08/11/17: Facebook winds its Watch around sports

Good morning. It’s Thursday August 10, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

The launch of Watch on Facebook will be heavy on the sports front, as social platform detailed plans for a lineup of sports-themed shows as part of the service designed to serve as a central place on Facebook to find and watch the programs. On the sports front, live sports events, such as MLB, Liga MX and MLS games will often appear at the top of Watch while they are live so people can easily discover them with a lineup/description that includes the likes of…

MLB’s MLB Live is the home for a live blackout-free Major League Baseball game every Friday night on Facebook.
Univision Deportes’ Liga MX is the home for live Liga MX matches on Facebook.
MLS and Univision Deportes’ MLS en Univision is the home for live MLS games on Facebook.
World Surf League’s WSL Surfing Sundays captures all the best waves and best surfing from World Surf League Championship Tour events.
Golden State Warriors‘ Championship Rewind is a behind-the-scenes story of the Warriors’ 2016-17 championship season.
MLB’s 12:25 Live takes a look at baseball from the lighter side, with an assist from fans.
MLS’ ExtraTime Live lets you choose your own soccer adventure. Andrew Wiebe, David Gass and a slew of guests bring you all the interactive action, analysis, and crazy moments from the weekend in Major League Soccer.
NBA’s WNBA All-Access takes fans behind the scenes with the stars of the WNBA for an all-access pass to their lives on and off the court.
Nitro Circus’ Mic’d Up shows what it takes to be a Nitro Circus rider. Mic’d Up gives viewers a new perspective, as they’re able to watch the action and listen to the thoughts of world class riders getting ready to perform some of the toughest action sports tricks in the world.
Whistle Sports’ Showdown features humorous showdowns, each with a challenge component where the first to break loses. Some examples include: Bad Joke Telling, Watch Ya Mouth, Saltine Challenge, Staring Contest, Thumb Wars, and Rock Paper Scissors.

ON THE AIR

The NBA formally unveiled its national TV schedule for the opening week of the 2017-18 season as well as its lineup of five Christmas Day games, including a record three games on ABC on Dec. 25. The first four days of the season (Oct. 17-20) will see 14 different teams in the spotlight across eight national telecasts on TNT and ESPN beginning Oct. 17 with a TNT doubleheader that includes Celtics/Cavaliers at 8p followed by Rockets/Warriors at 10:30p. The next day sees ESPN serve up 76ers/Wizards at 7p and Timberwolves/Spurs at 9:30p. Christmas Day, meanwhile, will tip off with the 76ers/at noon on ESPN, followed by ABC’s coverage of Cavaliers/Warriors at 3p, Wizards/Celtics at 5:30p and Rockets/Thunder at 8p. TNT then wraps up the evening with the Timberwolves/Lakers at 10:30p.

Meanwhile, the NBA and AEG announced that the NBA London Game 2018 will pit the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics in a regular-season game taking place at The O2 on Jan. 11. The game will be broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK, by the NBA’s broadcast partners across EMEA and on NBA LEAGUE PASS International. The game will mark the league’s eighth regular-season game in London.

ESPN will again carry the College Football Playoff: Top 25 rankings show live this season as the College Football Playoff hits year four. Every Tuesday beginning Oct. 10, host Rece Davis and analysts Joey Galloway, Kirk Herbstreit, Booger McFarland and David Pollack will breakdown the top teams in college football, The first of six rankings this year, determined by the CFP selection committee, will be exclusively revealed on Oct. 31 with all shows at 7p on ESPN.

Sunday’s edition of MLB on TBS features a matchup between American League postseason contenders with Indians/Rays at 1p. Don Orsillo (play-by-play) will be joined by analyst Ron Darling to call the full national telecast.

Now is the time to catch up and learn about esports directly from the experts at ESL, Twitch, the 76ers, Nielsen and more! We are proud to be partnering with ESL for the Cynopsis Esports Master Class, a unique opportunity to pull back the curtain and experience for yourself what the competitive gaming industry is made of. Featuring not only lectures from some of the most successful executives in the space today, who will break down the ABCs of the business and its players, attendees will also go behind-the-scenes of ESL One New York at Barclays, and receive tickets to the weekend’s festivities for the largest esports tournament on the east coast (if you register early)! Get ahead of the learning curve and register today.

Showtime fleshed out the card for the upcoming Mayweather vs. McGregor SHOWTIME PPV telecast, announced two world championship fights as part of the undercard on Aug. 26. The four-fight event will see a co-featured bout pitting Gervonta “Tank” Davis/Francisco Fonseca as well as WBA Light Heavyweight Titlist Nathan Cleverly defending against Badou Jack “The Ripper”, as well as Andrew “The Beast” Tabiti/Steve “U.S.S.” Cunningham.

Tonight sees NBCSN offer live coverage of the 2017 USA Diving National Championships at 9p. Jason Knapp calls the action, joined by David Boudia, who makes his NBC Sports Group debut as an analyst, and reporter Tanith Belbin.

SEC Network’s traveling pregame show SEC Nation presented by AT&T will open the season this year on Sept. 2 with a special three-hour edition at 9a from Arlington, Texas, site of the Advocare Classic pitting the Florida Gators/Michigan Wolverines. The show marks the first time SEC Nation has opened the season from a neutral site game and only the second time the show has aired from a neutral site city during the regular-season with Laura Rutledge making her debut as host of the show.

