Sport & Story Daily August 30, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

August 30, 2023

Good morning! Little League Baseball had a big week - not only crowning a champion and delivering audience spikes, but also locking in a partnership with big brother…

⚾ MLB & Little League make big plans
Following the announcement of the 2024 MLB Little League Classic featuring the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball and Little League International unveiled an extension of their joint partnership and promotional agreement with plans to continue building on their momentum and developing new, innovative programming for Little League partners. Read more here.

🧢 Little League Baseball World Series is most-watched since 2015
The 38-game slate averaged 1,081,000 viewers, up 22% from last year, while the Championship Game on Sunday averaged nearly three million viewers (2,944,000) on ABC, making it the most-watched since 2019. The broadcast was up 18% from last year’s Championship Game. Read more here.

🏒 Women’s Hockey League names Original Six
The new Women’s Hockey League unveiled its Original Six franchises on Tuesday, with teams based in traditional NHL markets. Three are based in the US - Boston, New York City’s tri-state area and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The other trio will come from Canada via Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. The PWHL also announced that each team will have a 10-day window to sign three free agents through Sept. 10, before holding a 15-round draft on Sept. 18. Read more here.

🏁 NASCAR inks Sportradar renewal
NASCAR continues to shore up its betting pillars, this time landing a deal with Sportradar for a four-year extension of their long-term media data rights partnership, which now includes official betting data. Read more here.

⛳ CBS touts PGA TOUR numbers
CBS Sports’ coverage of the PGA TOUR season and FedExCup Playoffs this year wrapped up with record-setting viewership across platforms, culminating in the most-watched TOUR Championship final round in five years. For the season, CBS averaged 2.206 million viewers for its 42 PGA TOUR telecasts, up +1% vs. 2022. Final round coverage of the TOUR Championship averaged 4.613 million viewers and scored the most-watched final round telecast at the event since Tiger Woods’ win in 2018. Read more here.

PGA of America targets Ryder Cup 2025 for US-focused betting sponsorship
The PGA of America will focus on the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York to launch its first wagering sponsorship, having ‘almost certainly’ run out of time to fill the betting category for the upcoming event in Rome.
sportbusiness.com

Old Trapper announces 2023 sponsorship of NFL Network
The season-long sponsorship includes Old Trapper product integration within Good Morning Football and includes TV spots across all NFL Network programming, brand highlights on show billboards, and digital and social media extension. Additionally, the popular What’s Your Beef feature will be presented by Old Trapper each week on Good Morning Football.
einnews.com

Diamond Kinetics & MLB Players Inc. partner to bring big leaguers to backyards
Diamond Kinetics and MLB Players Inc. are joining forces to enhance their efforts to grow youth baseball and softball by bringing new opportunities for pro players to engage with and establish more meaningful relationships with the next generation of athletes and fans. As part of the partnership, the organizations are launching the DK + MLB Featured Players program, a gamified training experience from big leaguers, exclusively available in the DK app. prnewswire.com

FIBA nets deals in 190+ territories for Basketball World Cup
Viewers will also be able to access this platform through the NBA App, following an agreement between the two organizations earlier this month.
broadcastnow.co.uk

Nielsen’s Amazon streaming data deal stirs bias concerns
Amazon’s path to fund its growing sports streaming ambitions will likely get a sizable boost — but is angering some of its linear rivals in the process. Nielsen is planning to include first-party streaming data in its audience measurements, supplementing its traditional independent research, and is finalizing an effort to gain approval of the plan from the Media Rating Council, which sets industry measurement standards.
frontofficesports.com

John McEnroe says he tested positive for COVID and will miss US Open TV coverage
John McEnroe has COVID-19 and is missing time as ESPN’s lead tennis analyst for its U.S. Open television coverage. ESPN said it wishes McEnroe well and looks forward “to welcoming him back when he’s ready.”
apnews.com

First Take’s viewership streak continues, reaching 13 consecutive months of year-over-year growth
August saw an increase of 21 percent from 2022, averaging 391,000 viewers. It was also the show’s most-watched month of August since 2017. Beginning September 4, Pro Football Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe will join First Take with Smith and Qerim every Monday and Tuesday during football season.
espnpressroom.com

Royal Caribbean signs sponsor partnership with David Beckham's Inter Miami Football Club
Royal Caribbean International has signed its second international football sponsorship deal this month. The cruise giant has announced a multi-year partnership with MLS (the US Major League Soccer league) side Inter Miami CF, which is partially owned by David Beckham and has recently signed Lionel Messi as its shop window summer signing.
ittn.ie

Warner sets RSN Exit Plan, will sell AT&T SportsNet Channels in Pittsburgh and Houston to local pro teams, shutter Rocky Mountain
WBD is also in talks to sell AT&T SportsNet Houston to that channel’s foundational teams, the NBA's Houston Rockets and Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, which recently saw the NBA’s Utah Jazz and NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights depart to local-station broadcast TV deals, will shutter.
nexttv.com

WFAN remains flagship of Brooklyn Nets with multi-year rights extension
The Brooklyn Nets have reaffirmed their commitment to WFAN. The team has inked a multi-year extension with Audacy. WFAN and the Nets have been in business together for the last twenty years. The new extension ensures that the station will remain the flagship home of the team.
barrettsportsmedia.com

Sacramento Kings announce multi-year partnership with Milestone brands
The Sacramento Kings and Milestone Brands announced a three-year partnership naming Empress 1908 Gin as the gin partner and Dulce Vida Tequila as the tequila partner of the team and Golden 1 Center starting this season and continuing through the 2025-26 NBA Season.
nba.com

CBS Sports’ James Brown to receive National Association of Broadcasters’ top honor
Hall of Fame CBS sportscaster James Brown is the recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters’ 2023 Distinguished Service Award, the organization’s highest honor. The presentation will take place during the NAB Marconi Awards Dinner on Oct. 25 at NAB Show New York.
adweek.com

Mitchell & Ness names Eli Kumekpor as CEO after Fanatics acquisition
Kumekpor will be tasked with growing the company’s core business, while also finding new ways to maximize value from the group’s new owners and their deep ties to sports, fashion, music and culture. He is replacing Kevin Wulff, who is retiring this week after holding the position since 2016.
sportico.com

Brian Boucher Leaves ESPN for TNT
Boucher will join Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk on the broadcast as the between the benches analyst. He will replace Keith Jones, who left the role after last season to take a front office job with the Philadelphia Flyers.
barrettsportsmedia.com

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Sport & Story Daily and Sports & Story College are the sport industry’s daily resource for business news. In addition to serving up exclusive trends, Q&As, and columns, the newsletter connects reads to top platforms and stories from across the sports landscape.

Chris Pursell was previously a reporter/editor for publications such as Variety and The Los Angeles Times and launched leading business publications for Cynopsis and PromaxBDA. He is also the founder of staple industry events such as the Cynopsis Sports Business Awards, the Esports Business Summit, the CMO Exchange, the Tempest Awards and the Esports Newfronts. & Story 30