Unger, owners of the Memphis Redbirds, and the team will play at AutoZone Park. Memphis is the third team to join the USL for the 2019 season, with the league having previously announced its arrival in Birmingham and return to Austin.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Hisense announced a strategic partnership with FOX Sports to bring Hisense consumers an enhanced World Cup viewing experience, leading up to and during this summer’s 2018 FIFA World Cup. The brand will offer consumers the FOX Sports GO: 2018 FIFA World Cup Edition app, which will be available exclusively on select Hisense Smart TV models, and will give consumers access to FOX Sports’ 2018 FIFA World Cup content. “This summer, the best seat for experiencing the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be in your own living room, gathered around a new Hisense TV with friends and family,” said Mark Viken, Vice President of Marketing at Hisense USA. “The FOX Sports GO: 2018 FIFA World Cup Edition app will bring incredible soccer moments to life with multiple match feeds and viewing angles, a behind-the-scenes look at the development of future legends of the game, and most importantly, amazing picture

The PGA TOUR and its tournaments generated more than $180 million for charitable causes in 2017, with the organization topping last year’s record amount by approximately $14 million. The announcement brings the all-time total generated for charity by the PGA TOUR to $2.65 billion. The TOUR surpassed $1 billion in 2005 and $2 billion at the beginning of 2014. In 2017, five PGA TOUR events raised more than $10 million for charity – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Valero Texas Open, DEAN & DELUCA Invitational, the John Deere Classic and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. In addition to those tournaments, the biennial Presidents Cup announced a record donation of more than $10.7 million as a result of the 2017 event held at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The New York Red Bulls announced an official partnership with Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, an exclusive travel destination. As part of the deal, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater will host the New York Red Bulls for a two-week training camp in 2018 taking place Jan. 22 – Feb. 3, 2018 at the Oldsmar Sports Complex in Oldsmar, Florida. During the 2018 season, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater will be an Official Marketing Partner of the New York Red Bulls with a Fireworks Night at Red Bull Arena and the Game Time Temperature.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

NBC Sports Group division SportsEngine Inc. is partnering with NBC Olympics with support from the United States Olympic Committee and US winter sport national governing bodies to leverage its youth sports directory to connect kids who get inspired while watching the PyeongChang Winter Olympics with thousands of youth winter sports programs across the country. NBC Olympics will integrate a series of short promotional features into its coverage that promote today’s youth to get involved. SportsEngine.com will replace Gold Map, which was originally launched prior to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and utilized for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

FanDuel announced its new social content video series titled Christian Laettner: Office Motivator. Laettner brings his “brash and controversial personality” to the offices of FanDuel in the fictional role of Chief Motivational Officer for the company. The video series debuts as part of FanDuel’s #MotivationMonday.

The LA Dodgers are launching a global sports innovation platform designed to enable and support strategic collaborations between forward-thinking organizations and emerging startups via the Global Sports Venture Studio. The initiative is designed to lay the groundwork for efficient, risk-controlled innovation through analysis, diligence, and business/creative strategy combined with startup sourcing, engagement opportunities, and investment.

ESPORTS

Ahead of tomorrow’s inaugural regular season of Overwatch League, Blizzard launched the official app for the OWL on Android and iOS, offered free. The app will look to help fans with the Overwatch League schedule and standings in real-time in addition to serving up content such as interviews and profiles.

Meanwhile, Overwatch League also recruited a well-known lineup of talent to call game streams for the season. Blizzard’s official lineup now includes: Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles; Erik ‘DoA’ Lonnquist; Matt ‘Mr.X’ Morello; Mitch ‘Uber’ Leslie; Chris Puckett; Soe Gschwind; Auguste ‘Semmler’ Massonnat; Alberto ‘Crumbz’ Rengifo; Jonathon ‘Reinforce’ Larsson; Robert ‘Hexagrams’ Kirkbride; Brennon ‘Bren’ Hook; and Josh ‘Sideshow’ Wilkinson.

EA Sports is hunting for the FIFA Team of The Year. For the first time ever, the will be voted on by a curated list of media, athletes and EA SPORTS FIFA community members, representing the millions of EA SPORTS FIFA players all over the world. Ballot recipients will receive a custom-built ballot box that includes a shortlist of football’s most elite 55 players, nominated by EA SPORTS for their real-world performance in 2017. The final Team of The Year will be announced starting on Jan. 15, with special TOTY player items available in packs for a limited time in FIFA 18 Ultimate Team and FIFA Mobile.

ROSTER MOVES

NBC Sports Regional Networks named Damon Phillips as the new General Manager of NBC Sports Washington. He will now oversee the network and its relationships as the official sports network of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards, NFL’s Washington Redskins and ACC. He spent the last 10 years at ESPN in a variety of executive level roles.

THE MAIN EVENT

Texas Tech/Oklahoma on ESPNU at 7p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The 4^th Annual Cynopsis Top Women in Digital Awards

DEADLINE ALERT

This is a great opportunity to show members of your team how much their contributions to digital marketing, advertising, social media and online content are valued. Simply log on to our submission portal , choose the category that best fits your nominee, enter a brief synopsis and submit. The late-deadline is January 16^th but all entries made after tonight’s deadline will incur a $225 late fee, so don’t miss out!

NOMINATE BY 11:59 PM TONIGHT

ON THIS DAY in 1972: The Milwaukee Bucks end the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak.

In the Know: Who portrayed baseball scout Ernie Capadino in the movie A League of Their Own? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Which core Winter Olympic sports are held indoors? Answer: Ice hockey, ice skating, speed skating, curling. Kudos: Jackie Mahon-Freelance/NY; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Traci Liner-Endeavor/NY; Christopher Long-DraftKings/NY; James Stuart-NBC Sports Group/Stamford; John Miller-NBC Sports Group/Stamford; Kevin McIntyre-Amayse/Charlotte; Mike Evranian-Richmond Raceway/Richmond; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Dory Petsrillo-CoxReps/Dallas; John Tingue-CBS/Chicago; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; David Hauptman/Denver; Michael Jaquet-MJE/Park City; Tony Reyes-Walt Disney Imagineering/Glendale; Rick Pike-InterMedia Advertising/Woodland Hills; Greg Dudsic/Venice; Jack Simmons-US Army Reserve/California

Later – Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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