2016-10-24

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM TENNIS CHANNEL

TENNIS HEATS UP AS THE WEATHER COOLS DOWN
Coverage on Tennis Channel continues in Q4, with stars elbowing their way into the Women’s and Men’s Finals, for a chance to be crowned 2016 World Champion

Tennis Channel is closing out 2016 with a 60% increase in distribution, as more people than ever watch the sport’s greatest fight for a spot in the finals

Only one network provides the lowest clutter environment in sports television; only Tennis Channel offers daily access to the affluent tennis enthusiasts in Q4

adsales@tennischannel.com

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CYNOPSISSPORTS
10.24.16

Good morning. It’s Monday October 24, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.

With the MLS regular season in the books and playoffs about to gear up, the league finished play on a high note with upticks throughout its traditional markers ranging from attendance to viewership to access. Yesterday’s Decision Day clinched postseason spots for the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, with the Red Bulls and NYCFC clinching the top two seeds and a Knockout Round Bye in the Eastern Conference. Other contests will see Toronto FC/Philadelphia Union and DC United/Montreal Impact. In the Western Conference, FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids nabbed byes, while the LA Galaxy/Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders/Sporting Kansas City square off.

With the league looking for uptick trends in the postseason, Cynopsis Sports asked MLS CMO Howard Handler about the 2016 season and how the sport continues to draw eyeballs.

On 2016 goals: Our focus is on growing our fan base and 2016 continues to be a record-setting year across the board. The 21stregular season is in the books and now everybody is amped up for the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, which kick off on Wednesday night with the Knockout Round. The playoff race in both the Eastern and Western conferences came down to yesterday’s #DecisionDay, where we had all 20 Clubs kicked off at 4pm ET. It was another great day for the sport.

On growth: We had another breakout season with our media partners. We saw more games on higher-rated networks. 29 regular season matches on ESPN1, an increase from nine in 2015. FOX aired five matches on the main FOX network, a record number. Univision committed to airing all matches on over-the-air television. There were many expanded broadcast windows and pregame shows. We also had our highest rated MLS broadcast since 2004. Internationally, MLS is now available in 170 countries and territories around the world.  All in all, we saw gross viewership numbers increase across all networks.

On attendance: The League works closely with all of our Clubs to share best practices, provide extra promotional resources and make sure everybody is firing on all cylinders during what is a long season. We broke another all-time attendance record. That’s 40% higher than the League’s average attendance 10 years ago. MLS now ranks 6th in average attendance for global soccer leagues, ahead of Serie A and Ligue 1.

On the playoffs: Our theme heading into the playoffs revolved around the “Red Line"  underscoring all the stakes involved, trying to stay or get above the “Red Line" to make the playoffs. Now we know the Clubs who have made it. MLS Cup this year will take place Saturday, December 10 in prime time on the main FOX network, an incredible platform for MLS. Audi, who is the presenting partner of our playoffs, has been a great partner. They’ve created the Audi Player Index, which allows fans to follow their favorite players and dive into statistics and positional rankings across every MLS game in near real-time.

Another activation that we’re excited about involves two of our largest and most strategic partners, EA Sports and Coca-Cola. In 7-Eleven stores nationwide, four of MLS’ top stars  NYCFC forward David Villa, LA Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes, Orlando City SC midfielder Kaká and Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe  will be featured on Big Gulp cups, highlighting the partnership between MLS, the FIFA 17 video game and Coca-Cola. We’re talking 25 million cups featured at more than 8,000 7-Eleven stores across the United States.

ON THE AIR

FS1 delivered its own heater with the Cubs’ clincher of the NLCS to open the doors to the World Series. The 5-0 win over the Dodgers delivered an average audience of 9,706,000 viewers, according to the channel, with a 6.3 overnight rating, marking the most-watched and highest-rated telecast in FS1 history, according to Nielsen fast nationals. The game also marked the most-watched LCS telecast on any network since 2010 with Chicago delivering a 25.8/46 metered market rating/share, FS1’s best ever for the market. Meanwhile, FS1’s trophy presentation and postgame show drummed up a 2.27 metered market rating/share, its best this postseason. On the digital front, FOX Sports GO’s average minute audience for the game was 110,506 viewers. Overall, the channel averaged over 6.9 million viewers through the six game series.

