Turner Sports to Produce Event Coverage with Blockbuster Pay-Per-View Match Offered Live on DIRECTV & B/R Live
Marquee Event Content to Include Shoulder Programming Airing on Turner’s TNT & HBO’s 24/7 Reality Franchise
WarnerMedia’s Turner division has secured worldwide media distribution rights to “The Match,” a historic head-to-head, 18-hole duel between Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson. The highly anticipated showdown between two golfers – who have won a combined 19 Majors – will be hosted by MGM Resorts International and held Thanksgiving weekend at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. The winner of this blockbuster pairing, featuring these two legends of the game, will walk away with $9 million.
“The iconic Tiger Woods and five-time Major Champion Phil Mickelson are generational talents who have transcended the game of golf and their rivalry continues to be one of the most compelling in sports,” said David Levy, President of Turner. “This one-of-a-kind, winner-take-all matchup provides a great opportunity to show fans the benefits of AT&T and WarnerMedia coming together. For the first time since AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner (now WarnerMedia), Turner, DirecTV and HBO will present a multi-faceted presentation of the live event and accompanying content across a vast array of platforms.”
The Woods-Mickelson live event and accompanying content – collectively offering unprecedented access leading up to and during the competition – will be distributed across wide-ranging Turner, WarnerMedia and AT&T platforms including:
- Live pay-per-view coverage of the event will be distributed through Turner’s B/R Live, the company’s new premium live sports streaming service, AT&T’s DIRECTV, AT&T U-verse, and will be offered to other on-demand platforms.
- HBO Sports and its groundbreaking 18-time Sports Emmy ® Award-winning 24/7 reality franchise will capture all the excitement leading up to the match.
- Bleacher Report and its wildly-popular House of Highlights, which recently surpassed 10 million followers on Instagram, will offer comprehensive highlights and behind-the-scenes content.
- Turner’s TNT will also televise programming with select content from the event in the weeks following the live competition.
- Turner International will facilitate distribution of live PPV access to the event outside the U.S.
As part of the live event, both Woods and Mickelson will selectively make side-challenges against one another during the match. For instance, Woods or Mickelson could raise the stakes by challenging the other to a long-drive, closest-to-the-pin or similar competition during a hole as they play their match, with money being donated to the winning golfer’s charity of choice.
Turner Sports will produce all live event coverage while also serving as the exclusive sales and sponsorship partner. Turner Sports and its Turner Ignite Sports will work closely with marketing partners to elevate their brands within this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, tapping into award-winning live events, experiential and creative marketing solutions.
B/R Live, Turner’s new premium live sports streaming service, is available at https://live.bleacherreport.com; by downloading the B/R Live app through iTunes or Google Play; and/or via Apple TV, the Roku platform and Amazon Fire TV.
Pay-per-view pricing for the live event will be announced at a later date. The media rights agreement with Turner was completed in partnership between CAA Sports, Excel Sports and Lagardere Sports.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a diversified, global leader in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology. It executes in the market under four operating units. WarnerMedia’s HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. divisions are world leaders in creating premium content, operate the world’s largest TV and film studio, and own a world-class library of entertainment. AT&T Communications provides more than 100 million U.S. consumers with entertainment and communications experiences across TV, mobile and broadband services. Plus, it serves more than 3 million business customers with high-speed, highly secure connectivity and smart solutions. AT&T Latin America provides pay-TV services across 11 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is the fastest growing wireless provider in Mexico, serving consumers and businesses. AT&T ad and analytics provides marketers with innovative, targeted, data-driven advertising solutions around premium video content.
AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information is available at about.att.com. © 2018 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
About Turner
Turner, a WarnerMedia company, is a global entertainment, sports and news company that creates premium content and delivers exceptional experiences to fans whenever and wherever they consume content. These efforts are fueled by data-driven insights and industry-leading technology. Turner owns and operates some of the most valuable brands in the world, including Adult Swim, Bleacher Report, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, ELEAGUE, FilmStruck, Great Big Story, HLN, iStreamPlanet, Super Deluxe, TBS, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), TNT, truTV and Turner Sports.
About Turner Sports
Turner Sports, a division of Turner, is an industry leader in the delivery of premium sports content across all multimedia screens. Turner Sports’ television coverage includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, ELEAGUE and professional golf, along with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The company also manages some of the most popular sports destinations across digital and social platforms including Bleacher Report and its top-rated app, NCAA.com and the critically-acclaimed NCAA March Madness Live suite of products, PGA.com and the Sports Emmy Award-winning PGA Championship LIVE, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile sites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA jointly manage NBA Digital, a robust collection of offerings including NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, the NBA App and NBAGLEAGUE.com. Turner Sports recently launched B/R Live, a premium live streaming sports platform that serves as the central hub for both the discovery and consumption of live sports content. The new streaming service allows fans to find and watch their favorite sports content anywhere, anytime and on the screen of their choice.
Visit the Turner Sports online press room for additional press materials; follow Turner Sports on Twitter at @TurnerSportsPR.
About MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive, iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts portfolio encompasses 28 unique hotel offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world, the company in 2018 opened MGM COTAI in Macau and the first Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. It also is developing MGM Springfield in Massachusetts. The 78,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one of FORTUNE® Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies®. For more information visit us at www.mgmresorts.com.
About Shadow Creek
Shadow Creek, one of the country’s most exclusive golf courses, has earned perennial top rankings among Golf Week and Golf Digest magazine’s public courses and has been designated the best golf course in the world in a Robb Report’s “Best of the Best” issue. Located in the midst of the Nevada desert on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Shadow Creek continues to achieve national recognition and the kind of startling mystique reserved for only a select number of golf courses. Designed by renowned architect Tom Fazio, Shadow Creek is known for its natural beauty, rolling terrain, glistening brooks and ponds, lush gardens and mature trees. The visual elements, spectacular waterfalls and course design lend to astonishing views.
