I got engrossed in the All-Star Game last night (by the way, if anyone has screengrabs of the hot chick behind home plate, send them over, I’ll post them) that I forgot to post some press releases that came into the Fang’s Bites inbox during the day. So here’s what I missed.
The ratings for the Home Run Derby gave ESPN very good numbers on Monday.
Home Run Derby Wins the Night for ESPN; Third Best Rating of 2009
Hometown Audience in St. Louis the Highest HR Derby Market Rating Ever – 18.9
Last night, the 2009 State Farm Home Run Derby on ESPN from St. Louis’ Busch Stadium averaged a 6.0 rating, the highest rating in all of television for the night, representing 5,855,000 households (and 8,250,000 viewers – P2+). ESPN “won the night” as the most-watched among all networks, broadcast or cable, with a larger audience in prime time among viewers. The network also led among all key male and adult demos – Men 18-34, Men 18-49, Men 25-54, Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. Based on the household audience, it is ESPN’s second-most watched Home Run Derby ever, behind only last year’s competition at Yankee Stadium (6,184,000 homes, based on a 6.4 rating).
The rating is ESPN’s third best of 2009, exceeded only by two NBA Western Conference Final telecasts in May (Los Angeles vs. Denver – 6.5 for Game 5 and 6.9 for Game 4). In addition, the Derby is cable’s most-watched program in the month of July to date.
The Home Run Derby also delivered a 2.0 rating for Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, its best MLB rating ever (the network has received ratings since May 2008 and has televised 32 Sunday Night Baseball games in that time).
In St. Louis, the metered market rating was 18.9, the highest for any metered market in the 12 years ESPN has televised the event live. The previous high was in 2002, when Milwaukee, the host city, averaged a 15.9. It was the highest cable rating in St. Louis for 2009, and the highest-rated sports telecast in the market this year (excluding NFL).
In addition, the Legends and Celebrity Softball Game, which aired on ESPN immediately following the Home Run Derby, earned a 2.7 rating, up 8 percent from 2.5 in 2008. It averaged 2,647,000 households and 3,613,000 viewers, both up 9 percent from a year ago (2,436,000 and 3,303,000, respectively).
Next, the famous Batting Stance Guy whose videos on YouTube have gotten him fame appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday.
FSN’S BATTING STANCE GUY MAKES LETTERMAN DEBUTBASEBALL PLAYER IMPRESSIONS ARE A BIG HIT WITH DAVE AND AUDIENCE
In celebration of this week’s MLB All-Star Game, FSN’s Batting Stance Guy appeared as a guest on Monday night’s Late Night with David Letterman and hit a home run with Dave and the audience. Batting Stance Guy, otherwise known as Gar Ryness, entertained with s
pot-on and wickedly funny impressions of some current and past MLB All Stars. Letterman clearly enjoyed the performance, as he turned over a full segment (9+ minutes) to Batting Stance Guy.
Earlier this year, FSN and Ryness entered into an agreement in which FSN would showcase exclusive Batting Stance Guy content on FSN regional networks during the 2009 MLB season. Batting Stance Guy made his FSN debut last week on FOX Sports North with “Guess the Stance”: http://tinyurl.com/ksaph5. The feature will be rolled out across all FSN networks after the All-Star break.
Batting Stance Guy’s videos have become an internet sensation, with more than two million views on YouTube and other video sharing sites. More information can be found at battingstanceguy.com.
FSN is the nation’s leading provider of local sports. Through its 19 owned-and-operated regional networks, FSN serves as the TV home to more than half of all MLB, NHL, and NBA teams. FSN produces close to 5,000 live local events each year, including more than 2,400 in high definition, making FSN the most prolific producers of HD Sports programming in the country. In addition to its thousands of home team games and a wide variety of locally produced sports programs, FSN televises national sports events and programs, including Pac-10 and ACC basketball and Pac-10 and Big 12 football.
Fox Sports is starting up a new fantasy sports program.
FOXSPORTS.COM ON MSN AND OPEN SPORTS NETWORK INTRODUCE NEXT GENERATION IN FANTASY FOOTBALL GAMESExclusive Offerings Provide Dynamic New Options
For First Time Users & Hardcore Players Alike
New York & Los Angeles – FOXSports.com on MSN, one of the world’s most popular sports web sites, has partnered with fantasy sports pioneer OPEN Sports Network to introduce two exclusive next-generation fantasy games, FOX Fantasy LIVE and FOX Fantasy Quick Challenge. These exciting new fantasy products, along with FOX Fantasy, a new and improved commissioner game, are being unveiled today by Jeff Husvar, Senior Vice President & General Manager of FOXSports.com. Unlike its competitor’s offerings, gamers can play FOXSports.com’s games absolutely free, they’re highly customizable and there’s a game for every skill and interest level.