With the World Series locked and loaded, MLB unveiled start times for the Cubs/Indians matchups, with all games running at 8p on FOX and available to MLB.TV subscribers. Game one opens tomorrow and stays in Cleveland on Wednesday. The series hits Chicago on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with potential games six and seven on Nov. 1 and 2 back in Cleveland.

Continuing the theme, MLB Network is set to offer extensive coverage of the 2016 World Series with interviews, previews, and analysis before and after every game, via High Heat with Christopher Russo, MLB Now, Intentional Talk and MLB Tonight, which will all hit the road for the slate.

In college football, CBS Sports saw its anticipated Texas A&M/Alabama matchup on Saturday draw an average overnight HH rating/share of 5.4/13, to rank as the highest-rated college football game of the weekend. The game was up 29% over last year’s equivalent of 4.2/9 in the metered markets.

ESPN reports that Saturday’s upset of Penn State over Ohio State delivered a 4.2 overnight to ABC, up 27% yoy. Meanwhile, Wisconsin/Iowa on ESPN drew a 2.0 overnight for its own matchup, up 67% over last season’s week 8 game (Iowa State/Baylor).

Lion Fight Promotions and AXS TV Fights locked in a multi-year contract extension for the network to continue to be the exclusive US broadcast home for the promotion’s events with the Muay Thai slated to promote at least eight televised events in 2017. “Over the past four years, Lion Fight has become the preeminent brand in the world of Muay Thai and furthered AXS TV Fights’ storied history of featuring the world’s best stand-up fighters,” said AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon. “We have seen tremendous growth in the popularity of Muay Thai on AXS TV, which made this new deal an essential component of our 45-event broadcast schedule in 2017."

TNT officially tips off the 2016-17 NBA regular season tomorrow with Opening Night presented by Autotrader, offering live coverage of the Cavaliers championship ring ceremony at 7p before shifting to a doubleheader featuring Knicks/Cavs at 7:30p, followed by Spurs/Warriors at 10:30p. Marv Albert will call the Knicks/Cavaliers telecast with analysts Chris Webber and reporter Kristen Ledlow. Kevin Harlan will provide play-by-play for Spurs/Warriors with analyst Reggie Millerand reporter David Aldridge.

Pac-12 Networks will see the 2016-17 Pac-12 men’s basketball season tip off with Full Court Friday starting Nov. 11, featuring live coverage from eight Pac-12 team’s home openers across seven networks, all in one night. Programming starts at 3:30p PT with the Pac-12 Basketball Pregame Show, hosted by Mike Yam and featuring Eldridge Recasner, and Kevin O’Neill, followed by a tripleheader that includes Montana State/Washington State, Pacific/UCLA and Army/Oregon.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Digital Model D Awards Luncheon
Innovators. Inspirers. Creators of all kinds. We celebrate those in online video content and advertising who are at the forefront of this new industry, elevating it with their state-of-the-art contributions to branded content, technology, ad campaigns, and original content.

Celebrate with us on November 4th at the Apella in New York City.

View the finalist list here.

SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

Taco Bell once again hits the World Series with its “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion in partnership with MLB. The activation sees the company giving America a free Doritos Locos Taco if a player, aka “Taco Hero,” steals a base during the World Series. “Since we first created the “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” program in 2007, a whole new category of hero has been created in sports: the Taco Hero. It’s an accolade specific to those athletes whose stolen base feat during the World Series has earned them a hallowed place in the hearts of taco lovers across the country,” said Marisa Thalberg, CMO, Taco Bell Corp. “We are excited to bring this event back again in the 2016 World Series. We look forward to rooting along with the country in the hopes that a player will manage to ‘steal’ another free taco for America and we will be able to induct a brand new ‘Taco Hero.’”

GEICO is extending its multiyear partnership with International Speedway Corporation, with the deal set to continue the brand’s entitlement for the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway as well as its Campground naming rights at eight ISC motorsports facilities. The company’s sponsorship of the GEICO 500 at Talladega will run through 2019.

