Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
ESPN and the NFL, Halloween spending and Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets
In today’s newsletter, I discuss ESPN and NFL rights, Halloween spending and Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets.
MEDIA: ESPN and the NFL
For some background, the NFL expanded the playoffs last season, adding one new team in each conference and one additional playoff game in each conference during the first round of the playoffs.
For this season, the league is now moving one of those first round playoff games to be played of Monday night instead of the weekend.
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Notably, ESPN will also run that game on ABC as well as on ESPN2 — the ESPN2 broadcast will include commentary from Eli and Peyton Manning, who currently feature on some ESPN Monday Night Football regular season games this year.
NFL games are coveted properties for broadcast and cable television as those games generate big ratings for these networks.
However, as video streaming becomes more popular, look for video streaming platforms to emerge as the home of some NFL Playoff games the next time the rights for these games become available.
MONEY: Halloween Spending
Americans are planning to spend more on Halloween this year than last year, according to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll for CIT Bank.
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Those survey results suggest that consumers are confident if they are planning to substantially increase Halloween spending, which is discretionary.
Secondly, the results indicate that the pandemic won’t have nearly the impact on Halloween celebrations this year as it did last year.
SPORTS: Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets earlier this week said that superstar guard Kyrie Irving won’t play for the team this year until he receives at least one coronavirus vaccination shot.
Irving along with Kevin Durant and James Harden form a trio of superstars that have made the Nets the favorites to win the NBA title this season.
Before it was known that Irving might not play this season, the Nets were favorites to win the NBA title at +210, according to FanDuel Sportsbook last week.
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While these new odds are longer, they are not notably different than they were last week.
That suggests that the sportsbooks expect the Nets to win the title without Irving or that they expect him to eventually return to the team at some point this year.
I suspect it’s the former and that the Nets will will ultimately be a better team without Irving — Irving is an immense talent, but he is also an immense distraction.
Jeremy Pink is currently COO of Geniecast, a leading virtual content and experience company. He is the former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he helped lead the company to a successful sale and exit during his tenure there. He is also a former CNBC television executive in New York, London and Singapore.
The information contained in this communication is strictly for general informational and entertainment purposes and is not meant to be construed as financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. This communication is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. I am not a financial advisor or offering professional advice of any kind. Users should not act upon the content or information found within this communication without first seeking professional advice appropriate for their individual situation. Decisions based on information contained in this communication are the sole responsibility of the user, and use of this communication and its contents constitutes an explicit understanding and acceptance of the foregoing disclaimers.
(Newsletter Editor: Karina Pink)