IMG Slams Distribution Deals For New Sport
Versus Will Air Slamball Game Of The Week
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 8/20/2008 9:53:00 AM
Sports production company IMG Media Wednesday announced several multiplatform deals for its new competition sport SlamBall, including carriage on Versus.
Comcast-owned network Versus will will air eight-regular season games from the sport, which combines elements of basketball, football, hockey, soccer and gymnastics
Versus will air a “game of the week" on Sundays beginning Aug. 31 through Sept. 14 and Sept. 28 – Oct. 26, as well as weekly highlights on the sport, teams and players, according to IMG.
Broadcast network CBS will air the 2008 SlamBall Championship Series title game on Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. following the broadcast of its NFL game. Former and current NBA stars Gus Johnson, Tom Tolbert and Amaré Stoudemire will provide commentary.
Online, the sport will have a presence on Versus.com as well as on Slamball.net beginning Aug. 25. SlamBall digital content, including game highlights, “games of the week,” exclusive off-court interviews with players and coaches, in-depth features on teams, also will be syndicated to major online video portals, including AOL, MSN, YouTube, Heavy.com, CollegeHumor.com and Yahoo!.
The Slamball league -- a joint venture between IMG Sports Media and feature film production company Tollin Productions -- comprises six teams, with squads of four players each competing in four, five-minute quarters, according to IMG. Former HBO executive Chris Albrecht was instrumental in getting Slamball off the ground for IMG prior to his departure from the company earlier this month.
An earlier version of Slamball appeared on Spike Tv earlier this decade.
