09/11/18: Lyons takes the USOC Chair

Good morning. It’s Tuesday September 11, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

USOC Board Chair Larry Probst will step down from the board at the end of 2018, with Susanne Lyons, independent USOC board member and until recently the USOC’s acting CEO poised to replace him. Lyons’ four-year term as chair will begin on Jan 1, 2019. Meanwhile, Lyons was succeeded as CEO by Sarah Hirshland.

“Serving as chairman of the USOC board of directors has been an extraordinary honor and I’m proud of the work we did during my tenure to support American athletes, and advance the Olympic and Paralympic movements,” said Probst. “I became chairman at a difficult time for the USOC and worked diligently with my colleagues here in the U.S., and around the world, to change the USOC for the better. It’s now time for a new generation of leaders to confront the challenges facing the organization and I have the utmost confidence in Susanne’s and Sarah’s ability to do just that.”

“I’m honored that the board has entrusted me with this position, eager to continue to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and ready to do the work necessary to regain the trust of our athlete community; particularly survivors of abuse,” said Lyons. “I’ve been associated with the Olympic and Paralympic movements for nearly two decades and never dreamed I would be in this position. It’s no secret that the USOC is at critically challenging time in its history and we simply must get it right. I intend to make sure we do.”

ON THE AIR

Week one of the NFL season wrapped up with upticks in daytime. CBS Sports reports that opening week of The NFL on CBS on Sunday delivered the network’s best opening NFL singleheader viewership in 20 years, rising 29% with an average of 17.1 million viewers according to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day fast national ratings.

Meanwhile, FOX Sports is touting that its NFL Week 1 metered market ratings saw upticks of 5% for its regional game broadcast, hitting an 8.8, while America’s Game of the Week was up 1% to hit a 15.7. Meanwhile, FOX NFL Kickoff at 11a grew 22% to a 1.1, while FOX NFL Sunday was up 9% to hit an 8.8.

Primetime ratings for the NFL weren’t as successful, as the Bears/Packers game drew a 14.4 on SNF on NBC, down from a 15.8 for Giants-Cowboys last year. Still, the 14.4/25 overnight for NBC’s game easily took Sunday night in primetime.

In college numbers, CBS saw the SEC on CBS, featuring Georgia/South Carolina, rank as the top afternoon college football game on Saturday, averaging a 2.4/6 and up 60% over last year in metered markets. Meanwhile, FOX Sports reports that Oklahoma’s win over UCLA drew a 2.3 in metered market numbers.

CBS Sports also announced its SEC on CBS football game for Sept. 22 will feature Alabama against Texas A&M. Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and reporter Jamie Erdahl call the contest from Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Take a dive in The Beta Tank and get your free chance for funding!! The Esports Business Summit is now accepting candidates to take part in The Beta Tank, featuring an all-star lineup of judges from Infinite Esports and Entertainment, BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, SeventySix Capital, and Podium VC. Start-ups from the world of esports will make their case live on the main stage on Oct. 2, with each judge offering a private meeting to their selections to discuss the business plan and possible investment. Are you a start-up looking to break into esports? Do you have technology that supports esports event production? Are you a leading team or league looking for new partners to take you to the next level? This is your chance to shine and entry is free! Click here and apply today.

WWE unveiled two changes to its broadcasting team, naming Renee Young as the first woman to join the Monday Night Raw broadcast booth full time while Jonathan Coachman will serve as the new host of WWE’s pay-per-view kickoff shows. Last night saw Young join Michael Cole and Corey Graves on Raw while Coachman will begin his new role this Sunday alongside Booker T, David Otunga, Sam Roberts and Peter Rosenberg prior to WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.

Turner’s multi-platform coverage of the UEFA Champions League continues starting Sept. 18 with live match coverage available through B/R Live and TNT at 12:55p and 3p. B/R Football Matchday will preview the action each day at noon, with studio coverage also including B/R Football Halftime, B/R Football Extra Time and B/R Football Postmatch available on B/R Live and TNT. The action begins with FC Barcelona/PSV Eindhoven on TNT. Kate Abdo will host B/R Football’s UEFA Champions League studio coverage from Turner Studios in Atlanta, joined by Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra as Tuesday’s guest analysts.

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Celebrating Media’s Emerging Talent

The 4^th Annual Cynopsis Rising Star Awards

NOMINATE BY 10/4

This unique awards program honors stand-out performers, innovators and emerging leaders in the TV Media industry. These young professionals’ experience spans research, sports, digital, content and marketing and this awards program is designed to encourage and reward their exceptional accomplishments.

