PROGRAMMING

Meanwhile, FOX NASCAR shifts back into gear for live racing coverage at Darlington Raceway on Sunday at 3:30p on FOX with a live broadcast of the first NASCAR Cup Series race in 10 weeks. Sunday’s 400-mile event marks the first of seven races at two tracks across three series in the span of 10 days, all airing on the FOX family of networks and the FOX Sports app. To honor those who selflessly have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle, NASCAR, FOX Sports and its local affiliates have selected 36 health care workers from various markets across the country to serve as special grand marshals for Sunday’s return race at Darlington. Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Larry McReynolds call Sunday’s race from the FOX Sports studios in Charlotte. Reporter Regan Smith covers the action live from Darlington. Adam Alexander, Michael Waltrip and Clint Bowyer call Tuesday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Darlington race from the Charlotte studio with at-track reporting by Smith.

ESPN’s presentation of The Last Dance averaged 5.6 million viewers across premieres of its first eight episodes, according to Nielsen. On Sunday, May 10th, Episodes 7 and 8 averaged 5.1 million viewers across ESPN & ESPN2 from 9-11p with episode 7 averaging 5.3 million viewers

The University of Connecticut and CBS Sports locked in a multi-year television partnership for UConn’s home football games. CBS Sports Network will televise four home games during the 2020 season as well as all home games through the 2023 season. In 2020, CBS Sports Network will televise the contests against Indiana, Liberty, Middle Tennessee and Army. “I am excited that we have been able to finalize this multi-year partnership with CBS Sports,” director of athletics David Benedict said. “CBS Sports is a tremendous brand for our football program to be associated with and I know UConn Nation will be pleased that it will be able to watch the Huskies compete against a compelling group of opponents on a nationally-distributed network.”

PGA of America is bringing the PGA Championship back to Southern Hills Country Club in 2030. The course will become the first course in history to host five editions of the PGA Championship. With TPC Harding Park hosting for the first time later this summer, later editions of the tournament will hit: Kiawah Island (2021), Trump Bedminster (2022), Oak Hill (2023), Valhalla (2024), Aronimink (2026), PGA Frisco (2027), Olympic (2028) and Baltusrol (2029).

USA Gymnastics formally called off its key events for 2020, including June’s national championships, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The championships were scheduled for June 4-7 in Fort Worth, but the next edition will now take place on June 3-6, 2021. “In light of recent guidance from health experts, and after receiving feedback from our athletes and coaches, we believe it is in the best interest of our community to wait until 2021 to hold premier events,” said USA Gymnastics chief executive Li Li Leung.

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The Drone Racing League announced that the first-ever fantasy virtual drone racing series, the 2020 FanDuel DRL SIM Racing Cup, that will premiere on Saturday at 2:30p on NBCSN. The series will run for eight weekends on NBCSN and Twitter and feature 12 elite DRL pilots battling it out on the drone racing simulator. “DRL authentically merges the digital with the real, so we’re thrilled to highlight the virtual side of drone racing on NBCSN and Twitter starting this Saturday. The high-speed, futuristic racing combined with daily fantasy is great for the whole family — and it’s all for an amazing charity supporting frontline workers,” said DRL President Rachel Jacobson.

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross will hit a virtual track for the inaugural Monster Energy Supercross E SX event, presented by Toyota, which will be broadcast on NBCSN on Saturday at 4:30p. The 90-minute television special features seven Supercross athletes competing against one another in the 250SX Class and another seven athletes competing in the 450SX Class. Set in Anaheim at Angel Stadium. The NBC Sports broadcasting team of Leigh Diffey, Ricky Carmichael and Daniel Blair will call the action in both the 15-minute plus one lap 250SX Main Event and 20-minute plus one lap 450SX Main Event.

Friday sees Dwyane Wade make his debut in a new livestream concept from B/R Studio – Run it Back. The Hall of Fame star will be joined by Udonis Haslem, Channing Frye, and Danny Green as they look back at the 2013 Heat season, specifically Game 7 of the Finals against the Spurs and talk through all the ups and downs of that historic run. Run it Back will stream live exclusively in the B/R app at 6p.

Registration will open soon. Questions? Contact

[email protected].

The NFL reports that its NFL Inspire Change initiative has contributed more than $44 million in grants to organizations across the country. The tally includes more than 750 grants provided by the NFL Foundation to current NFL players and NFL Legends for nonprofits of their choice. Also included in the $44 million total social justice contribution are this year’s club-player matching social justice funds. Adopted in 2018 by all 32 NFL clubs, this initiative encourages clubs to match the contributions of their players and work collaboratively to support local social justice organizations. “The work of our Inspire Change grant partners has a tremendous impact on communities across the country,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Each of these organizations has worked to reduce barriers to opportunity and has provided resources that meet the needs of the communities they serve. We are proud to assist with their respective efforts to a more equal and just tomorrow.”

As Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson prepare to compete against Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in raising funds for COVID-19 relief efforts during TaylorMade Driving Relief supported by UnitedHealth Group on Sunday, fans at home will be able to contribute to the fundraising efforts thanks to PGA TOUR Charities through online donations and Text-To-Give options powered by GoFundMe. Farmers Insurance® also pledged $1 million to back a birdies-and-eagle pool to benefit Off Their Plate.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

The National Hockey League announced that voting is now open for the 2020 NHL Fan Choice Awards, giving fans the opportunity to engage with and vote on the best photos, videos and GIFs shared by teams, players and fans from July 1, 2019 to April 1, 2020 on social media. New this year is former NHL player Paul Bissonnette acting as host, where he’ll discuss nominees and interview players across social media, and five new categories – Best Tik Tok, Funniest Player, Fan of the Year, Best NHL Building and Best Mascot that now includes all 29 NHL mascots.

