10/24/18: Newest updates for the World Series

Good morning. It’s Wednesday October 24, 2018 and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

FOX tossed up Game 1 of the World Series last night, as the company rolled its new partnerships and productions upgrades for the slate of games. The company unveiled a partnership to feature new tracks from Grammy Award-winning musician Gary Clark Jr. in its open. Clark will provide three tracks to the television network from his yet to be released album to be weaved into player features and storylines throughout the World Series.

From a production POV, the network unveiled more high-speed cameras with eight in Boston running in 6X mode (along with six HDC-4300’s at 2X), according to SVG, while LA will see nine at 6X alongside six others at 2X. In addition, two Inertia Unlimited Phantom cameras will also be in the mix.

Meanwhile, MLB announced that members of the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox will throw the ceremonial first pitch of Game Two. In addition the National Anthem for Game Two will be performed by Boston Pops, with vocalists from the Tanglewood Chorus and the Boston Symphony Children’s Chorus, under the direction of Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart.

From a sponsor POV, T-Mobile announced the company is doubling its Home Runs for Hurricane Recovery donations during the MLB World Series. T-Mobile will now donate $10,000 for every home run to Team Rubicon, in addition to $2 every time anyone – T-Mobile customer or not – posts the #HR4HR hashtag to Twitter or Instagram.

ON THE AIR

The Associated Press writes that FIFA President Gianni Infantino is “doubling down” on a proposed Club World Cup and will move forward on a proposal for an annual tournament despite European soccer’s resistance due to the Champions League. The report states that the revised proposal changes an initial plan that would have seen a 24-team Club World Cup every four years. The new format will be discussed at the FIFA Council meeting in Rwanda on Friday

The 150th anniversary of college football in 2019 will see ESPN launch a year-long, multi-platform storytelling experience that will now include two weekly documentary series. The American Game will hit the screen on Tuesdays starting Sept. 17, 2019, as an 11-episode documentary series that will focus on exploring themes that have made the sport an “integral component of the American landscape. Greatest will then run on Thursdays starting Sept. 19, 2019, ranking the all-time best uniforms, rivalry games, voices, and “What Ifs?” among other subjects.

The 2018 MGM Resorts NBA G League Winter Showcase, the league’s in-season scouting event, is locked in to take place in Las Vegas from Dec. 19-22 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in promotion with Las Vegas Events. The four-day, 27-game scouting event features the league’s 27 teams each playing two regular-season games in front of representatives from all 30 NBA teams. For the first time, the event will be held in December, allowing NBA team personnel the opportunity to evaluate two-way and NBA G League talent in advance of the 10-day signing period and two-way guarantee deadline. For the second consecutive season, the NBA G League Winter Showcase will be played across two courts with as many as seven games per day.

Speaking of Vegas, the upcoming Alliance of American Football announced that it will crown its first champion in the city on April 27. The league’s inaugural championship game will be played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, with CBS carrying the game. In addition, the 2020 championship game also will be played in Las Vegas. The AAF will kick off its first season on Feb. 9 with eight teams.

ESPN saw numbers for the Giants/Falcons MNF game take a dip, with a 7.5 overnight score, to capture the night but down 5% from last year’s equivalent.

Feld Entertainment released its lineup of cities and dates for both the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Triple Crown and East/West Showdown events. The Triple Crown returns for year two with three cities, Anaheim (Jan. 19), Detroit (Feb. 23) and Houston (March 30). Additionally, the East/West Showdowns will take place in Atlanta (March 2) and Las Vegas. (May 4).

Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of the Duke University Blue Devils, will host the premiere episode of season 14 of his weekly SiriusXM show, Basketball and Beyond with Coach K tomorrow at 6p. After this week’s debut and throughout the season, a new edition of Basketball and Beyond will then run every Thursday on ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM.

FOX Sports will see former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans serve as analysts with lead UFC host Karyn Bryant for FS1 UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith on Friday and Saturday. Dan Hardy and Jimmy Smith join blow-by-blow announcer Brendan Fitzgerald to call the event live while Victor Davila and Mario Delgado call the fights in Spanish on FOX Deportes.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

TOP WOMEN IN SPORTS

celebrating female trailblazers in the sports industry

Honorees are change agents who empower + inspire with their drive for innovation and inclusion.

Categories include: marketing, on-air talent, production, social good, social media, sports-centric brands, and technology.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: December 4

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

New Balance announced today the signing of 14-year-old tennis star Cori “CoCo” Gauff to a multi-year endorsement contract. Gauff joins an roster of Team New Balance tennis athletes including that include Milos Raonic, Sorana Cîrstea, Danielle Collins and Heather Watson.Gauff, at age 13, became the youngest girl to make a U.S. Open girls final. Eight months later, Gauff became the fifth-youngest winner of the French Open girls’ tournament in June 2018.

Fight For Children, the Washington D.C. based non-profit, announced the lineup for its 29th annual Fight Night fundraiser on Nov. 1 at the Washington Hilton. Highlights will include the integration of the movie Creed II, live boxing, and special appearances by legends of boxing including former Heavyweight Champion Buster Douglas, Ray Mancini, Gerry Cooney and Earnie Shavers; pro athletes including former Washington Redskins greats Ken Harvey, Gary Clark and Santana Moss and more.

