“The PGA TOUR is proud to be among the first major sports leagues to return to competition,” said Rick Anderson, Chief Media Officer of the PGA TOUR. “With no spectators on site, we want to work harder than ever to connect our fans to the event, across numerous platforms and devices in addition to the PGA TOUR LIVE, Golf Channel and CBS broadcasts. Working with Twitter on this all-new fan engagement initiative is a nod to how important fans are to the TOUR and our players.”

The Twitter Multicast will offer nine versions of the live stream with distribution from more than 20 different Twitter accounts. The video streams will cover pre-game, practice sessions, and the first two holes of competition of players such as Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Each stream will carry PGA TOUR LIVE featured groups coverage complemented with live audio/video commentary from commentators who will provide their point of view on the return of the TOUR.

PROGRAMMING

beIN SPORTS announced coverage will resume on June 11 alongside the return of LaLiga, followed closely by the return of the Turkish SüperLig on June 12. The network is set to air live matches across all channels on beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, and beIN SPORTS XTRA as well as the network’s streaming platform, beIN SPORTS CONNECT.

Kevin Harvick notched his 2nd NASCAR Cup win of the season on Sunday for the race from Atlanta that registered 3,957,000 viewers on FOX, which easily ranks as the most-watched sports event of the weekend; through 10 races, NASCAR Cup racing is averaging 4,315,000 viewers on FOX and FS1.

The UFC have signed a deal to bring fights to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, with “Fight Island” to include COVID-19 regulated hotels, restaurants and training facilities and limited personal to conduct the matches. Battles are scheduled to begin July 11, followed by more bouts in July and possibly beyond, to air on networks globally including ESPN+ and via PPV.

Washington Mystics star Natasha Cloud signed a sneaker deal with Converse, making her the first female basketball player to join the brand. Cloud averaged 9.0 points and 5.6 assists for the Mystics in 2019 as they won their first WNBA championship. Her work away from the court also helped draw the attention of Converse. The 28-year-old penned an essay for The Players’ Tribune on May 30 in the wake of George Floyd’s killing while in police custody.

Nike signed Norwegian soccer star Ada Hegerberg to a ten-year deal. Hegerberg, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais, was the first recipient of the Ballon d’Or Féminin, the annual award recognizing the best female soccer player, and is the UEFA Champions League career goal leader.

Franklin Sports signed a multiyear deal with USA Softball national team member Janie Reed, who becomes Franklin’s first-ever athlete endorser in fast-pitch softball.

Puma revealed its collaboration with Arnold Palmer Enterprises, the Puma Golf x Arnold Palmer Collection. It includes tops, bottoms, headwear and footwear

DIGITAL, DATA AND TECH

Famer and LeagueApps announced a strategic partnership to offer seamless integration into the LeagueApps technology platform to directly serve its more than 3,000 youth sports organizations. “Forward thinking clubs/youth sports organizations – that make up most of LeagueApps customers – understand the value of incorporating mobile coaching into their curriculum, not to just replace programming like the short-term but to extend and enhance training, coaching and mentorship when the kids are back on the fields/courts,” said Famer CEO Rich Abend. “Today, it’s a replacement, but tomorrow it will be an expected part of the regular programming.”

TeamWorks Media announced their first-ever content venture into the sport of golf, partnering with the World Golf Hall of Fame to produce a multi-platform storytelling initiative called Moments That Matter. The series features more than 15 World Golf Hall of Famers with interviews highlighting specific moments that elevated not just their game, but their lives. “At a time when inspiration and stories of leadership are needed more than ever, we are proud to offer original content that will engage and connect golf fans in a unique way with the World Golf Hall of Fame,” said TeamWorks Media co-founder Jay Sharman.

Athletes Unlimited announced its original content programming that will seek to support its women’s pro sports leagues, which include softball and volleyball. All programming will be created and produced by former LPGA Tour member and journalist Anya Alvarez, Head of Digital Content for Athletes Unlimited, and an in-house team which includes Senior Producer Julia McInnis (formerly of The Players Tribune), Digital Content Creator Jenny Jeffries (formerly of MLS & NWSL) and Social Media Editor Kaylee Chicoski (formerly of XFL, Ironman). Content will live on Athletes Unlimited social channels at AUProSports and be available on the league’s official website, wwwauprosports.com, which launched June 1. Programming will feature a range of shows and include interviews with top names like Abby Wambach, Jess Mendoza and Rich Kleiman.

The Professional Fighters League unveiled PFL Studios, a fully integrated global media division of the Professional Fighters League producing original MMA content for all platforms including television, digital and mobile. All long-form PFL Studios content will be led by 16-Time Emmy Award winning producer and director George Greenberg, while PFL Chief Digital Officer Daniel Ghosh-Roy will produce short-form content across digital platforms. PFL broadcast partner ESPN will distribute the original series for 2020 across ESPN platforms, including a six-episode docuseries on MMA legend and PFL broadcaster Randy Couture.

