Cynopsis: Sports
08/29/12

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, August 29, 2012, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing. 

ESPN and MLB made it official, unveiling an eight-year rights deal estimated to be worth $5.35 billion and running through 2021. The agreement will include TV, digital, radio and International MLB rights as well as an annual Wild Card game and any end-of-season tiebreakers. The agreement also calls for the rights to produce additional MLB studio programming, 10 extra regular-season games, increased footage and highlights rights across platforms, and the increased ability to co-exist in local team markets. In addition, added content and rights were also created for digital platforms and WatchESPN as well as ESPN Radio, ESPN International and ESPN Deportes. As part of the deal, ESPN will continue its Sunday Night Baseball exclusivity, as well as offer games on Mondays and Wednesdays.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am thrilled that we will continue our long-standing relationship with ESPN far into the future,” said MLB Commissioner Allan H. Selig in a statement. “The level of ESPN’s commitment to baseball – both financially and through its expanded content  is a testament to the strength of our game and its unprecedented popularity among our fans. Through its various networks and other media platforms, ESPN offers baseball fans more avenues to experience the game than ever before, and we’re thankful for their continued support.”

On the Air

The NHL issued another proposal to the players’ association as the clock counts down to a potential lockout next month. The AP reports that NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr confirmed that the league offered a new proposal during negotiations that took place on Tuesday at the NHL offices, with both sides set to meet again today to review it. The collective bargaining agreement runs out on Sept. 15 and the NHL has said it will lock the players out if a new deal isn’t reached.

The Minnesota Twins have scheduled a press conference for today where they are expected to announce that the 2014 All-Star Game will be played at Target Field in Minneapolis. Minnesota last hosted the All-Star game in 1985 at the Metrodome. Next season’s game will take place at Citi Field, home of the Mets.

Dial Global and NBC Sports Radio added more talent to the mix, inking deals with former NFL pro Amani Toomer as well as radio veterans Eytan Shander, Dan Schwartzman and Kay Adams for the network’s launch on Tuesday, September 4. Toomer and Shander will host Amani and Eytan on NBC Sports Radio in the 10p-1a timeslot, Monday-Friday. The Dan Schwartzman Show will run live from Tuesday-Saturday between 1-5a, while Adams will anchor the NBC Sports Radio national updates between 5p-10p Monday-Friday and appear regularly on the previously announced The Erik Kuselias Show.

Disney XD is once again teaming with ESPN for the series Disney XD ESPN Sport Science, hosted by John Brenkus and Leo Howard, who stars in the channel’s series Kickin’ It. The show will debut on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 11a on Disney XD. The short form series will merge professional athletes in state-of-the-art scientific facilities to test the limits of human athletic abilities, while challenging popular assumptions about athletes and sports. Athetes set to appear will include Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, Vernon Davis, Larry Fitzgerald, Jahvid Best, Nomar Garciaparra; Zach Thornton, and Shaun White.

UFC is utilizing some of the bouts from the now-cancelled UFC 151 into the UFC on FOX 5 card, set for Dec. 8. The MMA promotion announced that former UFC 151 bouts Daron Cruickshank/Henry Martinez and Tim Means/Abel Trujillo would take place in the lineup.

The Emmy-nominated documentary series A Football Life will return for a second season on Wednesday, September 12 at 8p on NFL Network. The series will air on Wednesday nights throughout the fall with 13 episodes on deck, beginning with a look at Tim Tebow, with the second episodes taking on Ray Lewis. Josh Charles returns as narrator for the series.

College Gametime Network added Ohio State University, University of Oregon, Auburn University, and Ole Miss to its lineup of universities. CGN’s HD digital platform integrates a sponsor’s messaging with live game content across all of the in-venue TV screens.

For sports media aficionados, ESPN released its rankings of college football’s top 25 highest-rated markets from the 2011 season, as well as from the past 12 years. Based on a 12-year survey, only Birmingham and Columbus finish in the highest-rated spot in that span as well as in the top five rankings for all 12 years. Other markets to consistently rank well in the timeframe include Jacksonville, which ranked among the top 10 every year since 2000; Knoxville finished in the top 10 every year since 2002 when it was first metered; Atlanta scored as a top 10 market every year except 2003 and Greenville has been in the top 10 every year since 2004.

The University of Rhode Island announced that it will remain a member of CAA Football, after all, after announcing its intentions in 2010 to become a member of the Northeast Conference in the sport of football, beginning with the 2013 season.

Sponsorship & Promotion

ESPN’s College GameDay is bringing in Florida St. coach Jumbo Fisher for its next batch of commercials where he joins Chris Fowler and analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard. In the first spot, Fisher awards tomahawk decals to the GameDay crew (sorry Corso!) while the second features the group playing spades.

BTN celebrates its fifth anniversary today with a visit to the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square where Mark Silverman, Big Ten Network President, Jim Delany, Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, and Larry Jones, Fox Sports Media Group COO, will ring the Closing Bell.

East Carolina University announced that it has reached an agreement for U.S. Cellular to serve as the official wireless provider of the Pirates. The contract was negotiated through Pirate IMG Sports Marketing and will run through June, 2015. Elements of the deal include presenting sponsorship of the ECU official Twitter and Facebook pages as well as presenting sponsorship of the Ruffin McNeill and Jeff Lebo television shows.

Digital Fields

YouTube is launching a new soccer channel, partnering with Rightster and international sports media rights agency MP & Silva to create Love Football. The channel will include highlights from Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, U.S. Major League Soccer, Brazil’s Serie A and the Championship, FA Cup and Capital One Cup from England. Love Football will also offer fans the ability to subscribe to content on YouTube from their favorite leagues. The outlet will also feature clips of interviews with players and managers, as well as documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage.

Midcontinent Communications customers can now access ESPN’s live streaming content via the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN. Customers who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their Midcontinent Communications’ video subscription can now stream live events and coverage live through the platforms.

The Main Event

Paterno author Joe Posnanski joins Bob Costas on Costas Tonight at 9p on NBC Sports Network.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

ON THIS DAY in 1978: The USTA National Tennis Center opens in Flushing, NY.

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What legendary Dodger still holds the club record for all-time home runs? Duke Snider. Kudos: Ben Sturner-Leverage Agency/NY; J. Barry McMullin-Professional Bull Riders/NY; Barry Katz-NEP Studios/NY; Mark Altabe-Citibank, NA/NY; Tom Haidinger-Advantage International/Darien; George Finkel-MegaSport Productions/Myrtle Beach; Rick Rosenfelt-New York Jets, LLC/Florham Park; Greg Moloznik-GLM Media/Scottsdale; David Hauptman/Denver; Alan Perris-The Television Academy/North Hollywood; Joe Pedri-KLAS-TV/Las Vegas; Alex Petrilli, Jr.-TiVo/Alviso; Daniel Harrison-Level 3 Communications/LA.

In The Know: What college basketball coach was nicknamed “The General”? (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.)

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports
08.29.12

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