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SBJ Unpacks: NFL Hoping For Clean Weekend


Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: The NFL braces for more potential schedule shifts as it hopes to keep Week 7 in tact.

  • The NHL postpones Winter Classic, All-Star Game
  • MLB Network working around unique World Series
  • Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Ball Corp. sign huge deal
  • Fox Sports Florida GM on busy schedule
  • A look at the political leanings of NFL fan bases

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BUCS-RAIDERS MOVED OFF "SNF" IN LATEST NFL SCHEDULING SHIFT

  • The NFL has taken Buccaneers-Raiders off NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast this weekend, swapping it with Seahawks-Cardinals. The switch was taken to protect NBC‘s window in case the Raiders’ COVID-19 cases force a postponement, notes SBJ's Ben Fischer.
  • However, the league said the switch was made out of “an abundance of caution” and officials currently expect all games to be played. The Raiders are awaiting contact tracing results to determine the extent of COVID spread.
  • With postponements already impacting the league this year, ESPN's Adam Schefter notes the Bucs-Raiders matchup "always can be pushed back" to another day or week on the schedule, "though that is not in the NFL’s plans at this time."

 

NHL POSTPONES 2021 WINTER CLASSIC, ALL-STAR WEEKEND

  • The NHL today announced the postponements of the 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic and 2021 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. The Winter Classic, featuring the Wild facing the Blues at Target Field in Minneapolis, was originally scheduled for Jan. 1.
  • The Panthers were to host the All-Star Weekend at BB&T Center, originally scheduled for Jan. 29-30. Both events have been postponed due to the ongoing uncertainty resulting from the coronavirus. The NHL intends to return to both Minnesota and Florida for these signature events in the near future.
  • The NHL added that the announcement does not impact the league and NHLPA's intentions to begin the next season "on or around Jan. 1."

 

MLB NETWORK PIVOTING AROUND ABNORMAL WORLD SERIES 

  • MLB Network's on-location World Series set, normally on the field, is located on the left-field concourse this year. The "Intentional Talk" and "MLB Tonight" pre- and post-game are originating from Globe Life Field, while "High Heat" and "MLB Now" have remained in Secaucus, N.J. "We're taking advantage of it," MLBN VP/Remote Operations Tom Guidice told SBJ's Eric Prisbell. "We have some really good looks from this location and can show off this new ballpark. We need six feet of separation, so we can only have a host and analyst on our main set."
  • Typically, players would just walk over to the set for interviews before and after games. This year they speak to Jon Morosi, the net's on-field reporter, who is designated as a Tier 2 individual, after he quarantined for eight days.
  • MLBN Senior Coordinating Producer Marc Caiafa said, "We have cameras on both sides, in both dugouts. They are our lifeline to players communicating with our talent on the desk in left field. Jon interviews a player and feeds it back to the truck and then it's inserted into the show."
  • MLBN has roughly 100 staffers on site -- at least 40 fewer than normal. Guidice said knowing the World Series location ahead of time and having a retractable roof made it a little easier to set up. "The equalizer was dealing with COVID-19 and all of the procedures we needed to deal with our crew to keep everyone safe," he said. "... We'll get it done seamlessly. It's business as usual, just on a smaller scale."

 

MLB Network's World Series set is on the left-field concourse at Globe Life Field

 

KROENKE SPORTS, BALL CORP. PARTNER FOR PORTFOLIO-WIDE DEAL

  • Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced a massive sponsorship deal this morning with The Ball Corp., reports SBJ's Terry Lefton, giving the Colorado-based packing company entitlement to the Denver arena which houses the Nuggets, Avalanche and NLL Mammoth; marketing rights both at SoFi Stadium and with the Rams; and rights to EPL club Arsenal.
  • The arena, which has been known as Pepsi Center since it opened in 1999, will now be known as Ball Arena. Temporary arena signage began going up today. Ball is seeking to position aluminum as consumers’ best choice in beverage packaging at a time sustainability is increasingly vital.
  • While Ball does not come from a traditional sponsorship category, especially for naming rights, these are not short-term commitments. The venue and team deals in Denver are for 10 years, while the others are five-year pacts. The multi-layered deal took around a year to complete.
  • Click here to read all the details SBJ has on the deal.

 

FS FLORIDA GM DISHES ON HOT TAMPA MARKET, SHIFTING RSN LANDSCAPE

  • Fox Sports Florida Senior VP & GM Steve Tello has been busy covering one of America’s hottest sports markets -- Tampa. The Lightning held a Stanley Cup celebration two days after winning the title last month. "They did a boat parade in downtown Tampa, and then they wound up in Raymond James Stadium for the larger presentation for fans to attend. ... We covered it all live," Tello told SBJ's Andrew Levin.
  • Not wanting to jinx the Rays, who are tied 1-1 with the Dodgers, Tello declined to comment on any potential World Series celebration plans. However, FS Florida is doing plenty around the Rays. “We’re doing pre- and post-games with our announcers, familiar faces making their commentary ... and promoting the game, the stars and the progress,” Tello noted.
  • With many sports seeing viewership declines this year, Tello is confident ratings will "settle back in to a normal pentameter" by 2021 or 2022. “There were just so many games, so intense, in different times of the year," he said. "When you have playoffs that typically would be in June or July in September, it just didn’t have the same momentum.”
  • Tello said Sinclair is "still learning the ins-and-outs of the sports business" since purchasing the Fox-branded RSNs in 2019. "They have 191 television stations. They have big operations, a lot of news operations," he said. "Slightly different line of work here and they are learning. ... As far as the day-to-day operation, production, production needs, there has been no change."

 

 

A LOOK AT HOW NFL FAN BASES VARY BY POLITICS

  • SBJ's Ben Fischer takes a look at the political leanings within NFL fan bases, according to data from StatSocial. The social metrics firm found that Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 among Seahawks and 49ers fans, while the reverse is true for the Cowboys and Titans. Check out the chart below, which shows where every team stands.

 

 

SPEED READS

  • Fox drew another record-low World Series audience with Game 2 last night, SBJ’s Austin Karp notes. The Rays’ 6-4 win over the Dodgers averaged 8.95 million viewers, below the previous low set for Game 1 on Tuesday night (9.195 million). Despite the decline, Fox did win primetime again among all networks.
  • The NBA has settled on its plans for the 2020 Draft as ESPN’s Bristol studios will host the virtual event on Nov. 18, at 7:00pm ET. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum will appear in studio to announce the selections for the first and second rounds, respectively. Select draftees, including many of the potential top picks, will appear virtually.
  • A filing with the FEC today shows that Twitter has terminated its PAC, “donating its remaining cash to a pair of nonprofit charitable organizations that preach inclusion and diversity,” Business Insider reports. The PAC’s remaining $117,178 was split between two entities, one of which is the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, the effort spearheaded by Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross that “aims to ‘eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice and improve race relations’ throughout athletics.”

 

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SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

 

 

Nov. 1 Deadline For Forty Under 40 Nominations Approaching

Sports Business Journal will recognize the next generation of sports leaders with the 2021 Class of Forty Under 40

Do you know a young sports business executive whose work is leading and reshaping the industry? Do not miss your chance to nominate them for this honor.

Visit www.FortyUnder40Awards.com to nominate yourself or someone else. 

Nominations close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 1.

 

 

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