Major League Baseball unveiled its lineup of broadcasters for the upcoming MLB The Show Players League announcing that four different US sports television networks will now carry the contests, with its final days of competition running across on ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, as well as MLB Network. MLB Network and ESPN2 will carry select regular-season matchups, while the eight-player playoff tournament opens May 1 on ESPN, ESPN2, and FS1. The best-of-five championship series will be shown May 3 on ESPN. The MLB: The Show Players League will deliver a $175,000 donation to official MLB charities the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada.

PROGRAMMING

Turner is lining up a return of The Match, this time doubling the fun as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be joined by Peyton manning and Tom Brady for a two-on-two battle in The Match: Champions for Charity, with all donations and fundraising going to benefit COVID-19 relief. The event will reportedly run on TNT next month, with details on the specific date, venue and charitable causes to be announced in the coming weeks according to reports. In addition to live event coverage on TNT, social and digital content surrounding the event will also be available through Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.

Professional Bull Riders revealed plans to return to live competition this weekend amid strict safety guidelines around the coronavirus pandemic. Presented by Monster Energy, the 2020 PBR season resumes following a five-week hiatus with the PBR Las Vegas Invitational as a closed-to-the-public, live television event inside Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma from April 25-26. Fans can watch this weekend’s PBR Las Vegas Invitational event on CBS Sports Network and RidePass at 6p and Sunday live at noon.

Meanwhile, the NHL is shoring up its content plans, partnering with ESL Gaming for the first-ever NHL Player Gaming Challenge presented by Honda with NHL players representing all 31 Clubs. In addition, the NHL’s newest franchise, NHL Seattle, will take part in the League’s latest #HockeyAtHome initiative. Over the course of four weeks, beginning April 30, each Club will be represented by one or two current players and featured in a one-time matchup against another Club. The National Hockey League Foundation and Electronic Arts will donate a combined $100,000 in support of the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 relief efforts. Beginning April 30, Los Angeles Kings TV play-by-play announcer Alex Faust will host the series of weekly matchups, which will be released on Thursdays and Saturdays. NBC Sports carries the first series of games at 5p on NBCSN as part of its Hockey Happy Hour programming.

Churchill Downs, the organizers of the Kentucky Derby, will now reportedly conduct a virtual running of the famed race on May 2. The Kentucky Derby: Triple Crown Showdown will showcase 13 former Triple Crown winners competing in a computer-simulated race that was created by Inspired Entertainment, using data algorithms, including historical handicapping information about each horse, to determine the probability of their potential finishing positions. The race will be broadcast on the main NBC network as part of a special Kentucky Derby-themed program, which will also feature the 2015 Kentucky Derby.

CBS Sports announced two new shows that will both be hosted by CBS Sports lead golf analyst Sir Nick Faldo that will run on CBS Sports Network on Monday nights. Days & Knights with Sir Nick will be a 30-minute, multi-episode series that debuts on April 27 at 7:30p and chronicles the adventures of Faldo as he travels the world. The second show, Faldo Formula – Mind. Body. Swing premieres immediately after at 8p. The weekly, 10-episode show features lessons, swing tips, course management secrets and mental exercises Faldo has perfected over the years.

With live sports and esports events being cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, where are the fans going during lockdown and how are they engaging? Find out in one week during Cynopsis’ Webinar: Building A Super-Bond with Fans During the Pandemic. On Thursday, April 30 at 1:30p ET, you’ll learn how leagues, rights holders & brands are strengthening their connections with fans.

FloSports and Caymax Sports announced that the 2020 Cayman Islands Classic will once again return to FloSports for the second consecutive year and third year overall. The preseason tournament will be broadcast on FloHoops November 23-25 and will showcase all 12-games across the three-day event

Starting Sunday, ESPN Radio offers up encore presentations of some of Michael Jordan’s most iconic NBA Finals performances. Each broadcast tips off at 5p and leads into ESPN Radio’s preview show, Countdown to the Dance at 8p, prior to that week’s episode of The Last Dance – the 10-part documentary series about Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. All four ESPN Radio presentations will be hosted by ESPN’s Marc Kestecher. Saturday, meanwhile, will see ESPN Radio present a special, weekly broadcast of a marquee World Series game from the past decade. During the next seven weeks, fans will be able to relive their favorite moments from recent fall classic matchups, with a different game every Saturday at 8p.

