03/01/19: Turner President David Levy will reportedly depart the company amid a reorganization

CynopsisSports
Good morning. It’s Friday March 1, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.
 
 
Multiple reports on Thursday afternoon state that David Levy, longtime Turner president and a key force in building the company’s powerful sports brand, is expected to depart the company amid executive restructuring from new parent company WarnerMedia. The news follows the exit of longtime HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler from the channel. According to THR, Levy’s likely departure and Plepler’s decision to exit arrive nine months after AT&T formed WarnerMedia following regulatory approval of its acquisition of Time Warner.
 
 
PROGRAMMING

After one season in the Monday Night Football booth, Jason Witten is heading back to the field, with the Dallas Cowboys announcing that Witten will unretire.“We thank Jason for his many contributions to Monday Night Football and to ESPN over the past year and wish him continued success. We have seen many former coaches and players go into broadcasting before eventually returning to the game they love, so we understand Jason’s desire to return to the Dallas Cowboys,” ESPN said in a statement. “In the coming weeks we will determine our MNF plans for the 2019 season.”
 
ESPN rolled out content plans for its 24th straight season of Major League Soccer, with games set to being on Sunday in a doubleheader pitting DC United/Atlanta United FC at 6:30p, followed by Los Angeles FC/Sporting Kansas City at 8;30p. Spanish-language telecasts will also be available on ESPN Deportes. Overall, this season will see 31 regular season games at the company, with 25 on ESPN and six on ESPN2. 2018 MLS Cup champion Atlanta United FC leads the league with eight appearances, followed by Portland Timbers and Los Angeles FC with six. New play-by-play voice Jon Champion joins lead analyst Taylor Twellman in the booth, with reporter Sebastian Salazar on the sidelines.
 
CBS Sports Network’s coverage of USF/UConn on Sunday will see a live halftime ceremony celebrating former UConn star Ray Allen. The school will retire the former All-American’s jersey, making him the first UConn’s Men’s Basketball player to receive the honor. Coverage of the game begins at noon.
 
ESPN secured the exclusive broadcast rights to televise National Hockey League games in Australia and New Zealand through the 2020/21 season. The deal sees ESPN set to broadcast five exclusive live games per week during the regular season across ESPN’s television networks and authenticated streaming platform, WatchESPN. ESPN’s networks are available to subscribers on Foxtel, Kayo Sport, Fetch and Sky New Zealand.
 
Saturday on ESPN+ will see the platform offer more than 150 live sports events, headlined by MLS season openers, international soccer and cricket, in addition to college basketball and beyond to rank as the second biggest day for ESPN+ since launch. Only Feb. 2 had more live, high-quality events with 165, including a UFC Fight Night.
 
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
Short Form Content calls for a Large-Scale Celebration
 
Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival in NYC
March 6 / 3:30 – 7:15PM
Register to hear panels that address the rapid evolution of short form, led by experts from Attn:, Awesomeness, Bleacher Report, Canvas Media Studios, CNE, Kovert Creative, Hollister, One X Studios, Red Bull Media House, Viacom and Whistle. The awards program spotlights our impressive 2019 finalists , and offers networking, networking, networking ( see who’s attending )!
 
 

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Mars, Incorporated announced a multi-year extension to its partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing that will see the confectionery brand continue to serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. In addition, JGR has extended their relationship with Kyle Busch, which will continue to see NASCAR’s “Candyman” behind the wheel of the car. “This relationship started over a decade ago and we have experienced more success than any of us ever thought possible,” said William Clements, Global Vice President, Sponsorship & Community Events, Mars, Incorporated. “Partnering with Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch provides us with a unique opportunity to elevate our brands by aligning ourselves with a world-class sport, racing team partner and driver, as well as the most dedicated fans in all of professional sports.”
 
To commemorate fans and players across Latin American and US Hispanic communities, the NBA is celebrating its 13th annual Noches Éne•Bé•A, Latin nights program, throughout the month of March with celebratory warmup shirts and merchandise as well as 15 games with in-arena festivities. All 30 NBA teams wearing specially-designed Fanatics Branded Noches Éne•Bé•A warmup shirtsduring the first two weeks of March. The celebrations will be supported by unique content on the league’s English and Spanish-language social media pages.
 
