#for a company that's planning to license more titles under it seven seas could have at least done that.

[theyilinglaozus]

So for those who, like myself, no longer have x/twitter and perhaps weren't aware, Seven Seas has come under fire again due to a recent licensing announcement.

On February 21st, Seven Seas announced that they had secured the rights to license the Kinnporsche novels into the English language:

This announcement was met with both positive and negative reaction; the negative focusing mainly on two points. The first being that Daemi, the authors for the original Kinnporsche novel, were already under fire for their behaviours and treatment towards an actor in the KP drama, among other questionable behaviours.

But the other main negative reaction stemmed not from the novel or authors that were licensed, but towards Seven Seas themselves.

Kinnporsche is the first Thai BL novel of this kind to be licensed under the Seven Seas name. Yet Seven Seas has caused upset because, despite coming from a different country entirely, they have still decided to brand Kinnporsche as a danmei title.

Many fans took to social media explaining why this was an incorrect thing to do, yet rather than listening to them as well as both the Chinese and Thai communities, they instead decided to edit their websites definition on what danmei means:

For those that perhaps aren't already aware, danmei as a genre specifically applies to Chinese works. It does not apply to any other outside country - and that includes Thai.

It isn't just China that has a unique name for their male/male genre novels. In Japan, similar titles can be called yaoi. Thai takes inspiration from the Japanese name for this genre, often referring to their works as Y.

"Although the term boys-love, or its abbreviation “BL”, is more prevalently used internationally to denote the genre, it is more commonly referred to as waai (วาย) or “Y” in Thai. This term is derived from the first letter of the Romanized spelling of the Japanese expression for the genre yaoi. The term waai functions as an adjective and can be added, according to Thai grammar, after any media formats, such as siirii waai (“Y” series), niyaai waai (“Y” novels), kaatuun waai (“Y” comics). So, the next time you encounter “Y” alongside any Thai series, you will now be able to recognize it as belonging to the BL genre." (source)

While boys' love is the overarching umbrella for all these genres, it is both important and respectful to refer to the genre name of the given country of origin for a novel. Seven Seas has chosen not to do this, and instead has decided to band everything together under the danmei umbrella. This is both wrong and misleading.

If Seven Seas wants to publish such works under a more open branch, they'd be better rebranding under the boys' love term. But they won't, due to the success they've already achieved from their past releases of Chinese danmei. It isn't fair to other Asian, non-Chinese releases to not be referred to by their own title of the genre. Many of these potential new releases we're seeing are the first to come from certain countries - do they not deserve the same respect upon release as others?

I've been in fandom a long time - long enough to see the Japanese yaoi genre grow from being something rarely known in the west to something that's grown hugely popular. I've been here from the beginning of these danmei releases in the past recent years. While seeing how reintroducing stories to new audiences can come with its own difficulties and growing pains, we've come far along enough in the years that there is little excuse for Seven Seas not to show more care and respect when it comes to the way they handle these things; especially given how they've already received backlash in the past with their danmei releases when it's come to concerns over translation, treatment of translators and their work, the decline in quality vs. the rise in time between volume releases, as well as arguments that they don't always do the required research into licensing a title beforehand.

Don't get me wrong, I love that Seven Seas is bringing some of our favorite titles over to us. I just wish that the people behind them cared a little more, especially when it comes to these sorts of things which could very easily be rectified/researched into in the first place.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on manga license announcement stuff from day one of Anime Expo under the cut

OK to get the anime stuff out the way first since there’s less I wanna say, I’m still annoyed at Funimation for not giving any details about their release of Yuri on Ice. Like seriously I just wanna know when it’s gonna come out and what bonuses it’ll have and how much it’ll cost. Ugh.

I’m happy that Orange is getting a physical release. I probably won’t buy it, but I appreciate that it exists. I really loved that anime, even if it had kinda crippling production issues, and a few elements of the ending were iffy. Oh well.

I thought Utena had already gotten a BD release, but I guess not. Definitely interested in that. It’ll probably be too expensive for me, though. But this does align well with the recent manga box-set. I’m really happy this series is getting more recognition and availability.

ANYWAY onto manga.

Looks like it was just Viz Media and Yen Press today. Seven Seas should be in a day or two. Kodansha and Vertical seem to have a joint booth going on, so I hope they can show off some licenses. I feel like it’s been ages since we’ve seen physical licenses from either of them. Kodansha’s been going all in on digital manga recently.

There’s really not much to say about Viz since they barely announced anything. Wow. I feel like it’s been MONTHS since they announced anything and now all they have is one shonen manga, one shojo manga, two kid’s books, and a novel??? Wow. Are they just saving some announcements for later? This is bizarre.

I’m very happy to see Fire Punch get licensed. I was actually about to suggest it to Seven Seas soon but I guess I don’t need to anymore. I definitely expected this to happen eventually, but it’s still a bit surprising. It makes sense, though. Since this is at least their third release from the Shonen Jump+ magazine, I really hope this is a good indicator that they might license Ao no Flag eventually. I’d LOVE to see that happen. I’m already planning to import it, and I’m going to still try and suggest it to Seven Seas, but Viz would be fine. Anyway, as for Fire Punch, I don’t actually know a lot about it but I feel contractually obligated to buy it because one of the major characters is apparently LGBT. So that’s amazing. Apparently they’re a trans man, which is even better. The only other trans male representation in manga I know of is in Shimanami Tasogare, so it’s a big deal. But the vague things I’ve heard about the story definitely intrigue me. And also I really like the design of the covers, so that helps. I’m probably going to buy this as it comes out, but I might still read it online first. Maybe.

