Closing Bell

The NBA 2K League today announced "many innovations" for the '22 season, including the "creation of 3-on-3 tournaments" that will be sponsored by cryptocurrency platform Coinbase. The 2K League will "shift from a normal 'regular season' and primarily focus on tournaments (and qualifying events for those tournaments), a differentiator esports at large has tried to capitalize on compared to traditional sports." The 5-on-5 model for the league's 24 teams will continue and will "determine postseason qualification." Players will also "participate in three separate 3v3 tournaments during the season, which run from April to August." League President Brendan Donohue also said next year's total prize money fund will be "by far the biggest" in the league's five-year history. Financial details "aren't set yet," but last year's total was $1.5M (USA TODAY, 12/16).

The NBA has hired longtime producer Gregg Winik as its new President of Content & Exec Producer. Winik, who was the executive producer for "The Last Dance," will oversee the development and production of games and other NBA programming across all platforms, including content within the NBA’s D2C offerings. Winik will start his new role on Jan. 3 and report to NBA President of Global Content & Media Distribution Bill Koenig. Winik previously was with NBA Entertainment from '90-'06 (SBJ).

An increasing number of EPL clubs are "pushing for a shutdown" until the new year in an attempt to deal with the growing coronavirus crisis, according to sources. EPL leaders have been informed that with rising case numbers, there would be "support for suspending games until the weekend of Jan. 8-9, when FA Cup third-round ties are due to take place." It would mean "postponing four rounds of league games, beginning this weekend and continuing through the weekend of Jan. 1-2." Under the proposal, EPL games would restart on Jan. 15. One issue "surrounding a potential shutdown is the disruption to broadcast schedules and the financial penalties which could follow" (ESPN.com, 12/16).

See more in tonight's SBJ Global.

Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, who announced he is stepping away from full-time driving earlier this week, today "became an analyst for NBC Sports." Hinchcliffe will replace Paul Tracy in the booth and call next year's 17-race schedule alongside Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell. He has previously "done pit reporting for NBC Sports" and was an analyst last year for some CBS events. The frustration of the last two seasons on the track "helped ease Hinchcliffe into the NBC job" (AP, 12/16).

Clorox is stepping in as the new title sponsor of the Rising Stars game during NBA All-Star weekend in Cleveland. The brand in March signed a multiyear deal with the league to be the official cleaning partner. There was no Rising Stars game last season, and there was no sponsor in '20. At the '19 All-Star weekend, Mtn Dew sponsored the game. The Clorox Rising Stars game will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Meanwhile, AT&T during All-Star weekend will be presenting sponsor of the first-ever NBA HBCU Classic, which will be played at Wolstein Center on Feb. 19 on the campus of Cleveland State. Howard will play Morgan State in men’s hoops.

The Twins and Minnesota Ballpark Authority have awarded the new Target Field video display project to Daktronics. The planned board, at 10,000 square feet, would be the fourth largest in MLB and 76% bigger than the current one, and the new one board will be only the fifth that's HDR capable, giving it one of the sharpest pictures in the league. Pending a final agreement, the new Target Field main videoboard, as well as any other additions to the venue’s LED capabilities, will be installed next offseason and make its debut on Opening Day '23. Daktronics, which was one of three finalists, built the current Target Field videoboard in '10. 

The new project is part of a two-phase effort to enhance Target Field’s videoboard operation, and is budgeted at $21.9M, a substantial chunk of the total $29.5M for the two phases. The Twins and the MBA split the costs 50-50.

Canidae Pet Food is in as the newest member of Oak View Group’s Arena Alliance sponsorship program. The Stamford, Conn.-based pet food brand is leveraging across a number of Oak View buildings, including the home arenas of the Predators, Islanders, Lightning, Wild and Kraken. Activation using a new “Official Pet Food” designation includes camera-visible signage, on-ice dog races, in-game moments with P.A. announcements, and team-themed POS with mascot imagery at retail. Canidae also hopes to bring a re-fillable pet food bag concept being tested at some retailers to arenas. 

With Canidae’s sustainability positioning (it even has a brand called Sustain) CEO Bret Furiosaid Oak View’s work at Climate Pledge Arena originally attracted him. It’s the first sports marketing program for the brand. “It’s a great way to amplify our messages of sustainability to a group that we know is our audience,’’ Furio said. The loyalty of NHL fans and the fact that more than 75% of them have pets were also compelling reasons to do the deal, he said.  Add to that the growing popularity of team mascots, many of which look like dogs, and have social media followings larger than many players. “We’re looking for additional awareness, engagement, along with retail visibility, and we think this will get us there,’’ Furio said. 

New Jersey reported $1.26B in sports betting handle in November, the state's "third straight month with over $1 billion." It also "set a record with $114.8 million in revenue" (TWITTER.com, 12/16). That makes N.J. the "first state to ever generate more than $100 million in operator revenue in a single month." N.J. sportsbook operators "more than doubled their revenues" from November '20 to November '21, "jumping year-over-year from $50.6 million to $114.8 million." N.J. now has accepted "more than $9.7 billion in wagers this calendar year" and will finish '21 as the "first state to accept more than $10 billion in legal sports bets in a single calendar year" (TWITTER.com, 12/16).

Private equity firm TPG -- the majority owner of CAA -- has "filed to go public." The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker “TPG" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 12/16).

The PGA Tour and BetMGM signed a three-year extension through '24 to their marketing and content relationship designating BetMGM as an official betting operator of the Tour (PGA Tour).

Noah Eagle, Nate Burleson and Nickelodeon star Gabrielle Nevaeh Green will return to the booth for Nick's production around an NFL Wild Card game. The playoff game will be in the late Sunday afternoon window on Jan. 16. New to the telecast next month: Young Dylan will be the sideline reporter (John Ourand, SBJ).

Midwest-based Simmons Bank announced a multiyear sponsorship initiative where it will sponsor women's athletics at multiple universities, including Oklahoma State, SMU and TCU, among others (SBJ).

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Outside Interactive is launching a five-part series " Mikaela Shiffrin: Passion & Purpose" that follows the Gold medal-winning skier's personal and athletic journey, both on and off the hill, as she prepares for the Beijing Games. The series, which launches Dec. 21 with the release of the first two episodes, will be available exclusively to members of Outside+ or through the Outside TV app.

63 million -- Views generated by the NBA's Instagram account for content posted in the 24 hours after Warriors G Steph Curry broke the NBA's all-time 3-point record on Tuesday night, the most views of any account on Instagram in that span. Curry-related content alone drove 55 million of those views and would have ranked number one on the platform by itself (NBA).