09/19/18: PGA TOUR seeks drama for FedEx Cup

Good morning. It’s Wednesday September 19, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan unveiled new innovations designed to elevate the FedExCup season – from the Regular Season through the FedExCup Playoffs and the TOUR Championship. Changes include a simplified scoring system at the TOUR Championship that will determine the FedExCup Champion and a new $10 million program for the FedExCup Regular Season sponsored by Wyndham Rewards: the “Wyndham Rewards Top 10.” The FedExCup Playoffs, which have been reduced from four to three events beginning next season, will feature fields of 125 for THE NORTHERN TRUST, 70 for the BMW Championship and 30 for the TOUR Championship, where the FedExCup Champion will be determined.

While the points structure for the first two events will remain the same, there will be a big change to the format for the TOUR Championship. Instead of a points reset at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, beginning with the 2018-19 event, a strokes-based bonus system will be implemented for the FedExCup standings through the BMW Championship. The FedExCup points leader after the first two Playoffs events will begin the TOUR Championship at 10-under par. The next four players will start at 8-under through 5-under, respectively. The next five will begin at 4-under, regressing by one stroke per five players until those ranked Nos. 26-30 start at even par.

“This is a significant and exciting change for the PGA TOUR, our players, our partners and – most importantly – our fans,” said Monahan. “As soon as the TOUR Championship begins, any fan – no matter if they’ve followed the PGA TOUR all season or are just tuning in for the final event – can immediately understand what’s going on and what’s at stake for every single player in the field. And, of course, players will know exactly where they stand at all times while in play, which will ratchet up the drama, consequence and volatility of the competition down the stretch.

ON THE AIR

Perform Group announced that it will now be called DAZN Group and consolidated into two distinct brands: DAZN and Perform Content. DAZN will be the consumer-facing division, including DAZN itself, the world’s first dedicated live and on-demand sports streaming service, and some of the largest sports websites in the world, such as Goal.com, SportingNews, and Spox.com, led by CEO and founder Simon Denyer. Perform Content will be charged with the group’s B2B activities – continuing to provide world class sports data, news and video to the world’s leading broadcasters, digital companies and sports books with Ross MacEacharn remaining CEO. The two brands will each have their own governance and leadership but report into one board, chaired by John Skipper.

Major League Soccer locked in deals with four networks in the US and Canada, Univision, ESPN, TSN, and TVA Sports, for a long-term broadcast partnerships to carry the first annual Campeones Cup, the new competition between the league champions of MLS and Liga MX. The first edition begins Wednesday between Toronto FC and Tigres UANL and will be carried by Univision, UDN and ESPN2 in the US, while the game will be shown on TSN and TVA Sports 2 in Canada.

The 17-round schedule for the 2019 season of Monster Energy AMA Supercross was unveiled with highlights that include the addition of Nashville’s Nissan Stadium for the first time and returning to Denver’s Broncos Stadium at Mile High for the first time since 1996. The series will commence at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The 2019 schedule will once again feature three fan-favorite Triple Crown events and two East-West Showdowns, which will be revealed on October 23 when tickets go on sale.

In programming news, the second season of CBS Sports’ Four Sides of the Story franchise kicks off on Saturday on CBS with “Alabama Audible.” The documentary, told through four unique points of view, unpacks the events of Alabama’s comeback victory in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game. The documentary will re-air on CBS Sports Network on Sept. 24 at 7p.

We are less than two weeks away from the Esports Business Summit. Today’s panel spotlight – Success in Esports: Growing Alongside Your Partner, featuring Alienware’s Bryan de Zayas, Team Liquid Co-CEO and owner Steve Arhancet and Twitch’s Nathan Lindberg as they dive into the benefits of going deeper into partnerships, rather than wide. Tickets are going fast so get your seat today!

Hockey returns to NBC Sports today at 7:30a on NBCSN with the Flames/Bruins in Beijing as part of the 2018 NHL China Games. On Sept. 25, the fourth season of the Kraft Hockeyville USA campaign hits the ice from Clinton Arena in Clinton, NY, which won this year’s competition. Brendan Burke handles play-by-play with analyst Pierre McGuire. In addition, Kathryn Tappen (host) and Jeremy Roenick (analyst) will also be on-site to provide studio coverage and updates throughout the game.

Ahead of the biennial Ryder Cup next week outside of Paris, Golf Channel will showcase its latest Golf Films project, Famous 5, outlining how five European golfers that collectively helped revitalize the international competition and redefine the professional golf landscape. The film will premiere on Sept. 24 at 9p to kick off NBC Sports Group’s Ryder Cup week programming, with the spotlight on Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, and Ian Woosnam.

Tennis Channel returns as the exclusive television home for this weekend’s Laver Cup. Now in its second year, the tournament features six of the top European men’s stars against six of the top players from the rest of the world. The network will carry the entire three-day event live beginning Friday at 1:30p. The channel will offer more than 25 hours of live coverage dedicated to Laver Cup this year. Brett Haber will anchor the network’s desk coverage throughout the weekend.

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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The IOC and Allianz formally announced that the insurer will join the ”Worldwide Olympic Partner” (TOP) Program in 2021. Allianz will work with the IOC to provide “innovative and integrated insurance solutions” to support the Olympic Movement, including the Organizing Committees of the Olympic Games, with the ambition of providing those insurance solutions to the National Olympic Committees around the world and their Olympic teams and athletes. The support will include existing products, such as fleet and property & casualty insurance, but also insurance solutions for future products and services, driven by technological changes.

