Tonight in Unpackings: The World Series is available in more than 223 countries, but this year, SBJ’s Erik Bacharach reports that MLB has made a concerted effort to localize it in markets such as the United Kingdom and India.
- Rangers get All-Star Week test drive with World Series appearance
- Media Innovators Roundup: State of the RSN Market and More
- Sources: Some NASCAR teams encouraged by charter status negotiations
- YouTube Executive on ‘Sunday Ticket’ Buffering: It Won’t Happen Again
Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcastwhere Joe Lemire reviews highlights from Media Innovators, the PGA Tour-Saudi PIF deal being in jeopardy, the NBA’s in-season tournament announcement and more.
Hours before Game 1 of the World Series, Melanie Newman stood on the field at Globe Life Field thinking not only about the Rangers and the D-backs, but also about something her Czech grandmother told her when she was growing up in Woodstock. , Georgia.
“She always said, ‘You should play football.’ It’s the sport of the world,” Newman said. During the regular season, Newman considers America’s national pastime as a MASN broadcaster, but she took on a global role during the playoffs calling games on the BBC, including as a play-by-play announcer. play for the first game of the Fall Classic, for the first time. the series was broadcast live on the British platform.
The start of a live broadcast of the World Series on the BBC is part of MLB’s broader international strategy which clearly targeted these postseasons in the United Kingdom and India. While the World Series was available in more than 223 countries and televised by 137 broadcasters in total, there was “a concerted effort to personalize content” for those two regions, said Dominick Balsamo, MLB senior vice president. /global media partnerships. This is another attempt to increase the influence MLB can have in the UK.
Read Erik Bacharach’s full story as part of a Early access to next week’s magazine.
The Rangers delighted their fans throughout the regular season, increasing their attendance by more than half a million compared to 2022 and increasing their RSN viewership by a league-leading 103%. They repaid that investment by giving their fans the one thing they never had: a World Series championship, eliminating the D-backs in five games to win the first title in the franchise’s 63-year history and in 52 seasons since moving to Texas. from Washington, D.C.
Yet while winning the World Series is every club’s goal, its status as an unpredictable, last-minute event when it comes to scheduling makes it a step below All-Star Week when it comes to to be baseball’s ultimate annual commercial extravaganza. So the Fall Classic served as both practice and “a huge benefit,” said Jeremiah Yolkut, MLB vice president/global events, for what the league and club will encounter in Texas in less than nine months.
Yolkut explained that the league used the World Series to conduct the preview and evaluation it would typically do in a host city during a self-guided visit in the fall. The real benefit, however, is seeing Globe Life Park and its surroundings bustling with sold-out crowds, and the opportunity that presents itself to assess entrances and exits, queues for stores, concessions and restrooms and many other game day items.
Read Erik Bacharach’s full story as part of a Early access to next week’s magazine.
One of the highlights of the Media Innovators conference on Thursday in New York, reports SBJ’s Na’Andre Emersonwas RSN’s roundtable hosted by SBJ’s John Ourand with Friday Abernethy, CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Dan Finnerty, VP & GM of Spectrum Networks, and Rebecca Schulte, former CEO of RSN, sharing their differences perspectives on the state of the company.
Finnerty described local sports rights as being “at a crossroads” as valuations at the local level “go down.” Schulte sees the local sports rights situation differently, saying it’s a “great time” for businesses. Abernethy shared that at MS&E, since the network is not a standalone RSN, they are affected differently being fully integrated into a larger sports and entertainment organization.
SBJ Media Innovators had a number of insightful discussions. Here’s a preview of the cover:
NASCAR tried to allay concerns about its lease offer to teams last week, and some teams came away from the meeting more encouraged about the prospects of a deal, sources tell SBJ’s Adam Stern.
It’s still unlikely that NASCAR and its premier series teams will be able to finalize a full deal until after NASCAR completes its next media rights deals, sources say, a tactical battle that NASCAR has won. This remains a point of frustration for teams, as they initially made their dissatisfaction public in 2022 regarding the state of the ownership model in an effort to restart negotiations. Sources said NASCAR Chairman Steve Phelps provided more clarity on the offer to teams, including how the sport plans to split the financial split among the 36 charters, which are NASCAR’s version of the franchise.
Also, Stern reports that NASCAR executives struck a confident tone as the 2023 season wraps up during the State of NASCAR press conference Friday.
YouTube has resolved technical issues that affected “NFL Sunday Ticket” during the busy 1 p.m. window last Sunday, said Lori Conkling, global head of media and sports partnerships. said SBJ’s Ben Fischer THURSDAY. “It’s completely toned down,” she said on stage at the SBJ Media Innovators conference in New York.
This week’s SBJ Football newsletter also covers:
- YouTube and the NFL advocate the long term
- Rich Eisen on 20 years with the NFL Network
- Raiders COO Mike Newquist out after three months
- Texans and Modelo happy with influencer suite project
NRG’s surprising playoff run at Riot Games’ League of Legends World Championship may be over, but the aftermath certainly isn’t. When Andy Miller, former co-owner of the Sacramento Kings and founder and CEO of NRG, purchased Counter-Logic Gaming’s spot in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) last April, it was met with vitriol. NOW, reports SBJ’s Kevin Hittthe only team from outside Asia to make the tournament’s top eight, has people jumping on its bandwagon — Miller and NRG plan to go all the way to the bank.
Also in this week’s SBJ Esports newsletter, Hitt reports on the state of Dota 2’s The International, what has traditionally been the world’s most lucrative esports event, and what its future looks like now that Valve withdraws from the management of esports.
- Spurs F Victor Wembanyama is already pulling in big numbers when it comes to the NBA’s various platforms. He has attracted 377 million views on NBA Social and the NBA app since October 1, the most of any player so far this season. In France, the League Pass audience has increased by more than 200%, and its jersey is second in sales after just three months on the NBA Store in its home country.
- WME has signed star prep OT prospect David Sanders Jr. for NIL representation. He is part of the Class of 2025 at Providence Day School in Charlotte and is already considered a 5-star college recruit.
- Viewership for NHL telecasts on U.S.-based RSN networks during the first weeks of the season was up double-digits compared to the start of last season, largely due to the arrival of the highly publicized Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard, reports SBJ’s Alex Silverman.
- The MLS Next Pro developmental league is recruiting an independent team based in Jacksonville, which will become the third such entry into the league, writes Silverman.
- The TCS New York City Marathon has made several improvements to its app, such as adding cameras at different points along the course so users can see runners passing and improved tracking with additional timing mats, notes Rachel Axon of SBJ.
- CBS on Friday marked 100 days until its coverage of Super Bowl LVIII, with the network and its parent company bringing 100 “Paramount Mountaineers” to Times Square as part of the “Journey to the Top” theme. Participants included “CBS Mornings” co-host and NFL analyst Nate Burleson, analyst Bill Cowher and “The Amazing Race” host Phil Keoghan.