We Are Golf, a coalition of the game’s leading associations and industry partners– announced that the 12th annual National Golf Day will be held May 1 on Capitol Hill in DC. In April 2018, more than 300 industry leaders held a record-high 230 meetings with Members of Congress, the Executive Branch and federal agencies representing 40 states. Globally, the #NationalGolfDay Twitter campaign eclipsed 77 million impressions, including nearly 200,000 total interactions.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

NBC Sports Gold launched “Snow Pass” so fans will have access to live and on-demand domestic and international competitions of seven Olympic winter sports from October 2018 through April 2019. The offering will feature 700+ hours – including nearly 100 exclusive hours – of coverage of FIS alpine skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, biathlon and snowboarding events. The pass is available for purchase now for $69.99 by visiting NBCSportsGold.com.

FloSports is partnering with Cycling Canada for the 2018-2019 season to provide live and on-demand coverage of the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup as well as the Canadian Track Championships exclusively for Canadian viewers on FloBikes.com. Through this partnership, FloBikes has 27 live events remaining in 2018 and more than 100 live events on their schedule in 2019.

The Players’ Tribune and Showtime partnered on the video, New York State of Mine, starring New York Knicks’ rookie Kevin Knox. Mirroring themes of the new season of Ray Donovan on Showtime, New York State of Mine features Knox exploring some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, ranging from “The Cage” basketball courts in Greenwich Village to Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn, while also taking his first trip on an NYC subway. The episode launched this week on TPT channels.

ESPORTS

Nadeshot and 100 Thieves announced the completion of its Series A funding round, led by Grammy Award-winning, platinum-selling recording artist Drake and SB Projects founder Scooter Braun. The two will now join founder Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag and Dan Gilbert, Chairman of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as 100 Thieves co-owners. Other new participants in the round include Sequoia Capital, WndrCo, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Tao Capital, Green Bay Ventures, and Advancit Capital.As co-owners, Drake and Braun will act as strategic advisors for 100 Thieves. Braun has also joined the 100 Thieves Board of Directors. 100 Thieves has already collaborated with Drake on the custom gaming stations that travel with his current Scorpion tour, and apparel collaborations are underway as well.

The brand new Overwatch League franchise based in Atlanta has a name, and will be called the Atlanta Reign. Atlanta Esports Ventures also announced brand details that include the team logo and colors ahead of the 2019. The Atlanta Reign official colors are light gray, red, and charcoal gray. The team logo features a red phoenix rising within a royal crest, referencing Atlanta’s city seal and making a nod to new beginnings. According to the announcement, the iconic phoenix “is crowned to complement the regal theme of the team’s name” while the “bold red typeface accompanies the emblem to offer a powerful announcement of the team’s brand.”

Activision Blizzard announced the addition of veteran NFL executive Johanna Faries to the company’s Esports Leagues leadership team, where she will serve as Head of Product for the Call of Duty World League. Faries brings over a decade of experience from the NFL with an emphasis on business and fan development. In her new role, Faries will oversee strategic leadership, business operations and product development for the Call of Duty World League.

Forbes unveiled its ranking of esports most valuable esports companies, led by Cloud9, which tops the list with a valuation of $310 million. The list, according to the article, was created after “talking to company owners, bankers, and industry experts,” noting that numbers were “applied during each company’s most recent capital raise, comparable esports transactions, and their prospects.” Here’s the rankings:

Cloud9 — $310 million
Team SoloMid — $250 million
Team Liquid — $200 million
Echo Fox — $150 million
OpTic Gaming — $130 million
Fnatic — $120 million
G Gaming — $110 million
G2 Esports — $105 million
Immortals — $100 million
Envy Gaming — $95 million
100 Thieves — $90 million
Counter Logic Gaming — $50 million

N3rd Street Gamers and Blizzard Entertainment are partnering to bring a Hearthstone Championship Tour stop to Philadelphia, running Dec. 14-16. The tour stop will provide an opportunity for up to 256 players to compete in-person, taking place at Localhost Arena, an esports arena and LAN center located in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties district.

ROSTER MOVES

International Speedway Corporation announced that Julie Giese, Managing Director of Business Operations for ISC Design & Development, has been promoted to President of ISM Raceway. Beginning in November 2018, Giese will assume oversight of promotion and operation of the all-new ISM Raceway. Giese’s first major event, the Can-Am 500, will be part of the Raceway’s Opening Weekend on November 9, 10 and 11.

THE MAIN EVENT

Dodgers/Red Sox on FOX at 8p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Cynopsis Measurement & Data Boot Camp (NYC)

A one-day, hands-on immersion in media measurement

On November 7^th, you’ll take away practical knowledge on how to:

-Analyze under-measured or unmeasured platforms, such as OTT streaming video

-Meaningfully compare click-through rates, social shares, impressions, and completed views

-Absorb TV’s audience-buying innovations into a media plan: shorter ad lengths, ad loads & more

ON THIS DAY in 1992: The Toronto Blue Jays win their first World Series championship.

In the Know: In 1997, this franchise became the first wild card team to win the World Series. What is the name of that team? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question Which World Series winner was the last to sweep the series? Answer: The Giants in 2012. Kudos: Frank Costa-CBS Sports/NY; Art Salisch-Hearst Television/NY; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Ryan Rabe-Comcast Spotlight/Chicago; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank

Later – Chris

Chris Pursell @VegasandVine
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