I’m sorta let down that Shojo Beat’s new license is just Kenka Bancho Otome. Partly because it’s only two volumes long, and partly because the anime version of it isn’t super great. But I just have a personal issue with the ‘girl has to disguise herself as a boy for REASONS and oooooh romantic drama and misunderstandings ensue’ trope. Oh well. I wasn’t really expecting much from Shojo Beat anyway. I still want to buy some of their stuff, though.

I’m DEFINITELY gonna get the FMA Fullmetal Editions. That’s a pretty huge deal. Even if it’s . . . not really a NEW license, just a new edition of an existing series. I’ve never actually read or watched FMA, and part of that’s because I dislike the look of both the single editions of the manga and the omnibuses. I was gonna cave in and decide to get the omnibuses next year, but thankfully with this announcement I can just get these editions instead. Sadly this is gonna be eighteen volumes long, so it’s gonna take AGES to come out. And it’ll be expensive. Oh well.

Onto Yen Press, who definitely beat Viz in terms of sheer number of licenses, at least. Considering that a few months ago they licensed like 14+ titles, and this is another 20+, I’m starting to get genuinely concerned about them as a company. Can they keep this up? I’m just terrified of another Tokyopop situation happening. We’ll see.

I’m definitely vaguely interested in checking out Silver Spoon, but it wouldn’t be a huge priority. It’s hard to justify getting a series that relatively long if I’m not super into it, especially since it seems very . . . mellow and SoL-y. I’m happy for Arakawa fans, though. People have obviously been waiting years for this license to happen. The coincidental paired timing of this and the FMA Fullmetal Edition license is kinda amusing.

Hatsu Haru seems like it might be cute, and it’s nice to see Yen Press get more shojo titles. Not sure how interested I am in this, but I support their intent in getting it. Same with them picking up Stupid Love Comedy and Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. More shojo is always nice.

I’ve been vaguely interested in checking out Thou Shalt Not Die for a while, but if it’s just a digital license I’ll wait until they potentially do it physically. Which may not happen at all. Though they’ve been fairly good at bringing over a lot of their digital titles to physical format. I’m mostly interested in this because of Yoko Taro’s involvement. It’d be great to own something by him like this. Though I’ve heard iffy things about the manga itself. But then again I also like how he writes his video games whereas a lot of people don’t, so who knows how I’d feel about it.

Oh man they licensed the goddamn vending machine isekai manga. Holy shit. I feel like we’re quickly approaching a breaking point for the isekai genre in the west and soon enough it’s just gonna really irritate people.

I at least think there’s other LNs they could bring over that’d do better. Oh well. They got HakoMari and that’s all I care about.

And finally we have one of the more genuinely shocking announcements thus far. A goddamn Pandora Hearts box-set. HOLY SHIT. And it’s going to be done in a larger trim size? With preserved colour pages? Oh man. This is so genuinely agonizing to me. I just got the entire series less than a year ago, and now they announce a fucking box-set that’s gonna cost a few hundred dollars. Argh. I’m probably not going to be able to get this even though I desperately want to, and it’d be a nice way to re-read the series like I want to. Oh well. If the box set itself looks nice, which it probably will, that’ll be even more agonizing.

If they’re gonna do an entire box set for the series, for the love of god, I need an English version of the second art-book. I own the first one already and I love it but I’ve held off on importing the second one in case it gets licensed. I’d be amazed if it doesn’t get licensed eventually. I mean, it getting a box set is a pretty good indication of it’s popularity, and they have a good track record of doing multiple art-books for stuff like Black Butler and Soul Eater. So I just need the second Pandora Hearts artbook in my life.

I’m gonna be so fucking envious of people who can get this box set. ARGH. I want it so bad but it’s gonna be so impossible to buy, let alone justify buying.

So that’s basically it for today. Now to see if Kodansha and Vertical license anything at this con. And yeah in a day or two we’ll see Seven Seas’ licenses. I don’t think we’re getting anything more from Viz for now. Maybe at Comic-Con? Who knows.

I don’t have any clear wishes for what Kodansha or Vertical could license, though I guess I could see Vertical picking up March Comes In Like A Lion, which would be great.

For Seven Seas, literally all I care about is if they license Shimanami Tasogare, that’s it. That’s all I want from them. I’m gonna keep suggesting it every single month to them until they pick it up, or someone else does. I know that they might not have access to it since it’s a Shogakukan title, but who knows. I know that Viz would be more able to pick it up, but I just . . . doubt they would. They at least didn’t announce it at their panel, obviously. Mostly I’d just have my doubts about a company as ‘mainstream’ as Viz picking up a manga all about the topic of LGBT communities/discrimination [and also housing renovation in sea-side Japan, I guess]. Seven Seas seems far more likely to get such a title since they’ve made far more overt steps into the queer manga market, especially with My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, which was apparently a huge success for them, which is why I could see them picking up Shimanami Tasogare since it’s relatively similar in theme. But, honestly, Viz isn’t entirely out there as an option. They don’t exactly have much of a history with licensing manga with queer representation of any kind, but they’re improving. I’m quite excited for their upcoming release of Sweet Blue Flowers, in particular. I also highly appreciate that they licensed After Hours. That’s one of the main reasons why I think there’s a chance, since that’s a lesbian romance manga from the exact same magazine as Shimanami Tasogare. And they were hyping it up a fair bit on their twitter before. So it’s not too much of a stretch. I guess they also have experience with this magazine through their Dorohedoro license, as well. And this panel actually gives me slightly MORE hope than before, since Fire Punch is one of the only shonen manga running at the moment that has actual, legit queer representation in it, in a major way. I’m also SORTA sure it’s something people talk about a lot when the series comes up? So I assume Viz is aware of it on some level. So these recent steps into licensing manga with queer representation gives me hope that they might license Shimanami Tasogare. Until then, I’m gonna keep suggesting it to Seven Seas.

