09/06/17: The Rockets' two billion dollar buyer

Good morning. It’s Wednesday September 6, 2017 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

The Houston Rockets are set to become Fertitta turf, with the franchise announcing that Tilman J. Fertitta – CNBC star and owner of the Landry’s restaurant empire – had locked in an agreement to add the club to his portfolio with reports stating that the deal was worth $2.2 billion, which would mark a record for the NBA. The transaction, which includes operation of the Toyota Center Arena, requires the approval of the NBA Board of Governors.

“I am truly honored to have been chosen as the next owner of the Houston Rockets. This is a life-long dream come true,” said Fertitta. “Leslie Alexander has been one of the best owners in all of sports, and I thank him immensely for this opportunity. He has the heart of a champion. Lastly, out of respect for the NBA’s approval process, I can say no more other than I am overwhelmed with emotion to have this opportunity in my beloved city of Houston.”

“I am excited to welcome and pass the torch to Tilman. He is a Houstonian, business leader and committed to the success and excellence of the Rockets both on and off the basketball court,” said Leslie Alexander, the current Rockets owner. “I have personally known Tilman for over 24 years and don’t think I could have found anyone more capable of continuing the winning tradition of our Houston Rockets.”

ON THE AIR

Meanwhile, the approach of Hurricane Irma prompted the NFL to announce that the opening week game between the Buccaneers/Dolphins on Sunday would no longer be played in Miami on Sunday. In a statement, the league said that “In the interest of public safety in light of the current state of emergency, the NFL, in consultation with state and local officials as well as both clubs, has decided that playing an NFL game in South Florida this week is not appropriate. The league will continue to examine other options, including playing the game this Sunday at a neutral site or in Miami later this season, and will provide an update on that decision as soon as possible.”

The PGA TOUR is opting to stick with NBC Sports and CBS Sports, and will continue to air PGA Tour events with the companies through 2021. Golf.com writes that the PGA Tour’s deadline to opt out of its TV deals came and went without incident on September 1, postponing earlier speculation of a broadcast shakeup until at least 2021, when the deals expire.

In ratings news, ESPN saw the double-overtime Labor Day thriller between Tennessee and Georgia Tech score a 3.3 Nielsen overnight number. The number marks ESPN’s third best overnight since last season’s Labor Day night matchup and carries a streaming audience of 134,000 viewers,

In other rating numbers, the Sept. 3 edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell saw an uptick of 100% over last year’s comparable telecast, reeling in a 1.6 metered market rating.

The Prudential Center announced that it will host the second annual Never Forget Tribute Classic on Dec. 9, lining up an NCAA men’s basketball doubleheader pitting Florida/Cincinnati and Seton Hall/VCU. The Never Forget Tribute Classic will again partner with the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund in support of the education of children of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

ESPN’s morning debate program First Take goes west starting Friday in Texas, for a three-stop swing that spans two weeks. The Sept. 8 show in Dallas will air live from Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s Texas. The following week, the First Take crew will head to Los Angeles for three shows from ESPN’s Los Angeles Production Center and close out the week with three shows in two days from Las Vegas, in advance of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, coming air live from the MGM Grand Talent Pool on Sept. 14-15.

Pac-12 Network debuts the fifth season of The Drive: Pac-12 Football on Sept. 7 at 5p PT with the first episode showcasing the Stanford Cardinal and their season-opening trip to Australia. New episodes will then run on Thursday evenings on Pac-12 Network throughout the 2017 football season.

Six classes. One unique experience. Countless business opportunities. Only a few tickets left! Join us on Sept. 15 for the Cynopsis Esports Master Class taking place behind the scenes of ESL One New York. Space is extremely limited so register now!

SiriusXM tackles the 2017 NFL season this year with a schedule that will include multiple Spanish-language broadcasts on SiriusXM channel 157 each week, including all primetime games on Sunday and Monday nights, the Thursday Night Kickoff game, Thanksgiving Day games, and select Sunday afternoon games during the regular season. New to the SiriusXM NFL Radio roster this year will be former NFL standouts Torry Holt, Ed McCaffrey, Lance Moore and Geoff Schwartz.

