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Virus Could Speed Up Overwatch League's Return To Linear TV

Activision Blizzard Esports has been in talks about getting Overwatch League back on linear TV, receiving fresh outreach from media networks amid the coronavirus shutdown, sources say. Activision's esports series has an exclusive, three-year, $160M digital streaming rights deal with YouTube, but OWL’s linear TV deal with ABC/ESPN ended after last season. No OWL matches have aired on TV in the U.S. so far this year on any channel. However, Activision has continued talking to networks in hopes of finding a deal, and the sports shutdown could hasten OWL’s return to TV. Sources said that NBC Sports Group was in talks in recent months over a deal that would have put OWL matches on some NBC-owned RSNs. OWL has based its teams in cities around the world and was holding home/away matches; the NBC deal could have been a boon for getting local media coverage. However, a deal has yet to be announced, and it was not clear if NBC is still negotiating. ESPN in late February confirmed to THE DAILY that its OWL deal had concluded. However, ESPN could return to the table given its current lack of live programming. While the rights fee that ESPN paid to OWL previously is unclear, OWL’s viewership is heavily tilted toward the digital side, so linear rights would likely be significantly cheaper than the digital rights. Meanwhile, the league this week announced that the rest of the regular season will be played through online-only matches because of the virus. Activision and NBC declined comment.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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