On a similar topic, as said above I’d love to see someone pick up Ao no Flag, and yeah I can see Viz doing that eventually. It all depends on how much of a western following it gets, though. Which it doesn’t have much of thus far. I probably wouldn’t expect any sort of a license announcement until next year at earliest. Oh well. But that’s another case of queer rep in shonen manga I want to see get licensed in English. At least, the manga definitely seems to be going in that direction. I’m fairly confident about it. I mean, it’s published in the same magazine as Fire Punch, so it’s not impossible.

Oh yeah, that reminds me that Viz also licensed Astra Lost in Space, which is also part of Shonen Jump+, and I think also has some good queer rep in it. Not sure what sort, though. But either way yeah that also adds a bit to what I’m saying about how Viz is getting better at getting manga with queer representation in them, which gives me a lot of hope in general. We’ll see.

Either way I’m gonna cross my fingers and hope for the best from Seven Seas’ upcoming panel. Even if it might not be until the day after tomorrow.

[rickhorrow]

15+5+5 To Watch : 71519

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 15

with Jacob Aere

As the men’s Open Championship holds court in Northern Ireland, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) has increased the prize money for this year’s Women’s British Open by 40% to a total purse of $4.5 million. The move will see the winner of the 2019 event take home $675,000, up from the $490,000 won last year by England’s Georgia Hall. Despite the increase, which makes the tournament the second highest prize fund of the five women’s majors, the pot remains significantly lower than the $10.75 million on offer for the men, with the winner of this month’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush set to claim $1.89 million. “We recognized that more needed to be done to elevate the prize fund for this great championship and are pleased that we have been able to make a significant increase this year as part of the R&A’s commitment to women’s golf,” said Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A. Next month’s Women’s British Open, which takes place at Woburn Golf Club August 1-4, will be the first under the tournament’s new five-year title sponsorship with finance and insurance firm AIG, which signed a deal in November last year to replace electronics company Ricoh.

Last week, a ticker-tape parade through Manhattan. Now, it's back to work. In the wake of the USWNT’s fourth World Cup title, boosting interest in the nine-team National Women's Soccer League, where all 23 members of the USWNT compete, is now top priority. As JohnWallStreet notes, capitalizing on the World Cup frenzy is easier said than done, especially when attendance is already a struggle. Portland averages 18,000 fans and Utah averages 11,000, but the other seven franchises average fewer than 5,000. While the NWSL still boasts the majority of the world's top players (including reigning world player of the year Marta), Europe is closing the gap. Wealthy clubs like Olympique Lyon and Barcelona have upped their investments in women's soccer, leading to a record seven European countries reaching this year's World Cup quarterfinals. If the NWSL can't keep up, the balance of power in the sport could ultimately shift — both at the club level (Americans could be lured overseas by bigger paychecks) and internationally (continued investment could threaten the USWNT's dominance). With the future of U.S. women's soccer at stake, the NWSL must seize the moment like never before.

Major soccer announcements followed the U.S. Women’s National Team winning the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. ESPN and the National Women’s Soccer League announced an agreement to carry 14 league matches that will close out the 2019 season. NWSL telecasts began July 14 on ESPNEWS, with the Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns. The NWSL Championship will air October 27 on ESPN2, with tickets going on sale this month. Boosting the NWSL’s cash flow: Budweiser just signed on as a major sponsor. And U.S. Soccer and Allstate locked in a multi-year partnership headlined by Allstate’s presenting sponsorship of the USWNT’s five-game Victory Tour. The tour begins August 3 when the USA hosts the Republic of Ireland at the Rose Bowl, carried on ESPN2. The next four matches of the Victory Tour will be held August 29, September 3, October 3, and October 6 at venues around the country. As part of its new sponsorship, Allstate becomes an official sponsor of the U.S. Women’s, Men’s, and Youth National Teams, as well as presenting sponsor of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and designates Allstate exclusively as the Official Insurance Sponsor of U.S. Soccer, through 2022.

87% of the top 30 advertisers that ran spots during the Women’s World Cup also did so during the Men’s World Cup last year, according to a MediaRadar study. “Looking at how top industries spent TV ad dollars on each tournament, we notice several similarities, but also some differences,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO and Co-Founder of MediaRadar. “Industries such as Retail and Media and Entertainment accounted for a similar share of the ad dollars in both tournaments, but then there were industries where the share of spend was noticeably different.” Industries that accounted for a larger share of spend during the men's tournament included Technology, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, and Beer, Wine and Spirits, while Finance & Real Estate, Apparel, Home Furnishings, and Toiletries and Cosmetics accounted for a larger share of spend during the women’s events. This is yet another sign that consumers, and their brands, view the women’s national team to be every bit as economically viable as the men’s.

DC-based educational technology leader EVERFI has partnerships with the NFL and United Way, as well as MLB, the NHL, and NBA. But it’s a recent alignment with the EPL that is taking up much of co-founder Jon Chapman's time these days. Chapman, who serves as EVERFI's head of global partnerships, last Friday spoke with SportsBusiness Daily about working with some of the premier leagues in sports, his favorite places to travel, and his family's most recent trip across the pond. "I recently got back from London after meeting with the EPL, and they’ve got a really innovative program called Primary Stars, which focuses on elementary age students. We are helping them bring that program to the U.S.,” Chapman said. “It’s a lot of fun working with this variety of leagues, and the way it came about is really just that the sports world is a small one. If you do well by one of the leagues, there’s a really strong network effect.” And as mental health issues and suicide rates climb across the U.S., EVERFI last week launched important new courses to help colleges and universities support students during transitional periods – a critical need as students return to campuses across the nation next month.

