03/10/21: ESPN reportedly landed a seen-year deal with the NHL

Wednesday March 10, 2021

Potential big news for the NHL and ESPN, as Sportsnet reports that the league is locking in a seven-year deal with the broadcaster that would include four Stanley Cup Finals and hand streaming rights to Disney with the deal kicking in next season. According to the report, financial terms of the deal weren’t immediately available, nor was it clear which other media company would split the package with ESPN.

PROGRAMMING

CBS Sports and Turner Sports laid out tech specs for NCAA March Madness Live – the live streaming and second screen destination for March Madness –debuting an all-new design and cohesive multi-platform viewing experience with an emphasis on dynamic live video viewing for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The updated design will feature a reimagined Game Center with an all-new, look and seamless integration into connected devices and mobile devices to fuel interactive game experiences. The launch will also usher in the debut of The Catch Up presented by AT&T 5G, giving fans a recap of key moments from live games, and the return of the fan-favorite Fast Break presented by AT&T 5G and Nissan. Tri-presenting sponsors for NCAA March Madness Live are NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T 5G, Capital One and Coca-Cola. On mobile, Coca-Cola, Capital One and Buick will sponsor the NCAA March Madness Live App for iOS; AT&T 5G, Capital One and Nissan will sponsor the Android app. On connected streaming devices: Capital One and AT&T 5G will sponsor the Roku app; AT&T 5G will serve as a sponsor for the Apple TV app; Capital One and AT&T 5G will sponsor the Amazon Fire TV app; Invesco will serve as sponsor for Google TV; and AT&T 5G, Coca-Cola and POWERADE will sponsor the Xbox app.

Speaking of which, Turner Sports and CBS Sports present the 2021 NCAA March Madness Selection Show, featuring the exclusive live first-time announcement of the pairings for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, on CBS on Sunday at 6p. Host Greg Gumbel will be joined in New York by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis. Selection Committee Chair Mitch Barnhart will also join remotely from Indianapolis for a live interview to discuss the bracket.

FOX Sports announced that its coverage of the 2021 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament will be transmitted in 5G for the first time ever, with the network also offering enhanced viewing options that include the ‘Megalodon’ camera. FOX Sports lead play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson joins Bill Raftery to call the tournament’s Thursday night quarterfinals before teaming with Jim Jackson for the semifinals and championship. Tim Brando calls Wednesday’s first-round games with Raftery and Thursday’s afternoon quarterfinals with Jackson.

Eli Manning announced that he will be hosting an ESPN+ series titled Eli’s Places, set to bow this fall on the platform. He tweeted “I am looking forward to the next College Football Season and going back to school to tell College’s Football’s story on Eli’s Places. Next fall on ESPN+.”

Elsewhere on the talent front, FOX Sports added former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops to the BIG NOON KICKOFF college football pregame show beginning this fall. Stoops joins analysts Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn and host Rob Stone Saturdays at 10a. “Coach Stoops’ Hall-of-Fame resume speaks for itself, and that success, along with his passion for college football, makes him the perfect fit for BIG NOON KICKOFF,” said Brad Zager, Executive Vice President, Head of Production & Operations, FOX Sports. “His impact on the sport is still felt in Oklahoma’s continued success and the multiple former assistants who are now head coaches all over the country. We are excited to add someone who mentored multiple top draft picks and Heisman winners, coached in multiple championship games and has gone head-to-head against some of today’s greatest active coaches.”

The National Women’s Soccer League revealed the full schedule for the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup presented by Secret Deodorant. The 21-game tournament kicks off on April 9, with a rematch of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup final between Houston and Chicago at BBVA Stadium on CBS Sports Network. The opener and three additional games will air on CBS Sports Network, the final will air on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount+, and every other game will stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S.

NBC Sports delivers live coverage of the National Women’s Hockey League Isobel Cup Semifinals and Final on March 26-27 on NBCSN from Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Mass. The single-elimination Isobel Cup Semifinals will be shown live on NBCSN beginning March 26 at 5p. In addition to live coverage on NBCSN, live coverage will stream exclusively on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. “Giving our athletes the platform to finish what they started in a safe environment, to make history, is what matters most,” said NWHL Commissioner Tyler Tumminia. “It means a great deal to our athletes to have the opportunity to compete to lift the Isobel Cup. Hockey fans will be inspired by the skill and dedication of our athletes, but we’re all especially excited about the message this sends to the young girls and boys who will be watching.”

T-minus two weeks! Join the EBS team for Esports Business Summit University: 2-day virtual conference focused on the business of collegiate esports. We’ll go inside topics such as sponsorships, scholarships, recruitment, funding, and so much more. Hear from the Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, the West Coast Conference, Gillette, CSL Esports, EGF, Learfield IMG, Skillshot Media, WWSEF/NASEF, Mountain West Conference, BoomTV/AVGL, NIRSA, NACE, FACEIT, Nerd Street Gamers, Twitch and a keynote from former NFL Pro Bowler Ahman Green from Lakeland University Esports Program. It’s going to be an incredible learning opportunity and we hope you’ll join us. Don’t delay – register now!

