Gargano on key content takeaways: We always pay attention to metrics. In some ways, we scrutinize every piece of content we produce, and we constantly look at content trends throughout all categories. This data helps us make educated and informed decisions on what content we are posting and how it is being produced. Also, this data helps our decisions as we incorporate our partners into our content. We take a sophisticated approach in how we analyze our content as it pertains to volume, style and positioning and distribution.

On content strategy: We are a very collaborative organization and take pride in embracing that as a department. We elicit input from every single person and all ideas are encouraged. Because of this culture, our content strategy is informed by constant ideation as well as monetization opportunities, enabling us to navigate both the in-season demands as well as the offseason.

We are always auditing our content, making sure that it is resonating with our fans. This self-reflection enables us to make sound decisions about resources and production workflows. Like most clubs, we play to our strengths. If we over-index in a certain area, we will capitalize there, however we try and remain well-rounded with our offerings. We realize that in today’s content landscape, diversifying our content to match our audience is a strong and effective strategy. To that point, we will discontinue a content series if it is not resonating with our fans.

On incorporating sponsors: The Covid – 19 challenges that we are facing are impacting all businesses and has resulted in us needing to be even more creative and collaborative. We always work closely with our sponsorship group to provide our partners with great content and value. Because we are in uncertain times, we have re-dedicated ourselves to providing our partners value certainty. As an example, this has meant re-positioning our sponsors from in-person events to content offerings. Rather than thinking about where we would like to be, we have all embraced where are and thus have created value in new ways.

An example would be Verizon. As a valued partner, Verizon was the presenting sponsor of our Virtual Draft Party which was a live show previewing the first night of the 2020 NFL Draft. Because we did not have an actual in-person event, we worked with Verizon to integrate their brand throughout the show. As a result of their open-minded approach, they benefited from different, but quality engagement during this NFL tent-pole event.

On growth areas: We are and need to continue to be open minded to new content ideas. This is important for growth and partnership. This, coupled with our philosophy of playing to our strengths, will allow us to focus on growing areas of content. Our strengths are quality storytelling on all platforms from TikTok to our long-form docu-series One Jets Drive but we are always pushing to take it to another level.

We see live programming as a growth potential for us. Fans always want to feel close to the action whether that is access to training camp, pre-game or post-game shows at home or on the road. Also, we think studio programming is a big growth area for us. We are in the process of building a brand – new studio at our practice facility that will enable us to produce high quality programming throughout the year.

On Emmy wins: Content production is the epitome of the collaborative process. Winning 7 National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences New York Emmy Awards is something to take pride in as a department – it highlights a dedication to the craft and a commitment to storytelling. It also has many layers of achievement throughout the department, from cinematographers, editors, producers, graphic artists, social and digital, distribution, sales and strategy.

PROGRAMMING

NASCAR announced Friday the three tracks which will have races reassigned to Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway later this month as the sport prepares to host its first events shutting down for the COVID-19 outbreak. The schedule will now shift events away from Chicagoland Speedway, Richmond Raceway (spring) and Sonoma Raceway on the 2020 calendar.

Major League Baseball will reportedly cut its 2020 MLB Draft to only five rounds, as owners as owners look for ways to cut costs as a result of the pandemic, according to ESPN. The revised event will allow teams to sign an unlimited number of undrafted players for $20,000. The draft is expected to begin June 10. Eliminating the sixth through 10th rounds will save teams a combined $29,578,100 in slot value, according to the report,

The National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association announced the postponement of its 2020 international games. The Bruins and Predators were slated to compete in Prague, while the Avalanche and Blue jackets were scheduled for Helsinki. “The NHLPA and the NHL remain committed to maintaining and growing our international presence. We hope that our fans overseas understand the need to postpone the 2020 games, but we look forward to being back with them in 2021,” the league said in a statement.

NCAA President Mark Emmert noted that college sports will not return to the field until university campuses have reopened. “All of the commissioners and every president that I’ve talked to is in clear agreement: If you don’t have students on campus, you don’t have student-athletes on campus,” Emmert wrote on the NCAA Twitter account. “That doesn’t mean [the school] has to be up and running in the full normal model, but you have to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students…If a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports. It’s really that simple.”

Meanwhile, the Pac-12 and Big 12 will both shift their upcoming media days to virtual events, according to reports. The Pac-12 event was originally scheduled for July 29 in Los Angeles. The Big 12 one would have taken place on July 20-21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. They now join the Mountain West, AAC, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA in going online.

