03/19/19: ESPN+ locks down UFC PPVs

Good morning. It’s Tuesday March 19, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

UFC is taking its PPV events to ESPN+, making the platform the exclusive distributor of events in the United States through 2025 and the single point of purchase for consumers. The deal kicks in with UFC 236: HOLLOWAY vs. POIRIER 2 on April 13, as part of 12 live events per year. The deal, according to the announcement, adds a new business model to ESPN+ and builds upon the multi-platform rights agreement announced in 2018, which is now extended through 2025.

“With the addition of UFC PPV events, we are making ESPN+ an absolute must-have for any fan of the UFC and mixed martial arts,” said Kevin Mayer, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International, The Walt Disney Company. “In less than a year, ESPN+ has established itself as the leader in direct-to-consumer sports and this new programming agreement adds a significant business to our platform while reinforcing the value and strength of our product and our content lineup.”

PROGRAMMING

The 2019 NCAA March Madness Selection Show on CBS, produced in partnership between CBS Sports and Turner Sports, drew a 4.0/9 rating/share for the bracket announcements to mark the highest score in five years. Top five markets were led by Louisville at a 16.4/28, followed by Columbus, Indianapolis, Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem and a tie between Kansas City and Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, Turner Sports and CBS Sports’ joint coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will include the return of NCAA March Madness Confidential, providing exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to seven NCAA Tournament teams: Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Houston, Nevada, Marquette and Murray State. Production crews have been embedded with the teams since Selection Sunday and will chronicle their NCAA Tournament journeys. First Four action begins today at 6p (with Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Dana Jacobson on microphone duties tonight) and will run through the NCAA Final Four National Semifinals on April 6 and into the National Championship on April 8, which will air on CBS. Thursday’s action will begin at 12:15p on CBS with Minnesota/Louisville.

Despite an accidental leak that revealed the matchups of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, ESPN will serve up play starting Friday at noon with Robert Morris/Louisville. UConn came as a surprising No. 2 seed, with Louisville, Baylor and Mississippi State taking the top spots in each region. Play will be carried throughout the tournament on ESPN, ESPN2 and the ESPN app, with NCAA Women’s Final Four running April 5-7.

SiriusXM carries the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship with all game broadcasts provided to SiriusXM by Westwood One. Throughout the tournament, SiriusXM’s exclusive, dedicated college sports channels – ESPNU Radio, SiriusXM ACC Radio, SiriusXM Big 12 Radio, SiriusXM Big Ten Radio, SiriusXM Pac-12 Radio and SiriusXM SEC Radio. SiriusXM will also offer coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, providing listeners with live play-by-play of every regional final, the Women’s Final Four and championship game.

Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts is being tapped to host ABC’s opening night presentation of the 2019 National Football League Draft out of Nashville on April 25 at 8p. Roberts will host the prime-time broadcast of Round 1, joined on a separate set by co-host Rece Davis and the crew from College GameDay Built by The Home Depot. As part of her host role, Roberts will conduct interviews from an ABC set located on Broadway in the Music City. Additionally, she will highlight the prospects selected by NFL teams during the Draft. Roberts will be reporting live from Nashville for Good Morning America on April 25.

FloSports and the Boston Athletic Association announced a partnership to provide live and on-demand coverage of the 2019 Boston Marathon on FloTrack.com exclusively in over 40 European countries. Live coverage of the Boston Marathon on FloTrack will begin on April 15 in countries throughout Europe, excluding Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia.

In other streaming news, IRONMAN announced a multi-year partnership extension with Facebook to carry live race coverage. The agreement calls for Facebook Watch to be the exclusive digital home of 17 live events in 2019 and increasing to 19 events in 2020, with a third-year option for 22 events in 2021. This includes full live coverage of the IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, as well as VOD recaps of every event broadcast on Facebook Watch.

In ratings news, the fourth season of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by HyperX Gaming matched the franchise’s highest-rated season ever, according to metered market ratings from Nielsen. The eight-game NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC schedule averaged a 2.6 metered market rating, up 4% from a 2.5 rating in 2018.

ESPN inked a new multi-year agreement with Relevent Sports Group to acquire media rights to the International Champions Cup. The agreement grants ESPN exclusive English and Spanish-language rights to a total of 25 matches, including the annual ICC tournament and various club friendlies, each summer in the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean through 2021. In the U.S., ESPN and ESPN Deportes will each televise 15 matches per year. For the first time, ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer sports video service, will exclusively carry up to 10 matches live in English and Spanish, beginning this summer. Additionally, ESPN platforms will cover the Women’s International Champions Cup – a new women’s competition that debuted in 2018 with the best clubs in women’s soccer.