ESPORTS

Invisible Narratives and FaZe Clan unveiled their partnership and plans to launch The FaZe Clan Universe, which will begin with a feature-length film set to arrive later this year. FaZe Clan boasts 230 million followers and billions of combined views across all channels.

Gen.G announced a new partnership with apparel company PUMA last night that will “bring new merch, collaborations, and experiences” to the organization’s fans.

Secretlab announced they will be joining the LEC as their official chair partner. The Secretlab LEC Edition comes with all the upgrades of the Secretlab 2020 Series and is engineered for all-day comfort and lasting support.

The Overwatch League opened the doors to its Summer Showdown, its next tournament that will span the next four weeks of its season. Beginning June 13 and running through the last three weeks of June, all 20 teams will play qualifier matches (three per team in North America and four in Asia). Team records, map scores, and standard tiebreakers in those qualifier matches will determine team seeding in two regional tournaments in North America (July 3-5) and Asia (July 4-5). Both tournaments have a combined US $275,000 prize pool.

Blizzard announced that for the first time in WoW Classic, World of Warcraft Esports presents the Summer Bowl. The WoW Classic Summer Bowl serves as a 10v10 Warsong Gulch tournament that starts June 17 and will span three weekends as teams in North America and Europe compete.

Dignitas landed a deal with Susquehanna International Group to serve as an Official Team Sponsor. The proprietary trading firm becomes the Exclusive Team Partner in the Global Quantitative Trading Firm and Trading Technology sponsorship category with the multi-year agreement designed to provide SIG with exposure to esports through Dignitas’ teams. As part of the deal, SIG will become the presenting sponsor for a variety of digital and physical activations, including Dignitas’ new social media content series “Predict the Draft presented by SIG”. To support SIG’s gaming culture, Dignitas will create unique experiences for employees to engage with Dignitas’ esports athletes. Dignitas will work with SIG to host interactive gaming experiences for SIG employees such as meet and greets and opportunities to play against Dignitas pros.

BLAST unlocked a partnership with KitKat that will see the Nestlé chocolate brand sponsor BLAST Bounty Hunt – the company’s online Dota 2 tournament. The deal provides the brand with a slate of activation opportunities during the tournament which takes place this week. The deal also includes sponsorship of in-broadcast feature “Captain’s Kick Back,” which will see team captains talk about their life in and outside of esports. Gaming peripherals manufacturer SteelSeries also recently sponsored BLAST Bounty Hunt.

PUBG revealed further details about the next phase of PUBG Esports and announced that the PCS 1 Grand Finals will run June 25-July 5. The Grand Finals will see 16 teams battle it out across four days of competition over the course of two weeks. Each day will feature five matches across Erangel and Miramar as the teams battle it out for their share of each regional event’s $200,000 prize pool. Exclusive items will be sold in game, with 25% of the profits from the items distributed back to pro teams across the four global regions (North America, Europe, APAC, Asia).

The World Showdown of Esports lined up competition for its online Hearthstone Montreal Masters qualifier. The event begins June 20 with a top-8 showdown on June 27, which will be hosted by Jon “Falloutt” Kefaloukos alongside commentators Dan “Frodan” Chou and Nathan “Admirable” Zamora. The stream will also include two showmatches between notable Hearthstone pros, including Jon “Orange” Westberg competing against Chris “Feno” Tsako and Darroch “Darroch” Brown taking on current WSOE: Hearthstone Champion Jacinta “Jia” Dee.

INDUSTRY AND ROSTER MOVES

fuboTV has named Diana Horowitz to the newly-created position of SVP, advertising sales. In her new role, Diana will lead the national ad sales team and oversee ad operations and overall sales strategy for fuboTV and linear channel fubo Sports Network.

In the Know
We will have missed the College World Series this year in Omaha. What school has won the most College World Series titles? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
In which venue was the first Super Bowl played? Answer: The L.A. Coliseum Congrats: Michael Ritz Lenox Advisors New York, NY, Miriam Aardahl OMD Los Angeles, Larry Hutchings Retired (TV Syndication), Nipomo, CA, David Westberg SAG•AFTRA Credit Union Burbank CA, Synda Kollman Charter Marketing Group Boca Raton, FL, Andy Pittman TAMU College Station, TX, Tony Ferranti, MMSI Warwick, RI, Stephanie Ann, Freelance TV Director, Chicago, Russ DelCore Media Oakland, NJ, Tom Moore Kalt Productions, Mike May R2 Innovative Technologies, Wellington, FL, John Kukla KDFW FOX 4 Dallas, Matt Laramee, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, and Mike Seidel CSI Sports, Jersey City, NJ