Fresh off of resuming competition with UFC 249 this past weekend, the promotion announced a fight card for Las Vegas that will take place on May 23, joining previously announced Jacksonville events slated for May 13 and May 16. UFC 249 will be headlined by an interim lightweight championship fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje and carried on ESPN.

The French Open at Roland Garros could be held without fans in attendance later this year, the president of the French Tennis Federation stated on Sunday. This years tournament was slated to take part from May 24-June 7 but was postponed for Sept. 20 to Oct. 4. Bernard Giudicelli told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that “Organizing it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning, [like] television rights and partnerships. It’s not to be overlooked. We’re not ruling any option out.”

On the programming front, the Professional Bowlers Association will be exclusively streaming its upcoming draft on FloSports on May 17. Fans will be able to tune in as 50 players will be drafted to 10 teams across the country including the Silver Lake Atom Splitters and Philadelphia Hitmen. FloSports will be producing the live draft using a 12-person production team each working remotely in Austin and other cities around the country. The broadcast will include a 20-minute preshow featuring analysis and commentary from FloSports reporters and other guests. The League Draft show will include pre-taped packages, live interviews, video from team manager home offices as well as player reactions.

HQ Trivia’s Mobile Sports Trivia Game is returning with a partnership with Busch Beer with the premiere episode spotlighting a $5,000 donation to Kobe and Vanessa Bryant’s foundation, Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation in addition to a $2,500 cash prize for winners. Episodes recur every Thursday and Sunday with Lauren Gambino as host.

KFC, Beyond Meat and Beyond Meat Ambassador are teaming with the NBA’s Chris Paul that will see a local KFC restaurant donate 200 meals/week to the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center each week in May. Meanwhile, · Beyond Meat’s Feed a Million+ pledge is donating over one million meals to food banks, frontline workers and those in need in an effort to ensure access to good, nourishing meals at no cost. Also, KFC recently donated one million pieces of chicken to its 4,000 KFC restaurants in the U.S., empowering franchisees to give back to those in need in their local communities.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

A new case study diving into the partnership with Facebook and Glory Kickboxing found that a revamped video strategy produced a 44-fold increase in video views with a 4,300% rise in advertising revenues for the promotion. Implemented in January, the strategy places emphasis on longer-form video posts of three minutes or more in duration and pivots away from a previous strategy which concentrated on short videos of one minute or less in duration. Longer-form videos constituted 47% of GLORY’s Facebook video posts in the first quarter of 2020 and accounted for 97% of total video views in the period. This year, from January through to the end of March, more than 44 million minutes of video were watched on Glory’s official Facebook page, a 4.5 multiple of one-minute GLORY Facebook video views recorded for the whole of 2019,

ESPORTS

After a year as partners, AOC and Red Bull are extending their ties for another year, with AOC set equip both gamers and casters with its gaming monitors at Red Bull esports events, beginning with the League of Legends Red Bull Solo Q. “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Red Bull and take it to a global level”, says Stefan Sommer, Director Marketing and Business Management at AOC. “Working together allows us to reinforce the esports community in more and more countries and we are proud that our monitors were selected as preferred gear to facilitate players’ top-notch performance.”

ONE Esports announced on Friday that it will cancel next month’s Singapore Major. “Due to the current global situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the current regulations in Singapore, we want to inform everybody that the last DOTA 2 Major of the Year, Singapore Major, will be canceled,” the organization posted on Twitter. “Take care, be strong, and keep yourselves safe and healthy!”

The EGF announced a partnership with Microsoft and Syracuse University. “Microsoft is excited to partner with EGF and Syracuse University by harnessing student enthusiasm for esports and offering this unique opportunity for students to learn from thought leaders and gain experience in live casting,” said Josh Reynolds, Senior Account Executive at Microsoft. “While other sports are offline right now, esports continue to grow and empower students.” The EGF Collegiate Power Series features a multi-week qualifying round that started on April 20.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

David Graham was named as the new chief executive of World Sailing, starting July 13. He brings over 20 years of experience in the sport, including 11 at Oman Sail.

In the Know
Which sports movie had the tagline, “One dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty below zero”? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Which ball is worth the most points in English snooker? Answer: Black. Kudos: Mike May-R2 Innovative Technologies/Wellington; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; John Kukla-KDFW/KDFI/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Luke Hughes-Octagon/LA