The NHL and Jagermeister struck an accord that will see Jagermeister become an official partner of the NHL in the US as the “official shot of the NHL.” As part of the partnership, the brand will create 360-degree, integrated programs that will be supported across various retail, in-venue and on premise channels as well as consumer activations at the NHL Winter Classic, the NHL® All-Star Weekend and other NHL marquee events. In addition, the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals will also join the brand’s roster of local NHL team sponsorships.

Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights continue to make history, this time locking in a deal with William Hill US, the world’s leading sports book operator, to become the first-ever between an NHL team in North America and a sports book. The multi-year partnership will see the duo collaborate on engaging with fans of legal betting age through various media, advertising and promotional platforms and include a TV visible dasherboard, in-arena signage, updated league-wide odds displayed on the in-arena Knight Tron during intermission, an away game watch party, and recognition on the LED ribbon board of the “William Hill Line Change” when the Golden Knights make a line change during the game.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Kings and the NHL are strengthening their presence in China and expanding their relationship with ORG Packaging, with the launch of Beijing Jr. Kings. The agreement, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, makes the Beijing Jr. Kings the first-ever youth hockey development program created (jointly created with ORG Packaging), owned and operated by the LA Kings outside Los Angeles and the first-ever development initiative for any NHL team in China.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

Formula 1 unveiled a historic sponsorship and data rights commercial partnership with Interregional Sports Group to produce a F1 betting offering. Formula 1, ISG and Sportradar will leverage data from the track on race weekends to launch new in-play betting markets during Grands Prix. As part of the deal, ISG will have the right to sub-license Betting Partnership Rights to select betting brands around the world, subject to regulations, including: regionalized branded on-screen graphics; physical and virtual trackside signage; and digital integration across F1’s rapidly expanding digital and social platforms.

The Saudi General Sports Authority is teaming with the WWE to present the Crown Jewel at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Nov. 2 that will include the first-ever WWE World Cup tournament. The Crown Jewel will stream live on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view outside of the Middle East.

SendtoNews reports that it ranked #1 in unique viewers and total video views for the first time in SendtoNews’ history, registering 9,790,000 unique viewers and 178,616,000 video views.

Combate Americas and Facebook announced a content agreement in Spanish for worldwide access excluding United States and Canada for the live broadcast of the second season on the platform. This agreement covers the live transmission through Facebook Live of all events of the second season of Combate Americas activities and will conclude with the last match of 2018 of the Hispanic League of Mixed Martial Arts.

The University of Georgia tapped IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions to coordinate outbound ticket sales and enhance customer service through the creation of a ticketing sales and service team. As part of the multi-year relationship, IMGLTS will provide a CRM and digital sales solution for all ticketed sports at the school and provide a data analytics package to enhance pricing models and the renewal process.

ESPORTS

YouTube announced an upgrade for YouTube Gaming. The standalone app for gamers will now be shifted to the main YouTube experience. In a blog post, the company announced a new home for gamers on the platform at youtube.com/gaming, offering personalized gaming content based on what a user prefers to watch. In addition, users will see top live games and the latest gaming videos from subscriptions, in addition to building dedicated shelves for live streams and trending videos.

Fans of a particular game can now find gaming videos from all over YouTube, related to that specific game on new game pages. These include popular videos, live streams, and other games from the same publisher or developer.

FACEIT is teaming with ODEON cinemas and Barcraft United to allow CS:GO fans around the world to watch the finals of the FACEIT London Major. On Sept. 23, fans across the UK can experience the event in a cinema, with 14 locations around the country carrying the Grand finals. In addition, FACEIT is also teaming up with viewing party organizers Barcraft United.

Millennial Esports Corp. announced that the Company’s Stream Hatchet business unit locked in deals with three esports/gaming brands in PUBG Corporation, management agency Machinima, and influencer agency Bent Pixels. “Companies like PUBG and Machinima are on the cutting edge of their industries, which means that we also need to stay ahead of the competition if we are to continue to bring them value,” said Stream Hatchet co-founder Eduard Montserrat. “That is why we put such an emphasis not only on the quality and uniqueness of our product, but on our personalized approach that ensures we are giving each client the specific metrics they need to be successful.”

ROSTER MOVES

WWE announced the appointment of Brian Nurse as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary. Nurse will be responsible for overseeing the legal affairs of the company and serve as principal legal advisor to the Chairman & CEO, Co-Presidents, and the company’s executive management team. Prior to joining WWE, Nurse was Vice President, Associate General Counsel & Secretary at Nestlé Waters North America.

Bleacher Report promoted Stefanie Rapp to Senior Vice President of Revenue Strategy. As part of her elevated role, she will facilitate sales, marketing and promotional activities, with an emphasis on serving as the primary liaison to all sport teams, leagues, brands and platforms as the brand develops and executes bigger breakthrough programs. In addition, Rapp is also taking on oversight of all programmatic and local sales efforts for the brand.

THE MAIN EVENT

Red Sox/Yankees on ESPN at 7p.

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ON THIS DAY in 1988: US diver Greg Louganis hits his head on the diving board during the Summer Olympics in Seoul.

In the Know: Which venue has hosted the most Super Bowls? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Which country has won the most Olympic golds all-time in canoe/kayak? Answer: Germany. Kudos: Michael Hollis-ION Media/NY; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine/Houston; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

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