Friday February 5, 2021

Odds on the primary color of Jim Nantz tie:
1. Blue: +300 (3/1)
2. Black: +350 (7/2)
3. Red: +450 (9/2)
4. Purple: +800 (8/1)
5. FIELD: +350 (7/2)

Over/Under time of first Gisele (Mrs. Brady) reference: end of first quarter

Over/Under Tony Romo saying “Let me tell you Jim”: 2.0

Over/Under number of plays Tony Romo correctly predicts in advance: 2.5

Length of National Anthem by Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan: 120.5 seconds

Will Tony Romo correctly predict an offensive play?: Yes – 200. No – +150

What will be said first by Tony Romo? Read +100; Penetration +200; Blitz +225; A-Gap +300; Trick Play +750

How many times will Tony Romo mention his children? Over.5 +200. Under .5 -300

What will be mentioned first? Tom Brady’s 10th Super Bowl -140. Tom Brady’s age 43 +100.

PROGRAMMING

NBC Sports saw a strong start to racing season as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona delivered viewership records across NBC and NBCSN over the weekend. NBC Sports’ Sunday coverage of the IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona on NBC averaged 1.230 million viewers, up 23% over last year’s comparable coverage, ranking as NBC Sports’ most-watched IMSA telecast on record and the most-watched IMSA telecast on any network since the 2008 event on FOX. Saturday and Sunday coverage on NBC averaged nearly 1.1 million viewers (1.096 million), up 30% while the Rolex 24 at Daytona averaged 391,000 viewers across NBC and NBCSN, up 19%. In addition, Sunday’s Monster Energy Supercross coverage on NBC from Indianapolis averaged 877,000 viewers to rank as NBC Sports’ most-watched Supercross telecast on record, up 71% while NBC Sports’ 2021 NASCAR Season Preview Show Presented by Geico averaged 1.052 million viewers.

NBC Sports also announced that Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties for the two NHL outdoor matchups at Lake Tahoe on Feb. 20, between the Avalanche and Golden Knights at 3 p on NBC and Feb. 21, featuring the Bruins and Flyers. The Lake Tahoe matchups will mark Tirico’s play-by-play debut on an NHL outdoor game in his broadcasting career.

Super Bowl Weekend brings the tag team of Nickelodeon and CBS Sports partnering up again, this time to produce special multiplatform content dedicated to Super Bowl LV on CBS. The Nickelodeon Super Duper Super Bowl Pregame Spectacular, an original half-hour pregame show hosted by Nick stars Gabrielle Nevaeh Green and Lex Lumpkin will feature Super Bowl fun facts, “Nick-ified” season highlights and predictions of this year’s winning team with help from special guests. The special will premiere tonight at 8p and re-air multiple times over the weekend. On Super Bowl Sunday, CBS’ pregame show, The Super Bowl Today will feature a specially produced segment of Nickelodeon’s game show Unfiltered, where Green and Lumpkin will try to guess the virtually disguised identity of one of the NFL’s biggest stars from Super Bowl LV. Additionally, a “Nick-ified” highlights package will air as part of CBS’ halftime coverage of Super Bowl LV.

Just ahead of the National Women’s Hockey League’s two-week bubble season, the league was forced to hit pause on Wednesday due to new positive coronavirus tests among players. The league was slated to have its postseason games carried on NBC Sports Network, the first time that professional women’s hockey would have been shown live on a major cable network in the United States.

Telemundo Deportes reports that its live presentation of Guard1anes 2021’s Chivas vs. Juarez this past Saturday averaged 447,000 adults 18-49 and 845,000 total viewers, according to Nielsen. The match ranked as the top Liga MX match of the week among adults 18-49 and total viewers.

Last year, it took a lot of resilience, innovation, and hard work for professionals to bring the best content to sports media. The Cynopsis Sports Awards program acknowledges the elite players across production, executive suites, sponsorships alike who did whatever it took to bring their A-game. Enter by Wednesday February 10 at 11:59 PM ET.

