#nhl global series melbourne

[thatsnotbuddies]

@nhlaus: Kopitar and Keller. Welcome to Melbourne. 🙌

[swissboyhisch]

My Princess

Pairing: Andrei Svechnikov x Princess!Reader

Summary: Being the Princess of Australia has its perks. Like being able to bring your best friend's sport to your country letting you reunite with your favourite person in the world.

Word Count: 2233

Warnings: Royalty AU, slight mention of alcohol (I think, tbh I can't remember)

A/N: This is for one of my favs @mp0625's Birthday Bingo. Sorry it's a little late but I kind of got away with this fic. I really hope you enjoy this because I enjoyed writing it! I hope you had an amazing birthday <3

My choice of five bingo boxes were (middle column):

Fan of another sport

Royalty AU

Free Square (Choice - Reuniting)

Childhood Friends

It’s raining (men)

I really hope you enjoy this! I'm really happy how this turned out :)

*after posting this and getting some anons, I just want to state I KNOW Australia have an ice hockey league. I am from Australia. I follow the two leagues, I go to games, I have jerseys. Just because it isn’t mentioned doesn’t mean I don’t know. This is an AU based around the Global series. Which did happen and was the coyotes vs kings which I WENT to IN PERSON. You don’t have to send me anons. I get it*

THE MASTERLIST JOIN THE TAGLIST HOCKEY DISCORD

Being the Princess of Australia was pretty amazing. You got to travel the world with your mother and older brother, meet amazing people (and not-so-amazing ones). You got nice clothes and did things many others your age couldn’t. You and your family were loved by the people of Australia.

When you were a kid, you had a trip to Russia. Your parents were on a political visit, and you had to go along with them. This is one of your favourite memories from childhood. Your family was shown around Moscow, and you accidentally bumped into a boy not much older than you on the street. While your parents were busy talking to other adults, you and the boy, who introduced himself as Andrei, talked and ran around together. When it was time to go, you begged your parents to ask if the pair of you could write to each other.

As you both grew up, the letters turned into emails, then messages, calls, and FaceTimes whenever the time zones allowed it. Even once he moved to Michigan for hockey, you talked whenever you could.

One of the perks of being part of the Royal family was having a say in which events came to Perth. When whispers of the NHL bringing the Global Series to Australia started, you advocated for Perth to be the city of choice. When you turned up to the meeting in Melbourne with the NHL officials, you mentioned how much you liked hockey and that Perth would show the NHL a good time. The first green light was for Perth to host the weekend event.

Your mother thought this would be a good event for you to take charge of since you were so passionate about hockey—your second passion after AFL, of course (not that you’d tell Andrei that). You took charge of organising everything for the event with the help of the city’s major event organisers.

Through the journey of organising the weekend, you advocated for the Carolina Hurricanes to be one of the teams. If the Canes were the main choice, then the most exciting game would be against the New York Rangers. The more intense a rivalry, the more likely people would be enticed to watch a sport they’d never seen.

You still remember the call with Andrei when you got the confirmation about the teams being the Canes and the Rangers. It was after dinner when you FaceTimed Andrei, who was in New York for a game.

“How’s it going, Princess?” Andrei grinned when he answered the call.

You were bouncing off the walls of your apartment in the palace. He could see you beaming. “It’s confirmed!”

“What’s confirmed?”

“You’re coming to Perth!” you squealed.

Andrei was confused. “I’m what?”

“The Global Series is coming to Perth,” you elaborated, “and the Canes are one of the teams.”

“I’m going to see you?!” Andrei asked, tears welling up as it had been a year since you had seen each other. The last time was the All-Star game when you flew out to support him. “Oh my god, I can’t wait! When?”

“September,” you answered.

“That’s like six months away!”

When the week finally arrived, you were ecstatic. Only all the years of Royalty training could mask the happiness you felt. You and your personnel were tucked away out of sight unless you were walking in from a specific plane—the one carrying all the hockey players and staff. One by one, the familiar faces of the Canes passed by where you were standing.

“Hello, Your Highness,” Aho grinned when he recognized you standing by the exit of the tunnel.

You laughed at the boy, “Hi Fishy, how are you?”

“Better now that Svech will stop bouncing,” he replied, standing near you facing his teammates coming out, waiting for his teammate. “Look who’s coming.”

Lifting yourself on your tiptoes to see over the other six-foot-plus player, you spied the familiar Russian, bouncing foot to foot in excitement.

“Gee, Princess,” Mickey, one of your guards, laughed.

As soon as Andrei got within reaching distance, you ran for him, launching yourself at him. The two of you were wrapped up in each other, both with tears running down your faces.

“I’ve missed you, Princess,” Andrei whispered.

“I missed you too.”

You tagged along with the teams to their hotel, one of the best in the city. Your mother had decided to host the teams at one of your family’s favourite restaurants, a rooftop bar overlooking the gorgeous Scarborough Beach. You had a change of clothes in the car, knowing you’d be going from one place to another without returning to the palace.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” Andrei grinned as he watched you come out of the bathroom.

“You mean you’re here,” you smirked as you slipped in your earrings once more.

Andrei travelled with you and your security from the hotel to the restaurant. The rest of the team and staff took a bus. Your mother, older brother, and his long-term girlfriend would meet you at the restaurant, which was hired out for the night.

“How’s your family?” Andrei asked as you both stepped out of the car after one of the guards.

“You’ll see them in a sec,” you laughed, intertwining your fingers with his.

The pair beat the buses to the restaurant, so they went up to meet your mom and brother. Your security stayed by the entrance as there was already security posted around the restaurant.

“Andrei Svechnikov,” your mom smiled when she saw you two nearing. “It’s lovely to see you thriving in the league.”

“Your Majesty,” Andrei grinned, bowing and knowing the protocols.

“We’ve missed you around here,” your mom admitted.

Your brother stepped up, cutting in, “Some more than others.”

You made sure to lean over and hit him. Not the first time and definitely won’t be the last with his history of smart comments. “Shut it.”

The elevator dinged, and in walked the coaching staff and players of the two NHL teams. Each of them greeted your family before everyone mingled.

“How have you been?” you asked Seb as he and Jarvis stood with you and Andrei in the garden smoking area. No one was smoking, but it was a nice little seating area.

“Good,” both boys replied.

Water started to rain down on you guys where you sat. Seb and Jarvis raced to go inside out of the shower. You just laughed, looking at Andrei who was already looking at you. Just like the moment in every romance movie, Andrei leaned in, pressing his lips to yours in the rain. As his arms slipped around your waist, yours slipped around his neck, pulling him closer.

“Get out from the sprinklers,” your mother shouted with a large smile on her face.

You pulled away and looked up at the clear skies. The bloody sprinklers in the garden had decided to turn on while you were sitting there. You and Andrei laughed as you moved to step out of the garden area.

“I’m so sorry, Your Highness,” a worker apologized as she handed both of you a towel to dry off with.

“It’s no issue,” you laughed, your eyes not leaving the grinning Russian beside you.

The pair of you didn’t part throughout dinner. The table you were at was filled with Andrei, his favourite boys, and their partners. You were glowing with happiness, and so was Andrei. His friends were happy to see the friendship blossom into something more.

“I don’t know if you have been told,” your mother started, standing from her seat with the coaching staff, “but on Friday evening, I got three boxes, including the royal box, at the AFL game tomorrow. It’s Eagles vs. Dockers, which is a big game. It’s called the Derby.”

“It’s the equivalent to a Rangers versus Islanders game or the Oilers versus Flames,” you elaborated for the players who had no clue about the sport.

The week was spent with Andrei, attending practices and hanging out with your best friend. If he had enough time, he’d come to your apartment in the palace. It wasn’t just Andrei either; sometimes you and Andrei would take the others and partners out around the city. You got to play host and tour guide around your home city.

Friday night came around, and you dressed up like you usually do for football: jeans, a cute top with a coat, and an Eagles scarf to finish the outfit. You had brought your clothes to the hotel to get ready with Andrei. The two teams had taken sides. Canes were supporting West Coast like you. Rangers were supporting Fremantle like your brother and his girlfriend.

“You look excited,” Andrei grinned as you and the group arrived at the royal box at Optus Stadium.

“I love watching the footy!” you grinned, waving at fans standing below the box.

