Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Just one more installment on the way next week before this dog and pony show packs it in for the rest of the year (pause for groaning, protests and/or sighs of relief). Unlike Juan Soto, I promise to be back next year—it won’t even take $765 million to make it happen. Though, for the record, I certainly would not turn down $765 million. While I’m on the subject, I’m not going to talk about the dynamics between the New York Yankees or Mets, I’ll save that for another time. Instead, if Soto is to receive $765 million (or more) over the next 15 years—the most lucrative professional sports contract—how much higher can players’ salaries go before we’re talking about equity compensation (in the form of options to purchase a piece of a team after retirement—so as to avoid apparent conflicts of interest) rather than cash? Such a shift might level the playing field so to (Soto?) speak for owners that are not worth $21 billion dollars (like the Mets’ Steve Cohen).  We’ve seen it most recently with Lionel Messi’s Major League Soccer deal with Inter Miami CF, so maybe it is just a matter of time before we see it in one of the Big Four professional sports leagues. 

• • Authentic Brands Group strikes a stadium naming rights deal to rebrand the home of MLS’ New York Redbulls, Sports Illustrated Stadium.  Perhaps that means we can expect the team to play in swimsuits one match per year.
     
  • The Writers’ Guild of America wrote (obviously) a scathing letter to Hollywood studios criticizing their allowing their intellectual property from being used for training generative AI models. In fairness to the studios, they didn’t have anything to say because the WGA didn’t write anything for them.
     
  • University of Colorado star Wide Receiver/Cornerback and Heisman Trophy frontrunner, Travis Hunter signs an endorsement deal with Adidas ahead of the draft. As part of their pitch, Adidas gave him two hats.

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Hard enough as it is to believe, but as sure as I am incessantly refreshing my web browser for stories about Juan Soto’s free agency, we’re nearly at the end of the year. Indeed, if the cold weather and manufactured deadlines that overlook that the calendar rolls over to a new day (granted, an increasingly questionable proposition in this crazy world…) were not evidence enough, people are receiving and gratuitously posting their Spotify Wrapped highlights from 2024. If I had the budget to support it, I’d do a version of my own that tracked the number of dad jokes and sports and entertainment business headlines but there’s always next year (I think). Although tomorrow may not be promised, a cringe, eye-roll and/or smile is on the below:

• • Alex Cooper -- host of the second most streamed podcast on Spotify, “Call Her Daddy” – becomes the latest celebrity to wade into the beverage industry, launching “Unwell,” an electrolyte-infused drink marketed to women. With her following, the brand may just do better than its name suggests.  
     
  • The Washington Commanders make something of an unconventional hire for their front office, bringing in the former CEO of the Campbell Soup Company to serve as the team’s President. In so doing, the team is one step closer to a souper bowl. 
     
  • Speaking of soup, the traditional Jewish soup dumpling that is a matzo ball may soon be taking a more oblong shape, as Brigham Young University’s first Jewish quarterback Jake Retzlaff unveils his NIL sponsorship with kosher food company, Manischewitz. Now that’s something to kvell at!

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! With next week being Thanksgiving here in these United States, I wanted to take a moment to give thanks for my family, my readers (those first two not being mutually exclusive), my clients, my colleagues and the opportunity to return to this space and share my passion (and ramblings, etc.). With that being said, the Spotlight will return in December. But do not despair, good pilgrims– it will all be gravy. I will be stuffing as many corn-y dad jokes into this course. Some of these jokes may seem canned like cranberry sauce, and to those gibs and giblettes that are uninitiated to the Spotlight, it may seem like I am yammering on but when I am done here, you may just end up wanting seconds. So, don’t be a turkey – grab a fork and dig into this week’s fixins’.

• • The latest professional athlete to launch their own sports and entertainment focused venture capital fund (the straightforwardly-named, Build Your Legacy Ventures) is the Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. For how exciting it must have been to work on the fund formation documents, it must have been at least equally as nerve-wracking to proofread the spelling.
     
  • NBA Hall of Famer and multi-hyphenate big man Shaquille O’Neal forks over $11 million to settle claims against him arising out of his promotion of NFTs. On a separate but related note, McDonald’s is debuting NFT art on its McCafé coffee cups. My unsolicited advice for any potential endorsement partners is to tread lightly--and for McDonald’s, it’s to bring back the Monopoly game (only this time without the fraud).
     
  • Global apparel and tennis equipment brands FILA and HEAD sign 16(!) year old high school tennis player Anna Frey to NIL deals. Congrats, Anna -- that brings me back to the days when I was (unofficially) sponsored by Yoohoo, Axe Body Spray and angst...

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! I am going to be brief this week as your intrepid author is battling some sort of a classroom-(and Bloomgarden boy)-incubated sinus infection. I suppose that is one of the occupational hazards of being a dad. (Sigh…if only they would share toys as well as they share pathogens…). In any event, here’s a little bit of what else has been going on this week:

• • Former New England Patriots Quarterback Drew Bledsoe is among the minority of athletes who have positioned themselves for financial stability in their post-playing careers, notably as a proprietor of several wineries in Washington state.  He has the added security of not having Tom Brady (again) come after his job – wine has too many carbs.
     