ESPN and Facebook are partnering to “showcase the athletic achievements of everyday people practicing social distancing at home” and every Wednesday for ten weeks SportsCenter’s “Top 10” segment on television will be presented by Facebook to feature user-generated highlights submitted on Facebook and Instagram. ESPN will also share these highlights in customized segments on both Facebook and Instagram. On Facebook Watch, Omar Raja will host a show every Wednesday to discuss the Top 10 highlights of the week.

LaLiga North America, Uninterrupted and the Women’s International Champions Cup are bringing athletes from the NBA, NFL, LaLiga, and NWSL to compete in the Kick Covid FIFA20 tournament. The event will run April 25-26 and will raise funds for Feeding America during the coronavirus pandemic. 16 professional athletes from LaLiga, the NFL, the NBA and NWSL will compete against each other in teams.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

DraftKings completed its business combination with SBTech and Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. The Business Combination, which was approved on yesterday by DEAC’s stockholders, will see DraftKings’ shares of Class A common stock trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market starting today under the ticker symbol “DKNG” and its warrants will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “DKNGW”.

VSiN is teaming up with Skyview Networks to “further gain market share and sponsorship opportunities. “Skyview is in a strong position to partner with content creators as a full-service audio shop and is actively engaging in deals that bring exciting, high-demand content, like VSiN’s programming and analysis, to the industry,” said Ken Thiele, CEO of Skyview Networks. Under this new agreement, Skyview Networks affiliate sales will expand VSiN’s audience reach and grow VSiN’s revenue through Skyview’s network audio sales team.

Sportradar released figures showing that the company sustained their delivery of sports content and coverage despite the lack of live sports globally due to COVID-19. So far in the month of April, there has been an 11% increase in its available sports content compared to April 2019, with coverage of approximately 24,000 matches in total worldwide. In a typical month, Sportradar provides live coverage for approximately 20,000 matches

Betting data provider LSports just announced the launch of its brand new Tennis Betting Simulator, which enables sportsbooks to take action on historical tennis matches by tapping into LSports’ historical database of over one million cataloged tennis matches. The simulated matches mirror those previously played on the court point-by-point, but with all players, tournaments, dates and times changed so bettors have no way of identifying the historical match.

Strat-O-Matic was selected by People.com as “Best Board Game for Sports Lovers” amongst their list of games that have gained steam during these unusual times. “While the events of the last six weeks are certainly not what anyone wanted or expected, we continue to forge ahead by providing quality and engaging content on a daily basis, not just for our traditional players, but for thousands of new consumers of every demographic who have found us for the first time or returned to us after time away,” said Hal Richman, Strat-O-Matic founder and president. “We are honored to make this list. and are continuing to find new ways to have consumers connect not just with us but with each other; a connection that we believe will continue into the future.”

The Northern Illinois University Athletics Department contracted with Taymar Sales U. to manage its outbound ticket sales. Taymar Sales U. will aggressively market NIU Athletics tickets to fans throughout the region, with a focus on building the season ticket base while also selling single game and group tickets.

ESPORTS

Riot Games announced the formal cancellation of the Mid-Season Invitational, which had been rescheduled until July as a result of COVID-19. “This decision also allows us to dedicate our global esports team and resources to planning for Worlds 2020. We are totally committed to delivering the biggest spectacle we’ve ever produced in China to celebrate our sport’s 10-year anniversary. While we must remain nimble with our plans, we are eager to celebrate everything that we love about League of Legends with a memorable Worlds 2020.”

Torque Esports locked in a broadcast partnership with European television sports network Eurosport. The agreement will see Torque Esports’ The Race All-Star Series be carried through Eurosport’s reach of over 150 countries and territories. “We’re thrilled to welcome Eurosport as one of our broadcast partners. Having live coverage, direct into European homes is a great step forward for the All-Star Series,” said Torque Esports President and CEO Darren Cox.