In the royal box were you, Andrei and his close friends and partners, your mother, and security. Your brother and his girlfriend were with the Rangers as they were cheering on Fremantle. You and the group were excited for the centre bounce. Of course, the group was going through the media as it was a big deal with the NHL teams in the city.

“Your Highness, are you ready to go down to do the coin flip?”

“Of course,” you smiled at the worker.

You, Andrei, your brother, and Trouba followed the worker down to the oval. Your brother would do this week’s coin toss as you did the previous derby. The four of you, two supporters of each team. Oscar Allen and Alex Pearce both bowed to the royals, then shook hands with the four of you.

“Lovely to see you again, Oscar,” you grinned as you hugged the captain.

“You as well, Your Highness,” the blonde chuckled.

After the coin toss, which the Eagles won, they chose the way they were kicking first before the royal party was escorted back to the boxes to watch the game. As the group walked past the Eagles huddle, Harley Reid peeled away from the group for a second to fist bump the Princess as she walked by.

“Good luck, Harley,” you called as he ran back.

Harley waved back, a wide grin on the rookie's face, “We’ve got this.”

Andrei was confused at the interaction but knew you were friendly with all the players on the team. “Who’s that?”

“That is Harley Reid,” you answered. “He was the number one draft pick last year. He’s changed the mood on the team greatly. Great dude.”

As you and Andrei settled back in the suite, you cuddled into Andrei’s side. It was kind of chilly but nothing too crazy. The boys threw questions at you about the game. Who’s this player? What’s that move? What is the ref calling?

“What does it mean when they kick it between the posts?” Aho asked as the Eagles scored the first goal of the game.

You laughed at the question after you finished cheering. “It’s a goal, worth six points. Between the inner and outer posts on each side is a behind, worth only a point.”

The game went by with lots of cheering from the Canes and yourself. The game took off with an exciting start. The Eagles kept the lead through all four quarters. Sure, the Dockers came close, but the Eagles took off in the last quarter. The satisfaction of singing the winning song was incredible, and all the boys enjoyed it.

The next big event was the first game of the Global Series in Perth. You traveled with the Canes to the stadium while your family would meet you there just before the game. It was agreed that you and your brother would both do the puck drop. He said he’d wear the Rangers jersey to allow you to wear the Canes jersey of your upgraded best friend.

“This will be you and the Canes families’ suite, Your Highness,” a worker stated as you were shown where you’d sit for the game.

As much as you wished to sit in the front row to watch your boyfriend, you couldn’t. It was too high risk for security. So instead, you were in the suite with the girlfriends of the Canes, which you guess you were now a part of.

“Hey sweetheart,” Brent Burns’ wife greeted you with their two kids.

After spending so long with the team and families, you had told them to just call you by your name. And like normal, nicknames were created. Andrei always called you Princess. The team called you Your Highness. The older women in the families called you sweetheart.

The game was intense, and the girls were energetic. You were on your feet every time the boys scored. The girls were right there beside you as well. The first thing you all did after the game was head down to where the makeshift change rooms were.

“There she is,” Andrei grinned when he came off the ice after the photos were taken.

You smiled and wrapped your arms around the giant hockey player. “Wow, it’s like you’re taller on skates.”

“I wonder,” he laughed, pulling you closer.

“Congrats on the hatty, Mr. Sweaty.”

Andrei chuckled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your lips, “With my good luck charm watching me and cheering me on, always, My Princess.”

TAG LIST:

@findapenny @mp0625 @hischierhaze @11zegras @lvrzegras 

@francesfarhadi @cixrosie @dasiysthings @dancerbailey3 @puckmaidens 

@cole-mcward48 @sammiejane22 @rleigh-47 @Devilsandpensfan @luca-fantilli 

@books-hlmc @kajasagmo @poufsouffle21 

[reavenedges-lies]

Coyotes in Melbourne, VIC, AUS for the NHL Global Series 2023-24

[msmargaretmurry]

sorry for sending this to you, but i have no sports friends, and i found this hilarious and had to share it with someone (you are the lucky chosen one). anyway, i was lucky enough to see my first nhl game today (i live in australia, so it was the global series game in melbourne, even though i don't like either team but nhl game!), but they did a video of how far the tools/gear came via ship, and despite it being super quick (too quick for me to take a photo/double take properly), i am 99% sure the map, when it moved from sydney to melbourne, actually ended in adelaide. which is the capital city of a completely different state. a city which is an 8 hour drive from melbourne. by ship, you actually go past melbourne to get to adelaide (the quick way). i -

anon, thank you for sending this, what a delightful message! i'm honored to be the lucky chosen one 💖

your first nhl game, how exciting!! rude of the nhl to not send your faves personally (get it together gary) but i'm so pleased for you that you got to go anyway, and i hope you had a great time! i am laughing SO much at this austrailian map mishap. classic nhl, to be honest!! they are not, how to put it, exactly the most competent at doing or knowing things, especially outside of their little north american hockey bubble (and even within that, they are still pretty bad at doing and knowing things). i've been to a decent number of kind of ~marquee nhl events and literally all of them have been like "well this is fun and i'm glad i'm here but imagine how much better it would be if someone competent was running this thing" 😂 the important thing, i've decided, is to always make your own fun. so i hope you had fun!! ❤

[muotiunivormu]

innolla uuden vuoden kilpailun aloittamista

Uusi vuosi on edessämme, kun runkosarjaa 2023 on jäljellä enää viikko ja 45 peliä. Vuodella 2023 on paljon muistettavaa jääkiekkofaneille, jotka käyttävät Chicago Blackhawks pelipaita. Sukupolven lahjakkuus aloittaa uransa, kun hänen edeltäjänsä tekevät asioita, joita hän ei ole koskaan ennen tehnyt. Mukana on ennätyksiä, pudotuspelien häiriöitä ja tietysti mestaruutta voittanut Golden Knights. Nämä hetket ovat jännittäviä!

Los Angeles Kings ja Arizona Coyotes edustavat NHL:ää sen ensimmäisissä otteluissaan eteläisellä pallonpuoliskolla 23.-24. syyskuuta. Kings ja Coyotes pelasivat kaksi esikauden ottelua Rod Laver Arenalla Melbournessa osana 2024 NHL Global Series - Melbourne -sarjaa. Coyotes voitti pelin 1 5-3, kun alokas hyökkääjä NHL pelipaidat Logan Cooley nousi pelin tähdeksi, ja hän teki upean, pyörivän, harhaanjohtavan, putoavan laukauksen. Kings voitti toisen pelin 3-2. Molemmat pelit olivat loppuunmyytyjä. Ensimmäisessä pelissä oli 13 097 ja toisessa 13 118 ihmistä. Australia on osoittanut olevansa maa ja markkina, jonne NHL voisi palata tulevaisuudessa.

[roligthockeyspel]

Retour sur 23 ans de moments marquants dans la LNH

La nouvelle année est à nos portes, avec seulement une semaine et 45 matchs restants pour la saison régulière 2023. 2023 réserve beaucoup de souvenirs aux amateurs de hockey qui portent le maillot Vegas Golden Knights. Un talent générationnel débute sa carrière pendant que ses prédécesseurs font des choses qu'il n'a jamais faites auparavant. Il y en a des records, des bouleversements en séries éliminatoires et bien sûr les Golden Knights, vainqueurs du championnat. Ces moments sont passionnants !

Les Kings de Los Angeles et les Coyotes de l'Arizona représenteront la LNH lors de ses premiers matchs dans l'hémisphère sud, les 23 et 24 septembre. Les Kings et les Coyotes ont disputé deux matchs préparatoires au Rod Laver Arena de Melbourne dans le cadre de la NHL Global Series 2024 - Melbourne.maillots hockey Les Coyotes ont remporté le premier match 5-3, avec l'attaquant recrue Logan Cooley qui est devenu la star du match, marquant un superbe tir sournois et tombant. Les Kings ont remporté le deuxième match 3-2. Les deux matchs ont été complets, avec 13 097 personnes dans l'arène pour le premier match et 13 118 pour le second. L'Australie s'est avérée être un pays et un marché où la LNH pourrait revenir à l'avenir.

[hockeyklubbkul]

Global Series gör spelare entusiastiska

Med sina matchtröjor hockey på, kom Timmins och Wishart till Melbourne för att ha lite kul i slutet av sin hockeykarriär, men de hade ingen aning om vad det var för kul de var ute efter. Scott Timmins och Ty Wishart är superstjärnor i Australian Hockey League. Detta lag från Kanada har spelat i NHL och hjälpt Melbourne Broncos att vinna AIHL Champion Goodall Cup den 27 augusti.