Media days are underway as college football prepares for its sesquicentennial. College football hits its 150th season this fall, and the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame highlighted celebrations taking place in the coming months to pay homage to the occasion. "The NFF has been in the vanguard of promoting the game for the past 73 years," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "And we wanted to take a leadership role in celebrating the 150th anniversary, including providing the office space for CFB150 at our corporate headquarters; staging events at the Hall in Atlanta; and incorporating the milestone into all of our key messaging whenever possible." Media days mark the unofficial "start" of the upcoming college football season, and no conference quite matches the spectacle that is SEC Media Days. July 15-18, the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham turns into a circus as reporters and fans from all over gather to cover the conference's 14 coaches and players. Farther west, the Big 12 looks solid. This year, the conference distributed $38.8 million per school. Its current TV contract expires in 2025, and there is no chatter about it folding like the whispers heard a few years ago. 

Minor League Baseball has announced its list of Top 25 teams in licensed merchandise sales for 2018, with the combined totals of all 160 teams setting a MiLB record with more than $73.8 million in retail sales. The $73.8 million total marks a 4.2% increase over 2017’s record total. The Top 25 list includes: Albuquerque Isotopes, Charleston RiverDogs, Charlotte Knights, Columbia Fireflies, Columbus Clippers, Corpus Christi Hooks, Durham Bulls, El Paso Chihuahuas, Fort Wayne TinCaps, Gwinnett Stripers, Hartford Yard Goats, Indianapolis Indians, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Nashville Sounds, Pawtucket Red Sox, Portland Sea Dogs, Richmond Flying Squirrels, Rochester Red Wings, Sacramento River Cats, Salt Lake Bees, San Antonio Missions, Tacoma Rainiers, Toledo Mud Hens, and Trenton Thunder. Rick recently spoke with Octagon Executive Vice President Woody Thompson, who leads that agency’s baseball practice. Here’s what Thompson shared: “Baseball has done a really great job. From a municipal standpoint, their engagement with these cities has been fantastic and the cities have really gotten behind it…Baseball has a place in this country in the hearts and minds of everybody. Whether you’re a kid or you’re an adult, baseball is there for you.”

After a Wimbledon for the ages, World Team Tennis, U.S. hardcourts return. Armed with new CEO Carlos Silva, two new franchises, a new TV partner, and a new streaming partner, World Team Tennis returns for its 44th season this month, with the eight-team league, which now includes the Vegas Rollers and Orlando Storm, and features 16 matches on CBS Sports channels July 14-August 3, including the league’s debut on broadcast TV July 21. While we won’t see Wimbledon champs Simona Halep and Novak Djokovic competing, this year’s WTT athletes include returning players Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Bob and Mike Bryan, Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka, Monica Puig, Eugenie Bouchard, and John Isner. Elsewhere, the 2019 Citi Open in Washington, DC will see fans offered a new fan experience showcasing D.C.’s “most innovative” culinary fare. Levy will be the exclusive food and beverage partner for the long-running tennis tournament. In a delicious new twist, Levy will rebrand concessions and VIP hospitality fare throughout the tournament grounds with customized menus from Chef Jose Andres and favored local D.C. eateries.

As David Beckham took in Wimbledon action on Centre Court, his MLS Inter Miami franchise secured permission from city commissioners to build a soccer-specific stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The motion was approved for the City of Fort Lauderdale to enter into a comprehensive agreement with Beckham’s MLS project to develop the Lockhart Stadium site. Inter Miami, which will join MLS in 2020, plans to invest up to $60 million to construct a state-of-the-art, 18,000-seat stadium at the site of the now demolished Lockhart Stadium. The venue will temporarily house the MLS franchise for two seasons while the club looks to construct a permanent stadium in Miami on a 73-acre site near Melreese golf course. Lockhart site construction will begin once the FAA approves the process due to the site’s proximity to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. Meanwhile, Beckham is working with his new Studio 99 content house and LeBron James’ Uninterrupted to co-produce a documentary series charting the launch of Inter Miami. Studio 99 already has a slate of projects in development with a broad focus beyond sports.

The New York Islanders have revealed plans for a new train station as part of their $1.26 billion redevelopment project at Belmont Park. The total train station cost, which will be part of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) line, is expected to be $105 million. $97 million of that figure will be funded by redevelopment group New York Arena Partners, with the state providing the remaining $8 million. According to Newsday, the train station will be partially open by 2021, when the Islanders hope to open their new arena, and fully operational by 2023. The service is expected to alleviate concerns over a lack of public transport to the Belmont Park site, which as well as a 19,000-seat arena and entertainment complex is to feature a 250-room hotel and 435,000 square feet of retail space. The announcement of Long Island’s first new LIRR station in nearly 50 years coincided with the release of new analysis of the project’s economic impact. The study claims that the new arena, hotel, and retail village will generate nearly $50 million in new public revenue per year and produce $725 million in annual economic output. 

Ever since Steve Ballmer bought the team, the Los Angeles Clippers have done their best to make an impression in a market long dominated by the Lakers. While the Lakers cratered last season, the Clippers created a blue-collar identity en route to a playoff appearance. With a net worth of $42 billion, Ballmer is the wealthiest owner in North American sports, and he's utilized that wealth to bulk up the Clippers' front office and medical staff — two areas of increasing importance in an era of load management. Off the court, the Clippers have carved out their own space in Los Angeles in hopes of attracting new fans and being viewed as much more than a little brother. Ballmer has donated more than $10 million to build 350 Clippers-branded public basketball courts throughout the city — a philanthropic effort that doubles as a way to win the hearts and minds of young L.A. residents. There are also plans for the team to move into a new, privately-financed arena in Inglewood by 2024. The L.A. basketball landscape dramatically changed last week — and if Ballmer has his way, that change could be permanent.

