06/28/17: FOX updates UEFA's Facebook status

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Good morning. It’s Wednesday June 28, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

FOX Sports and Facebook are teaming up to stream UEFA Champions League matches via Facebook Live this season. The deal will see contests carried on FOX Sports Facebook Page, and in Spanish on the FOX Deportes Facebook Page starting in Sept during group stage competition. The partnership includes two live matches per match day in the group stage, four round of 16 matches and four quarterfinal matches with some matches exclusive to Facebook and FOX Sports GO, while others will be simulcast on television.

“Facebook is a social media powerhouse and a great partner to help us grow soccer in the United States,” said David Nathanson, Head of Business Operations, FOX Sports. “As people spend more and more time on mobile devices and social networks, offering matches on this platform is a natural extension. This year’s UEFA Champions League final saw 34 million people have 98 million interactions on Facebook, so we are thrilled to be able to offer top-notch content to their immense soccer community.”

ON THE AIR

ESPN detailed its Wimbledon plans with 140 hours on deck across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC starting July 3. Meanwhile, 1,500 live hours from all 15 TV Courts will run on ESPN3, on the ESPN App. The action will climax with the Ladies’ Championship and the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Doubles Championships on ESPN on July 15, and the Gentlemen’s Championship July 16, followed by the Mixed Doubles Championship. Programming will see the first five weekdays start coverage at 7a for daylong coverage. Talent will include names that include Darren Cahill, Cliff Drysdale, Chrissie Evert and Mary Joe Fernandez.

Tennis Channel takes on its 10th year of Wimbledon Primetime starting July 3 with a lineup that includes more than 200 hours to Wimbledon coverage over the two-week event. Wimbledon Primetime runs each night of the competition followed by encore presentations that run throughout the late night. The roster of commentators and broadcasters includes Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier as lead analysts with Lindsay Davenport also in the booth while Mary Carillo offers special features and analysis as host with Bill Macatee.

NBC Sports Group gears up for its portion of the 2017 NASCAR season this week with more than 32 hours of NASCAR programing lined up that will include Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Daytona International Speedway at 7p on NBC. Rick Allen calls the action alongside Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton. Meanwhile, NBCSN lined up Ride to Victory: Stories of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride that chronicles his annual cross-country motorcycle trek tomorrow at 10p.

The weekend will also see NBC Sports Group present a record 280 hours of live, primetime, and encore coverage of the 104th Tour de France this year with programming across NBC, NBCSN, and the NBC Sports Gold app. Daily live coverage including all 21 stages starting Saturday at 7:30a with the Tour de France Pre-Race Show, followed by Stage 1 at 9a on NBCSN. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen will call the race action. Production highlights this year include real-time data of course gradients and maps that track where the riders are in real-time on the route.

Elsewhere, ESPN lined up a new broadcast team for the 2017 T-Mobile Home Run Derby on July 10, with Karl Ravech, Mark Teixeira, Jessica Mendoza and Buster Olney handling microphone duties at 8p. During this year’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby telecast, ESPN will incorporate Miami-centric footage and production elements throughout its presentation as well as a new custom graphics package, which will include new looks for the scoreboard and home run distances. ESPN will also utilize StatCast to provide real time home run distance and exit velocity data within the coverage. Meanwhile, ESPN2 will offer a Spanish-language simulcast of the derby via ESPN Deportes’ live on-site coverage.

A mighty thanks to everyone who participated in our sports/esports webinar yesterday, including moderator Stan Press from Magid, along with speakers David Highhill from the NFL, BTN’s Erin Harvego, Mindshare NA’s Josh Spiegelman and the 76ers Chad Biggs. Replays are available on demand here.

NBA TV takes on free agency with “around-the-clock” coverage of this year’s period, offering up live studio shows and up-to-the-minute reports starting Friday. The schedule will include Free Agent Fever, a live multi-set studio show utilizing a deep roster of commentators on June 30 at 11:30p, as well as special editions of The Starters and NBA GameTime. NBA TV’s free agency-focused coverage will continue through the end of the week, recapping the second day of free agency on Sunday with Free Agent Fever at 7p and NBA GameTime at 11p.

In ratings news, Monday night’s inaugural NBA Awards on TNT averaged 1.8 million viewers for the network. Meanwhile, the telecast also generated more than 43 million social impressions and nearly four million video views via NBA on TNT, NBA TV and NBA.com’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, according to Turner Sports.

Telemundo Deportes’ coverage of the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 reached 9.6 million total viewers through the group stage, according to the network, averaging 1 million total viewers and 519,000 adults 18-49 in Nielsen numbers. Mexico’s win over Russia on Saturday delivered an average of 2.2 million total viewers and nearly 1.3 million adults 18-49.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

UFC detailed plans for the 6th annual UFC International Fight Wee next week in Vegas with events running July 5-8. The tradition will include its staple UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, as well as the interactive two-day UFC Fan Experience and The Ultimate Fighter Finale: Johnson vs. Gaethje plus UFC 213: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 on July 8. UFC’s fan zone at Toshiba Plaza will offer fans open workouts, weigh-ins and live entertainment, along with free access to UFC champions, top-ranked contenders, UFC Hall of Famers, celebrities, legendary fighters and Octagon Girls.

NASCAR honors the United States Armed Forces through NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola on Friday where NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will bear the names of active military units and installations on their race car windshields during the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250. “Our sport and our fans take immense pride in the tradition of honoring the U.S. Armed Forces on Independence Day Weekend,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola will elevate that sense of appreciation this weekend with a special NASCAR XFINITY Series tribute to the military units and bases vital to protecting our country’s freedom.”

Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Atlanta Falcons locked in a deal that makes AT&T a Founding Partner and its Official Communications Provider. The deal will see AT&T make the venue one of the most-connected venues in the nation and include The AT&T Perch above the west end zone.

ESPN Films’ and ESPN Audio’s new series 30 for 30 Podcasts debuted with MINI USA on board to serve as the presenting sponsor of the slate. In addition, Blue Moon, Citi, Delta Air Lines, Blue Apron and ZipRecruiter have also signed on to be a part of the series. “The marquee brands that signed on for this project are a testament to the 30 for 30 brand and the growing importance of podcasts as part of a media mix,” said Eric Johnson, Executive Vice President Global Ad Revenue and Sales Operations. “Podcasts lend themselves to a distinctive kind of advertising integration, and we’ll be taking advantage of that for each of our sponsors.”

DIGITAL & STREAMING

NBC Sports Gold lined up its next product, announcing Premier League Pass, a service that offers US auds access to 130 live Premier League matches as well as “the most robust offering of Premier League shoulder programming ever available in the US.” The pass is powered by Playmaker Media and priced at $49.99, with at least three matches per Premier League club available as a live stream. In addition, subscribers can access replays of most matches (including those not offered on NBC Sports Gold), and a full suite of Premier League Productions and NBC Sports original content and studio shows, plus highlight clips.

The Canadian Football League locked in a new live streaming deal with Twitter Canada that will include #CFLTHISWEEK, a 30-minute live show hosted by Brodie Lawson and Davis Sanchez that will include guest appearances by Max Rosenberg. The series will run globally at 3p every Wednesday, with the series set to debut today.

FloSports inked a partnership with HOKA ONE ONE to partner on more than 20 videos throughout the year that will include both long- form and short-form original video content, culminating with a feature film on Futsum Zienasellassie and his journey from post-college to world class runner. The videos will be released starting in June and run throughout the year on MileSpit and FloTrack.

Olympic Channel serves up its new series Identify today, with the five-episode docu-series spotlighting the journeys of five transgender athletes that include Chloe Anderson (volleyball player), Schuyler Bailar (swimmer), Harrison Browne (hockey player), Pat Manuel (boxer) and Chris Mosier (triathlete). Identify was produced exclusively for the Olympic Channel by VICE Media.

ESPORTS

Blizzard’s upcoming Overwatch League detailed plans to launch a scouting report for team owners that will spotlight the game’s best players in the world. League Commissioner Nate Nanzer released a letter on Tuesday stating that an email survey was sent to select players around the world who can opt to be included in the scouting relay featuring players that scored a top-500 finish in Competitive Play in Overwatch Seasons 3 or 4 for any region; a playoff finish in recent high-profile tournaments; and other factors, including membership on an established professional Overwatch team. “From the day the Overwatch League was conceived, it has been important to us to build a robust ecosystem that will support and grow competitive Overwatch —now, and into the future,” said Nanzer.

Minute Media announced the launch of its newest brand and esports platform, DBLTAP. The initiative will serve up interactive, short-form esports video and editorial content along with tournament highlights and exclusive access courtesy of partnerships with ESL, ELeague, DreamHack and Fnatic. DBLTAP has been in soft launch mode for the last few months and has already reached traffic in excess of 3 million monthly unique users organically, curating and distributing more than 60 pieces of content each day.

Millennial Esports. entered into a binding term sheet to acquire the business of IDEAS+CARS Ltd., which focuses on the esports racing environment. Meanwhile, Darren Cox, the principal of IDEAS+CARS, will enter into a three-year agreement with Millennial Esports to act as Chief Marketing Officer of the Company as well as Managing Director of Millennial Esports Europe.

ROSTER MOVES

David Hill was named the 2017 recipient of the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which is presented annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The executive, who as the first president of FOX Sports launched the NFL on FOX in 1994, will be recognized with “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football” and presented with the award at the 2017 Enshrinement Ceremony on Aug. 5. Hill is the first executive to win the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award since Roone Arledge in 2001.

David DeNunzio has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of GOLF and GOLF.com following the decision of David Clarke to retire after 12 years at the helm of the franchise. DeNunz is formerly Managing Editor of Instruction and the author of more than 90 cover stories for GOLF.

THE MAIN EVENT

US Open Cup Soccer 2017: FC Cincinnati/Chicago on ESPN2 at 8p.

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ON THIS DAY in 1971: The US Supreme Court unanimously overturns the conviction of Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) on charges of draft evasion.

In the Know: Robert Wuhl and Sandra Oh once starred in a comedy about the life of a sports agent, what was the name of the show? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Which school won last year’s College World Series? Answer: Coastal Carolina. Kudos: Mike Lee-Blue 449/NY; Evan Noonan-Optimum Sports/NY; Jared Merrell-Optimum Sports/NY; Joe Santamaria-NBC/NY; Rick Rosenfelt-New York Red Bulls/Harrison; Mark J. Crepeau-Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame/Springfield; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Deerfield Beach; Robert Teinowitz-Live Action Media/Chicago; John Ward-Tennis Channel/Chicago; Carly Dasso-Saatchi & Saatchi/Oakbrook Terrace; Jim Himmel-TCB Media/San Clemente; Judie Henninger-Valentine Productions/Santa Monica; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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