Australien ser Arizona Coyotes och Los Angeles Kings i NHL:s första match på södra halvklotet. Om du tittar på de här killarna på nära håll kommer du att bli förvånad. Det var så häftigt att träffa dessa människor personligen. Varje lag kommer att träna minst två gånger från måndag till torsdag på O'Brien Ice Arena, Broncos hemmaplan. Laget kommer sedan att hålla ett öppet träningspass på Rod Laver Arena på fredag ​​och spela två försäsongsmatcher i 2023 NHL Global Series-Melbourne på lördag och söndag. "Jag antar att vi är en stor fisk i en liten damm här och de kommer att få en njutning att se några riktiga NHL-spelare tävla", uttryckte Wishart med ett skratt. Det betyder mycket för sporten här, för även om du frågar några av de kanadensiska expats så kommer de att säga: 'Åh, herregud. Har vi hockey här? Det är fantastiskt," sa han. "Jag har träffat många utlänningar som bär Arizona Coyotes tröjor  som nu är stora Broncos-fans eftersom de faktiskt vet att Broncos finns, så jag tror att det kommer att öka medvetenheten om Broncos. Medvetenhet om denna sport, jag tycker att detta är väldigt viktigt. 

[lustigeseisball]

Das Team wird in Melbourne, Australien, ankommen

Mit ihren nhl trikots kamen Timmins und Wishart nach Melbourne, um am Ende ihrer Eishockeykarriere etwas Spaß zu haben, aber sie hatten keine Ahnung, was für ein Spaß sie erwartete. Scott Timmins und Ty Wishart sind Superstars in der Australian Hockey League. Dieses Team aus Kanada hat in der NHL gespielt und den Melbourne Broncos am 27. August zum Gewinn des AIHL Champion Goodall Cups verholfen.

Australien trifft im ersten NHL-Spiel auf der Südhalbkugel auf die Arizona Coyotes und die Los Angeles Kings. Wenn man diese Jungs aus der Nähe betrachtet, wird man staunen. Es war so cool, diese Leute persönlich kennenzulernen. Jedes Team wird von Montag bis Donnerstag mindestens zweimal in der O'Brien Ice Arena, der Heimat der Broncos, trainieren. Das Team wird dann am Freitag ein offenes Training in der Rod Laver Arena abhalten und am Samstag und Sonntag zwei Vorbereitungsspiele bei der 2023 NHL Global Series-Melbourne bestreiten. „Ich schätze, wir sind hier ein großer Fisch im Teich und sie werden sich freuen, einige echte NHL-Spieler gegeneinander antreten zu sehen“, sagte Wishart lachend. Es bedeutet dem Sport hier sehr viel, denn selbst wenn man einige der kanadischen Expats fragt, werden sie sagen: „Oh mein Gott.“ Gibt es hier Hockey? „Es ist großartig“, sagte er. „Ich habe viele Ausländer in NHL trikot Arizona Coyotes getroffen, die jetzt große Broncos-Fans sind, weil sie tatsächlich wissen, dass es die Broncos gibt, also denke ich, dass es das Bewusstsein für die Broncos schärfen wird. Bewusstsein für diesen Sport, ich.“ denke, das ist sehr wichtig.

[mitchbeck]

NHL HEADS TO AUSTRALIA TO START THE 23-24 SEASON

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - After much prep work, the NHL announced that it would officially kick off the 2023-24  season with its "Global Series" featuring a pair of games on September 24th and 25th in Melbourne, Australia between the Arizona Coyotes and the Los Angeles Kings. The Western Conference games will be played at the Rod Laver Arena. The Rod Laver Arena, named after the Australian tennis legend, is the home of the Australian Open, international basketball events, and concerts in Victoria, Australia. This will be the first set of NHL games played in the Southern Hemisphere. It's safe to expect some tie-ins with the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The AIHL is set to start its regular season play this weekend. Expect either team to sign free-agent-to-be and the first Australian to play and score in the NHL, Nathan "Stormy" Walker, who left home at 13 with his parents' blessing to pursue his hockey dream. Walker played with the St. Louis Blues and spent some of last year in Springfield with the Thunderbirds. Another current AIHL player in what will be his tenth and likely last season will be Cheshire, Connecticut native Robert "Bert" Malloy, a dual citizen playing with the expansion Central Coast (Evina, NSW-New South Wales, AUS) Rhinos. However, next week, he will first play for the Australian National team - The Mighty Roo - in the IIHF Division II Group B play in Madrid, Spain. The other countries in the field include; Croatia, the nation of Georgia, Iceland, Israel, and host Spain. The AIHL plays a short season. Their championship, The Goodall Cup Final, will be held two weeks before the NHL games in Melbourne. NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HOME Read the full article

[laresearchette]

Monday, March 29, 2021 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES? RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS (Nat Geo Canada) 9:00pm HALL OF FLAME: TOP 100 ROAST MOMENTS (CTV Comedy) 10:00pm RACE TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (Nat Geo Canada) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (TBD)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME/CRAVE/NETFLIX CANADA/CBC GEM:

AMAZON PRIME ANNABELLE SUBRAMANIAM ISHQ

CBC GEM MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE (Season 1)

NETFLIX CANADA GODS OF EGYPT RAINBOW HIGH (Season 1

MLB BASEBALL (SN) 1:00pm: Jays vs. Phillies

THE SEARCH FOR CANADA’S GAME SHOWS (Game TV) 7:00pm/7:30pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Game shows have grown up to include reboots of classic games, new formats that compete on the international stage, and a new brand of game shows that feature complex challenges and a fierce competitiveness that can lead to huge rewards. In Episode Two, a game show’s theme can be based on anything from spinning a wheel to running around a giant daisy in search of love.  But it seems that one theme appears time and time again - food.  In this zesty episode, we’ll ask why are there so many?  

THE PRICE IS RIGHT AT NIGHT WITH RUPAUL (City) 7:00pm

NHL HOCKEY (SNOntario/SNEast/SNWest/SNPacific) 7:00pm: Oilers vs. Leafs (SNWest/TSN3) 10:00pm: Jets vs. Flames (SNEast/SNOntario/SNPacific) 10:00pm: Kings vs. Knights

NBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 8:00pm: Raptors vs. Pistons (SNNOW +) 9:00pm: Pacers vs. Bucks

MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE (CBC) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE):  After headstrong Eliza Scarlet inherits her father's detective agency, she is obliged to find a male business partner to operate in Victorian London.

VICTORIA (CBC) 9:00pm:  Lord Melbourne's resignation as Prime Minister leaves Victoria devastated.

BIG BROTHER CANADA (Global) 9:00pm

GREAT CHOCOLATE SHOWDOWN (Food Network Canada) 10:00pm: The five remaining home bakers must create a beautiful collection of bonbons for their Technique Test but the judges have a BIG twist up their sleeves... In the Elimination Challenge, the bakers get experimental as they harness their inner scientist to create a dessert showcasing chocolate as a solid, liquid and a gas.

[davewakeman]

Talking Tickets: 21 February 2020--MLB! NBA! NHL! And More!

Hey everybody! 

How’s your week? Let me know!

If you haven’t had a chance to fill out my short survey yet, I’d appreciate it if you’d take 3-4 minutes to share your thoughts and ideas so that I can make sure this newsletter and the podcast continue to deliver value to y’all.

Anytime you want to say hello or share something with me, you can always reply to this email…you definitely will get a response from a live human.

To the tickets!

————————————————————————————————————

1. MLB continues to struggle to put the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in the rearview mirror:

My frustration with baseball is that they just are always on the back foot to use a soccer term.

This week really highlighted the challenge that is going to have for the game to ever right its ship.

I know they report that they are making more money than ever, but from an attendance standpoint, reporting tickets distributed while Twitter is showing you stadiums sitting there with 3,000-5,000 fans a lot of nights isn’t a great look.

Compare MLB’s reaction to the Astros scandal with the way that Man City’sbreach of Financial Fair Play in Europe is being handled and you see a leadership gap, which hasn’t been helped by the Rob Manfred trying to throw the blame everywhere but his office.

From a marketing standpoint, a tough situation, selling baseball in a crowded market, has gotten more difficult.

