With two new teams entering the MLS in 2020, the league unveiled the new conference lineups for the 26 clubs who will compete next year. Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC will be in separate conferences for their debut season with Inter Miami joining the East, while Nashville SC will compete in the West, ensuring both conferences will feature 13 clubs. Each club will continue to play a 34-game regular season with 17 home matches and 17 away matches. Every team will play their 12 intra-conference opponents twice – once home and once away for a total of 24 matches – with the other 10 regular-season matches coming against the opposite conference. PROGRAMMING
Opening with Sunday’s NFL numbers, FOX Sports scored big as its singleheader telecast delivered its best overnight score in four years, according to Nielsen, with a 13.2/29 metered market rating. That is up 39% from last year’s competitive window, while FOX NFL Sunday drew a 4.0/11, up 14%. Top markets were led by Milwaukee at a 40.6/74, followed by Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Jacksonville. The Texans’ win over the Patriots on NBC’s SNF notched a Total Audience Delivery average of 22.0 million viewers to rank as the most-watched Week 13 NBC SNF game in nine years. That marks a 21% uptick over last year’s Week 13 game, according to fast national data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics. NBC’s Sunday Night Football is averaging 20.7 million viewers across all platforms this season – the best start for the series through Week 13 (15 games) since 2015, and up 4% from the same point last season. ESPN serves up a bounty of college football regular season finales this week with eight conference champions set to be crowned on its networks beginning Friday and leading into the exclusive revealing of the College Football Playoff teams and New Year’s Six on Sunday, Dec. 8. Among key games, the action kicks off with the Pac-12 Championship between Utah/Oregon at 8p on Friday, called by Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Molly McGrath on ABC. The Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship starts at noon on Saturday as part of an ABC tripleheader with Baylor/Oklahoma and Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe on the call. The ACC Championship between Virginia/Clemson will be played on ABC’s Saturday Night Football at 7:30p, with Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay and Maria Taylor on microphone duties. ABC also airs the American Athletic Championship for the second consecutive year, with Cincinnati/Memphis at 3:30p, while ESPN will televise the Sun Belt Championship between Louisiana/Appalachian State at noon and the Mountain West Championship with Hawai’i/Boise State at 4p. ESPN’s championship slate will also include the Marathon MAC Championship as Miami (Ohio) plays Central Michigan at noon on ESPN2 while the SWAC Championship between Southern/Alcorn State is at 4p on ESPNU. World TeamTennis is launching a new free agency player recruitment model ahead of its 2020 season, in a move to allow teams “more freedom to assemble their rosters during the WTT recruitment window.” Free agency enabled WTT to eliminate the WTT Draft while a salary cap for each WTT franchise has been put in place to help maintain parity across the league. "We are really excited to jump into this new era of World TeamTennis with our new free agency player procurement model," WTT CEO and President Carlos Silva said. "This design gives our teams more flexibility to go after players that might be better fits for their franchises. In the draft model, teams were fairly restricted on which players they could select once their draft position rolled around. This way teams can go after whoever they feel appropriate." The 2019 All-Big Ten Conference teams and individual football award winners will be announced live on BTN starting today at 5p with the coaches’ and media All-Big Ten defensive teams, as well as individual defensive award winners and the coach of the year, unveiled on The B1G Show. Wednesday sees the coaches’ and media All-Big Ten offensive selections announced, in addition to the individual offensive award winners and freshman of the year recipient. The NFL is flexing the Bills/Steelers matchup on Week 15 into primetime, where it has moved from 1p on CBS to NBC at 8:20p on Dec. 15. Meanwhile, Vikings/Chargers shifts from SNF to CBS at 4:05p. |
