| As upfront presentations continue to roll, Home Team Sports, now a part of Playfly Sports, once again makes its pitch to brands as a direct path to sports fans via local, regional or national scale through customized brand integrations, branded-content platforms, live-game streaming, exclusive highlights, custom creative/advertising production, VIP hospitality experiences and more, repping all regional sports networks across the country. Cynopsis Sports caught up with Craig Sloan, President of Home Team Sports for our annual conversation about the state of local markets, and the market post-pandemic.
Sloan on the state of the market: While the advertising marketplace looks very healthy for at least the next 18 months ahead, I think the larger story is how well it held up during a transformative period in this global pandemic. While there were certainly challenged parts of the economy, many companies continued to market, innovate, and forge new ways to conduct business and connect with consumers. We were certainly impacted by less content through shortened seasons in our college football and basketball, NBA, and NHL seasons, yet we are experiencing record advertising revenues across our RSNs and streaming products.
Home Team Sports has over 150 new advertising partnerships created in our national unwired product this year where we link all RSN and college network content together to create a coast-to-coast delivery of home team audiences. Our current national upfront marketplace is underway, well ahead of prior years, as brands and agencies have recognized our prime adult 18 to 19 demographic delivery is now unmatched across the broadcast and cable landscape— and guaranteed to deliver again in the year ahead.
On viewership trends: Our viewership is up significantly again this year in our streaming products across our Big Ten, Pac-12, NBA, NHL, and MLB content. Fans continue to engage through their mobile and connected TV devices to catch their favorite teams wherever they are. With more innovation around gamification ahead that will be embedded into our app environments, we expect continued growth for years to come. And our linear networks are seeing year over year increases in our MLB coverage, our NHL ratings are the highest we have achieved since 2016, and our Big Ten Network is now the second highest rated cable college football network behind ESPN.
While the NBA performance on national networks has been recently reported as down double digits, we are not seeing the same challenges with about a third of NBA teams are seeing their RSN ratings up substantially year over year. Take the Warriors – Golden State ranks #1 in San Francisco among viewers 18-49. They out-perform every major broadcast network’s primetime numbers by three times.
On brand needs: Scale is nearly impossible to find these days in traditional linear television with the rating deficiencies across broadcast and cable entertainment programming. And that scarcity of impressions, especially meaningful ones, are driving CPMs even higher. It is not an ideal scenario for brands who are looking to take advantage of the expected increased consumer spending coming out of the pandemic. Even national live sports playoff events and award shows are not delivering the same mass audiences they had in the past. Brands need to find content connected to viewer passion points that will not only achieve large audiences but ones that are attentive, engaged, and cognitively connected to the content to to deliver retention and results. Our home team coverage provides playoff-like intensity nightly year-round and is one of the last remaining appointment programming areas across the landscape.
On categories: Traditional stalwart categories like insurance, QSR, wireless, and technology seemed impervious to external factors like a pandemic over this past year. Other industries like food delivery service, e-commerce, and pharmaceuticals evolved quickly and took advantage of altered consumer needs. As we look ahead as the country reopens, we see significant growth potential in the returns of automotive, movie, and travel categories with exciting innovations and new launches. And the year ahead looks even more favorable for our sports betting operator partners. With even more states expected to approve legislation in the coming months allowing retail and mobile gaming, operators will strike partnerships quickly. They have all realized that there is no better place to invest their marketing dollars than in front of a targeted and intensely loyal and trusting home team audience.
On new ownership: The Home Team Sports model is really a perfect complement to Playfly Sports’ existing business units. Given Playfly’s already extensive reach into high school/collegiate athletics and e-sports, there are limitless opportunities for growth across our media and multi-media rights assets. Our sales force across our naming rights, partnership development, digital, integrated, and property sales teams will work collaboratively to address our advertising partners needs and objectives to bring forward the most beneficial activation plan. As we look ahead, we will continue to broaden our footprint and capability set creating even more pathways for brands to connect with fans at every consumption point— truly surrounding the fan. Brands needs for flexibility and impact are only increasing and we are building our model across all Playfly Sports to address and service them.