DreamHack and CORSAIR announced that the two companies have renewed their partnership for 2020. CORSAIR will continue its support of DreamHack Masters, DreamHack Open and DreamLeague through the end of 2020. Through its subsidiary Elgato, CORSAIR will also be the official partner of DreamHack’s Stream Studio, where streamers set up shop and meet their fans at DreamHack’s festivals.

Allied Esports Entertainment saw its shift of live event experiences to online during the COVID-19 crisis delivered increased engagement, registration, participation and viewership within its two business units, World Poker Tour and Allied Esports International. “Like everyone in the live entertainment and event industry, the first pillar of our business has been temporarily shuttered to help flatten the curve and put a stop to this global pandemic, which we fully support,” said Frank Ng, CEO of Allied Esports Entertainment. “Where we stand out is in the quick and strategic decisions we have made to continue to serve our loyal communities and our industries at a time when they need us most. We firmly believe that our heightened focus on our content and online services will not only carry us through these unprecedented times, but further funnel new fans to our live events when it is safe to bring everyone back together.”

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Spectrum Reach announced that veteran marketing executive Michael Guth was named Senior Vice President of Marketing. Guth will oversee all marketing initiatives for Spectrum Reach at the enterprise and field levels, including brand marketing and communications, product marketing, production/creative services and field research.

theScore announced the appointment of veteran sports marketing executive Brian Cooper to its Board of Directors. Cooper will support theScore as the company continues to grow its media and sports betting operations across North America and is Chairman of MKTG Canada.

SPORTS BROADCAST JOURNAL w/ DAVID J. HALBERSTAM

Jim Nantz, on The Masters, CBS/AFC package

Jim Nantz told us this week: “There’s still a side of me that can’t believe people know who I am. You work and dream of becoming one of those voices who can tell stories. You can’t believe that people write to you and are familiar with you.” But the face of CBS Sports added, “There are always those who feel the need to troll or say nasty things. It’s one of the reasons I’ve never partaken in any facet of social media. I just don’t want to be exposed to negativity.”
As for the Masters, the unofficial Voice of Golf added, “It’s been my long-term goal to broadcast 50 Masters. I’ve done 34 and we’ve got two coming up in a period of five months. I think about The Masters all year long.”
Despite CBS losing Tom Brady from its AFC network package, Nantz says, “Your network package is as good as the quality of your quarterbacks. Look at the AFC now, led by Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, etc.”
CBS’ Jim Nantz opens up on his future, his dad, re-upping Tony Romo and loss of Tom Brady to NFC

ESPN’s documentary Last Dance, the first part of which debuted last Sunday, has been the subject of conversation on sports talk across the country all week. Fox’ Skip Bayless says that the late Jerry Krause who was the Chicago Bulls general manager at the time and Jerry Reinsdorf who’s still the owner, were “scoundrels.” On his show, Dan Patrick said that he doesn’t understand how Jerry Reinsdorf always seemed to side with Jerry Krause amidst Krause’s controversial decisions. Patrick says that all 12 or so players on the Bulls, including Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, did not like having Krause as GM.

Happy Birthdays and many happy returns:

Randy Cross April 25, CBS Network college football analyst
Joe Buck April 25, lead voice Fox Sports, MLB/NFL
Al McCoy April 26, indefatigable Voice, Phoenix Suns
Donna De Varona April 26, longtime ABC swimming commentator
Jason Whitlock April 27, journalist and Fox Sports personality
Rosalyn Gold-Unwade April 28, ESPN reporter
Gary Cohen April 29, New York Mets TV

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In the Know
In the history of the NFL Draft, two schools have featured players selected with the very first pick two years in a row. Most recently it was Oklahoma in 2018 & 19. Which was the other school? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
In 1984, the NFL held a supplemental draft of players from the defunct USFL. Who was the first pick of that draft? Answer: Steve Young. Kudos: Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Mike May-R2 Innovative Technologies/Wellington; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank