08/20/19: ESPN has record plans in store for the US Open.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday August 21, 2019 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

With the US Open just around the corner, ESPN mapped out coverage plans for tennis’ fourth and final Major of the year, with qualifying already underway and the main draw on Aug. 26 with all 16 courts will be covered, with more than 160 hours on television and 1,300 more streaming live on the ESPN app via ESPN3 and ESPN+, wrapping up with the Women’s Championship on Sept. 7, and the Men’s Championship on Sept. 8, both at 4p. The first five days sees TV starts on ESPN at noon and continue nonstop – transitioning on Monday, Thursday and Friday at 6p to ESPN2.

PROGRAMMING

Meanwhile, Tennis Channel’s coverage of the US Open coverage begins on the first morning of the tournament with Tennis Channel Live at the US Open, on Aug. 26, at 8a. Following play, Tennis Channel will have all-night encore matches leading into the next morning. Tennis Channel will show 130 hours of encore coverage throughout the two-week event and have 32 hours of Tennis Channel Live at the US Open. In all, the network will offer more than 160 hours from Flushing Meadows.

NBC Sports has teed off on weeklong comprehensive coverage surrounding the TOUR Championship with $15 million on the line for the winner. Dan Hicks and Paul Azinger will anchor GOLF Channel and NBC’s coverage in the broadcast booth Thursday-Sunday, rotating with Terry Gannon and Justin Leonard. David Feherty, Gary Koch, Jimmy Roberts and Steve Sands will report from tower positions, with Notah Begay, Jim “Bones” Mackay and Roger Maltbie reporting from the course. Mike Tirico joins the team as host for all four rounds of coverage. Preceding and surrounding live coverage, GOLF Channel and GOLF Channel Digital will deliver comprehensive coverage of TOUR Championship week highlighted by wraparound news coverage, premieres and special presentations.

ESPN is launching a special “ESPN Dog Day” celebration of dogs, canine competition and dog-related sports programming on “Dogust 24.” The featured programming, which will be capped by an airing of Disney’s Air Bud, with most programming from noon-6p on ESPN2 with a repeat on ESPNEWS from 6p-midnight. Katie Nolan hosts throughout the day with programming that includes ESPN Dog Day Championship Pup, Dog Tales, Always Late with Katie Nolan, Flyball: The Ultimate Dog Relay, and the AKC Agility Premier Cup.

ONE Championship will reportedly have its first-ever TV telecast stateside on Oct. 13 event, according to fighter Eddie Alvarez who headlines a battle in Tokyo that evening that will be carried on TNT on Oct. 12 (courtesy of the international dateline.). ESPN reported the news, noting that the event will be televised in prime time.

The World Surf League Studios unveiled its debut slate of programming, lining up documentaries, docu-series and daily short-form content that is designed for distribution across multiple platforms. Programming includes: The Kelly Slater Documentary along with a Box to Box Films Co-development Partnership for the development of a multi-episode docu-series covering the Championship Tour during 2020

The Women’s Tennis Association will be recognized with the 2019 Distinguished Company award at the Top Women in Media Awards gala in NYC. “Off the tennis court, gender inclusiveness and female mentorship is just as much a part of our DNA as it is on the court,” says Micky Lawler, WTA President. In Cynsiders, Lawlershares more about how the organization serves women so well.

FOX Sports South and FOX Sports Southeast nabbed its highest-rated series of the season over the weekend for the Dodgers/Braves series, reeling in a 4.53 HH rating average in Atlanta. This is the highest-rated series average since the 9/2/18-9/4/18 series vs the Boston Red Sox. For this season, Braves telecasts on the channels are up 8% Y-O-Y compared to the same time frame during the 2018 season with a 3.47 average.

SiriusXM and The Fantasy Footballers podcast are teaming up to produce The Fantasy Footballers on SiriusXM, a new live show running on Thursdays. The show will debut on August 22 and air every Thursday from 5-7p on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio channel. The show will be hosted by Fantasy Footballers founders Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Meanwhile, ESPN Radio reports July growth overall and across studio shows, markets and time spent listening with men 25-54. The platform as a whole grew its time spent listening by 8% over July 2018 and was up 2% on terrestrial radio in PPM markets over the same time frame, according to Nielsen.

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SAVE THE DATE

Cynopsis is excited to announce that the 7^th Annual Digital Awards will take place on Friday, November 8^that ThreeSitxy in NYC. This must-attend industry event will highlight the most outstanding digital campaign initiatives, technology and extraordinary video content in the highly competitive and ever-changing digital landscape.

Finalists will be announced in mid-September and winners will be awarded at the event in November.

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Get ready for a return trip to Fansville, the Dr Pepper parody TV show drama returns for the 2019-2020 college football season. The new season of Fansville sees Brian Bosworth and Eddie George return to reprise their roles as the “Sheriff” and the “Doctor” respectively, as the storylines “dig deeper into college football fan insights and lean into classic TV story lines.” Overall, there will be nine unique campaign spots, and others will air throughout the college football season on ESPN, CBS and FOX. The “season finale” will air during the National Championship on January 13, 2020.

