Sir Nick Faldo, who serves as CBS Sports’ lead golf analyst in addition to analyst duties as NBC Sports/GOLF Channel, announced his decision to retire from broadcasting following the last event of CBS’ 2022 golf season on Aug. 7 with the Wyndham Championship, the PGA TOUR’s regular-season finale. On CBS, Trevor Immelman, who joined CBS Sports’ golf team in 2019, has been named CBS Sports’ new lead golf analyst.

“Sir Nick has had a remarkable career on Network television for nearly 20 years and is one of the most accomplished commentators to ever sit in the 18th tower,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “Nick brought the same passion and dedication that propelled him to the world’s number one golfer to our broadcasts. He combined his profound knowledge of golf with his wit and charm, enlightening viewers and elevating our coverage. We thank him for his outstanding contributions and dedication to CBS Sports. While his voice will be missed on-air, we wish him the best as he continues to positively impact the game of golf around the world.”

“Nick Faldo brought immediate credibility and gravitas to GOLF Channel at a time when our network was just beginning its relationship with the PGA TOUR in 2007,” said Molly Solomon, Executive Producer, GOLF Channel. “From his time in the booth on our first-ever PGA TOUR telecast to countless major championships and Ryder Cups, Nick has been a leading voice in the sport. We thank Nick for his incredible contributions to GOLF Channel and look forward to raising a pint – or two – with him in St. Andrews next month to celebrate his next chapter in Montana.”

PROGRAMMING

Speaking of golf, NBC Sports’ presentation of the final round of the 2022 U.S. Open on Sunday averaged a TAD of 5.41 million viewers– marking the most-watched final round of an East Coast U.S. Open since 2013 and up 65% from the prior East Coast-based U.S. Open. Led by Peacock, the 2022 U.S. Open is the most-streamed golf event in NBC Sports history, totaling 244 million minutes for all four rounds, up 74% vs. last year’s U.S. Open.

Prime Video recruited NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to its NFL pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage this coming season for Thursday Night Football. Fitzpatrick, who recently announced his retirement from the NFL, will join Tony Gonzalez and Richard Sherman on the streamer’s wraparound coverage of each TNF game.

Viewership for the 2022 NBA Finals on ABC was up 22% over from last year, according to Nielsen with the six-game series averaging12,402,000 viewers, making it the most-watched NBA Finals in three years. The Golden State Warriors victory in Game 6 generated an average of nearly 14 million viewers, up 10% over last year’s Game 6.

The NBA also announced game and broadcast schedules for the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, running July 7-17 in Las Vegas. All 75 games of the 11-day competition will air live on television on ESPN networks or NBA TV and steam on the ESPN app.

The four-part documentary series from HBO and Teton Gravity Research, Edge of the Earth, will debut on July 12 at 9p with new episodes airing subsequent Tuesdays at the same time. The series will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max, showcasing four groups of action-adventure athletes on four “unique, never-before-accomplished missions.”

NBA TV will showcase the start of the NBA offseason with coverage of the NBA Draft 2022 presented by State Farm on Thursday, plus free agency news starting the following week. The network will tip off its coverage on Thursday with a three-hour preview show at 5p with host Jared Greenberg, along with Andy Katz and Brendan Haywood and Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman.

Tennis Channel’s Wimbledon coverage will get underway on the first day of play on Monday, at 4:30p. Every afternoon and evening of the two-week event, the network will air a new edition of match segments and commentary. In addition, Tennis Channel’s daily afternoon and evening shows will provide highlights, features and exclusive interviews. The initial program is typically underway at 4:30p, followed immediately by the night edition at 8:30p.

Naomi Osaka announced the launch of her new media company, titled Hana Kuma, in partnership with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company. The outlet will produce documentaries in addition to scripted and unscripted series. Hana Kuma’s first project, per The Hollywood Reporter, is a documentary about former Hawaiian congresswoman Patsy Mink, who was the first woman of color elected to Congress and the sponsor of Title IX.

SiriusXM honors the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX with special programming on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel and on the SXM App that highlights the impact the law had on the future of women’s sports. Today at 6p, Linda Cohn will host Title IX at 50. SiriusXM is also offering listeners an array of content celebrating women’s achievements in sports, available now on the SXM App

Elsewhere in radio, Cromwell Media announced that 94.9 The Fan will become Nashville’s newest sports talk radio station with the addition of sports media personalities Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd along with OutKick 360, a nationally syndicated but Nashville-based sports talk show. 94.9 The Fan will also feature Nashville’s first real-time sports betting news and analysis with coverage of every major sport from VSiN, The Sports Betting Network.

The United States Hockey League, in conjunction with Member Clubs, revealed its 2022-23 regular season schedule. The season will consist of 62 games for each team in a regionally-based schedule, following the same format as the past two seasons. The 30-week regular season is scheduled to begin September 22 at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Fall Classic and come to a close on Saturday, April 22.

Just Women’s Sports inked a media partnership with the National Women’s Soccer League, picking up rights to distribute NWSL highlights from both the current and past seasons. JWS is also bringing its pre-game show “The Warm-Up” to the NWSL Championship game and will be throwing an officially-sanctioned VIP party leading into the NWSL Championship.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 landed Frito-Lay as the tournament’s North American regional supporter, with the brand now gaining access to the org’s IP, exposure at the event and access to tickets. The agreement opens the door to digital activations and promotional activities and marks the first-ever ‘salty-snack brand collaboration’ in FIFA and FIFA World Cup history. The duo will aim to reach more than 100 million households in the USA with FIFA-branded products. “The growth in interest in football, or soccer, in the North American market is incredibly exciting, both for our overall vision of making football truly global and for future commercial growth potential,” stated FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The Pac-12 Conference named Sprouts Farmers Market as the Official Grocer of the conference. The multi-year partnership also establishes Sprouts as the first-ever presenting partner of the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships, as well as an official sponsor of the football championship game, the men’s & women’s basketball tournaments and Olympic sports championships. “We’re thrilled to announce Sprouts Farmers Market as the Official Grocer of the Pac-12 Conference,” said Pac-12 Networks Executive Vice President of Sales, Steve Tseng. “We sincerely value Sprouts’ appreciation for the deep history and success of Pac-12 women’s sports and look forward to showcasing the company as an official partner across our championship events.”

