08/15/17: Pac-12 Networks gets Shuken

Good morning. It’s Tuesday August 15, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

The Pac-12 Conference named Mark Shuken as the new President of the Pac-12 Networks starting Sept. 6. Shuken brings a resume that includes Time Warner Cable Sports Networks, where he led the creation and branding of three regional sports networks for the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Dodgers and LA Galaxy; President and CEO of DirecTV Sports Networks; and President and CEO of Liberty Sports Group.

“Mark Shuken has consistently delivered growth across all areas of the sports media business and his track record of success and effective leadership makes him the right choice to take our Pac-12 Networks to the next level,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “In a rapidly changing media landscape, Pac-12 Networks is well positioned to take advantage of new technologies, platforms and consumer habits, and Mark’s creative leadership skills and expertise will enable us to continue to best serve our fans and University members.”

ON THE AIR

After announcing its slate of games for opening week and Christmas, the NBA fleshed out its TV lineup, locking in broadcast schedules for TNT, ESPN and NBA TV. In a new feature, the NBA is “labeling its schedule by week to enhance the ability of fans to follow the 1,230-game season. Starting with Week 1 and ending with Week 26, the weekly structure will help reinforce awareness of upcoming games and communicate key storylines.” ABC will exclusively broadcast The Finals for the 16^th straight season. TNT will be the home of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, while ESPN will present the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.

TNT is on deck to carry 20 Thursday doubleheaders and 11 Tuesday doubleheaders this season as part of its 34th straight year of NBA coverage. The network will also air NBA All-Star 2018 events from Feb. 16-18 in Los Angeles. The network’s Players Only franchise – which comprises former professional basketball players in all broadcast roles – will return for year two starting Jan. 23 with a doubleheader showcasing the Cavaliers/Spurs and Celtics/Lakers. The network will spotlight 12 appearances each by Warriors, Cavaliers, Rockets and Thunder; with 11appearances by the Celtics and Lakers. Additionally, an NBA on TNT tripleheader on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 15 will see the Lakers/Grizzlies, Warriors/Cavaliers and Rockets/Clippers.

At ESPN, the company will serve up 21 Wednesday NBA doubleheaders and 14 Friday doubleheaders this season with programming that will include six appearances each by the Warriors, Rockets and Thunder. The network’s telecasts will be available via the ESPN App. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network, will also have a full slate of regular-season games. Meanwhile, season three of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC will feature eight games starting Jan. 20 with Warriors/Rockets.

Finally, NBA TV features 106 games during the regular season, including 37 doubleheaders, along with one tripleheader on April 1 as well as a quadrupleheader on April 8. Fan Night will be held on Tuesdays early in the season before transitioning to Mondays starting on Jan. 22. NBA TV will feature special programming on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a doubleheader pitting the Hornets/Pistons and Spurs/Hawks.

Mike Tirico was named as the play-by-play voice of NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football coverage this season where he will join Doug Flutie, who returns for his third season, and sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, who returns for her fourth season. Tirico succeeds Dan Hicks, who will focus on NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the PGA TOUR’S FedExCup and President’s Cup, as well as downhill skiing events in advance of the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Meanwhile, Chris Simms joins NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football coverage as a studio analyst for the 2017 season, offering on-site studio commentary alongside host Liam McHugh.

Tennis Channel will serve as the exclusive US television home of the Laver Cup, the newly-formed annual competition that will pit six of the top men’s tennis stars from Europe against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world. The network locked in a multi-year rights agreement with event organizers TRIDENT8 and Tennis Australia, with the inaugural edition planned for Sept. 22-24 in Prague, and the 2018 event in the United States.

SiriusXM announced that Steve Spurrier is joining the team as a college football analyst. Starting today, Spurrier will appear three times per week on SiriusXM College Sports Nation and be heard every Tuesday at 11a with hosts Chris Childers and Rick Neuheisel, every Wednesday at 5p with Mark Packer, and every Thursday at 8a with Greg McElroy and Taylor Zarzour.

