04/17/17: The NCAA makes a play

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Good morning. It’s April 17, 2017 and this is your your first early morning Sports briefing!

The NCAA is giving a facelift to its recruiting practices after the org’s Division I Council voted for a set of rules changes on Friday, with the changes set to be presented to the NCAA Board of Directors next month for approval Among the overhauls will be a recruiting calendar that allows for an early signing date in December an early signing date, the addition of a 10th assistant football coach, a new rule that bans hiring of an “individual associated with a prospect” for two years before and after the prospect signs, schools being allowed to bring players on all-expenses-paid visits to campus from April to June of the player’s junior year of high school, and limiting satellite camps.

“Today’s adoption of the football legislation marks the most significant progress in recent years to improve the football environment and culture for current and prospective student-athletes and coaches,” said Council chair Jim Phillips. “Importantly, the action of the NCAA Division I Council delivers on the charge of the Division I Board of Directors to comprehensively improve the football recruiting environment. This affirms that the new Division I governance structure can effectively and timely address important issues.”

ON THE AIR

Speaking of the NCAA, the association also locked in its March Madness dates for 2018, with Selection Sunday for the Men’s Basketball Tournament set to take place on March 11, with the first four set for March 13-14. The Final Four will take place form San Antonio on March 31 with the Championship game slotted for April 2.

NFL SVP of Officiating Dean Blandino is departing the league for a TV waters, according to NFL.com, although his destination remains unknown. One report had Blandino heading to CBS, although another report stated that wasn’t the case. Blandino will remain with the league office until May 31. “Dean has done an outstanding job leading our officiating staff,” Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations, said in a statement provided to all 32 NFL teams Friday. “He has been a trusted colleague and friend to so many of us around the league. Dean’s knowledge of the playing rules, his tireless commitment to improving the quality of NFL officiating and his unquestioned dedication to his job has earned him the respect of the entire football community.”

T he MLS All-Star Game will bring in another heavyweight for this year’s contest, announcing that Real Madrid has signed on to play the Aug. 2 game at Soldier Field. The contest will take place on FS1. This will be the first time that Real Madrid will take part in the MLS All-Star Game.

Variety took a deep dive into NBA ratings with the regular season in the books. The report state that the league’s national broadcast partners all saw viewership declines from the previous season, with NBA telecasts across ABC, ESPN and TNT, along with NBA TV, average 1.19 million total viewers for the season ending last Wednesday. That is down 6% from 2015-16 Nielsen numbers and even with the average from 2014-15. Under a new television deal, the three networks combined to broadcast 19 more games than last season with TNT averaging 1.5 million viewers, off 8% from last season. However, taking away the network’s new Monday-night lineup of games, TNT held even with last season’s 1.7 million average. ESPN and ABC averaged 1.9 million viewers, down 5% from last season, when they aired eight less games combined. However, the company saw upticks in streaming viewership, with ESPN digital platforms averaging 45,000 viewers per minute, up 18% from 38,000 last season.

Meanwhile, the NHL also saw a downturn in its regular season numbers. SMW writes that the 2016-17 NHL regular season averaged 467,000 viewers across NBC and NBCSN, down 7% from last year and off 5% from 2015. Meanwhile, coverage on NBC averaged 1.2 million viewers over 15 games, down 20% from 11 windows last year. On NBCSN, regular season games averaged 336,000 viewers, slipping 11% year-to-year, according to the report. That said, NBC Sports Digital notched its best regular season event for the league, live streaming “with a total of 923,000 uniques,” up 28% over the previous season, clocking in with 126 million live minutes (up 30%), and averaging 21,000 uniques with 1.1 million live streaming minutes per game, up 21% and 24% respectively.