I’ll type up some more thoughts about this on my blog, but here are a few actionable things:

1. Stop digging. Rob Manfred’s PR team shouldn’t keep running him out there if he is just saying the same things. If you find yourself in a PR crisis, please don’t just start saying crazy things.

2. Step back and focus on how you are going to move forward. Just speaking about the scandal in the past tense isn’t very effective. You have to have a clear plan for moving forward.

In any organization, change begins by sharing a compelling vision for the future. This is obviously a challenge for MLB and all the teams, not just the ones directly implicated in the scandal. The teams need some leadership and a vision for how this ends and how the game gets back on the front foot, their partners and sponsors need this, and their fans and customers deserve it.

3. I’ve worked with teams that have won the World Series and one of the coolest things from my teenage years was making friends with a member of the World Series winning Big Red Machine teams and going over to my friend’s house to see his replica trophies.

Don’t slag on your trophies, ever. Those trophies represent much of the power and emotional connection your fans have to your sport and if you are crapping on that, why are people supposed to even care?

2. The NBA is seeing some financial challenges from their dust-up with China:

I’ve had the flu this week and I haven’t had the voice to record the intro to a new, updated episode with Greg Turner about doing business in China, but if you can make out anything from the first episode, it would be how this was to be expected. (Technical difficulties due to the firewall in China’s internets caused the first episode to be a big disjointed.)

It seems like the NBA is reporting taking about a 4% hit on revenue this year due to standing up for their beliefs in dealing with China.

In a world where brands are all shouting about how “cause marketing” is so important, real cause marketing means you put your bottom line on the line. The NBA did that, on purpose or not.

To me, the more problematic situation that the NBA is facing right now is a ratings slump at the local level with the Warriors falling 66% and the average team down 13%. Which mirror a slump in the NBA’s ratings this year despite a jump in viewership for this year’s All-Star Game.

Right now, we see the NFL rushing to finish up a new labor deal so that they can negotiate their next round of TV deals while extreme premiums are still likely to be had.

My concern is that losing ratings for a season isn’t going to harm the NBA too much, but if the trend of NBA viewing continues to lag, the issues in China become a multi-year challenge, and maybe you have some more injuries, retirements, or other on-court issues…the revenue becomes challenged. And, that trickles down to raising ticket prices, concessions, and merchandise to levels that to higher levels than they are now.

I mean, you’re already seeing in New Orleans with Zion.

As we’ve seen since the online shopping has become so prominent, we have trained consumers to wait and shop for deals. We’ve also seen an entire generation of marketers and business folks that have become almost blindly committed to managing by spreadsheet while consumer spending on experiences has increased dramatically.

TV viewership is a fickle beast. Live by the sword, die by the sword…I guess.

The real focus here has to be on creating communities of fans around teams, communities, stories, and experiences. These can absolutely happen online and offline.

P.S. The NHL is having hiccups as well. This can be even more problematic because the NHL probably would benefit from more television exposure.

3. Rage Against The Machine is raising money for charity and taking on the secondary market: 

I’m going to guess that the Rage Against The Machine tour is going to be interesting. It is their first tour in a decade. It is an election year. It seems like a perfect storm for them, yeah?

This idea that Rage is going to thwart the secondary market would seem consistent with their ethos. Raising money for charities also seems on brand.

Where the big challenge comes in, is whether or not the charity pricing aspect was explained clearly at the start.

Pearl Jam does a similar thing with their charity tickets that support their Vitalogy Foundation. They handle it slightly differently, which I think helps with the messaging and the fan blowback.

To me, this is just a situation where if you have a fan base and you can sell the tickets directly with no issues at all, sell. But today’s consumer also has a higher expectation of transparency…so that if you are going to institute a charity program like Rage to fight the secondary market, just share that at the start.

BTW, where did Tom Morello get his “85% of the secondary market” comment anyway?

And, Don Vaccaro and TicketNetwork have committed to donating all their service fees from the first 3 shows in March to National Action Network, the civil-rights organization founded by the Reverend Al Sharpton.

4. Congress is going to continue to investigate the world of tickets: 

Just as I trying to close out this week’s newsletter, this news came down the pipe. So, on February 26th, 2020, Congress is going to hold a hearing on tickets.

This comes on the heels of a letter being released that Pearl Jam sent to Representative Frank Pallone Jr on Wednesday saying that the BOSS act will hurt consumers and pointing to transferability and transparency of the number of tickets being on sale would be bad for consumers.

After the release of Pearl Jam’s letter, Bill Pascrell sent out a release of his own rejecting Pearl Jam’s feedback on the BOSS act.

This continued investigation of the ticket business is a global trend. Last week, I talked about the CMA in the UK halting the Viagogo & StubHub merger due to their concerns, even as the US government approved the deal despite these objections.

And, this week, news out of Australia shows that people are rallying around an Information Standard in regards to the secondary market.

Along with the UK government stating they will investigate the illegal resale of football tickets in the UK after a report in the Guardian uncovered the ins and outs of massive football ticket resale.

As for how do you approach this story:

* Pay attention to what comes out of next week’s hearing. I stated at the time of the workshop in June of 2019 that I felt like this would be an issue that would hang over the industry through the election because it is easy for both sides to beat down on ticket sellers, technology companies, resellers, and everyone involved in the industry directly or indirectly. Fun for the whole family.

* I’d also pay attention to what gets defined as “consumer” friendly. I’m on the side of giving Pearl Jam the benefit of the doubt. They’ve worked pretty hard and taken steps that definitely haven’t been in their own best interests to do what was right for their fans, but I’m also conscious of unintended consequences.

5. Red Bull shows how to grow a team from the ground up: 

RB Leipzig beat Spurs 1-0 on Wednesday! (Just adding to the suffering of having the flu. You think Dele was mad…try watching a poor showing while barely keeping your eyes open and feeling like reheated death!)

But this story is really great in the context of the continuing story of the Astros scandal in the States, Man City in Europe, and Thursday’s news of the arrest of PSG’s president for bribery.

Closer to home for me, it highlights what is possible with vision as the Mets are for sale and the sale has started to have its own amount of drama…and, as the Knicks continue to struggle at MSG.

3 things here:

1. Vision is so important. Melbourne FC just released a plan this week for their fans. It was called out on Australian radio, but without a plan and a vision…you don’t ever reach your potential.

2. Winning matters, but community is powerful. I’ve given this speech on 3 continents now…but you can’t just sell winning, you need to build a community. Leipzig is showing that now and we can see in a lot of places that there is a thing like winning fatigue. Or, in the case of the Warriors, a new arena and a lot of winning aren’t going to fix a bad season in every case.

3. Marketing matters: Red Bull’s involvement in sports and the way they have managed their teams shows that they understand the value of marketing and they understand that great brands, teams, and organizations aren’t built in a day.

While their teams haven’t been successful 100% of the time, they have been consistent and have continued to focus on their vision, their values, and their message over and over. That’s something we can all learn from. —————————————————————————————————————-

What am I up to this week?

I’ve got a couple of webinars coming up this week starting with Wednesday’s visit of my ebook created in partnership with Booking Protect: What Matters In Ticketing Now.  Sign up for the webinar and learn ideas, trends, and actions that you can take to put these insights to work for your business. 

On Thursday, I’m turning my eye to sales by putting together: The Language of the Sale–10 Ways To Use Language More Effectively In Your Sales Process. This is built on the last 6-9 months of sales training I’ve done with teams around the world and this one will be fast and actionable for your team as soon as you get through with the webinar.

Check out the podcast archives: new episodes coming this week now that my voice is coming back. If you have suggestions for guests and the podcast, fill out the survey at the top of the page. 

Please follow and like us:

Talking Tickets: 21 February 2020–MLB! NBA! NHL! And More! was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

[kasemabderrahim]

Top 10 hottest Sports Leagues within the World

Being within the hottest sports leagues within the world isn’t that easy for any athlete. that's one good reason why most athletes and personalities within the sports industry are working extra hard just to earn a spot there.

Today, we’re counting down our picks for the ten top sports leagues within the world. In making the list, we’ve considered leagues from across the world, their financial success, their atmosphere, and competition.

10. Australian league

Aussie Rules Football and Rugby could seem like very similar sports but aside from the form of the ball, the 2 are totally different.

Aussie Rules is played on an oval pitch with four giant posts protruding from each end. Eighteen players per team take the sector during a game filled with passing, kicking, and tackling. The league consists of 18 teams with each team competing during a 23-game regular season. It’s followed by a single-elimination playoff series.