With the NFL and its players union in the midst of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, owners continue to push for an 18-game regular season. According to Axios Sports, the NFLPA estimates that an additional two games could add as much as $2.5 billion in annual revenue, which would, in turn, add more than $15 million to the salary cap. Noted the Wall Street Journal, “Across the league's 32 teams, that has the potential to put nearly half a billion dollars in the hands of players annually.” The players are pushing back because of injury concerns. The additional two games would reduce the average NFL career span from 3.3 to 2.8 years, according to the NFLPA's estimates, which is significant because players don't become eligible for post-career benefits until they've played for three years. One potential solution that the owners have proposed is to play 18 games but only allow each player to play in 16 of them…which has the potential to seriously dilute the product. This debate isn't going anywhere soon, so prepare to hear a lot more about it as the NFL season gets underway. 

U.S. Club Soccer estimates an $8.5 million direct economic impact from the 2019 National Premier Leagues (NPL) Finals, Elite National Premier League (ENPL) Finals, and the National Cup XVIII Finals at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park in Colorado. The 2019 NPL and ENPL Finals, which took place July 11-15, featured U-13 through U-19 boys and girls league champions from around the country, totaling more than 110 teams and 1,700 of America’s top youth players. Playing out July 19-23, the National Cup XVIII Finals serve as the culmination of U.S. Club Soccer’s cup-based national championship series, welcoming 220 teams to compete among U-13 through U-19 boys and girls brackets. As three of the most prestigious youth soccer championships in the country, the NPL Finals, ENPL Finals, and the National Cup XVIII Finals are the targeted annual destination for teams competing on the national level. The expected economic impact for the 2019 Finals is $8.5 million. Founded in 2001, U.S. Club Soccer boasts member clubs from all 50 states, fostering the growth and development of soccer clubs throughout the country to create the best possible development environment for players of all ages in every club.

Captain Morgan is toasting Major League Soccer, courtesy of a new agreement to become the league’s official spiced rum and exclusive spirits partner through 2022. The new deal names Captain Morgan as an official sponsor of MLS All-Star – taking place in a few weeks in Orlando – the Campeones Cup (August 14), and MLS Cup (November 10). Fans will soon be able to purchase custom-labeled bottles of Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum featuring official team colors and crests. “From New York to Seattle to Los Angeles, everything about Major League Soccer, its intensely passionate fan base, the atmosphere at each match, and the exciting growth of the sport in the U.S. mirrors the energy that Captain Morgan stands for,” said Christina Choi, DIAGEO Senior Vice President, Rum, Gin, and Tequila. “Our goal is to reward that dedicated fan base, and the crews that get together to support their clubs each and every week, with the fun only Captain can bring.” The rum brand also becomes an official sponsor of Chicago Fire Soccer Club, D.C. United, New York City FC, Philadelphia Union, and Seattle Sounders FC.

And finally, the extra mustard on the hot dog, courtesy of Food & Wine magazine. Hot dog brand Ball Park is honoring baseball’s best hot dog vendors in a new trading card set. Baseball cards have immortalized baseball players for nearly as long as the sport has been around. These days, fans often get just as excited about the ballpark food as they do about seeing the players, so it only makes sense that the hot dog brand Ball Park is creating a new kind of trading card: hot dog vendor cards. Ball Park has put the call out for baseball fans to nominate their favorite hot dog vendors over the next few weeks for inclusion in the set, which is scheduled to go into print in late September or early October—also known as playoff season, where baseball’s biggest heroes shine. The brand claims that this will be the first time these true ballpark MVPs have ever been honored in card form.

Top Five Tech

Illegal English Premier League streaming is worth £1 million in uncaptured sponsorship media value per match. The sponsorship valuation firm GumGum Sports produced a first-of-its-kind study that showed an average audience of 7.1 million fans across as many as 149 countries over eight matches from the English Premier League’s 2018-2019 season. According to Business Wire, the pirated audience was largest in China, where illegal streams served more than 1 million fans per match. The global study also broke down its £1 million-per-match finding by on-pitch sponsor, noting that, of the seven deal placements analyzed, the majority of value came from field-side LED (rotating digital creative) and kit (front-of-jersey) sponsorship placements. The study is the first ever to incorporate digital piracy consumption into a cross-channel sponsorship measurement solution alongside traditional broadcast, streaming, social, and digital, underscoring the rapid global proliferation of illegal online streaming of televised sporting events. Rather than negating illegal streams, this study accepts the chaos of the Internet to try and benefit sports sponsors.

ESPN officially enters esports competition with EXP. EXP is ESPN’s official brand for esports competitions. According to Player.One, the competitions are to be held at ESPN’s own events and the first competition on their list is the battle royale game “Apex Legends.” The first EXP Pro-Am “Apex Legends” tournament was held alongside the 2019 ESPYS this past week, while the second event takes place at X Games Minneapolis 2019 in August. Notables who partook in the event include Nick “Nick EH 30” Amyoony, TSM’s Colton “Viss” Visser, and Coby “Dizzy” Meadows. The competition featured three rounds of play, with $25,000 donated to the V Foundation for Cancer Research on behalf of the trio that finishes first in the overall competition. This collaboration is good news for “Apex Legends,” who has seen its player base gradually decrease; meanwhile, it allows ESPN to increase its fan base without losing previous consumers. 

Megan Rapinoe fuses politics, pay, and tech in Women’s World Cup win. By opening the scoring in the final game of the tournament with a penalty awarded after a video review, Rapinoe claimed a sixth goal and finished as the Golden Boot winner of the most-watched FIFA women’s tournament. Online, things between the White House and Rapinoe escalated as she rejected a post-tournament visit to the epicenter of the United States with President Trump later tweeting, “Megan should WIN first before she TALKS!” and “Finish the job!” According to the Associated Press, Rapinoe has been an outspoken advocate of equal pay for women in soccer. This World Cup victory gave the Americans a $4 million pot, double what it was four years ago. Yet the differences between men’s and women’s payouts are staggering as the prize money for the men’s World Cup in 2022 is jumping to $440 million while the women’s teams will only split $60 million in 2023. Long term, it will be on FIFA to drive more business into women’s soccer as the lack of sellout crowds and public interest currently make it difficult to deliver the same returns to world-class female soccer stars. 

