07/16/19: Stats Perform gets formal

Good morning. It’s Tuesday July 16, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

STATS and Perform wrapped up regulatory and closing requirements that will create Stats Perform, offering “the deepest breadth of data, sports research, news and video content, and unrivaled AI-powered solutions to sports media and broadcasters, technology companies, global brands, sportsbooks, teams and leagues, and fantasy providers,” according to the newly merged organization. Stats Perform’s extensive list of customers includes four of the top-five most popular global sports broadcast companies, seven of the top-10 global tech companies, all of the top-10 sportsbooks and seven of the top-10 football (soccer) franchises.

“Stats Perform is set to engage billions of sports fans this year and I expect that to grow as we bring new innovative technologies to market, expanding our global presence,” Stats Perform Chief Executive Officer Carl Mergele said. “To truly revolutionize sport, we have harnessed the power of immense amounts of sports data with unparalleled AI technology. This unprecedented sports data and technology creates boundless possibilities for our global partners in fan engagement, betting and team performance.”

PROGRAMMING

Another historic battle between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Championship drew an overnight rating of 3.0 on ESPN for its more than five hours, up more than double (114%) compared to the championship match a year ago. The entire seven-hour telecast (which also included the Ladies’ Doubles Championship) averaged a 2.6 overnight rating, up nearly triple (189%) from 2018 and the third highest-rated tennis telecast in ESPN history based on overnights. The Wimbledon men’s final also averaged two million out-of-home viewers over the course of its five-hour duration according to Tunity Analytics. The game peaked at 2p with five million OOH viewers.

ESPN cemented its commentator teams for the 2019-20 college football season, with a slate of around 1,000 regular season games, 35 bowl games and the College Football Playoff. Overall, the company will see nearly 30 commentating teams and fans this season with new commentator groups for Thursday and Friday games, while Saturdays will see several booths reunite from past seasons. Groupings of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor & Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe return this season, calling ESPN’s marquee games each week of the season. Most weeks, Fowler, Herbstreit and Taylor will be onsite for ABC’s Saturday Night Football, while McDonough, Blackledge and Rowe will call ESPN’s primetime game. ESPN’s roster this season also includes new contracts with analysts Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill and Dan Orlovsky while signing Ryan Leaf to serve as an analyst. ESPN’s Thursday night game slate will have a new commentating team this season, with Matt Hasselbeck adding a regular college football game assignment to his studio work and join Adam Amin and Molly McGrath on Thursday nights. Meanwhile, Louis Riddick, Gene Chizik and Jim Mora will be part of a new commentating team for Friday Nights.

HBO serves up feature-length documentary Lindsey Vonn: The Final Season recounting the skier’s last competitive campaign while looking back on her transcendent career on Nov. 26 at 10p.

FloSports announced a partnership with Ligue 1 and Elevate Sports to provide live and on-demand coverage of 4 EA Ligue 1 Games, in the USA and Canada on FloFC.com. The tournament, organized by French professional soccer league includes four French soccer clubs – Olympique de Marseille, Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux, and Montpellier and runs July 18-21.

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!

SiriusXM drives home The 148th Open with live play-by-play on each day of the Championship with more than 45 total hours of live on-course coverage. Live Championship play-by-play, featuring The R&A’s @TheOpen Radio broadcasts, will air Thursday through Sunday on SiriusXM’s “The Open Radio” channel. “SiriusXM listeners will once again get unparalleled coverage throughout the week of The Open,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer. “In addition to so many hours of live Championship play-by-play, our listeners will be treated to shows you can’t get anywhere else, hosted by some of the game’s greats who have competed in dozens of Open Championships.”

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

ESPN announced the New York Life will serve as a founding partner of the new ACC Network, launching on August 22. New York Life remains the official life insurance company of the ACC and also continues its the exclusive presenting sponsor of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament. “We are proud to continue the long-standing partnership between New York Life and the ACC as a founding member of ACC Network,” explained David Williams, Corporate Vice President, Brand Advertising and Sponsorships at New York Life. “Beyond the obvious athletic excitement, we’ve succeeded in serving a variety of organizations and communities over the course of our relationship. We look forward to further collaboration as we continue this impactful work.”

