Tom Brady is already poised to make history as a broadcaster, as the famed QB and FOX Sports announced that he will join the company to serve as its lead NFL analyst when he finally decides to retire from play. The New York Post reported that the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback has agreed to a 10-year, $375 million contract, marking the highest payout in sports broadcasting history. FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced the news Tuesday during a corporate investor call. Brady would call games with lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt in addition to working as an “ambassador” for the company. Brady tweeted that he is excited to be heading to FOX, but stated that he still has “unfinished business” as a player.

PROGRAMMING

ABC’s live coverage of Sunday’s inaugural Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix set records for the sport, averaging viewership of 2.6 million to rank as the largest audience for a live F1 telecast ever on US television. The telecast peaked at 2.9 million average viewers in the 4:45-5p quarter-hour as defending World Champion Max Verstappen took the victory. Market ratings were led by Miami at a 3.7, followed by West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Through five races, the 2022 F1 season is averaging 1.4 million viewers per race, up 49% over the 2021 season average.

Turner Sports continued its hot streak with the NHL, reporting that its coverage of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs – with coverage televised on TNT and TBS – up 46% through May 8 over comparable windows in 2021, and up 48% vs. 2019. Female viewership for playoff games airing on TNT and TBS continues to see substantial increases, up 71% over televised games to date last year, and up 73% from 2019. Saturday’s triple-header of Game 3s (Colorado Avalanche vs. Nashville Predators; New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins; Calgary Flames vs. Dallas Stars) averaged 917,000 viewers on TNT. The Penguins vs. Rangers game averaged 1.3 million viewers to become the most watched Round 1, Game 1-4, of all time on cable and the most watched game of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs thus far.

With numbers all in, NBC Sports’ presentation of the 148th Kentucky Derby averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 16.0 million viewers to rank as the most watched “Run for the Roses” since 2019 and marks an 8% increase from last year’s event. In addition, the company reports that the debut of MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBC averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 1.34 million viewers, marking the most-watched regular-season Sunday day game since 2019 Following baseball, Sunday’s Houston-New Orleans USFL matchup averaged a TAD of 1.17 million viewers, to rank as NBC Sports’ most-watched USFL game since the season’s opening weekend.

TUDN concluded its semifinal rounds coverage of the UEFA Champions League as its May 4 telecast of Real Madrid/Manchester City delivered the largest audience ever for a European Champions League Semifinal match with 1,277,000 viewers and 614K viewers A18-49 on average, according to Nielsen.

On the programming front, CBS Sports and Nickelodeon are teaming up for a nationally televised NFL Christmas Day game between the Broncos/Rams on Dec. 25, at 4:30p. CBS Sports’ presentation will be broadcast on CBS and available to stream live on Paramount+ while a special slime-filled telecast will air exclusively on Nickelodeon.

Dick Vitale will be honored with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at The 2022 ESPYS, broadcasting live on July 20 at 8p on ABC. The award is given to a “deserving member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through perseverance and determination.” Last summer, the 82-year-old “Dickie V,” who has been broadcasting college basketball on ESPN for more than four decades, announced that he had undergone multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. Then, a few months later, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and underwent six months of chemotherapy. In March, a scan declared he was cancer free.

The NBA and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi announced that the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks will play two preseason games at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 6 and Oct. 8. The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022 will mark the league’s first games in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Arabian Gulf. The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022 will be broadcast live in the UAE and across the Middle East and North Africa on beIN SPORTS, The Sports Channel and NBA League Pass, the league’s premium live game subscription service. The games will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories around the world on television, digital media and social media.

Meanwhile, deals between MLB and various United Kingdom baseball groups have now locked in the MLB London games annually through 2026. The slate includes MLB’s commitment to hold major events in London over the next five years. To complement these events, MLB Europe will continue to conduct new London-based fan engagement events, expanded UK-focused content, baseball participation programs, and other city specific media arrangements to help continue the growth of baseball’s popularity across London.

