Sport & Story Daily November 9, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

November 9, 2023

Good morning! NASCAR’s finale had a mild spin as viewership slipped from 2022 numbers, although the season wrapped with gains for NBC Sports…

NASCAR Cup Series championship viewership slips, but NBC Sports is up
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race won by Ryan Blaney topped 2.9 million people for NBC, although that number was down from last year’s tally. Meanwhile, NBC Sports reports that its coverage of the second half of the 2023 NASCAR season delivered viewership gains across the Cup and Xfinity Series, driving a Total Audience Delivery of 2.47 million viewers across 20 races, up vs. comparable coverage in 2022, according to Nielsen and Adobe. Read more here.

Eagles/Cowboys takes season viewership title
Meanwhile, the NFL juggernaut continues to plow through the season, averaging 17.2 million viewers per game through week 9. The weekend was capped by another claim of “most-watched game of the season” as FOX’s coverage of the Eagles’ victory over the Cowboys was watched by an average of 27.136 million viewers. Read more here.

Disney flexes ESPN muscle in earnings call
Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger touted the fiscal strength of the ESPN brands amid the company’s quarterly earnings call, and noted that ESPN would be going direct to consumers by 2025. ESPN operating income grew 16% over year-ago numbers to $987 million in Disney’s fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue in the segment grew 1% year-over-year to $3.8 billion. In addition, ESPN+ also grew to 26 million subscribers. Read more here.

SiriusXM reveals roadmap for the future of audio content
At SiriusXM’s Next Generation Industry & Press Preview, the company unveiled the new SiriusXM Streaming app, rolling out to subscribers across North America starting Dec. 14 in addition to a new logo and brand platform. In addition to new talent and new channels, the company announced new and expanded distribution relationships, including Audible to share content and give subscribers the opportunity to experience each other’s offerings beginning in early 2024. Read more here.

Visa signs over a hundred athletes to Team Visa ahead of Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024
Visa unveiled the current list of 117 athletes joining Team Visa for Paris 2024, marking the largest group of Olympic and Paralympic athletes and hopefuls in the program's history and the most diverse, representing more than 60 markets and 40 sports The current list of U.S. athletes includes: Noah Lyles (Athletics – Sprint), Catarina Macario (Football), Caroline Marks (Surfing), Oksana Masters (Para-cycling), Samantha Mewis (Football), Ryan Neiswender (Wheelchair basketball) and Mallory Swanson (Football). Read more here.

Your Vision Insights: DEI and its Importance to Avid Fans

The sports landscape has seen many issues come front and center in recent years…Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) being one of them. And while there are people on both sides of the topic that debate whether sport is an appropriate stage for the conversation, one thing can’t be ignored: a majority of avid sports fans across MLB, NHL, NFL and NBA state that DEI is of great importance to them as a person. The trend we see in the data is that the higher you go up in avidity (2= low-level interest and 7 being extremely interested), the higher the percent of fans that place importance on the topic.

NBA G League signs two-year deal with FOX's streaming service Tubi
Although the public is still waiting to find out where the NBA's nationally televised games will be shown in the next media deal, its developmental league just found a new home. The NBA G League will begin broadcasting games on Tubi, the free ad-supported television (FAST) service owned by FOX, starting on Friday Nov. 10.
yardbarker.com

Major U.S. sports leagues pull in record $6.7b in ad revenue
Teams across MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS inked a record-breaking $6.7 billion in ad revenue over the last year — a 17.5% increase year-over-year — according to new data from SponsorUnited. MLB saw the most growth, with a 23% increase due to more fan engagement and new sponsorship opportunities through jersey patches; the NHL was next with 21% growth due to innovations like digitally enhanced dasherboards.
frontofficesports.com

General Motors tells AP it is only interested in entering Formula One with Andretti Global
General Motors will not break its partnership with Andretti Global to enter Formula One and is not interested in considering other teams to gain entry to the global motorsports series, an executive with the U.S. auto giant told The Associated Press on Wednesday. General Motors plans to send a small group of executives to next week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix in hopes of jump-starting conversations with F1 and series owner Liberty Media about the Andretti application.
apnews.com

