ESPN to Air Five-Episode Series Profiling Spartan, The World’s Largest Obstacle Race and Endurance Brand

“Spartan: The Championship Series” to Feature Race Events with Behind-The-Scenes Content, Interviews and a Look at one of the Fastest Growing Sports on the Planet

Boston, MA – Sept. 20, 2018 (PRNewswire) Spartan brings more than one million athletes annually to its races around the world to tackle challenging obstacles and technical terrain, and now viewers can join the action on ESPN and ESPN2. “Spartan: The Championship Series, “a five-episode series, features all the action from the world’s largest obstacle race (OCR) and endurance brand’s championship events and provides an inside look at one of the fastest growing sports on the planet. The first episode featuring Spartan’s North American Championship hosted in Glen Jean, W. Va, and the elite female athletes of the sport airs Sunday, September 23 at 3pm ET on ESPN2.

Spartan Logo

“Spartan athletes are among the most skilled on the planet, and the sport of OCR continues to grow, so it’s only natural we would find a home with ESPN, the leader in sports entertainment,” said Spartan founder and CEO Joe De Sena. “‘Spartan: The Championship Series’ will introduce Spartan to ESPN’s passionate audience of sports fans who will be drawn to the intense drama that unfolds on the race course as competitors push their minds and bodies to the limit.”

The five-episode series will showcase Spartan’s most demanding events including the North American Championship presented by Yokohama; The Mountain Series presented by U.S. Airforce in Killington, Vt. and Vernon N.J.; the inaugural Para-Spartan adaptive race hosted in Laughlin, Nev.; and the World Championship and Team World Championship Powered by Rakuten, hosted in North Lake Tahoe on the rugged mountains of Squaw Valley | Alpine Meadows – home of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

In addition to the race action, episodes provide an in-depth look at the athletes who have shaped the sport of OCR with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. Feature content will include profiles of Spartan’s elite female competitors, adaptive athletes and World Championship contenders. The series will also cover the origin story of Spartan, which has attracted more than 5 million competitors to-date.

Spartan Pro Alyssa Hawley completes the Fire Jump before crossing the finish line during the Spartan U.S. National series. The first episode of “Spartan: The Championship Series” airs Sunday, September 23 at 3pm ET on ESPN2.

Spartan events focus on sport and athleticism, pushing the bodies and minds of competitors to the limit across miles of unforgiving terrain while they conquer signature obstacles such as the Spear Throw, Inverted Wall, Monkey Bars and Barbed Wire Crawl. The unique action and growing popularity of OCR has recently garnered global attention that has spurred talk of the sport reaching the Olympic stage in the coming years.

For more information about Spartan: The Championship Series, visit Spartan.com.

About Spartan

With more than 200 events across more than 40 countries on six continents, Spartan is the world’s largest obstacle race (OCR) and endurance brand. Providing transformation through sport, Spartan attracts more than one million annual participants across all fitness levels, from beginners to elite. More than five million participants have finished Spartan events, creating a lifestyle that extends beyond races including health and wellness products, training and nutrition programs, and popular media content, which has made OCR one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Spartan’s Global Championship series feature three race formats including the 3+Mile/20+ Obstacle “Sprint,” 8+ Mile/25+ Obstacle “Super” and 12+ Mile/30+ Obstacle “Beast,” which lead to the Spartan World Championship powered by Rakuten in North Lake Tahoe, CA. Visit spartan.com for more information and registration.

StubHub Second Annual NHL Preview: Vegas Golden Knights Remain Most Sought After Ticket, Toronto Catches “Tavares Fever”

The Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals see highest demand yet across StubHub ticket and eBay merchandise sales; New Year’s Day Winter Classic is a top-selling matchup

San Francisco, CA – Sept. 18, 2018 (PRNewswire) StubHub, the world’s largest event marketplace, today released its second annual NHL Preview, detailing the most in-demand teams and hottest-selling matchups heading into the 2018-2019 season.

StubHub Logo

After a fairytale inaugural season, the Vegas Golden Knights are the most in-demand team for the second year in a row, propelled by a fervent fan base and a record-setting Stanley Cup run. The Golden Knights outsell the Toronto Maple Leafs, StubHub’s second top-selling team, by 27% and this year marks the first time a team has been at the top of the list for two consecutive years since the Chicago Blackhawks claimed the top spot for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 season starts.

“Last year was an unforgettable season for hockey fans and this year’s numbers tell us support isn’t slowing down for the Golden Knights after their historic run,” said Scott Jablonski, StubHub’s General Manager of NHL, NFL & NBA. “Not only are the Golden Knights the most in-demand team for the second year in a row, their home opener is also the top-selling matchup heading into this season.”

Other major insights unpacked in the season preview include:

Trends in the Top Ten

  • Toronto fans catch “Tavares Fever”: Since the announcement of John Tavares, the team has quickly rose in popularity according to StubHub ticket and eBay merchandise sales data. Maple Leafs landed at #2 on StubHub’s top-selling team list with 49% increase in demand since last season. The Leafs landed at #6 for most fan gear sold out of all NHL teams on eBay with a 366% increase in Tavares merchandise sold.
  • Washington Capitals generate their highest demand: The defending Stanley Cup champions rank #6 on StubHub’s top-selling team list, securing their highest ranking yet. On eBay, they are the #1 NHL team in terms of merchandise sales with 26,122 items sold in recent months.
  • Vegas Golden Knights lead top in-demand events: The Knights appear in four of the top ten most in-demand games. In the pre-season, The Golden Knights sold 18,295 items in the pre-season, securing it’s #2 spot on eBay for sales of fan gear.

Trending Teams

  • Anaheim Ducks enter their 25th anniversary season with a remarkable 82% demand increase from last year.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs see a bigger growth in demand than any other team with a 213% increase compared to the 2014 season start.

Hottest Games

  • The top two most in-demand games feature games from last season’s Stanley Cup Finals participants, Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals.
  • The 2019 New Year’s Day Winter Classic featuring Chicago Blackhawks versus Boston Bruins is already seeing strong demand as it’s the third top-selling matchup.

2018-2019 NHL regular season tickets are available for purchase on StubHub now. As always, StubHub backs all listings with its market-leading FanProtect™ Guarantee and NHL fans can use StubHub’s 360-degree Virtual View feature and price alerts technology to find the perfect seats for any game.

An overview of all StubHub stats and ticket sales data can be found here and hi-res graphics of top-selling games and teams can be accessed here.

About StubHub

At StubHub, our mission is simple: bring the joy of live to fans globally. We connect fans with their favorite teams, shows and artists and introduce them to the ones they’ll love next. As the largest ticket marketplace in the world, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever they want, through our desktop and mobile experiences, including our StubHub app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. Offering a superior fan experience at its core, StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead through innovation. Our industry firsts include the introduction of the first ticketing application, the first interactive seat mapping tool, and the first live entertainment rewards program. Our business partners include more than 130 properties in MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA, plus AEG, AXS and Paciolan, and now the Tessitura Network. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience throughout the world. StubHub is an eBay company (NASDAQ :EBAY ). For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or YouTube.com/StubHub.