On the regional front, NESN and VSiN announced that VSiN’s Follow the Money morning show will air live on NESNplus every weekday morning from 7-10a. Beginning in April, the program will re-air on NESN every weekday from 10a-1p, immediately following NESN Sports Update, the regional network’s regularly scheduled morning sports news program.

MSG Networks announced the launch of the network’s first-ever “Sneaker Week,” a full week of sneaker-themed programming that will “dive deep into the sneaker culture and footwear revolution.” The all-week takeover is presented by Mountain Dew and features current and former Knicks stars, actors, comedians and more dishing on the latest footwear trends, expressing their sneaker fandom and sharing their all-time, favorite sneakers to wear on and off the court. As part of “Sneaker Week,” MSG Networks will be hosting a custom, bracket-style tournament on its digital and social platforms, where fans will be encouraged to express their own sneaker fandom and vote on the most iconic basketball sneakers of all-time.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The ultimate resource for media’s jobs seekers & hiring managers

THE CYNOPSIS JOBS SITE

Are you looking for a media job within the TV, Digital or Sports industries OR are you looking to hire a media professional? The Cynopsis Jobs site offers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors.

Check out our new Cynopsis Jobs site, here for a complete look on what’s out there.

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The NFL and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp detailed plans for the 2019 NFL Draft Experience, presented by Oikos Triple Zero, running April 25-27. The Experience will be the largest NFL Draft festival footprint to date, and in recognition of Music City, and the first to integrate a free live music concert series featuring 20 Nashville-based artists of all genres. Tim McGraw will headline the concert series at the Draft Main Stage in downtown Nashville. “Each year, the NFL strives to make the Draft weekend a memorable experience for our fans. The passionate fan base and iconic location will ensure a unique experience that is unlike anything fans have ever seen” said NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business & League Events, Peter O’Reilly. “We want to thank the Tennessee Titans and the city of Nashville for being a gracious host for the 2019 NFL Draft. We would also like to thank Tim and CeCe for generously giving their time to our fans to make their experience even more memorable.”

The LA Kings partnered with Attendee.com in a new marketing-focused partnership, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships. The deal designates Attendee.com as the presenting sponsor of “Hockey Night in LA,” a special weekend broadcast series in conjunction with FOX Sports West that features celebrity guests, live music and custom programming.

Up the road, the Los Angeles Dodgers named Hanwha Q CELLS America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of one of the largest solar cell and module manufacturers in the world, as the Official Solar Partner of the club as part of a multi-year partnership. As part of this partnership, Hanwha Q CELLS will have permanent signage at Dodger Stadium near the left field foul pole, will sponsor the Clayton Kershaw bobblehead on June 18 and will present a monthly award and campaign, where a worthy Dodger will be recognized for their energetic play and have $1,000 donated to the charity of his choice.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Tunity Analytics’ weekly report of the top out-of-home sports programs for the week of March 11 saw NCAA basketball claim the top five spots on the list, as well as seven of the top 10 entries. Rounding out the list was round four of The Players Championship on NBC, the Liverpool vs. Bayern Munich Champions League match up on TNT, and ESPN’s pre-game talker College GameDay. Show/Network/Date/(000’s)

NCAAB – Duke/North Carolina – ESPN on March 15. (2412)
NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show – CBS on March 17 (2152)
NCAAB – Kentucky/Tennessee – ESPN on March 16 (1862)
NCAAB – Duke/Florida State – ESPN on March 16 (1737)
NCAAB – Michigan State/Michigan on CBS on March 17 (1622)

Source: Tunity Analytics. Viewing estimates are derived from Tunity mobile app usage for the week beginning March 11, 2019. OOH Viewer impressions are calculated using Tunity Analytics proprietary estimation model.

ESPORTS

Ubisoft announced that Rainbow Six Siege’s The Pilot Program, its first revenue-sharing initiative with esports organizations, is getting an expansion. 2019 will now see an increase in the scope of the partnerships between Ubisoft and our partnered esports organizations with the second version of the program set to being in June and run until May 2020, encompassing Season XI and XII of the Pro League. The org is looking to expand to support more Pro League teams with up to 16 teams included in Phase 2 in addition to incentivizing performance from players and organizations.

Epic Esports Events will play host to the fifth and final Dota 2 Pro Circuit Major this season, titled the EPICENTER Major and running in Moscow from June 22-30, offering a $1 million prize pool. Earlier this month, the fourth Major of the season was awarded to Mars Media, which will host the event in partnership with Disneyland Paris.

INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES

Fan Controlled Football League announced that digital entertainment channel Kinda Funny will serve as the latest team owner and Fan Captain. Kinda Funny now joins Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch and Prince Royce as FCFL Fan Captains.

THE MAIN EVENT

Temple/Belmont at 9:10p on truTV.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Announcing the Cynopsis Top Women in Sports Honorees!

The Cynopsis Top Women in Sports Awards shine a light on female trailblazers who are pushing the industry forward, while empowering and inspiring others with their drive for innovation and inclusion. We’re thrilled to honoree these women in the areas of Esports, Marketing, On-AIr Talent, Operations, Production, Social, Sports-Centric Brands and Technology. Honorees will be celebrated at the Top Women in Media Awards, taking place this August in NYC.

VIEW HONOREES

ON THIS DAY in 1991: The NFL removes the 1993 Super Bowl from Phoenix due to the failure of Arizona to recognize Martin Luther King’s birthday as a holiday.

In the Know: Which of this year’s NCAA Tournament teams is known as the Anteaters? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Name two teams in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament who are known as the Huskies. Answer: Northeastern and Washington. Kudos: Tom Buffolano-LTN Global Communications/NY; Tim Morrison-SendToNews/NY; James Stuart-NBC Sports Group/Stamford; Daniel Rioux-PUSH 22/Bingham Farms; Roger Furman-Lange Marketing/New Jersey; Michael G. Hawkins-Francis Marion University/Florence; John Tingue-Hulu/Chicago; Tony Reyes-ShadowMachine/Holllywood; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Patrick Jackman-Media Storm/LA

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Albert Nassour \| 917-545-3129 Director, Strategic Partnerships	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

CYNOPSISJOBS – For More jobs, please visit Cynopsis.com

JOB OF THE DAY

DIR, LEGAL AFF
GSN
Santa Monica

5+ yrs. w/law firm or TV exp. Member of CA bar or eligible for registration. Structuring, negotiating & closing a heavy volume of production deals. Day-to-day legal support. Drafting & negotiating documents & agreements. Reviewing & approving advertising/marketing materials.

Full info HERE

AD SALES ASSISTANT/Crown Media Family Networks/NY: Provide support to Ad Sales by working W/ Acct Execs to service clients. Including sales orders, move requests and media schedules. Detail oriented w/orgnzt’l skills to keep manage fast paced, time sensitive environment. BA/BS req. Full info/apply HERE (3/29)

DIRECTOR, LEGAL & BUSINESS AFFAIRS/TV One/NYC: As secondary mgr, you are responsible for providing business and legal support to all departments of TV On. Structure, negotiate and draft a variety of content acquisition agreements minimum of 7 years of television industry experience pref’d. Full info HERE (3/29)

PRODUCER, DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA/TV One/Silver Spring MD: Build promotional & original digital content to build the TV One digital brand.Dvlp/prod promotional content (incl articles, videos & any other media) to support our orig. 3+ yrs exp in building, managing, and growing a website for a medium/large size org. Full info HERE (3/29)

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, MEDIA BUYING & PLANNING/Spero Media/NYC: Organized, detail-oriented team player w/min 1yr of media buying/plan’g exp, interested in actively participating in media buying & plan’g/promotion for variety of sports/ent clients incl: US Open Tennis, NY Jets, Blue Man Group, NY Mets + Full info HERE (3/29)

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE /NBC/TELEMUNDO/PHILADELPHIA: Self-motivated well organized team player to identify, target, develop and secure new business for NBC10 and Telemundo62 through a variety of platforms including on-air, on-line, mobile and out-of-home. Min of 3 yrs exp in media sales. Full info HERE (3/28)

MGR, AD SALES PARTNERSHIPS/A+E Networks/NY: Serve as digital/social marketing resource and thought leader in the sales department, managing latest digital/social marketing products & tools, effectively demonstrating how they can be leveraged in strategic 360 campaigns. Full info HERE (3/27)

DIRECTOR of MEDIA, SOCIAL & EMERGING/Ad Council/San Francisco: Manage daily responsibilities with existing social & digital media partners. 5+ yrs digital & traditional media/cross-platform sales experience with a track record of developing and executing successful strategic partnerships. Full info HERE (3/27)

DIR, LEGAL AFF/GSN/Santa Monica: 5+ yrs. w/law firm or TV exp. Member of CA bar or eligible for registration. Structuring, negotiating & closing a heavy volume of production deals. Day-to-day legal support. Drafting & negotiating documents & agreements. Reviewing & approving advertising/marketing materials. Full info HERE (3/23)