FOX Sports kicks off coverage of the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League seasons this week with playoff action today at 2p on FS1 and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports’ lineup includes 10 matches, highlighted by Hoffenheim/Liverpool and Napoli/Nice. Ian Joy hosts studio coverage throughout the month of August alongside Wynalda, Brad Friedel and Warren Barton.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

DraftKings is launching a new campaign ahead of the NFL season that will mark the first marketing initiative under Don Lane, SVP of Brand and Creative, who joined DraftKings after 21 years at Arnold Worldwide. The campaign will offer two creative executions — “Play” and “Dr. Aftkings” and come after Lane and his team conducted research that identified the drivers and barriers to playing DraftKings. In addition, the company announced the start of the 2017-2018 NFL season for daily fantasy football with a “Billion Dollar Lineup” challenge that gives football fans an opportunity to win $1 billion in the first week of NFL matchups by building the perfect fantasy lineup. The game is free to play and open to residents of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, along with Canada (excluding Quebec), the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Raycom Sports announced that Mellow Mushroom joined the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Official Corporate Partner program, landing extensive marketing rights across multiple platforms with benefits that include extensive television and marketing tie-ins with ACC Basketball and Football, as well as all Conference Championship events.

Fanatics announced the addition of Yankees’ rookie Aaron Judge to its roster of exclusive athletes housed under the company’s memorabilia and collectibles division, Fanatics Authentic. The partnership will allow Fanatics Authentic to become the exclusive distributor of Judge’s first-ever assortment of officially licensed autographs and collectibles.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

WWE Network unveiled plans to stream SummerSlam live in Russian for the first time this weekend from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Mordechai Margolin and Zhantuar Smagulov will call the action live from ringside. “As we continue to place an emphasis on international growth, offering a customized version of SummerSlam to our fans in Russia was a priority,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer. “This is another step in our ongoing strategy to create localized WWE Network content for our fans around the world.”

ESPORTS

The Overwatch World Cup has locked in its eight teams for the main event taking place at BlizzCon starting Nov. 3 in Anaheim. The weekend saw the US and UK both cement their spots in the tournament, where they will now join China, France, Sweden, Australia, South Korea and Canada. Blizzard will now conduct a draw on Aug. 28 to determine pairings.

Speaking of Overwatch, Cloud9 – fresh off landing the London franchise for Overwatch League – announced the acquisition of Laser Kittenz’ European Overwatch squad. “What Laser Kittenz were able to do in Season Zero grabbed everyone’s attention, myself included,” Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne said in a statement. “From top to bottom, the organization proved themselves committed to competition, devoting their talent and time to earning their place in Season One. I’m excited to welcome them to the Cloud9 family and we’re all looking forward to adding to their already long list of accomplishments.”

ROSTER MOVES

SiriusXM named Mike Connolly as its new head of advertising sales where he will oversee SiriusXM’s ad sales efforts across its lineup of channels that take advertising, which includes entertainment, news, comedy and sports. Connolly joins SiriusXM from ESPN, where he had been Vice President of Advertising Sales and Affiliate Sales for ESPN Audio Network.

THE MAIN EVENT

Astros/Diamondbacks on MLB Network on 3:30p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Get back to class!

Cynopsis Esports Master Class

Friday, Sept 15 | Barclays Center | BKLYN

ESL and Cynopsis are proud to host the most comprehensive Esports seminar to date.

Events include:

A high-level look at the opportunities and challenges in the esports industry, an information-packed event with experts in the esports space AND a VIP/behind-the-scenes tour of ESL One with a pass to the weekend esports tournament.

Space is limited – Register by 8/30

ON THIS DAY in 1975: Orioles’ manager Earl Weaver is ejected from both games of a doubleheader by umpire Ron Luciano.

In the Know: What number did the Orioles retire to honor Earl Weaver? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What was the original name of Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays? Answer: SkyDome. Kudos: Stephen Kelley- 9 Story Distribution International/Dublin; Russ DelCore-Altice USA/NY; Katie Cifarelli-ESPN/NY; Andreas Droste-Time/NY; Mike Polvere-Optimum Sports/NY; Larry Kahn-Golf Channel/Orlando; Mark Lehman-Atlanta Braves/Atlanta; Simon Bassett-CBC Sports/Toronto; Jim Snider- jVISION/Toronto; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Kevin Micklo-Pinnacle Advertising/Chicago; Bill Robertson-WCHA/Edina; Jack Neumann- University of Calgary Dinos 5th Quarter Alumni/Calgary; Greg Dudsic/Venice; Judie Henninger-Valentine Productions/Santa Monica; Bob Ramsey/Palm Springs; Jack Simmons-US Army Reserve/LA

Later — Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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