By Jacob Feldman of Sportico: An Emmy win for The Last Dance this weekend was the latest sign in how far sports documentaries have come, with demand from both viewers and networks growing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Take: With the rapid return of live sports, what’s the future of documentaries and other long-form evergreen content?

By Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico:

Our Take: The future of merchandising is customization, personalization…and TBD (2028 is pretty far away). Let’s get through 2020 first. The official logo for the Los Angeles Olympics is… whatever you’d like it to be.

What a return it has been for the NBA. This season has been tremendous, from the quality of play to the handling of complex social issues. “Because that’s called privilege. A thing we don’t have, a fact that y’all will never let us forget. Even when you think you’re on the right side of history.”

“Networks have done a good job retaining their top sports advertisers. Looking at the top 25 advertisers, pre-Covid, across airings of each league's games, both MLB and the NBA have seen 23 returns, while the NHL saw 24.”

The Takeaway: Proving the company is more than just Fortnite, Epic Games has announced a $1.78 Billion raise!

Our Take: The NBA seems to be consistently a step ahead. The league has gotten creative during their restart action. In addition to their #WholeNewGame slogan, virtual fans, and other unique ideas, fans now have the option to stream select games via a “Bet Stream” option in partnership with The Action Network and BetMGM.

Our Take on Scott Soshnick (Sportico’s) Story: Vince McMahon took the XFL to new highs and lows — twice. Now, the Rock is betting that there is room for two professional football leagues and he can bring this to the next threshold. We’ve even seen that his team wants to do it with the same leadership. Fresh off his purchase of buying the defunct XFL out of bankruptcy, The Rock is looking to invigorate former employees.

The UEFA Champions League season was put on hold in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with four of the eight round of 16 ties concluded.

Today, August 6th everything restarts in Lisbon (Portugal) getting ready for the final on Aug., 23rd.

A definitive guide from our friends at UEFA.com, who else?

Our Take: Bring Sports Back Safely. Through 51 games in 35 days, MLS has been a case study in how a bubble can work.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that the league hopes to announce its schedule for the resumption of the regular season and will aim to bring fans back into venues in a strategic way.

A lot has changed since March, first live sports has gone in full hiatus and then a growing set of sports have restarted. With that the way fans approach sports consumption has shifted.

Study: 76% of US sport fans want more ‘watch party’ experiences.
Two-thirds also keen on second-screen options for major league restarts.

Congrats to our friends Ezra Kucharz, Norb Gambuzza, Chris Wandell and teams. The PGA Tour has expanded its deal with DraftKings as it makes the company the Tour’s first official betting operator.

Thanks in part to phenom Sabrina Ionescu’s pro debut, the WNBA posted their highest opening weekend ratings in nearly a decade.

For the first time in 66 years, no baseball team started the season 3-0.

Release the Kraken! The Seattle hockey franchise has announced their team name: The Seattle Kraken.

MLB Insider Bob Nightengale is reporting that the MLB will expand the postseason for 2020. This COVID-induced season has led to a change in format: 16 postseason teams with a best-of-3 in round one and the higher seeded team hosting all games in that round.

This seems a bit surprising that the MLB would announce this mere hours before first-pitch on Opening Day, but these are unprecedented times. The MLB playoffs always provide incredible excitement and entertainment.

Amid pressure to change the team name, team owner Dan Snyder obliged to remove the “Redskins” from the Washington football team name. After discussions and trademark issues for a new team name, Snyder has opted to temporarily operate as the “Washington Football Team.”

The “Washington Football Team” will continue with the same team colors. It will be interesting to see if this name, or lack thereof, sticks, or if Snyder eventually adds a more traditional nickname.

Until fans are allowed to attend live games, all 37,755 seats inside Fenway Park are in the hands – quite literally – of the most powerful Red Sox fan in franchise history, as all crowd noise at in Kenmore’s Square’s landmark ballpark this summer will come from an iPad, connected to the stadium sound system and controlled by a lone individual.

In a collaboration to pursue change in communities of color and develop meaningful programs, the 11 professional sports organizations in greater Los Angeles have joined together to launch The ALLIANCE: Los Angeles, a comprehensive five-year commitment to drive investment and impact for social justice through sport.

Our Take: Bringing sports back safely is proving to be a far more difficult challenge than we all realized. MLS and NWSL have already had teams drop out due to the spread of the virus throughout the team. Each league has its own unique strategy, and each has its merits and pitfalls. A bubble can be permeated easily…how does one keep that intact. What is the level of risk that is “acceptable” relative to the effort and reward to start up our live action? What happens to the gambling world when a superstar tests positive?

As we get ready to host what will be a tremendous live video Office Hours today about the changing diversity landscape in sports and what’s next for hockey, we are seeing more and more signs of how the NHL is getting ready for the restart of live game action.

Linked article excerpts from Sports Business Journal

Kaepernick’s production Company Ra Vision Media will partner with ESPN Films to produce a “scripted and unscripted” documentary series that will focus on issues of racial and social inequality and will '“showcase the work of Black and Brown directors and producers,” including Jemele Hill, who recently went through an acrimonious departure from ESPN.