Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Los Angeles Chargers and Rams will be showcased on HBO’s Hard Knocks. Check out the official trailer.
The NFL season is creeping closer. Camps are scheduled to open next week. And HBO whet the appetite of fans with a trailer for this year’s “Hard Knocks.”
The program will showcase a pair of teams for the first time, the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams.
Check out the tease:
Any guesses on who will be the stars of the show based in Tinseltown? Of course, this will be the season the teams christen Sofi Stadium.
HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ is just a few weeks away.
HBO released the preview trailer on Tuesday for the upcoming season of Hard Knocks that will feature the Chargers and Rams, as training camp is set to get underway next week.
It features highlights from each team’s camp last year, along with joint practices between the Chargers and Rams from the last two seasons.
The series is expected to focus on both teams preparing to play at their new home at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
For the Chargers, rookie quarterback and No. 6 overall pick Justin Herbert and veteran Tyrod Taylor will get the majority of the spotlight after the team parted ways with 16-year veteran Philip Rivers.
Characters on the team like Derwin James, Melvin Ingram, Austin Ekeler, Joey Bosa and Keenan Allen will be sure to get plenty of camera action throughout the five-episode series.
“Hard Knocks” premieres on Aug. 11 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.
Chargers and Rams to be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks for 2020
HBO’s Hard Knocks is returning to LA, as the NFL just announced the award-winning reality series will feature both the Rams and Chargers this summer.
This year, #HardKnocks heads to Los Angeles.
Kick off a new season with the @RamsNFL and @Chargers August 11 on @HBO. pic.twitter.com/OhqOESTEUv
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) June 18, 2020
Under fourth-year head coach Sean McVay, the Rams are just a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance and have a roster featuring an intriguing mix of high-profile players, established veterans, and free-agent acquisitions.
After an injury-plagued 2019 campaign, the Los Angeles Chargers are looking for a return to the winning formula that helped them finish tied for the AFC’s best record in 2018. Led by fourth-year head coach Anthony Lynn, the Chargers overhauled roster features young, rising stars on both sides of the ball, a new quarterback behind center, and an influx of veteran talent added this offseason.
Both franchises will also be debuting new logos and uniforms when they open their new, state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium home later this year.
HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES kicks off its five-episode season this summer, debuting TUESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), with other hour-long episodes of the first sports-based reality series debuting each Tuesday at the same time, culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.
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The Los Angeles Chargers and Rams get the spotlight.
It’s official.
The Chargers and Rams are set to be the teams that will be featured in this year’s “Hard Knocks”. The series will begin on Aug. 11.
catch us on #HardKnocks 👀
→ https://t.co/W3nehlskwE pic.twitter.com/4a6nx8Vjx0
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) June 18, 2020
The HBO television show, which has been a hit for almost two decades, follows team(s) through training camp and preseason.
This will mark the Bolts’ first appearance. For the Rams, this will mark their second appearance on the show. They were last on in 2016.
This is the perfect year to have both Los Angeles teams featured as they prepare to open SoFi Stadium this year, their brand new stadium in Inglewood, CA.
There will be plenty of storylines to follow for the Chargers as this will be the first season in 14 years with someone other than Philip Rivers under center.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the format of the show remains to be seen. If there is no training camp, it’ll be interesting to see how both teams are still showcased while making it entertaining for viewers.
If you’re trying to figure out the differences between HBO Max, HBO Now and HBO Go, we’re here to help.
HBO Max, the newest major streaming service offering premium content and fan-favorite shows and movies, launched late last month, becoming the third active HBO app people are using to watch content. Trying to figure out the difference between HBO Go and HBO Now was difficult enough before Max entered the fray.
To try and keep things a bit more streamlined, WarnerMedia is reportedly rebranding its HBO apps, according to Variety – but a tweet explaining the move left many people on social media scratching their heads.
Just in: After some significant brand confusion around HBO Max and all the other HBO apps, WarnerMedia is officially "sunsetting" HBO Go and will rebrand HBO Now as, simply, HBO.
— Natalie Jarvey (@natjarv) June 12, 2020
If you have no idea what any of this means, you aren’t alone!
It's really simple, folks:
HBO Go –> HBO Max
HBO Now –> HBO
HBO –> HBO Go
HBO Max –> wait hold on let me start over https://t.co/qyPjsQsDXc— Alex Zalben (@azalben) June 12, 2020
Wait i think I figured this out
HBO is still HBO, so that’s good
HBO Now and HBO Go will merge/die and become the official HBO app
HBO Max is a different, more expensive app that also has all of HBO’s stuff, too, but um, yeah
And HBO Quibi probably isn’t happening
Got it https://t.co/sLlJvTwyD1
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 12, 2020
easy to sort out:
– Premium cable channel HBO is still called HBO?
– Cable-linked streaming HBO GO is being “sunsetted” (??)
– Independent streaming HBO NOW merged with other Time Warner brands and became HBO MAX (I think????)
– but also HBO NOW is now… HBO?? Ok I tried my best https://t.co/5USIdaPp2V— aLec robBins (@alecrobbins) June 12, 2020
Let’s try and figure this out. First, a look back at what these apps were before the changes:
HBO Go was an app used by people who had a cable subscription to HBO, which allowed them to access HBO content in web browsers and on smart devices.
HBO Now was an app that offered a subscription to HBO for people who did not have or want a cable subscription. For cord-cutters, this was the go-to.
HBO Max is a new, premium subscription service that combines HBO content with other, non-HBO produced content. It’s basically the HBO version of Netflix.
HBO Go is disappearing. Most people who have cable subscriptions to HBO will be able to access HBO Max through their cable provider.
HBO Now is turning into a new app that will simply be called HBO.
So, in the future, if you just want HBO content, you’ll use the HBO app. If you want HBO content plus all the extra stuff (like “Friends”), you’ll need an HBO Max subscription.
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Confused? We’re here to help.
HBO Max is here, which means you could be adding yet another streaming service to your slate of offerings like Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and more.
But it also might be a little confusing. There was already HBO Now and HBO Go, and now there’s HBO Max? What the what?
That’s okay! I’m here to explain the whole thing, and it also seems like HBO — the original paid network that offers movies, specials and original series — knew that you would all be confused, so they put together a handy video to help.
Let’s start with that video and work our way through it together.
Here we go:
This is the new premium option and you don’t need to be a subscriber to HBO to get it. BUT! You do need to subscribe to HBO Max at $14.99 a month. There’s original programming, movies, and some classic series like Friends to watch.
The app is ready to be downloaded after Wednesday. But do you, as a subscriber, get it at no extra cost?
HBO NOW direct-billed customers and those who are billed through Apple, Google Play, Samsung, Optimum, Verizon Fios Internet, Consolidated Communications, and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico have access to HBO Max right now, at no extra cost! …
If you subscribe to HBO through one of the providers below, you get access to HBO Max (at no extra cost!).
Apple TV Channels
AT&T TV
Cox
DIRECTV
Hulu
Optimum
Spectrum
Verizon Fios
If your provider isn’t listed, HBO says to “stay tuned.”
If you’re a subscriber to HBO and have a cable provider, you use HBO GO to stream content that you’d get from the network.
If you’re a cord-cutter, this is what you were using to stream HBO content. It’s that simple: HBO Go is for cable, HBO Now is not.
However: the HBO Now app turned into the HBO Max app on Wednesday morning, which confused some folks:
so … my @hbonow updated into @hbomax 🤔 pic.twitter.com/vw3BEUbACr
— Burton Lewis Jr. (@b_boogey_xl) May 27, 2020
Waiting for my HBO now to transform into #Hbomax pic.twitter.com/hhR7FcaIpi
— Andrew Martinez (@andrewtine) May 27, 2020
[jwplayer hz6BKwCb-q2aasYxh]
Mark Taffet, the manager of Claressa Shields, says a fight between Shields and Laila Ali could do big pay-per-view numbers.
Laila Ali got a taste of the potential of pay-per-view when her fight with Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, Joe Frazier’s daughter, generated a reported 100,000 buys 2001.
That number is nothing compared to what a much-talked-about showdown between the daughter of Muhammad Ali and two-time Olympic champion Claressa Shields could do today. At least that’s how Mark Taffet, Shields’ manager, sees it.
And Taffet should know. He was HBO’s pay-per-view guru when he was a vice president with the premium cable company.
“It can not only be one of the biggest female pay-per-view fights, but I can make it one of the biggest pay-per-view fights — period,” Taffet told BoxingScene.com. “Hopefully they step up. Claressa has the confidence and she wants to step up to the plate and be a game changer. Laila can do the same. I hope she and her team engage in significant conversations.
“We would love to bring that fight to the public. They will make more money than they ever dreamed of. I will marshal every single resource to make sure we get the best revenue.”
Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) has quickly emerged as a star in the professional ranks, winning titles in three divisions in only 10 fights. The 25-year-old turned pro in 2016, shortly after winning her second gold medal.
Ali (24-0, 21 KOs) was a dominating fighter in her day but she’s 42 and hasn’t fought since 2007. She’s now a TV host.
That isn’t lost on Taffet, who understands that Ali would need time to get into fighting shape.
“We wouldn’t want her in the ring if she was not at her best, mentally and physically,” he said. “That takes time. We can make sure the best version of Laili Ali fights so that the public knows it’s getting the best fight possible. If marketed and publicized appropriately, it would make it a significant event.
“If Laila steps up, I can make that deal in a day. All we need are willing participants on the other side. Ali has to walk it, not talk about it. If they will, I will take them on a journey they will never regret.”
He went on: “It’s a big commitment to come back. We recognize that. I understand and respect that greatly. It’s hard to say if a fight can get done. I hope Laila believes in herself the same way we do in ourselves. When the best fight the best, there are no losers. The public loves it.”
The NFL has picked two teams to be featured on ‘Hard Knocks’ this summer.
The Broncos were eligible to be featured on Hard Knocks this year but it sounds like NFL Films and HBO are going in a different direction.
For the first time in the show’s history, Hard Knocks is expected to follow two teams through training camp this summer (assuming there will be training camps at all this year).
NFL Films is planning to follow both the Rams and Chargers this summer, according to a report from ESPN (via Rams Wire). The Rams were also featured on the show leading up to the 2016 season.
Both teams will be preparing to move into SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and HBO appears set to capitalize on the hype around the two clubs.
Denver has been approached about volunteering for the Hard Knocks in previous years and turned down the opportunity. Unless the league forces the Broncos, the team probably won’t be featured on the show anytime soon.
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HBO’s Hard Knocks is changing it up this summer, following not one but two NFL teams in its 15th season of the docu-series.
HBO’s Hard Knocks is changing it up this summer, following not one but two NFL teams in its 15th season of the docu-series.
HBO’s Hard Knocks is changing it up this summer, following not one but two NFL teams in its 15th season of the docu-series.
HBO’s Hard Knocks is changing it up this summer, following not one but two NFL teams in its 15th season of the docu-series.
