07/12/19: The NBA's new CMO

Good morning. It’s Friday July 12, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

The NBA named Kate Jhaveri, current CMO of Twitch and a former marketing executive at Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft, as the league’s new Chief Marketing Officer. Jhaveri begins with the NBA on Aug. 15 and will be responsible for leading the global marketing operations for the NBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League, including the development of innovative marketing campaigns and brand messaging across all platforms to connect with fans and grow the game of basketball around the world. Additionally, she will oversee the consumer insights and analytics departments to enhance the NBA’s consumer data strategy and implement new marketing programs.

“I am thrilled to join the NBA and bring my experiences in both digital and traditional marketing to develop new and innovative ways to continue the global growth of the league,” said Jhaveri. “The NBA has an incredibly passionate fanbase, and I look forward to utilizing their perspectives to best drive our strategic direction.”

PROGRAMMING

Fall programming plans continue to solidify. ESPN announced its slate of early season college basketball tournaments this season with play beginning Nov. 21 and running through Christmas weekend. Play begins with the Charleston Classic and Myrtle Beach Invitational on Nov. 21, 22 and 24. On the docket will also be ESPN owned and operated events that include the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Orlando Invitational and Wooden Legacy. The NIT Season Tip-Off will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a regional tournament taking place in Orlando. Additional events to be exclusively televised on ESPN networks include the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis, Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off, Empire Classic, Hall of Fame Classic Powered by ShotTracker, Legends Classic, Maui Jim Maui Invitational and MGM Resorts Main Event.

Meanwhile, the 2019-20 Premier League season has its TV schedule locked in by NBC Sports Group for the first two months of the season. The schedule features live coverage of all matches beginning Aug. 9, with Liverpool hosting newly promoted Norwich City at 3p on NBCSN and Universo. Rebecca Lowe returns to host NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage, joined by Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino, and Robbie Mustoe. The networks of NBCUniversal will present at least five matches each week in the season’s first two months on NBC, NBCSN, and CNBC, with all games preceded and followed by Premier League Live pre- and post-match.

FOX and FOX Deportes saw Major League Soccer’s July 7 New York Red Bulls/Atlanta United game drum up 1.62 million viewers to rank as the second highest viewed MLS Regular Season game in league history. The game also ranks as the sixth highest viewed MLS game of all time (including the playoffs).

WWE Studios and independent studio Critical Content are teaming up to launch a new reality television series titled Fight Like A Girl that will run on the platform Quibi. Stephanie McMahon will serve as an Executive Producer of the series with each episode featuring McMahon pairing a female WWE superstar with a young woman who is struggling with a personal issue that is preventing her from getting better.

Westwood One and Bonnie-Jill Laflin, the NBA’s first and only female scout, are launching a new podcast called The Weekly Pass. Upcoming episodes of the weekly show will feature interviews with sports superstars Lenny Wilkens, Roger Clemons, Shaquille O’Neil, Jerry Rice, and Curt Schilling. Wednesdays see Jill and co-host Adam Copeland share interviews with prominent athletes and celebrities discussing sports news and action with an insider’s perspective.

Mark your calendars! Sept 10-12 will see the return of the Esports Business Summit, the industry’s biggest esports business event, with days of networking, outings, play, awards and a bevy of C-level executives and global brands sharing their insights into opportunities in competitive gaming. Click here for more information and get your tickets now!

The WNBA announced that the Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne and the Las Vegas Aces’ A‘ja Wilson led the list of 10 players who were selected by fans, current WNBA players and media to start in AT&T WNBA All-Star 2019 and will captain opposing teams for this year’s event, which takes place on July 27 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The WNBA All-Star Game will be televised live by ABC at 3:30p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

CYNOPSIS TOP WOMEN IN MEDIA AWARDS GALA

September 9 | 5:45PM – 8PM | Tribeca Rooftop, NYC

Cynopsis is celebrating the 2019 Top Women in Media honorees — the outstanding women across every facet of the media industry — TV, digital, tech, esports, sports, marketing and more. From corporate visionaries to rising stars, they are making bold decisions and driving their businesses forward and they deserve their moment in the spotlight.

Join us September 9^th in NYC!

SEE THE LIST OF HONOREES REGISTER BEFORE AUGUST 9

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Global sports and entertainment agency Wasserman announced the formation of The Collective, a new division within the company being launched to “raise the visibility of women in sports, entertainment, and culture by delivering unique strategy, insights, and ideas for talent, brands, and properties focused on empowering and speaking to women.” The division will serve as a resource for Wasserman, including its business and clients, so that projects or clients that reach women can be elevated by the combined expertise and experience of The Collective and benefit from the new division. Separately, the Wasserman Foundation, a private family foundation led by Casey Wasserman, has committed $1M to fund charitable programs encouraging the growth and development of women in sports and entertainment.