Esports Awards toasts partnership with The Sidemen’s XIX Vodka brand
Esports industry awards show Esports Awards has partnered with The Sidemen-owned alcohol brand XIX Vodka. As a result of the deal, XIX Vodka will become the official vodka sponsor of the 2023 ceremony. The deal marks XIX Vodka’s first foray into the esports industry, continuing the trend of alcohol brands expanding their presence within the sector.
esportsinsider.com

Scripps Sports delivers new audience to WNBA, increases viewership with ‘Friday Night Spotlight on ION'
The “WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION” increased this season’s total WNBA audience by 24% — from 31.5 million unique viewers to 39 million, according to Nielsen. The 31.5 million is total viewership of all other networks combined. The WNBA and The E.W. Scripps Company completed the first year of a multi-year agreement to televise weekly double-headers in primetime on Fridays during the 2023 regular season on ION.
wnba.com

France submits 2030 Winter Olympic, Paralympic bid to IOC
French officials submitted a 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic bid to the IOC, which is expected to decide the host by next summer. The bid expands on plans that were announced in July. The venue map spreads across four hubs around the Alps in Southeastern France near previous Winter Games hosts Chamonix (1924), Grenoble (1968) and Albertville (1992).
nbcsports.com

LIV Golf announces first-ever transfer window
LIV Golf will allow player trades through a transfer window for the 2024 season, the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit announced on Wednesday. In the league featuring 12 teams, during the off-season, teams can trade players from their current rosters, providing both teams approve, and there will also be a mid-season trading window.
reuters.com

ATP upgrades Dallas, Doha, Munich to 500 events from 2025; Atlanta, Lyon, Newport to end
The ATP Tour announced the promotion of three tournaments to 500 level status beginning in 2025. Wednesday’s news also came with the confirmation that three fellow 250 tournaments will bid farewell after the 2024 season. Dallas, Doha and Munich successfully won their bids to be upgraded, joining 13 existing destinations boasting ATP 500 events.
tennis.com

CrossFit sets the stage for the 2024 season
The 2024 CrossFit Games season starts with the Open for athletes competing in the individual, team, and age-group divisions, and the Adaptive CrossFit Open by WheelWOD for those in the adaptive division. Any athlete aspiring to compete throughout the season must register and participate in the three-week long CrossFit Open between Feb. 29 – March 18, 2024. Numerous divisions will have expanded opportunities to advance further into the competition season.
clubindustry.com

Seattle Sounders in advanced talks to buy NWSL’s OL Reign
The Seattle Sounders have entered into advance talks to purchase the NWSL’s OL Reign, according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations. No agreement has been signed, and talks could still fall apart, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the details are private. Any sale agreement would also be subject to league approval.
yahoo.com

Toronto Defiant exits Overwatch League, OverActive Media receives payout
Esports conglomerate OverActive Media announced that its Overwatch League franchise Toronto Defiant has exited the league. The team was terminated via the Team Participation Agreement in the Overwatch League and OverActive received a payout of $6m as a result. More teams are expected to make similar announcements in coming days.
esportsinsider.com

GolfNow signs on with Boston TGL team
Boston Common Golf has signed a multiyear deal with GolfNow that will see the company become a founding partner of the TGL team. Boston Common announced its team name and branding last week, as well as its roster of players and will begin play in January.
sportsbusinessjournal.com

Al Michaels not retiring anytime soon: ‘I’m doing next year’
Al Michaels may have lost something of his fastball. But that doesn’t seem to have the iconic sportscaster mulling retiring anytime soon. Michaels spoke to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post about his recent performance, and whether he has plans of hanging up the microphone in the near future.
awfulannouncing.com

Brandon Tierney signs extension with WFAN
WFAN midday host Brandon Tierney has announced he has inked an extension to remain with the Audacy-owned station. Tierney shifted to WFAN with co-host Tiki Barber from CBS Sports Radio in 2022 after spending eight years together in national syndication.
barrettsportsmedia.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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