The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is shifting to Indianapolis, with multiple reports stating that the city will now play host at Lucas Oil Stadium instead of Chicago from March 10-14. The Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament was already scheduled to be played in Indianapolis, set for Bankers Life Fieldhouse from March 9-13.

Speaking of the Big Ten, BTN reports some viewership upticks including the Jan. 30 Minnesota vs. Ohio State men’s hockey game delivering 164,810 viewers to rank as the most-watched men’s ice hockey game in Big Ten Network history. Wrestling is also boosting the channel and through eight dual meets this season, wrestling ratings on Big Ten Network are up 36% over last season’s broadcasts and are averaging 146,649 viewers per telecast.

Peacock and golf superstar Rory McIlroy unlocked a new GolfPass channel that will launch Feb. 8 on the streaming service, featuring premier instruction and entertainment content from the digital golf membership program, as well as news each day from GOLF Channel. The GolfPass channel on Peacock aims to complement the traditional golf programming offered by NBC, NBCSN and GOLF Channel and will continue to evolve and expand throughout the year. “Coming together with Rory McIlroy and GolfPass is a partnership we could not be more excited about. GolfPass channel will be an engaging and entertaining addition to our robust lineup of channels on Peacock,” said Rick Cordella, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer, Peacock. “Highlighting the amazing content GolfPass has created, and continues to create, is something we are looking forward to bringing to golf fans all over the U.S.”

In hockey news, for the third straight season, the NHL and 20 international broadcast partners will deliver more than 31 games live in primetime every weekend throughout the 2020-21 season to fans in 25 countries and territories across Europe. NHL European Game of the Week presented by SAP will make its season debut with the Colorado Avalanche-St. Louis Blues game broadcast on Saturday.

The National Lacrosse League announced that plans for an abbreviated season this spring have been cancelled due to uncertainties arising from the ongoing pandemic. The league, with the full support of the NLL Board of Governors, will now move to start a traditional season in the fall of this year.

Pandora announced today the launch of All Pro Mode on UNINTERRUPTED Radio to celebrate Sunday’s big game. Beginning Friday, listeners will get access to the soundtracks that current and former pro football stars listen to on and off the field. Seahawks safety Jamal Adams, Browns receiver Jarvis Landry, former Falcons and Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, and Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill, who will be on the field Sunday in Tampa, will introduce and talk about their favorite artists and tracks. All Pro Mode will include music from Missy Elliot, Drake, Imagine Dragons, Cardi B, Jay-Z, J.Cole, Jack Harlow, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby, Mulatto, and more.

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More peeks into Sunday’s lineup of Super Bowl activations. General Motors released its big game ad, starring Will Ferrell, who “discovers Norway far outpaces the United States in electric vehicle adoption.” In the commercial, “No Way, Norway,” Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina join Ferrell on his journey to give Norwegians a piece of his mind. A 60-second version of the ad will air during the first quarter and comas as an extension of GM’s “Everybody In” campaign, which launched in January 2021 to excite a new generation of vehicle buyers and accelerate EV

Jimmy John’s Super Bowl ad is a 30-second spot, named “Meet the King,” and air during the first half showcasing Brad Garrett as Tony Bolognavich, the “King of Cold Cuts.” “This is us staking our claim to the sandwich throne in a way that is unique in the marketplace and fitting of the maverick spirit of the Jimmy John’s brand,” said Darin Dugan, Chief Marketing Officer at Jimmy John’s. “With Tony Bolognavich as our anti-hero, this campaign allows us to further emphasize the dedication to the art of sandwich that sets us apart from our competitors”.

The comedic adventures of “four unlikely cowboys” will set the stage for Klarna’s Super Bowl ad. The global shopping and payment service will deliver a commercial featuring Maya Rudolph playing four roles of “four quarter-sized, singing cowboys, each with their own distinct style and personality.” “As a brand and business we’ve always stood at the crossroads of culture and commerce. This event represents one of the biggest cultural and sporting moments of the year, and our involvement is an exciting milestone for Klarna,” said David Sandstrom, Klarna’s Chief Marketing Officer. “As our phenomenal growth in the US has shown, consumers are looking for a better way to shop and pay, so we’re excited to showcase how Klarna delivers that in ‘The Four Quarter-Sized Cowboys’.”

