The San Antonio Spurs agreed to a deal with investment company Frost Bank to become the team’s first-ever jersey partner. The multi-year deal will see Frost’s logo on the jerseys starting Sept. 30. The partnership will also see Frost Bank’s branding appear more widely at the AT&T Center and on Spurs’ digital platforms.
COPA90 and HEINEKEN USA entered a film collaboration with The Players’ Tribune. The Convert, a two-part original film series – takes NY Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr on “a day long journey exploring fan culture and match-day experiences at the Real Madrid vs AS Roma ICC game in New York.” As part of the series, Hardaway will be joined by Heath Pearce and will experience the game from a supporter’s vantage point – including all the passion, excitement, intensity that surrounds an international game with two of the world’s biggest clubs. Throughout the season, HEINEKEN USA is sponsoring COPA90’s flagship show, Walk Talk Football, hosted by Pearce. This sponsorship also includes the MLS season preview and episodes across Heineken Rivalry Week.
For MLB’s Players Weekend. Kris Bryant commissioned three Chicago artists to shine a light on spinal cord research on his custom adidas baseball cleats. The baseball spikes also express his hope that MLB players will be allowed to play for Team USA in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Although he is on the DL, he will be wearing each custom cleat this weekend: “USA Baseball Cleat” by Lauren Asta; “Tokyo Cleat” by Frank Quintero and 2020 Cleat by Miss Merlot. The pairs of adidas Energy Boost Icon 4’s are open for bid the next two weeks to support Wings for Life, a non-profit organization that funds spinal cord research.
Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker teamed up with Duracell in a partnership that includes the brand’s latest PSA, which “chronicles the epic consequences of not having a power you can trust in your wireless mouse and reminds Fantasy Football players to use Duracell batteries when drafting.”
The Seattle Storm are backing the potential NHL team in Seattle, announcing a partnership with NHL Seattle, the group working to bring professional hockey to a renovated Seattle Center Arena. “The support from NHL Seattle on this playoff run means a great deal to our organization,” said Storm President & GM Alisha Valavanis. “We can’t wait for the day when we share the new Seattle Center Arena with Tod and his team at NHL Seattle. Until then, it’s incredible to be able to count on their support!”
The Eastern College Athletic Conference and its multimedia rights partner, Collegiate Sports Management Group announced that GradMail has become the Conference’s newest licensing corporate partner. GradMail is an email service that provides graduates and fans of any U.S. college and university a chance to create their own personal .com email address, showcasing the institution of their choice.
CBS SPORTS HQ will stream a live fantasy football telethon on Labor Day to help prepare fantasy players on one of the biggest draft days heading into the season. The Fantasy Football Today Telethon, powered by Dodge, will deliver real-time draft advice for fantasy owners with detailed breakdowns of SportsLine projections, expert rankings, sleepers and busts from 3-10p on Sept. 3 on CBS Sports HQ and CBS Sports’ Facebook and Twitter channels. CBS Sports fantasy experts and NFL writers and analysts, including Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, Pete Prisco, Will Brinson, Jason La Canfora, Danny Kanell, Bryant McFadden, Todd Fuhrman, Nick Kostos and Chris Hassel, will be on hand to answer fantasy players’ draft day questions live and offer advice and in-depth analysis. During the telethon, CBS Sports HQ will shine a spotlight on St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Tony Hawk’s next conquest is virtual reality. The famed action sports star will offer Tony Hawk’s Loop Challenge live in NextVR on Sunday, August 26 at 3:30p. The roster of athletes spans includes Aaron “Jaws” Homok who has completed The Loop before to an 11-year old phenom, Gavin Bottger, and a Brazilian skater who lost his legs as a child, Felipe Nunes as skaters attempt to complete the 360 vertical loop.
Daily Number is taking on the daily fantasy sports industry, launching yesterday as a new player in the market. The company is co-founded by Tom McAuley and All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman. The company’s patent-pending platform empowers fans to select their own degree of difficulty and subsequent prize, by picking any combination of players – from a lineup filled with all-stars to a roster comprised of role players – to simply beat a preset target score known as the Daily Number. As co-founder and chief brand ambassador, Sherman will star as the King of Talking Smack in an upcoming creative video advertising campaign which will showcase several different sides of the star athlete’s personality.
