SBJ Media: ACC's Pluck Of The Irish

RIP to former Caps/Wizards/Mystics co-owner Irene Pollin, who died Tuesday at the age of 96.

NBC REVENUE KEY PART OF NOTRE DAME-ACC DEAL

• The headline today is that as of July 29, the ACC still intends to play football this fall. An underlying media story behind the conference’s decision is just as compelling: Notre Dame will compete for an ACC championship, my colleague Michael Smith reports. The big winner today is the ACC. The conference convinced Notre Dame to turn over its annual media rights revenue from NBC to the ACC, where it will be distributed evenly among its members. In exchange, the Irish will play a 10-game conference schedule, another huge a win for the league as well. Notre Dame’s contract with the ACC stipulates that the Irish must join the ACC if they join anywhere before 2036.
  
  
• The Fighting Irish staunchly have defended their independence in football. Still, you didn’t have to look too deep into this late afternoon announcement to question whether the Irish could be convinced to join the ACC in football permanently. The experts who talked to Smith don’t see that happening. Football independence, as difficult as it can be to schedule, works for the national brand that is Notre Dame.
  
  
• The school has made no secret that its preference is to make its own schedule each year. What could change that? The thrill of a run to the conference championship, a title game matchup against Clemson and the huge ratings boom such a matchup would provide. You never know how people -- and teams -- will react to something until they experience it.

Notre Dame will play a 10-game ACC schedule as part of the 2020 agreement

NHL'S MAYER: "WE'RE PUTTING THIS ON FOR FANS"

• Two days ago, NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer was conducting an interview from a center ice suite in Edmonton -- “the best suite in the house,” he said. As he was making a point, he gestured toward the ice and saw that his view was blocked by a huge truss built to hold a video camera. For Mayer, that was emblematic of all the changes that are coming to the NHL’s TV productions when the league returns to play this weekend. “We could never have put this camera in this position,” Mayer said. “Our philosophy is that we’re putting this on for fans at home. This is a made for television event.”
  
  
• Some of those changes were easy to see during the first exhibition games on NBCSN yesterday. The new camera positions allowed NBC to use tighter shots, which kept viewers from noticing empty stands. They put tarps, complete with sponsor logos, over some seats in the first level. They surrounded the rink with eight LED screens to allow for additional graphics. They lowered the center ice scoreboard close enough to the ice so that it becomes part of the production. “We’ve taken essentially a 19,000-seat arena out of play,” Mayer said. “You’ll see a few empty seats. But for the most part, those are gone… We built essentially a television set that comes to life with LED screens and graphics.”
  
  
• As for enhanced audio: NBC will use pumped-in crowd noise, using EA Sports’ library of sounds from every NHL arena. Imagine a “Let’s Go Rangers” chant or a “Let’s Go Flyers” chant when those teams play. Neither NBC nor Sportsnet will use virtual fans. “Generally, our philosophies are all the same as NBC and Sportsnet,” Mayer said. “We’re not going to have different broadcasters do different things. ... Both venues have the same complement of cameras. The positions are similar. Our philosophy is similar. Our philosophy is to add crowd noise to the broadcast and where moments call for it, to rise different sounds.”

New camera positions allowed NBC to use tighter shots, which kept viewers from noticing empty stands

ESPN ADJUSTING FOR NBA BUBBLE PRODUCTION

• Without courtside fans in the Orlando bubble, Turner Sports and ESPN will use that front-row space for a new angle called “rail cam,” SBJ’s Austin Karp notes. ESPN, who will share the cameras on site with Turner, will use rail cam to deliver a look-and-feel similar to how NBC has produced shots for Olympic swimming and track & field events.
  
  
• The trick is in figuring out when to use the rail cam, ESPN VP/Production Mike Shiffman said. Sometimes a ref will run in front of the camera, obstructing the shot. Other times, “If Russell Westbrook has the ball, who often times darts to the hoop, you probably don’t want to go to rail cam because his speed, you may miss it,” Shiffman said. “Maybe if someone who is more deliberate has the ball on the near side, you may go to it live.”
  