The Professional Fighters League announced that CarParts.com signed on as the Official Auto Parts Retailer of the PFL. As part of the partnership, CarParts.com will be an integrated partner throughout the PFL season kicking off as the presenting partner of PFL 1 on April 23 via ESPN. The retailer will also be a part of a new PFL branded content series, will conduct a nationwide sweepstakes promotion for fans around the country, and will also produce a co-branded national TV commercial featuring PFL fighters via PFL Studios, the league’s fully integrated global media division.

Sports nutrition company Ready announced the launch of its sports drink. “We felt strongly that there was an opportunity to disrupt the sports drink category by providing a combination of carbs for energy and hydration in one product if we followed the sports nutrition science more closely,” says Pat Cavanaugh, Ready® Nutrition’s Founder and CEO. “Carbs coming from superfruit instead of just added sugar was a game changer for us. And an electrolyte blend that was chosen based on how much athletes lose when they sweat, rather focusing on only one primary electrolyte, means a more efficient hydration product.”

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

DraftKings and the National Football League reached an agreement to expand their current daily fantasy sports and content partnership to Canada. “The relationship we share with the NFL is important for DraftKings to provide customers a great experience,” said Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer at DraftKings. “This expanded agreement gives us a unique opportunity in the Canadian market, and we look forward to working with the team at the NFL Canada as we continue to shape the modern fan experience.”

Meanwhile, Verizon Media will leverage its Yahoo Sports platform to offer fans a new AR experience, enabling fans to relive some of the most memorable Super Bowl plays in history from endzone to endzone on a 3D football field. The moves adds to the company’s NFL experience, which includes the free “Watch Together” feature enabling fans to watch the Super Bowl live with up to three family members or friends via a synchronized livestream and “Yahoo Sports PlayAR,” an immersive AR experience that offers near real time interaction with the ability to see graphical replays of key game plays.

ESPN Podcasts saw upticks in 2020, with downloads growing 28% to nearly 500,000,000, a new record (499.3 million). Among original podcasts, the show with the biggest growth was The Right Time with Bomani Jones, nearly doubling its audience, showing a 96% increase in downloads.

LPGA and WSC Sports announced a partnership to enhance how the women’s golf organization connects with fans and help grow the sport. The LPGA will utilize WSC Sports’ AI-driven technology to provide golf fans with automated, real-time highlights via social media channels, the LPGA website, the LPGA app and across OTT channels.

MSG Networks will launch a new, free-to-play app – MSG Networks Pick ‘Em – developed in partnership with Boom Sports. The new prediction gaming app, expected to be available on iOS and Android starting in March, will offer sports fans the chance to win cash prizes during Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Sabres games.

Amazon Prime Video and Swimming Australia announced an exclusive, two-year live broadcast streaming deal, to distribute the Australian Swimming championship events globally on Prime Video. Live streaming highlights will include the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials in the lead up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and the qualifying events for the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Entain plc and UNLV announced a new, groundbreaking partnership to launch the Women’s Innovation Igniter. The academic, technology, innovation and mentoring program is designed to provide UNLV undergraduate and graduate women with a pathway toward successful careers in the sports betting, gaming, and technology industries. Through the initiative, Entain and UNLV will recruit, mentor, support and introduce talented women to the industry and design more inclusive working environments in historically male-dominated fields.

The America East Conference and Sportradar Integrity Services are partnering to implement an integrity program aimed at educating America East student-athletes and other key stakeholders about the increasingly important topic of sports betting integrity. Through this program, Sportradar is designing and developing educational material to deliver to America East student-athletes in the coming months.

Richard Childress Racing unlocked a multi-faceted partnership with BetMGM, which will collaborate with the NASCAR team on a variety of marketing and activation assets, including primary sponsorship for select races during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, and the designation as the Official Sports Betting Operator of Richard Childress Racing. This marks the first partnership between a NASCAR team and sports betting operator.