PROGRAMMING
The NBA is looking to reenter talks with its teams and the players’ association to launch a midseason tournament to the league’s calendar, according to ESPN. Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly “gained optimism that the success of the play-in tournament could drive momentum to reengage teams on another tournament idea that had been discussed before the pandemic.” The NBA would need an agreement with the National Basketball Players Association and a two-thirds majority of its 30 teams to incorporate an in-season tournament plan.
With Phil Mickelson on fire at the PGA Championship, CBS Sports reports that it’s third-round rating grew 10% over 2020 numbers, to score a 2.3/8 household rating and share, according to Nielsen. That number would mark the most-watched third round in three years, averaging 3.156 million viewers.
In addition, ESPN’s live telecast of the opening round of the PGA Championship on Thursday, averaged 1,179,627 viewers, up 18% in viewership over the last comparable playing of the event in an East Coast location in 2019. Viewership was up 18 % from the 2019 first-round telecast on TNT. Last year, with the event moved to August due to the pandemic and played in San Francisco, it aired well into East Coast prime time and ESPN averaged 1,271,050 viewers for the first round telecast.
FOX Deportes’ broadcast of the Liga MX Semifinal between Santos and Puebla averaged 537,000 total viewers last night. The match and the network’s pre-and-post-game shows gave the network the top three Spanish-language sports programs for the day.
VSiN’s sports betting program Best Bets landed a spot at beIN SPORTS. Hosted by Mitch Moss and Paul Howard, the daily talk show will air on beIN SPORTS Monday through Friday each week at 2p. Moss and Howard will share their best tips and predictions across the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, college sports, and golf, among others.
WWE revealed plans to return to live event touring with a 25-city schedule that runs through Labor Day. The tour opens this July in Texas with a trio of shows, starting July 16 with SmackDown at Toyota Center in Houston, before heading to Fort Worth and Dallas.
The ATP updated its 2021 ATP Tour Q4 provisional calendar, including the staging of the BNP Paribas Open, the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, California. This year’s edition of the BNP Paribas Open, postponed from its customary dates in March due to COVID-19, is now intended to take place in October, for 2021 only.Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: “Since the resumption of the Tour in August 2020, we have had to take an agile approach to the calendar with the aim of staging as many of our events as possible. Everyone in our sport has missed the BNP Paribas Open over the past two years and its return this October is great for tennis. The calendar is extremely complex and I would like to thank all events in that section of the season, as we look to accommodate these changes for the benefit of the overall sport.”
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CYNOPSIS 2021 RESOURCE CENTER
An online asset for media execs looking for the latest in tech, streaming, network offerings, and tools to support their business initiatives.
www.cynopsis.com/resource-center |
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| SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
The NBA unveiled “That’s Game,” its new global brand campaign that launched with the start of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on Saturday and will run through league’s upcoming 75th anniversary season highlighting pivotal moments on-court and beyond, “from iconic plays in-arena to the impact players have in the community.” The new campaign, created in conjunction with Translation LLC, demonstrates how the NBA has advanced the game, grown its community and impacted culture throughout the league’s storied history. “‘That’s Game’ demonstrates more than just the culmination of play – it’s about the moments that have kept fans connected to the game throughout history and will continue to engage them long into the future,” said NBA Chief Marketing Officer Kate Jhaveri. “We are excited to celebrate the incredible plays that leave us in awe and the impactful community work from players and teams, and we look forward to continuing this storytelling into the 75th anniversary season.”
Topps and FOX Sports are teaming up with influential pop artists to produce original artwork displays and short-form content to be highlighted during FOX MLB broadcasts this season. The work of noted creators like The Shoe Surgeon, Sophia Chang, CES, Distortedd and others launched during Baseball Night in America, and will include the 2021 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard and related programming all summer. “FOX Saturday Baseball and Topps are a perfect pairing of two brands that live and breathe Major League Baseball,” said Robert Gottlieb, FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing. “Working with Topps to celebrate special baseball moments is a labor of love for all of us at FOX Sports.”
NBC Sports is surrounding the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge with interactive marketing and social media initiatives, headlined by the “Big Spill,” an interactive exhibit in which fans are able to stand in front of a display that resembles a wave of milk about to crash onto them covering them in the drink, like Indy 500 winners have experienced with sports in NYC, Chicago and Indianapolis. Other activations include a Jimmie Johnson takeover of the @IndyCaronNBC Twitter and Instagram Story; NBC Sports will display sets of Indianapolis 500-branded milk bottles across a number of properties and high-profile events, and more.