Lowe’s announced new team deals and merchandise offerings for NFL fans ahead of the new season. The chain will carry more than 10,000 licensed NFL-branded merchandise in categories including: tailgating and homegating – chairs, canopies, games; grills and grill accessories; decor – rugs, wall art, lamps, furniture, throws, bedding; hydration – drinkware, hard and soft coolers, barware; garden decor – flags and statues; automotive; pet and holiday. “We are proud to offer NFL fans across the United States products that will take their tailgates and homegates to the next level,” said Bill Boltz, executive vice president, merchandising. “Just like fans looking to up their game, we are focused on expanding our product selection to offer customers even more of what they’re looking for while providing a personalized shopping experience online and in-store.”

As part of adidas’ She Breaks Barriers initiative, a slate of star female athletes shared their stories of struggle and success in a two-part broadcast called “Change in Play” that will open on Aug. 26 on Stadium digital sports network. Stadium sports reporters and studio hosts Kristen Balboni and Amina Smith lead the in-depth dialogue with a roster of decorated athletes including three-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie, WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike, Olympic Hockey gold medalist Kendall Coyne Schofield, Olympic Volleyball bronze medalist Rachael Adams, UFC fighter Paige VanZant and NFL agent Nicole Lynn.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

ESPN and PlayStation announced their new Player Impact Rating system for the 2019-20 college football season. The metric evaluates the impact of every player in college football relative to their position on a 0-100 scale, accounting for the skill of their teammates and opponents on every play. The Player Impact Rating will be used across ESPN’s cross-platform college football game and studio coverage this season and provide “a new way to look at the game’s top players at every offensive and defensive position, break down game-changing matchups, find unsung stars making a major difference for their team and much more.”

NFL Network renewed its agreement with Sony Interactive Entertainment for national distribution of NFL Network and NFL RedZone programming services on PlayStation Vue. PlayStation Vue subscribers receiving NFL Network and NFL RedZone will also continue to have access to the services through NFL.com,and the NFL and NFL Network apps across multiple devices.

Tunity Analytics Top 10 Out-of-Home Sports Programs for the week of Aug. 12.

Show Network Date/Time (000’s)

NFL – Raiders vs. Cardinals ESPN 8/15/19 8p 1272

NFL – Seahawks vs. Vikings Fox 8/18/19 8p 1050

NFL – Chiefs vs. Steelers NFLN/ NBC 8/17/19 7:30p 1025

UFC 241 ESPN 8/17/19 8p 717

SportsCenter ESPN 8/13/19 6p 707

Source: Tunity Analytics. Viewing estimates are derived from Tunity mobile app usage for the week beginning August 12, 2019. OOH viewer impressions are calculated using Tunity Analytics proprietary estimation model.

ESPORTS

Newly launched Player Omega detailed live event plans on Nov. 9-10 at the Fairplex in Pomona as its inaugural event with an eye to offer two days of open-bracket esports tournaments operated by their favorite leagues competing in all the top titles, free game play, cosplay, panel discussions, art installations, and more. Company founders are entertainment and esports entrepreneur Jon Bukosky (Ultimate Media Ventures), taking the role of CEO, and veteran esports executive Han Park (former president of ESL), serving as an advisor and executive board member. Rounding out the leadership team is Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman as president, and chief operating officer John Greenberg. Additionally, further announcements are still to come about the expansion of Player Omega into a multi-city tour in 2020.

Estars announced plans to launch a new interactive, free-to-play gaming platform for esports and gaming fans to engage with their favorite competitions worldwide. To celebrate, Estars is matching millions of dollars in prizes across major esports tournaments this year through the Estars Majors, including up to $5M for The International and up to $10M for The Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) Season Finals on Sept. 20-21.

The Pokemon Company locked in a venue and city for next year’s World Championship, announcing that London will play host in 2020, while Pokemon Sword and Shield will be the official competitive title

THE MAIN EVENT

Yankees/A’s on ESPN at 10p.

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ON THIS DAY in 1920: The American Professional Football Association is formed.

In the Know: Four teams were originally represented in the establishment of the American Profession Football Association (eventually the NFL), with each of the teams coming from a single state. Which state was it? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Who is the career HR leader for MLB’s Giants franchise? Answer: Willie Mays. Kudos: Mitch Askenas-Comcast Technology Solutions/NY; Cory Angerthal-AMC Networks/NY; Art Salisch-CBS-TV/NY; Rob Casalaina-ITN/NY; Rick Ramage-United Talent Agency/NY; Terry Lyons-PivottvMedia/Boston; Randy Ingram-WISH/WNDY-TV/Indianapolis; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; John Kukla-KDFW/KDFI/Dallas; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; Larry Hutchings/Nipomo; Greg Dudsic/Venice; Dave Hammargren-KCPQ-KZJO TV/Seattle; Nick Monroe-Monroe Photography/San Diego

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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