UFC and two Kraft Heinz Company brands, Oscar Mayer P3 and DEVOUR announced a comprehensive multi-year partnership that expands on the marketing relationship the companies began last year.  The DEVOUR frozen food brand has been named “Official Frozen Meal of UFC,” joining Oscar Mayer P3 Portable Protein Pack, which was named “Official Protein Snack” of UFC in 2018. Both products will be integrated extensively into select UFC live events, along with custom integrations throughout UFC’s telecasts; in-venue activations; unique social media campaigns; custom content pieces, and Fight Week and Fight Night integrations. In 2019, both Oscar Mayer P3 and DEVOUR will launch dedicated UFC products at select participating retail locations across the country.
 
 
DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Bleacher Report unveiled the result of its first national study on legalized sports betting, providing insights into the behaviors and tendencies of sports fans aged 21-34. The study surveyed Americans’ evolving attitude toward sports betting and how it directly relates to engagement. Some key takeaways include:
  • Sports Betting is Becoming Mainstream: 2-in-3 sports fans aged 21-34 find it socially acceptable (63% vs 51%)
  • Sports Bettors is Growing in Popularity: 21-34 year-olds are nearly 2x more likely than bettors 35+ to bet than a year ago
  • Betting Heightens Sports Fandom: Bettors are 5x more engaged on the B/R App than non-bettors
  • Younger Bettors are Social, Mobile and Bet in Real Time: 1-in-3 place live or in-game bets and prefer to engage across social media with friends when betting
 
ESPORTS

NIKE China is diving into the League of Legends Pro League, announcing a four-year partnership that will make the brand the official and exclusive apparel and footwear partner of the LPL through 2022. Starting this year, Nike will provide apparel and footwear for all 16 teams of the LPL. As part of the agreement, Nike will also “leverage its expertise in sports science research to explore new ways to serve esport athletes through customized physical training programs.” LPL athletes will be equipped with an all-new team uniform ahead of the 2019 World Championships.
 
With the National PUBG League 2019 season underway, PUBG Corporation announced plans to give pro teams in the league a shot at extra fortune with the introduction of PUBG Classics. The international competitions will punctuate the first two phases of professional competition in PUBG Esports, drawing teams from all over the world to live events in major, with the first taking place from April 16-21 with the FACEIT Global Summit: PUBG Classic. After the conclusion of Phase 1, the event will bring teams from Europe, Korea, North America and China and pit them against each other at ExCeL London with a $400,000 prize pool on the line.
 
OpTic Gaming entered into a collaborative partnership with Champion Athleticwear and will work together on a number of projects to bring co-branded apparel to the team’s fan community, starting with a year-long campaign to create co-branded clothing in collaboration between Champion and OpTic’s creative teams “The awesome OpTic community, the Green Wall, is all about style and confidence, and just like their name says, Champion comes from a legacy of winners dating back a hundred years. It’s a perfect fit,” says Joe Hills, Head of Brand Strategy for OpTic Gaming. “Working this closely with Champion is a huge deal for us, because it means that the OpTic community is helping to push mainstream awareness of esports in popular culture, and it’s a show of faith for Champion, who want to co-brand their apparel to a community of passionate and loyal fans from all over the world.”
 
Pringles has expanded its sponsorship of ESL, according to TEO, in a deal that will activate at eight events, starting with IEM Katowice 2019. Other events will include ESL One Cologne, ESL One Hamburg, ESL National Championship SEE, ESL Meisterschaft Deutschland, and the German stream for the European Masters Fall Split.
 
ESL also announced a three-year partnership extension with Acer, which designates Acer as the official global partner for all four Intel Extreme Masters events seasons 14 through 16, as a continuation from the finale of season 13 at IEM Katowice this weekend. As the sole PC vendor for IEM events, Acer’s innovative gaming technologies will bring new levels of competitive gameplay to both fans and athletes.
 