The LVCVA board gave the green light to a three-year, $19.5 million sponsorship and value-in-kind services agreement with Liberty Dice to put on a Formula One grand prix race on the Strip in November of 2023, 2024 and 2025. In addition, Formula 1 agreed to purchase 39 acres of land east of the Las Vegas Strip for $240 million that will house the pit and paddock complex for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Speaking of Vegas, the BIG3 announced that the 2022 player combine will be held on May 14 at Las Vegas Basketball Center in the city. The second annual combine will feature the winning athletes from each of this season’s four open tryouts along with dozens of high-level players competing for 22 spots in the 2022 BIG3 draft pool. For the first time, fans will get to be inside the combine, as the BIG3 Combine will be streamed on the BIG3.com and BIG3 YouTube channel.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

With the Stanley Cup Finals set to air across ESPN networks, ESPN is debuting a new campaign designed to “celebrate this premier slate of programming and remind fans that the best live events take place on the ESPN Family of Networks” with the Finals joining other championship moments such as the NBA Finals, numerous NCAA championships, the PGA Championship, and more. The campaign features music from artists Alt-J and Baauer, in the form of a remix of the Alt-J hit song “U&Me.” The creative piece culminates by showcasing the multitude of championship events to be aired across ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+.

Meanwhile, ESPN is collaborating with artists that span multiple musical genres to create three remixes of the iconic “NHL on ESPN” theme song in celebration of the first Stanley Cup Playoffs on the network since 2004. Producer Murda Beatz (in collaboration with producer signed to him: Foster), alternative rock band Joywave, and EDM duo Zeds Dead are all creating their own renditions of the track. “The “NHL on ESPN” theme song is one of those songs that became synonymous with our hockey coverage over the years, so we knew we wanted to celebrate the return of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN by bringing a unique element to it,” said Lucas Ferraro, Director of Sports Marketing, ESPN. “All the artists did a phenomenal job modernizing the track for today’s fans while infusing the classic elements we all know and love.”

The Rugby Football League and Super League Europe locked in a 12-year strategic partnership with IMG, in a move to reimagine Rugby League and its competitions in the UK. IMG assembled a team to work with the newly combined entity on strategically repositioning the sport to maximize its commercial potential for long-term growth, build deeper relationships with fans and attract new audiences. The agency will initially focus on competition restructuring, content production and innovation, domestic and international distribution of media rights, among other initiatives.

New York Red Bulls announced that forex trading platform OANDA Corporation signed on as the club’s official jersey sleeve patch. The multiyear partnership is the first foray into sports marketing for the online trading services brand. The OANDA logo will appear on the right sleeve of the jersey and be included on select club apparel. In addition to the New York Red Bulls assets, the partnership expands into the broader world of Red Bull, including experiential and branding assets at select Red Bull events and media properties.

Insurance agency platform Renegade partnered with Stewart-Haas Racing. Renegade will make its debut on the No. 10 Ford Mustang of NASCAR Cup Series driver Aric Almirola beginning with this weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City with Renegade emblazoned across the car’s roof, just above the rear windshield. Renegade’s first race as a primary sponsor of Almirola and the No. 10 team will be Sept. 3-4 during the Southern 500 race weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Electronic Arts is moving on without FIFA, announcing that its soccer games will now be published under a new EA SPORTS FC moniker starting in 2023. The brand will feature more than 300 individual licensed partners, giving players access to more than 19,000 athletes across 700 teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues around the world. “Our vision for EA SPORTS FC is to create the largest and most impactful football club in the world, at the epicenter of football fandom,” said Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson. “For nearly 30 years, we’ve been building the world’s biggest football community – with hundreds of millions of players, thousands of athlete partners, and hundreds of leagues, federations, and teams. EA SPORTS FC will be the club for every one of them, and for football fans everywhere.”

Quarter4, an AI-powered predictive sports data and analytics provider for media, affiliates and betting platforms, announced the addition of WNBA predictions and forecasts for players, teams and playoff scenarios to its platform. “At Quarter4, we want to champion women’s sports and support those taking it to the next level by offering robust WNBA data,” said Kelly Brooks, co-founder and CEO of Quarter4. “Our goal is to increase the engagement with women’s sports. The WNBA is full of extremely talented athletes and advocates for equality. By offering rich data on the league, bettors and fans will become more familiar with the amazing women on the rosters and enjoy the action on the court even more this season.”

GreenPark Sports and LaLiga announced an expansion of their multi-year licensing partnership to include in-game NFTs featuring a special NFT collection of Matchday Jerseys. In the coming weeks, GreenPark will launch an inaugural collection of Matchday jerseys, allowing fans to collect team and player jerseys from specific games to commemorate some of the greatest match-ups and performances. Fans will have the opportunity to purchase football lockers, inside which they will find a collection of player kits from that match day. The first drop will be offered later this year.

