Major League Baseball scored a pair, courtesy of new partnership deals with Corona and Capital One. Corona is on board as the Official Cerveza of MLB, inking a multi-year sponsorship that includes a custom content platform on MLB.com and MLB Network. “As the Official Cerveza of Major League Baseball, we’re excited to bring the energy, vibrancy, and flavor of the Corona brand to America’s national pastime,” said Ryan Anderson, director, brand marketing, Corona. “We’re proud to celebrate our shared heritage, MLB’s star players and the sport’s fans by bringing the fine life to ballparks across the country this season, and for seasons to come.”

Meanwhile, Capital One’s deal sees the brand become the league’s Official Bank and Credit Card Partner, as well as the presenting sponsor of the World Series. The multi-year sponsorship agreement will offer Capital One cardholders access to opportunities and exclusive events and benefits. Additionally through this sponsorship, Capital One is now an Official Partner of Minor League Baseball and Little League Baseball and Softball. “Capital One’s partnership with MLB is the latest example of our commitment to our customers, who are passionate about sports and the teams they support,” said Roger Ferguson, Managing Vice President, Sponsorship at Capital One. “Through this partnership, we look forward to teaming up with MLB to not only provide our customers with amazing benefits, but also to expand our company-wide commitment to promoting and celebrating diversity, inclusion and belonging, inspiring fans of our national pastime in the process.”

PROGRAMMING

Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron named Barcelona as the Host Venue for the 37th America’s Cup in 2024. “Barcelona really is one of the most recognized cities in the world so to have the ability to host the most recognized sailing event in the world is hugely exciting,” said America’s Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton. “As Defender of the America’s Cup, we have always felt the responsibility to grow the event, the audience, and the sport of sailing on a global scale and certainly having the event hosted in a significant city such as Barcelona will allow us to propel the growth trajectory on the global sporting stage. When thinking ahead to the 37th America’s Cup and the AC75’s racing within a few hundred metres of the Barcelona beach, waterfront, and race village fan engagement zones it will be nothing less than spectacular.”

ESPN saw viewership for Formula 1 continue to accelerate, as Sunday’s live telecast of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix surpassed the week-old record as ESPN’s largest F1 audience since 1995 to become the largest on any ESPN network since it returned to the sport in 2018, averaging 1.445 million viewers. The race is the tenth most-viewed F1 event in the U.S. on record, broadcast or cable. The audience was up 54% over last December’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on ESPN2. In addition to the race telecast, ESPN2’s live coverage of F1 qualifying on Saturday at 12:55 p.m. earned an average audience of 631,000 viewers.

TUDN reports that the matchup between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Mexican National Team on March 24 average 3.0 million viewers to rank as the top soccer match in 2022 on any network across all key demos, according to Nielsen.

Meanwhile, FOX’s coverage of the USMNT game vs. Panama saw 1,036,000 viewers tune in on FS1. That ranks as the most-watched USMNT World Cup Qualifier in FS1 history vs. any opponent other than Mexico.

ESPN is commemorating the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball by debuting a special project beginning April 4, designed to “honor Robinson’s lasting legacy, as well as showcase the continued work of Robinson’s wife Rachel as she approaches her 100th birthday on July 19.” The season-long project will encompass a 10+-part short story video series leading up to the 75th anniversary and a significant on-site presence with ESPN shows, special guests and more from the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City. Beginning April 4, ESPN will premiere a short story video each day, culminating with the final debut on the April 15 anniversary date.

Speaking of baseball, Apple and Major League Baseball revealed the first half of the 2022 “Friday Night Baseball” schedule, available to anyone with internet access, for free, on Apple TV+. The franchise will premiere April 8 with two games: Mets/Nationals, beginning at 7p and the Astros/Angels, live from Angel Stadium, beginning at 9:30p.

