Sport & Story Daily October 11, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

October 11, 2023

Good morning! Game 1 of the WNBA Finals opened hot, setting a viewership record for ESPN (which also landed an NFL record with MNF)…

Aces, Liberty hook Game 1 viewership record for WNBA Finals
Superteams paid out big in Las Vegas for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. ESPN announced Tuesday that Sunday’s opening matchup, won by the Aces, scored the highest ratings of all time for a WNBA Finals Game 1 on its channels. The company says that game averaged 729,000 viewers and peaked at 885,000. Read more here.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football scores record audience with more than 17.4 million viewers in week 5
In addition, ESPN’s Monday Night Football landed its best Week 5 audience in the ESPN era (2006 – present) as the showdown between the Packers and Raiders averaged more than 17.4 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. That is up 10% from MNF’s Week 5, featuring the Raiders/Chiefs. Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (ESPN2) registered 1,036,000 viewers, their 22nd episode in a row with more than a million viewers. Read more here.

Playfly Sports’ Craig Sloan named company president
Playfly Sports promoted COO Craig Sloan to President of the company. Joining CEO and Founder, Mike Schreiber, Sloan will lead the fast-growing organization’s next endeavors while overseeing several functions and Playfly’s core business divisions including Playfly Global Partnerships, Playfly Media, and Playfly Sports Properties. Read more here.

Monumental Sports Network launches DTC subscription memberships
Monumental Sports Network officially unveiled its direct-to-consumer (DTC) subscription memberships for local fans without a Pay TV subscription to access Monumental Sports Network’s live and on-demand programming, including in-market access to live games for the NHL’s Capitals, the NBA’s Wizards, and the WNBA’s Mystics, amongst other live games. Features include access to multiple camera angles during live home games, with additional functionality including the ability to rewind and watch in slow motion. Read more here.

Hennessy extends partnership with the NBA
Famed cognac brand Hennessy and the NBA announced a multiyear extension of their global marketing partnership, spanning the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), NBA G League, USA Basketball and the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The new deal allows Hennessy to expand its presence as a partner across preseason and regular-season NBA Global Games around the world. Read more here.

Barça Media could spawn trend of teams spinning out non-core business lines

Barça Media, a collective of audiovisual, gaming, and digital content creation businesses spun out of FC Barcelona, entered into a business combination with Mountain & Co. I Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition vehicle (NASDAQ: MCAA) back in August. The transaction valued the combined company at a proforma enterprise value of ~$1 billion.

The deal enabled FC Barcelona to unload the responsibilities associated with several non-core endeavors (while retaining its position as the controlling equity shareholder in them), and to bring in the capital it needs to pursue a multi-pronged growth strategy through a publicly listed stock offering.

Speculation exists FC Barcelona’s strategic decision to spin out Barça Media will result in other global clubs with digital content arms following suit.

“Sports teams [with carve out] structures maintain full upside, offer investors attractive participation in the brand and its global media distribution, while ‘outsourcing’ time-intensive management and funding needs,” one FC Barcelona insider said. “Therefore, we expect that other clubs will follow this example.”

Read the rest of this on JohnWallStreet.

ESPN ‘nearly sold out’ of NHL inventory
As the puck drops on the 2023-2024 NHL season Tuesday, ESPN has reason for celebration. ESPN has secured 26 presenting sponsors for the NHL season, claiming that the advertising inventory for the year is “nearly sold out”. That inventory not only includes linear television broadcasts but also the games that are exclusive to ESPN+.
barrettsportsmedia.com

NHL announces multiyear Canadian partnership with Moosehead Breweries
Moosehead Breweries, the distributor of Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea in Canada, and the National Hockey League announced a new multiyear Canadian partnership, naming Truly Hard Seltzer the Official Hard Seltzer of the NHL in Canada. The new agreement provides Moosehead Breweries with an array of exclusive marketing rights and designations that will connect the brand with the NHL and its fans through the NHL’s vast marketing, digital, and social media channels.
nhl.com

Panini alleges Fanatics induced NFLPA, WWE to break contracts
Fanatics induced the NFL Players Association and WWE toward seeking to terminate their agreements with Panini early, according to an amended federal complaint obtained by Front Office Sports. A legal battle between Fanatics and Panini that began in two federal courts in early August swung in a new direction when the NFLPA and WWE unsuccessfully tried to shed their existing deals with Panini.
frontofficesports.com

Hisense USA and NBA entice fans to "upgrade" this basketball season
Building off of the Hisense "House of Bang" campaign from earlier this year, Hisense is teaming up with NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum to give fans the ultimate opportunity to level-up their living rooms, gaming set-ups and home entertainment spaces with slam dunk deals, exclusive promos and a prize-packed sweepstakes.
sportsvideo.org

SMT expands NHRA partnership, becoming exclusive graphics provider for Camping World Drag Racing Series
SMT expands its partnership with the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series this season, delivering a customized full graphics insert package for the lightning-fast racing series that airs on Fox Sports. Combined with the AR graphics package that virtually displays driver information, sponsor logos billboards, and other race-related content, SMT is now the exclusive graphics partner for the NHRA.
sportsvideo.org