POINT3 Basketball revealed a multi-pronged, strategic partnership with NextUp Partners, a newly formed solutions-based group which “provides innovative sports-focused organizations with marketing and commercial services.” “Our mission — to help the next generation of sports brands reach their full potential – fully aligns with POINT3’s, and our team is uniquely positioned and committed to accelerating POINT3’s current trajectory”, said Joe Dupriest, co-founder and managing partner at NextUp Partners. “We’re excited to continue establishing DRYV as the underlying technology fueling sport performance, while extending their reach across the sport landscape.”

ESPORTS

KRAFTON laid out its PUBG esports plan for 2021 and will hold a total of four global esports events this year including the PUBG Continental Series with PCS4 being held in June and PCS5 held in September. The action will culminate with the PUBG Global Championship in November

The National Football League is teaming with Skillz to crowdsource a future mobile esport. As part of the agreement, the two organizations will host a global game developer challenge that will see competing developers have the opportunity to develop an NFL-themed mobile game. The game will be powered by the Skillz esports platform and will have joint marketing support from both the NFL and Skillz. The developer challenge will launch in the second quarter of 2021 and will be open to all genres except for 11 v 11 simulated games.

Riot Games unveiled a partnership with META to serve as the exclusive provider for high school and university esports tournaments in Australia and New Zealand across Riot’s major PC titles League of Legends, VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra. In partnership with Riot, META will operate and broadcast a tournament series for students within their school environments, and provide opportunities for students to challenge themselves and develop in local and national leagues. META leagues for each Riot title will culminate in a Grand Final to determine the best school teams in the Oceanic region.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

The Mexican Fútbol Federation and OEG Sports announced a deal appointing OEG Sports as the master licensee and licensing agent for the Mexican National Soccer Team across North America. “This collaboration is meaningful because of our special connection with the U.S.” Diego Suinaga, Marketing Director at FMF says. “The Mexican National Team has a lot of loyal fans in the States; working with OEG Sports will allow us to bring the team closer to them.”

SPORTS BROADCAST JOURNAL w/David J. Halberstam

The news story that took the spotlight this week is the heated renewal negotiations between CBS and Jim Nantz. Will CBS pay him the Romo like $17 million per year? Will Nantz bolt for ESPN? Nantz is CBS Sports. Replacing him with Ian Eagle? Can’t see it.
CBS Negotiations: Ian Eagle for the fatherly toned Jim Nantz? It won’t play in America’s heartland

Lots to prepare for at the Super Bowl. CBS will have fewer boots on the ground. Jim Nantz won’t see Tony Romo until they meet in the booth on Sunday. No sponsor trips or parties! CEO Sean McManus says that some remote broadcasts will continue in a limited way even after the pandemic.
CBS is ready for an unusual Super Bowl; CEO McManus: Limited remote broadcasts are likely to continue

Adam Zucker, Will he eventually replace Greg Gumbel in CBS Sports’ March Madness’s host chair? Greg turns 75 this year. The talented Zucker has been with CBS for 18 years.
Adam Zucker, assertive studio host of CBS’ college sports is covering the Super Bowl this week

Happy Birthdays:
Melanie Collins, 2/6 CBS Sports, reporter
Gene Steratore, 2/8 CBS Sports, rules expert
Ray Lane, 2/9 Retired, longtime Detroit sportscaster
John Kruk, 2/9 Phillies, broadcaster
Dan Shulman, 2/9 ESPN, play-by-play voice
Ian Eagle, 2/9 CBS, Sports and Nets telecaster
Dianna Russini, 2/11 ESPN, reporter

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IN THE KNOW
Which player holds the career record for scoring the most touchdowns during Super Bowls? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Name one of the horses Bill Shoemaker rode to a Kentucky Derby win. Answer: Swaps, Tony Lee, Lucky Debonair, Ferdinand. Kudos:John Ferlazzo/London; Keith Marder-Brown Harris Stevens Real Estate/NY; Michael Ritz-Lenox Advisors/NY; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Chris Quinn-Austin FC/Austin; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Miriam Aardahl-OMD/LA; David Westberg-SAG•AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank