Cynopsis: Sports
12.02.13

Good morning. It’s Monday, December 2, 2013, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing. 

With the Olympics dead ahead and ski/snowboard athletes in the spotlight, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association announced a deal with Eurovision to acquire the media rights to the 2015 and 2017 FIS Alpine and Nordic Ski World Championships, including the 2015 Alpine Ski World Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek. The agreement would give the USSA domestic rights distribution in the USA and marks the first time a National Ski Association has entered into a broadcast partnership at this level with a global rights holder like EUROVISION.

Cynopsis Sports spoke with USSA CMO Michael Jaquet about the deal, how it impacts the organization’s upcoming TV negotiations and how Lindsey Vonn’s injury impacts interest in the Games.

Jaquet on the Eurovision deal: The first thing I did when I got here was look at our rights situation, both what we owned as well as what rights were out there and what rights were coming up. It happened that the first rights available were owned by Eurovision and they were the domestic broadcast rights to the 2015 and 2017 Alpine and Nordic World Championships, four different major events. I put together a plan and budget and really went after them hard and aggressively and I’m happy and proud to say that we’ve won the bidding and that the USSA owns these rights.

On TV negotiations: Our contract with NBCU expires in April. We’ve got our normal package which is about 25 different events, combined now with the World Championships as a new rights package. Obviously, many of the sports rights out now have brought in tremendous value and they hope to do better in the marketplace than they did before. For us, we were always looking to do better, but with the acquisition of these rights, we are now looking to do much better. We’ve been negotiating for some time now with NBC on our new deal. We do hope to finish negotiations by the end of the year so we can announce a new agreement. But if we don’t, we will be going to the marketplace. The world has changed over the past 18 months to two years and we really look forward to taking advantage of those changes.

On viewership: We are in a very unique position for these rights. Not only are we looking to gain from a financial standpoint, we are also looking at it from a viewership standpoint. It’s our job at the USSA to give back exposure to our athletes, events and sponsors and we want to reach the maximum number of eyeballs that we can. So we are looking at it with an equal blend of both.

On Lindsey Vonn: Her injury is a double-edged sword. While we love all the attention she’s getting and she is such a great superstar athlete that she can handle it all, we can only hope she is able to get healthy. That said, we’ve got so many stories to tell. We are sending 105 athletes to Sochi and it is by far our most talented team in the history of the organization. By far. With the new sports, we really like our chances. We are going to do well there. So we feel really confident in the team we are sending too Sochi.

On the Air

Boasting an ending that will do down as one of those rare “Where were you when…” moments, CBS Sports’ SEC on CBS coverage of the Iron Bowl that saw Auburn’s miracle win over Alabama delivered an overnight household rating/share of 8.6/18, according to Nielsen. That marks a rise of 291% over last year’s coverage of the game in the metered markets. Saturday’s matchup also delivered the second highest-rated college football game of the season in the metered markets. Top five markets included Birmingham with a 57.3/82, followed by Knoxville, Columbus, Nashville and New Orleans.

The NFL locked in a deal with FOX Deportes to bring Super Bowl XLVIII to the network, marking the first time a U.S. Spanish-language network has carried the game. The deal also saw the network receive a series of NFL games, beginning with Thursday’s Thanksgiving game, as well as postseason games. Additionally, FOX Deportes will add Impacto NFL, a weekly 30-minute NFL show, and produce one-of-a-kind live pregame shows, and air special NFL segments on its leading news program, Central FOX.

NBC’s primetime coverage of the Thanksgiving NFL matchup between the Ravens and Steelers drew a 11.5 household rating in Nielsen’s metered markets on Thursday, up 3% over last year. That equates an average of 18.6 million viewers and a rating of 6.0 in the 18-49 demographic, according to the ratings, which were not adjusted for time zones.

Overall, fifteen NFL game telecasts this season have been watched by more than 25 million viewers before the Thanksgiving contests, almost doubling the total for the full 2012 season, according to Nielsen and the league. For the season, NFL games rank as the 24 most-watched TV shows since Labor Day.

After a successful finale of The Ultimate Fighter on Saturday night, the UFC is looking to broaden its horizons. The promotion told MMA Junkie that with international expansion, the company will hold 50 events next year, although some of them will only be available via online streaming on a new digital network being launched.

Meanwhile, FOX Sports 1 will feature the upcoming international edition of The Ultimate Fighter, dubbed TUF: Nations on Wednesdays, according to reports. The series will debut on Jan. 15 and feature Canada vs. Australia in the show.

ESPN reports that Manny Pacquiao’s next bout will take place on April 12. This time, he will head back to Las Vegas for the contest. His opponent has yet to be named, although Timothy Bradley is likely to get the call.

U.K. pay TV channel BT locked in a deal with the NBA to carry games on its BT Sports platform. Programming began yesterday and includes weekly Sunday games. The deal also calls for selected games to be streamed live and for free on the BT Sport website and BT Sport App with as many as 200 games a season set to appear on the BT platforms. Also included in the partnership magazine shows such as NBA Action, NBA Inside Stuff, NBA Tonight and NBA Countdown.

 A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Sponsorship & Promotion

A new study from ESPN Research and Analytics shows that men outspend women during almost every annual holiday according to Ad Age. The research states that while “women often shop without buying and visit multiple stores, men expect to buy when they shop and prefer to buy many products at one store.” Overall, 33% of men consider themselves the primary shopper for the household, up from 14% of men who described themselves that way in 1985, according to ESPN.

The NHL entered a partnership with L’Oreal Paris Men Expert for the 2013-14 season, marking the beauty brand’s first sports sponsorship. Through the deal, the Canadian grooming and lifestyle brand will present NHL Life, an NHL.com exclusive online video series that offers fans a behind the scenes look into the lives of various on-ice and front-office NHL personalities and launched on Thanksgiving.

The USSA is rolling out a slew of new merchandising programs with three new partnerships designed to broaden its market reach and diversify the product offerings for fans. Among the new licensees are Outerstuff, Ltd. featuring a co-branded partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee; Tailgate, offering a vintage line in top-line national retail outlets; plus New Era, producing a unique line of signature baseball caps. As a result, thousands of units will be on sale at key retail outlets across the nation like Gap, Baby Gap, American Eagle and more.

Digital & Technology

SendtoNews announced its inaugural Paralympic Broadcast Consortium, designed to deliver the most comprehensive coverage ever offered in Canada for a Paralympic Games. The company will distribute full news access highlights to all Canadian media for both broadcast and digital usage. The Paralympic Broadcast Consortium is made up of five broadcast partners: Yahoo Sports Canada, CBC Sports, Radio-Canada Sports, Sportsnet and AMI. In addition, SendtoNews will distribute full news access highlights to Canadian media for both broadcast and digital usage.

MLB Advanced Media announced that subscriptions to MLB.com At Bat are now available as holiday gifts for the first time. Instead of waiting in bricks-and-mortar store lines or giving a generic gift card, anyone can gift At Bat for the 2014 MLB season, via a direct purchase of the $19.99 full-season subscription from MLB.com.
 
The Main Event

A good one on ESPN. Saints/Seahawks at 8:40p.

 A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

ON THIS DAY in 1975: Archie Griffin wins his second consecutive Heisman Trophy.

In The Know: Since 1980, two players drafted from FCS schools went on to win NFL MVP awards. Name one. (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What is the name of the trophy awarded to the winner of the annual USC/UCLA football game? Answer: The Victory Bell. Kudos: J. Barry McMullin-Professional Bull Riders, Inc./NY; Noah Coslov-CineSport/NY; David Stern-BARD Entertainment/NY; Rob Adamski-ESPN/Bristol; John Collins-Media Storm, LLC/Norwalk; David C. Tice-GfK Custom Research, LLC/Roseland; Gregg Hess-NCC Media/Atlanta; Joe Lyons-Back Nine Productions, Inc./Dallas; Miriam Aardahl-OMD/LA; Brook Hefner-Colligan Communications/LA; Kevin Fay-DIRECTavenue/Carlsbad; Neal Stevens-Stevens & Associates/Beverly Hills.

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports
12.02.13

Roberta Caploe: Editorial Director
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group

Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP, Sales | 203-218-6480
Classifieds Sales: Trish Pihonak | Director of Operations | 203-899-8459 

To subscribe to any Cynopsis edition(s) click here.
To unsubscribe from this edition, click here. Or for further assistance please email [email protected].

Cynopsis CLASSIFIEDS – For More classifieds, visit the Cynopsis.com classifieds page here.

JOB OPENING: AE/METV Network Sales: Join growing sales force. Independent self-starters with Network agency contacts are a must. Create, present proposals to secure bus. Dvlp/maintain client & agency relationships. Resume Here (12/7)

JOB OPENING: SR WRITER/PRODUCER/NBCU/NYC: Produce integrated on-air promos for USA Network. 5 yrs exp. creating content at TV or agency required. Co-branded exp. 20% travel. Apply HERE (12/7)

JOB OPENING: SVP CONSUMER MKTG & CREATIVE/CMT/Nashville: Dvlp/support cross-co., multi-channel consumer strategies, & breakthrough creative initiatives which lead to increased mkt share & contribute to overall aud. growth. Apply HERE (12/7)

JOB OPENING: SR PRODUCER, LONG FORM/Weather Channel NYC/ATL: 8-10 yrs exp at Production Co or Network. Guide series of varied genre for original content. Oversee series from conception 2 delivery. Resumes: [email protected] (12/7)