Rugby League Commercial extends sponsorship with Betfred until 2026
Betting company Betfred will continue to sponsor rugby league in the UK for a further three years after extending its existing deal with the sport. The company has sponsored Super League since 2017 and has gone on to sponsor the men's, women's and wheelchair Challenge Cup competitions.
yahoo.com

MLB Wild Card viewership slips thanks in part to four sweeps
There was not much tension during MLB’s Wild Card round of the Postseason, and viewership for the eight games slipped across ESPN’s networks. The eight-game slate, which saw each series end in a two-game sweep, averaged 2.25 million viewers over ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. That’s down from last year’s nine-game round, which averaged 2.798 million viewers.
awfulannouncing.com

FOX Sports sees NFL gains on Sunday
FOX Sports is reporting that its NFL week 5 singleheader landed an average of 16.8 million viewers on Sunday. That is up 14% over last year’s comparable window.
foxsports.com

UK and Ireland to host Euro 2028, Italy and Turkey get Euro 2032
The United Kingdom and Ireland will host the 2028 European Championship, while Italy and Turkey will stage the 2032 edition of the tournament, UEFA announced on Tuesday. By accepting a joint Italy-Turkey bid for Euro 2032 last week, and with Turkey withdrawing from the race for Euro 2028, the hosts for both tournaments were already all but assured.
reuters.com

LIV Golf denied world ranking points, marking another setback for breakaway league
LIV Golf players will not receive world ranking points for their competitions, the Official World Golf Rankings announced, marking a significant setback to the breakaway tour's bid to be an attractive alternative to the PGA Tour. World ranking points are used to determine entry into golf's four majors for players who do not qualify via in-season victories or previous wins, among other categories.
yahoo.com

CrossFit announces Championship partners for Masters, Teen, and Adaptive Divisions
In the second of a series of announcements, CrossFit, LLC today introduced partnerships to help expand and add more exposure to the Adaptive and Age-Group Divisions. Legends Championship, Pit Teen Throwdown, and WheelWOD Games will host the championships for the 2024 CrossFit Games season.
crossfit.com

Coca-Cola and AEG expand long-standing partnership across iconic sports and live entertainment assets in new multiyear, renewal agreement
The deal will see a brand new “Coke Studio” in Crypto.com Arena, offering visitors highly immersive fan experiences and music-driven activations all year long and continues Coca-Cola’s longstanding Founding Partner status at Crypto.com Arena and L.A. LIVE, Peacock Theater, and Dignity Health Sports Park. The agreement also makes Coca-Cola the exclusive soft drink partner of an increased number of leading AEG Presents music festivals. Coca-Cola will remain the official beverage partner throughout the L.A. LIVE entertainment district and of the two-time Stanley-Cup Champions, the LA Kings.
businesswire.com

NHL issues updated theme night guidance, which includes a ban on players using Pride tape on the ice
The NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what players can and cannot do as part of theme celebrations this season, including a ban on the use of rainbow-colored stick tape for the Pride nights that have become a hot-button issue in hockey. The updated guidance reaffirms on-ice player uniforms and gear for games, warmups and official team practices cannot be altered to reflect theme nights, including Pride, Hockey Fights Cancer or military appreciation celebrations.
apnews.com

Arizona Coyotes revisit arena woes with Scripps TV deal in hand
The Arizona Coyotes are embarking on their 27th National Hockey League season in the Phoenix area, and it is perhaps their most important yet in the Valley. The team has a new television partner, Scripps Sports; it is embarking on the second of three seasons playing in 5,000-seat Mullett Arena, a sure money-loser; and it has one more shot at earning approval to build a new arena.
sportico.com

Barry Melrose retiring as ESPN’s longtime hockey analyst after Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
Former NHL player and coach Barry Melrose is stepping away from his career as one of hockey’s most recognized analysts after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, ESPN announced on Tuesday. The news of Melrose’s illness and retirement was made on ESPN’s SportsCenter on the same day the NHL 2023-24 season opened with a three-game slate.
apnews.com

NFL taps former AEG, NBA exec Petri for biz role
The NFL’s sponsorship division has hired former AEG VP/Global Portfolio Sales Ingrid Petri as its VP/Strategy and New Business, where she will be charged with developing and closing new sponsorship deals.
sportsbusinessjournal.com

Nick Von Doetinchem appointed Managing Director, Central Europe at Legends
Legends, a global premium experiences company, is continuing its worldwide growth with several key leadership appointments in Central Europe. Today, the company announced the arrival of well-respected industry executive Nick von Doetinchem as Managing Director of Central Europe. Von Doetinchem has more than 20 years of experience in the sports marketing industry working in a wide array of business verticals, including media, sponsorship, consulting, representation, and venues.
sportbusiness.com

Arthur named Director, Digital Production at FOX Sports
FOX Sports promoted Frances Arthur to Director, Digital Production, where she oversees the creation and distribution of the network’s lineup of award-winning digital original shows, including The Joel Klatt Show, Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander and The NFL On FOX Podcast and more. Previously, Arthur was the Sr. Producer of Social for FOX Sports, where she oversaw all soccer, college football, college basketball and USFL social media channels.
linkedin.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 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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