ESPN’s newest brand campaign is off and running, marking the first collaboration with Droga5 and titled Life Needs Sports. The campaign “celebrates the powerful role sports play in fans’ lives. The campaign acknowledges that all fans are unique, with their own vernacular, sense of humor, styles and traditions. From the inspirational to the emotional, to the offbeat and beyond, the creative executions tap into universal sports truths and forge genuine connections with distinct fan groups.” At launch, the marquee creative focuses on the NBA. Entitled “Smaller,” the campaign pays tribute to many of the NBA’s “small ball” players including Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry and Terry Rozier, in addition to a MLB-themed execution titled True Love, tapping into the relationships MLB players have with their bats.
NASCAR and Camping World expanded their partnership to provide Gander Outdoors naming rights to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Beginning in 2019, the national series will be rebranded as the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. “Gander Outdoors’ customer base has an affinity to the outdoor lifestyle and will transition seamlessly as the title sponsor of our national series in 2019,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer. “The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a consistent and dedicated fan base that will embrace the Gander Outdoors brand. This expanded agreement demonstrates our partners’ confidence in the on-track product and the power of our brand loyal fan base.”
Stadium is taking its 24/7 sports linear network to Twitch, adding over 250 live games and events to the Twitch service including college football, men’s basketball and Olympic sports from top college conferences including Conference USA, Mountain West Conference, Patriot League and West Coast Conference. Stadium will also live stream weekly American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) games and, on Wednesday evenings, feature Ring of Honor matches.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson will be among the players appearing in featured group coverage from THE PLAYERS Championship starting this morning on ESPN+. World No. 1 Johnson will tee off at 8:05a with 2017 U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson. On both Thursday and Friday, ESPN+ viewers also will be able to watch featured coverage from the iconic “Island Green” at TPC Sawgrass, the Par 3 No. 17, as well as the drivable Par 4 No. 12, beginning at 9a each day.
ESPN announced the end of the line for the Public Editor position, originally known as an Ombudsman. The company posted that “While ESPN has valued the input and dedication shown by everyone who held the position, we too have seen how access to the Internet and its social platforms has created a horde of watchdogs who communicate directly with us to share observations and questions. Beyond our users, our multi-faceted newsgathering operation is made up of a diverse collection of seasoned journalists who engage in spirited discussion and respectful disagreement to land in the best possible place. No one holds our journalists to higher standards than we do.”
- Overwatch League invades Barclays
- NBC Sports preps season two of Universal Open
- NBA 2K League lays out season’s schedule
- NASCAR debuting youth esports series
- ESL/Square Enix team up
- World Series of Poker bets on esports
- The Consumer Snapshot: Esports fans and fast food
- Engine Shop breaks down future of esports
- WorldGaming gets a rebrand
Big news from ESPN, which announced that ESPN EVP and CFO Christine Driessen would be retiring effective Jan. 2019. ESPN topper Jimmy Pitaro announced the decision to employees, writing that “When she started with the company as its Controller in 1985, ESPN was a mere 450 employees, two buildings joined by a catwalk and a small offering of sports content. Today, ESPN represents the most preeminent brand in sports media entertainment, and Christine has played a major role in this growth story.”
Jets/Predators on NBCSN at 8p.