The upcoming release of Space Jam: A New Legacy sees Warner Bros. Consumer Products roll out the largest Looney Tunes merchandise collection. Collaborations include brands such as Nike Inc., Vilebrequin, Spalding, the Cotton On Group, and Moose Toys and capsule collections from UNINTERRUPTED, the athlete empowerment brand built by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, as well as a wide range of regional international partners. “The original ‘Space Jam’ was a cultural phenomenon when it debuted in 1996, so it’s no surprise that premier partners around the world are inspired by ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ and excited to bring a new collection to a new generation of fans,” said Robert Oberschelp, senior vice president of franchise management and marketing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “We are excited to collaborate with such elite brands to deliver a robust lineup of merchandise that unites the singular style of LeBron James with the iconic fun of the Looney Tunes characters.”
The Milwaukee Bucks and Motorola cemented a multi-year partnership that will bring the Motorola “batwing” logo to the front left shoulder of all Bucks jerseys, beginning with the 2021 NBA Playoffs. In addition to being the Bucks’ new jersey patch partner, the brand joined the list of Bucks and Fiserv Forum Founding Partners and is now the team’s Official Mobile Smartphone Partner.
DIGITAL, DATA & TECH
PointsBet locked in a partnership with the WNBA, it’s the first with a women’s sports league. The deal allows PointsBet to use WNBA team logos and players’ images across its platforms to grow its brand awareness. In a statement, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated that the deal will provide a digital second-screen experience, giving WNBA fans a new way to watch games injected with PointsBet betting odds.
Verizon announced the deployment of 5G Ultra Wideband in 14 additional arenas and multi-year agreements as the exclusive 5G partner of the 15 NBA teams who play at these venues, bringing the total number of arenas and stadiums enabled with 5G to more than 60. Team partnerships include the Cavaliers, Nuggets, Pistons, Warriors, clippers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Knicks, Thunder, Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings, Jazz and Wizards.
The June 6 battle between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Logan “The Maverick” Paul in an exhibition bout saw SHOWTIME and FANMIO launch digital distribution platforms for pay-per-view purchase. The pay-per-view will also be available for purchase in the supported SHOWTIME apps listed above and in the Sony PlayStation Store, on Sling TV and via all traditional cable and satellite pay-per-view providers. Mayweather vs. Logan Paul also will be shown at select closed-circuit locations and movie theaters.
ESPORTS
ESL Gaming announced that Shopify, a leading global commerce company, will be a key sponsor of the ESL Pro Tour StarCraft II, including Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2022. As part of the agreement, ESL Gaming, Shopify and TLnet will join forces to host a map contest for community mapmakers to try to find the best new map while a video series featuring players and key community members will be produced to tell the stories of people who are dedicating their lives to StarCraft II. “As major fans and supporters of the StarCraft® II community, our focus has been on backing third-party community events and cheering on our pro team, Shopify Rebellion,” said Dario Wünsch, Esports Program Manager at Shopify. “Being on the pro circuit with ESL Gaming allows us to forge even closer ties to the SCII community and to help continue building upon its momentum. We’re excited to become more deeply involved and to support players and mapmakers on the journey to build an even stronger SCII esports ecosystem.”
Riot confirmed that the 2021 League of Legends World Championship is returning to China for the second year in a row, with the finals taking place on Nov. 6 at the Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen. Last year’s final was held in the Shanghai Stadium.
The National Hockey League revealed the team of talent who call matches for the 2021 NHL Gaming World Championship, led by host Arda Ocal, co-hosts for the European and North American tournaments will include Andrew ‘Nasher’ Telfer as an analyst, while Faizal Khamisa (MassMutual East), Carrlyn Bathe (Honda West), Steve Dangle (Scotia North) and Cameron ‘NoSleeves’ Halbert (Discover Central) will each host one of the Club Finals. Khamisa will join Ocal for the first Club Final – MassMutual NHL East Division Club Final – on May 22-23 on the NHL’s Twitch channel beginning at noon each day.
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| THINK NATIONALLY. BUY LOCALLY.
Check out the importance of single-market media buying in our 12-page report co-produced with our partners from New York Interconnect.
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On this Day
1967: The AFL grants a franchise to the Cincinnati Bengals.
