Media

First Call: Flyers social media mishap; Steelers lose data analyst; ex-Pirate is All-Star MVP

Published

1 year ago

July 12, 2023

There surely have been more than a few instances of Zoom calls originating in Western Pennsylvania that have included the words “Flyers (stink)” and another word that begins with the same letter. But Tuesday, it happened on a call staged by Philadelphia Flyers employees themselves.

During a live stream of a virtual conference call with Philadelphia media and veteran forward Garnet Hathaway, audio came through from Flyers social-media staffers who arranged and facilitated the call. And after at one point a reporter asked Hathaway a question about why an accomplished player such as he would sign with a clearly-rebuilding team like the Flyers, a voice is heard saying, “How many times is she going to ask this (bleeping) question?” Another voice, sarcastically in agreement, can be heard saying what sounds like, “Yeah, the Flyers (stink), why are you even watching?”

While the Flyers apparently took down the post rather quickly, of course in social media nothing is erased, so the exchange made its rounds — to the hilarity of many fans of other teams who dislike the Flyers.

The Flyers ultimately responded with a Twitter post of a statement attributed to new team president of hockey operations Keith Jones apologizing for the “disrespectful remarks” and saying the team reached out to the reporter and her media outlet.

“Any disrespect towards reporters is completely unacceptable, especially when they are simply doing their job,” the statement read, in part. “…(the Flyers) will continue to promote an environment of mutual respect when working with media.”

Forgotten Pirate

The Pirates have had their issues getting offense from the catcher position this season. Just think if they had an All-Star catcher who, say, had 77 hits that were tied for third-most of any catcher across MLB this season — a guy who homered during Tuesday’s All-Star game.

Elias Diaz’s two-run homer off Felix Bautista in the top of the eighth inning Tuesday night was the key hit in the National League’s 3-2 victory against the AL in Seattle.

Diaz indeed was a Pirates catcher — up until 2019. The team’s primary catcher that season, Diaz was the first regular from that team discarded by then-new general manager Ben Cherington. Though Cherington had designated for assignment a handful of fringe pitchers days after he was announced as the Pirates’ baseball operations head on Nov. 15, the first starting position player let go was Diaz, whom Cherington declined to tender a contract to on Dec. 2, 2019, making him a free agent.

Diaz’s non-tender was not without its logic — after all, he ranked dead last in all of the majors at any position in defensive runs saved in 2019 (minus-21). And it’s not as if Diaz has become a star with the Colorado Rockies (he has 38 home runs and a .720 OPS over 317 games). But no one can take away from Diaz that he earned an MVP award in an All-Star game.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

Published

2 months ago

September 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

An online streaming service has exclusive rights to the big Champions League match – but it’s easy to watch it for free.

Liverpool will be returning to the Champions League on Tuesday night, hoping to get back to winning ways on the opening night of the new campaign, facing old foes AC Milan.

The side, who previously faced Milan in the 2005 and 2007, suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, so they will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week.

However, Milan have also had a tumultuous ride so far, with the team currently in 9th after four games, despite a solid 4-0 win over Venezia at the weekend.

It’s shaping up to be a thrilling match, then, with both teams having plenty to prove, and you can watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga has unveiled state-run China Media Group (CMG) as its official broadcast partner in the country.

Through a deal announced today, CMG returns as a Chinese broadcaster of the 20-team Spanish league.

The tie-up has come with the 2024-25 campaign already four matchdays in and follows a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in late July.

Last season (2023-24), LaLiga action was shown in China by the Migu streaming service, while rights for 2024-25 have also been snapped up by the iQiyi digital broadcaster.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, has said: “China remains a key market for LaLiga, and we are thrilled to bring our league’s unique passion and excitement to Chinese fans through one of the most influential media platforms in the country.”

Over the last few weeks, LaLiga has been scrambling to add more partners to its stable of broadcasters for this season.

Earlier this month, a significant deal across numerous African markets was unveiled with SportyTV, while mid-August saw BeIN Sports extend its exclusive rights deals across the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Domestically, DAZN and Movistar are the main rights-holders through deals running between 2022 and 2027.

Sportcal

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

Belgium’s Pro League Launches Five-Season Domestic Rights Tender

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League has gone to market with a domestic media rights tender for the five seasons between 2025 and 2030.

The tender was launched recently (September 9), and the Pro League is being strategically supported by the heavyweight IMG agency – through a deal unveiled last October – during the process.

The deadline for prospective rights-holders to submit bids is October 16, with a Pro League general assembly to then evaluate the bids on October 18.

Interested parties can obtain the tender documents by contacting tender2025@proleague.be.

The 16-team Pro League’s domestic and international rights are currently held by global sports streaming service DAZN – which acquired previous rights-holder Eleven Sports in 2023 – in a five-year deal running through the 2024-25 season. Eleven tapped sports agency Mediapro to distribute international rights in partnership with the league.

In total, eight rights packages are available for purchase – three specifically for the Pro League (others cover the second-tier Challenger Pro League and various domestic cup competitions).

A new development in this tender is that the packages are platform-neutral, meaning they cover both linear and streaming rights.

In terms of kick-off times for games across the five seasons covered by the tender, meanwhile, the Pro League has said these “remain virtually unchanged.”

IMG, meanwhile, also has a contract in place to collect and commercialize the Pro League’s fastpath data in a five-year agreement with European Leagues running from 2022-23 to 2027-28.