NBC Sports Gold is making Premier Lacrosse League Pass available for purchase for U.S. and international fans, providing global access to the most comprehensive streaming coverage of the league’s world-class lacrosse in one convenient location. The platform is on sale now for a price of $19.99 and will give fans access to all 20 games of the PLL Championship Series and also include on-demand access to encore presentations of every game from the 2019 inaugural season.

Meanwhile, the Premier Lacrosse League announced a partnership with Genius Sports as its Official Data and Integrity Partner for sports betting. Through this partnership, Genius Sports Group will power a host of live betting markets on the PLL for the first time, providing sportsbook operators in the U.S. and globally with critical new content.

The Topps Company’s “Project 2020” saw more than 232,000 cards purchased by fans. Leading the way are three Trout entries, with Ben Baller’s “eclectic interpretation” of the superstar’s 2011 rookie card selling 34,950 copies, more than double any other card in the set of 66 issued to date.

ESPORTS

The LPGA is slicing into esports, launching a players-only esports tournament titled “LPGA eTour Live.” The four-week match-play esports competition will be produced in partnership with World Golf Tour (WGT) by Topgolf and see eight LPGA and Symetra Tour players play head-to-head in a series of nine-hole matches twice a week, starting today and running through a championship match on June 3. The last-eight line-up will see: Jessica Korda vs. Nelly Korda; Angel Yin vs. Lizette Salas; Tiffany Joh vs. Jenny Shin; and Jane Park vs. Lucy Li.

Sleeper, a fantasy sports and messaging app, launched a fantasy League of Legends game available in five regions and their respective leagues (LCS, LEC, LCK, VCS, CBLoL). In addition, the company announced a new $20 million Series B of funding to help expand into more sports and esports. Investors in the company include Andreessen Horowitz, NBA all-stars Baron Davis and Kevin Durant, the NFL’s JuJu Smith-Schuster and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin.

Team Liquid unveiled the Teamfight Tactics Liquid Galaxy Qualifier presented by Jersey Mike’s Subs, in partnership with Riot Games, beginning Saturday. The LGQ will see 2,000+ participants battle for two seats at the Teamfight Tactics: North America and Oceania Final. From there, two players will go on to compete at the global Teamfight Tactics: Galaxies Championship for a $200,000 prize. “Teamfight Tactics players have some of the biggest hearts (and biggest brains) in esports, and we’re honored to work with Riot and Jersey Mike’s to give them their first chance to shine on a regional and potentially global stage,” said Steve Arhancet, Co-CEO of Team Liquid. “Team Liquid’s roots are in supporting communities around esports, and the Liquid Galaxy Qualifier is our way to support the community around TFT – by celebrating the top players in the space and creating moments fans will remember years from now.”

ESL is hitting pause on the $1 million Intel Grand Slam CS:GO circuit due to the the halt on international play as teams shift to a regional format. “Tournaments with multiple winners in multiple divisions do not point to the world’s best team with enough clarity,” ESL said in a statement.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

JWB3 Media Insights released a study titled, “How Essential is Sports?” and examining the impact of the pandemic on sports and attitudes toward returning to competition. Key points included that “Professional sports events held without fans are viewed as essential or more essential than many businesses that are re-opening. Most Americans think professional sports events are at least as essential as Bars/Restaurants (53%), Malls (59%), and Golf Courses (77%); but there remains a divide as 48% agree that sports should not return until other non-essential businesses are fully re-opened.” In addition, auto racing, golf, and tennis are viewed as “safe” while contact sports – boxing, football, basketball, soccer, and hockey – have low safety scores.

NBA China named Michael Ma its new CEO, replacing Derek Chang. Ma served as CEO of Endeavor China, and will be in his new post on June 1.

The Cynopsis Adtech Awards
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During a time when in-person events have been cancelled, the adtech community is stepping up. They’re helping to guarantee marketers upfront inventory and preserve revenue for media owners by using breakthrough approaches and solutions. Adtech providers are a group that lives on the cutting edge of innovation, which is why we are celebrating their platforms, campaigns, and strategies in more than 20 categories. View them all

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In the Know
What color is the 1-ball in a standard pool set? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Which sports movie had the tagline, “One dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty below zero”? Answer: Cool Runnings. Kudos: John Ferlazzo/London; Tori Gallarello-Alcock-Little Roosters/NY; John Morgan-SpotX/NY; Curry Bloom-Horizon Media/NY; Jack Aneser-Scout 360/NY; Mike Doyle-National CineMedia/Madison; Luke Condolora ICON International/Greenwich; Yvette Hart-Cox Media Group/Dayton; Christian Matthews-Washington Redskins/DC; Tom Doherty-Starcom/Chicago; Kyle Krebs-Intersection/Dallas; Dory Petsrillo-CoxReps/Dallas; Jean Edhlund-Cooperative Network Services/Menahga; Greg Molozik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; David Hauptman/Denver; Wendy Holmes-KCNC-TV/Denver; Peter Steckelman-Tennis Channel/Santa Monica; Kevin Fay-Havas Edge/La Jolla; Luke Watson-Noise Nest Network/LA; Tom Hurwitz-Palisades Media/LA