IN THE KNOW
What is the nickname for Paul Brown Stadium? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).
Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Name an NBA MVP Award winner who was not drafted in the first round. Answer: Willis Reed and/or Moses Malone. Kudos: Brian Ricco-MultiVision Media, Inc./BOXTV/NY; Aymon DeMauro-ADM Media & Marketing/NY; Michael Ritz-Lenox Advisors/NY; Sam Pittman-Juniper & Berkeley/Raleigh; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/Harrisburg; Tim Rank-blueprint314/St. Louis; Greg Molozik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; David Westberg-SAG•AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA
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SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & REGIONAL MANAGER >>
NEXSTAR/IRVING, TX: Direct oversight of several markets and will report directly to the President of Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Provide daily management and guidance of multiple General Managers and responsible for the achievement and growth of their assigned markets. Min. of 10 yrs in television management and sales required. Full info HERE (6/6)
QUALITY CONTROL TECHNICIAN – BROADCAST
A+E NETWORKS
STAMFORD
Bilingual Spanish Technician needed for the QC of AETN programs prior to Broadcast. Evaluate show and movie master files for technical quality, Standards & Practices, grammar, spelling and closed caption accuracy so AETN content meets network standards and air critical deadlines. Requires 2+ years of related experience and ability to read waveform/vector and audio scopes. Full info HERE (6/5)
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER
MSG SPHERE
LOS ANGELES
Building, nurturing and managing creative talent partnerships for MSG Sphere, working under the direction of the VP Creative Development. Managing talent relationships for multiple simultaneous projects and overseeing relevant budget management. 10+ years’ creative digital experience required. Full info HERE (6/4)
PRODUCTION MANAGER & RESOURCE SCHEDULING
MSG SPHERE
LOS ANGELES
Manage the scheduling of all production and post-production staff and freelancers. Work with departmental leads to plan staffing needs and changes and maintain status of freelancer availability to meet short-term staffing needs. Min of 5 years of experience as a VFX, studio, network or post-production facility scheduler. Full info HERE (6/4)
GAME DIRECTOR
MSG SPHERE
NYC
Defining and ensuring that the creative vision is realized and translated for each project. Establish the creative design direction for all Interactive projects in collaboration with Art and Engineer directors and relevant MSG Ventures executives. Min 10+ years of Game Design Lead or Game Director experience required. Full info HERE (6/4)
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, AGENCY & BRAND SALES >>
KERV INTERACTIVE/CHICAGO AND LA: Build and grow relationships with key decision makers at agencies and brands. Develop and implement a revenue strategy for growing your territory and account list. Drive demand among buyers at agencies and brands. 3-5+ years in digital advertising (or related) sales role required. Full info HERE (6/4)
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, PUBLISHER PARTNERSHIPS >>
KERV INTERACTIVE/NYC AND LA: Develop key strategic partnerships with publishers, providers, and DSPs. Drive demand among partner sales teams and build and grow relationships with key decision makers, including sales and operations. 5+ years in digital advertising (or related) sales role required Full info HERE (6/4)
COORDINATOR, CREATIVE AFFAIRS
JIM HENSON COMPANY
LA
Manage substantial calendar and priority activity for the President of Television. Provide meaningful support to other television staff members. Code department invoices, maintain call sheet and process expense reports. Effective and tactful communication skills required. Full info HERE (6/2)
EXEC PRODUCER
TLC
NYC, LA or MD
Looking for a strong EP to create, produce and manage production across TLC programming. Must have 10+ years creative production experience in female-skewing long form unscripted content space. More info HERE (6/2)
SENIOR MANAGER, PROGRAMMING PAYMENTS
A+E NETWORKS
NYC
Review and process all executed media programming contracts for payment, including produced and acquired programming. Ensure that all payments are completed in a timely fashion per the agreements. Provide support to develop programming cash payment projections. Requires 6+ yrs experience working with contracts. Full info HERE (5/28)
AVID SYSTEM ENGINEER (Temporary)
A+E NETWORKS
NYC
Provide technical support for Production & Post-Production facility including installation, configuration and troubleshooting. Expert-level support experience for AVID Media Composer/Symphony workstations and expert-level support, installation, and configuration experience for the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Full info HERE (5/28)