UEFA inked a long-term partnership with Fanatics to take on the merchandising and official fan shop for the European soccer governing body’s national team events. The deal includes Euro 2020, the Nations League Finals, the European Under-21 Championship, the European Futsal Championship and the Women’s Euro 2021. In addition, Fanatics will also be able to produce officially licensed UEFA competition merchandise at its major tournaments.

BIG3 will see adidas activate through a new ticket promotion that spans the rest of the league’s 2019 season. Beginning Tuesday, the league—with the help of the league’s apparel sponsor—will now provide half-price tickets, packages, and bundles.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and TradeWinds Island Resorts unveiled a multi-year partnership agreement that showcases collaborative marketing initiatives focused on enhancing the in-game stadium experience for Buccaneers fans at Raymond James Stadium, anchored by the Bucs Beach Bash.

DIGITAL, DATA & STREAMING

The NBA announced a strategic partnership and equity stake with NEX Team Inc., a mobile artificial intelligence company and the developer of HomeCourt, a mobile basketball training application. The partnership will leverage HomeCourt’s technology to develop and train players at all skill levels and will be an integral part of the NBA’s youth basketball development initiatives around the world.

Meanwhile, the NBA carried the first-ever game captured exclusively by smartphones yesterday at MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The Hawks/Wizards matchup “Smartphone View” alternate broadcast featured the aid of AT&T 5G video and six Samsung phones, offering courtside views, customized graphics, interviews, in-arena elements, fan interaction and more.

ESPORTS

HyperX cemented a partnership with Red Bull esports tournaments and events in 2019, beginning with the Red Bull Rise Till Dawn event in Chicago tomorrow. HyperX will serve as the exclusive supplier of headsets, keyboards, mice, mouse pads, DRAM and SSD for the 2019 Red Bull esports tournaments and events. HyperX will also be providing products for the Red Bull Esports Arena in Santa Monica and providing products to Red Bull athletes and key players.

Summoners War publisher and developer Com2uS is tapping the services of OGN to produce the third annual Summoners War Championships. Preliminary rounds will kick in on July 13 leading into the top players from North American and South America competing in the Americas Cup in LA on Aug. 31, with players moving on with competitors from the Asia-Pacific Cup and Europe Cup to the Summoners War Championships 2019 World Finals in Paris on Oct. 26.

Wix.com is partnering with FaZe Clan to become the team’s official website development and design partner. Wix and FaZe Clan will create opportunities for fans through integrated social and digital content with Wix branding set to be featured on the official FaZe Clan team shirt, and will serve as an official supporter of FaZe Clan’s Professional Fortnite team. The partnership officially kicks off with the release of the official Fortnite Team website:

The World Showdown of Esports detailed plans to host the seventh WSOE event: The Tekken 7 & SoulCalibur VI Showdown on July 27 at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort and Casino starting at 10a PT. The event WSOE’s first entry into the fighting game arena, with a single-day, double-elimination format. Each game title will have seven invited competitors and one qualifier to be determined during the West Coast qualifying competitions on July 10 (SoulCalibur VI) and July 17 (Tekken 7).

INDUSTRY/ROSTER MOVES

Vox Media announced a bevy of staffing changes including new hires within the senior leadership team. Jill Pike will serve as VP of Communications, Matt Kershaw becomes VP of Global Partnerships & Strategy, Peter Elkins-Williams was named a Lead Corporate Development and Donte Stewart becomes Head of Security. “As Vox Media continues to deepen and expand its connection with modern audiences, we are building a team to match our company’s growth and ambitions,” said Vox Media Chairman & CEO Jim Bankoff. “Jill, Matt, Peter and Donte add to our best in class leadership team and will each have key roles as we continue to shape the future of media.”

THE MAIN EVENT

Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Semifinals on ESPN sees Federer/Nadal and Djokovic/ Bautista Agut starting at 8a.

ON THIS DAY in 1954; The Major League Baseball Players Association is founded.

In the Know: 40 years ago today, the Chicago White Sox had to forfeit a game due to field damage caused by a Demolition Day promotion designed to destroy what? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Which sport did Charlotte Cooper play to win Olympic gold? Answer: Tennis. Kudos: Michael Ritz-Northwestern Mutual/NY; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank; Tony Reyes-Duncan Studio/Pasadena

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Kerry Smith Division President Access Intelligence Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina 203-218-6480 Albert Nassour 917-545-3129	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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