10/03/18: Manny Machado And The Dodgers Will be A Big Part of the MLB Postseason

Good morning. It’s Wednesday October 3, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

It’s MLB postseason time and another unique partnership is onboard. MLB has announced that Doosan is presenting sponsor of the 2018 National League Division Series (NLDS) following up on 2017 when the brand tried its hand at the American League Division Series (ALDS). Doosan will receive exposure across national broadcast and MLB-owned channels along with in-stadium brand integration throughout the series. “Our partnership is nearly a year old, and we’ve seen those efforts help to build additional brand awareness and business opportunities for Doosan in the U.S.,” said Edward Song, Head of Doosan Infracore North America. “We’re excited to be a part of the NLDS and Postseason action again this year, and to give fans access to exclusive NLDS content, Doosan stories and more.” The Doosan and MLB partnership extends through the end of the 2020 MLB season, with Doosan set to receive branding, media and hospitality benefits throughout the regular season and within MLB Jewel Events including the All-Star Game, Postseason and World Series.

ON THE AIR

On Monday, ESPN delivered its two highest-rated MLB regular season afternoon telecasts in 20 years, according to metered market ratings from Nielsen. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ victory over the Colorado Rockies generated a 2.3 rating. Additionally, the Milwaukee Brewers victory over the Chicago Cubs (1 p.m. ET start time) drew a 1.9 rating. The historic MLB tiebreaker doubleheader averaged a 2.1 rating.

CBS Sports’ Week Four NFL doubleheader coverage of THE NFL ON CBS on Sunday, Sept. 30 scored with increases of 33% in viewership and household rating for its national 4:25 PM, ET game window. Through four weeks, THE NFL ON CBS’ season-to-date ratings are up +8% and viewership is up +7% from a year ago.

Tennis Channel and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) reached a five-year agreement that will make the network the U.S. television and digital media home of the WTA, beginning in January 2019. The arrangement also gives Tennis Channel live, over-the-top streaming rights to these competitions, in addition to authenticated digital streams. This will allow tennis fans to subscribe directly to the network’s Tennis Channel Plus streaming service for additional WTA matches that are not available on television, and let television subscribers take Tennis Channel with them on the go via mobile and out-of-home devices.

Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race on NBC averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 3.24 million viewers across NBC and NBC Sports Digital platforms – up 13% from last year’s race from the “Mecca of Motorsports.”

ESPN’s Monday Night Football earned a 9.1 overnight rating according to Nielsen, based on the metered markets. This is an increase of eight percent compared to the 8.4 rating for the Redskins-Chiefs week four game in 2017.

ABC’s Saturday Night Football Ohio State-Penn State Matchup drew an average of 9.3 Million Viewers, the Most-Watched Game of the 2018 Season. It was one of the five most-watched ABC September games in the last decade, and peaked at more than 12.5 Million viewers.

NBC Sports’ coverage of Saturday night’s Stanford Cardinal and Notre Dame Fighting Irish game was their second most-watched game on NBC in 24 years, according to Fast National Data provided by The Nielsen Company and Adobe Analytics. Saturday’s viewership on NBC, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app was the second best for the matchup since 1994, only behind the Fighting Irish’s 20-13 overtime victory against the Cardinal in 2012 (5.124 million TAD).

FOX Sports Films, in association with Major League Baseball will honor legendary player moments from Kirk Gibson, Jim Abbott, and Aaron Boone. The three one-hour films air throughout the month of October as FOX Sports also delivers the Major League Baseball Playoffs starting at 5:00 pm ET with National League Division Series Game 1 Thursday, Oct. 4 on FS1.

Showtime announced the airdate for its upcoming docu-series Shut Up and Dribble, with the first episode premiering on Saturday, November 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime on-air, streaming and on demand. Narrated by sports journalist and commentator Jemele Hill, the three-part documentary series looks at the changing role of NBA athletes through the lens of our shifting cultural and political environment. Hill is among one of the many featured in the documentary that includes former NBA players, executives, sports journalists and pop-culture icons. Shut Up and Dribble is directed by Gotham Chopra and executive produced by LeBron James, Maverick Carter and Chopra.

ESPN+ and ESPN reached an exclusive, multi-year rights agreement in the United States for Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana – the two premier Cup competitions in Italian football. Coppa Italia is Italy’s single-elimination domestic Cup competition, and Supercoppa Italiana is the annual matchup between the winner of Italy’s Serie A versus the Coppa Italia champion. The agreement, combined with the acquisition of 380 Serie A matches, makes ESPN and ESPN+ the exclusive home of Italian professional football in the United States.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

[NEW AWARDS OPPORTUNITY FOR 2018-2019]

TOP WOMEN IN SPORTS

Cynopsis is launching a new awards program celebrating female trailblazers in the sports industry. These are the women pushing the industry forward, from roles in all levels of production, technology, marketing and more. Top Women in Sports honorees are change agents who empower and inspire with their drive for innovation and inclusion.

[ NOMINATE BY 12/4 ]

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

The Phoenix Suns signed a jersey patch deal with PayPal, becoming the 25th NBA team to have such a deal. The agreement makes PayPal the official payment partner of the Suns, the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, a second-division Spanish soccer team controlled by Suns Owner Robert Sarver. The deal also makes PayPal a payment option at Talking Stick Resort Arena and at the Suns’ in-arena team store, with fans to access PayPal through the Suns team app. The Suns will also make PayPal Credit available for season-ticket purchases.

The United States Golf Association and Cisco announced a new multiyear global partnership focused on using technology to enhance the fan experience at USGA championships, create new opportunities for content distribution on-site and worldwide, and accelerate the USGA’s mission-driven initiatives to drive global innovation in golf.