COUNSEL (Temporary)
A+E NETWORKS
NYC
Provide legal and business affairs to unscripted content development, production, and sale for the domestic and/or global marketplace. Draft and negotiate various agreements relating primarily to nonfiction/real life/documentary projects and production. JD Degree with 4+ yrs legal experience in the entertainment field required. Full info HERE (5/28)
SENIOR PROGRAMMATIC DIGITAL BUYER
NY INTERCONNECT
NYC, NY
Responsible for the design, creation and execution of the NYI Trade Desk. Handle all hands-on programmatic media buying; design, launch and run trade platform and negotiate pricing for upcoming campaigns. 3-5 years’ experience in online Programmatic advertising min 1 year of hands-on programmatic buying experience required. Full info HERE (5/27)
PRODUCTION ATTORNEY (TEMPORARY)
A+E NETWORKS
NYC
Provide legal counsel to internal production groups on day-to-day production related matters. Pre-Broadcast and Production Counseling, Agreement Negotiation and Clearance Review, general Legal advice and Clearance review. 4-6+ years of legal practice required with preferred 2 years min of production firm legal experience. Full info HERE (5/27)
BOOKKEEPER/PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT >>
MY ENTERTAINMENT/NYC-REMOTE: NYC-based production company looking for a full-time Bookkeeper/Production Accountant to work both remotely and in office. Seeking candidate with 3-7 years’ experience and skilled in QuickBooks and Excel required. Full info HERE (5/25)
ACCOUNT MANAGER DIGITAL SALES
THE WEATHER GROUP
NYC, NY
Positively impact revenue, especially renewals, by building and delivering effective advertising service. Create media proposals, compile campaign and coordinate between departments. 3+ years proven work experience in digital video media required, experience in the OTT/FEP environment preferred. Full info HERE (5/25)
SALES PLANNER
E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY
CHICAGO
Build, revise and maintain sales proposals, compile proposal requests and reweights and liaise with Sales, Pricing & Planning and Commercial Operations. 2+ years of industry related advertising experience required; college degree preferred. Full info HERE (5/25)
SALES PLANNER
E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY
NYC
Build, revise and maintain sales proposals, compile proposal requests and reweights and liaise with Sales, Pricing & Planning and Commercial Operations. 2+ years of industry related advertising experience required; college degree preferred. Full info HERE (5/25)
AVP SENIOR COUNSEL – CONTENT >>
AT&T/EL SEGUNDO, CA: Partner with content distribution business clients to develop strategy, deal structure, desired rights and protections. Critically evaluate complex agreements. Clearly identify issues and opportunities to optimize DIRECTV’s position. Strong academic credentials from a highly recognized law school required. Full info HERE (5/25)
ASSOCIATE MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING >>
INTERACTIVE ONE/NYC, NY: Concept and formulate both large- and small-scale ideas into innovative, marketable programs. Champion and help implement the vision and go-to-market strategy and digital sales positioning. Minimum 2-years of digital advertising sales marketing experience required. Full info HERE (5/24)
ASSOCIATE MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING >>
INTERACTIVE ONE/NYC, NY: Lead and implement the strategic and creative development as well as management of revenue-generating marketing. Oversee the day-to-day management of all digital pre-sales and post-sales responsibilities. Minimum 2-years of digital advertising sales marketing experience required. Full info HERE (5/24)
MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING >>
INTERACTIVE ONE/NYC, NY: help craft sales strategies and creative solutions in response to RFPs as well as help build a roster of off-the-shelf and custom program offerings to support and drive the sales process. Minimum 4-years of digital advertising sales marketing experience required. Full info HERE (5/24)
LEGAL OR BUSINESS AFFAIRS >>
BROADWAY VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT/NYC, NY: Negotiating, reviewing and drafting production and distribution agreements. Traffic outside counsel workflow including maintaining overall counsel budget and shepherding invoices. Law degree or paralegal or business affairs experience with demonstrated interest in Entertainment industry. Full info HERE (5/24)
ASSOCIATE PROGRAM PRODUCER >>
HEARST TELEVISION/WASHINGTON DC: Ideation, researching, booking, writing, field producing, script editing, studio producing, control room supervision, rights clearance, digital development and travel planning. Exceptional story-telling, conceptualization and visualization skills required. 7+ years of experience as a show or line producer. Full info HERE (5/24)
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