** TAKE A PEEK AT THE FUN WE HAD LAST YEAR **

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The Monday Night Football halftime show scored a new marquee sponsor that debuted last night, with luxury automotive brand Genesis signing on. The Genesis Monday Night Football Halftime Show will be hosted by Suzy Kolber with Steve Young and Louis Riddick. A special custom opening each week featuring landmarks and vistas from the host city will introduce that week’s musical artist and flow into the halftime show, which will be presented commercial free, courtesy of Genesis. Genesis will be incorporated into Monday Night Football through a number of branding elements, including on-screen graphics, desk signage, tune-in messaging, audio mentions and more. The brand will also receive commercial inventory throughout the season.

Speaking of ESPN, the network is unveiling a new campaign, That’s Gonna be on SportsCenter, highlighting “a phrase that became part of the sports lexicon years ago, as the show became embedded into the fabric of sports culture.” In the initial television spot, “Reflection,” where a football player lamenting a botched play is visited by an other-worldly Kenny Mayne. Coming this Fall, ESPN’s game producers will begin flagging SportsCenter-worthy moments in real time. During live game action, That’s Gonna Be on SportsCenter graphics will appear when Top 10 or Not Top 10 moments occur, serving as a natural extension of the campaign.

Sports and entertainment consulting firm Elevate Sports Ventures locked in a new joint venture with Mark Dyer, Founder and CEO of Taymar Ventures, designed to support ticket sales and services for intercollegiate athletics. Elevate On Campus already locked in the University of Kentucky as a client, taking on the ticketing strategy, sales and servicing for men’s basketball at the soon-to-be-renovated Rupp Arena, football at Kroger Field and the more than 100 ticketed sporting events hosted annually by the Southeastern Conference school. Dyer, a college sports industry veteran will serve as President of the new venture.

Major League Baseball once again commemorates Hispanic Heritage Month with a slate of events and efforts designed to spotlight the contributions to baseball by Hispanic and Latino players throughout the month of September. Initiatives include “The Bronx Stickball Classic” – a new youth-focused Stickball tournament in the shadow of Yankee Stadium – special MLB Network vignettes highlighting Latino stars in the game today, social and digital content across MLB’s bilingual platforms, and in-park Club celebrations around the league. MLB has also debuted new media platforms designed to provide real-time, quality content to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic and Latino audience, including @Corte4 and Corte4.com.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

Sports Illustrated announced that Albert Breer will take on a larger role in the brand’s Monday Morning Quarterback. In his role as Lead NFL Reporter/Content Strategist, Breer will now oversee the MMQB column on SI.com, host a new NFL show The MMQB TV for the brand’s streaming network SI TV, and launch a new weekly podcast MMQB NFL.

NowThis Sports is teaming up with filmmaker Gabe Polsky in an exclusive content partnership to launch his upcoming sports documentary In Search of Greatness, produced in partnership with IMG Films. The partnership includes a NowThis Sports 5-part companion digital series on Facebook Watch featuring exclusive In Search of Greatness footage. The partnership also includes red carpet screenings in NYC and Los Angeles followed by Q&As.

ESPORTS

Epic Games is embracing a change of Fortnite seasons with plans for a new Fall Skirmish Series that will dangle $10,000,000 in prize money. The company announced the slate and comes after wrapping up its $8,000,000 Fortnite Summer Skirmish with a $1,500,000 battle held at PAX West 2018. Now, the Fortnite Fall Skirmish will run as a six week event. The game developer will detail more plans for the series later this week.

THE MAIN EVENT

Comeback Season – Sports After 9/11 at 7p on ESPN.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Cheers to the Tempest Finalists & “The Watch List” Honorees!

Winners to be announced at the Tempest Esports Business Awards Gala:

OCT 2 | 7PM – 9:45PM | The Luxor Esports Arena, Las Vegas

In addition to our talented category finalists, the event will spotlight “The Watch List” honorees. These are the esports executives whose creativity and innovation have put them at the forefront of the industry. Don’t take your eyes off these esports game-changers (click here to view “The Watch List”).

VIEW FINALISTS AWARDS EVENT REGISTER TODAY

ON THIS DAY in 1994: Andre Agassi wins his first US Open title.

In the Know: Andre Agassi was first married to which actress? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Who did Bug Selig replace as the Commissioner of Baseball? Answer: Fay Vincent. Kudos: John Ferlazzo/London; Phyllis McQuillan-MSG Networks/NY; Scott Jenkins-Gracenote/NY; Marissa Sunio-Columbia University/NY; Ken White-KWTV/Charlotte; Tom Wetzel-MMSI/Warwick; Joe Schreiber-3 Penny Films/Bethesda; Jon Miller-NBC Sports/Stamford; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; John Kukla-KDFW/KDFI/Dallas-Fort Worth; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

Later – Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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