Top Stories
Media
Advertisers Seek Right to Cancel TV Spending as Pandemic Roils Fall Season
Alexandra Bruell, The Wall Street Journal
Advertisers are pressing for unprecedented flexibility to back out of monthslong spending commitments with TV networks, concerned that the coronavirus pandemic is sapping the fall schedule of new programming and threatening the National Football League's season. Chris Brandt, CMO for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., now is asking networks for the ability to back out of spending commitments if professional football games get canceled.
NBC Sports Bring Women's Super League to U.S. in Season-long Deal
World Soccer Talk
NBC Sports this weekend kicks off a season-long deal to broadcast the FA Women's Super League, highlighted by this Sunday's U.S. television debut match between Manchester United and defending champions Chelsea at Noon ET on NBCSN. Through the partnership between NBC Sports and Atalanta Media, NBC Sports will present 50 league matches between September and May across NBC Sports platforms, including at least 12 matches on NBCSN.
Booger McFarland Is Returning to ABC's College Football Studio Coverage This Fall
Joe Lucia, Awful Announcing
ESPN announced the move in its college football studio release today. McFarland will work with Kevin Negandhi and Mark Sanchez, who replaced Mack Brown last summer. The studio role really suited McFarland better than his game analyst job, and given Jonathan Vilma's departure, slotting him back into this position simply makes sense.
Q&A: Will Cain Weighs In On Whether ESPN Is Too 'Politically Correct'
Michael McCarthy, Front Office Sports
Cain argues that the NFL - whose TV audiences fell 8% and 10% during the 2016-2017 seasons when players followed Colin Kaepernick by taking a knee on the field - is once again in danger of losing viewers. Cain, who thinks of himself as a TV gunslinger, has similar concerns for the NBA and WNBA following player strikes.
College Sports
Memo: NCAA to furlough its entire staff for 3-8 weeks
Ralph D. Russo, The Associated Press
Starting Sept. 21 through the end of January 2021, all national office staff will be subjected to a mandatory three-week furlough, Emmert wrote. Some staff will be furloughed up to eight weeks, depending on position and "seasonal timing of their duties." The furloughs will not affect senior executives.
College Football Rule Changes: Quicker Replays, Zeros on Jerseys and Social Distancing
Alan Blinder, The New York Times
College football is supposed to return in force this month, with the first Football Bowl Subdivision games scheduled for Thursday. If it does - with stadiums enforcing social distancing, players and coaches in masks on the sidelines and tailgating banned on many campuses - the sport's rules will be a little different.
--Morning Consult
GBO
Ma
- The PGA Tour revealed that its 2020-21 season, which begins Monday, will feature 50 events, the most in any season since 1975, including 14 tournaments that were canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The slate contains a total of six majors, with the U.S. Open and the Masters each being contested twice due to the postponement of the 2020 editions, and the men's Olympic golf competition in Japan will take place as a stand-alone event for the first time. (Golfweek)
- Boxer Canelo Álvarez and Golden Boy Promotions are locked in a dispute with U.K.-based streamer DAZN over a $35 million payment guaranteed to the Mexican fighter under the five-year contract signed by Golden Boy and DAZN in 2018, according to sources. The contract calls for Golden Boy to deliver two Álvarez fights per year, including one against a premier opponent based on DAZN's discretion, but senior officials at the media company have reportedly been underwhelmed with the matchups provided by Golden Boy and say neither of Álvarez's 2019 opponents - Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev - meet that standard. (The Athletic)
- Iowa State University scrapped plans it had announced earlier this week to host 25,000 fans at its season-opening football game on Sept. 12 amid widespread criticism, including from the county health board chairman, who called the decision "irresponsible." The initial news of the school's plans to host fans came on the same day that The New York Times identified its hometown of Ames as the top coronavirus "hot spot" in the nation and a day after the White House advised the state of Iowa that more significant measures were needed to slow the spread of the virus. (Des Moines Register)
Media
Advertisers Seek Right to Cancel TV Spending as Pandemic Roils Fall Season
Alexandra Bruell, The Wall Street Journal
Advertisers are pressing for unprecedented flexibility to back out of monthslong spending commitments with TV networks, concerned that the coronavirus pandemic is sapping the fall schedule of new programming and threatening the National Football League's season. Chris Brandt, CMO for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., now is asking networks for the ability to back out of spending commitments if professional football games get canceled.
NBC Sports Bring Women's Super League to U.S. in Season-long Deal
World Soccer Talk
NBC Sports this weekend kicks off a season-long deal to broadcast the FA Women's Super League, highlighted by this Sunday's U.S. television debut match between Manchester United and defending champions Chelsea at Noon ET on NBCSN. Through the partnership between NBC Sports and Atalanta Media, NBC Sports will present 50 league matches between September and May across NBC Sports platforms, including at least 12 matches on NBCSN.
Booger McFarland Is Returning to ABC's College Football Studio Coverage This Fall
Joe Lucia, Awful Announcing
ESPN announced the move in its college football studio release today. McFarland will work with Kevin Negandhi and Mark Sanchez, who replaced Mack Brown last summer. The studio role really suited McFarland better than his game analyst job, and given Jonathan Vilma's departure, slotting him back into this position simply makes sense.
Q&A: Will Cain Weighs In On Whether ESPN Is Too 'Politically Correct'
Michael McCarthy, Front Office Sports
Cain argues that the NFL - whose TV audiences fell 8% and 10% during the 2016-2017 seasons when players followed Colin Kaepernick by taking a knee on the field - is once again in danger of losing viewers. Cain, who thinks of himself as a TV gunslinger, has similar concerns for the NBA and WNBA following player strikes.
College Sports
Memo: NCAA to furlough its entire staff for 3-8 weeks
Ralph D. Russo, The Associated Press
Starting Sept. 21 through the end of January 2021, all national office staff will be subjected to a mandatory three-week furlough, Emmert wrote. Some staff will be furloughed up to eight weeks, depending on position and "seasonal timing of their duties." The furloughs will not affect senior executives.
College Football Rule Changes: Quicker Replays, Zeros on Jerseys and Social Distancing
Alan Blinder, The New York Times
College football is supposed to return in force this month, with the first Football Bowl Subdivision games scheduled for Thursday. If it does - with stadiums enforcing social distancing, players and coaches in masks on the sidelines and tailgating banned on many campuses - the sport's rules will be a little different.
--Morning Consult
GBO
Ma
