Inside the NFL is looking for a new home, MLB enhances its storytelling unit and the Pickleball Slam finds its TV audience.
With a cautious eye toward the sky, the 87th Masters tees off this morning at Augusta National Golf Club defending champion Scotty Scheffler goes out at 1:36 PM Eastern, assuming there are no weather delays, live TV coverage begins at 3:00 PM on ESPN with a replay in the evening. You can also listen on Sirius XM this afternoon, or you could sit in front of your laptop pretending to work and start watching right now. And to those of you fortunate enough to be on the grounds this weekend, enjoy the show and the escape from your electronic devices. Good morning. It's Thursday, April 6th. This is your SBJ Morning buzz cast. I'm David Albright, filling in for Abe Madkour.
CBS Sports execs told staffers of the long-running inside the NFL program that the series will not return to Paramount plus streaming service. It's home since 2021 reports our John Ourand. The NFL has already started shopping the show to other outlets. It could be a fit for streamers like Prime Video, which carries the NFL's Thursday night football package, or Google's YouTube, which recently picked up the rights to the league's out of market Sunday ticket package. And networks like ESPN and ABC already have deals with the NFL and could carry the show on their streaming networks. Paramount plus execs have said sports programming is among the highest drivers of new subscription and retention rates in the streaming business. And the service will still carry UEFA Champions League games live NFL Games and Studio programming, MLB and Imagine Entertainment. The production company co-founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have agreed to a multi-year deal to create scripted and non-scripted film and television properties. The content partnership looks to produce programming that taps the expansive MLB film and video archive to cover historical and cultural subjects while leveraging access granted by the league to also profile the storylines around the game.
Today the deal launches with a documentary on the 2023 World Series that will be directed by RJ Cutler whose recent directorial credits include a documentary on Billie Eilish for Apple TV plus and a documentary on John Belushi for Showtime. In a statement, MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden said the partnership enables a framework to produce unmatched content for fans. The league is now officially using the label MLB studios for these types of select and elevated production partnerships.
ESPN Drew 669,000 viewers on Sunday at noon eastern for the inaugural pickleball slam reports our Austin Karp. The event which saw tennis legends Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick earn $1 million after beating John McEnroe and Michael Chang in a winner take all doubles match that audience figure. Outdrew a number of other live sports in the same window on Sunday, including Manchester United Newcastle on USA network, Rangers Capitals on TNT and the ATP Miami Open Final on Tennis Channel. The pickleball telecast also outdrew what ESPN had in the same window last week, which was College Gameday and a Texas A&M Tennessee baseball game.
Coca-Cola has displaced Dr. Pepper Snapple as the A's soft drink sponsor reports our Terry Lefton. The principal asset in the deal is a large red and white Coca-Cola script sign on the right centerfield wall, which seems as big as any at Oakland Coliseum. The A's soft drink rights had been with Dr. Pepper Snapple since 2018 as part of a broad deal, which included carbonated soft drinks, tea, water, juice, energy drinks, isotonic beverages, and packaged coffee. As has been the case in recent Coke deals with properties, this sponsorship was driven by the regional bottler rather than out of Koch headquarters in Atlanta. In this instance, that was Reyes Coca-Cola bottling out of Los Angeles. The Cubs also flipped to Coke this year after 40 years of sponsorship with Pepsi. By our count, that leaves MLB team pouring sponsorship rights at Coke with 22 and Pepsi with eight.
In people news Klutch Sports Group has named Nicole Lynn its first President of football to lead the division, which represents more than 60 NFL player clients and employs four NFLPA certified player agents. Lynn, who was a 2020 SBJ game Changers Honoree joined Klutch in 2021. She represents many stars in the league, including Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, and Browns defensive end Miles Garrett. She's the first black woman NFL agent to represent a top three NFL draft prospect with Williams, who was the number three overall selection back in 2019. In this April's NFL draft, Lynn represents several top prospects, including Alabama outside linebacker Will Anderson and Texas running back Bijan Robinson.
We'll close on a programming note on the heels of LSU and UConn's College basketball championships. Sports Media podcast hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand dive into the health of both sports as media properties. The two examine the storylines that boosted the popularity of the NCAA Women's Tournament and discuss the social media controversies surrounding Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, the two most popular players in the championship game. Marchand and Ourand also bring up Jim Nantz's final call as play-by-play announcer for the NCAA Men's Tournament and review the tournament's studio show. Other topics include a preview of this week's Masters and a review of Endeavor's deal to merge UFC with the WWE. You can download and listen to the Marchand and Ourand Sports Media podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And that's your SBJ Morning buzzcast for Thursday. I hope everyone has a great day and we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.