Sport & Story Daily October 12, 2023

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October 12, 2023

Good morning! A flood of hockey news today, as all eyes turned to the debut of NHL rookie Connor Bedard, and handed ESPN with a viewership record…

Connor Bedard’s Blackhawks debut scores big viewership
ESPN is reporting that Bedard’s NHL debut averaged 1.43 million viewers on ESPN to tank as the most-viewed regular season game ever. Overall, ESPN’s NHL Opening Night Tripleheader averaged 909K total viewers, up 40% over last year’s opening night festivities. Read more here.

Toyota named the Official Automotive Partner of the National Football League
Toyota and the National Football League entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement designating Toyota as the Official Automotive Partner of the NFL. With the deal, Toyota will “leverage the year-round NFL calendar as a powerful marketing platform to communicate its brand message to football fans across the U.S.” At a regional level, Toyota also currently sponsors eleven NFL teams through its network of dealer associations. Read more here.

USADA, UFC sever agreement on drug testing due to disagreement about Conor McGregor’s return
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the UFC are ending their long-running agreement for drug testing of MMA athletes. The decision comes as a result of the MMA promotion and the drug testing agency arguing over whether superstar Conor McGregor should be able to return to the octagon from an injury without the six months of drug testing generally required by USADA. Read more here.

UFC to hold March 2024 Fight Night card in Saudi Arabia
Speaking of the UFC, the company will hold its first-ever event in Saudi Arabia on March 2, 2024. The card is being promoted as a Fight Night in conjunction with Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Season festival and produced in partnership with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority. Read more here.

FOX Deportes lands English-language rights to Mexican National Team friendly matches
FOX Deportes inked a deal to pick up English-language rights to the Mexican National Team’s complete schedule of friendly matches through the FIFA World Cup 26. FOX Deportes’ live coverage of “El Tri” opens with Mexico vs. Ghana this Saturday, Oct. 14, at 8:30 PM ET in Charlotte, and then against four-time World Cup champion Germany in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 8:00 PM ET. Read more here.

Your Vision Insights: How do Monumental Sports fans like to consume live broadcasts?

With the news that Monumental Sports has launched a DTC sports network, we thought we’d jump in and see how each fan base typically prefers to consume live broadcasts (Capitals, Mystics and Wizards fans in DC). What we see is that while Wizards fans have the highest likelihood to prefer streaming live games (26%), fans in market tend to lean towards traditional cable offerings as the top choice for live game action (42%). While there are some slight differences across each fan base, traditional cable proves to be the preferred method of consumption across all 3 fan bases.

NHL loads up sponsorships for 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic
The NHL cemented plans for 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic festivities at Edmonton ICE District Fan Park with the WestJet NHL Fan Park, a free two-day, non-ticketed fan festival open to the public. On Oct. 27 and 28, the NHL and its corporate partners will treat hockey fans to many fun interactions and experiences. More than a dozen official NHL partners will activate to engage fans at WestJet NHL Fan Park, and some new partners activating at this year’s Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic are Purex, Hyundai, Kal Tire, WestJet, CAT (Caterpillar), Truly Hard Seltzer and Play Alberta.
nhl.com

PGA Tour hires Elevate to boost sales efforts for upcoming tournaments
The PGA Tour is bringing Elevate on board to bolster its efforts on premium hospitality sales, strategy and service for three tournaments next year and for the 2026 Presidents Cup, according to the organizations. Specifically, Elevate will work on January’s The Sentry tournament at Kapalua Golf Resort in Maui, The Players Championship at Florida’s TPC Sawgrass in March, the Tour Championship next summer at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and The Presidents Cup scheduled for 2026 at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago.
yahoo.com

Cognizant opts out as Aston Martin F1 title sponsor
Cognizant is stepping down as title sponsor of Aston Martin at the end of this Formula 1 season, but will remain on the British team’s extensive sponsor portfolio but to a lesser degree. Currently, the outfit is known as the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 team. State-owned Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco is currently co-title sponsor in a deal which began ahead of the 2022 season, per SportBusiness.
grandprix247.com

PepsiCo sub-brand Lay’s becomes title sponsor of Saudi Women Premier League
The deal will see the Saudi Women’s Premier League be renamed as Saudi Women’s Premier League Powered by Lay’s. The Saudi Women’s Premier League launched its first official season last year with eight teams, including five of the biggest Saudi Pro League teams, competing in two legged fixtures over 14 weeks with Al-Nassr being crowned champions.
sportbusiness.com

Diamond demands DirecTV pay it full rate for now big league-bereft Bally Sports Arizona and San Diego Channels
Regional sports networks subsidiary Diamond Sports Group has filed a motion in the Houston court overseeing its bankruptcy, seeking to make DirecTV pay the full contracted rate for Bally Sports San Diego and Bally Sports Arizona, even though these channels have been stripped of their flagship pro-sports teams. Diamond accuses DirecTV of having exercised an “unlawful course of ‘self-help’” since July, deliberately reducing the fees it pays Diamond by a redacted amount. nexttv.com

ESPN’s latest ‘This is SportsCenter’ commercial features Stanley Cup champions Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault
Over the last four months, the Vegas Golden Knights have been parading the Stanley Cup all over the world. The trophy has been in hands, on beaches, and filled with different beverages. In the latest ‘This is SportsCenter’ spot, “Dishwasher,” Golden Knights forwards Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault – alongside SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy – give the Stanley Cup a much-needed cleaning.
espnpressroom.com

NWSL is latest league to experiment with RedZone-style show
CBS Sports Network will televise a live whiparound show for NWSL Decision Day. On Sunday — dubbed NWSL Decision Day — all 12 teams will play at the same time (5 p.m. ET) with multiple playoff spots on the line. For the occasion, CBS Sports Network will air a live NFL RedZone-style whiparound program showcasing all six matches. Analyst and “Attacking Third” host Lisa Carlin will act as the ringleader for the coverage.
frontofficesports.com

USA Cycling takes road national championships to West Virginia
The U.S. road cycling national championships will be moving from Tennessee to West Virginia for the next five years in part to help what should be a competitive American team better mimic the courses it will face at the Paris Olympics. USA Cycling has held its nationals in Knoxville the past seven years, but it will take place in Charleston, West Virginia, beginning May 15, 2024.
apnews.com

F1 reveal unique Las Vegas Grand Prix schedule and ‘opening ceremony’ plans
Formula 1 has confirmed the schedule for the Las Vegas Grand Prix next month including a 10pm local start time for the race on Saturday night and an opening ceremony before cars are on track. The event schedule will start, rather uniquely, on a Wednesday night with a lavish opening ceremony.
yahoo.com

MLSE to pour $350 million into Scotiabank Arena renovations
After 25 years, Scotiabank Arena is getting a makeover. On Tuesday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment unveiled plans for the Scotiabank Arena Venue Reimagination project, with an injection of more than $350 million going into the arena that houses the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.
theathletic.com

Charlotte Hornets launch NBA’s first virtual fan store
The Charlotte Hornets have become the first National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise to launch a virtual team store as part of a partnership with AI specialist MeetKai. Fans can enter the virtual store through their mobile phone or web browser to view and purchase a wide range of Hornets merchandise, including jerseys, hats and other collectibles.
sportspromedia.com

Cleveland Cavaliers welcome Coca-Cola as Official Fan Refreshment Partner
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Rock Entertainment Group and ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages have announced Coca-Cola as the Official Fan Refreshment Partner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Sprite will serve as a centerpiece brand of the partnership, collaborating with the Cavs to showcase emerging talent at the intersection of the arts, music, fashion and basketball.
nba.com

Ted Leonsis seeking MLB team to round out sports portfolio
Ted Leonsis has built a multibillion-dollar sports entity over 25 years that includes teams, venues and media holdings, but the D.C. sports titan has his sights set on adding a new asset. “I am not shy to say I want to claim to buy a baseball team,” Leonsis said at Sportico’s Invest in Sports conference on Wednesday. “I love the sport.”
sportico.com

Lions bring in IMG as global licensing agency
The British & Irish Lions have appointed IMG as their worldwide licensing agency in a multi-year deal running through 2027.
sportbusiness.com

World Netball needs new CEO
World Netball has today announced that they are looking to recruit a new Chief Executive Officer after the current CEO, Clare Briegal, announced to Members at Congress 2023 that she will be stepping down after a decade in the role. The new executive would lead the organization as it continues to grow and looks to capitalize on increasing commercial opportunities whilst at the same time continuing to deliver on the needs of its member countries and regional federations.
netball.sport

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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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