New York, NY (PRWEB) March 10, 2016
As the sports media landscape continues to evolve, Cynopsis Sports is proud to unveil two distinguished executives who will be honored for their transformative work in the industry at the fifth annual Cynopsis Sports Media Awards Breakfast on April 21 at New York Athletic Club in New York City. These honorees will be joined by dozens of finalists who are competing for signature sports business awards presented by the daily sports business publication.
As part of the festivities, Cynopsis also pays tribute annually with special awards that are given to sports luminaries who changed the way their brands connected with fans across the country and around the world. This year’s honorees include MLS Commissioner Don Garber and MLB Network President Rob McGlarry for the Vision and Navigator Awards, respectively. Cynopsis Sports will announce the honorees for the Legacy Award and Brand of the Year later this week.
“We are honored to have both Don and Rob as two of our distinguished honorees this year,” said Chris Pursell, Director of Sports Content and Editor of Cynopsis Sports. “In a constantly evolving media world, especially in the sports industry, every year presents new opportunities and challenges to engage audiences. As clear leaders in their space, and the numbers to back it up, both of these executives raised the bar for their endeavors.”
The Cynopsis Sports Media Awards recognize the most outstanding work in the sports industry from the past year with categories that span television, digital, marketing and more.
The Vision Award is presented annually to an executive from a sports league or organization who has demonstrated innovation and leadership that has transformed the industry. This year’s honoree, Don Garber, has skillfully guided major league soccer over the past 17 years. Garber’s vision and leadership have enabled MLS to build a strong foundation for professional soccer in the United States and Canada. Garber has guided MLS through decisions that have solidified the League’s core business, guaranteed its long-term viability and positioned it for growth. During his tenure, MLS has added 20 new investors, expanding and diversifying the League’s ownership group, including 13 new expansion teams. Garber has also led the effort to develop soccer-specific stadiums for MLS teams. Garber led MLS to its best year in 2015, celebrating its 20th season. Attendance records were set, the first year of a media partnership with ESPN, FOX Sports and Univision was a tremendous success and new international media deals ensure that MLS has a global reach with games being shown in more than 140 countries.
The publication will also honor MLB Network’s Rob McGlarry with the coveted 2016 Navigator Award, which recognizes an executive who delivered outstanding innovation and foresight at a media company. Since its debut in 2009, MLB Network has received accolades for its coverage of the biggest events and headlines in baseball, including the Postseason and World Series, All-Star Game, Spring Training and trade deadline. An executive at MLB Network since its record-setting launch in 50 million homes, McGlarry was named president in December 2014. In its first year with McGlarry at the helm, MLB Network delivered its most-watched year ever in 2015 and launched a live, authenticated stream of its 24/7 programming on eight of the top ten pay TV providers in the U.S. That same year, MLB Network premiered its first-ever regular season morning show, MLB Central, and debuted Studio 21, a state-of-the-art, 8,000-square foot studio named in honor of Hall of Famer and humanitarian Roberto Clemente. As part of the digital media rights partnership between the NHL and MLB Advanced Media, McGlarry oversaw the launch of NHL Network out of MLB Network’s headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey in 2015. McGlarry currently oversees all daily on-air operations of NHL Network, including its three daily studio shows NHL Live, NHL Tonight and On The Fly.
These luminaries, along with dozens of category winners will be honored on April 21 at the Cynopsis Sports Awards breakfast. Register for the Breakfast event here. General categories include awards for the year’s best work in live coverage of a sporting event, apps, new sport show, fantasy game, live stream presentation and marketing campaign. The full list of finalists and categories will be announced next week.
For questions or issues related to registration, contact Sarah Martinz at sarah(at)cynopsis(dot)com. For advertising or sponsorship information, contact VP of Sales and Marketing Mike Farina at mike(at)cynopsis(dot)com.
About Cynopsis Media:
Cynopsis Media is what the TV industry reads first every day. The Cynopsis Media family of products includes the media industry's most-read daily, Cynopsis, plus sister dailies Cynopsis Digital and Cynopsis Sports, the Cynopsis Jobs board and special reports. Serving TV, agency and brand professionals, Cynopsis Media produces conferences, webinars, and awards programs that are second to none. Find out more at cynopsis.com.