ESPORTS

FaZe Clan tied up a pair of new partnerships, including one with local commerce platform DoorDash, which will now see the company appear across FaZe Clan’s platforms as their official on-demand delivery platform. Throughout the partnership, FaZe Clan Talent will partner with DoorDash. FaZe Clan and DoorDash have also teamed up for a new livestream gaming series on Twitch called DashDays. Additionally, DoorDash will be integrated into Faze Clan’s slate of new programming and live events. “We are thrilled to be the official on-demand delivery platform of FaZe Clan and support gamers as the one-stop shop for everything they need to seamlessly support their gaming rituals and eliminate down time so they can focus on the games they love,” said David Bornoff, DoorDash’s Head of Brand Marketing. “We look forward to working together as we leverage our platform to uniquely engage and build lasting connections with the gaming community.”

In addition, FaZe Clan revealed a collaboration with Ducky, with first set to be available in-store on the opening day of The Armory. The two gaming brands link up to present the FaZe Clan x Ducky One 3 Mini, a mechanical keyboard. “We are extremely excited to partner with Ducky to release our first official FaZe Clan keyboard,” says Derek Chestnut, FaZe Clan’s VP of Consumer Products. “Many of our founders and talent are longtime fans of Ducky, making this such an authentic way to continue to build out our consumer products business with Ducky’s high-tech gaming products and electronics.”

The NHL announced the 2022 NHL Gaming World Championship broadcast team, tapping the talents of Cameron ‘NoSleeves’ Halbert, Anthony ‘GrizGoal’ Scibilia III and Carrlyn Bathe as the puck drops on the NHL GWC live stream schedule this Saturday at noon with the 2022 NHL GWC North American Xbox Console Semifinals.

DreamHack announced the addition of two Fortnite competitions to its DreamHack Summer festival in Jönköping, Sweden on June 18-21. Both are solo competitions and feature a $100,000 prize pool each, with one using the classic Battle Royale game mode while the other runs the new Zero Build game mode.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Rob Hyland has been named the coordinating producer of NBC Sunday Night Football. Hyland’s first game in the role will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in primetime on Aug. 4, alongside director Drew Esocoff. “Working on a wide range of sports and properties throughout his NBC Sports career, Rob has consistently excelled, producing dynamic and compelling coverage,” said Pete Bevacqua, NBC Sports Chairman. “We are excited to have Rob in the chair for Sunday Night Football, to carry on the legacy of best-in-class game presentation and storytelling that have made SNF destination viewing as primetime’s #1 show for a historic 11 years running.”

The National Lacrosse League and USA Lacrosse entered into a strategic partnership agreement to “unify efforts to help the sport grow with a specific focus on box lacrosse.” The NLL will assist USA Lacrosse in developing box coaches and officials by supplementing the curriculum in USA Lacrosse coach and official development programs with box-specific content. The league will also provide its coaches and players to present at the annual USA Lacrosse National Convention. The two entities will also explore options related to talent identification and player development with the goal of expanding the player pool for U.S. national teams and increasing the number of Americans positioned to play in the NLL.

The XFL unveiled scouting and consulting partnerships with Inside the League and FBXchange for the upcoming 2023 season. “Since January, our football operations team has been busy attending the NFL Combine, all-star and bowl games and college pro days to start identifying the next wave of rising stars in football,” said Russ Brandon, XFL President. “These partnerships are incremental to the fantastic team we have started to build at the XFL and will help improve efficiencies and round out capabilities across our football operations department. We deeply value collaboration in all forms, and in working with Inside the League and FBXchange, we are able to combine scouting efforts, expand our coverage of events, leverage premium data and, ultimately, populate our player pool. We are looking forward to working together and recruiting high-quality, talented players to create an elite football forum.”

ONE Championship announced that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Leo Vieira has been named Vice President of Grappling. Along with his brothers Ricardo and Leandro, Vieira is the co-founder of CheckMat, one of the most decorated grappling teams in the world.

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ON THIS DAY in
1977: Ted Turner manages an Atlanta Braves game.

IN THE KNOW
Who holds the MLB record for most career Grand Slams? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Kobe Bryant was drafted out of what high school? Answer: Lower Merion High School. Kudos: Dana Albalancy-Publicis Sport & Entertainment/NY; Chris Hall-Magid/NY; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Luke Tarby-A+E Networks/NY; C.J. Bottitta-Big Picture Productions/Apex; Mike Furman-GMMB/DC; Greg Conner-WWE/Stamford; Lt. Col. Brett Lea-82nd Airborne Division/Fort Bragg; JT Ward-Spark Connect/Chicago; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Travis Wacker-ESPN Chicago/Good Karma Brands/Chicago; Tara Aviel-Access Media Services/Redondo Beach Benjamin Robinson-Media Design Group/LA; Greg Dudsic/Palmdale; John Baghdassarian-Olympusat/LA

Cynopsis Team