MLS-Liga MX Leagues Cup confirms domestic rights deals for new North American soccer tournament. According to SportsPro, ESPN and Univision have secured U.S. rights to the inaugural Leagues Cup, the new continental club soccer competition featuring eight teams from MLS and Liga MX, North America’s two powerhouse leagues. ESPN will host U.S. English-language coverage across both its linear and over-the-top channels throughout the seven-match tournament, which kicks off July 23. ESPN+ will stream three quarter-final matches including Chicago Fire v Cruz Azul on the opening day, as well as Houston Dynamo v Club America, and Real Salt Lake v Tigres UANL on July 24. This is a bold move to further the passion for soccer in North America; a move that will prove fruitful in the long run for MLS, which sees some of the youngest average fan ages when compared to other major North American sports leagues.

On the heels of the Women’s World Cup, National Women’s Soccer League pro women’s soccer league is back on TV. With the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals between Team USA vs. the Netherlands showcasing a higher American rating than the men’s World Cup last year, ESPN has inked a deal with NSWL to televise 14 matches during the remainder of the current season. A total of 55 players on Women’s World Cup rosters play in the nine-team NWSL, including U.S. stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Tobin Heath, and Lindsey Horan. According to Deadline, the broadcast deal comes after Lifetime and A&E Networks in February left a three-year official sponsor and broadcast partner deal a year early, leaving the league without a TV home less than two months before the start of its season. All ESPN NSWL league broadcasts will also stream live on the ESPN app. Women’s soccer may be looking at larger sponsorships in the near future as ESPN is jumping in to take advantage of the recent surge of interest in the sport.

Power of Sports Five

Pete Alonso to donate part of $1 million Home Run Derby winnings to charity. The Mets’ rookie slugger upset rookie slugger Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays – who set a Home Run Derby record with 91 total home runs – to take home the winning prize of $1 million. The sum nearly doubled his $550,000 salary, but he still plans on giving some of his prize to help those in need. According to Fox Business, Alonso has pledged 5% to the Wounded Warriors Project, which aids military veterans, and 5% to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which raises money for families of first responders. After the Home Run Derby, Alonso said the donations were motivated in part by both of his grandfathers serving in the U.S. military; each donation totaled $50,000. Rookies seem to have made MLB exciting again, and Alonso is setting a strong precedent for philanthropy with the young superstars of the game.

T-Mobile and MLB All Star Week come together for #HatsOff4Heroes. The telecom giant is donating $250,000 to Little League Baseball and Softball -- a sum that swelled significantly due to the record-shattering home run total. T-Mobile has been an official MLB partner since 2013, and in 2016 became title sponsor for the T-Mobile Home Run Derby during All-Star Game week. According to Tullahoma News, this year the company added an additional $1,000 per home run and $5,000 per magenta bonus ball home run, which resulted in roughly $600,000 for charity after 312 total home runs. Funds raised will help make local Little League programs more affordable for kids and families around the country through equipment grants and financial assistance. This comes on top of the $100,000 T-Mobile and CEO John Legere donated in April to support local leagues rebuilding in Puerto Rico. Even amidst the middle of a merger with Sprint, T-Mobile is still making a difference in the lives of young athletes. 

The ESPYS auction benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research returned for its 15th year. In its 15th year, the V Foundation is supported by eBay auctioning to donate funds toward cancer research.  According to PR Newswire, fans had the chance to bid on everything from exclusive meet and greets with celebrities, athletes, coaches, and league executives as well as behind-the-scenes opportunities with ESPN on-air personalities. The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, the foundation has funded more than $225 million in cancer research grants nationwide. Overall, nearly $912 million has been raised for charity by the eBay community, and the program is on-track to raise $1 billion by 2020. The ESPYS always highlight that it's what happens off the sports field that really matters for athletes, coaches, and fans.

NASCAR raises $260,000 for kids over its racing weekend. Charitable programs combined to raise more than $269,000 for local youth groups during last month’s NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Sonoma Raceway. According to the Sonoma Index-Tribune, the majority of the proceeds raised during the race weekend benefit Sonoma County youth organizations through the Sonoma chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities. Raceway officials say the charity has distributed more than $6.4 million to youth-serving nonprofit groups since 2001. The money came in principally through the banquet and live auction, which raised $259,000, a record high. Additionally, more than $6,000 was raised through various donations during the weekend. In 2017, Speedway Children's Charities distributed nearly $3.2 million in grants to more than 435 different charitable organizations across the U.S. as NASCAR continues to rebrand itself for a younger generation.

The Eagles’ Chris Long, NHL, and Chicago Fire Soccer Club were among the winners at ESPN Sports Humanitarian Awards. According to The Wrap, the Fifth Annual ESPN Sports Humanitarian Awards once again celebrated athletes and charity ahead of the ESPYS. The most coveted award of the night was the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, which this year went to former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end and founder of Waterboys.ORG, Chris Long. Long topped finalists Reggie Bullock of the Los Angeles Lakers, former U.S. Open tennis champion Sloane Stephens, and Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals. Additionally, the NHL was the League Humanitarian Leadership Award winner, and the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year winner was the Chicago Fire. In addition to honoring sports stars who make a difference, the proceeds from the night went towards the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund at the V Foundation, which has contributed $7.5 million to the community on behalf of the Sports Humanitarian Awards.

[murasaki-murasame]

I’m basically just thinking out loud at myself, but I’m still really hoping that Shimanami Tasogare might eventually get licensed in English. And I’m wondering which company might do so.

