As VR continues to grow roots in how audiences experience sports, longtime collegiate sports staple Learfield is looking to up the ante, locking in a a deal with STRIVR Labs in a “first-of-its-kind partnership” designed to provide multi-platform virtual reality distribution within the collegiate sports landscape. The deal, which makes STRIVR Learfield’s Official VR Partner, is eyeballing the technology in a move to offer VR solutions not only for their sports properties, but also for general university marketing, classroom tech and campus development. Cynopsis Sports asked Scott Carlis, Learfield SVP, Digital Media, about how VR will open new doors for his company as well as its partners.

Carliss on the growth of VR: At Learfield, we want to create the best fan experiences that provide maximum value for our university and corporate partners, and virtual reality is uniquely designed to meet that core objective. Virtual Reality allows us to bridge the physical and digital worlds and create cool, fun, sharable and extremely immersive experiences around college sports that benefit the universities, sponsors, and of course, the fans. Sports-culture is about pride, passion and the ability to share ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experiences with your community of friends, family, and peers. As sports fans we always want to be as close to the action as possible.

On university needs: Our university partners are continually looking for ways to drive deeper, more impactful, and more personalized experiences for sports fans and the school community. We want to make the collegiate sports fan experience even more special and unique. And VR technology is the perfect platform to enrich that experience by bringing fans closer to the action. Ultimately, the goals are: How can VR add more value to the collegiate-sports experience? How can VR help deepen engagement among a community of arguably the most passionate consumers in the market  collegiate sports fans  and fuel their passion, and propel fans to share these experiences?

On its impact on sports and its sponsors: Ultimately, we want to architect VR experiences that result in a ‘win-win’ for all the main stakeholders  for our university partners, for our corporate partners, and of course, the fans. The key is to deliver a maximum level of authenticity that allow brands to play the hero of these awesome experiences. We want to help brands make the unforgettable experiences witnessed by collegiate-sports fans even more memorable. Our collective goal is to bring sponsors closer to the fans, and vice versa, in the most authentic, interactive, and engaging ways. Create these amazing interactive 360 experiences that are powered by sponsors, which inspire ‘brand-love,’ and allow sponsors to build deeper emotional connections with fans and consumers. And, when you are wearing the headsets you’ll have 100% engagement with brand sponsors.

On new ways to leverage the technology: We want to create elegant and innovative 360 recruiting videos and fan content that can amaze people both on campus and abroad. STRIVR is already partnering with renowned publishers, even building out distribution that could touch the education side of the university with projects focused on diversity and inclusivity. Career-counselors can create ‘role-play’ job-training VR experiences  empowering students to train and be better prepared for life-after college and applying for jobs. For example, if you are studying art history, theology, or ancient civilizations – using VR – you can be transported to Vatican City and you’re inside the Sistine Chapel or Athens and you’re at the Acropolis or climbing the Mayan ruins in Tulum.

The season two debut of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC ranked as is the highest-rated, non-Christmas NBA game of the 2016-17 regular season across ABC and ESPN, according to Nielsen.  The Spurs’ win over the Cavaliers averaged a 2.6 metered market rating with the showdown generating a streaming audience with 9,146,000 total minutes streamed, with 231,800 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 59,800 viewers.

Keegan-Michael Key has been tapped as host of NFL Honors this year, with the ceremony taking place on Feb. 4 at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston. The special will air nationally at 8p on FOX. Meanwhile, music for the show will be performed by vocalist-instrumentalist Spencer Ludwig. The show includes the announcement of the AP’s annual accolades as well as the newest Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Meanwhile, country music singer Luke Bryan will sing the National Anthem as part of Super Bowl LI pregame festivities at NRG Stadium in Houston on Feb. 5 on FOX. Bryan’s performance of the National Anthem in Houston will be his first time appearing on the Super Bowl stage.
 
