Home Team Sports locked in a deal to acquire Impression Sports & Entertainment, an international marketing agency that specializes in full-service sponsorship sales representation and offering experience in selling naming rights, title sponsorships and other major sponsorship platforms. Since the company’s inception six years ago, the team has secured more than $63 million in revenue. “Adding Impression under the Home Team Sports and FOX Sports umbrella helps us broaden our business scope, especially as opportunities in naming rights are significantly increasing,” said Home Team Sports President Kyle Sherman. “Impression gives us a direct path to clients that can be used across HTS and FOX Sports College Properties and gives us the ability to add more revenue streams, including naming rights for arenas and events.”
Telemundo Deportes released its first campaign dedicated to the FIFA Confederations Cup and World Cup. The spot, produced in partnership with Anomaly, is called “Esto es Solo el Comienzo” (This is Only the Beginning), and introduces the channel’s programming campaign to fans by “exploring the moments of anticipation before a big match while building up the message that the network’s coverage of the Confederations Cup is just the beginning; a cliff-hanger that lets the viewer also know something big is coming and it is only on Telemundo.”
For the second consecutive year, Taco Bell is teaming up with the NBA for the “Steal a Game, Steal a Taco” promotion, where the first team to “steal” a win on the road during the 2017 NBA Finals will give American consumers a free Doritos Locos Taco. “Crunch time during the NBA Finals has a whole new meaning when a stolen win on the road means everyone in America can again win a free Doritos Locos Taco from Taco Bell,” said Marisa Thalberg, Chief Marketing Officer, Taco Bell Corp. “Regardless of which team ultimately wins the championship, we love that the real winners will be taco fans everywhere.”
CrossFit appointed IMG as its exclusive global licensing representative in a multi-year deal. IMG, which also represents CrossFit across content, media and live events, will now expand the company’s worldwide presence further through new licensed product categories and include management of CrossFit existing licensing portfolio, including its exclusive apparel and footwear rights partnership with Reebok.
UFC announced that Hospital for Special Surgery will serve as the global brand’s first-ever official hospital. The new multi-year partnership provides UFC with access to the hospital’s sports medicine physicians, who will serve as orthopedic consultants in conjunction with the brand’s medical team. As the organization’s official hospital, HSS will receive branding on UFC’s Octagon at select events, as well as digital and social advertising, along with participating in UFC-based corporate social responsibility programs. For more information, please visit UFC.com.
Major League Baseball announced that Minor League Baseball became an official partner of the ‘PLAY BALL’ initiative, the sport’s collective effort to encourage young people to participate in baseball- or softball-related activities. MiLB will support the second annual Play Ball Weekend, including spearheading the effort’s official launch with the Oklahoma City Dodgers on June 2, as well as Play Ball Summer with the US Conference of Mayors.
In June, ESPN will cover all four days of Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s qualifying for The Championships, Wimbledon for the first time, showcasing all-day action from June 26-29 with four matches scheduled per day on ESPN3 on WatchESPN and the ESPN App. “If you look at our history with Wimbledon and our unprecedented scheduling approach to The Championships, it should be no surprise we were very interested when The Club approached us with this opportunity to expand our relationship with their brand,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling. “For players, the opportunity to make the field of 128 is paramount and for qualifiers it may be the chance of a lifetime. We look forward to presenting all the compelling storylines from the qualifiers, leading into our comprehensive coverage of The Championships beginning July 3.”
Blizzard announced plans for Overwatch Contenders, a development league designed for aspiring Overwatch League professionals. The league will launch this summer in North America and Europe. Once Overwatch Contenders is running, teams will have additional opportunities to enter the competitive scene via the Overwatch Open Division, a tournament series for Masters rank players or higher that will take place in select regions around the world, and in 2018, will offer emerging teams a path to Overwatch Contenders seasons in each region. The North American Open qualifier will take place on June3-4 for season 0 of Overwatch Contenders.
The Olympic Council of Asia unveiled a four-title esports lineup for the 5th Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games this Sept. TEO writes that Dota 2, Starcraft II, Hearthstone and either FIFA or NBA will be on the agenda. All 45 Asian and 19 Oceanic nations will be able to submit no more than two players/team per category.
Omnisport named Ian Campbell as its new Managing Director. Campbell joined Perform in 2012 and has held a number of senior roles, most recently Executive Vice President for Content in Europe & the Middle East.
Celtics/Cavaliers on TNT at 8:30p.