TL;DR: It’s like 95% a toss-up between either Viz Media or Seven Seas, with a 5% chance of some other random publisher picking it up. It might seem unlikely that Viz, aka the people mostly targeting a young [and presumably straight] male audience, would pick it up, but there’s definitely signs pointing to it being a possibility. Seven Seas might be more willing to release something like this, but it’d probably take a lot of time and negotiations for them to get it, so anyone who wants to see them release it should suggest it in their monthly licensing surveys to make sure they get the word, and know that there’s an audience for it. In general, being vocal about this series and our desire to see it get an English release is the best thing we can do. [[If you want to directly tweet to Seven Seas about it, you should make sure to specify that you’ve already suggested it as part of their surveys, or that you at least plan to]]

More detailed ramblings about publishing companies and the likelihood of this series getting licensed under the cut.

In a broad sense I’d say that Seven Seas seems like the most likely candidate, given their big push into the world of queer manga. They’ve mostly been focusing on yuri titles, but they’ve said several times recently that they’d be fine with getting into the BL side of things if they can find some good titles [I know that this series isn’t technically BL but you get what I’m trying to say]. The big issue is basically just that Shimanami Tasogare is published by Shogakukan, which is one of the few companies that Seven Seas has no real access to the titles of [those being Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan, and that’s because Kodansha Comics is, obviously, the US branch of Kodansha and thus has more or less exclusive rights to their stuff, and Viz Media is owned by Shueisha and Shogakukan so it’s a similar thing as well].

This is sorta fuzzy though because Seven Seas recently licensed like five different Shueisha titles back to back, much to everyone’s surprise. I’m still not sure what’s going on there, but I imagine that they specifically negotiated with Viz Media and Shueisha about it, and probably said something like ‘you’re probably never going to license these yourselves, so why not let us license them instead?’, to be REALLY broad and vague about it.

So yeah this gets into the fact that it’d be Viz Media who’d have control over the license of something like Shimanami Tasogare. In which case the only two options are for Viz to license it themselves, or for Seven Seas to enter into similar negotiations with them over it and hopefully get given access to it. Otherwise it just won’t get licensed by anyone, probably. MAYBE another company could similarly negotiate for it, but I’m not sure who would. The specifically BL imprints/companies out there presumably wouldn’t be interested, and most other companies have barely made enough steps into publishing queer manga for me to expect them to. Vertical Inc also seems to have a specific disinterest in publishing BL, which might extend to any manga that’s about a gay male. I honestly can’t even think of many other publishers that have much history with queer manga at all, especially anything like this which has a male protagonist but isn’t quite BL or yaoi. Though One Peace Books apparently licensed Hidamari ga Kikoeru, and Pantheon Books [which isn’t really a manga publisher specifically but still] has My Brother’s Husband. Either way I still feel like there’d be an incredibly slim chance of any ‘third party’ company picking it up.

On the topic of Viz especially, I . . . definitely have my doubts about whether or not this is a title I could see them picking up. Mostly because they’re kinda the face of shonen manga in the west and thus, outside of their Shojo Beat or SuBLime imprints [SuBLime is owned by Viz, right? I forget], their general audience is, to be blunt, straight male teens/young adults. So I could totally see them thinking that it wouldn’t sell well with their main audience. But, thankfully, I’m not entirely dismissing the idea since there’s at least some points that are potentially pointing in it’s favour. First is the fact that they have their Viz Signature line which is specifically aimed at an adult audience [not in the sense that it’s all porn or anything, it’s just their ‘older demographic’ label], which might be where a series like this could find it’s place. I definitely think it’d work to put this series there and aim it at a slightly different audience than their norm. [Also their Signature manga are done in a larger trim size so that’d be neat!]. Secondly, Viz Media is going to be starting their release of After Hours, which, as I just found out after coincidentally looking into that series, is a yuri manga that’s actually published in the exact same magazine as Shimanami Tasogare. That is to say, the magazine ‘Hibana’. So Viz already has at least ONE queer manga from that magazine, so it’s not too outrageous to think that they’d at least be aware of this one. And, as an addition to that, they’re also going to be releasing Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers later this year, so there’s at least some positive signs of them getting into queer manga. Of course there’s the really complicated topic of how it can be seen as ‘safer’ for a publisher to license yuri manga and aim them at the general public because the ‘general public’ is basically believed to be mostly straight dudes. It’s kinda hard to deny that even though yuri manga are definitely entering the mainstream of US publishing [which is amazing and worthy of support in it’s own way!], I’d definitely be hesitant to say ‘these companies are getting into yuri stuff so OBVIOUSLY they’d be just as willing to get into BL manga, and manga about queer men in general’. It’s kinda sad to say, but it’s true.

I may sound a bit doom and gloom about it, but I do think that there’s genuinely a chance that Viz could pick it up! I’d just advise caution on this one, and not to get your hopes up, until we get more solid indications that a company like Viz is actually willing to get into the realm of manga about queer men.

