SBJ Media: Manfred Says 100% Chance MLB Plays In 2020

The Red Sox released a remarkable statement today regarding Torii Hunter’s comments that some Sox fans hurled racial slurs at the former MLB star while at Fenway Park. The Red Sox: “Torii Hunter’s experience is real. If you doubt him because you’ve never heard it yourself, take it from us, it happens.” The entire statement is worth a click.

MLB's MANFRED: "I CAN TELL YOU UNEQUIVOCALLY THAT WE ARE GOING TO PLAY"

• The biggest takeaway ESPN, Fox and Turner should take from Rob Manfred’s interview tonight came from the last question Karl Ravech asked: “The percent chance that we’re playing Major League Baseball this year?” Manfred’s response: “100%.” Earlier in the interview, Manfred said, “The most important thing is that we play Major League Baseball in 2020. I can tell you unequivocally that we are going to play Major League Baseball this year.”
  
  
• MLB’s network partners are left with questions about how long the regular season would be -- though Manfred said that 89 games, "given where we are in the calendar and the course of the pandemic, is not realistic.” Manfred also would not comment on a date that’s too late to start, especially considering MLB’s desire that it wants to end the regular season by Sept. 27. “I will tell you this: each and every day that goes by, we lose the capacity to play at least one game. That’s really the time pressure that’s significant at this time.”
  
  
• Manfred’s comments came less than an hour before the MLB Draft, which was supposed to be a celebration of the sport. ESPN and MLB Network are televising the draft, the first time multiple networks have carried it, notes SBJ’s Eric Prisbell. MLB Network has cameras with more than 25 prospects and at least one exec with each club. MLB Net Senior VP/Operations & Engineering Susan Stone told Prisbell: "If we didn't have the past 12 weeks of working at home -- and having to virtually produce content with our virtual control rooms and having to come up with new work flows and new ideas so we can communicate with each other -- we probably wouldn't have been able to do this. It set the table nicely for us."

Rob Manfred told ESPN's Karl Ravech that it's the "time pressure that’s significant"

RICKIE FOWLER TO BE MIC'D UP DURING PGA TOUR RETURN

• Rickie Fowler will be the only golfer wearing a microphone during tomorrow’s coverage of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Ft. Worth. Fowler wore a mic today, both on the range and during his practice round. Afterwards, he told TV producers that he was comfortable enough to wear it during the first round. “Rickie is always leaning in toward his fans,” said Golf Channel Exec VP/Content & Executive Producer Molly Solomon. “Other players have agreed to wear mics. But there’s only certain groups that are within the TV window. For now, it’s going to be Rickie.”
  
  
• Given that no fans will be allowed at the tournament, it was important for producers to convince a well-known golfer to wear a mic. Networks are looking for more access than ever for events where there’s no crowd noise to supplement the telecast. Golf Channel is anticipating going to Fowler’s mike live during the telecast.
  
  
• Solomon also anticipates times when it replays conversations Fowler has during his round. “If he’s standing over his second shot in the fairway, I think that’s a pretty interesting conversation,” Solomon said. “Our microphones around the greens catch some conversations, but not all. I really think that’s going to enhance.”
  
  
• Solomon will be situated in her network's Orlando studio during the event alongside three CBS announcers: Nick Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo. The three, all of whom are based in Florida, will call action from the “Morning Drive” set. “We’ve situated them so that Nick and Ian and Frank can all see each other,” Solomon said. “That should be good for communication and spurring on golf conversation during the telecast.”

Three CBS announcers -- Nick Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo -- will call action from the “Morning Drive” set

FS1's DIXON TO ADD EMMANUEL ACHO TO LINEUP

• For the past three months, FS1 studio shows have been forced to embrace debate with no sports. I asked the network’s Exec VP/Content Charlie Dixon how that has changed the content coming out of those shows. “People like to live in a world of hot takes,” he said. “You can see that for the last two months, people are really inspired to get their opinion out there and hope to affect change, whether it is about how sports are viewed or what’s going on with societal issues.”
  
  
• Dixon made his comments as he spoke about his decision to hire Emmanuel Acho away from ESPN to co-host “Speak for Yourself.” Acho was a rising star at ESPN. But he really started to make a name for himself outside of sports circles in the past week with a video series called “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” a series made to promote conversations between people of different races. Acho was on “GMA” this morning and “The Late Show” last night. He fits in with the "Speak For Yourself" theme "perfectly,” Dixon said. “He’s the best available person to be on FS1 right now.”

SPEED READS

• MLS did not mention TV coverage in its release trumpeting its return to play. But Commissioner Don Garber brought it up during an appearance on “Golic & Wingo” this morning. "[ESPN will be] the production arm for all of the games that we're going to produce. We will have some really innovative and really cool broadcast technologies. We'll have more cameras on these games than on a typical ESPN game. We're going to have more virtual signage and virtual technology that will allow us to test some of the things we've been thinking about in our sport, and in our league for many years.”
  
  
• You know the theory that there’s a pent-up demand of sports viewers dying for the return of live sports? Well, the return of Top Rank Boxing last night was not a huge success. The telecast, which featured Shakur Stevenson's defeat of Felix Caraballo in the main event, averaged 397,000 viewers on ESPN, down 19% vs. last June's sole weekday Top Rank telecast (a Friday night telecast that drew 490,000 viewers). For a recent combat sport comparison, ESPN averaged 775,000 viewers for the four-hour UFC 250 Prelims on Saturday night ahead of the Amanda Nunes-Felicia Spencer main event.
  
  
• Jordan Spieth is going over-the-top tomorrow for this week's Charles Schwab Challenge. Spieth, who normally sports AT&T on his bag during PGA Tour play, will add the logo for the brand's new streaming service, HBO Max. 
  
  

Jordan Spieth will sport HBO Max and AT&T on his bag this week at Colonial

• ESPN averaged 906,000 viewers for the premiere of "Be Water" on Sunday night, the documentary on the life of Bruce Lee. The figure is better than either episode of "Lance" (857,000 and 796,000, respectively). Among all ESPN documentaries since the "30 for 30" project started, "Be Water" is just below "This Was The XFL" from 2017 (924,000), and just above "Once Brothers" from 2010 (895,000).
  
  
• I’m not used to seeing contentious interviews when networks interview execs from leagues they’re in business with. That’s what made Dana White’s visit to “First Take” yesterday -- where Domonique Foxworth pressed the UFC boss on fighter pay -- so interesting. Fear the Turtle, indeed!
  
  
• Twitter is adding a MegaCast approach to the return the PGA Tour tomorrow. The platform plans its first “Twitter Multicast” from 1:00-2:30pm ET and will feature athletes, celebs and other personalities creating their own live commentary in conjunction with PGA Tour Live featured group streams during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Among the media entities participating are CBS, Sky Sports/NBC, Discovery/GolfTV, Golf Digest and The Action Network. An LPGA feed will feature Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lincicome. Celebs doing feeds include Darius Rucker and the Dude Perfect crew.
  
  
• Amazon outbid Disney for the rights to an upcoming feature film about former USMNT goalie Tim Howard. Mark Ciardi’s Select Films will produce the film. SBJ’s Chris Smith has all the details.
  
  
• I’ll give the last word tonight to NASCAR: “The presence of the confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry. Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR SBJ GAME CHANGERS!

• Online nominations for Game Changers have opened. We’ll be accepting nominations through midnight June 21. The Game Changers event will be Oct. 27-28, and a special section will run in SBJ in the Oct. 19 issue.

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Something on the Media beat catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).