06/30/17: NBC Sports gets ready to Open

CynopsisSports

Good morning. It’s Friday June 30, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.Please note that Cynopsis Sports will be dark next week for the holiday.

NBC Sports Group is lining up nearly 140 hours of television coverage of The 146th Open from July 17-23, anchored by 78 scheduled hours of live tournament and news programming on-site, which marks the most-ever for a major championship, according to the company. NBC Sports also is expanding its live coverage of The Open Qualifying Series leading into tournament play and into the final putt on Sunday, leveraging its “Playing Through” split screen format for select commercial breaks across all four days of coverage. Overall, 49.5 live hours will be devoted to live tournament coverage from July 20-23, including 14.5 hours on Golf Channel over each of the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday (spanning 1:30a-4p); with 10.5 live hours across Golf Channel and NBC during the third round on Saturday (4:30a-3p) and 10 live hours across Golf Channel and NBC during the final round on Sunday (4a-2p). Mike Tirico calls his 21st consecutive Open, joining Terry Gannon and Dan Hicks as rotating play-by-play hosts for Golf Channel and NBC’s coverage of The Open.

ON THE AIR

ESPN reports that this year’s coverage of the 2017 College World Series chalked up a slew of multi-year total live audience viewership highs and streaming records over the course of the 10-day, 16-game event. The two-game CWS Finals won by the Florida Gators averaged a total live audience of 1,945,000 viewers, the second-most watched sweep in Finals history and the most-watched Finals since 2014. That marks a rise of 72% over last year’s event as well with the decisive game two drawing 2,067,000 viewers, the most-watched second game in the best-of-three format in five years. Across the 16 games, the College World Series was the most-streamed in all three major metrics: average minute audience, unique viewers and total minutes streamed, up 48%, 62% and 48%, respectively, year over year.

FOX Sports prepares for the 12-team CONCACAF Gold Cup starting July 7 with 62 hours of coverage on deck across its channels. FS1 is scheduled to carry 18 matches, with five on FS2 and one each on the FOX broadcast network and FXX. The US MNT kicks off its CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign against Panama on July 8 on FOX at 4:30p.

NFL reporter Tom Pelissero is joining NFL Media and will contribute to NFL Network and NFL.com. Pelissero joins NFL Media from USA Today where he covered the NFL nationally since 2013.

ESPN serves up a special 1.5 hour primetime edition of First Take today at 8p following the Manny Paquiao/Jeff Horn weigh-in on the network. The special will feature commentators Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman with host Cassidy Hubbarth break down the fight and cover the topics of the day.

Speaking of boxing, Telemundo’s Boxeo Telemundo Ford returns with four straight events starting July 7 at 11:30p with undefeated welterweight prospects Sammy “Hurricane” Valentin/Giovani “Gallo de Oro” Santilla or the North American Boxing Organization Welterweight Title. The bout will be broadcast on Telemundo and the Telemundo Deportes En Vivo app with Rene Giraldo and Edgar Lopez. Telemundo Deportes’ commentators René Giraldo and Edgar Lopez calling the bouts.

FOX Sports finalized its broadcast roster for next week’s bevy of UFC programming, announcing that Dominick Cruz and Kenny Florian will serve as analysts on the desk in Las Vegas with host Karyn Bryant for The Ultimate Figher Finale: Johnson vs. Gaethje on FS1 on July 7. UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping then joins the desk on July 8 for UFC 213: Nunes vs. Shevenko 2. Brian Stann joins blow-by-blow announcer Todd Grisham on Friday before Stann joins Joe Rogan and blow-by-blow announcer Jon Anik to call the fights on Saturday.

CBC Sports announced a four-year partnership with FINA in a move that makes the exclusive Canadian home to all major international FINA competitions through 2020 beginning with the 17th FINA World Championships from July 15-30. The four-year partnership sees CBC Sports provide extensive coverage of FINA championship and world cup events in disciplines including swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, high diving and open water swimming.

Experts from 605, Nielsen, Hulu, NBCU, Discover, FOX Networks, Time Inc, Facebook and more are gathering for an examination of cross-platform video measurement, on August 3 at Dream Downtown in NYC and today is the last day to save your seat before rates increase. Register now.

NHL Network takes on the start of NHL free agency on Saturday at 11a by opening with a simulcast of Sportsnet’s Hockey Central: Signing Season, followed by NHL Tonight: 2017 Free Agency at 1p. At the end of the day, NHL Tonight: 2017 Free Agency Recap Show will review the notable signings to date and the latest news on remaining unsigned players.

Chris Russo and Mike Francesa will reunite at the SiriusXM studios on July 6 for a special Town Hall broadcast, where they will take questions from host Chazz Palminteri and an in-studio audience to break down their partnership for the Mike & the Mad Dog show and the ESPN documentary about its legacy. The special will run at 6p on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Infinity Motor Co. locked in a global partnership with NBA basketball star Stephen Curry to be its new global brand ambassador. According to the brand, the Golden State Warrior’s “achievements and personal ambition to be at the top of his profession embody the spirit of Infinity’s new brand positioning ‘Empower the Drive.’” The automotive manufacturer will feature Curry in upcoming global product and brand marketing communications campaigns.