| STUCK: A PODCAST If you’re a millennial or Gen Z and work in the media space, go listen to hear your stickiest workplace challenges discussed, dissected and solved. All 6 episodes of STUCK Season 3 is available wherever you listen to podcasts - go check it out! https://stuckpod.com/ |
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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
FIFA announced that The Look Company signed on as the newest National Supporter of the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 presented by Alibaba Cloud. The visual engagement and branding firm is based in Doha, Qatar. As part of the agreement, The Look Company will provide stadium signage and branding, as well as wayfinding signage in the vicinity of the FIFA Club World Cup 2019 stadiums. The FIFA Club World Cup 2019 will be played from Dec. 11-21. The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a new sponsorship with Cincoro Tequila, the award-winning tequila, co-founded by Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, along with Wes Edens of Milwaukee, Emilia Fazzalari and Wyc Grousbeck of Boston and Michael Jordan of Charlotte. The team will collaborate with Cincoro to share its story with Lakers fans and drive brand awareness in the Southern California market through in-arena signage at games in addition to various hospitality events throughout the year. DIGITAL, DATA & TECH
SiriusXM and UNINTERRUPTED are partnering to connect music and sports through athlete-curated playlists available exclusively for Pandora listeners. Playlists from LeBron James, Rob Gronkowski, Odell Beckham Jr., Angel McCoughtry, Dion Waiters, Lexie Brown, Lonzo Ball, Mo Bamba, Draymond Green, Nate Burleson, Chiney Ogwumike and Adam Rippon are available now on Pandora, with more athlete playlists to follow. The playlists will allow fans to go behind the scenes with access to featured players’ warm-up playlists, playable in real time as the players themselves listen to them and get ready for game time. ESPORTS
Facebook continues to add streaming talent to its roster, this time signing Super Smash Bros. staple Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios to an exclusive content deal, according to ESPN. ZeRo announced the deal Monday and makes the platform jump after boasting an audience of more than 520,000 followers on Twitch as well as 820,000 subscribers on YouTube. He will continue to produce content for YouTube but will stream on Facebook beginning Monday. Audience intelligence and data-management platform Tru Optik announced a partnership with Anzu.io, a blended in-game advertising platform that brings real-world ads into video gaming and esports, to make first and third-party data for enhanced audience targeting available for in-game advertising on gaming consoles. Game studios and advertisers that use Anzu's programmatic blended in-game advertising platform can leverage Tru Optik's Household GraphT of more than 80 million homes, representing nearly 95 percent of U.S. consumers of ad-supported OTT, streaming audio and gaming content. New Wave Esports Corp. entered into a definitive share purchase agreement to fully acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Even Matchup Gaming Inc. New Wave doesn’t currently own. EMG is an esports event production and broadcast company based in Toronto, Ontario. “We are excited to join the New Wave Esports team through the acquisition of EMG,” said Joe Cribari, CEO of Even Matchup Gaming. “We have been actively building our local and national fighting game communities for years and this opportunity will allow us to continue to support them with incredible events for many more years to come. Through our partnership with New Wave Esports, we look forward to further developing the size and quality of the tournaments we produce, and expanding our operations throughout North America.” Riot Games will host a three-day League of Legends event based in the Middle East. Dubbed The Nexus, the event will run Dec. 5-7 in Saudi Arabia and feature a prize pool of $850,000, pitting eight teams from Middle Eastern countries, such as Kuwait, Lebanon, and Morocco. INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES
The Basketball Africa League, a new professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa and scheduled to begin play in March 2020, announced the first BAL Combine. The two-day scouting event, which will feature 50 aspiring players from Africa, the US and around the world, will take place Dec. 4-5 at Hospital for Special Surgery Training Center in Brooklyn. Each of the 12 teams participating in the inaugural season of the BAL will have up to 16 players (12 active and four inactive), at least eight of whom will be citizens in their respective teams’ home country and up to four of whom can be from other countries, with no more than two players per team from outside of Africa. THE MAIN EVENT
Michigan/Louisville on ESPN at 7:30p. |
See Who’s Leading The Charge in Media Industry Excellence
Thursday, February 6th at ThreeSixty in NYC The Cynopsis Best Of The Best Awards Featuring Media’s Rising Stars Join your colleagues for an awards show spotlighting the very best campaigns, content and partnerships that are shaping the industry. Award Finalists & Rising Star Honorees will be announced later this week. Questions? Contact Marketing Manager Cathy Pearson for more info. |
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ON THIS DAY in 1997
The Golden State Warriors terminate Latrell Sprewell's contract for attacking coach P.J. Carlesimo. In the Know
In college football, Floyd of Rosedale is awarded to the winner of the game between which two teams? (Email cpursell@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your company and city). Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
AFL alumni Kurt Warner played with which team in the league? Answer: Iowa Barnstormers. Kudos: Aymon DeMauro-ADM Media & Marketing/NY; Willy Gibson-WTG Sports/Columbus; Christopher Kull-The Nielsen Company/Oldsmar; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Mike May-PHIT America/Wellington; Wayne "World B." Otto-Pro-Am Sports/Boone; Jimmy Hintz-Comcast EffecTV/Houston; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Joe Lyons-ESPN/Dallas; Rich Wolfe-Lone Wolfe Press/Scottsdale; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Credit Union/Burbank
Later - Chris |
MGR, DIGITAL INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS
beIN MEDIA GROUP
Miami
Responsible for maintaining measurement across beIN Digital Platforms and creating materials that position beIN SPORTS positively for Ad Sales across the competitive sports landscape.
Full info HERE RESEARCH MANAGER, RATINGS & MEASUREMENT >>
ABC NEWS/NYC: Deliver ratings and insights for ABC News programs and competitors. 5+ years related exp. NPower/NNTV experience a must as well as strong interpersonal skills. Full info HERE (12/18) MGR, DIGITAL INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS >>
beIN MEDIA GROUP/Miami: Responsible for maintaining measurement across beIN Digital Platforms and creating materials that position beIN SPORTS positively for Ad Sales across the competitive sports landscape. Full info HERE (12/11)
ANALYST, GLOBAL CONSUMER INSIGHTS >>
Viacom International Media Networks/NYC : Resp for dvlpng a deep understanding of Viacom audiences around the world, then disseminating those findings within the co. & beyond. 2-3 yrs exp in primary rsrch. Working knowledge of graphics design & video editing software. Ful l info HERE (12/11)
PRESCHOOL TV SERIES PRODUCER >>
9 Story Media Group/NYC: Exp’d producer for an iconic, high profile preschool series (live action 2D, 3D). Min 5 yrs exp animation production. Strong story telling skills & understanding of preschool audience. Full info HERE (12/10)
VICE PRESIDENT, MULTIPLATFORM SALES RESEARCH >>
The CW Network/NYC: The CW Network seeks a Vice President, Multiplatform Sales Research for their Media Sales & Planning department. Thought leader with in depth knowledge in Digital/Linear Research. Developing product & brand research for multiplatform. Full info HERE (12/10)
COUNSEL, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS, CONTENT DISTRIBUTION >>
NBC/NYC: Support VP, Content Dist. Draft/review/negotiate complex dist agreements with dist partners for the TV Networks and Peacock app. Provide business-facing, relevant & practical legal advice to content distribution business teams & more. Full info HERE (12/10)
SALES PLANNER >>
Sony/NYC: Assist in the maintenance of accounts/campaigns across all SPTAS properties. 3 - 5 years related exp. Media Math/media background a must as well as skilled in wide orbit & Dealmaker. Full info HERE (12/7)
MARKETING MGR, CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT >>
SportsEngine Inc/Minneapolis MN: Resp for implementing behaviorally-triggered customer onboarding communications, designing and implementing a customer upsell and retention strategy to support sales. 5+ yrs mktg exp ideally w/Saas Company. Full info HERE (12/7)