Mike Francesca, along with partners CAA Sports and Entercom, announced the debut of Mike’s On. In addition to live video and audio streaming of WFAN’s daily sports radio talk show, the platform will feature additional new original content and will be available for download and subscription on the App Store, Google Play, and MikesOn.com. The digital platform will launch on today at 1p with an extended live radio broadcast of the on-air show on WFAN from “Bar A” in New Jersey. Other content will include; being home to Mike Francesa’s Football Sunday Show; aAdditional and immediate commentary from Francesa on major news and events; The Saturday Special and more.
The Olympic Channel is celebrating its two-year anniversary with more than 11,000 videos representing all Olympic sport disciplines and 206 countries, 50 original series, partnerships with 75 sport federations and organizations and availability in 11 languages. The Olympic Channel has also provided an additional distribution platform for its 75 federation partnerships which includes collaboration on more than 1400 live events to date. Olympic Channel General Manager Mark Parkman said: “As the global media platform of the Olympic Movement, our programming will continue to feature athletes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year attracting new audiences as we enter our third year and look ahead to the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and beyond.”
TeamSnap is partnering with Fantag, a pioneer in video highlight technology, to debut video highlights on its TeamSnap Live! platform for the first time this fall. The platform will now enable spectators to record, tag key plays and share video clips instantly with teammates, coaches, family and friends.
The Overwatch League and Twitter struck a new multiyear deal to bring highlights and livestream content to the platform, with plans set to include the Overwatch League All-Star Weekend, happening Aug. 25–26 at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, where Overwatch League will provide near real-time video highlights to Twitter, including the topmoments of the Pacific Division and Atlantic Division All-Star matchups. Meanwhile, starting in Overwatch League’s 2019 season, Watchpoint, a weekly preview show covering upcoming Overwatch League matches, will be streamed live on Twitter via @overwatchleague. In addition, Twitter will drive Overwatch League’s distribution of near real-time highlight clips from every match of the Overwatch League regular season, playoffs, Grand Finals, and All-Star Weekend.
Speaking of Overwatch League’s first All-Star Weekend, the action begins on Saturday, and the rosters are set for Saturday’s skill games, beginning at 4p PT. Fans will be able to watch all the action on DisneyXD, ESPN3, Twitch, MLG, and OverwatchLeague.com. Action continues Sunday starting at 11a. During halftime of Sunday’s All-Star game, the recipient of the first Dennis Hawelka Award will be announced. Named in honor of the late Dennis “INTERNETHULK” Hawelka, the award will be presented to the player who has had the most positive impact on the Overwatch League community.
Magic Gaming made history as the NBA 2K League squad announced a partnership with the AS Monaco football club. The first-of-its-kind agreement makes Magic Gaming the first NBA 2K League team to partner with a professional sports team outside of the country, providing an opportunity for shared revenue and exposure through cross-marketed partnerships. The partnership will focus on digital growth through social media content, fan giveaways and interactions between professional gamers, providing fans with a unique experience.
FunEase, a joint venture between FunPlus Sports and NetEase, announced that it will showcase esports slate, Rules of Survival Global Series, exclusively on Facebook. Content will include streams of RGS North American and South East Asian divisions in at least 5 different languages. According to the release, FunEase’s approach “combines innovative tournament formats, advanced multi-language broadcasting, exciting content and the total prize pool of $1 million in the 2018-2019 season alone.”
Univision exec Boris Gartner has been named CEO of LaLiga North America, a joint venture of the league and the sports marketing group Relevant. Gartner will be charged with finding new media outlets for coverage of LaLiga games and to promote the image of the sport and the league’s superstars.
Octagon hired Kenny Rennard as Executive Creative Director for Octagon Marketing and Events, North America. In this new role, Kenny will lead the agency’s creative efforts for a client roster that includes Mastercard, BMW of North America, Bank of America, Delta Air Lines, Taco Bell, Allstate, PlayStation and others.
The BIG3 Championship tonight at 8p on FOX.
