Coca-Cola’s Mello Yello brand is extending its ties with the NHRA as sponsor of its premier series, continuing a partnership that began in 2002. “Our agreement with the NHRA gives us significant exposure to refresh fans with the smooth citrus taste of Mello Yello,” said Al Rondon, senior sports marketing manager, Coca-Cola North America. “This is another chapter in the brand’s deep history in motorsports and we couldn’t be more thrilled to continue being part of the NHRA family.”
ESPN began rollout for its Fight to the Finish promo for college football season that is part of its “Who’s In?” campaign. The spot serves up an animated world representing the top contenders for the 2018 College Football Playoff, all within a scale replica of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. “Fight to the Finish” will air on ABC and ESPN networks, while the SEC-specific version will run only on the SEC Network. Leveraging custom animation each character was modeled in 3D and includes coaches/mascots/notable alumni that range from Alabama’s Nick Saban to Texas’ Bevo + Silver Spurs to Michigan alumni Charles Woodson
Meanwhile, NBC Sports Group announced that the Sunday Night Football Bus will return once again for the 2017 season. Visiting the host cities of select SNF games, the bus will bring the Vince Lombardi Trophy to fans before arriving at its final destination, Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. Fans will get a closer look at behind-the-scenes action of SNF broadcasts on the bus, which will take fans from the field, to the studio and in the production trucks. Features of the bus include an interactive replica of the control room, a replica of the Football Night in America desk, life-size “Photo Bomb” wall, and more.
Raycom Sports announced that Mellow Mushroom will return for a second season as Presenting Sponsor of ACC Network Football telecasts. Mellow Mushroom will again have full season ACC Network Football category exclusivity and broad consumer visibility via multiple touchpoints, including extensive broadcast television exposure as well as digital and social platform exposure. Last season’s presenting sponsorship was the first large scale multi-market advertising and marketing campaign for Mellow Mushroom.
Pac-12 Networks signed off on a multi-year partnership with fuboTV, that makes the Networks’ primary national channel available to all subscribers of “Fubo Premier” at no extra charge. fuboTV’s base package, Fubo Premier includes more than 70 channels, including more sports than any similar bundle from any other streaming TV provider. In addition, all six of Pac-12 Networks’ regional channels are also now available to fuboTV subscribers as part of its “Sports Plus” add-on package. “We’re thrilled to make the Pac-12 Networks’ full portfolio of content available to fuboTV subscribers, including the 850 live events to be broadcast as part of the 2017-2018 season,” said Alden Budill, Pac-12 Networks Senior Vice President / Head of Distribution & Partner Marketing. “We look forward to working with fuboTV to bring our compelling content to even more fans across the country.”
FloSports locked in an agreement with Conference USA schools to carry Division I football games on FloFootball.com. The deal includes exclusive live and on-demand coverage of three regular season games featuring the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Western Kentucky (WKU), Eastern Kentucky (EKU), Louisiana Tech, and Rice University. “Major college football should be accessible outside the cable bundle, and we’re excited to partner with several Conference USA schools to provide fans anywhere in the world with a new level of coverage,” FloSports SVP Global Rights Acquisition & Subscription Phil Wendler said. “We’re excited about our rapid growth in the college and high school football landscape, as well as across our entire FloSports network, and we look forward to showcasing these great Division I matchups.”
MLB.com At Bat became the first sports streaming app ever to top 2 billion minutes consumed in a single month, delivering 2.03 billion minutes consumed in August through Wednesday. Previously, At Bat monthly usage had peaked in July 2017 (1.88 billion) and May 2016 (1.82 billion). At Bat also is approaching 10 billion minutes consumed in 2017, remaining on pace to surpass last year’s all-time mark of 10.4 billion minutes in early.
Facebook Watch has opened its doors and Whistle Sports announced that two of its shows will run on the platform this week: The Showdown – in which pro athletes go head to head over the worst jokes to see who cracks first; and Every Fan You Know, starring Scooter MaGruder.
The new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup was unveiled on NASCAR.com and across NASCAR and Monster Energy social channels. The shiny new award required more than 300 hours of craftsmanship, stands 37-inches tall and weighs nearly 70 pounds and is made of machined aluminum. The Cup holds roughly 600 oz., which is over 37 Monster Energy drinks (16oz).
Networks are out in full force with NFL fantasy offerings. CBS Sports announced that Fantasy Football Today returns on Monday with live video shows every weekday and on Sundays across all CBS Sports digital platforms. Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard and Heath Cummings join hosts Nick Kostos and Hana Ostapchuk and various CBS Sports guests to offer in-depth analysis on the latest news, rumors and performances across the league. Viewer questions are also answered on the air every day.
Meanwhile, the NFL revealed that its NFL Fantasy app will see features for the new season that include: a revamped matchup screen featuring in-game details on when your players are currently on the field powered by Next Gen Stats, allowing managers to follow along with their players in real time; weekly predictive insights prior to each matchup and enhanced charts recapping player performances; an improved roster page; and new features which allow users to optimize their rosters for the best lineup and add top free agents to their team
Feld Entertainment announced the second season of the Supercross Video Pass, available today with boasting more Monster Energy Supercross content for fans outside of the US and Canada, including an unprecedented amount of live and archived racing. In total, fans will have access to 240 hours of Supercross content that can be experienced on any type of connected device. The pass will provide access to all 17 rounds of the 3-hour Monster Energy Supercross television broadcast (2018), every race from the last three seasons (2015-2017), plus the 2015 and 2016 Monster Energy Cup races and an additional library of original content.
WESA unveiled plans for a new Paladins Premier League in cooperation with Hi-Rez Studios. The inaugural season launched this fall and will include participation of ten WESA Member teams including EnVyUS, Fnatic, G2 Esports, mouseports, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Renegades, SK Gaming, Splyce and Virtus.Pro. The PPL will be the second professional esports competition played under WESA guidance. As part of the launch of the league, Hi-Rez Studios has partnered with WESA to split league revenues with participating teams, and to guarantee a minimum salary to players. Media rights and further details regarding the structure of PPL will be announced prior to the start of the season.
Inverse announced a new esports series for the Facebook Watch platform, titled Button Mashers. The program will look to profile esports gamers around the world with host Zach Cherry visitng the home of a different elite gamer as we learn about their daily lives, training rituals, and gaming strategies. Gaming stars profiled include: Benita “bENITA” Novshadian, Visal “El TOWN” Mohanan, Alex “Khaos” Greenstein, Osama “Zag” Alkhalaileh, and Kayla “Faye” Murray. The series premieres on Monday with new episodes weekly.
College football season week one opens with a bang with Florida State/Alabama on ABC on Saturday at 8p.