The NFL announced that Detroit will host the 2024 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light with the area around Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza serving as the event site for the Draft. “The Draft has become a prominent offseason event across the country, and we are excited to work with the Lions and their partners to bring the 2024 NFL Draft to the Motor City,” said NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. “With the help of Visit Detroit, the Detroit Sports Commission, and the City of Detroit the Lions passionate fan base and all visitors will be treated to an incredible three-day experience.” The 2022 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light will take place in Las Vegas on April 28-30, followed by 2023 in Kansas City on April 27-29.

In addition, HBO Sports and NFL Films are partnering with the Detroit Lions for Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Detroit Lions. The five-episode season debuts Aug. 9 at 10p with additional hour-long episodes debuting subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, culminating in the September 6 season finale.

Turner Sports, announced that Title IX: 37 Words That Changed America will premiere on April 2, at 1p on TBS. The production, in conjunction with Candace Parker and Scout Productions in association with Baby Hair Productions, will be a feature-length documentary that will chronicle and celebrate the societal and cultural impact of Title IX, anchored through the perspective of Parker.

Telemundo Deportes serves up Spanish-language coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final Draw taking place in Doha, Qatar on Friday. The live simulcast kicks off at 11:30a on Telemundo and Universo and streamed on Peacock. “It’s an exciting week for our audiences and for our Telemundo Deportes team – first, Mexico and the US fight to secure their spot, and later in the week, fans and teams will learn the possible paths to winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” said Ray Warren, president of Telemundo Deportes. “We know the Draw is the biggest, most anticipated milestone ahead of World Cup, and we’re looking forward to offering our viewers the most comprehensive and authentic coverage from Doha.”

McDonald’s USA and ESPN agreed to a multi-year television agreement that will keep the McDonald’s All American Games and related events on ESPN networks through 2025. Under the agreement, ESPN maintains the rights to the McDonald’s All American Boys and Girls Games & the POWERADE Jam Fest. ESPN has been televising the McDonald’s All American Games since 1999.

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Cumulus Media’s Westwood One and the National Football League extended and expanded their partnership with a new multi-year agreement that will see the company continue to provide play-by-play coverage for Monday Night Football; Sunday Night Football; Thursday Night Football plus Thanksgiving Day; select international games; the entire postseason including the Wild Card and Divisional Playoffs, AFC and NFC Championship games; and the Super Bowl. Under the terms of the new deal, Westwood One retains exclusive national broadcast radio distribution rights to the aforementioned games, and adds new elements that include Westwood One’s NFL primetime game broadcasts becoming available free to fans on affiliated stations’ primary digital platforms and on the NFL App in addition to expanded coverage of NFL tentpole events and the exploration of new alternate game broadcasts in addition to the traditional Westwood One play-by-play.

beIN SPORTS will broadcast Premier Padel’s inaugural Ooredoo Qatar Major 2022 in the US & Canada in a new deal. The tour is now open with the first category one event of the tour taking place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.

2022 SPORTS MEDIA AWARDS
April 19th @ The NY Athletic Club

Congratulations to All Star Honoree:

Ethan Greenberg, Team Reporter & Producer, Multimedia Journalist, New York Jets

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Ahead of the opening round of the 2022 Formula DRIFT season, Rockstar inked a deal to become the Official Energy Drink of the national series. “It’s great to welcome Rockstar Energy Drink into the Formula DRIFT family,” said Ryan Sage, Formula DRIFT President. “Through its sponsorship of Fredric, Rockstar has been part of the series for years, but now we have the opportunity to build the brand with FD fans worldwide. We’re all looking forward to some fun opportunities and fan experiences over the next few years.”

March Madness finds Twitter teaming up with Wendy’s to unveil a Tweet-powered vending machine at the Men’s Final Four in New Orleans. The machine will be placed in the Final Four Tip-Off Tailgate area outside of the Caesar’s Superdome – and Twitter will be encouraging people to Tweet at @Wendys with select hashtags. The Tweets will prompt the vending machine to dispense randomized gifts and experiences. The activation will be live throughout the Men’s Final Four weekend (4/2 – 4/4).