Melbourne is the heart and soul of the league. In fact, 9 of the 18 teams call the coastal city home. With a rustic filled with passionate fans, the AFL may be a completely unique sporting experience.

9. Bundesliga

There are a variety of incredible football leagues around the world. Considering Germany produces a number of the simplest talents the sport has got to offer, it’s no surprise they provide one among the foremost exciting leagues also. the highest division of German football, the Bundesliga, is home to a number of the simplest teams within the world.

Bayern Munich has won the Champions League five times while Borussia Dortmund boasts a number of the foremost passionate fans in Europe. additionally, the Bundesliga is additionally arguably the best-run league in world football, pulling in $2.84 billion dollars in revenue while still offering a number of the most cost-effective tickets available. Seriously, you'll get your hands on Bayern Munich season tickets for as little as 104 Euros. Can’t beat that.

8. PGA

You may not have expected to ascertain golf on this list, but those who’ve learned to understand the sport know exactly why the PGA Tour is among the highest sports leagues within the world.

The truly great golfers within the game test their mettle on the Tour, with the simplest of the simplest earning coveted ranked positions. The Tour organizes a number of the most important tournaments within the world, hosting championships just like the Masters and therefore the U.S. Open.

The PGA is tax-exempt which makes the league’s total revenue unclear. However, with impressive television ratings, the Tour is perhaps pulling in some equally impressive sponsorship money.

7. Indian Premier League

Though this cricket league has only been around since 2008, it’s hard to argue against its unprecedented rise as a lover favorite and a hub for the simplest competition. The Indian Premier League includes eight franchises, each representing major cities in India. They play during home and away round-robin before the four best teams enter a playoff to work out a champion.

The IPL’s quick rise is due, in large part, to their adoption of the most recent format of cricket, Twenty20 (20-20). It involves games that last around 3 hours rather than 3 days. It’s fast-paced and exciting. As a result, the IPL ranks fifth within the world attending for outdoor sports, averaging nearly 32,000 fans per game.

6. Formula One

NASCAR could be the tire-squealing champion of America but the world’s favorite and fastest racing sport is, without question, Formula One. instead of having its drivers race one another on an oval, Formula One takes them on a ride through complex tracks where they’ll need to maneuver sharp turns.

This tests their skills to ascertain which cars can begin on top. With Grand Prix events everywhere the planet, fans of Formula One line the tracks to urge a glimpse of the world’s best drivers in action.

5. NBA

The National Basketball Association is the world’s premier league, drawing the highest talents within the U.S. and from all around the globe. Right now, that has the likes of LeBron, Curry, Durant, Westbrook and other popular names spread throughout a competitive 30-team league. It also features a storied past that incorporates legends of the sport like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. There are the classic rivalries, like Celtics/Lakers and Bulls/Knicks, too.

When it’s finals time, the entire world tunes in. Game 7 of The 2016 NBA Finals between the soldiers and Cavs reached 44.5 million viewers. Not bad, considering it had been on at an equivalent time as Game of Thrones.

4. NHL

There’s just something about hockey that gets people excited.

Is it the speed of the game? The tremendous goals? The fighting? Who’s to say?

What we do know, though, is that the NHL is special. It’s a testament to the game that the league has recovered from two major lockouts since 2004. It only proves just how dedicated and passionate hockey fans truly are.

The NHL has seen legends, like Gretzky and Orr, grace the ice also as current world-class stars like Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. When playoff season comes around and therefore the beards start to grow, magic is within the air for one among the best and best tournaments in sports.

3. MLB

This one’s all about history, folks.

Major League Baseball is about quite just baseball; it’s a part of a Nation’s identity. America’s favorite pastime, baseball may be a total experience. It’s about grabbing a hot dog outside the stadium, trying to catch a foul, getting abreast of the large screen, chanting, bowing, and making signs. But, let’s not forget the competition.

We could mention the ugliness of steroid abuse, but we’d rather mention the Sox vs the Yankees or the Cubs and their curse or the Giants and Dodgers. And albeit you'll think baseball is losing popularity, in 2015 the MLB still pulled in nearly 10 billion in revenue, so they’re doing just fine… Batter up!

2. NFL

Are you ready for a few footballs?

Baseball could also be America’s pastime, but football is “America’s Game”. Despite having a brief season, running from September to February if you count the playoffs, the NFL may be a money-making machine. For its 17 weeks of the normal season, Americans hand over their Sundays to enjoy a day’s worth of televised pigskin and, come playoff time, football fever’s within the air.

This all results in huge advertising bucks that don’t sacrifice any of the sport’s traditions. In fact, it’s added thereto. Tailgating has created its own marketplace for products, while plenty of viewers inspect the Super Bowl only for the commercials.

1. Premier League

The world’s hottest sport deserves the world’s hottest league. Boasting a number of the foremost exciting, fast-paced football from a number of the simplest players on the earth, the Premier League is that the gold standard for football.

Teams are solid from the highest of the table to rock bottom and on any given match day, you'll witness an upset. With famous and storied clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, Premier League rivalries are a sight to behold.

The Premier League boasts the foremost lucrative television accept sports, securing its global reach and bringing in fans from anywhere and everywhere. In March 2015, Liverpool vs United drew 700 million viewers. By comparison, the Super Bowl only had 114 million.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.15

1066 – Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England, but is never crowned. He reigns until 10 December 1066. 1211 – Battle of the Rhyndacus: The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris. 1529 – The Siege of Vienna ends as the Austrians rout the invading Turks, turning the tide against almost a century of unchecked conquest throughout eastern and central Europe by the Ottoman Empire. 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15. 1764 – Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon (tethered) makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier. 1793 – Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day. 1815 – Emperor Napoleon I begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. 1863 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley. 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Glasgow is fought, resulting in the surrender of Glasgow, Missouri and its Union garrison, to the Confederacy. 1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation. 1888 – The "From Hell" letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators. 1894 – The Dreyfus affair: Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying. 1904 – The Russian Baltic Fleet leaves Reval, Estonia for Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War. 1910 – Airship America is launched from New Jersey in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft. 1917 – World War I: At Vincennes outside Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for the German Empire. 1923 – The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. 1928 – The airship, Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States. 1932 – Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight. 1934 – The Soviet Republic of China collapses when Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army successfully encircles Ruijin, forcing the fleeing Communists to begin the Long March. 1939 – The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) is dedicated. 1940 – The President of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, is executed by the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco, making him the only European president to have been executed. 1944 – The Arrow Cross Party (very similar to Hitler's NSDAP (Nazi party)) takes power in Hungary. 1945 – World War II: The former premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval is shot by a firing squad for treason. 1951 – Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes conducts the very last step of the first synthesis of norethisterone, the progestin that would later be used in one of the first three oral contraceptives. 1951 – The first episode of I Love Lucy, an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, airs on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). 1953 – British nuclear test Totem 1 is detonated at Emu Field, South Australia. 1954 – Hurricane Hazel devastates the eastern seaboard of North America, killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto. As a Category 4 upon landfall, it is the strongest storm on record to strike as far north as North Carolina. 1956 – Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time. 1965 – Vietnam War: The Catholic Worker Movement stages an anti-war rally in Manhattan including a public burning of a draft card; the first such act to result in arrest under a new amendment to the Selective Service Act. 1966 – The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. 1969 – Vietnam War; The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam is held in Washington D.C. and across the US. Over two million demonstrate nationally; about 250,000 in Washington D.C.. 1970 – Thirty-five construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses. 1979 – Black Monday in Malta. The building of the Times of Malta, the residence of the opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami and several Nationalist Party clubs are ransacked and destroyed by supporters of the Malta Labour Party. 1989 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL. 1990 – Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation. 1991 – The "Oh-My-God particle", an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray measured at 40,000,000 times that of the highest energy protons produced in a particle accelerator is observed at the University of Utah HiRes observatory in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. 1995 – Marco Campos is killed in an accident in an International Formula 3000 race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, making him the only driver ever killed in the International Formula 3000 series. 1997 – The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC (United Kingdom), 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth's atmosphere. 1997 – The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn. 2001 – NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io. 2003 – China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission. 2005 – A riot in Toledo, Ohio breaks out during a National Socialist/Neo-Nazi protest; over 100 are arrested. 2006 – Kiholo Bay earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport. 2007 – Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids. 2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst day in the Dow's history based on a percentage drop. 2011 – The 2011 Global Protests occur. 2013 – A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippines, resulting in more than 215 deaths.