  
• The art of calling games in a gym with no fans has been "seamless" for ESPN’s crew of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Doris Burke and Mark Jones, Shiffman said. “After the first half of their first scrimmage rehearsal, they said they were ready to go. Adjusted to the different site lines and being up and not courtside. We have looked for opportunities, and will continue to do so when it’s appropriate, to lay out a little bit and take in the sounds of the game. The squeaks and the chatter.”

BY THE NUMBERS

• After getting off to a slow start on Saturday night with D-backs and Padres (279,000 viewers), FS1 bounced back last night with a 2017 World Series rematch. The channel averaged 612,000 viewers for Dodgers-Astros, which is well above FS1's average of 340,000 viewers for all games last season. Dodgers-Astros also was the most-watched MLB game on FS1 since Yankees-Dodgers scored 734,000 viewers on Aug. 24 last season.
  
  
• The numbers weren’t as good for MLS, which is in the round of 16 for its bubble tournament in Orlando. Last night’s early game (Minnesota United-Crew) on ESPN averaged 240,000 viewers, a figure that is down 20% from the tournament’s 8:00pm ET window average so far. The late game (Timbers-FC Cincinnati) averaged 230,000 viewers, an audience that is flat with the tournament’s 10:30pm window average so far.

SPEED READS

• CBS Sports Network -- the cable channel -- will carry the UEFA Champions League final, plus two round of 16 matches (Manchester City-Real Madrid on Aug. 7 and FC Barcelona-Napoli on Aug. 8). All other matches will be streamed via CBS All Access (which is offering a free month of access). Having the finale on CBS was likely not an option, as the broadcast network will be carrying the final round of the first event in the FedExCup Playoffs. Check out CBS' full UCL schedule here.
  
  
• The LPGA returns to play this weekend, and for the first time, Golf Channel will have an entire group mic'd up for a round. The network will have three players wearing microphones during second-round play on Saturday at Inverness Club in Toledo. Golf Channel and the LPGA have not yet identified which group will be mic'd up.
  
  
• I discussed the state of TV ad sales this fall as part of SBJ’s Instant Insight series.
  
  
• Last week was a big one for former Fox Sports exec David Nathanson. On Tuesday, Nathanson was listed as one of the founding owners of Angel City FC, the new NWSL club. Two days later, as part of the NHL ownership group in Seattle, Nathanson was on hand to unveil the Seattle Kraken’s new name.
  
  
• Michael Grebb left his position as publisher of Cablefax. In tonight’s issue, Editorial Director Amy Maclean wrote: “During his 14 years with the brand, he was a dedicated, insightful leader and partner -- and Cablefax is the better for it.” I’m a fan of Grebb, who replaced me at Cablefax when I moved to SBJ 14 years ago. I’m looking forward to seeing what his next gig will be.
  
  
• BT Sport and Insight TV will co-produce a six-part reality series on women’s soccer dubbed "Ultimate Goal." Premiering later this year in the U.K. and Ireland, the series will follow 28 women as they compete for a spot in a one-off match in front of pro scouts.
  
  
• As a parent with two kids in college, I was fascinated by this N.Y. Times story that details how many COVID-19 cases are on college campuses. My house’s scorecard: one at Temple; none at Holy Cross.
  
  
• ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, on calling next week’s PGA Championship from first swing to last putt: “My father worked as a plumber. He wore boots to work, and they put makeup on me. It's hard work relative to what you do in terms of a broadcast day. But when your goal is to be the opening tee shot to final putt, which we did for years at the Open Championship, where we'll be trying to do it here at Harding Park, it does mean that you're there very, very early in the morning.”

THE LAST WORD

• I’m going to give the last word tonight to NBC Sports Washington analyst Craig Laughlin, who tweeted a picture from the RSN’s Bethesda, Md., studio where he called today’s exhibition game between the Capitals and Hurricanes with Joe Beninati. To adhere to social distancing guidelines, the two long-time broadcasters were separated by a plastic covering.

NBC Sports Washington had Joe Beninati (pictured) and Craig Laughlin separated by a plastic covering

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Something on the Media beat catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).