JOB OPENING: TVONE/AD SALES COORD/NY: Work w/AE & Planners. POC for agencies. Create flowcharts, handle make good offrs. Trffic & agency Liaison. Self strter, strg org skills,attn to details. BA+2yrs exp. Resumes: [email protected] (12/7)

JOB OPENING: DILIGENCE SPECIALIST/LA: Work with the Production Legal group handling television production to help oversee the vetting of prospective participants in unscripted (“reality”) shows. Apply HERE (12/5)

JOB OPENING: SALES COORDINATOR/NBCU/NYC: Provide support to their respective sales team, which is constituted of a SVP/VP, Directors, and Account Managers, and assist in the management. Apply HERE (12/5)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL PROJECT MGR/SHOWTIME/NYC: Manage execution of digital marketing initiatives; maintain overall project roadmap & workflow. 4 to 5 yrs exp, thrives in small team; PM certification preferred but not essential. Apply here: www.sho.com/careers (12/4)

JOB OPENING: SENIOR ANALYST DIGITAL ANALYTICS/ESPN/NYC: 1-3 Yrs exp in digital analytics (pref. Omniture) implementations. Must have strong tech skills & ability to translate business req’s into analytics specifications. Apply HERE (12/4)

JOB OPENING: MGR MKTG & STRAT PRTNRSHIP/Fox Sports Media/LA: Maint/expand prtnrships w/FOX Sports incl. overseeing Creative University Prgrm & other educ initiatives. 2-3yrs. exp. mkt, community relations or PR.  Apply/full info Here (12/3)  

JOB OPENING: STRATEGIC MKTG MGR/NBCU/NYC: 6 month freelance role w/USA Network. Dvlp 360 campaigns for Upfronts & multi-platform mktg. 5 yrs TV or agency exp. req’d. Apply at http://bit.ly/18oIsD0 (#12908BR)  (12/3)

JOB OPENING: MKTG COORD/NBCU/NYC: Freelance role w/USA Network. Support team w/tracking, RFP’s, admin. Expert at PPT, Excel. 2+ yrs mktg exp required. Apply at http://bit.ly/1bRNJ6R (#12910BR) (12/3)

JOB OPENING: PROMOTION WRITER/EDITOR/DC: Produce, write & edit marketing & promotional messages to drive brand image/viewership of WUSA. 4 yrs. promo prod. exp. & strong knowledge of broadcasting a must. Resume: [email protected] (12/3)

JOB OPENING: MKTG DIR/ATL: Dev. ad sales mkting strategies. Dev. & executes media plan’g. Prior ad sales mktg exp.req. Exp. mging people. Prior exp. w/budget mgt. Some consumer & affil mktg exp. req. Res: [email protected] (12/3)

JOB OPENING: DIR, BRANDED ENT/ZO Newcast/NYC: 7 yrs exp’d with integrated mktg or ad mktg exp within a TV/Dig Nwk or Br. Ent. Agency. Apply via www.zenithoptimedia-na.com (12/3)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT/NGT/NY: Mng ops in NY office. 5 yrs TV/network exp & strong creative rep w/contacts. Must know industry trends & ability to lead others a must.  Resume to:  www.nationalgeographic.com/jobs (Job ID: 5720) (12/3)

EXPERT SERVICES ADS: These ads are for companies or people who offer an expertise in the field of media by way of production, voice over artistry, writing, set development, etc. For information on rates and specs for posting an Expertise Service ad email Trish at [email protected]

INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free, and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at [email protected].

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Hayden5 (hayden5.com) is looking for dedicated, hard working interns. Req’s a min of 2 days/wk from 9:45-6pm starting 1/14. Res/cover letter to [email protected] (12/5)

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: POST PRODUCTION INTERN/NYC: seeking motivated, creative interns for SPRING 2014, to assist with RESEARCH and POST PRODUCTION on a docudrama series. Send resume and cover letter to [email protected] (12/5)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED… There is no charge for placing your Situation Wanted ad… for more information contact Trish Pihonak at [email protected].

SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING & FINANCIAL SYSTEMS: 20+ years studio experience building/integrating production financial systems for TV, Film, Animation, VFX; PeopleSoft/SAP. Consultant/staff and East/West coast considered. http://www.linkedin.com/in/mmdavis777 (12/6)

SITUATION WANTED: L.A. based Pro available for Production, Sales, Business Development, Management, Film/TVMusic Supervision. Previously at NBC Universal, Fox TV & Warner/Chappell Music. [email protected] (12/6)

E-mail [email protected] or call Trish Pihonak at 203-899-8459 for rates and specs for Job Openings.

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email [email protected] for specs.

Copyright Cynopsis 2013

All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free. Copyright Cynopsis 2013