[rickhorrow]

15+5+5 To Watch : 5719

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

The NBA Playoffs are a global celebration. The conference semifinal round of the NBA playoffs got off to a rousing start last week, and now, it's time to appreciate all the international talent in the playoffs. Let’s take a look at how global the game of basketball, and the NBA, has become. For starters, there are 31 international players on the NBA Playoff rosters of the remaining eight teams, an average of just under four players per team. The remaining teams average seven out of 20 players in the cumulative starting lineups of the four remaining Eastern Conference teams. Australia – long a quiet pipeline to the NBA – boasts five of its citizens on playoff rosters: Ben Simmons, Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut, Jonah Bolden, and Kyrie Irving (who was born in Melbourne, and has dual citizenship). Likewise, Spain has three (the Gasol brothers and the Bucks' Nikola Mirotic), Serbia continues to produce NBA caliber players (the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and the Philadelphia 76ers Boban Marjonovic) and Cameroon fields the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and the Raptors Pascal Siakam. Alongside the international roster of players, of course, comes an international fan base – critical to the NBA’s future on and off the court.

Speaking of Philadelphia – we kick off our week at Drexel University. Drexel2020: The Evolving Sports Business Market will be held in Philadelphia the morning of May 6, and presents a rare opportunity to hear directly from movers and shakers in the sports world and gain access to their personal insights. Our signature new book, The Sport Business Handbook, recognizes the last 50 years as the formative period for the modern era of sports business. The Drexel University panel will explore its most influential moments. Most importantly, a vision for the future will emerge, with valuable perspective offered from the very individuals shaping that future. I look forward to moderating the panel, which features sports business leaders Jon Butler of Pop Warner, Tony Ponturo of Turnkey Sports and formerly Anheuser-Busch, and Nick Sakiewicz of the National Lacrosse League. The event is free and open to students, members of the sports business community, and others looking to learn more about the ins and outs of our high-profile industry.

Tiger Woods will receive his Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday. According to the New York Times, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor. First awarded in 1963, it has honored achievements in fields including acting, architecture, art, economics, law, medicine, music, journalism, and politics. Among the two dozen sports figures who have been honored are Jesse Owens, Ted Williams, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jordan. In golf, President George W. Bush honored Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, while President Obama recognized the pioneering player Charlie Sifford. In his time in office, President Trump has honored Babe Ruth posthumously, as well as quarterback Roger Staubach. Woods’ award comes at a time when many athletes have shown a reluctance to be honored by the Trump administration. The Golden State Warriors declined a White House visit after their championship, as did the NCAA Champion University of Virginia men’s basketball team. The champion Baylor women’s basketball team attended a White House ceremony last Monday.

Before the World Wide Web there was “Wide World of Sports.” As noted by Axios Sports, 58 years ago this month, ABC's "Wide World of Sports" debuted with coverage of the Penn Relays at Philadelphia's Franklin Field. The show was a massive hit, and host Jim McKay's introduction soon became a national catchphrase: "Spanning the globe...to bring you the constant variety of sport...the thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat." In the big picture, over the course of its 37-year run, "Wide World" fundamentally changed sports television, becoming appointment viewing in the days before “Sports Center,” showcasing events that viewers had previously only been able to read about. And here’s a fun fact, also courtesy of Axios: the NCAA’s March Madness, Wimbledon, the Daytona 500, the Little League World Series, the British Open, and the X Games all made their U.S. TV debuts on "Wide World."

The U.S. government has placed Saudi Arabia on its Priority Watch List amid ongoing pressure from several national sports bodies and international broadcasters to bring down the pirate broadcaster BeoutQ. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released two reports condemning the Saudi-based piracy operation and calling out the country for its failure to protect intellectual property. Saudi officials have confirmed the illegal nature of BeoutQ’s activities and claim to be addressing this issue by seizing BeoutQ set-top boxes. But such devices nevertheless continue to be widely available and are generally unregulated in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is included in the USTR’s "2019 Special 301 Report" that identifies governments that fail to protect and enforce intellectual property around the world. The U.S. government intervention arrives in conjunction with calls made by the U.K. government to investigate widespread piracy of live sports content in Saudi Arabia. The pirate broadcaster is also subject of a $1 billion international investment arbitration BeIN Sports brought against Saudi Arabia last October.

Wimbledon has raised its prize money to $49.42 million this year, an 11.8% increase from $44.22 million in 2018. According to the London Evening Standard, the increase means the men’s and women’s singles champions this summer will each pocket $3.06 million. Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber both earned $2.93 million for their title wins in 2018. The Wimbledon singles championship money exceeds the $2.59 million that the French Open announced for this year’s singles winners at Roland Garros but "remains some way shy of the U.S. Open," which gave winners $3.89 million last year. Wimbledon is also raising singles prize money for "both qualifying and the first three rounds of the main draw" by over $13,000. It means prize money for a first-round loss "has risen" from just under $15,000 to over $58,500 in "just eight years.” Reuters also notes Wimbledon will “not employ the ‘shot clock’" that was "used at this year’s Australian Open." However, it is "likely to be rolled out" at Wimbledon in 2020.  

Fenway Park will host its own college football bowl game starting in 2020. Fenway Park will host a new bowl game starting in 2020 featuring teams from the ACC and AAC, according to sources. The ballpark will join venues in Los Angeles and Myrtle Beach as "sites for new bowl games" in 2020, which "marks the start of the NCAA's new bowl cycle." A record 43 bowls will be played that season. Fenway will become the third Major League Baseball venue to host a bowl game, "joining the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and the Cheez-It Bowl" at Chase Field. AT&T Park in San Francisco previously held bowl games under multiple naming rights partners, but the short-lived tradition was discontinued after low attendance year after year. Just as the NFL has stretched its brand marketing to become a 12-month sport, so too is college football looking to retain fan interest year round by extending its post season and timing intriguing announcements – like a bowl game underneath the Green Monster – to the post NFL Draft college football news cycle.

A month out from the tournament’s first matches, VISA unveiled its global marketing campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Titled “One Moment Can Change the Game,” the campaign is designed to amplify “the meaningful moments women are creating on and off the pitch, whether it be inspiring athletic greatness on the field, influencing business outcomes in the boardroom, or driving economic impact at home and across industries.” The global campaign showcases a series of authentic vignettes, including Team VISA female football players Lucy Bronze (Great Britain), Eugenie Le Sommer (France), Kim Little (Scotland), Dzsenifer Maroszan (Germany), and Nadia Nadim (Denmark). The just-announced U.S. women’s World Cup roster includes a dozen players from the 2015 USA championship team. The all-pro U.S. squad – all the women play for a pro club – begins its three-match “Send-Off Series” on May 12 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where it will host South Africa. It follows that with friendlies against New Zealand on May 16 in St. Louis and Mexico on May 26 in Harrison, New Jersey. 

Women’s hockey players lay down their sticks in search of a better deal. Over 200 women’s hockey players, with names that include Team USA stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield, announced that they refuse to play in a North American professional hockey league next season, noting in a statement that "We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game. Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can't adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level." Last Wednesday, the Canadian Women's Hockey League officially discontinued its operations, citing an economically unstable business model, leaving the National Women’s Hockey League the sole remaining professional league in North America. Some players noted that they hope the NHL will support a women's league via financial and infrastructural resources, according to ESPN. In contrast, on the men's side, the top ten players of the 2018-2019 season each brought home multi-million dollar paychecks from the NHL, with lucrative endorsement deals to boot.

CBD is building a perfectly legal presence in pro sports. Hemp supplement company cbdMD is sponsoring golfer Bubba Watson in a multiyear deal that kicks off with the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black later this month. Watson will feature the cbdMD logo on both sides of his headwear at all PGA Tour events. The deal includes a wide range of other integrated marketing opportunities to promote the brand. Meanwhile, another hemp company, diemCBD, has partnered with marketing company Swag'r to launch an augmented reality game for attendees of the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Users can download the app, which is modeled on "Pokemon Go," to collect diemCBD tokens while exploring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event, leading them to coupons, free products, and more. From sports wagering to CBD usage and brand-building among athletes, we are certainly currently living in an era of relaxed rules considering where sports was merely months ago. As always, money talks.

