“Professional golf has been a key growth sport in both daily fantasy and sports betting, and our collaboration with Bryson DeChambeau is a notable new layer of mainstream brand exposure and fan experience,” said Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO, DraftKings.

DeChambeau is currently ranked #6 in the Official World Golfing Ranking and is coming off his first major championship at the U.S. Open in September 2020. Starting with the 2020 Masters, the DraftKings logo will be featured on DeChambeau’s signature golf cap.

Football ratings continue to soar with America’s Game of the Week (Saints-Bears) on FOX as the week’s most-watched telecast, scoring 22,773,000 viewers. That’s up +8% over last season’s comparable window. The FOX NFL doubleheader drew 17,775,000 viewers, a +6% over last season’s comparable window, and the FOX NFL regional window delivered 12,305,000 viewers, up +1% over last season.

The NFL on CBS’ Week 8 has grown +40% in viewership over last year, averaging 18.65 million viewers versus the comparable week last year. It was also the most-watched CBS singleheader in four years. Sunday’s games were highlighted by Pittsburgh-Baltimore as the network’s high coverage game.

The Cowboys-Eagles game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football delivered 17.5 million viewers (TAD). It was the most-watched SNF game since week 3 (Packers-Saints), and ranked as the week’s #1 primetime show by 4+ million TV viewers.

ESPN will air first and second round play in the Masters Tournament live on Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13 at 1p. In addition, ESPN+ will stream special Masters programs on November 10-11, as well as Featured Holes and Groups all four days of the event. ESPN will also air extensive Masters coverage on SportsCenter through the week of the event.

Morning debate show First Take will dedicate a week of Salute to Service shows to veterans and active military, as part of ESPN’s America’s Heroes Veterans Week initiative. Beginning Monday, November 8, each day’s edition will include a live audience of military service members and special features from a different base across five branches: Navy, Marines, Army, Space Force and Air Force.

Meanwhile, ESPN welcomes back the Pac-12 and the Mac in Week 10, as both conferences kick off their 2020 seasons. ABC’s Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One showcases Stanford at No. 12 Oregon at 7:30p. In total, 36 games are set for ESPN platforms with every game available on the ESPN app. It begins with the return of Maction on Wednesday, November 4.

MLB Network will televise the live announcements of the winners of the 2020 BBWAA Awards from November 9-12. BBWAA Awards Week kicks off with AL and NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year on Monday, November 9 at 6p. Manager of the Year winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 10 at 6p, followed by Cy Young Award winners on Wednesday, November 11 at 6p. The presentation wraps with Most Valuable Player honors on November 12 at 6p.

Ken Burns’ documentary Baseball will air in HD for the first time, when MLB Network features the “First Inning” on Wednesday, November 4 at 8p and the “Second Inning” on Thursday, November 5 at 8p. Additional HD episodes from the series will run throughout the month.

Univision’s TUDN brings all the games on Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League. Istanbul Basaksehir versus Man. United airs Wednesday, November 4 at 12 on UniMas and TUDNl, followed by Barcelona versus Dynamo Kyiv at 2:50p.

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

WWE and My Custom Sports Chair have partnered to offer custom folding Adirondack chairs featuring imagery and logos of WWE Superstars and Hall of Famers. Included in the mix are Triple H, Roman Reigns, John Cena, The Rock and Undertaker, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ric Flair, The Ultimate Warrior and “Macho Man” Randy Savage. In addition to WWE, My Custom Sports Chairs also has partnerships with the NFL, MLB, NCAA, NHL and NASCAR.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

FanDuel Group and The Memphis Grizzlies struck a multi-year deal, making FanDuel an official sports betting partner and the exclusive official daily fantasy partner of the Grizzlies. It marks the Grizzlies’ first partnership with a sports betting operator and FanDuel’s first partnership with an NBA team for sports betting. FanDuel will have access to official Grizzlies marks and logos across its online sports betting offering and daily fantasy sports product, as well as marketing assets ranging from in-arena signage at FedExForum to radio, television and digital advertising to promote its offerings directly to fans. FanDuel will present the team’s home and away television broadcasts with multiple integrations to enhance the experience for fans who choose to watch the Grizzlies from home. “As we expand our market-leading sportsbook into Tennessee, partnering with the Grizzlies was a no-brainer given the team’s popularity and long-standing success, as well as their shared mindset of being absurdly fan-focused,” said Mike Raffenspberger, CMO FanDuel Group. “We are incredibly excited to collaborate with the Grizzlies as we bring unique promotions, product innovation, and engaging online experiences to Grizzlies fans and Tennessee sports fans alike.”

