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Sports Business Awards

Best in Sports Media

CBS Sports
Why it could win:
  • Retained the rights to the most important available sports package last year, securing the first five games of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.”
  • “SEC on CBS” was the highest-rated college football package for seven years running; the 2015 Masters was the year’s highest-rated and most-watched golf event; the AFC championship saw its highest ratings in 30 years; the NCAA championship game was the most viewed in 18 years; and the 2015 Army-Navy football game scored its highest rating in 19 years.
  • Production of Super Bowl 50 attracted 111.9 million viewers and culminated a yearlong marketing effort that saw CBS, CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network, CBSSports.com and CBS Sports Radio work together to promote the game.
Fox Sports
Why it could win:
  • Found a hit with its FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage, producing all 52 games and drawing 25 million viewers to watch the U.S. win the championship — the largest U.S. television audience for any soccer match.
  • FS1 saw significant ratings growth thanks largely to live events; FS1 total-day ratings grew 25 percent in 2015.
  • NFL package continues to bring huge numbers, with the late afternoon window averaging 26.8 million viewers last season. The network’s NFL pregame show was tops among all pregame shows for a 22nd straight year.
ESPN
Why it could win:
  • Led all full-time cable networks in total-day viewership among all major demos for the first time in five years and was tops on cable in prime time among viewers for the second consecutive year.
  • Took steps to counter cord shavers, cutting a deal with the Sling TV over-the-top service and settling its lawsuit with Verizon to put the network back on the FiOS basic tier.
  • Continued its international push, launching Sony ESPN in India and cutting a deal with Tencent to distribute ESPN content in China.
NBC Sports Group
Why it could win:
  • Signed a six-year deal with the Premier League and a 13-year deal for the British Open, Senior Open and Women’s British Open.
  • Extensions of deals for the Breeders’ Cup, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes make NBC the longterm home for horse racing’s biggest events.
  • “Sunday Night Football” was TV’s top prime-time show for the fifth consecutive year. The 2015 season was “SNF’s” most-watched and highest-rated season.
NFL
Why it could win:
  • “Thursday Night Football” package generated a 50 percent rights fee increase from CBS and NBC; “Sunday Night Football” is the highest-rated prime-time series on television.
  • Partnered with Yahoo on a streaming deal around a Bills-Jaguars game, bringing in around $15 million for the streaming rights.
  • Extended its brand into social media, partnering with Twitter and doing a deal around Snapchat’s Live Stories.
Turner Sports
Why it could win:
  • The first media company to take a big step into e-sports, setting up a league with WME-IMG that will debut this month.
  • Acquired a potential competitor to MLB Advanced Media when it bought a majority stake in iStreamPlanet in August.
  • Carried the 2015 Final Four for the second consecutive year and helped the 2015 NCAA tournament attract its biggest audience in 22 years.

ADDITIONAL SECTIONS
PODCASTS

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: April 26, 2024

The sights and sounds from Detroit; CAA Sports' record night; NHL's record year at the gate and Indy makes a pivot on soccer

TNT’s Stan Van Gundy, ESPN’s Tim Reed, NBA Playoffs and NFL Draft

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with TNT’s Stan Van Gundy as he breaks down the NBA Playoffs from the booth. Later in the show, we hear from ESPN’s VP of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed as the NFL Draft gets set to kick off on Thursday night in Motown. SBJ’s Tom Friend also joins the show to share his insights into NBA viewership trends.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.
SBJ TV

Sports Media Podcast April 24 Whos Up Whos Down

4 mins

Sports Media Podcast April 17 2024 The Big Get Molly Solomon

5 mins

Sports Media Podcast March 27 2024

29 mins

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