USA Basketball cemented a multiyear partnership with Red Bull North America to build “an elite pathway for men’s and women’s players who have a goal of competing at the highest levels of 3x3 basketball.” As part of the partnership, Red Bull will host more than 20 qualifying tournaments across the country under the newly-created Red Bull 3X series to identify the eight athletes who could potentially represent USA Basketball at the 2020 Olympics. The winning teams at these qualifiers will compete to accumulate enough individual FIBA points with the goal of moving on to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Regionals in the Fall of 2019, and then to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals in March 2020, which will be used to select the USA men’s and women’s 3x3 national teams. Additionally, Red Bull Media House will create original storytelling with USA Basketball to shine a light on the 3x3 game, qualifiers, and players, and celebrate the journey as the sport makes its debut at the Olympics. Red Bull is now the official energy drink of USA Basketball and will support the USA Basketball Men’s and Women’s National Teams as both look to defend their gold medals from the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Youth baseball gets a boost from Stadium and Adidas. Stadium inked an exclusive partnership with the 2019 Cal Ripken Major/70 World Series, a tournament of champions for players aged 12 and under. Stadium will air thirty-four live games over eight days, including the International Championship, U.S. Championship, and World Championship on August 10. Similarly, Little League Baseball and Softball inked a multi-year partnership with Adidas that will see the brand become the official uniform, footwear, and coaches apparel supplier for the Little League World Series and a Little League Official Sponsor. Beginning this season, Adidas will design and create all official on-field uniforms for all seven total Little League World Series events throughout the United States. Additionally, Adidas will outfit all teams with cleats, training apparel, and accessories, and all coaches will be supplied with athletic footwear and apparel. To kick off the partnership’s first season, Adidas will design brand and marketing activations at both the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Oregon. Right before school resumes in August, our attention will be riveted on school-age bats and gloves at their annual peak. 

NASCAR has a plan to boost attendance and ratings: betting on races. NASCAR has signed an exclusive data partnership with Genius Sports, a deal they believe will lead to an in-race betting product and help battle slumping attendance and TV ratings. According to Hashtag Sports, currently, bets on NASCAR races are few and far between at U.S. sports books, who often only have head-to-head options or odds on the race winner. Genius will use up-to-the-second data points like car speed and track position to build a betting product that the London-based company can sell to sports books. Exclusive access to the data will allow Genius to create a betting platform that provides traditional wagers—like who will win—and prop bets such as the number of lead changes or whether a Chevy will end up in victory lane. Sports leagues and teams typically see increased engagement when live betting is offered. Not only does it attract new fans, but live betting keeps them engaged for longer periods of time. NASCAR is hoping for the same response as support for the racing circuit both in-person and on TV declines.

LA 2028 has released its first budget for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, a $6.88 billion spending plan that includes a $616 million contingency for overruns. The top line is 29% higher than a $5.33 billion budget released in 2017, which has been the most commonly cited price for the Games. However, that figure was calculated in 2016 dollars, and was designed for a 2024 Games. The new 2028 budget reflects the longer lead-time Los Angeles agreed to when it accepted the 2028 hosting duties and ceded the race for 2024 to Paris. More importantly, it is calculated in “real money” terms, adjusted for inflation based on when each dollar will actually be raised and spent. According to LA 2028 Chair Casey Wasserman, the much-discussed $2.5 billion domestic sponsorship revenue goal was already inflation-adjusted and does not change. The new number also includes $200 million in additional IOC funding promised as part of the deal L.A. accepted in exchange for being awarded the 2028 Games. Most of that $200 million will be spent on funding youth sports programs in L.A. and committee operations for an additional four years.

Global brand spend on sports sponsorship will grow 4% this year to $46 billion, according to a report by data-driven sports agency Two Circles. Despite the increase, Two Circles said that rights holders’ sponsorship assets are worth $64 billion globally, meaning sports properties are missing out on an extra $18 billion in sponsorship revenues due to unsold inventory, unreported engagement, and outdated rights packaging. Once rights holders begin packaging digital assets into sponsorship propositions, Two Circles expects global sports sponsorship spend to reach $63 billion by the end of 2024, with the overall figure set to rise by an average 6% year-on-year from 2020. The report added that sponsorship revenues will continue to rise as sport moves beyond deals with companies in traditional sectors such as automotive, financial services, airlines, and gambling, which cumulatively currently account for 58% of sports sponsorship in the U.K. Rights holders are clearly adapting to this new world: by embracing the power of data and digital to create sponsorship assets that better satisfy brand objectives, rights-holders will realize the true value of their sponsorship businesses.

Top Five Tech

The NHL playoffs are booming with ratings thanks to Gen Z. According to JohnWallStreet, the first round of the 2019 NHL Playoffs was the highest rated in seven seasons and the most watched on cable television in 25 years. The three Game 7s of the first round included the most-watched first round game on cable since 1994 (Hurricanes/Capitals, 1.75 million viewers), and the league’s use of the Total Audience Delivery (TAD) metric has helped to account for streaming viewership. In order to tap into the minds of the younger Gen Z fans, the NHL formed the Power Players program, a council consisting of 13-17 year-old hockey fans that will provide insight and suggestions on matters of marketing, community engagement, events, social content, and understanding rules of play. This new platform will hopefully attract younger audiences by packaging shorter highlight clips. In order to make this more than a marketing gimmick, the NHL needs to continue its social media push with a focus on “nano” influencers and continued use of trends and tactics such as #HockeyTwitter.

Disney has reached a handshake agreement to sell its share of its regional sports networks to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. After out bidding opponents, Sinclair Broadcast Group scooped up Disney’s remaining 21 networks, which are roughly worth $10 billion. If the sale goes through, this would solve Disney’s sports media monopolization puzzle after the U.S. Department of Justice informed the company it would have to divest RSNs that ESPN acquired last June. According to SportsPro, a majority stake in the YES Network – Fox’s premier sports network partially owned by the New York Yankees – has reportedly already been acquired by Amazon and Sinclair in a $3.5 billion deal. Among Sinclair’s closest rivals for the majority of the RSNs: Major League Baseball reportedly teamed up with Formula One owner Liberty Media earlier this month during the final round of bidding. With Disney having to divest some of its properties, Sinclair Broadcast Group has transformed into another sports broadcast behemoth that may have a tech advantage thanks to its partnership with Amazon.

Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine joins investors to back The Professional Fighters League. According to Bloomberg, the new sports entity is a Mixed Martial Arts series that has raised $30 million from a group of investors including billionaire Iovine. Before its Series C funding, the league already had seen investments from Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and actor Kevin Hart. The most recent round of funding looks to bolster the league’s data and analytics as it expands its global audience and secures more fighters. The niche sports league will serve as a great testing ground for new technology such as enhanced data and analytics to improve the broadcast and create second-screen experiences – a growing attraction for younger fans. The PFL has a multiyear distribution deal that will see every event air across ESPN2, ESPN+, and Deportes in the U.S. and plans to reach fans in 130 countries. Unlike the established UFC, the new fight league will look to a more traditional league-style format similar to hockey, basketball, and soccer, with a regular season followed by a single-elimination playoff and season-ending championship. The days of traditional PPV fights are quickly fading and the PFL is looking to capitalize on OTT trends to hook fans into a new MMA league.

Wimbledon lands a deal with Chinese smartphone brand Oppo. The All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of the Wimbledon Championships, has announced a five-year partnership with Oppo, making the agreement both the first Asian partner for the Wimbledon Championships and the tournament’s first smartphone provider. Throughout Wimbledon, Oppo products will go on display, with select photographers using its latest camera phones to capture tennis action. According to SportsPro, the best photos will later appear as part of the official Wimbledon photo gallery. Additionally, the phone brand will have an award presented on its behalf to acknowledge young, breakthrough players during the tennis tournament. Oppo already has inked deals with soccer super team Barcelona and the International Cricket Council (ICC). Now, the phone brand will play a key role in supporting top junior tennis players, adding the professional grass-court season into its repertoire while the partnership helps Wimbledon and tennis as a whole make a splash into China, the world’s biggest consumer market. 

