Allied Sports

Two-year-old marketing agency Allied Sports is already looking offshore for growth and has hired veteran exec Jeff Ehrenkranz to lead that charge as Managing Dir of a new international division. Ehrenkranz, a former SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree, joins Allied after more than 25 years with Octagon, with Asian and European posts, including being the IPG agency’s President of Marketing Int'l from July ’16-January ’20, when he left the company. Ehrenkranz will continue to be based in London and report to Allied CEO and co-Managing Dir Greg Luckman.

"Allied is building a new agency model for a new time and that was very attractive," said Ehrenkranz. "There are so many important events coming up in Europe, that there will be lots of opportunity as we get beyond COVID, including the Paris Olympics in 2024, so we will be ready as fans return to live sports."

Luckman said there are no specific overseas clients yet, but noted that the agency does have clients with significant offshore business interests, including Quest Diagnostics, New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team and the Heat. With the addition of Ehrenkranz, Allied is now staffed by senior execs from top marketing agencies, including CAA, IMG, and Octagon.

The Lightning unveiled their '20 Stanley Cup championship banner during a win against the Blackhawks. With no fans in the stands, Amalie Arena was "full of only empty blue seats" last night. Players "saw their championship banner in the northwest corner of the arena for the first time, peeking over top of the boards, though it won’t be raised to the rafters until fans return to the building" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/14).

The Lightning "chose to 'unveil' rather than 'raise' the banner." It hangs now "halfway between the first and second levels, waiting for the night when the arena is filled again, and a proper gala can be staged." The decision to "tone down the party was made in recent days after the organization decided that rising COVID-19 numbers made the thought of inviting even 4,000 fans into the arena untenable" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/14).

The latest iteration of Amazon's "All or Nothing" sports docuseries will center around the Maple Leafs. The effort from Cream Films, Amazon Studios and NHL Original Production will air "later this year." This marks the "latest international version of 'All or Nothing' following series" on New Zealand All Blacks rugby and EPL clubs Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. There have been "five NFL versions of the show." The series is being exec produced by Steve Mayer, Ross Greenburg and Steven Stern (DEADLINE.com, 1/13).

Ducks

The Ducks will have the logo of current sponsor Pacific Premier Bank on the team’s helmets for both home and away games as well as practices for the ’20-21 season. The Orange County-based bank, which has been a Ducks sponsor since '14, has had its logo affixed to the team’s practice jerseys for six seasons.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche named arena naming-rights sponsor Ball Corp. their helmet sponsor for this season. The asset complements Ball's deal across Kroenke Sports properties, which includes use of its aluminum cups at venues. 

Download the NHL helmets

U.S. tennis player Tennys Sandgren is "travelling to Melbourne for the Australian Open, despite him testing positive to coronavirus this week." Local officials in Victoria "reviewed Sandgren's test result and determined that the evidence in his case suggested he had recovered from his initial positive test last November, and that this week's positive test was a case of virus shedding." This comes after Sandgren "tweeted that he had been allowed on to a chartered flight to Melbourne to take part in the Australian Open" (Melbourne AGE, 1/14).

Meanwhile, Andy Murray’s Australian Open plans are "in doubt after testing positive for COVID-19." He is now isolating at his Surrey home in the U.K., but the "resulting delay to his travel schedule threatens to end his chances of participating in next month’s grand-slam." But a source said that Murray "still harbours hopes of somehow participating and is in negotiations with tournament organisers to determine whether it is possible and safe for him to arrive later than originally planned" (LONDON TIMES, 1/14).

The 76ers reached a multiyear deal with Verizon to become the exclusive mobile 5G partner for the team, as well as presenting partner of the 76ers' official mobile app. This comes as the app plans to roll out new games, fan downloads and more ways to engage with the team. The deal also provides members of Verizon’s loyalty program, Verizon Up, with unique opportunities to claim 76ers prizes and VIP experiences. This is the third major new deal the 76ers have signed since the end of last season, following tie-ins with BioSteel and BetMGM. Verizon also is an NBA league partner (THE DAILY).

The NBA and BBTV are expanding the NBA Playmakers partnership, which will see its content distributed across additional digital platforms beyond YouTube, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Created in '16 as a BBTV/NBA joint venture, NBA Playmakers is a basketball culture video network working with influencers across fitness, fashion, lifestyle and gaming content. This past December, the NBA and BBTV signed a new SaaS Content Management agreement in which BBTV manages all fan uploaded NBA content on YouTube worldwide (BBTV).

