The NHL detailed activation plans for its corporate partners during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with activation highlights that include (but are not limited to): the launch of Enterprise’s “All the Places Life Takes Martin Brodeur” campaign; GEICO’s campaign featuring Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron; PPG Paints initial foray into the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the “Character of Champion” spot featuring the Keeper of the Cup, Phil Pritchard as well as the Reese “Without the Pros” commercial in Canada. Other initiatives include Discover’s The Day With The Cup series; Pepsi and Lay’s giving fans the chance to host the ultimate Stanley Cup house party; Reese’s For The Love of The Cup promotion, dangling a trip for the fan who finds a Stanley Cup-wrapped Reese Peanut Butter Cup.
THE PLAYERS Championship
locked in a deal with ride-sharing service Uber for the 2017 event that will see the company receive a designated pick-up and drop-off area at the Sawgrass Marriott, “With the increasing popularity of THE PLAYERS both in Northeast Florida and nationally, efficiently getting fans into and out of the tournament in a timely and safe manner is one of our key goals,” said Jared Rice, executive director of THE PLAYERS Championship. “We are thrilled to be working with the most well-known ride-sharing service, and we encourage all our fans to use Uber throughout the week.”
Competitor Group, operators of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, announced that Synchrony Financial will become the new title partner for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon & ½ Marathon. The event returns June 3-4.
CONCACAF
and Twitter are partnering to live stream the final match of the 2016/17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, which will be played between Mexican sides Tigres UANL and C.F. Pachuca on tonight at 10p, as well as the knock-out rounds and final match of the Men’s Under-17 Championship, currently underway in Panama. The matches will be available in English for free to logged-in and logged-out Twitter users via @CONCACAF on Twitter and connected devices in the United States and Canada, as well as all other countries and territories outside Latin America. The finals of the CONCACAF Champions League will be the first global live football championship ever streamed on the platform.
The Olympic Channel and the International Surfing Association locked in a content cooperation agreement that will see the network live stream coverage from the upcoming 2017 ISA World Surfing Games, running May 20-28 Ma, in Biarritz, France, in addition to other ISA events. The organization now becomes the 52nd federation partner of the multi-platform media destination. “We look forward to working with the International Surfing Association to introduce their sport and athletes to a broader audience,” said Mark Parkman, general manager of the Olympic Channel. “As we look ahead to Tokyo 2020, viewers are sure to be fascinated by the stories of these athletes who push their limits against one of nature’s most powerful elements.”
Digital games publisher and developer 704Games announced the worldwide release of NASCAR Heat Mobile, the “first authentic NASCAR racing game on mobile to feature 40 stock cars racing simultaneously.” 704Games tapped veteran developer Firebrand Games, creators of NASCAR Unleashed, to build the title, which will serve as a free-to-play game.
Brendan Donohue, NBA Senior Vice President, Team Marketing and Business Operations has been named Managing Director of the new NBA 2K esports league, where he will be charged with overseeing the league. NBA teams participating in the inaugural season will be announced in the coming weeks, with the new league set to launch in 2018 and more than half of all NBA teams now expected to participate in the debut season. “We’re thrilled that we already have in place a seasoned sports executive to lead this new league,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “The fact that Brendan knows the NBA inside and out is a huge bonus and will enable us to ramp up this venture in record time.”
Blizzard laid out the 32 teams that will be competing for the Overwatch World Cup. The selections were made based on the skill ratings of the top 100 players from every country to determine each country’s average rating. China finished the survey as the top country in the ranking, with South Korea, United States, Sweden and Finland rounding out the top five.
ASUS Republic of Gamers
announced its sponsorship of NRG eSports. As part of the partnership, NRG will now receive exclusive premium PC hardware from ASUS ROG, including desktops, laptops and monitors. As a part of the sponsorship, NRG esports players will share their own experiences using ROG hardware with the eSports community, including player streams, behind-the-scenes content from the leading eSports events and more. In addition to supporting the team with its award-winning technology, ASUS ROG will appear on the official NRG eSports jerseys for the teams in “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” “Gears of War,” “Hearthstone,” “Overwatch,” “Rocket League,” “Super Smash Bros.” and “SMITE.” “eSports tournaments are drawing audiences that rival the biggest sporting events I’ve experienced,” said NRG eSports Co-Owner and Advisor Shaquille O’Neal. “We need the most hardcore technology for that intensity of competition and ASUS meets those demands.”
While esports may medal in territorial games, don’t expect the industry to grab Olympic gold anytime soon. IOC president Thomas Bach told insidethegames that “We are not yet 100 percent clear whether esports is really sport, with regard to physical activity and what it needs to be considered sport. We do not see an organization or a structure that will give us confidence, or guarantee, that in this area the Olympic rules and values of sport are respected and in place, and that the implementation of these rules are monitored and secured.”
Round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs opens with Predators/Blues at 8p on NBCSN.
