06/05/17: Why Whistle works

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CynopsisSports

Good morning. It’s Monday June 5, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

Whistle Sports’ mantra of creating, curating and delivering sports content for fans and brands continues to shore up numbers and position the company as a leader in how millennials are consuming content. Since formally launching in 2014, the company has now built a community that tallies over 350 million aggregate subscribers, fans and followers while adding an additional 2.5 million a week. Partnering with brands that range from the NFL to Dude Perfect, the newest company on the Whistle Sports roster is Nitro Circus, with an announcement last week for a partnership to create and distribute long- and short-form content throughout Whistle Sports’ network. Cynopsis Sports asked Jeff Urban, President of Whistle Sports, about its growth, trends and the Nitro Circus deal.

Urban on challenges: The digital/social ecosystem is changing rapidly so we need to keep a keen focus on driving our priorities. With new players entering the marketplace, we need to focus our efforts as the first mover to continue to capitalize on our growth and strong position.

On keys to success: We have a passionate team that drives our business every day. We are partnered with creators, leagues, investors and athletes who share our vision for where the sports-entertainment digital/social world is going. We are developing offerings for our brand and distributor partners that shows we are a valued solutions-based partner.

On opportunities: That consumption in our key demographic, 13-34 year olds, continues to move towards digital/social first content that brands continue to lean-in on how they can be involved in the digital/social conversation in more meaningful ways. That distributors will value how companies like ours can create content and with our engaged audience and move them to action or platforms.

On bringing Dunk League back for season two: We reached more the 55.5 million fans in Season 1, so in concert with our partner go90, it was an easy decision to dream bigger and see how we could take the one location drama of Dunk League 1 and turn it into a multi-city tour and expand the competition, the story telling and entertainment on a grander scale.

On Nitro Circus: At our core, we both care deeply about entertaining so it’s a natural fit to take their type of entertainment and pair it with ours. You will see a natural merging of some of their insanely talented athletes with our amazingly talented creators to bring to life these two amazing worlds of sports entertainment.

ON THE AIR

Chapter three of the Warriors/Cavaliers battle at the NBA Finals opened the series with a 12.4 metered market rating, down from last year but marking the third-highest NBA Finals Game 1 ever on ABC, topped only by their two previous meetings, according to Nielsen. The matchup set several ESPN NBA Finals Game 1 streaming records drawing an average minute streaming audience of nearly 500,000 viewers (496,000), up 43% from 2016. In addition, it drew 1,546,600 unique viewers, up 54% from last year with a total of 79,860,000 minutes streamed, up 43%.

Telemundo Deportes lined up coverage plans for the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017, running June 17- July 2. All matches will run live on television, with 14 on Telemundo and two on Universo, in addition to streaming via TelemundoDeportes.com and the Telemundo Deportes EN VIVO App. Broadcasts will be supplemented by special pre and post-game programming, daily editions of Titulares y Mas, and news and analysis on TelemundoDeportes.com. Overall, 200 hours of programming are on deck for the tournament.

Showtime Sports is adding a battle between undefeated Maravillabox Promotions’ prospect Jon Fernandez and super featherweight Juan Reyes in an eight-round matchup to serve as the opening bout of ShoBox: The New Generation on Friday at 10:30p. The addition evolved the event into a tripleheader for the night, which will be anchored by Regis “Rougarou” Prograis/Joel Diaz Jr. in the 10-round main event.

FIFA locked in a deal for TV rights for the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup matches in Russia with the country’s national sports channel Match-TV. A conglomerate of state-owned Russia’s Channel One and VGTRK, and Match-TV earlier refused buying the broadcasting rights for the two tournaments for $120 million.

The Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship saw a new attendance record as Cal won their fifth consecutive on Sunday on NBC at Tallen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia. The 2017 event broke the two day attendance mark, with 37,518 while Saturday’s crowd of 14,973 also set the one day attendance record for the event.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The NFL is reportedly reversing course on its policies toward advertising by the liquor industry. Multiple reports state that spirits will now be allowed to join beer as sponsors for the league this season, with Ad Age reporting that the number of 30-second liquor ads allowed per game set to be capped at four, with a limit of two ads in any quarter or within halftime, according to the rules. In addition, spirits ads will be prevented from having a football theme.

NASCAR driver Jeffrey Earnhardt locked in Hulu as a primary sponsor for 19 races this year, with his #33 Chevrolet donning the logo and Hulu green at the Dover International Speedway. The sponsorship brings Hulu to the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time.

The WNBA is once again celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month this month, announcing a collaboration with GLSEN and Fanatics that will allow fans to choose from an exclusive line of Fanatics-designed Pride T-shirts featuring WNBA or NBA team logos with a portion of the proceeds benefitting GLSEN. Throughout June, teams will offer special ticket packages and in-arena experiences for Pride-themed games in addition to community outreach and activation with local pride groups, festivals and parades. Team activities will be showcased on WNBA and NBA Cares social media channels with the hashtag #wnbapride.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

Poker Central revealed streaming plans for the 2017 World Series of Poker, with .ESPN’s Lon McEachern and Norman Chad set for microphone duties via PokerGO. WSOP events will run from June 3 to July 17 on the platform with the action continuing on ESPN from July 20-22.

ESPORTS

Gfinity will serve as the exclusive partner to help deliver the Elite finals of the Forza Racing Championship at this month’s 24 hours of Le Mans event, teaming with Microsoft for the esports tournament. The event takes place from June 17-18 running alongside the famed race, with $100,000 on the line. “Gfinity’s experience of global events makes us the perfect platform for showcasing such a spectacle. The Gfinity team are extremely proud to be involved in such a legendary event, where all of the action will be in one place for sports and racing fans alike,” said Gfinity CEO Neville Upton.

FACEIT partnered with PGL, the host of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major, to bring the PGL Americas Minor Championship to the Santa Ana Esports Arena from June 8-11. Eight of North and South America’s best teams will compete for a prize pool of $50K and a spot in the upcoming PGL Major Offline Qualifier in Krakow, Poland.

THE MAIN EVENT

Penguins/Predators on NBC at 8p.

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Time to Tune-in to the Future Industry Leaders

The Third Annual Cynopsis Rising Star Awards is gearing up for its best year yet…Don’t miss this great opportunity to honor yourself or a colleague with a nomination. The groundbreaking work that these ambitious and creative young professionals have accomplished over the past year deserves to be celebrated – and we can’t wait to see what they have to offer!

ENTER NOW

Here’s a look at last year’s winners!

ON THIS DAY in 1977: The Dodgers retire Walt Alston’s #24.

In The Know : Before playing in Gillette Stadium, what venue did the Patriots call home? ( Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What two numbers flank the “20” on a standard regulation dartboard? Answer: 5,1. Kudos: Michael Ritz-BucStar Consulting/NY; Mark J. Crepeau-Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame/Springfield; Randy Ingram-WISH-TV & MyINDY-TV/Indianapolis; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Deerfield Beach; Will Allmendinger-Clear Channel Outdoor/Chicago; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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