SALES MANAGER, INTEGRATED PARTNERSHIPS, U.S. >>
Combate Americas/NYC: Present Combate Americas to potential local/national/global sponsorship partners & dvlp an integrated, solution driven approach to creating sponsorship packages. Min 7-10 yrs of success w/cross-platform sponsorships, incl sales, servicing & activation. Full info HERE (12/7)
SR COORDINATOR, CONSUMER INSIGHTS & RESEARCH (TEMP) >>
NFL/NYC: Support design and execution of primary research relating to the NFL fan, brand, and marketing initiatives. 2+ yrs mkt research and consumer insights exp. Exp working with various syndicated data sources (MRI, EPoll, YouGov, Ace Metrix, etc.) Full info HERE (12/7)
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS >>
MALKA MEDIA/Jersey City NJ: Focus working w/brand & agency partners to demonstrate the value our shows have in reaching their audiences. 3-7 yrs successful sales/account mngmnt exp within the media industry w/strong focus on digital video. Full info HERE (12/7)
MGR, SVOD MARKETING >>
A + E Networks/NYC: Ambitious, goal-oriented digital marketer to mng acquisition & retention mktg for our Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) products. 6-8 yrs exp in a CRM dvlpmnt/execution role or a direct mktg/customer acquisition or retention role w/proven track record of success. Full info HERE (12/6)
MGR, PAID SOCIAL MEDIA >>
Lifetime & A&E/NYC: Responsible for developing and managing the paid social media strategy for Lifetime & A&E. Reporting into the Senior Manager, Paid Media, 3-5 years of paid social marketing experience, with a strong preference for specialization in entertainment marketing. Full info HERE (12/6)
TEACHING PROFESSOR, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MNGMNT >>
Drexel University’s Westphal College/PHL: 2 FT faculty positions avail to teach core EAM courses as well as courses related to their area of expertise. Min 5 yrs management/leadership experience in media, arts or entertainment. Full info HERE (12/6) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE >>
Tennis Channel/Santa Monica: Maintains existing and forges new relationships with agencies and clients to maximize revenue for the network. Minimum 5-7 yrs advertising sales experience, preferably in the cable or sports television arena. Full info HERE (12/20)
TECHNOLOGY COUNSEL >>
A+E/NY: Draft & negotiate a wide range of tech transactions, inc SaaS, Paas, IaaS. Draft & negotiate data privacy & security provisions in vendor & partner transactions. YOU NEED: JD, min 5 yrs legal exp preferably within media or tech fields, exp negotiating both legal & business terms in complex transactions across technologies. Apply HERE (12/5) SALES PLANNER >>
UP TV/NYC: Resp. for dev/implementing media proposals and working directly with Acct Execs. and Pricing & Planning. College deg. & 1+ yrs cable exp. in ad sales ind. Strong Microsoft Office & DealMaker skills a +. Good comm, interpersonal & organzt'l skills. Send Resume: HERE (12/5)
MARKETING DIRECTOR >>
WTHR/INDIANAPOLIS IN: Seeks a mktg leader who can inspire creative excellence 8 years consumer advertising and promotion experience with promotion-specific record of success in the television/news industry, brand management, or marketing/digital/advertising agency. Full info HERE (12/4)
DIRECTOR, DIGITAL MARKETING >>
SportsEngine Inc/Minneapolis MN: Responsible for leading digital marketing strategy. 12+years of marketing leadership experience with a track record of proven success, ideally with a SaaS company. Full info HERE (12/4)
MARKETING & BRAND STRATEGY MGR >>
SportsEngine Inc/Minneapolis MN: Exp’d B2B marketer who is able to develop marketing campaigns across multiple channels and mediums to ensure our continued success. 5+yrs marketing experience, ideally with a SaaS company. Full company HERE (12/4)
ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP SALES MARKETING MGR >>
SportsEngine Inc/Minneapolis MN: Responsible for managing day to day partner relationships, the execution of all partnership deliverables and account management work. 2+ years of exp, ideally in a high-growth software business HERE (12/4)
SR PRODUCTION SYSTEM ENGINEER >>
A + E Networks/Stamford CT: Support the Stamford production facility in addition to taking a lead role in projects when assigned by department managers. 5 years as a Post-Production engineer req’d. Full info HERE (12/4) |
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