SBJ Unpacks: Sports World Waits On Rest Of Power Five

Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: The first two Power Five conferences make decisions on delaying fall sports official, while the world waits to find out whether there will be any college football this year at all. 

Also:

• MLS puts a bow on its successful bubble tournament from Orlando.
• MLB considers a bubble of its own come October.
• Brands are spending big on NBA and NHL broadcasts.

BIG TEN, PAC-12 OFFICIALLY POSTPONE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASONS

• The Big Ten and Pac-12 made history this afternoon by becoming the first two Power Five conferences to postpone fall sports, severely altering the college football season. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren in a statement said, "As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall."

• Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott in his conference's statement noted that while its plan to keep student-athletes safe "was working in accordance with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee guidelines and state and local government orders, the situation was becoming more challenging." Both conferences announced intentions to explore spring seasons for all impacted sports, although the likelihood of successfully delaying the football season appears extremely unlikely.

• The SEC, ACC and Big 12 are now on the clock, having already announced drastic scheduling changes but so far standing firm on not canceling the season just yet. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey joined "Good Morning America" this morning, before the Big Ten and Pac-12 decisions, to break down his conference's current strategy for the football season. He said, "We have not been through this before so the longer you take to make decisions, the better information you'll have available ... and that has been wise counsel."

WHAT WILL BE NEXT DOMINOES TO FALL?

• In tonight's edition of SBJ College, Michael Smith reports that the ACC and SEC are inclined to keep moving toward a season as long as the Big 12 comes along. If the Big 12 opts out, it becomes tougher for the ACC and SEC to play. Both the Big Ten and Pac-12 say they’ll consider options in the spring, but that’s a non-starter for a lot of administrators. Playing two full football seasons in one calendar year would be asking a lot of the college athletes. An alternative: Play a three-game series of games at the end of spring practice, make a little money, and get fans back in the stadium.

• What fills the void in the absence of college football this fall? The NFL could move a portion of its games to Saturdays. Then there is Don Yee’s developmental football enterprise that combines games and workouts. Yee, the agent for Tom Brady, could look very opportunistic here.

• Smith: "I find myself asking this question a lot: Does this year count? It applies to media contracts, sponsorships, athlete eligibility, coaches’ contracts, season tickets and donations. Does everything roll over to 2021 as if 2020 never happened? There will be a lot to figure out in the aftermath of canceled seasons."

• Read more analysis of today's historic decisions in SBJ College.

ESPN PIVOTS AFTER COLLEGE FOOTBALL DECISIONS

• News of the Big Ten's decision this afternoon began to break shortly before 3:00pm ET, so ESPN quickly shifted the focus of "NFL Live" to cover the ramifications. The show became a defacto edition of "College GameDay," with Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Rece Davis all joining the show to give their reactions live on air.

• "NFL Live," which normally ends at 3:00, stayed on the air for another hour with Field Yates anchoring the coverage of the developing news and "The Jump" moving over to ESPN2. At 4:00, Kevin Negandhi and Sage Steele came on air for a special edition of SportsCenter, with ESPN covering the college football situation until the finale of the MLS is Back Tournament at 8:30.

ESPN's "NFL Live" turned into a defacto edition of "College GameDay" after the historic news

ACC MEDICAL ADVISOR CONFIDENT FOOTBALL CAN BE PLAYED THIS FALL

• As of now, the ACC still is planning to play football this fall, and a Duke doctor who is advising the conference believes it can be done safely, reports SBJ's Michael Smith. Before the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed their seasons today, Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease specialist who chairs the ACC’s medical advisory team, confidently said he expects the conference to continue its steady march toward a football season. While the unpredictable coronavirus poses a risk, Wolfe said doctors have learned enough over the last six months to understand how to manage that risk.

• “We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe,” Wolfe told SBJ. “Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that’s no different than living as a student on campus.”

• Wolfe’s optimism helps explain why the ACC has remained steadfast in its desire to play this season, while others have waffled. As of today, the ACC is set to begin its season Sept. 12 with an 11-game schedule, although other factors could come into play, including what the other FBS conferences do.

• Read more about Wolfe's thoughts for playing a safe season here.

MLS CONCLUDING ORLANDO TOURNAMENT AFTER SUCCESS WITH BUBBLE

• The MLS is Back Tournament concludes tonight as the Timbers face off against Orlando City SC, in what has largely been a success for the league, writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. After FC Dallas and Nashville SC withdrew early from the Orlando-based tournament based on too many positive COVID-19 tests, MLS continued forward with a 24-team format. Over nearly the past month, the league has reported zero positive tests inside the bubble.

• MLS and its media partners have used the unique format as a means to push innovation and experiment with different technologies. The broadcast experience has featured virtual Jumbotrons, where cheering fans have been included in the feed while social media posts and commercial messaging have populated the screens. Virtual advertising has been a large component of the television product as well as drone coverage, embedded turf microphones and live look-ins to VAR. ESPN has opted for natural sounds of the game, while Fox Sports has piped in artificial crowd noise.

