As the growing number of Miami Marlins tested positive for COVID 19 on Monday, the social media world went into a tizzy…MLB is on the brink of collapse, sports shouldn’t have come back, let’s send them to a bubble, the NFL is in trouble, the integrity of the game is at stake, and on and on and on.
Then for now, MLB figured out scheduling changes, and no one on other teams tested positive, and games were played on Monday…and Tuesday…and Wednesday…not perfect, but the games went on.
As a matter of fact on Tuesday night there were more live sports on TV than maybe at any point EVER in July…you flipped a channel to see no less than SIX leagues (and NBA2k as well) with no people in the stands but millions of people watching. There was a huge amount of social buzz, brands being are configured into broadcasts and on to signage, gambling lines being posted, and the ability to share cause marketing and social responsibility platforms has never been bigger to an audience tuning in.
Then you have the numbers and the deals just from the last 48 hours…
The NHL, Twitter, and Disney Streaming Services unlocked a partnership designed to deliver two-minute Live Look-Ins on Twitter of select NHL games during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers and Stanley Cup Playoffs to fans in the U.S. In addition, hockey fans will be able to utilize Twitter poll voting to select which games will feature Live Look-Ins, as part of an effort to drive awareness and viewership of NHL game broadcasts.
The WNBA, on ESPN’s opening weekend coverage ranked as the league’s most-watched opener on the ESPN family of networks since 2012, delivering an average 539,000 viewers. In addition to achieving a multi-year high, ABC’s viewership for Saturday’s Sparks/Mercury match-up was up 19% from last year’s season opener on ABC, while the network’s Sunday telecast between the Sky/Aces averaged 433,000 viewers.
The NWSL championship between Houston and Chicago averaged 653,000 viewers on CBS. That ranks as the most-watch match in NWSL history and was up 293% over last’s year’s final.
CBS Sports reported that its final-round coverage of the 3M Open was up 14% in viewership over last year, averaging 2.599 million viewers. Since the return to live golf in June, CBS Sports’ overall viewership is up 25% from comparable events last year.
NBC Sports’ Premier League season, averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 462,000 viewers per match window for the 2019-20 season – marking the highest average Premier League viewership since 2015-16.
The Premier Lacrosse League announced a number of viewership milestones from its opening weekend of the PLL Championship Series, played on July 25-26. Sunday’s game between Atlas/Waterdogs nabbed a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 341,000 on NBC, making it the second-most watched outdoor pro lacrosse game in media history and the third-most watched pro lacrosse game in 15 years.
The return of the NHL season sees Pepsi celebrate the return of by giving away $500,000 through its Pepsi Zero Sugar NHL Shutout: Stanley Cup Qualifiers Edition program and 2020 Pepsi Zero Scores Sweepstakes. With each shutout that occurs, one lucky fan will receive $24,000, celebrating each of the 24 teams vying for the Stanley Cup title.
Who knows where the heck this is going to go, but those who keep saying we are hanging by a thread are going to be wrong. Many times we look for leaders to have EVERY ANSWER when in reality taking the step and saying I DON’T KNOW or WE DIDN’T PLAN FOR THAT BUT WE ARE WORKING ON IT are the best answers. Want to kill leadership and decision makers for not having everything in place…c’mon. Everyone should be benefiting from the steps on the previous, and let’s not forget that those who went even sooner…baseball in Asia, Serie A, The Bundesliga, Chinese Basketball, all had their fits and stops…and all either finished or learned and moved on.
Isn’t that what both sports and good business does…learn form the missteps and recover?
Now maybe there could have been more insight and preparedness on behalf of baseball. Maybe they could have come out at the start and said WHEN…not IF this happens here’s what we will do…but we are learning on the fly here, and the NBA and the NFL will benefit from the mistakes that have happened elsewhere…that’s what learning is all about.
By the way, what’s the alternative…not try and adjust? Just say stop? Then when those who are criticizing and asking for cessation are unemployed they complain more. Stop. Everyone knows this won’t be perfect or what we consider normal. The dollars already lost, and the jobs already gone as well as other coming, will be devastating. But every day we continue to see a shift and learnings…in broadcast, technology, fan engagement and so on…that will help shape a path for those choosing to embrace and learn…not simple, but it is a way to look forward.
Tuesday night at the end of the Mets Red Sox game in Boston, announcer Gary Cohen, doing the game from Citifield in New York, mentioned that the Mets were taking six buses back from Boston, and they were not stopping until they got back and were ready to play another game Wednesday.
So, lets keep the bus moving until we can’t. Let’s make sure the ride is as healthy as possible, as risk free as can be, and as safe as it can be so those watching can get some relief, and those driving can do their jobs.
It’s NOT the past, its not easy…what the heck is? But all that live content on a July Tuesday, with a lot more to come? It is pretty damn good right now if you are healthy and engaged and want to look forward on the road, not back.
Get on the bus, the ride is just beginning. Maybe it won’t finish for all, but maybe it will. It’s a lot better than not having the ride just a few weeks ago. Keep learning and watching, it’s important to all.