On the local front, FOX Sports Arizona scored its most-watched D-backs telecast of the season, generating a 5.1 rating with 96,395 Phoenix households tuning in. The 5.1 rating was 16% higher than the previous season-best rating. The game also had 7,657 unique streamers watching on the FOX Sports GO app.

In international waters, the World Boxing Super Series locked in a deal with ITV to exclusively carry the WBSS in the United Kingdom. ITV will receive the exclusive rights to broadcast all 14 fight nights involved in the tournaments, according to ITV News.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Cynopsis Esports Master Class – Reserve your space, while you can

Friday, Sept 15 | Barclays Center | BKLYN

Cynopsis is partnering with ESL to provide you with the ultimate esports experience, including:

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 NOW

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Pepsi is kicking off football season with new touchdown dances as part of its “The Fun Doesn’t End Zone” campaign which “champions the NFL’s new relaxed rules on end zone celebrations.” The promotion is designed to offer off-the-field moments, promotions, pre-game festivities and entertaining content featuring NFL athletes, anchored by the launch of limited-edition NFL shield and team-specific packaging and cans available at local grocers in 15 markets. Content begins tomorrow with two new spots featuring Antonio Brown and Joe Staley, along with an appearance by comedian Rob Corddry.

WWE announced that it has once again partnered with The V Foundation through Connor’s Cure to raise funds for pediatric cancer research during Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month in September. This year’s campaign features five pediatric cancer patients who have transformed into their own WWE Superstar characters. To assist fund raising efforts for Connor’s Cure, WWE produced a limited-edition Connor’s Cure Collection and will be available for purchase through WWEShop.com. In addition to the new merchandise, select WWE Superstars will wear gold-colored versions of their in-ring apparel, which will then be auctioned off to benefit Connor’s Cure at WWEAuction.com.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

NeuLion is partnering with Sky Sports to power its new, direct-to-consumer OTT service, Sky Sports Box Office. The NeuLion Digital Platform will power future, live pay-per-view events for Sky Sports Box Office. “Sky Sports represents fantastic content for fans in the UK and Ireland,” said Roy Reichbach, NeuLion President and Chief Executive Officer. “As we continue our company’s expansion in Europe having Sky Sports as our partner in addition to our growing list of European customers that include EFL Digital, Eleven Sports Network and others is very exciting.”

NESN is teaming with Intel to pilot the production of four Red Sox baseball games via Intel True VR at Fenway Park. The experience launched with last night’s game and continuing for the next three games for fans with select Samsung phones who will be able to experience the game from numerous unique camera angles in VR using Samsung Gear VR headsets.

ESPORTS

League of Legends developer Riot Games is set to reformat the European League Championship Series 2018 summer season with the launch of four regions in a Champions League-inspired configuration, according to ESPN. The league, which currently has 10 teams, will split into four separate regions — London, Paris, Berlin and Barcelona with each hosting six teams. Participating teams will be granted a multi-year license from Riot Games to compete in the league.

Racing developer SimBin is launching Women and Wheels, described as a woman-only esports racing competition slated to take place at the European Women in Games Conference in London. “Around seven per cent of our race competitors are female,” said SimBin studio head Allan Speed, per PC Insider. “Unbelievably, that’s probably over average. We want to see more women enjoying the thrills and spills of the virtual track, and eSports in general. At SimBin we’ve achieved 50/50 gender balance in our studio workforce, so we thought we’d try to encourage more women to compete in our competitions too.”

ROSTER MOVES

James Trapp was named Executive Director of the NFL Legends Community, where he will lead the NFL’s continuous efforts to assist players in a successful transition into their post-playing experience.

CSN Chicago announced the promotion of Brendan Lewis to National Sales Manager, effective immediately. Lewis replaces Jill Fields, who was recently promoted to General Sales Manager for the network.

THE MAIN EVENT

The WNBA Playoffs get underway with Wings/Mystics at 8p on ESPN2, followed by Storm/Mercury at 10p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Gen Z is the largest, most diverse group of media-users ever!

HOW TO CONNECT AND ENGAGE WITH GEN Z

Tuesday, September 26 | 1:30pm | REGISTER HERE

In this live online event, you’ll gain a keen understanding of this generation’s passion points and behavior to create a strategy that revolves around their unique approach to technology, media and advertising. This is a massive demographic whose attention holds enormous potential.