DIGITAL ACCOUNT SPECIALIST /Discovery/NYC: Resp for all aspects of digital media plan’g & acts as key point of contact with ad agency and internal constituents Min 1+ yr professional exp/or equivalent internship exp preferably within the digital media, advertising sales/agency fields. Full info HERE (3/26)

DIGITAL PRODUCER /Spectrum News/NYC: Produce new & innovative content series for non-linear platforms. Proficiency at multi-tasking and must have the ability to prioritize, work independently and meet strict deadlines. 3+ yr TV new exp. Full info HERE (3/26)

ACCOUNT EXEC/SR ACCOUNT EXEC/starpower LLC/NYC: Provide support to the SVP, incl drafting/managing correspondence/communications, project mngmnt & coordinating special events. Strong passion for pop-culture/ent. Exp interacting w/brands & agencies. Strong orgnz’l skills. Dig & SM savvy. Full info HERE (3/23)

DIRECTOR, TALENT PARTNERSHIPS & INFLUENCER STRATEGY/starpower LLC/NYC: Acct Management Attend (and lead) regularly scheduled client conference calls, in person meetings. Mng relationships, timelines, budgets. 7-10 yrs in digital space w/proven exp delivering successful programs across channels. Full info HERE (3/23)

ANALYST, INFLUENCER MKTG GROUP/starpower LLC/LA: Identify potential social influencers (incl global) for a campaign based on client brief incl rsrch, leveraging tools & ntwrk. 1-2 yrs of social influencer & digital exp. Exp interacting w/brands, social influencer representation agencies, Full info HERE (3/23)

DIRECTOR, ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING, LIFESTYLE GROUP/starpower LLC/NYC: Lead the talent procurement process for public relations, advertising, digital and influencer seeding campaigns. 5+ yrs. of talent procurement/buying exp. Full info HERE (3/23)

SR DIRECTOR, INFLUENCER MARKETING/starpower LLC/NYC: Thought-leader for clients and agency; strategist and trusted adviser for clients. 7-10 years in the digital space with proven experience delivering successful programs across channels. Full info HERE (3/23)

CAMPAIGN MGR, INFLUENCER MKTG GROUP/starpower LLC/LA: Identify potential social influencers (including global) for a campaign based on client brief incl rsrch, leveraging tools & network. 3+ yrs in digital & influencer mktg space with proven exp delivering successful digital/social programs across channels. Full info HERE (3/23)

PRODUCERS (2)/9 Story Media/NYC: Seeking 2 exp’d producers for iconic, high profile children’s series utilizing 2D, 3D and live action. Will be coordinating work of teams in mult int’l locations. Candidates must have a strong knwldg of animation prod w/min of 5 yrs prod exp. Full info HERE (3/21)

SALES PLANNER/TENNIS CHANNEL TV/NYC: Work closely with acct exec & pricing/planning team to maximize revenue. Handle daily acct maintenance for numerous advertisers. 2-4+ yrs brdcst cable exp. & ability to interact professionally w/all levels of personnel. Full info HERE (3/21)

DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR/Discovery Inc/NYC: Lead dvlment/execution/analysis of Motor Trend, GOLFTV & TV Everywhere paid acquisition campaigns that primarily run across SEM, paid social & programmatic. 6+ yrs exp relevant field (dig media buying, performance media/mkt, DR). Digital media agency exp strongly pref’d. Full info HERE (3/21)

MEDIA STRATEGIST, PAID DIGITAL/Discovery Inc/NYC: Asst in dvlpmt of digital media plans that are strategic & data-driven, with the goal of efficiently acquiring subscribers/users to GOLFTV, Motor Trend, and Discovery’s TV Everywhere platforms. 2+ yrs of paid digital media exp; media agency exp strongly pref’d. Full info HERE (3/21)

ANALYST, PROGRAM RESEARCH/CNBC/Englewood Cliffs NJ: Resp for reg reporting of TV aud metrics to internal stakeholders including Prgrmng/Scheduling, Mktg, Public Relations & Finance. 2+ yrs exp (includes internships) in audience research for a media company or advertising agency. Full info HERE (3/21)

ANALYTICS MGR/Spectrum Networks/NYC: Resp for the dvlpmnt of application &/or reporting solutions to address business needs. Knowledge of SQL Server, Python, Tableau, Qlikview, VBA, Business Objects. 4-6 yrs of Data analysis and reporting or related exp. Full info HERE (3/20)

MGR, MEDIA RESEARCH & STRATEGY/Spectrum Networks/NYC: Resp for providing support with Media Rsrch, Plan’g & Strategy functions within the Audience Insights Dept across traditional and digital media. 3-5 yrs of Media rsrch exp, agency, publisher and/or client side. Full info HERE (3/20)