“This is a landmark moment for sports media rights. As a marquee brand and FIFA’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment to growing women’s football. This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game. FIFA and Netflix partnering together makes this a truly historic day for broadcasting and for women’s football,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said. “Besides broadcasting the tournaments themselves, Netflix will play a key role in terms of bringing the fascination of women’s football to a multimillion audience in the lead-up to both final tournaments, thereby enabling us to further increase their appeal.”

Netflix will produce a docuseries in the buildup to both tournaments, showcasing top players, their backgrounds and how the sport is continuing to grow around the globe. The 2027 tournament will take place in Brazil while the 2031 edition’s host is still to be determined.

“I’ve seen the fandom for the FIFA Women’s World Cup grow tremendously – from the electric atmosphere in France in 2019 to, most recently, the incredible energy we saw across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand last year. “Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming matches, it’s also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sport.”

FIFA didn’t stop its expansion into streaming at Netflix. DAZN will be the exclusive global broadcaster of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, a new tournament featuring 32 teams that will take place in the summer. All 63 of its matches will be free to view on DAZN, with the possibility of sublicensing to local free-to-air linear broadcast networks.

The telecast used Beyond Sports’ data processing and real-time visualization technology in addition to optical tracking technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations to insert Disney characters into the game using 3D animation. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and others were spotted on the hardwood, but it was a team effort to put on the telecast. Cynopsis Sports spoke with Sander Schouten, GM and co-founder of Beyond Sports, about putting on a telecast like Dunk the Halls and what it means for the company.

When was the idea to do the “Dunk the Halls” telecast conceived? What were your initial thoughts about it?
The first ideations of “Dunk the Halls” started near the end of summer. The concept was brought to us by ESPN, and from that point on we worked as a collective to get to the magic end result saw on Wednesday.

What new aspects of Beyond Sports’ real-time visualization technology was on display for the “Dunk the Halls” telecast?
Since it is basketball, there was less volatility in the data stream as it is indoors, with fewer people on the court. However, the introduction of these world-famous characters required more specific attention to how data is enhanced towards the character movement. From a tech point of view, we are solely relying on the skeletal tracking of Sony’s HawkEye for our tracking system for this game.

What was the most challenging part of the preparation process?
We want to preserve the magic and story of the characters and the game, which means everything is in the details. There is no tail positional data captured from the actual players, but Mickey has a tail. The difficulty is how you realistically transfer data that you are not capturing from players into the game and do it well.

This isn’t the first time Beyond Sports has been involved in a telecast like this. What are some lessons learned from previous alt-casts like the “NHL Big City Greens Classic” or the “NFL Simpsons Funday Football”?
We strive each and every time for more perfection. We are creating this industry as we go, so each presentation we take in the learnings and apply them to the next. The biggest learning curve was prior to BCG where we figured out that the tech alone isn’t the whole picture, the storytelling component that brings the younger generation in, the recognizable characters create a generational synergy, and the live gameplay curates and captivates the audience, which is what makes this so great. That’s probably why the combination of ESPN, Beyond Sports and the characters works so well.

What does Beyond Sports hope to accomplish with a telecast like this?
We are on a mission to make sports consumption ready for the next generation to come. We have made a lot of progress, but only feel we are scratching the surface of our full potential. Keep an eye out for Sony’s Beyond Sports in more alternate presentations, with even more characters and more interactivity. We are excited for what is to come in 2025!

NBCU Local Bay Area is teaming up with the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) in an effort to spotlight the region’s culture, attract sponsors and make it an enticing destination for events such as NBA All-Star 2025, Super Bowl LX and the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. The partnership will include using NBCU Local Bay Area’s portfolio to get messaging out to a larger audience, Bay Area-focused storytelling, tailored programming to promote BAHC activities and interviews with those impacting the Bay Area and beyond.

The New York Red Bulls are hoping to enhance fan engagement via ticketing technology and dynamic events, and it’s working with Sports Illustrated Tickets in a long-term deal that includes stadium naming rights and ticketing exclusivity. Red Bull Arena will be renamed Sports Illustrated Stadium, and Sports Illustrated Tickets will become the primary and secondary ticketing partner for the club for events taking place in 2026. That includes RBNY, RB II, Gotham FC, international matches, RB Youth, concerts, watch parties and other events. Sports Illustrated Tickets also plans to implement digital Sports Illustrated Fan Cover offerings at key stadium events.

CBS Sports struck a new 10-year deal to remain the home for the annual Army-Navy Game. The network will have multiplatform rights through 2038, meaning that CBS Sports will remain the exclusive rights holder for the game for over 40 years after it began airing the game each year in 1996.

ESPN celebrated Christmas with another traditional NBA slate. The NBA on Christmas averaged 5.25 million viewers across ESPN platforms, making it the most-watched NBA Christmas Day in five years in addition to improving from 2023’s ratings by 84%. The Lakers vs Warriors contest became the most-watched regular-season game since 2019 with an average of 7.76 million viewers. Suns vs Nuggets came in at 3.84 million viewers, while the Spurs vs Knicks noon game delivered 4.91 million viewers—including the “Dunk the Halls” telecast. Celtics vs 76ers had 5.16 million viewers tune in, and 4.38 million folks watched the Timberwolves vs Mavericks square off.