Russia selected a wolf as its mascot for the 2018 World Cup. The AP writes that the animal was selected in online voting over a cat and tiger wearing a space suit.

DIGITAL & STREAMING

Twitter announced that TNF saw the platform reach 3.1 million combined worldwide viewers for the pregame show and the Packers/Bears game for a minimum of three seconds with that video being 100% in view. The average audience watching the Thursday Night Football game on Twitter properties hit 288,000.

NBC Sports reports that last Monday’s Liverpool/Manchester United match ranked as the company’s most-streamed match ever, hitting 10.3 million minutes and up 23% over the previous record-holder. In addition, the live stream of NHL season opener on Wednesday hit 3.6 million live minutes to rank as the second-best NHL regular-season game behind last year’s season opener.

Golf Pipeline signed a partnership agreement with CBS Sports Digital that will see the platform operate as a standalone entity with support and promotion from CBS Sports Digital to “help further grow the Golf Pipeline business and the game of golf.”

ESPORTS

Team Liquid appears to see a pro eSports future for the Civilization franchise. The team signed Civilization 6 player Stephen Takowsky, aka MrGameTheory, to serve as captain of its new team. In a post, Team Liquid owner Steve Arhancet stated that “The strategic depth required in Civilization is beyond compare. Many feel the game is simply too complicated to break into esports. However, as the gaming community evolves, we are witnessing the rise of elite gamers yearning to display the true level of their skill. Civilization provides the perfect platform for players to showcase their gaming intellect and we feel that Firaxis is on the cusp of bringing the franchise to a competitive esports level. It is inevitable that Civilization will take its place alongside the top esports in the world.”

After unveiling a partnership with ESL to launch Tournaments, PlayStation execs stated that the first tournament will tip off with NBA 2K17, to celebrate the beginning of the NBA season. The Major Tournament spans Oct. 27-Nov. 26 with Major Cup rounds occurring every Saturday. Top 3 winners of the NBA 2K17 Major Tournament will receive a prize pack that includes items such as a DualShock 4 and PlayStation gear.

With ELeague back in action, Forge is offering CS:GO players a shot a playing on national television. The Forge app, which allows players to capture highlights and share them on social media, announced that entrants can select their favorite moments to tweet with their connected social media account with the hashtag #ELEAGUEForge with footage then considered for airplay during ELeague on TBS.

THE MAIN EVENT

Texans/Broncos on ESPN at 8p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Tickets Now Available:
Cynopsis Snapchat Boot Camp
Leveraging a Platform to Reach Users & Increase ROI

Thursday, October 27 in NYC

Want to become a Snapchat specialist?  Join us to gain valuable insight on the social media business explosion & learn all you need to know regarding digital ad campaign execution, live event access, exclusive content & much more!

To sponsor the Boot Camp, contact Mike Farina.

[ REGISTER ]

ON THIS DAY in 2004: A Hendrick Motorsports airplane crashes near Martinsville Speedway, killing 10.

In The Know: What is Michael Jordan’s middle name? (Email Chris-Sports@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Before moving to Sacramento, the Kings were based in what city? Answer: Kansas City. Kudos: Keith Marder-Halstead Property/NY; Mike Bako-D S Simon Media/NY; Pete Gautieri-A&E Networks/NY; Tim Morrison-Home Team Sports/NY; Joe Guarnieri-ESPN/Bristol; Kevin McIntyre-Leverage Agency/Boston; Tom Wetzel-MMSI/Warwick; Rich Dubroff-CSNmidatlantic.com/Baltimore; Christopher Kalis-law Offices of Christopher Kalis/Plano; Kevin Micklo-Pinnacle Advertising/Chicago; Gretchen Brady-KTVT/Dallas; Bill Robertson-WCHA/Edina; David Hauptman/Denver; Scott Sarra-NBC Sports Group/Denver; Jim Seifert/Denver; Rich Greene-Casa Del Verde Entertainment/LA; Maria Shuckahosee/San Francisco; Elouie Gopez-DIRECTAvenue/Carlsbad; Scott Brofman-ITV/LA.

