The NFL laid out activation for the Pro Bowl from Orlando’s Camping World Stadium as part of the week of events, including free interactive fan experiences, youth and high school football competitions, and a series of community events with nonprofit organizations and military personnel to positively impact thousands of local residents, children, and their families. New this year is the Pro Bowl Kids Stadium Takeover, where kids ages 14 and under with parents at Camping World Stadium will be invited to run around the field. Additional Pro Bowl Week activities will include the NFL Flag Championships; Play Football High School Day; Pro Bowl Skills Showdown; access to AFC & NFC team practices, the NFL Pro Bowl Experience and NFL PLAY 60 events.
Kumho Tire USA announced a partnership with five-time NBA All-Star guard John Wall. The deal includes a national advertising campaign and several marketing initiatives that include the launch of “Kumho Tire Hip-Hop Handles”. The national competition invites basketball players and enthusiasts to demonstrate their ball-handling skills and talents by submiting a 30-second ball-handling video at http://www.kumhohandles.com/.
Sprite unveiled its latest campaign featuring LeBron James, who – this time – will be an ace pitcher named “Big Taste” and joined by hip hop artist Kamaiyah, playing his catcher named “Ice-Ya.” “Continuing the lightheartedness of the ‘Wanna Sprite’ integrated marketing campaign, we wanted to find a fun way to remind consumers of the big taste that a cool, crisp and refreshing Sprite has,” says Bobby Oliver, Brand Director, Sprite. “We decided to put LeBron James and Kamaiyah together in a larger than life environment that we’re not typically used to seeing them in and the result is pretty refreshing.”
In regional news, The Franklin Group announced an official partnership with the Miami Heat, becoming the Official Printing Partner of the NBA franchise. The multi-year partnership will see the Heat provide assets including distribution night on suite levels, networking event opportunities and advertising presence on Heat.com. The Franklin Group will look to enhance the fan experience with innovative co-branding and promotional items.
Meanwhile, the Madison Square Garden Company and Lyft today announced a marketing partnership, naming the rideshare company as the Official Rideshare Partner of Madison Square Garden. The agreement provides Lyft with premier brand integration and exposure across Madison Square Garden’s unrivaled set of assets, including digital platforms, venue signage and presence in Madison Square Garden as well as discounts for new and existing Lyft users.
CashBet has announced a partnership with Premier League football club Arsenal FC ahead of the Initial Coin Offering of its new cryptocurrency, CashBet Coin. The deal makes CashBet Coin the club’s exclusive and official Blockchain Partner, and sees Arsenal become the first major team in world football to officially partner with a cryptocurrency.
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is partnering with the Headway Foundation for a Concussion Awareness Weekend on Feb. 2-4. The initiative will look to provide a platform for players to unite in creating a positive mental shift in athletes’ approach to concussions. all WCHA Men’s and Women’s League student-athletes will be wearing Headway stickers on their helmets to promote a “New Tough Campaign.”
Super Bowl LII will see NBCUniversal present “Super Stream Sunday” on Feb. 4, with 11 continuous hours of unauthenticated NBC streaming content available to fans that include NBC’s presentation of Super Bowl LII, Justin Timberlake headlining the Pepsi Super Bowl LII halftime show, the Super Bowl LII pre- and post-game shows, and NBC’s post-game presentation of This is Us. The special access event kicks off at noon with NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game coverage.
SendtoNews announced that 2017 marked its largest year-over-year growth in unique viewers for a video platform in US Digital Sports. From 2016, STN saw their unique viewers grow by 44% to 9.8 million per month. “This growth showcases the great work of our publishing partners and illustrates that news sites remain the engaged fan’s go to source for content on their favorite team ” says SendtoNews CEO Matthew Watson. “Together, we combine the insightful, fan-focused writing of our publishers editorial staff with relevant, official highlights and content, creating a fan experience not replicated anywhere else.”
TOPPS will issue its latest set of Olympic trading cards this week in advance of the Winter Games, showcasing a record 50 athletes competing in Pyeongchang and celebrating the career of skier Lindsey Vonn via e two Lindsey Vonn Career Milestones insert cards of the 15-card set. Each hobby box of 2018 Topps U.S. Olympics & Paralympic Hopefuls includes one autographed card and two relic cards, which feature a piece of Team USA apparel worn by the athlete. Cards will be available on Friday.
- ELEAGUE’S Major deals
- NFL’s Pro Bowl sets up fight club
- Ubisoft tweaks Rainbow vision
- SMITE’s Spring cleaning
- ESL redoes the DEW
- Breaking down NA LCS numbers
David Clanachan, Commissioner of the Canadian Premier League announced that Paul Beirne has been named President of the CPL, set to debut in spring 2019. Beirne will manage the day to day league operations of the CPL with a primary focus on ensuring all elements are in place for the league’s debut in spring 2019 and its long-term success.
LiveXLive Media, Inc. announced that former ESPN CEO Roger Werner has been appointed special advisor to the company. “Roger was on the ground floor in the development of the pay TV programming industry, and he continues to build revolutionary programming services in the digital OTT world. He is a true visionary and his insight will be invaluable as we scale LiveXLive,” commented LiveXLive Chairman and CEO Rob Ellin.
Timberwolves/Warriors at 10:30p on TNT.