With the 2024 college football season nearing a conclusion, Nielsen released its first-ever college football conference champions and overall team rankings based on total season average viewership. In total, over 154 billion minutes of college football was consumed across Disney, FOX, NBCU and other networks. This year’s viewership national champion was the University of Georgia with an average of 8.6 million viewers. Ohio State followed with 6.8 million viewers, with Alabama and Texas close by with 6.6 million and 6.4 million viewers, respectively. Tennessee rounded out the top five with an average of 5.4 million viewers.

NBC Sports wrapped up 2024 with its most-watched year since 2016. In a year that included three NFL Playoff games, the Olympics, the most-watched Kentucky Derby in 35 years, Premier League, golf coverage and more, NBC Sports properties collectively had over 400 billion minutes (more than 7 billion hours) consumed. Thirty-two of its shows topped the 20-million viewers mark in total audience delivery. NBCU will look to carry that momentum as it gets ready to begin airing NBA and WNBA games starting in the 2025-26 season.

The 12-team College Football Playoff is here, and the four-game First Round recorded an average of 10.6 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT and Max. Ohio State’s 42-17 win over Tennessee led with 14.3 million viewers, good for the second-most-watched college football game in the 2024 season. Notre Dame’s 27-17 triumph over in-state foe Indiana had 13.4 million viewers during its Friday night slot—the third-most-watched CFB game this year. Texas’ 38-24 outlasting of Clemson reeled 8.6 million viewers on TNT, while Penn State’s 38-10 trouncing of SMU notched 6.4 million viewers (also on TNT). The CFP Quarterfinal round will kick off with the Fiesta Bowl (Penn State vs Boise State) on New Year’s Eve.

Penn State wrapped up this year’s NCAA Women’s Volleyball Season with a national championship, and ESPN had its most-viewed season airing the sport. The network averaged 140,000 viewers during the regular season, which led into a record-breaking tournament as well. The 2024 NCAA Women’s Volleyball tournament had over 1.3 billion minutes watched across ESPN platforms, finishing up 41% YOY. ESPN had its most-watched semifinal round with 1.1 million viewers, and the championship bout between Penn State and Louisville had 1.3 million viewers, good for the second-most-watched title match on record and the third-most-watched college volleyball match ever. Other figures include 99% YOY growth among the A18-34 demographic, and women made up 44% of the audience for this year’s championship run.

Netflix is also working on a sports series involving boxing legend Mike Tyson. The three-episode program will look at what made Tyson a compelling and controversial boxing figure.

Paramount+ released the first episode “PULISIC,” a docuseries looking at the biggest U.S. men’s soccer star Christian Pulisic and how he navigates life at Italian giant AC Milan. Episodes 2 and 3 will be revealed in January, and subsequent seasons will air later in 2025. Featured interviews include former USMNT star and CBS Sports analyst Clint Dempsey, Swedish soccer legend and current AC Milan executive Zlatan Ibrahimović, former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp and U.S. Soccer teammate Weston McKennie.

Lori Conkling is leaving YouTube to oversee all film and TV licensing in the U.S. for Netflix, according to a Bloomberg News report. Conkling was most recently YouTube’s Global Head of TV, Film and Sports Partnerships, and before that spent six years at NBCUniversal as EVP, Strategy and Business Development. She played a key role in YouTube’s acquisition of the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package, though Bloomberg News said her new role won’t involve sports.

Following the 2025 U.S. Open, Stacey Allaster will shift from Chief Executive of Professional Tennis and U.S. Open Tournament Director to a special advisory role. USTA said the move will “provide her the flexibility and time she wants to pursue additional interests.” Allaster entered the role of U.S. Open Tournament Director in 2020, becoming the first woman to serve in that title in the event’s history. She joined USTA in 2016 and has since helped set the vision for the USTA’s pro tennis division, including team events such as the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, Laver Cup and the Olympics and the USTA Pro Circuit.

FIFA named former U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team manager Jill Ellis as Chief Football Officer. She’ll serve as part of FIFA’s executive management team and help drive the development and implementation of FIFA’s global football strategy. The two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner will also collaborate with Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger.

BetMGM appointed Casey Hurbis as its CMO. He joins from Rocket Mortgage, where he held the same role. Hurbis has over three decades of consumer marketing experience, also having 24 years in automotive marketing for FIAT and Alfa Romeo.

1967: During that seven-year span, the Packers’ fourth championship came against the Cowboys following a 21-17 win. The game was dubbed “The Ice Bowl” as the game-time temperature at Lambeau Field was around -15° with an average wind chill of around -48°. However, with the National Weather Service’s revised wind chill index, the average wind chill would’ve been -36°—as if that’s any better!

1974: Dutch soccer legend and then-Ajax forward Johan Cruyff won his second consecutive Ballon d’Or. It was his third time winning the award, having taken the crown in 1971 as well.