“This season we set out to provide a selection of fantasy football games that appeal to gamers of every degree,” said Husvar. “We teamed-up with OPEN Sports Network, industry leaders in fantasy football, to go beyond a fully developed commissioner game and design a series of exclusive next-generation games for FOXSports.com that are among the best and most innovative available.”
FOXSports.com’s selection of games this season makes the site a one-stop shop for serious fantasy gamers and casual players alike. FOX Fantasy Football is a traditional commissioner game that is comparable in quality and scope to anything offered by fantasy sports purveyors, and it is completely free. Popular no-cost features include live scoring, complete customization, insider fantasy editorial content, all options for which competitors may charge. Players are being accepted immediately, and it is being promoted through a variety of outlets, beginning with FOX Sports’ broadcast of the 2009 MLB All-Star Game tonight. Registration, draft and league creation for FOX Fantasy runs now through Sept. 10.
“When we started OPENSports.com, our goal was to develop the world’s best Commissioner service coupled with sophisticated and truly revolutionary weekly games and contests,” said Mike Levy, OPEN Sports’ Chairman and CEO. “While we’re delivering exciting new features in our commissioner service, we’re extremely excited about the peer-to-peer challenge and real-time player substitution aspects of our weekly contests. We are very proud to partner with FOXSports.com in what we believe will be the industry’s be
st suite of fantasy sports products.”
As of July 1, 2009, FOXSports.com is housed under the FOX Sports umbrella, with Husvar and the digital division reporting to FOX Sports Chairman, David Hill.
“Now that FOXSports.com and FOX Sports are working more closely that ever before, we want our fantasy games to the best and most innovative available,” said Hill. “Mike Levy and the people at OPEN Sports are simply the best fantasy game architects in the world, and I’m confident that folks who play our games will enjoy them thoroughly.”
FOX Fantasy LIVE is the most unique game on the fantasy sports landscape and is completely unlike anything offered today. It is the super-fast version of the FOX Fantasy Football commissioner game in which players are challenged to create a roster, add and drop players and run a team as the games are played on Sunday with unlimited real-time substitutions. Users compete against an entire pool of users and can play for free or for great prizes.
FOX Fantasy Quick Challenge is a suite of three games that allows users to play in head-to-head or group match-ups, and each game has a free or pay option. These games are “quick” given that users play one Sunday at a time, and are not committed for an entire season.
Registration for FOX LIVE and FOX Quick Challenge launches in August. Game play for Quick Challenge begins on or about Sept. 10, while play for LIVE begins on Sunday, Sept. 13.
All of the games were created by a collaborative team of over 40 product professionals, including designers, engineers and product managers from Open Sports and FOXSports.com located in California and Florida.
And one good thing ESPN does is raise money for cancer research through the V Foundation. A recent celebrity golf tournament brought in almost $1 million.
ESPY CELEBRITY GOLF CLASSIC RAISES $950,000 FOR THE V FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH
The ninth annual ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic, a Team ESPN event held at the Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms in Industry Hills, Calif., raised $950,000 in net proceeds for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The total was announced by George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN and ABC Sports, and Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks. Bodenheimer presented the check to Nick Valvano, Chief Executive Officer of The V Foundation and brother of the late Jim Valvano, former North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator who co-founded The V Foundation with ESPN.
Among the athletes and celebrities in attendance were Dave Annable, Jim Boeheim, Billy Crudup, Julius Erving, Mike Eruzione, Natalie Gulbis, Evander Holyfield, Bruce Jenner, Joe Mantegna, Willis McGahee, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Sanchez, Barry Sanders, Wes Welker and many more.
“I’m especially proud that, in this challenging economic environment, nearly $1 million was raised for cancer research – all because of the commitment of our sponsors, celebrities and volunteers,” Bodenheimer said.
Valvano added, “We at The V Foundation are grateful to receive this significant donation that will go directly to cancer research.”
The ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic is part of a series of events tied to the 2009 ESPYs, to be held Wednesday, July 15 in Los Angeles. The 17th annual industry-wide sports celebration gathers top celebrities from sports and entertainment to commemorate the past year in sports by recognizing major sports achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances. The event will be televised Sunday, July 19 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN HD. Additionally, ESPN Radio’s Don’t Give Up ESPYs V Foundation Auction concludes Wednesday, July 15.
And that’s it
for yesterday’s press releases.
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