SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and the United States Conference of Mayors announced that more than 300 Mayors from all 50 United States and Puerto Rico will host youth-focused, baseball & softball events in their communities through August as part of the Play Ball Summer joint effort. This will be the first time in the history of the initiative that mayors from all 50 states have pledged their support. Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said: “The partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors is a significant factor for the success of our Play Ball initiative. The central focus of our effort has always been to engage communities that love our game with opportunities for young people to participate in baseball and softball activities. By reaching all 50 states and Puerto Rico, Play Ball has truly become a national movement. We thank all the Mayors for their extraordinary commitment.”
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott inked a multi-year deal to become an ambassador for Campbell’s, where he will promote Chunky MAXX through 2020. He becomes the first NFL QB to nab a multi-year deal with the brand since Donovan McNabb.
Maven announced plans to add team-sports “franchises” to its coalition of independent publishers courtesy of a partnership with The Sports Xchange to deploy a nationwide, professional network of sports journalists who will provide “authentic, on-the-ground content, analysis and community engagement for fans of every pro and major college team in North America.” The new sports network will debut ahead of this upcoming football season, with veteran journalists launched for all 32 NFL teams and every major college football power.
FuboTV is adding History of Soccer to the fuboTV Network. Programming will include long- and short-form content that originally was telecast on A+E Networks’ HISTORY channel earlier this year as part of its History of Football series. Episodes will premiere when possible on the same day that World Cup matches featuring the teams profiled are scheduled, and will then repeat throughout July.
Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment detailed plans for the recently-announced Dragon Ball FighterX World Tour, which will launch at the CEO Fighting Game Championships in Daytona Beach on June 29. The tour will be carried by Twitch, which will act as managing partner for league operations, circuit events, and content. The tour will also make various “Saga Event” stops, including the Ultimate Fighting Arena (France), Thunderstruck (Mexico), Southeast Asia Major (Singapore), VS Fighting (United Kingdom), and CEO Fighting Game Championships (USA). Competitions will be held throughout 2018 and culminate at the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Finals in January 2019.
Activision Blizzard will reportedly offer Overwatch League franchisees first crack at the upcoming franchise model for its Call of Duty World League. ESPN writes that in the company’s franchise contracts with existing Overwatch League owners, those owners are granted a first right of negotiation for slots in the Call of Duty World League and that Activision Blizzard is contractually obligated to approach those owners first when it begins exploring franchise opportunities for the Call of Duty World League. Activision Blizzard is assessing how to integrate the OWL ownership groups — 10 of which do not hold teams in Call of Duty at this time — with existing Call of Duty participating teams, per sources.
The NBA Awards on TNT tonight at 9p.