Kraft Heinz Canada, in partnership with the NHL and the NHLPA, will host two NHL preseason games between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators. The preseason matchups will take place on Oct. 6 at the Steele Community Centre in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador and on Oct. 8, at the J.K. Irving Centre in Bouctouche, New Brunswick.The games, which had been postponed due to COVID-19, will be hosted by the 2020 and 2021 Kraft Hockeyville winning communities: Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick. “Kraft Hockeyville exists to connect our communities through hockey and help make the game more inclusive and accessible for all,” said Adam Butler, President, Kraft Heinz Canada. “The preseason games that we have announced in partnership with the NHL are such an exciting way to do just that, and we look forward to seeing the passion they ignite in Twillingate and Elsipogtog First Nation.”

Hendrick Motorsports extended its partnership with Valvoline through 2027, in a new five year deal. The accord keeps Valvoline as a primary sponsor of 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson (three races) and teammate William Byron (two races), and as major associate sponsor of the team’s full stable of Chevrolet race cars. In addition, Valvoline will remain the presenting sponsor of the annual Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown.

The San Antonio Spurs announced a multi-year jersey patch partnership with self Financial, a credit building financial technology company based in Austin. The Spurs will debut the Self-branded jerseys during the 2022 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, followed by the 2022-23 NBA preseason and regular season games. As a part of the deal, the Spurs will acquire an equity stake in the company.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

The PGA TOUR and bet365 announced a three-year content and marketing agreement through 2024 naming bet365 as an Official Betting Operator of the PGA TOUR. bet365 becomes the TOUR’s first OBO outside of North America with territories including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia in addition to Canada. “We are excited to work with bet365 to expand the TOUR’s sports betting initiatives outside of North America,” said Scott Warfield, Vice President of Gaming at the PGA TOUR. “bet365 was the first operator to integrate the TOUR’s official in-play betting product and they are poised for tremendous growth being on the forefront of in-play sports betting in golf. The TOUR continues to look for opportunities to innovate in new areas with a goal of engaging with fans.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer announced a partnership with sports betting media group, Better Collective, through its subsidiary, Action Network. The site will now offer content for online sports betting and gaming through two dedicated hubs on The Inquirer’s site, one for betting and one for gaming. Action Network will supply the premium content, data, tech, and market-leading deals for both sports betting and casino products.

Audience engagement platform LiveLike locked in a strategic partnership with Polygon Studios, the team onboarding brands, developers, and creators to Web3 through investment, marketing, and community support. The strategic partnership will “unlock the ability for LiveLike’s partners — including sports organizations and media companies — to easily mint NFTs on Polygon’s carbon-neutral blockchain and provide additional utility on top of Polygon’s minted tokens”.

ESPORTS

Team Liquid is opening a dedicated Brazilian ecommerce store to service its regional fanbase, opening on Friday and allowing fans to purchase official team merchandise, produced by local vendors, for the first time. The launch of the Brazilian store coincides with a refreshed web store design across Team Liquid’s existing global stores, including North America and Europe. Team Liquid’s latest global apparel line Liquid x Fortnite will lead the Brazilian store’s launch offerings as it’s simultaneously released in North America and Europe. “Brazil became a big part of Team Liquid’s brand in 2018,” said Mike Milanov, Chief Business Development Officer at Team Liquid. “Over the years, we have been investing heavily into infrastructure locally and are proud to finally unveil our digital storefront. We will continue building and investing into this fan experience over time as Team Liquid grows in the region.”

Childrenswear brand OshKosh B’Gosh tapped the services of Super League to enter the metaverse as the exclusive partner in the new Roblox game, “Fashion Runway.” With the move, OshKosh looks to raise brand awareness and engage gamers “with brand experiences including creating avatars to model down the custom runway, design their own clothing and access to their favorite OshKosh B’Gosh apparel via Roblox’s new layered clothing feature.”

ESL Gaming announced the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Player Awards cycle, with the first edition taking place at IEM Katowice 2023. To kick off the cycle and to sum up a decade of best CS:GO action in honor of the 10th anniversary of Valve’s top esports title, the Esports Player of the Decade will be awarded during the IEM Rio CS:GO Major Championship. Other honors will include: Player of the Year; Breakthrough of the Year; and Team of the Year. “The most resounding way to give someone validation as the greatest CS:GO player in the world is if he or she is selected as such by all of the world’s best players. The CS:GO Player Awards are a platform for this to happen and our role in it is to facilitate the process and elevate the occasion,” said Micha? “Carmac” Blicharz, VP Product Development at ESL Gaming. “We could think of no place that fits better to decorate the CS:GO Player of the Decade than the IEM Rio CS:GO Major.”

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Nate Ravitz was promoted to ESPN Senior Vice President, Digital Content. Ravitz, who joined ESPN in 2007, will continue to be responsible for the content experience across ESPN’s digital platforms, including ESPN.com, the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices as well as Fantasy.

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What beverages are combined to make an Arnold Palmer? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Name the only player to lose three U.S. Opens in a playoff. Answer: Arnold Palmer. Kudos: Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Art Salisch-Nielsen/New Jersey; Creed Heilskov-ImOn Communications/Cedar Rapids; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; David Westberg-SAG•AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

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