SiriusXM announced today that World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg Norman will be the lead analyst for SiriusXM’s exclusive play-by-play audio broadcasts of the Masters Tournament this April. Norman will join play-by-play announcer Brian Katrek in the broadcast booth at Augusta National Golf Club all four days of Tournament play, April 8-11.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

NASCAR and King’s Hawaiian locked in a multiyear track official partnership that secures the family-owned bakery naming rights to dining areas at four NASCAR-owned facilities – Daytona International Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Phoenix Raceway. King’s Hawaiian will work with NASCAR’s track hospitality partner Levy to offer branded and regionally themed menu items at each venue. King’s Hawaiian celebrates the start of its NASCAR partnership March 12-14 during the fifth race weekend of the season at Phoenix Raceway where it will debut both the “King’s Hawaiian Grill at Phoenix Raceway” and the “King’s Hawaiian Food Court at Phoenix Raceway.”

Speaking of NASCAR, Busch, after giving fans the chance to name the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, opened the doors to fan voting on Busch’s Twitter & Instagram where fans can now take to social media to vote for the new name of the Kansas 400, which will be either: The Busch Latte 400, The Nectar of the Cobs 400, the For the Farmers 400, or Buschy McBusch Race 400.

POWERADE, the official sports drink of March Madness, is launching “POWER in Numbers,” a brand new campaign ahead of the NCAA Basketball Tournaments with a new spot starting March 14t and running through the entire tournament. POWER in Numbers will be on full display at both the men’s and women’s tournaments with bottles featuring the numbers 0-99 – giving consumers a hydration option that connects with their own jersey number.

Apparel brand Lasso struck a one-year deal as a partner of the Professional Pickleball Association. Lasso will be working with the PPA as a tour sponsor, the “Official Tour Sock of the PPA”, and as a retail partner through their on-site superstores. “We are stoked to officially partner with the PPA and support one of the fastest growing sports in the country. Pickleball is fun, competitive and fast-paced, requiring sudden directional changes and rewarding fast feet,” said Partha Unnava, founder and CEO of Lasso.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

FanDuel Group and the American Gaming Association launched an initiative to broadly promote responsible sports wagering through the AGA’s Have A Game Plan. Bet Responsibly. public service campaign. FanDuel is the first mobile sportsbook operator to sign on to the AGA’s national campaign to promote the fundamentals of responsible sports betting. As part of this engagement, FanDuel is making a multi-million-dollar commitment of its media inventory, as well as league and team assets and directing them towards responsible gaming messaging.

Major League Rugby announced an exclusive official sports betting data and betting streaming partnership with Genius Sports Group to connect its competitions with the regulated betting industry. Ahead of its 2021 season kick-off on March 20, MLR has granted GSG the exclusive rights to capture, manage and distribute the League’s official data with sportsbooks across North America and worldwide. MLR matches are set to be televised on CBS Sports Network, FS1 and FS2, with non-broadcast games to be live-streamed with GSG’s leading network of sportsbook partners.

Elevate Sports Ventures acquired ticket pricing, analytics and distribution consulting company, Dynamic Pricing Partners. Dynamic Pricing Partners counts over 70 college and university athletic departments as clients, including more than 30 partners in Power-5 Conferences across the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

Jock MKT announced the National Hockey League has been added to their platform this week. The announcement marks the fourth league within Jock MKT’s proprietary platform that allows users to buy and sell shares of NFL, NBA, PGA and now NHL athletes in real time for real money.

ESPORTS

The National Association of Collegiate Esports is partnering with the Southwestern Athletic Conference and will be partnering with the SWAC to assist with the launch of their inner conference competitive esports league. The league schedule will consist of a four-week regular season format with two weeks of post season play to determine team champions in each game title. This will include broadcasting competitions to promote esports within the conference to give SWAC schools the opportunity to develop their programs with NACE support.

Nerd Street Gamers is being tapped as the official tournament operator and producer for two upcoming VALORANT initiatives. Nerd Street Gamers will operate and produce all three North American stages of Riot Games’ 2021 VALORANT Champions Tour along with the first tournament in Riot Games’ VALORANT Game Changers Series.

Geoff Sawyer joined global talent and entertainment company UTA as an Agent in the Video Games division. In his newly created role, he will primarily focus on fostering collaborations between UTA’s music clients and the gaming industry. Most recently, Sawyer served as Red Bull’s Director of Global Music Services, where he oversaw the team responsible for music solutions for the entire company.

ReKTGlobal acquired TalentX Entertainment, the social media monetization and talent development company. This acquisition consolidates ReKTGlobal’s previous joint venture with TalentX, TalentX Gaming (TXG), and TalentX Entertainment into ReKTX, ReKTGlobal’s new talent management arm. “Creators have become one of the most influential segments of every major industry,” said Amish Shah, Founder of ReKTGlobal. “We’re incredibly bullish on this idea of the ‘creator economy,’ so with our already close-knit relationship with TalentX, bringing them into the ReKTGlobal family was a great addition to our diversified portfolio of assets.”

Sports business agency SPORTFIVE announced the acquisition of Germany based esports consulting and activation agency build a rocket. The newly acquired company will remain as an independent brand in the market place and obtain the endorsement title “A SPORTFIVE Company”. Alexander Albrecht and Tobias Heim will continue to serve as Managing Directors of build a rocket and will report into Eike Gyllensvärd,

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

IMG named Graham Fry as Executive Chairman, Production, where will complete his career at IMG and play a key role in helping the business transition to new leadership before the end of 2022. Fry joined IMG in 1991 and has been Managing Director, Production Worldwide, since 2007.

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