 
INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES

Major League Baseball and USA Baseball detailed plans to more than 60 young women (ages 18 and under) to participate in ‘MLB Grit,’ an inaugural high school invitational designed specifically for girls who play baseball. The inaugural event this month will feature a special opportunity for these young high school baseball players to play a game in a Major League ballpark – Globe Life Park, the home of the Texas Rangers – in addition to being a part of a development experience. Games will run from March 8-10 and offer high school baseball players from 21 states, Washington D.C., Canada and Puerto Rico, including players who competed with Team USA, Canada and Puerto Rico in the Women’s Baseball World Cup in August 2018. In addition to the on-field action, participants will be treated to special panel presentations designed to prepare the young women for the collegiate recruiting process and offer information about alternative careers within baseball.
 
Franklin Group announced today a partnership with the Los Angeles Clippers to serve as a “Marketing Solutions Partner” for the NBA club. The partnership is a multiyear deal and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
 
THE MAIN EVENT

Trail Blazers/Raptors on ESPN at 8p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
CYNOPSIS ESPORTS UPFRONT
Monday, April 15 / NYC
 
The esports event that will drive results for those looking to learn, network, and broker deals. Position your brand for a successful year by reserving your spot today !
 
Last year’s attendees included: Activision Blizzard, Anheuser-Busch, Capital One, Carat, Coca-Cola, DDG, Delta, ESL, Frukt, Havas, Herbalife, Horizon, IBM, IMG, Jack Morton, JPMorgan Chase, Kraft, Mastercard, Media Storm, Mindshare, MLG, MSG, Octagon, Papa John’s, PHD, Publicis, Red Bull, Spark Foundry, Squarespace, UM, W+K, Zenith & more.
 

ON THIS DAY in 1941: Elmer Layden is named first Commissioner of the NFL.
 
In the Know: Elmer Layden was once part of this apocalypse-themed backfield at Notre Dame. What was the nickname of the quartet of players? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)
 
Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: The book/movie Alive tells the tragic tale of a rugby team from which country?  Answer: Uruguay. Kudos: Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Ralph Sorrentino/NY; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Christian Matthews-Washington Redskins/DC; Kathi Gillin-Comcast Spotlight/Langhorne; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine/Houston; Rich Wolfe-RichCraft/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank
 
Later — Chris
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AD SALES PLANNER/Ovation/NYC: Seeking organized and motivated candidate to join linear sales team. Responsible for developing proposals, allocating inventory and stewarding existing business. Strong communication skills, proficiency in MS Excel and 2 years agency or cable experience desired. Full in HERE (3/15)

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PRODUCT & SALES STRATEGY DIR, SHOWS/BUZZ FEED/NYC: Work close w/teams producing premium digital/linear shows to dev/create content partnerships, integrations & innovative ad products to drive show & events sales revenues. 10+ yrs digital/linear prgrmng sales. Proven track rec meeting/exceeding sales goals. Full info HERE (3/15)

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DIGITAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT MGR/PGA TOUR/Ponte Vedra Beach FL: Train/mng the Digital Operations Support Team. BA/BS degree CS or Management IS. 3+ yrs managing a tech support team, which supported both internal tools (e.g. Content Management System) as well as consumer-facing products. Full info HERE (3/13)
 
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/WIVB TV/WIVB.com/Buffalo: Resp for generating & growing digital mktg service revenue. Resp for the execution of digital sales, implementation, optimization & reporting of digital campaigns for clients. 2+ yrs outside digital mktg or media sales exp pref’d. Full info HERE (3/12)

 
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COMMUNICATION MANAGER/PAC-12/SF: Develop & implement strategic PR initiatives to promote Pac-12 Networks. 4-6 years of relevant experience in media, PR & communications. Thorough understanding of the sports media landscape and a strong network of B2B & B2C national business & and trade media contacts. Full info HERE (3/12)

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BRAND MARKETING MGR/FreeWheel/NYC: Resp for leading Freewheel brand mktg projects from conception to completion thru creative brainstorming session w/smart technology execs. Demonstrable marketing/brand management experience within an enterprise technology environment. 6-9 yrs of exp in a marcomm capacity w/ increased responsibilities. Full info HERE (3/12)

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/Universal Parks & Resorts/NYC: Mng activity for media promotions in top regional US mkts, internat’l business & TV dvlpmnt projects. Oversee daily project management & execution of Global Media Promotions. 4-7 yrs mktg exp req’d; or equivalent combination of education and exp. Full info HERE (3/2)


 

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