With NATAS events back on the calendar and running live, this year’s Sports Emmy Awards will honor trailblazing sports journalist Lesley Visser when the industry gather for its annual kudos celebration later this month, paying tribute to the only sportscaster – male or female – to have taken part in the network broadcast of the Super Bowl, World Series, Final Four, NBA Finals, Olympics, Triple Crown, U.S. Open and the World Figure Skating Championship. Voted the number one Female Sportscaster of All-Time by the National Sportscasters of America, the long-time CBS Sports pillar has been enshrined in seven Halls of Fame, in addition to being the first woman to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first woman to report from a Super Bowl sideline, the first woman on Monday Night Football and the only woman to have presented the Championship Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl.

With the 43rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony set to take place live and in-person at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on May 24, Cynopsis Sports caught up with the her to discuss the state of sports media, her career and the one sports she has never been able to work.

Visser on the Emmy honor: My mother, a teacher, asked me what I wanted to be when I was 10-years-old and I said, “A sportswriter” – a job that didn’t exist for women. This Emmy Award means so much because it’s honored men I’ve either idolized or worked with, starting with Jim McKay. In fact, his son Sean, the Chairman of CBS Sports, is the one who called to tell me I won. I grew up listening to Curt Gowdy call Red Sox games on my cheap transistor, and I’ve had the privilege of working with Jim McKay, Dick Enberg, Verne Lundquist, John Madden, Pat Summerall, Bud Greenspan, Frank Gifford and Al Michaels. I’ve been surrounded by greatness my entire career!

On proud moments: I always say sports are the ultimate passport. I’ve done stories behind the Iron Curtain, at Wimbledon, the Olympics and in most towns and cities in the United States. In covering 35 NCAA tournaments and 35 Super Bowls, I’ve been everywhere from Seattle to Miami, from Maine to Southern California, and because I often took the bus with John Madden, I’ve eaten a lot of Mexican food and crossed most Interstates. My favorite day of the year is the semifinals of the Final Four – the bands are great, the players have pride, and one team cuts down the nets while the sound system is playing “One Shining Moment” – pretty tough to beat. Two assignments that really stand out to me are being the first and only woman to present the Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl, and doing a story from Berlin during the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Going through Checkpoint Charlie to East Berlin was like going from color to black and white.

On recent industry headlines: Back in 2004, the late great David Stern said, “We’re at the end of a 20-year run, and in the next 20 years, prices will soar.” The boom he predicted, in rights fees, marketing and facilities, has finally trickled down to the announcers. When I started as a writer at the Boston Globe in 1975, I earned $12,000 a year, and, of course, made considerably more than that in network television. I was happy with the money wherever I was, because I loved the job. But I think it’s great that people like Al (Michaels) and Troy (Aikman), Joe (Buck) and Jim (Nantz) and Tony (Romo) are being rewarded. And you can never pay Bob Costas enough! Hopefully, the women in the business will start to enjoy the same benefits. What’s not to like about it?

On her podcast: I’m thrilled that I started in the business in 1974, as an intern at the Boston Globe, and I’m still at it 47 years later, still at the network level. I added a podcast this year, which I love! I just have conversations with people that I either know or want to hear from – David Duchovny wrote a book, “Bucky F**** Dent. I thought he was a Red Sox fan. He’s not, he grew up loving the Yankees and told me “Fenway is a Little League Park!” Christian McBride, the best jazz bassist in the world, said the bass is the catcher in an orchestra, and Billie Jean King compared the first time she walked on to Centre Court, at 17- years-old, to “a scene from The Natural – it was just mythic.” Scott Greenstein, the CEO of Sirius XM, told me to have fun. My dream – probably like everyone else – would be to talk basketball with Pres. Barack Obama.

On a sport she always wanted to cover: I was never assigned to the Tour de France, but I’ve listened to Phil Liggett for decades. I always wanted to be on the Champs Elysée at sunset and see the riders heading toward the Arc de Triomphe. C’est bon, n’est-ce pas?

On opportunities for women: It’s been really gratifying to see the growth of sports broadcasting for women, having been there from the beginning. There were so few of us back then, Phyllis George and I would talk about the hate mail we got – we used to laugh that it took less time to read the positive letters! A young woman today can be anything – radio, TV, play-by-play, color, streaming, sideline, studio – it’s a bonanza and it’s all open to them. I’m tremendously honored to be the first woman to win the Lifetime Achievement Sports Emmy, but I certainly won’t be the last.

PROGRAMMING

The 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff hit the ice tonight as ESPN and Turner Sports carry their first NHL postseason under the new deal. ESPN serves up 12 first round games on ESPN and ESPN2 across three days beginning tonight. In addition, The Point will air daily as a lead-in to games throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final. The Bruins/Hurricanes start the action of quadruple series tonight at 7p on ESPN with Sean McDonough on play-by-play with Ray Ferraro and reporter Emily Kaplan. At 7:30, the Lightning/Maple Leafs begin play on ESPN2 with John McDonough on play-by-play with analyst AJ Mleczko and reporter Caley Chelios.