DAZN Connect launches with the intent to unify content distribution for OTT. With over 30,000 live sport events across multiple leagues and competitions, DAZN Connect offers access to one of the largest live sports content networks in the world. According to Sports Video Group, DZAN Connect uses the latest video transport technology to help clients consolidate their acquisition and distribution requirements into one partner. With its focus on niche sports, DAZN has quietly slid into the lead position of the largest sports content provider in the industry – some of its clients include BT Sport, Iqiyi, NBC Sports, Fox Soccer, Fox Netherlands, and ESPN. Because of fan demands, the latest addition to the DAZN family utilizes the cloud to deliver the lowest latency, highest quality, and the most secure sports distribution service while allowing local sports to be available globally. DAZN Connect has made it a grandparent in the OTT sphere and now put it fully ahead of other sports media agencies trying to play catch-up in streaming.

Power of Sports Five

Chelsea will take on the Revolution for a charity soccer match to fight hate. According to Trifecta Network Sports, the match will take place at Gillette Stadium May 15 and include a handful of Chelsea regulars such as David Luiz, Gonzalo Higuain, Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kanye, and Willian. The match is being called the “Final Whistle on Hate” and aims to raise awareness around anti-Semitism. This will be the first time playing in Boston for many Chelsea players and is a rare appearance on U.S. soil. The idea of the match was developed by clubs owners Roman Abramovich and Robert Kraft, with all proceeds being dedicated to initiatives to combat anti-Semitism and all hate crimes. The match’s primary beneficiaries include the World Jewish Congress, the Tree of Life synagogue, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Holocaust Educational Trust. Chelsea FC owner Abramovich and the Kraft family will also each donate $1 million in support of the cause, while the match will highlight the rise of hate crimes around the world and use the power of sport to tackle prejudice in all its forms. This is a match all the more necessary after ongoing shootings associated with anti-Semitism; it will also be a rare experience for Chelsea fans based in the U.S.

Former UFC champion Stipe Miocic raises money for fallen firefighters. According to WKYC 3, Miocic returned to the fighting world, but rather than in the octagon he competed in a jiu-jitsu grappling match against Aaron Howard in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio. Although he lost via decision to Howard, Miocic donated his entire purse to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a cause with extra personal significance as he is a part-time Cleveland paramedic and firefighter. By taking the bout on short notice and having never fought in a Fight2Win event before, Miocic is an even bigger hero to the community and Howard than he is in the fight game. One of the greatest heavyweight UFC fighters of all time, Miocic plans to continue his pursuit of regaining the championship belt. In the meantime, he will be fighting flames in the community.

The Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo returns to fundraising. While the Cubs were taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, the two teams took time to recognize the first baseman ahead of their matchup thanks to Rizzo’s contributions to the Phoenix Children's Hospital. According to Arizona Sports 89.7 FM, the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation contributed $50,000 towards PCH’s Beach Ball 2020 – the principal fundraising event held every year to benefit the hospital. Last year, the Beach Ball raised more than $1.65 million in support of PCH. After having gone through his own battles with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Rizzo recognized the toll fighting cancer took on an entire family. Now, his foundation focuses on funding cancer research and providing support to children and their families battling the disease. Outside of the Phoenix hospital, the Rizzo Family Foundation has worked with major children’s hospitals around the country, including two hospitals in Florida and two in Illinois. While he hasn’t been off to the strongest start on the field this seaosn, Rizzo continues to make strides in philanthropy. 

Cubs Manager Joe Maddon creates a beer…for charity? The beverage is called “Try Not to Suck,” and is a partnership between Maddon's Respect 90 Foundation and Rags of Honor 1, a nonprofit that helps homeless vets. For now, the German style helles lager is available only in the Chicago area. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Chicago-based nonprofit Rags of Honor 1 helps homeless veterans, and founder Mark Doyle made arrangements to have the beer made by the Haymarket Beer Co., and vets helped with the production. The foundation is also seeking to establish its own brewery, RnR Brews, which will be fully staffed by veterans who will then take over production. The microbrewery trend has helped to popularize different styles of beer, and what better way to give back to veterans than blend to iconic parts of America’s pastime: baseball and brews.

London Marathon runners raise north of £45 million. According to Third Sector, London Marathon organizers are confident that the event has now raised more than £1 billion in its near 40-year history. So far this year, £3 million has been raised for Dementia Revolution, a campaign by the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research U.K., which was the official charity campaign of this year’s race. Runners using the platform Virgin Money Giving have also raised £25.5 million, with the final total expected to surpass £28 million. This would be a new record for the platform, which this time last year had helped to raise a total of £21.8 million. The other popular fundraising platform JustGiving said runners through its site had totaled more than £20 million this year, with the amount raised per fundraiser and the average donation amount having both risen this year. Overall, the race allows for individual runners and the marathon governing body to reach out to charities to use one of the world’s largest running events for the benefit of Alzheimer's and beyond.

[muotiunivormu]

Kings on aloittamassa ensimmäisen pelikierroksensa

Timmins ja Wishart tulivat NHL pelipaidat päällään Melbourneen pitämään hauskaa jääkiekkouransa lopussa, mutta heillä ei ollut aavistustakaan, millaista hauskaa heillä oli. Scott Timmins ja Ty Wishart ovat Australian Hockey Leaguen supertähtiä. Tämä kanadalainen joukkue on pelannut NHL:ssä ja auttanut Melbourne Broncosia voittamaan AIHL Champion Goodall Cupin 27. elokuuta.

Australia kohtaa Arizona Coyotesin ja Los Angeles Kingsin NHL:n ensimmäisessä ottelussa eteläisellä pallonpuoliskolla. Jos katsot näitä miehiä läheltä, hämmästyt. Oli niin hienoa tavata nämä ihmiset henkilökohtaisesti. Jokainen joukkue harjoittelee vähintään kahdesti maanantaista torstaihin O'Brien Ice Arenalla, Broncosin kotipaikalla. Joukkue pitää sitten avoimen harjoituksen Rod Laver Arenalla perjantaina ja pelaa kaksi esikauden ottelua 2023 NHL Global Series-Melbournessa lauantaina ja sunnuntaina. "Olemme varmaan iso kala tässä pienessä lammikossa ja he tulevat nauttimaan todellisten NHL-pelaajien kilpailemisesta", Wishart naurahti. Se merkitsee paljon urheilulle täällä, koska vaikka kysyisit joiltakin kanadalaisilta ulkomaalajilta, he sanovat: "Voi, luoja." Onko täällä jääkiekkoa? Se on mahtavaa", hän sanoi. "Olen tavannut monia ulkomaalaisia Los Angeles Kings pelipaita , jotka ovat nyt suuria Broncos-faneja, koska he todella tietävät Broncosin olemassaolon, joten uskon, että se lisää tietoisuutta Broncosista. Tietoisuus tästä urheilulajista, minä mielestäni tämä on erittäin tärkeää.

[roligthockeyspel]

La série mondiale est sur le point de commencer

Avec leurs maillots hockey, Timmins et Wishart sont venus à Melbourne dans le but de s'amuser à la fin de leur carrière de hockey, mais ils n'avaient aucune idée du genre de plaisir qui les attendait. Scott Timmins et Ty Wishart sont des superstars de la Ligue australienne de hockey. Cette équipe canadienne a joué dans la LNH et a aidé les Broncos de Melbourne à remporter la Coupe Goodall des champions de l'AIHL le 27 août.

L'Australie verra les Coyotes de l'Arizona et les Kings de Los Angeles participer au premier match de la LNH dans l'hémisphère sud. Si vous regardez ces gars de près, vous serez étonné. C'était tellement cool de rencontrer ces gens en personne. Chaque équipe s'entraînera au moins deux fois du lundi au jeudi à l'O'Brien Ice Arena, domicile des Broncos. L'équipe organisera ensuite une séance d'entraînement ouverte au Rod Laver Arena vendredi et disputera deux matchs préparatoires aux NHL Global Series 2023-Melbourne samedi et dimanche. "Je suppose que nous sommes un gros poisson dans un petit étang ici et ils vont se régaler en voyant de vrais joueurs de la LNH concourir", a exprimé Wishart en riant. Cela signifie beaucoup pour le sport ici, car même si vous posez la question à certains expatriés canadiens, ils vous diront : « Oh, mon Dieu. Est-ce qu'on a du hockey ici ? C'est génial", a-t-il déclaré. "J'ai rencontré beaucoup d'étrangers portant des maillot Los Angeles Kings qui sont maintenant de grands fans des Broncos parce qu'ils savent réellement que les Broncos existent, donc je pense que cela va faire connaître les Broncos. La sensibilisation à ce sport, je je pense que c'est très important.