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has "recovered after testing positive for COVID-19 in December" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/13).

ShotTracker parent company DDSports Inc. has announced an $11M funding round led by Evertz Technologies Limited and Verizon Ventures. The company will use that to increase the deployment of its technology across the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and Big East (Evertz).

The Asian Football Conference today will announce an official partnership with Sportradar for worldwide data and associated media rights for major AFC competitions for the cycles ‘21-24 and ‘25-28 (Eric Prisbell, THE DAILY).

Former NBAer Metta World Peace is launching XvsX Sports, an app for male and female basketball players to discover, connect and play in live, locally hosted pickup games, scrimmages and tryouts (THE DAILY).

"It’s a brand that still have a lot of equity in it. And also, I feel like our culture helped create that. ... It’d be the only way that Reebok can be successful. If it go black. And when I mean go black, I mean ownership" -- Hip-hop mogul Percy Miller, on his efforts to buy the Reebok brand along with former NBAer Baron Davis (TRAPITAL.com, 1/13).

“Vaccines coming out could change things pretty quickly, and we certainly want fans back in the seats, fans want to be back in the seats. ... I’m pretty hopeful by the time, if it's not March, April, May, June, you’re going to see real fans back in sports stadiums” -- Bucks co-Owner Wes Edens (“Power Lunch,” CNBC, 1/13).

ESPN.com goes with the header, "UFC Looks Into Johns Hopkins Study On Psychedelic Drugs As Potential Therapy For Fighters." The UFC is "looking to get involved with research into psychedelic drugs as a therapy for fighters' brain health." The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research "gained regulatory approval from the U.S. government in 2000 and has produced more than 60 pieces of peer-reviewed research." Currently, psilocybin and other psychedelics are "classified by the U.S. government as illegal Schedule I drugs, defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no medical uses." However, "views on psychedelics are changing."

Also:

• How the pandemic "changed the jobs of Houston teams' broadcasters."
• Jacksonville's Lot J project was "inflated by greed and failed by ego."
• Penguins restorative development project "aims to repair Pittsburgh’s famed Hill District."
• USA TODAY: "Why haven't more high-profile athletes come out as gay?"
• A look at what an "MLS match on Nickelodeon might look like."

Law firm Goulston & Storrs hosts a 2:00pm ET online discussion on "Meaningful Change on Campus: Culture and Social Justice in College Athletics." Featured: Penn State Athletics Integrity Officer Bob Boland, Texas Exec Senior Associate AD & Chief of Staff Chris Plonsky, Syracuse Associate AD/Diversity, Culture & Climate Salatha Willis and TLL Advisory Services Founder Timothy Lewis. Register here. 

At the end of what has been another very long day, I just cannot believe the Nets have made another trade where they've given away every draft pick they could into the future. Couldn't believe it when it happened when I was covering the team seven years ago; can't again now.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 14, 2021

There have been more crazy NBA moves during the MLB offseason than there have been crazy MLB moves.

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 13, 2021

The Nets have now acquired all three types of Brooklyn guy; a weirdly skinny guy, a guy with a huge beard, and a guy who’s obsessed with astrology and conspiracy theories.

— Jake Bittle (@jake_bittle) January 13, 2021

shoutout to everyone on twitter straining to come up with a joke that connects the impeachment to the harden trade. those 12 likes are gonna be so sweet buddy

— 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙧 (@grantrindner) January 13, 2021

During this crisis impacting the sports business, we want everyone to be up-to-date on the latest news and information. Here are the top headlines from last night's SBJ Unpacks: NHL Ready To Break The Ice.

• NHL Clubs Ready For Fluid Ticket Protocols
• Rockets Move Disgruntled James Harden To Nets
• Fanatics Seeing Record Sales For Alabama Championship Merch

More from SBJ Media: Studio Shows Boost FS1 In 2020:

• FS1 Lands No. 2 Spot For Total-Day Audience In 2020
• NBC "Pleased" With Tokyo Games Ad Sales
• Brands Spend 55% Less Around CFP Title Game TV Ads

More from SBJ Esports: No Fans Yet For Overwatch, Call Of Duty Matches:

• WNBA's Aerial Powers Looks To Push Diversity With Team Liquid
• Cadillac Enters Esports With TSM Partnership
• Counterfeit Merch Sales Becoming An Issue For Esports

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “World Geography.”

“The Oyapock river forms part of Brazil’s 400-mile border with the territory of this European country.”

"What is France?"