Speaking of Curry, he locked in the top spot on the NBA’s Most Popular Jersey and Team Merchandise lists, respectively, based on overall sales on NBAStore.com from April through June. Rounding out the top five among most popular jerseys are the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (No. 2), the Warriors’ Kevin Durant (No. 3), the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (No. 4) and the Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving (No. 5).

In college news, UNLV Athletics selected Learfield as its comprehensive multimedia rightsholder for the next 10 years with the relationship starting immediately. “We’re pleased to welcome UNLV to the Learfield family and look forward to working with Desiree and her team to develop new ideas and partner collaborations to help continue to grow the Rebel brand,” said Learfield President and CEO Greg Brown.

Meanwhile, Columbia University Athletics announced that the joint venture between IMG and JMI Sports will serve as the school’s new official athletics multimedia rights partner. The deal kicks in tomorrow and will see the newly formed Lions Sports Marketing agency combine JMI Sports’ boutique operating experience with IMG’s national sales operation.

UFC has a new partnership with Performance Inspired that makes the brand the “Official Sports Supplement” of UFC. With this partnership, Performance Inspired will supply its line of sports products to the UFC Performance Institute at the “Performance Inspired Fueling Station” for use by athletes currently competing under the UFC banner that visit the facility.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

The All England Club is partnering with Twitter to live stream The Wimbledon Channel on the platform during this year’s tournament, offering a range of daily content from around the Grounds, including news, interviews, behind the scenes and selected action. In addition, the partnership includes Twitter Amplify on demand video content from @Wimbledon.

Motor Racing Network and STP have partnered to produce a new original podcast series, Richard Petty – Road to Royalty presented by STP. The 10-episode podcast slate tells the story of Petty and can be found on the MRN Digital platform.

Intel unveiled its July MLB schedule for programming through the free Intel True VR app, with Mariners/Angels on deck on Sunday at 12:37p, along with Indians/Giants on July 18 and Angels/Indians on July 25.

Cinedigm and NHL Original Productions will pay tribute to the Penguins’ Stanley Cup repeat via the release of Stanley Cup Champions 2017: Pittsburgh Penguins on July 25 via Blu-Ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. Special Features Include an extended locker room Stanley Cup Celebration, an extended parade celebration and an extended on-ice celebration.

ESPORTS

WESA and RFRSH agreed on compliance with WESA’s Multi-team Ownership Regulations, which mandates that ownership or control of multiple esports organizations or teams that ownership or control of multiple esports organizations or teams that participate in Pro League is prohibited. “The rules and regulations we have implemented are designed to protect the integrity of our Member organizations, their players and the esports industry at large,” said Ken Hershman, Executive Chairman and Commissioner, WESA. “RFRSH has indicated that they also share the vision to invest in improvements for players, fans and the scene in general. We are very pleased that RFRSH has embraced the regulations and we look forward to continue working with them to move the industry forward.”

DreamHack Atlanta will see city-based recording artist and rapper Waka Flocka perform at the festival on July 21 at 10:30p with concert tickets included with the cost of the Friday day pass or three-day weekend pass. “DreamHack Atlanta’s attendees are going to be incredibly excited about Waka’s concert. We are grateful to Melvin Breeden and Radar Live for making this happen,” said DreamHack Chief Executive Officer Marcus Lindmark. “We are thrilled to be expanding into North America and look forward to our first Atlanta event, which will launch with this performance. When you add this concert to DreamHack Atlanta’s more than $800,000 in esports tournament prizes, live music, cosplay competition and more, DreamHack Atlanta promises to be an unforgettable experience.”

Gfinity detailed plans for the EU Halo Championship Series Fall 2017 season, hitting the season with a trio of goals: add a premium open LAN for the European community; refresh the format to unite the European competitors in an open system; and continue to tell the stories of players and teams through regular, high quality broadcasts and coverage. As such, the company will stage the $25,000 event between Sept. 15-17 and will see a $5,000 free-for-all competition alongside the main event over the weekend. The HCS Pro League and HCS Open Circuit will also be combined to create the EU Halo Championship Series, with a new format.

THE MAIN EVENT

NBC gets its turn with NASCAR, offering the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona on Saturday at 7:30p.

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ON THIS DAY in 1965: The NFL grants a new franchise to Atlanta businessman Rankin Smith, Sr. for $8.5 million.

In the Know: What is the name of Sasha Baron Cohen’s character in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Dave Stewart was a part of three World Series clubs, who were they? Answer: Dodgers, Athletics. Blue Jays. Kudos: Bob Dudelson-Leverage Agency/NY; Denis Barry-CBS/NY; Michael Ritz-BucStar Consulting/NY; Rick Rosenfelt-New York Red Bulls/Harrison; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Deerfield Beach; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Jeff Stewart-Houston Astros/Houston; John Ward-Tennis Channel/Chicago; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner & Triathlete magazine/Houston; David Hauptman/Denver; Judie Henninger-Valentine Productions/Santa Monica; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank; Justin Karp-Pac-12 Networks/San Francisco

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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