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports @VegasandVine

10.24.16

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SR PRODUCT MGR ESL/ESL Gaming; Burbank, CA: Directly mng small groups of Assoc/Product Mgrs. Create scopes of work & project budgets w/client input. Mng project budgets; Plan/execute live events; 4+ yrs exp in Event Product Mngmnt. Managerial exp; Ability to handle mult projects at a time. Resume/cover: jobs.us@eslgaming.com (10/28)

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VP, HR/GSNTV/Santa Monica: Looking for a VP, HR 10 yrs strategic & tactical HR Leadership. Cable, broadcast, media & digital experience. Send res and CL to GSNTVHR@gmail.com (10/28)

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PROJECT MGR, SHORT FORM VIDEO & DIGITAL/Nickelodeon/NYC: Organz’d self-starter to oversee plan’g/management of all short form video for our owned & operated digital platforms & all YouTube short form video content. Min 3-5 yrs of project mngment, prod mngmnt or related exp. Full info/apply HERE (10/28)

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ASSOCIATE MANAGER, PROGRAMMING/Spectrum/SportsNet & SportsNet LA/LA: Plan/execute RSN’s programming & scheduling of Lakers, Dodgers, Galaxy content . 3-5 yrs exp in content plan’g at TV network,detail-oriented, creative & passionate about sports. Full info/apply HERE (10/28)

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RESEARCH ANALYST/Outdoor Channel/Denver: 1+ yrs exp in TV/Digital Research. Love the Outdoors? Looking for Research Analyst for growing cross-platform outdoor ent company. Nielsen, comScore, or Google Analytics exp a plus. Resume/cvr HERE MediaCareers@TeamKSE.com (10/28)

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DIGITAL ANALYTICS MANAGER/The Outdoor Channel/Denver: Determine KPIs & engagement metrics w/focal point for maintaining quality in reporting, data collection & analysis. Mgr Level: 4+ yrs experience in Digital and Social Media measurement. Resume/cvr HERE MediaCareers@TeamKSE.com (10/28)

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DIRECTOR, SPONSORSHIP SALES/Glory Kickboxing/Denver: Plan/implement a broad range of sales, to dvlp new corp partnership integration showcasing the culture of Glory Kickboxing. Min 5-7 yrs sponsorship sales exp, pref w/sports category. Exc writing/comm skills. Full info/apply HERE (10/26)

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SR MGR/MGR DIG. AD PROD DVLP/A+E Networks/NY: Helping diversify A+E Networks ad prod. line up, creating ground breaking ad products, certifying new partners, devices & points of distribution, & owning the prod education, maintenance, & specification process. Full Info/Apply HERE (10/26)

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TEMP COORD, AD SALES PLANNING/Smithsonian Channel/NY: Input ad schedules; handle schedule changes & make-goods. Provide admin support & asst w/client presentations. 1 yr ad sales coord exp. Strong orgnztnl/analytical skills & knwlg level PP, MS Word, Excel & Outlook. Apply HERE (10/26)

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MEDIA TRAFFIC SPECIALIST/Charter/Stamford: Create and maintain cross channel traffic instructions for internal marketing initiatives. This position ensures marketing advertisements air across various cable networks in accordance to monthly media plans. Full info/apply HERE (10/25)

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CROSS CHANNEL MEDIA REPORTING ANALYST/Charter/Stamford: Responsible for data development and tracking for advertising measurement models. Maintain and administer database for enterprise wide mass media placement. Full info/apply HERE (10/25)

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ANALYST, MEDIA RESEARCH/Charter/Stamford: Responsible for providing support with Media Research functions within the Media Department. This position is responsible for media research activities that will support media and marketing strategies. Full info/apply HERE (10/25)

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MGR PARTNERSHIPS MARKETING SERVICES/World Surf League/NYC: Dvlp creative 360 integration ideas and global, regional, and media sales pitches. Mng coord to maintain all materials. 3-5 yrs integrated media/mktg exp. Sports exp a +. Exc PP/key note skills req’d. Resume HERE (10/25)

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NETWORK ACCT EXEC/Estrella TV/NYC: Provide media and marketing solutions for advertisers and their agencies using EstrellaTV’s television network, social media, digital and event marketing assets. Minimum 3 years’ experience in areas cited above. Apply at careers@lbimedia.com (10/25)

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