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Top Stories​ Apple Inc. has reportedly had significant talks with MLB about carrying a package of weekday national games during the 2022 season — a move that would mark the technology giant's long-awaited foray into live sports broadcasting. ESPN last year opted not to retain the slate of Monday and Wednesday games being discussed, which were not exclusive to the network in the local markets of participating teams. (New York Post) The University of Georgia earned a 33-18 win over conference rival Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship game before a crowd of 68,311 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, marking the school's first football title since 1980. The win was also Georgia coach Kirby Smart's first victory against Alabama coach Nick Saban, whom Smart previously served under as an assistant coach. (ESPN) The College Football Playoff Management Committee reportedly concluded three days of meetings without making any significant progress toward expansion of the event's four-team field, making it increasingly unlikely that a new format will be implemented before the expiration of the CFP's contract with ESPN in 2026. Several committee members publicly expressed frustration about gridlock on the issue, and sources said the lack of progress prompted Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby to abruptly leave Sunday's meetings. (Yahoo Sports)

Chart Review​ The NFL Really Does Revolve Around Tom Brady FiveThirtyEight MEDIA Crypto companies are making aggressive last-minute bids for the sold-out Super Bowl Claire Atkinson, Insider The Super Bowl may have sold out of ads back in September, but that isn't stopping some last-minute advertisers from holding multi-million dollar negotiations with NBCUniversal to get into next month's game in Los Angeles, TV ad industry sources say. GM Is Coming Back To The Super Bowl E.J. Schultz, Ad Age General Motors will make an appearance in the Super Bowl for the third straight year. The automaker confirmed it has bought ad time for the Feb. 13 game but declined to provide details. WarnerMedia Renews Comcast Carriage Deal, CNN Plus to Become Available on Xfinity Platforms Jennifer Maas, Variety WarnerMedia has renewed its carriage deal with Comcast's cable systems. This multi-year pact will ensure WarnerMedia's cable channels, including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TCM, truTV, HLN and CNN en Español, plus on-demand and TVE content, continue to be available to Comcast customers.

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Bowl Cancellations Cost Sponsors $13.7 Million In TV Exposure This Year Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico The title sponsors of the five canceled college football bowl games lost out on $13.7 million of television exposure when their games were called off, according to data calculated by Apex Marketing Group. To calculate the numbers, Apex looked at viewership trends from this year and 2019, the last pre-pandemic bowl season, to estimate an audience size. AAC will cover Military Bowl expenses for ECU Stephen Igoe, 247Sports East Carolina's athletic department was set to take a substantial financial hit as a result of the canceled Military Bowl, but the American Athletic Conference has come to the Pirates' aid. UC winning on the field, but losing money at sports Dan Monk, WCPO The University of Cincinnati lost $27.6 million on its sports offerings in the 12 months ending June 30, 2021. The deficits were the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which robbed football and basketball teams of ticket revenue and university subsidies having to cover 43% of expenses.

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