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp entered into a multi-year marketing partnership with Evolve IP, naming the leading international service provider of Work Anywhere solutions, an Official Partner of the New York Rangers. Evolve IP will receive prominent exposure inside Madison Square Garden throughout all Rangers games, including virtual blue line signage during TV broadcasts, in-arena LED messaging and GardenVision features. Evolve IP will have the ability to create marketing assets around their workplace technologies with Rangers alumni and MSG Entertainment Executives.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Fanatics is adding WWE to its lineup with a long-term deal to produce Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, in addition to Candy Digital, the company’s NFT division. Fanatics will relaunch the WWE Shop this summer, where WWE will sell licensed merchandise designed and sold in a “real-time, on-demand” format based on WWE events’ live moments.

NBA star Kevin Durant’s media platform Boardroom locked in its first-ever collegiate partnership with St. John’s Dept. of Athletics to to boost NIL resources available to Red Storm student-athletes. The program will officially launch today where Boardroom will serve as an exclusive editorial partner around select NIL announcements, help amplify storytelling, and content development, and provide unique access and experiences with Boardroom executives.

ReachTV, the largest airport television network in the US, announced a partnership bringing together Sport 24, the IMG-owned live sports channel for the inflight and in ship industry to ReachTV’s 2500+ owned and operated screens throughout airports across North America.

Simplebet and the YES Network are launching “Pick-N-Play Live,” described as “the first-ever, real-time, in-game, single-screen watch and play experience.” The free-to-play prediction game, the first to be integrated within a live sports broadcast, will be available on the YES App to authenticated YES Network viewers in conjunction with YES’ Brooklyn Nets telecasts and be available for the YES App’s streamed New York Yankees games this coming season. “Pick-N-Play Live” offers dozens of prediction types, adding up to thousands of individual moments per game.

C4 Energy is launching a “next-level experiential hologram activation” at WrestleMania, leveraging a technology-imbued hologram consumer activation at the WWE Superstore. The 7ft., 180o, fully interactive hologram will transport your WWE Superstars – Roman Reigns, Bianca Belair and Montez Ford – into Axxess.

ESPORTS

Fnatic unveiled plans for its new membership program, built on blockchain technology and giving fans access to rewards & features; from annual pro kit, access to digital & physical events, exclusive content, meet and greets and limited edition collaborations. Fans will be able to access membership in three tiers: Citizen, Core and Pioneer, with each tier granting access to a different range of rewards. Citizen keys will be unlimited until 7th April, whilst Core and Pioneer keys will be limited to 2500 each. Fnatic’s global partner Crypto.com is supporting the progression of Fnatic into the Web3 space with technologies including Crypto.com Pay, Crypto.com DeFi wallet integrations and future member exclusive content drops.

DreamHack is locked in to finally return with the festival set for a three-day, immersive, gaming lifestyle event in Dallas to mark the first full-scale DreamHack festival in nearly 2.5 years. DreamHack Dallas will run June 3–5, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, offering everything gaming under one roof. Esports tournaments at DreamHack Dallas will feature Counter-Strike:Global Offensive for both Intel Extreme Masters and ESL Impact with additional competition in Fighting Game Tournaments (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Guilty Gear -Strive- and King of Fighter XV) and more.

LEARFIELD and Electronic Arts announced the debut of EA SPORTS FIFA 22 within the LevelNext collegiate esports league. The five-week competition begins April 23, when college students across the country will meet on the pitch in EA SPORTS FIFA 22, with championship competition starting May 24. More than 30 hours of live play will be streamed on the official Twitch channel for LevelNext. “We’re thrilled to add EA SPORTS FIFA 22 to our LevelNext offerings for college students across the U.S,” said Rick Barakat, executive vice president, managing director for LEARFIELD’s Media & Partnerships Group. “We launched LevelNext with EA as our cornerstone partner in 2020, and it has been incredibly well received by the player and college community alike. We appreciate the partnership with EA and look forward to incorporating EA SPORTS FIFA 22 into our school-specific and national portfolio.”