UFC announced a multi-year extension of its marketing partnership with Blackheart Premium Spiced Rum. After a successful inaugural year as the organization’s first-ever “Official Rum of UFC” in the United States, the distilled spirits brand will continue to offer fan experiences and will have a branded presence inside the Octagon during key UFC events. Also, as the presenting sponsor of select “Shot of the Night” features on UFC’s official Instagram.

Content services provider Hyland signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with PGA TOUR player Xander Schauffele. Schauffele’s first tournament as Hyland’s brand ambassador will be The Open on July 18. In addition to the Hyland logo positioned on Schauffele’s golf bag, he will be prominently featured in a forthcoming advertising campaign. Hyland will also partner with Schauffele’s father, Stefan, for various hospitality engagements throughout the PGA TOUR season.

SportsEngine, an NBC Sports Group company and provider of sport relationship management software, announced its sponsorship of National Youth Sports Day on today on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. “Our top priorities at SportsEngine are to get more kids involved in sports, make sure they are safe and make the lives of coaches and team administrators easier through our technology solutions,” stated Justin Kaufenberg, CEO, SportsEngine, Inc. “Our participation in National Youth Sports Day demonstrates our commitment to be part of the important conversations and decisions being made affecting the state of youth sports today. We are honored to be part of it.”

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

The Big 12 announced the launch of Big 12 Now on ESPN+, serving as the new digital network for the conference and carrying more than 800 events each year. Eight of the league’s 10 schools will be aligned on the network, with one game per season from the participating programs available exclusively on the platform. In men’s basketball, all regular season and exhibition games from the eight participating programs that are not distributed on ESPN’s traditional television networks will be available exclusively on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Tunity Analytics Top 10 Out-of-Home Sports Programs, Week of July 8

Show, Network, Date, (000’s)

MLB Home Run Derby on ESPN on July 8 (2457)

Men’s Wimbledon Final on ESPN on July 14 (2062)

MLB All_Star Game on FOX on July 8 (2013)

UFC Main Event on ESPN on July 15 (1588)

World Series of Poker on ESPN on July 14 (1376)

ESPORTS

Microsoft is looking to elevate the esports scene for Gears 5, tapping the services of tournament organizer PGL to oversee the 2019-2020 season. The deal sees PGL partner with The Coalition to operate an online Pro League, amateur tournaments, international major championships, and World Championship to conclude the season. The 2019-20 season will begin in September when the game is released with top teams from North America, Central America, and Europe able to qualify for the online Gears 5 Pro League, with all Pro League teams provided travel to major tournaments.

THE MAIN EVENT

World Series of Poker 2019 Main Event Final Table on ESPN at 9p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

That Big TV Conference

SESSION SPOTLIGHT > OTT: It’s an AVOD World

The ability to deliver relevant ads to the right consumers makes AVOD an increasingly attractive business model – evidenced by Viacom’s $340M purchase of AVOD platform Pluto TV. Advanced advertising is enabling brands to get messages in front of engaged consumers, but it’s a fast-evolving landscape with unexpected risks & rewards.

We will unpack it all for you.

Sponsors: Sinclair – NY Interconnect – iSpot.tv – Friend MTS – NCC Media – Simpli.fi – TV Time – Tubi

ON THIS DAY in 1941: The Yankees’ Joe DiMaggio of hits safely in his 56th straight game.

In the Know: Which WWE wrestler most famously had a finishing move known as the Camel Clutch? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: For what reason was Jim Thorpe stripped of his Olympic medals in 1913? Answer Thorpe was ruled to be in violation of his amateur status for playing minor league baseball before the 1912 Olympics. Kudos: John Ferlazzo/London; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Michael Ritz-Northwestern Mutual/NY; Marc Goldstein-Marc Goldstein Media Solutions/NY; Tammy Dorman-Nielsen/NY; B. David Ridpath-Ohio University/Athens; Brent Kirkland-Wake Forest University/Winston-Salem; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; Kevin M Banks, Ed.D–Morgan State/Baltimore; John Kukla-KDFW/KDFI/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Kyle Krebs-NBC5/Telemundo39/Dallas-Ft. Worth; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; David S. Hauptman/Denver; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Lorrie Shilling/El Segundo; Larry Hutchings/Nipomo; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank

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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