START CLICKING WITH GEN Z

ON THIS DAY in 1975: Martina Navratilova is granted US political asylum in NYC during the US Open.

In the Know: This sports movie featured the tagline, “His people needed a leader. He gave them a champion.” what is the name of the movie? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Colorado’s mascot Ralphie was once “kidnapped” by members of what institution? Answer: The Air Force Academy. Kudos: Michael Ritz-BucStar Consulting/NY; Nate Hammond/NY; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Lance Phegley-Texas Runner & Triathlete magazine/Houston; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

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

CYNOPSISJOBS – For More jobs, please visit Cynopsis.com

JOB OPENING: SR ANALYST or MGR, AD SALES/AMCN/NYC: 3+ yrs Sr Analyst/5+ yrs Mgr related media rsrch exp (digital exp pref). Provide aud measurement, consumer insights, mktg positioning & strategic rsrch dev. Resp for producing & presenting creative & effective rsrch stories/presentations. Full info/apply HERE (9/13)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES ASST DR/FUSE Media/NY: Recent grad w/previous ad sales/adv internship exp. to asst ad sales dept. Strong Excel & multi-tasking a +. Good comm, interpersonal & organzt’l skills. Apply HERE (9/12)

JOB OPENING: DEVELOPEMENT DIRECTOR/FUSE Media/LA: Developing ideas from concept through presentation or pilot. Work with internal depts and ext. productions partners, pitches, create and dev. concepts, manage presentation and pilot prod. Good comm, interpersonal & organzt’l skills. Apply HERE (9/12)

JOB OPENING: MARKETING DIRECTOR/FUSE Media/LA: creative development and delivery of the network branding, promotional campaigns and cross-promotional marketing initiatives on an interim basis. Apply HERE (9/12)

JOB OPENING: VICE PRESIDENT DEVELOPMENT/FUSE Media/LA: development process from ideation to post-production. Contrubite to strategic planning, content lens, channel management and be responsible for executing programming strategies through the development process. Apply HERE (9/12)

JOB OPENING: FIELD MARKETING SPECIALIST/Spectrum Reach/St. Petersburg, FL: Work w/Ad sales & help deliver mktg plans that drive client awareness. 3-5 yrs of ad sales mktg exp pref’d. Strong knwlg advertising/media, digital products & advanced ad products is a +. Res/cvr: HERE (9/8)

JOB OPENING: MGR MEDIA RIGHTS & LICENSING/MSG CO/NYC: Negotiate, draft and assist with administration of license agreements. Work with MSG’s stakeholders to assess music and other IP-related clearance and use issues. 5+ yrs relevant exp incl contract drafting & negotiating licensing. Full info/apply HERE (9/7)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES ACCOUNT EXEC/Crown Media Family Networks/LA: Sell Nat’l advertising time to ad agencies and clients. Strong negotiation skills and presentation skills. Strong knowledge of Los Angeles mktplace. BA/BS req & Min 2 yrs exp. Apply HERE (9/7)

JOB OPENING: SALES COORDINATOR/Nat Geo Partners/NYC: Support 3 Sales Execs & 2 VPs. Assist w/Print RFPs, mng forecasts, support VP on linear initiatives, help gather sales materials & prep for sales calls; asst w/basic client req’s & take on special. Full info/apply HERE (9/7)

JOB OPENING: DIR, FINANCIAL REPORTING/AMCN/NY: 10+ yrs tech accting & reporting exp. 2+ yrs superv exp. Prepare the consolidated fin statemnts, incl bal sheet, inc statemnt, statemnt of comprehensive inc & statemnt of cash flows & related footnote disclosures for AMC Networks Inc. on a quarterly basis. Perf calculation of earnings per share for the quart & annual SEC rpts. Full info/apply HERE (9/7)

JOB OPENING: FREELANCE DIR, BRAND MKTG/NFL/NYC: Build executable mktg strategies for new/existing brand initiatives and platforms that leverage consumer rsrch, goals & overall brand strategy. 8-10 yrs of exp in consumer mktg, in-house or agency. Detail oriented & orgnzd. Full info/apply HERE (9/7)