06/08/17: NFL rings a Bell

Good morning. It’s Thursday June 8, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

Bell Media is set to become the exclusive home of the NFL in Canada, announcing a multi-year rights agreement extension with the league. The deal will see featured games in all of the league’s broadcast windows running across Bell Media properties, along with postseason action and expanded digital opportunities which include syndication rights for NFL highlights in Canada. Also part of the deal with be the league’s Thursday Night Football package, which will now run on TSN and CTV Two for the first time, and return to RDS, beginning with the 2017 season.

“The NFL continues to deliver strong audiences in all broadcast windows, and we are proud to expand our longstanding partnership to make Bell Media the exclusive broadcast home of NFL action in Canada,” said Stewart Johnston, President, Bell Media Studios and TSN. “With this new agreement, TSN and RDS will air three nights of primetime content weekly from the biggest sports property in North America. The NFL is a respected brand to both fans and advertisers alike, and we’re excited to deliver an even bigger NFL schedule across our platforms, and with the expanded digital rights and expanded footage and highlight rights, showcase the NFL like never before.”

ON THE AIR

Stadium delivered its first-ever NewFront presentation yesterday, unveiling a new, fully programmed, 24/7 multi-platform sports network that blends live game and event coverage, along with highlights, classic games, original programming, and daily live studio programming. The network will feature a 24/7 linear feed distributed across both digital and broadcast platforms, as well as on-demand content including additional live events and VOD highlights. Formed through a partnership between Campus Insiders, 120 Sports and The American Sports Network, the digital launch of Stadium is slated for late July with the linear broadcast component coming in August. Key programming elements are set to include: The Rally with three live, one-hour shows, 7 days a week; a 30-minute Campus Insiders series running weekdays; and a daily NFL show. Live games will include men’s basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball events from conferences such as Mountain West, West Coast Conference, Patriot League, Conference USA and Southern Conference as well as multiple football games every Saturday during the season.

FOX Sports unveiled its lineup of international broadcasters for its coverage of the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017, which starts on June 17 across the FOX Sports family of networks. The roster represents multiple countries and is comprised of three broadcast teams, plus studio coverage originating from two locations – Saint Petersburg and Los Angeles. Kate Abdo hosts studio coverage from Saint Petersburg alongside Eric Wynalda and a rotation of analysts that include Lothar Matthäus and Guus Hiddink. Lead play-by-play announcer John Strong and Stu Holden call the action live from multiple locations in Russia with Maria Komandnaya reporting from the sidelines. Rob Stone anchors studio coverage from LA alongside Alexi Lalas, Arne Friedrich, Aly Wagner, Mariano Trujillo and Fernando Fiore.

Meanwhile, FOX Sports continues its Road to Russia coverage on-site in Colorado and Mexico as the US MNT hosts Trinidad & Tobago in Denver today and visits Mexico on Sunday. Rob Stone anchors studio coverage alongside Alexi Lalas and Fernando Fiore. Lead play-by-play analyst John Strong, Stu Holden and Landon Donovan call the match with Jenny Taft reporting from the sidelines.

ESPN added two matchups for its Sunday Night Baseball telecasts presented by Taco Bell. On July 2, the network will showcase the Nationals/Cardinals, while Sept. 3 will see Red Sox/Yankees. Dan Shulman, will have the call for both matchups with analysts Jessica Mendoza and Aaron Boone and reporter Buster Olney at 8p on the network.

In other programming news, CBS Sports Network showcases the University of Connecticut and Boston College battling at Fenway Park on Nov. 18 at 7p. The Huskies serve as host for the game, which is part of The Fenway Gridiron Series presented by Your Call Football.

ESPN offered more details of Hank Williams Jr.’s return for the MNF anthem, noting that this season will see Williams will perform his song “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Monday Night” with superstar duo Florida Georgia Line and multi-platinum recording artist Jason Derulo. The MNF kickoff video features team-specific lyrics and visuals each week based on the 17 regular-season ESPN matchups.

Brendan Schaub is being tapped as co-host for Spike TV’s live pre-show leading into Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva, from New York’s Madison Square Garden. Schaub will join Bellator host, Jenn Brown, in the broadcast booth and will offer insight and analysis for all the fights on the card.

In other MMA news, UFC and Premium Sports inked a multi-year extension of their PPV television distribution agreement that will see the promotion maintain Premium Sports as its exclusive commercial PPV distributor throughout all Canadian provinces, excluding Quebec.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Snapchat vs. Instagram Stories: A How & When Guide

Join Cynopsis Digital’s webinar, Thursday, June 29 as agencies Laundry Service & Cycle, Giant Spoon and more cover:

How to generate programming and marketing content that feeds brand awareness
Strategies for creating content for the features that are unique to Snapchat and for those that are unique to Instagram
Best practices for buying and selling ad inventory on both platforms
Expert projections on what the future user bases for Instagram and Snapchat will be

Register your team

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Mastercard renewed ties with World Rugby to serve as a Worldwide Partner for Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. The partnership began in 2011 and will see Mastercard serve as the preferred card and digital wallet for the tournament. “This ground-breaking event is a fantastic opportunity for us to engage cardholders and enable them to experience the energy of rugby in ways we have not yet imagined,” said Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard. “In 2015, we had a blast turning the world oval, and thrilled to be back again for Rugby World Cup 2019.”

DIGITAL & STREAMING

SAP and the NBA are serving up the next-gen for data, tapping the sons of Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul for a video that spotlights key stats and insights surrounding the NBA Finals as co-hosts of The Simple Report by SAP. Using stats and insights made possible by SAP, the NBA’s Data Analytics Partner, the “video illustrates how SAP helps translate complex data into simple insights that even kids can understand,” according to the release.

Second-screen live TV sports prediction platform WinView announced the launch of an interactive baseball prediction game on its multi-sports mobile app. WinView’s baseball game enables users to test their knowledge of the sport as they compete against friends, family and other fans by correctly predicting the results of each at-bat during the live telecast to win cash prizes.

ESPORTS

In this week’s edition of Cynopsis Esports & Gaming…

E3 Coliseum lays foundation
New Team Dignitas squad talks 76ers’ gameplan
NBA mulls esports move in China
ELeague Clash finds its voices
Crowd controlling Riot’s franchise fiesta
E3 updates
New esports series 4Cast gets ready to rumble

THE MAIN EVENT

Predators/Penguins on NBC at 8p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Cynopsis Measurement & Data Conference

August 3 |Dream Downtown, NYC |11:30AM – 4:00PM

Despite all the chatter and change about ad loads, undefined currencies, metrics and more, there has yet to be a smart, focused conversation on where we are (and aren’t) and the necessary steps to get there. This conference is that conversation. Leading the discussion will be industry experts from Facebook, NBCU, ABC, Hulu, Quigley-Simpson, 22squared, one2one Media and more.

Seating is limited, so be sure to register your team today

ON THIS DAY in 2001: Ray Bourque plays his final NHL game.

In The Know: Retiring Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops won a championship with the school after defeating which team in the Orange Bowl in 2000? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What athlete’s autobiography is titled “On the Line”? Answer: Serena Williams. Kudos: Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Michael Ritz-BucStar Consulting/NY; Mark Burns-SportTechie/NY; Ken White-KWTV/Charlotte; Johm Langermann- WINK-TV | WXCW-TV/Fort Myers; Will Allmendinger-Clear Channel Outdoor/Chicago; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Anne Wettig-Fox Cable Networks/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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