• Following tonight’s championship match, MLS will press on with the 2020 season, which will include limited fan capacity in select markets like Salt Lake City, Dallas and K.C., while others will have no fans for the foreseeable future. How MLS will control COVID outside of the bubble-type environment remains to be seen.

• Hear more of Burns' breakdown of MLS' bubble experiment in this SBJ Instant Insight video.

PLAYOFF BUBBLE COULD SECURE SAFE FINISH TO MLB SEASON

• It's no surprise that MLB is in preliminary discussions about the feasibility of staging its postseason in multiple bubble-like environments, writes SBJ's Eric Prisbell. The surprise would be if those in the commissioner's office were not exploring the concept, considering how well similar constructs have worked thus far to minimize contagion in the NBA, NHL and MLS.

• The value of having a secure bubble-like environment has been amplified in light of how swiftly the virus spread within the Marlins and Cardinals organizations. Such an outbreak impacting a playoff team in October could render staging a successful 16-team postseason, which is expected to generate some $1 billion in revenue for the league, untenable. MLB officials have been steadfast that the postseason needs to be concluded in October because its medical experts caution about the risk of a strong second wave of the virus.

• While Southern California, Chicago and N.Y. appear to be strong contenders in a potential multi-city hub construct, there is of course the potential that one of those cities could become a severe COVID-19 hot spot in the next two months. But the recent spike in cases in Florida has not hindered the NBA from having success thus far in its Orlando bubble.

• Another challenge is adequately sanitizing clubhouses if multiple games are played in a venue in one day. But tackling those challenges proactively pale in comparison to dealing with a potential outbreak within a playoff team while trying to maintain the integrity of the postseason and minimize further contagion.  

BRANDS SPENDING BIG DURING NBA, NHL RESTARTS

• Since the NHL and NBA returned to play less than two weeks ago, 472 different brands have combined to spend more than $168 million in advertising during game telecasts, according to iSpotv data analyzed by SBJ’s David Broughton. The brands aired nearly 7,500 commercials which generated 6.7 billion impressions. The data includes spots that aired on live, national, linear telecasts but excludes "in-house" promos for the leagues, their affiliates and the networks themselves.

• In the NHL, U.S. partners Jägermeister and New Amsterdam Vodka each sponsor six of the teams who qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs and were among the brands who generated the most impressions. On the basketball side, Hyundai, who is not an NBA partner, was the league’s biggest advertiser and received the most impressions, primarily via its “Tucson Buddy” spot, created by Innocean USA.

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SPEED READS

• The Spring League is "scheduling a six-team football tournament in Las Vegas in October, using a bubble concept that would be the first of its kind in the sport during the coronavirus pandemic," according to ESPN. The teams would be "stocked mostly with players who were released by NFL teams, according to The Spring League CEO Brian Woods." But it would also "include 20-30 college players from FBS Power 5 schools that either opted out of playing in 2020 or had their seasons canceled."

• NASCAR has added BetMGM as an authorized sports betting operator, a key expansion for the sanctioning body, writes SBJ's Bill King, as NASCAR launched its official data offering only a month before the pandemic paused sports. Along with access to official streaming data through distributor Genius Sports, BetMGM gets rights to NASCAR marks across its digital platforms, along with access to joint promotions.

• HBO's "Hard Knocks" premieres its new season tonight at 10:00pm ET and is "attempting something new," chronicling two teams -- the Rams and Chargers -- for the first time in the show's 15 season. The show "was supposed to detail how two franchises attempting to rebound from disappointing seasons approached a year of excitement as they moved into a sparkling new multibillion-dollar stadium." But NFL Films VP & Senior Coordinating Producer Ken Rodgers said that because of the coronavirus, his group "must stretch and tell a broader story."

NEWS YOU NEED FROM SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY

• During this crisis impacting the sports business, we want everyone to be up-to-date on the latest news and information. Select stories from Sports Business Daily are free, outside the paywall, for the foreseeable future. Below are today's headlines:
        
  • Source: SEC Presidents Not Ready To Make Decision On Football
  • MWC's Fall Sports Still May Have Spring Option After Postponement
  • Source: NHL's Expanded Pandemic Playoff Format Not Likely To Stay

SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

• Check out the most recent editions of our "SBJ Unpacks" podcasts around COVID-19:
  
  
  
  • SBJ's Adam Stern and Bill King discuss NASCAR's attempts to allow fans to attend their races and its impact on the rest of the sports industry.
    
    
  • Flyers Chief Business Officer Mike Shane on the No. 1 seed’s plans to keep fans engaged through the Stanley Cup playoffs..
    
    
  • NBC Sports analyst and part-time IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe on what to expect from a fan-less Indy 500.
    
    

Something related to coronavirus and sports business catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it.