Sport & Story Daily November 2, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

November 2, 2023

Good morning! With CBS and Nickelodeon on deck for the Super Bowl. Paramount is going all in with its properties, lining up an experiential bonanza in Las Vegas…

“A Mountain of Entertainment” hits Vegas as Paramount Global reveals activations plans for Super Bowl LVIII
With CBS Sports on deck to carry the Super Bowl, paramount Global is planning a four-day-long fan activation that begins on Feb. 8 and continues through Super Bowl Sunday, showcasing 10 brands from across the company’s portfolio, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount+, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Pluto TV and Paramount Home Entertainment. In addition, the iconic “Paramount Mountain” will be constructed on top of the iconic Mirage Volcano and feature interactive fan experiences built around popular Paramount films and series, such as Transformers, Yellowstone, Star Trek, Dora the Explorer, Ghosts, Sistas, UEFA Champions League and more. Read more here.

NBA reveals In-Season Tournament TV schedule
The NBA mapped out its broadcast schedule for the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, with group play set to begin tomorrow. Each team will participate in four matchups, which will be played across seven Tuesdays and Fridays throughout November. The team with the best record from each group, along with one Wild Card team from each conference, will advance to the quarterfinals, carried on TNT and on Max. The semifinals begin Dec. 7 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas beginning a 5pm with a matchup on ESPN, while the second game starts at 9pm on TNT. The championship will then be televised on ABC on Dec. 9 at 8:30pm. Read more here.

NASCAR Cup and Xfinity champions to be crowned at Phoenix Raceway this weekend on NBC, USA Network and Peacock
NASCAR champions will be crowned across NBC, USA Network and Peacock this weekend, with the NASCAR Cup Series title race presented Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with a special edition of Countdown to Green beginning pre-race coverage at 2 p.m. ET. NBC Sports’ revealed a barrage of content and programming surrounding the festivities in Arizona. Read more here.

Canadiens’ minority stake sold at record $2.5B valuation
Michael Andlauer, who earlier bought the Ottawa Senators for $950 million, sold his 10% minority interest in the Montreal Canadiens at a record $2.5 billion enterprise value, Sportico reports. The Molson family, which owns a controlling stake in the Canadiens, exercised their option of the first right to buy Andlauer's stake. Read more here.

World Series tosses another low ball in Game 4
Tuesday’s Rangers/Diamondbacks World Series Game 4 averaged a 4.5 rating and 8.48 million viewers on FOX, continuing recent downticks to record lows for the Fall Classic. The previous low for Game 4 was 9.56 million for Dodgers-Rays in the 2020 “bubble.” Ratings also decreased 32% and viewership 28% from last year’s Wednesday night Game 4, according to Nielsen. Read more here.

Your Vision Insights: How much does sustainability matter to avid sports fans?

Looking at avid fans across major sports leagues in the U.S., we wanted to see which fanbases tend to believe that sustainability is important when designing spectator sports venues. While avid fans across the Big 4 fall into the lower half of the 18 leagues analyzed, we see avid fans of the NLL, NWSL and USWNT round out the top 3 fans bases that believe sustainability leads to the best sports venues.

Riddell extends NFL license and promotional rights through 2030 season
Riddell announced a 7-year extension of its partnership with the National Football League. Riddell will continue to serve as the Exclusive Licensee of Collectible Helmets and an Authorized Supplier of Helmets to the NFL. The extension begins for the 2024 season and runs through the 2030 season. With the extension, Riddell retains the NFL license to produce a full line of collectible football helmets.
prnewswire.com

PGA Tour taking over management of former Honda Classic, new title sponsorship on the verge of signing
The PGA Tour’s Championship Management division is on the verge of assuming control of one of its tournaments and it might not be the last as it shifts into an era of additional for-profit business ventures. Golfweek learned that the Tour told employees at the tournament formerly known as the Honda Classic, which has been tentatively re-named The Classic in The Palm Beaches, that it is taking ownership of the event and that employees would be kept on through at least this year’s tournament but will become Tour employees.
usatoday.com

Franklin Sports becomes official training partner of USA Pickleball
Franklin Sports has expanded its partnership with USA Pickleball, the National Governing Body of the sport. As part of the expanded partnership, Franklin now provides a series of USA Pickleball endorsed pickleball training products for the game.
businesswire.com

ITF nearing end to Davis Cup title sponsor search
The International Tennis Federation is closing in on a title sponsor for the Davis Cup as it looks to embark on a new future for the embattled men’s national teams’ competition.
sportbusiness.com

Club América appoints IMG as commercial partnerships agency
Club América, the professional football team based in Mexico City, has appointed IMG as its commercial partnerships agency. Under the new agreement, IMG will look to leverage the club’s widespread popularity across North America to generate exciting new international sponsorship deals, with a particular focus on opportunities in the United States.
clubamerica.com.mx

Amazon releases trailer for ‘Bye Bye Barry’ doc, premiering November 21 on Prime Video
Bye Bye Barry, the firsthand account of Barry Sanders’ life story, will premiere November 21 exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, with the exception of Japan. Twenty-four years after the shocking decision to walk away from the sport, NFL Films joined the 55-year-old Sanders and his four sons on a trip back to England to explore his career, revisit his upbringing, and share his joys and heartbreaks.
amazonstudios.com

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports reports hot October
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports reports that its networks and platforms posted strong audience gains in October. and hit new milestones across its premium sports portfolio for October 2023. Among the highlights are: MLB Postseason coverage up 8% over 2022; TNT’s most-watched opening week Thursday in five years, up 19%; TNT’s most-watched Oct. Wednesday coverage with a rise of 41%, while video consumption of B/R grew 135% in starts.
twitter.com

NHL, NHLPA commemorate 25 years of Hockey Fights Cancer initiative
Hockey Fights Cancer is underway. Through its first 25 years, this annual campaign has raised over $32 million and touched the lives of millions, offering support, raising awareness, and standing with those affected by cancer. AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical leader, has been named an official partner of Hockey Fights Cancer and will be the presenting sponsor of the NHL Hat Trick Challenge.
nhl.com

Report: Padres recently took out $50 million loan to help cover payroll
Despite selling more tickets this season than all but one Major League Baseball team, the San Diego Padres took out a loan for about $50 million in September to address short-term cash flow issues and meet their obligations, including player payroll, people briefed on the team’s finances told The Athletic. theathletic.com

'Miserable to people': Former Cardinals employees describe life under owner Michael Bidwill
The Arizona Cardinals were riding a three-game winning streak halfway through the 2019 season when owner Michael Bidwill called a mandatory all-staff meeting to address the drunken-driving arrest of his right-hand man, executive vice president and chief operating officer Ron Minegar. It was the second such arrest of a top team official in a year, and Bidwill was irate.
espn.com

Portland’s WNBA expansion plans fall through
A seemingly inevitable WNBA expansion to Portland has fallen through, leaving new questions for both the Oregon city and the league’s immediate plans for growth. Portland had been widely reported as a lock for the next WNBA expansion team, particularly in the wake of the recently announced awarding of the league’s 13th franchise to California’s Bay Area.
frontofficesports.com

Angel City FC launches performance optimization solution from Kitman Labs
Kitman Labs announced a new relationship with LA-based, NWSL club, Angel City Football Club. On the heels of the NWSL’s deployment of the Performance Medicine Solution from Kitman Labs as its league-wide advanced EMR, Angel City FC will expand the use of iP: Intelligence Platform across the club to include Performance Optimization.
sportsmediareport.net

Ian Moffitt to join IMG as SVP, Business Development for its studios business
IMG, a global sports, events and representation company, today announced Ian Moffitt has been appointed as Senior Vice President of Business Development for its studios business. In the newly created role, Moffitt will be responsible for the growth of IMG’s production and studios business in the UK and internationally, working closely with IMG’s VP and Business Development Director, Jo Ormston.
sportcal.com

Chess.com Thursday Challenge
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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 is 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. He was previously a reporter and editor for publications such as Variety and The Los Angeles Times and launched leading business publications for Cynopsis and PromaxBDA.

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