Conference USA announced a deal with the Air Force Reserve to sponsor 13 C-USA championships, headlined by the conference’s ’19 basketball tournament at The Star in Frisco. The deal also makes the Air Force Reserve the first title sponsor for C-USA Olympic Sports. Other assets of the deal include presenting sponsorship of the ’19 C-USA baseball tournament in Biloxi, Miss., and Corporate Champion status at the ’19 C-USA Football Championship.

DIGITAL AND STREAMING

The top three most-mentioned teams of the 2018 MLB season on Twitter:

@Yankees,

@Dodgers

@RedSox

The Yankees led the way with more than seven million mentions since Opening Day.

The most mentioned players on Twitter this season were led by versatile superstar Shohei Otani, who had nearly 2 million mentions on the platform since Opening Day, followed by Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, and Yu Darvish.

The top Tweeted moments of the 2018 season:

Ian Happ hits a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the 2018 season. (March 29)

Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea throws a no-hitter against Red Sox (April 21)

David Bote hits a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam to lift the Cubs over Nationals (August 12).

Gleyber Torres hits a 3-run walk-off home run to lift Yankees over the Indians (May 6).

Giancarlo Stanton hits a home run in his first at-bat as a Yankee (March 29)

The U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association will partner with Player Tokens, for the first digital collectible that female athletes will be featured on in the retail market. The product, which can be described as a “digital collecting card,” will feature 26 current members of the USWNT team and include player head shots, stats and a unique ID for each individual token.

The International Olympic Committee is bringing live competition from the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 to Twitter. Beginning on Thursday, October 8, select competitions from the Summer Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 will be streamed live on social media, exclusively on Twitter and OlympicChannel.com.

eSPORTS

Congratulations to all of our finalists and winners at the Tempest Awards, which took place last night at Esports Arena Las Vegas. Overwatch League and ELEAGUE led the pack as multiple winners with Overwatch League laying claim to Best TV Broadcast, Best New Esports Competition – Season or Series, Ambassador Award for On-Air Personality of the Year for Chris Puckett, and Executive of the year for Nate Nanzer. ELEAGUE, meanwhile, took home Best Tech, Best Esports-themed Program (non-competitive), and Best Esports Competition – Single Tournament or Event. Ninja emerged as the victor for Streamer of the Year, while Fortnite was named Best New Esports Game of the Year. Team Liquid emerged took home the trophy for top Esports Team Organization of the Year, while Dell/Alienware won Brand of the Year, and Riot Games laid claim for Outstanding Esports Competition – Season or Series for its League of Legends Championship Series.The evening also honored a special recognition of two legends of the industry who were inducted into the Tempest Hall of Fame: Kevin Lin (Co-Founder of Twitch) and Hector Rodriguez (Founder of OpTic Gaming), along with our Watch List honorees. All winners can be found at EsportsBizSummit.com.

ELEAGUE unveiled its latest partnership, forging ties with Nintendo. The company states that they will be partnering to showcase Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – leading up to its December 7 release – offering fans a three-part, episodic series under the banner of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Invitational 2018 presented by ELEAGUE, exclusively airing on TBS in November 2018. ELEAGUE’s telecasts will present content captured during the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Invitational 2018 tournament held at E3 earlier this year.

The World Finals for the inaugural season of the Clash Royale League are slated to be held on December 1 at Japan’s Makuhari Messe. During the full-day event, the top Clash Royale team from each of the League’s global regions will compete, with only one team reigning victorious, earning the Golden Crown Trophy. Earlier this year, 25 million players competed for a chance to participate in the inaugural year of Supercell’s Clash Royale League, a global esports league with 44 teams across the world’s best esports organizations.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and WorldGaming Network announced Leafs Gaming League, an online ladder for EA SPORTS NHL 19 fans and competitive gamers. Registration opens today and players will have until December 2018 to qualify for the Grand Finals taking place on January 3, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena. From October 3 through to the 2018 holiday season, NHL 19 gamers can compete 1-vs-1 online to earn points and climb a virtual ladder. Ladder rankings will determine qualification for various tournaments and will give gamers access to exciting perks and rewards throughout the league. The Leafs Gaming League will also host Leafs Gaming Day on October 21 at Real Sports Bar and Grill in Toronto.

ROSTER MOVES

Following three successful seasons as President of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), Lisa Borders is stepping down from her position to become the first-ever President and Chief Executive Officer of Time’s Up. NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum will oversee the WNBA on an interim basis, and a search for a new league president will commence immediately.

THE MAIN EVENT

The American League Wild Card Game will feature the Oakland A’s game at the New York Yankees at 8 PM on TBS.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

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The Cynopsis Rising Star Awards

Time to Tune-in to the Future Industry Leaders

The Fourth Annual Cynopsis Rising Star Awards is gearing up for its best year yet…Don’t miss this great opportunity to honor yourself or a colleague with a nomination. The groundbreaking work that these ambitious and creative young professionals have accomplished over the past year deserves to be celebrated – and we can’t wait to see what they have to offer!

NOMINATE BY 10/4

ON THIS DAY in 1920 American Pro Football Association (later the NFL) plays its 1st full round of games; Dayton Triangles beat Columbus Panhandles, 14-0 in the first official game at Triangle Park, Dayton, Ohio.

In the Know: Wednesday night the Washington Capitals will raise their Stanley Cup Championship banner. When was the last time a DC team won a title in one of the four major sports? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: The end of the MLB season produced two tiebreaking matchups. Who won the first ever MLB tiebreaking series in 1946? Answer: The Cardinals. Thanks to Ken White KWTV, Andy Pittman TAMU, Tom Moore Kalt Productions, Lance Phegley Texas Runner and Triathlete Magazine, Houston, TX, and Synda Kollman, Charter Marketing Group, Boca Raton, FL

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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