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STAMFORD, Conn. – January 13, 2016 – NBC Sports Group and Above Average’s sports comedy website, The Kicker, have partnered to create “Sports…The Musical?”, a series of five short-form original digital videos, both parties announced today. Sports…The Musical? will be produced by The Kicker, with the shareable content running across NBC Sports Digital assets. Each episode will be a weekly comedic musical recap based on events in the previous week in sports.
The series will launch with a special episode, Splash: Les Warriorables, tomorrow, Jan. 14, on NBCSports.com and across other NBC Sports Digital platforms. Sports fans can also find the content through NBC Sports Digital’s strategic partners and social media touchpoints, including Yahoo, Facebook, and YouTube.
The first episode pays homage to one of the biggest stories in sports — the 36-2 reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors — with Broadway-style flair. The remaining four episodes will debut on Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 19.
Sports…The Musical? will be added to the NBC Sports Digital Shorts portfolio of projects that are focused on producing short-form original digital content for NBCSports.com and other NBC Sports Digital platforms.
“In creating NBC Sports Digital Shorts, we aimed to provide more compelling content to sports fans than ever before,” said Brian Gilmore, Senior Director, Video, NBCSports.com. “As our first-ever sports comedy project, Sports…The Musical? is the perfect complement to our short-form video offerings, and we’re thrilled to partner with The Kicker.”
“At The Kicker, our motto is ‘For fans. For fun.,’ and this project is a great way to make sports fun. I’ve been working with NBC for 10 years, and it seems natural that we would partner with NBC Sports on some exciting new content,” said Bryan Tucker, editor-in-chief of The Kicker.
Added David Ingber, head writer for The Kicker and the writer behind “Sports… The Musical?”: “Brian Usifer, the music director of Kinky Boots, is spearheading our music department and our actors are all amazingly talented Broadway veterans. Everyone is really committed to making it look, sound, and feel like a real, comedic musical.”
Every Monday morning for the following four weeks, this small team of professional writers, musicians, and performers will assemble to turn the biggest sports stories from the last seven days into a 90- to 120-second song. The result of these “Sportsicals,” featuring Broadway actors and singers, is a full-fledged, totally original, zany musical.
For more information about NBC Sports Digital, click here.
For more information about The Kicker, click here.
NBC Sports Digital
A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Sports Digital services sports fans around the clock and on the go by providing an array of best-in-class products that include live video streaming, short-form videos, sport-specific websites, and fantasy sports information. NBC Sports Digital consists of 15 websites and 13 apps, and distributes its content across desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.
The Kicker
The Kicker is the new sports comedy online destination from premier online comedy network Above Average and the co-head writer of Saturday Night Live, Bryan Tucker. Dedicated exclusively to creating original and highly-shareable sports comedy videos, articles, images, and digital content, The Kicker features top athletes, comedians, and film & TV stars. The Kicker releases new daily content on TheKicker.com, as well as on its YouTube Channel, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other digital platforms. Built with both the most dedicated and casual sports fans in mind, The Kicker is the web’s premier destination for unique takes on sports news of the day and video content featuring your favorite athletes and celebrities in hilarious, scripted videos.
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–