SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
The University of Florida’s Sun Dome will be renamed the Yuengling Center on July 1 as part of a new 10-year sponsorship agreement between the school and D.G. Yuengling & Son. Yuengling, based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, has operated a brewery in Tampa since 1999 and in recent years has been trying to raise its profile in the Tampa Bay area. The agreement also includes field level signs and LED ribbon board branding in Raymond James Stadium for USF home football games, USF said.
The PGA Tour’s Houston Open will now be operated and hosted by the Astros Foundation as part of a new five-year agreement with the PGA Tour, beginning with the 2019 tournament. The Astros Foundation, with the support of a consortium of local sponsors, is in place through 2023. The 2019 tournament will be conducted at the Golf Club of Houston during the fall portion of the PGA Tour’s 2019-20 FedExCup Season with a $7.5 million purse and 500 FedExCup points awarded to the winner. “Our team is committed to the continued growth of the Houston Open and making a positive impact in the city of Houston,” Astros owner and Chairman Jim Crane said.
UFC reached a partnership that will have Black Rifle Coffee Company serve as the “Official Coffee” of Season Two of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, which returned to UFC Fight Pass on Tuesday, June 12. Throughout the sponsorship, Black Rifle Coffee will work with UFC to provide social content about the series and promote a national campaign with prizes and exclusive UFC experiences.
FIFA signed its first 2018 World Cup sponsor from Africa, agreeing to a deal with the government of Egypt. "Egypt - Experience & Invest" - a campaign which FIFA says aims to showcase the “wide spectrum of tourism experiences and investment potential Egypt has to offer” - fills the first of four African slots in a program for third-tier commercial deals. The agreement is also the first World Cup sponsorship deal for FIFA in the past five years from outside China, Qatar and Russia. FIFA now has 20 sponsors of the 34 places in its 2018 World Cup commercial program.
Westgate Resorts reached a multiyear agreement to serve as title sponsor of Las Vegas Motor Speedway's September NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. The World of Westgate 200, the second race of the Truck Series playoff, will take place at the 1.5-mile superspeedway on Friday, September 14, and is the second of four consecutive days of racing at the Las Vegas track. It’s Westgate Resorts' first title sponsorship in NASCAR.
DIGITAL & STREAMING
FOX Sports will stream on Facebook Watch one game per week each Friday during the 2018 season of the BIG3, a new 3-on-3, half-court basketball league started by Ice Cube. Each week, the Facebook broadcast will lead into three additional games on FOX or FS1 (simulcast live in the FOX Sports app) during the regular season and playoffs. The first BIG3 game to stream on Facebook will feature a match-up between 2017 BIG3 MVP Rashard Lewis’ 3 Headed Monsters and Mike Bibby’s Ghost Ballers on June 22 from Houston, TX, followed by Chauncey Billups’ Killer 3’s and Dermarr Johnson’s 3’s Company; Corey Maggette’s Power and Brian Scalabrine’s Ball Hogs; and Kenyon Martin’s Trilogy and Jermaine O’Neal’s Tri-State on FS1.
NBC Sports Gold has launched its “Cycling Pass” for the 2018-19 season, which gives U.S. cycling fans access to premiere cycling races from July 2018 through June 2019, beginning with next month’s Tour de France. The $49.99 streaming subscription features live, commercial-free coverage of every stage of the Tour de France and other Grand Tours, including Vuelta a Espana, Monument Classics, including Paris–Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, UCI Mountain Bike and Road World Championships, and the Amgen Tour of California.
Just in time for Father’s Day, MLB.TV is now offering a one-year subscription for $49.99, a savings of more than 50% from the usual $115.99 annual price. A single-team subscription is now available for $39.99, a $50 savings from the usual price.
ESPORTS
Intel upped its prize ante as the sponsor of the grassroot Go4 tournaments on ESL Play. Starting this month, total prize money has been increased to $50,000 from $30,000, ESL announced. Five Go4 series across two games will benefit from the new Go4 prize pool, now titled with a prize pot of over $5,000 per month; Go4CS: GO Europe, Go4LoL EU West, Go4Lol EU Nordic & East, Go4Lol LatAm North. And Go4Lol LatAm South.
Harrisburg University will be holding a summer esports camp for high school students next week. The goal of the camp will be to improve skills in esports and gain a strategic advantage in games like League of Legends, Overwatch and Hearthstone, the University said. The “Esports Immersion Bootcamp” will give an overview of the esports industry and teach about future career opportunities in esports management, production and entertainment.
THE MAIN EVENT
Nationals/Yankees – on ESPN at 8p