The NFL also has confirmed the dates for the its two games at Wembley Stadium next season, announcing that the Ravens/Jaguars game will take place on Sept. 24 while Saints/Dolphins will hit the country on Oct. 1. Two other games at Twickenham Stadium will see the Vikings/Browns and Cardinals/Rams matchups on Oct. 22 and Oct. 29.

Finally, ESPN is shifting its Super Bowl home base from Midtown to downtown Houston, according to reports, taking its production from the previously-announced Midtown Center to a parking lot that covers an entire city block near the Toyota Center from Feb. 1-5, according to KHOU.

Speaking of ESPN, yesterday’s Sunday NFL Countdown saw a special presentation as Chris Berman hosted his final show in-studio on ESPN’s campus after 38 years. In the closing minutes of the program, Tom Jackson and Chris Mortensen joined the crew as the NFL studio in ESPN’s Digital Center 2 building was officially renamed the Chris Berman-Tom Jackson Studio. The move marks the first time in the company’s history that a studio has been dedicated to a commentator or executive.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The 2017 NHL Fan Fair will serve as the site of the third annual NHL Mascot Showdown featuring all 27 NHL Mascots as part of the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, which spans Jan. 26-29. Each will showcase their hockey skills and athletic prowess, with NHL in-arena host Mike Todd handling play-by-play duties for each event with CM Punk serving as cohost.

NAPA Auto Parts is looking to return for another championship run, locking in a deal with Alexander Rossi and Andretti Autosport for a seven-race, co-primary sponsorship for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. Races will include the season opener in St. Petersburg, as well as Long Beach, Indianapolis, Road America, Watkins Glen and Sonoma. “We are pleased to announce our continued partnership with one of the more iconic brands in all of motorsports, the Andretti brand,” said Dan Askey, NAPA president. “We are equally excited to partner with one of the rising stars in the sport in Alexander Rossi and proud to have Alexander representing NAPA both on and off the track. We were fortunate to come on board in May of 2016 becoming a part of history as we rode along with Alexander capturing the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Andretti Autosport remains one of the elite teams in the (Verizon) IndyCar Series and we look forward to what 2017 holds.”

Steelers receiver Antonio Brown reportedly has a deal with Facebook, according to NFL.com. The deal is worth in the high six-figures, per the site’s sources.

Millennial Esports Corp. detailed plans to host Halo World Championship 2017 in Las Vegas for a $50,000 prize pool with the top 6 teams of the Millennial Esports Halo World Championship Open LAN qualifying for the Halo World Championship Finals this Spring. The company will also celebrate its grand opening of the new arena on March 3.

Meanwhile, MLG announced that the 2017 season of the Call of Duty World League will see the CWL Dallas Open held on March 17-19 with 16 international teams earning a spot in pool play based on regional CWL point totals. The prize pool will dangle $200,000 for the 176 teams competing from North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Brazil soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo is jumping into the esports space, announcing a partnership with poker pro Andre Akkari to pick up 50% of Brazilian esports franchise CNB.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: In 2007, Matt Ryan won the Manning Award as college football’s top quarterback, but lost the Heisman to another QB. Who was he? Answer: Tim Tebow. Kudos: Charmaine Leary-NBCUniversal Content Distribution/NY; Michael Ritz-BucStar Consulting/NY; Mike Polvere-Optimum Sports/NY; Jeff Rabinowitz-Fanatics/Sunrise; Christine Ferrara-WBZ-TV/WSBK-TV/Boston; Scott Leslie-UPS/Atlanta; Brianne Maciejowski-Miles/Sarasota; Kevin Micklo-Pinnacle Advertising/Chicago; Tom Doherty-Starcom Media/Chicago; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner & Triathlete magazine/Houston; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Dan Abend-NBCUniversal/Universal City.

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports @VegasandVine
01.23.17

Roberta Caploe: Publisher @robertacaploe
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group

Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP, Sales | 203-218-6480
Cynopsis Job Listings Sales: Trish Pihonak | Director of Operations | 203-899-8459

Copyright Cynopsis 2017