Around the dial, Turner Sports opens the Stanley Cup Playoffs with two doubleheaders on TNT and TBS on Thursday, beginning with the Penguins/Rangers, Game 2 at 7p on TNT, while the capitals/Panthers open things up for TBS at 7:30p. Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. with an extended NHL on TNT Face Off Presented by Verizon pregame show featuring host Liam McHugh joined by Wayne Gretzky, Rick Tocchet, Anson Carter and Paul Bissonnette.

With a quarter of all NFL teams not holding any first round draft pick, and no big-name QB college stars in the mix for early selections, the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft took a dip in viewership on Thursday night, slipping 20% to an average of 10.03 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and NFL Network, according to multiple ratings reports. That would mark the least-watched first round since 2017. According to Sports TV Ratings, the evening saw 4.446 million watch on ESPN, 3.803 million on ABC, and 1.782 million on NFL Network.

Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the first game of Prime’s new Thursday Night Football package will see the Chiefs host the Chargers on Sept. 15 in an AFC West matchup. In addition, the broadcast will now see Tony Gonzalez join the broadcast team for Amazon’s exclusive streaming presentation of the franchise. The full “Thursday Night Football” schedule will be announced May 12.

On Friday, NBC Sports Washington announced that long-time reporter and analyst Chris Miller will become the Washington Wizards new television play-by-play announcer for the 2022-23 NBA season, replacing Justin Kutcher. Miller has served as a Wizards reporter on NBC Sports Washington/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic since 2007.

ESPORTS & GAMING BRAND ACTIVATION
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SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION

With May being Military Appreciation Month, NASCAR revealed plans to honor and recognize the United States Armed Forces through the annual NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola program, which returns for its eighth season. New to the program this year, the NASCAR Salutes Wall of Honor will make its debut at each NASCAR race weekend in May, while the pair will again host Gold Star Families during Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway with all 40 NASCAR Cup Series cars featuring the name of a fallen service member on the windshield during the Coca-Cola 600, in addition to other activations.

Global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm Gallagher booked a new, multiyear partnership with Penske Entertainment for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in addition to branding within Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The partnership includes entitlement sponsorship of the Gallagher Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on July 30 and sponsorship a Team Penske entry at two upcoming NTT INDYCAR SERIES events.

DIGITAL, DATA & TECH

Snap! Mobile, an admin support company for high school athletics and extracurriculars, revealed its acquisition of 8to18 Digital and SchoolCNXT. The acquisitions are part of the company’s strategic growth efforts over the last year after closing a $90M Series B funding round in September. “Today’s acquisition of CNXT Digital is a major step forward in achieving our strategic vision of building the best and most comprehensive high school administrative support platform for districts and schools everywhere,” says Snap! Mobile, Inc. co-founder and CEO Cole Morgan. “8to18 and SchoolCNXT complement our suite of services, including Snap! Raise, our fundraising tool; Snap! Store, our spiritwear and e-commerce solution, and Snap! Spend, our money management platform. By bringing these services together under one integrated platform, we can help even more administrators, athletic directors, coaches and group leaders build thriving programs for themselves and their participants.”

ESPORTS

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach discussed plans for the inaugural Olympic Virtual Sports Festival in 2023, and hinted that Singapore could host the event at a luncheon in the country. “In this fast-developing world, you either change or be changed,” he stated. “Singapore is one of the most dynamic countries in Asia and the world. You’re never getting complacent, never standing still. This is something that the IOC wants to follow.”

State Universities of New York locked in a partnership to become the Official Education Partner of Nets Gaming Crew, the NBA 2K League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets. NetsGC is the first professional esports franchise to team up with SUNY, and as part of the partnership, the organizations will work together to create an educational esports program aimed to boost recruitment pool of high school students, while driving awareness of esports career opportunities available to them after graduation.

INDUSTRY & ROSTER MOVES

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, Athletes Unlimited is teaming with CSM Sport & Entertainment to support TEDxBoston in creating a series of live talks that “will raise up the voices of women in sports and the issues that are important to them.” The event will take place on May 16 and feature nearly 30 women covering topics ranging from leadership, use of biometric data, medical research, mental health, and pregnancy and parenthood.

The University of Akron Athletics Department and Taymar Sales U. signed a multiyear agreement for the firm to handle outbound ticket sales for the Zips athletics program. Akron joins Northern Illinois as the two Mid-American Conference schools now working with Taymar.

MEASUREMENT & DATA CONFERENCE

New session alert for June 7th:

The New Possibilities of CTV and the Evolution from Brand to Performance Channel

Presented by: Gijsbert Pols, PhD – Director of Connected TV & New Channels,
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Cynopsis Team