The NFL will host the inaugural Madden NFL 21 x HBCU Tournament produced by Nerd Street Gamers, via a partnership with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The tournament it designed to connect HBCU communities and encourage competition among the most talented Madden NFL 21 players. Participation is open to all registered students at SWAC, MEAC, SIAC and CIAA Institutions.

Square Enix announced that the fourth Outriders broadcast will air Thursday, November 5 at 12p. The new episode will give players more information on the post-campaign content that awaits them in Outriders, the high-intensity RPG-Shooter where survival demands aggression, from People Can Fly.

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by 12 esports federations to form the Caribbean Esports Federations Alliance. Reportedly backed by many stakeholders and partners, the formation of CEFA is an effort to continue esports’ growth in the Caribbean region and combine the efforts of all federations involved. The 12 countries represented in the agreement are The Bahamas, St. Lucia, Cubs, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Suriname, Venezuela, Haiti and Jamaica.

Immortals Gaming Club is teaming with Southern California Toyota Dealers to launch a second tournament with its Immortals League of Legends team. “IMT is excited to renew its partnership with SoCal Toyota for the IMT Fall Showdown. Coming off of the huge success of our tournament in May, we look forward to bringing an even bigger platform to life in November. Given the realities of COVID, this tournament will provide a rare and necessary competitive opportunity for 12 university teams. It’s a great way for fans of Toyota and gaming to connect, root for their teams and have a blast,” said Jon Tuck, CCO of Immortals Gaming Club. The IMT University Fall Showdown will take place over two weekends on November 7 and November 14.

Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen’s Play Magnus Group has teamed with digital chess platform chess24 to launch the Champions Chess Tour. The 10-tournament competition series has a total prize pool of $1.5 million USD. The event is slated to kick off later this month, ending in September 2021. Carlsen previously hosted a chess tour in the early stages of the pandemic lockdown last April.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

Disney is reportedly ready to battle NBC for NFL Sunday Night Football rights, while seeking a better primetime regular schedule for ABC and ESPN. According to the New York Post, Disney currently pays the most of any league broadcast partner for its rights – with ESPN doling out US $2 billion a year to show Monday Night Football games – but is not involved in the Super Bowl rotation. ABC has no regular season NFL package, however sometimes simulcasts ESPN’s productions. Meanwhile, NBC is paying US $950 million per year for SNF fixtures, and the deal includes flexible scheduling, that allows the NFL to move more attractive games into primetime, and a spot in the Super Bowl rotation. NBC also shows two playoff games per year, versus ESPN’s one.

The 22nd annual campaign for Hockey Fights Cancer, a joint initiative between the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association, has begun. Throughout November the NHL and NHLPA, in collaboration with Clubs, rightsholders and corporate partners, will highlight the challenges with cancer many of those within the hockey community have faced, including the stories of late Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk, Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore and Axl Quincey, son of former NHL defenseman Kyle Quincey. Last year, donations raised for Hockey Fights Cancer surpassed $3.8 million, and the Stanley Cup Hope Lodge Tour debuted. Fans can donate to the NHL and NHLPA’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative by visiting HockeyFightsCancer.com.

The University of Oregon has partnered with Wasserman Media Group for “The Collective Think Tank,” an initiative dedicated to advancing women in sports. Launching this fall, the partnership includes 10 schools in the United States, Canada and Europe and will leverage UO’s research power by engaging students in programs like the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the Lundquist College of Business. It will also tape faculty experts, who will be matched with research funding through Wasserman’s industry partners, to look at issues like pay equity, product design, maternity in sports and other topics affecting women.

There will be radio changes in effect for the 2020-21 Purdue Men’s Basketball season. Purdue Sports Properties and Learfield IMG College announced that former Boilermaker Bobby Riddell will take over the analyst position, while Rob Blackman fully will shift over to play-by-play duties. Riddell graduated from Purdue in 2009 and had been part of three NCAA Tournament teams and a Big Ten Tournament in 2009. Ralph Taylor will continue to add color commentary to home games.

Yaqui Nunez, former president of Federacion Dominicana de Deporte Electronico, was appointed President of CEFA. He’ll work alongside Gregory Moore, who will be General Secretary of the alliance.

Beasley Esports named Adam Hobbs as Executive Director of Marketing & Branding of The Houston Outlaws. He begins his new position immediately.

GF Sports & Entertainment hired Justine Pletnick as Director of Marketing. She joins from the Philadelphia Flyers, where she was Senior Advertising Manager.

Independent Sports & Entertainment’s Properties division partnered with Daryl Evans as a Brand Consultant. The industry vet previously held a senior leadership position at American Cancer Society.