But obviously even if they don’t do it, Seven Seas still has a chance at negotiating for a license of it. Which is exactly why anyone who wants to see this series licensed at all should suggest it as part of their monthly license surveys. They’re trying to see what sort of stuff their audience wants to see, so we need to make sure they know we want this. I’ve already suggested it to them, and I might suggest it again in a later survey if I can. [[I’ve also suggested some BL titles to them as well, but that’s a bit of a different topic. Though I also really want as many people as possible to suggest some good BL manga to them as well! It doesn’t necessarily matter if everyone suggests different titles, so long as we get across the message that it’s a genre we want to see them expand into. Also, if anyone wants to suggest some BL manga to them, it’s probably best to keep them SFW. Just as a general rule]]

Also, even if this series never gets licensed, you can still import the Japanese volumes from online stores like cdjapan or Amazon JP. Which is what I’m gonna do. It won’t necessarily do anything to make an English version any more likely, but I want to support the author in whatever way I can. And obviously I just want any sort of a physical copy of this series to own, and I don’t own any Japanese manga volumes so it’d be a neat thing to have.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on manga stuff from the rest of Anime Expo under the cut

Stuff from Vertical [not much to say so may as well do it first]:

-I’m INCREDIBLY excited to see Moteki get an English release. I’d thought it might happen since Yuri on Ice is so popular and they might want to bring over an earlier work of Kubo’s, but it’s still great to see. Apparently Moteki is/was really popular in Japan so I’m curious to see how I feel about it. Thankfully it’s only gonna be two volumes long [hopefully they include volume 4.5 with the second one] in omnibus form, so it won’t be a huge commitment, and the first volume is apparently coming out in October so I don’t even have to wait that long. I’d love to see someone pick up Again, but that’s way longer. Maybe Kodansha can pull through and at least pick it up digitally.

-[Which reminds me that Kodansha really didn’t have much to show off print-wise. Which is a bit surprising. I guess they really are focusing mostly on getting new digital licenses. Hopefully some of their digital stuff gets proper English releases eventually. Anyway, the only things they showed off print-wise I’m interested in are the Cardcaptor Sakura sequel, and the Sailor Moon Eternal Edition. But I need to get Dark Horse’s CCS omnibuses before I get the sequel, of course. I sure hope those don’t suddenly go out of stock.]

-Nothing much to say about City or My Boy, other than that I have vague plans to eventually get Keiichi Arawi’s stuff in general so it’s nice to see them pick up more. Not sure how I feel about My Boy given that the synopsis’ whole thing of ‘are this 30 year old woman’s feelings for this 12-year old boy just maternal or are they something more?’ is putting me off so goddamn hard. YIKES. Also for a minute there when I saw it, I got confused and thought they’d licensed My Girl by Sahara Mizu [who drew the Voices of a Distant Star manga they’re putting out next year which I kinda wanna get] and I got excited about the idea of another manga of hers getting licensed. Oh well.

-Oh yeah and they technically officially announced their license of Strangulation Romanticist but we’ve all known about that for ages now and I’ve already made a post about it. So not a whole lot to say, other than that, once again, I REALLY hope they complete the series since it’s unclear if Shaft will adapt beyond the first book. I’m also interested by them saying it’ll have ‘brand new cover art’. Is it . . . not just going to be a slightly edited version of the newer JP cover, like what they did for Kubikiri Cycle? I’m really concerned. On the one hand, new art by take is super appealing as a concept, but I’m already annoyed enough at how inconsistent design-wise their release of the Monogatari series is, so I’d hate to see this suffer a similar fate. I just don’t want it to look too different to Kubikiri, especially in terms of the spine. I’m still reeling over how drastically different Nisemonogatari 1′s spine [and front cover] looks to the rest of the series.

-OK this section ended up longer than I thought it’d be lol.

Seven Seas stuff:

-OK just to get it out of the way right from the start, they didn’t license Shimanami Tasogare, and now I just want Seven Seas to bury me when I die so they can let me down one last time. OK I’m MOSTLY kidding, but I’m also still kinda genuinely bitter about this even though I totally expected it. Ugh. They obviously might just license it later down the track, and it’s not a huge deal since I’m even planning to import the JP volumes anyway, but STILL. Maybe Viz will pull through and pick it up eventually. They seem to be getting better at getting manga with LGBT representation recently. I guess I’ll just keep suggesting it each month to them until SOMEONE picks it up.

-I’m probably gonna eventually pick up the entire Orange series since I loved the anime and I’m buying their release of Dreamin’ Sun, but man, why are they doing v6 as a single volume release? We know there’s going to be a seventh volume, so they could have just waited until that came out so they could do an omnibus release to match their release of the main series. Now it’s going to be really weird and inconsistent and it’s making me feel disinclined to buy it. Ugh.

-Definitely excited for Made in Abyss. I figured that’d get licensed soon enough. I’ll see if I like the anime first, though.

-I’m happy to see Seven Seas get more into LNs in general, even if I’m not terribly interested in any of them.

-Hoo boy RANT TIME INCOMING.

-I might get Nanashi no Asterism, at least since it looks like it might have an m/m sub-plot, which is nice.

-I had a whole multi-paragraph rant about Seven Seas, and to a lesser extent other mainstream publishers, and how they seem to oh so conveniently be licensing pretty much exclusively yuri manga while casually ignoring stuff about/including queer male characters, but ugh I’d probably rather not put THAT much bitterness in this sorta post lol. But if there’s one rant-y thing I’ll let myself say here, it’s that a few weeks ago Seven Seas advertised their Fudanshi manga by posting a tweet saying ‘What’s a guy gotta do to get some BL around here?’, and my response to that is just ‘I don’t know, Seven Seas, what DOES a guy gotta do to get some BL around here? I keep looking at your website but all I see is over 20 yuri titles and 0 BL titles’. I still stand by the fact that that tweet was tone-deaf as fuck, even if I’m not gonna send them hate or anything about it. I’m just gonna side-eye it privately on my blog lol. OK, rant over.

-But seriously I still might get Nanashi no Asterism if it has SOME element of m/m romance in it since that’s at least SOMETHING, and I’d like to support it. Which is part of why I’m gonna eventually buy their Zestiria manga since that has a gay male protagonist even if I’m 99% sure that they as a company are aware of that. You can’t make me buy their Fudanshi manga, though. I’m not even just basing that off of a surface-level glance at the synopsis or whatever. I watched the entire anime adaptation of it as it aired and I basically hated every minute of it. So I KNOW it’s not for me and I want no part of it.