The NHL unveiled its starts time for its Stanley Cup Playoff games on Thursday, should they be needed, announcing that Game 5 of the Rangers/Canadiens slate and the Blue Jackets/Penguins will both begin at 7p. Game 4 of the Predators/Blackhawks will start at 8p, and game 5 of the Sharks/Oilers begins at 10:30p.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The NBA unleashed two new spots on ESPN on Saturday during the NBA Playoffs promoting two Universal Pictures films – Despicable Me 3 and The Mummy. The spots were created by ESPN’s CreativeWorks team and marked the first time Universal Pictures has supported two films during Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs. In “Brothers Therapy,” Stephen Curry and Seth Curry hit a therapy session, while “Witness,” sees DeAndre Jordan, Isaiah Thomas and John Wall “witness the rise of a mysterious event, concluding with the hashtag #THEMUMMYISCOMING.”

The San Jose Sharks announced a partnership with Supernova Spirits to make Marz Vodka “the Official Vodka” of the team. The multi-year, exclusive partnership includes signage throughout SAP Center at San Jose as well as branding of the South Bar in the Alaska Airlines Club as the “Marz Vodka Bar.”

Alliance MMA named full-service branding agency and creative services firm 160over90 to develop the company’s visual identity. “We are beyond thrilled to be working with an agency as prestigious as 160over90,” said James Byrne, Chief Marketing Officer at Alliance MMA. “They have proven to be some of the most innovative and hard-working people in this industry, inducing explosive growth across numerous consumer markets. Alliance MMA looks forward to collaborating with 160over90 to enhance our value, unify our vision, and build the pillars for our evolving brand.”

DIGITAL & STREAMING

NBC Sports reports that – since launching live on April 2, local MLB streaming on the NBC Sports Regional Networks have accounted for more than 15 million minutes, with NBC Sports Bay Area’s coverage of the Giants’ along delivering more than 5 million total live minutes.

ESPORTS

Red Bull Media House announced that 2017 will see three feature events for the second season of Team Brawl: Hearthstone. Following the action this past weekend, the company will also feature events on Aug. 5 and Dec. 15. Each event will take place at Red Bull’s esports studio in Santa Monica, and will be showcased from the Red Bull esports Twitch channel.

Speaking of Hearthstone, Blizzard announced that Tavern Hero tournaments will run separately from the regional Playoffs as online-only double-elimination tournaments for HCT Spring. The top eight players from each Tavern Hero tournament will join the top 64 Hearthstone Competitive Point earners in their respective regional Playoffs with tournaments locked in to run May 6 for the Americas and Europe and May 13 for Asia-Pacific.

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Capitals/Maple Leafs on NBCSN at 7p.

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The Cynopsis Kids! Imagination Awards is almost here and entries are now open!

Enter NOW and you’ll be in good company – Last year’s finalists included:

7ate9 Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Disney, DreamWorksTV, Food Network, FOX, Hasbro, Litton Entertainment, National Geographic, Netflix, Nickelodeon, PBS KIDS, Saban Brands, Sesame Workshop, Steve Rotfeld Productions, The Jim Henson Company, WNET, YouTube and more!

ON THIS DAY in 1947: Jackie Robinson gets his first hit in the major leagues.

In The Know: In which sporting event is the Woodlawn Vase presented? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: In the movie, The Hurricane, what is the name of the boxer portrayed by Denzel Washington? Answer: Rubin Carter. Kudos: Keith Marder-Halstead Property/NY; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Media/NY; Scott Jenkins-Gracenote/NY; Joe Santamaria-NBC/NY; Larry Kahn-Golf Channel/Orlando; Anthony Stellato-Charter Communications/Stamford; Stephen Kelley-9 Story Media Group/Toronto; Michael Goodman-Radio One Atlanta/Atlanta; Rachelle Ray-Katz Television Group/Chicago; Matt Fumagalli-NBC Sports/Chicago; Derrick Stasica-THV11/Little Rock; David Hauptman/Denver; John Sutton-Charter Digital Media/LA; Bruce Trotter-CoxReps/LA; Jim Himmel-TCB Media/San Clemente; Don Surath-KPIX-TV/KBCW-TV/San Francisco

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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