Complexity Gaming unlocked a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Lenovo, making the company the exclusive desktop and laptop PC provider. As part of the deal, Complexity’s Frisco-based headquarters will now be named the Lenovo Legion Esports Center, and the Lenovo logo will be featured on Complexity’s official jerseys. Over the coming years, Lenovo will support Complexity’s pursuit to enhance player performance and improve the industry standard for player care. Lenovo’s technology will enable Complexity content creators and production teams to produce a diverse catalog of work, including animation and 3D content.

All Sports Television Network will air the esports docuseries “Girl Gamers: Now Is Our Time”. The three-part series, which will begin airing the week of April 3, takes a” look into the world of gaming and its impact on female gamers throughout the globe.” “The Girl Gamers docuseries chronicles the struggles that women still have in the gaming space but also celebrates all these awesome gamers that are paving the way for future generations of women pro gamers,” said Sharon Lin of Metta.gg, a founding partner of the event. “GIRLGAMER’s existence has been pivotal to raise awareness and empower the female communities in esports.”

ESPAT Studios entered into a production line partnership with Elite Edge Productions, designed to explore, create and produce new stories and premium formats to entertain the gaming community worldwide. Elite Edge is joining ESPAT Studios Creative Collective, which currently has multiple projects in various stages of development. “In just three years, we’ve built a dedicated team that serves to entertain the global gaming community through new, inspiring and aspirational storytelling. With the addition of Elite Edge and their legendary team of creatives and industry trailblazers who do amazing work often marrying the latest technologies and memorable connections through production and storytelling, we’re excited to bring fans and culture enthusiasts a greater variety of even more amazing stories,” said Dante Simpson, Chief Executive, ESPAT TV.

ONE Esports is being tapped by Electronic Arts to become Official Tournament Organizer and Lead Agency for the EACC 2022, an inter-Asian esports tournament for EA SPORTS FIFA Online 4. There will be two EACCs held in Q2 and Q3 of this year, EACC Spring 2022 and EACC Summer 2022, both featuring 12 teams across China, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. As part of the agreement, ONE Esports will provide full event execution and live production with players and talent for both EACCs in English, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, and Vietnamese. ONE Esports will also collaborate with EA to produce content and comprehensive coverage of the tournaments for fans.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Major League Pickleball unveiled new owners in 2022 including business leader Gary Vaynerchuk, expanding the MLP team roster from the eight teams which took part in the inaugural MLP event in 2021, to 12 teams in 2022. MLP has also confirmed that the 2022 MLP Draft will be revealed at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, NYC on May 28. “MLP is the most exciting brand in pickleball, a sport that I’m very excited to be coming into at such an important stage of its development,” said new MLP Team Owner, Gary Vaynerchuk. “I’ve been watching the growth of the sport over the last couple of years, and waiting for the right opportunity to jump in. What MLP is creating is precisely what I think pickleball needs – innovation, equality, great competition, and a central focus on the social community that this sport creates.”

Nitro Rallycross is rolling out its inaugural global season with the expanded Nitro RX series launching June 18-19, at England’s Lydden Hill Race Circuit for the first of ten races staged in six countries, including Sweden, Finland, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Nitro RX will then bridge the calendar year to culminate in March 2023 with a championship event held in the U.S.

MEASUREMENT & DATA CONFERENCE

June 7th @ Edison Ballroom, NYC

Paramount, CIMM, Crackle Plus and GroupM have joined the 2022 speaker line-up.

REMINDER: Early Bird Deadline is APRIL 1st!

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ON THIS DAY in
2001: At 15 years old, Michael Phelps breaks the 200m butterfly world record.

IN THE KNOW
Featuring 300 players, what is the goal in the sport of Bo-taoshi? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Ideally, competitive ski jumpers should land in what position to avoid a deduction from the judges? Answer: Telemark position. Kudos: Michael Ritz-Lenox Advisors/NY; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Louis Lewow-FITE/Atlanta; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; David Westberg-SAG•AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Peter Steckelman-Tennis Channel/Santa Monica

Cynopsis Team