Speaking of football, CBS Sports Radio announced its roster of live weekend programming focused on football season this season. .The season launched Sept. 2 with Eye on College Football hosted by Rich Ackerman from noon-8p. Eye on Fantasy Football will run from 10p-midnight with Adam Aizer, Jamey Eisenberg and Dave Richard on a rotating basis. Starting Sept. 10, Sunday Morning Football kicks off at 9a with D.A., with Fantasy Football Today at 11a and Eye on Football at noon.

Elsewhere in radio, SiriusXM launched coverage of the 2017-18 English Premier League soccer season today and will offer talkSPORT’s live play-by-play broadcasts of multiple EPL matches each week throughout the season with access to games involving all 20 EPL clubs. Matches will air on SiriusXM’s 24/7 soccer channel, SiriusXM FC.

beIN SPORTS entered into a new distribution partnership with Shaw Communications in Canada that will make the channel available to all Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct Satellite TV customers. “There has been a tremendous demand for beIN SPORTS from Shaw Cable customers,” said Antonio Briceno, beIN SPORTS Deputy Managing Director. “It is wonderful to have Shaw Cable’s dedicated soccer fans along for all of the excitement surrounding the European soccer season.”

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The Atlantic 10 Conference selected Learfield as its comprehensive multimedia rights holder in a multi-year agreement that begins with the 2017-18 athletic season. The company will now hold exclusive multimedia rights to the men’s and women’s basketball championship as well as all 19 Atlantic 10 Olympic sport Championship events, including all naming rights, sponsor signage, radio and publishing rights. “This partnership is a win-win for both the Atlantic 10 and Learfield,” stated Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “One of the top brands in college athletics, Learfield knows the market, and has the assets to extend the Atlantic 10 exposure and recognition. Combined with the major markets in which A-10 institutions reside, there’s an opportunity for both parties to benefit from this agreement.”

Speaking of Learfield, IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions announced that it will support ticket sales for the Indianapolis Colts this season with a focus on group sales at regular season home games.

The Milwaukee Bucks hitched a ride with Harley-Davidson to serve as sponsor its jersey patch. The deal will see the brand’s orange, white and black logo wll appear on the team’s white, green and black jerseys. “When we first saw how it looked, we thought it was just so authentic and natural,” said Anoop Prakash, Harley-Davidson’s director of United States marketing, per ESPN. “Two brands with heritage in Milwaukee, built on grit and Midwestern values, who brought their product to the world and succeeded.”

National Baseball Card Day on Saturday will see Topps, Major League Baseball, and the Major League Baseball Players Association take part with hobby shops across North America and all 30 Major League Baseball teams participating. Starting July 20, each of MLB’s 30 teams have held in-stadium giveaways in anticipation of National Baseball Card Day, giving out team specific four-card packs.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

WWE and PPTV are teaming up to make WWE Network available in China for the first time beginning Aug. 18, launching exclusively on PPTV as a subscription video-on-demand service featuring all WWE live pay-per-view events. “When we began our exclusive partnership with WWE, we brought WWE’s signature programming Raw and SmackDown to PPTV and received a great response from WWE fans in China,” said Godfrey Zeng, Executive Vice President of Suning Sports Media, parent company of PPTV. “In April, we offered WrestleMania as a pay-per-view event, and again, our fans responded enthusiastically. We are now launching WWE Network on PPTV and presenting the entire lineup of WWE pay-per-views and other premium content to continue to better serve WWE fans in China.”

Bloomberg Media Distribution announced a partnership with Niche Sport Media to distribute their coverage of sporting events, including football, boxing, golf, rugby league, and cricket. Content will include more than 200 videos a month from the English Premier League, The Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), The EFL Cup (League Cup), Champions League and Europa League.

15 Seconds of Fame and the Detroit Tigers announced a partnership to provide fans at Comerica Park with their videoboard moments during Tigers games. Fans at the venue can download the 15SOF app to upload a “selfie” during registration and check into to the game they are attending. If they appear on the ballpark videoboard or on the game broadcast, their video moment will be sent to their mobile device after the game ends.

ESPN is now a skill on Alexa with the Amazon product integrating ESPN Radio into its commands. Sports fans can ask ESPN to play ESPN Radio’s national stream, as well as ESPN Deportes Radio and local ESPN Radio streams from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in addition to getting the latest ESPN Radio SportsCenter updates from the ESPN skill on Alexa.

ESPORTS

The Overwatch League added two more big-market teams to its repertoire, locking in Jack Etienne of Cloud9 for London, while sports staples Stan and Josh Kroenke are purchasing a team for Los Angeles. With the announcement, the League now includes teams from Asia, Europe, and North America, including two teams for LA. “Building communities around the best competitive experiences in the world is incredibly rewarding, and the Overwatch League offers the chance to create something special,” said Josh Kroenke, cofounder of KSE Esports. “We’re impressed by the vision and strategy for the League, and we’re going to build a great team for Los Angeles that inspires fans near and far.”

Super Evil Megacorp announced plans to host the Vainglory Unified Summer Season Championship at the Globe Theatre in LA. Play runs Sept. 8-10 and will see the 12 best teams from North America and Europe squaring off a chance to compete at Vainglory Worlds later this year.

THE MAIN EVENT

The PGA Championship continues today on TNT at 1p, with third and final round action on Sat. and Sun. at 11a on TNT at 2p on CBS.

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ON THIS DAY in 1991: John Daly wins the PGA Championship.

In the Know: What is John Daly’s nickname? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Who was the last European to win the PGA Championship? Answer: Rory McIlroy. Kudos: John Ferlazzo/London; Andrew Feingold-Fox News/NY; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; Mark J. Crepeau-Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame/Springfield; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Gretchen Brady-KTVT/KTXA/Dallas; David Hauptman/Denver; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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