THE ATHLETIC's Tom Reed cited sources as saying that Crew SC games are returning to FS Ohio this season. FS Ohio last televised Crew games in '13. The following year, the team "switched to Time Warner Cable SportsChannel." Sources said that the move to FS Ohio is "expected to include 30-minute pre- and postgame shows." It also will "create greater exposure in the Cleveland market," home of the Crew Owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/13).
WORLD WIDE LEADER? Amazon Studios COO & co-Head of TV Albert Cheng said the company is "dipping its toe in the water" of live sports rights. DEADLINE's Peter White noted Amazon has been "interested in buying" the 22 RSNs from Fox. Cheng said, "With sports, we’re obviously in it and experimenting and we’re trying to understand how our customers are responding to it. What we have seen so far is good responses." White noted the next two years are "likely to be a pivotal window for digital platforms in securing major sports rights" -- particularly '21, when the NFL, MLB and NHL media rights deals "mostly end" (DEADLINE.com, 2/13).
STAYING OPEN: ESL said that its broadcasting deal with Facebook Gaming will "continue on a non-exclusive basis" through to December '19. ESPORTS OBSERVER's Graham Ashton noted while last year’s Intel Extreme Masters series was "available on multiple platforms, English and Portuguese coverage of the ESL One and ESL Pro League were only available to watch on Facebook." Terms of the expanded deal "were not disclosed." Prior to the Facebook deal, the ESL Pro League was "exclusively broadcast through YouTube Gaming" in '17. The partnership was first announced in January '18, and "covers four seasons (two years)" (ESPORTSOBSERVER.com, 2/13).
ALL EYES ON ME: In Philadelphia, Rob Tornoe noted NBC Sports Philadelphia finished the year as the "third-most-watched regional sports network in the country." Only the Yankees YES Network and NESN "drew higher ratings" in '18 than NBC Sports Philadelphia, which averaged nearly 41,000 household impressions during primetime in '18 (PHILLY.com, 2/12).