  • X users were quick to note that top footballer Cristiano Ronaldo failed to adequately disclose his endorsement relationship with Herbalife in a promotional social media post for the wellness company—a potential violation of Federal Trade Commission regulations. If he needs some assistance with FTC compliance, I know a guy.
     
  • Professional Bull Riding (PBR) terminates its contract with Dr. Phil McGraw’s Merit Street Media over the latter’s failure to make rights payments to the bull riding tour.  In so doing, PBR became the envy of many who wish to tell Dr. Phil to cut the bull.  

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! In a week that’s been dominated by headlines about the US Presidential election, against my better judgment, I can’t help but dive in to the discussion on some capacity—even though trying to write on the topic in an anodyne fashion makes me feel like I’m playing a game of Minesweeper. Throughout the respective campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the power of entertainment and celebrity has been on full display. On the one hand, there was Trump, who rose to national prominence years ago with the help of the reality television series, “The Apprentice” and used the support of the likes of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and recording artist Kid Rock at this past summer’s Republican National Convention. On the other hand, there was Harris, whose political platform was widely endorsed by some of the biggest stars in the sports and entertainment world—Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, to name a few. Objectively, if fame and the commercial value of an endorsement were a determining factor in an election, Harris would have won in a landslide. Instead, no amount of endorsements could move the needle far enough in Harris’ favor, as Trump prevailed. How and why voters voted as they did will be the subject of conjecture and examination in the days to come, but perhaps, in the current economic climate, the very voices that are so important to influencing purchasing decisions don’t carry as much weight for those who feel frustrated in their ability to afford purchases themselves. 

• • NBA big man Joel Embiid has received mounting criticism and investigations over his questionable injury status causing him to miss games for the Philadelphia 76ers. So naturally, when Embiid got into an altercation with a reporter over said criticism, his punishment was to…miss games for the Philadelphia 76ers.
     
  • Duke University Blue Devils freshman Cooper Flagg quenches his thirst for NIL income, signing an endorsement deal with Gatorade at the ripe age of 17.
     
  • Wrexham AFC co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds are now also co-owners of Wrexham Lager—as shrewd marketers who have seemingly had a Midas touch over the past few years, one can only hope that they are up for the challenge of finding a way to pair beer with sports.

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! To those who were hoping that Tom Brady’s retirement (the second time around) meant that his winning ways in the NFL were over, you might want to sit this one out. Indeed, the future Hall of Famer, widely thought to be the greatest quarterback of all time (except for when he plays my New York Giants in the Super Bowl) has managed to work a pretty sweet deal for himself. For one thing, he’s in the first year of a 10 year, $375 million broadcasting deal with FOX Sports to handle commentary on NFL games. Now, he’s using a substantial portion of his salary to fund his purchase of a minority ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders franchise. In so doing, finds himself restricted by the NFL from having to do some of the more labor-intensive aspects of sports broadcasting—attending production meetings and meeting with players and coaches—all while collecting his same paycheck. In sum, Brady has gone from owning NFL teams (not the Giants) on Sundays, to owning an NFL team everyday. Brady’s detractors can take solace in the fact that the Raiders don’t win many games—for now. 

• • Famed singer-songwriter Randy Newman sells his publishing and recorded music catalogue to Litmus Music.  Although the terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed, rest assured that the dollar figure involved is enough for people to come out of the woodwork to tell Newman, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
     
  • Golf legend Jack Nicklaus finds himself embroiled in an effort to reclaim commercial rights to his name, image and likeness from his old company that has since developed an A.I. version of Nicklaus and attempted to restrain the real Nicklaus from using his name in a commercial setting.  In other words, Nicklaus wants to take a mulligan to prevent the commercial value of his NIL from being nickel-less.  
     
  • The New York Knicks jersey patch sponsorship will shift from Sphere Entertainment Co. to Experience Abu Dhabi coinciding with an announcement from Sphere that it will be bringing another immersive entertainment venue comparable to its Sphere in Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi, bringing things full circle (or (4/3)πr³ divided by (3/4)r)  

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 
 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! With my being glued to the Yankees game, amongst other things, I will be brief here. But hopefully, I have left just enough meat on the bone for you to dig in below.

• • Rock band Limp Bizkit sues record label Universal Music for $200 million in allegedly unpaid royalties. Universal would be forgiven for thinking that the group did not want the money since, by their own admission, they did it all for the nookie.
     
  • Former Ohio State University standout quarterback Terrelle Pryor follows in Reggie Bush’s footsteps with an NIL lawsuit against the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference, seeking to recover a substantial sum from years Pryor. 
     
  • Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony turned entrepreneur reveals his next venture is in the cannabis industry—a fitting endeavor for someone well acquainted with being mellow.

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Shana Tova to those who celebrate Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) was not going to write this week because, well, I am one of those who celebrates.  On Rosh Hashanah, it is traditional to enjoy sweet foods such as apples and honey as symbolism for a sweet year that lies ahead. So, in a world in which there is so much acrid vinegar, I aim to bring you at least a few drops of sweet honey—you know, as long as cringe-inducing humor is your thing…

• • Loti, a Seattle-based startup that aims to protect celebrities from so-called “deepfakes” and fake endorsements closed its seed financing round, with an impressive list of backers including Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus and Joan of Arc.
     
  • Formula One racing and luxury brand conglomerate LVMH enter into a huge 10 year partnership worth…well, if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it. (OK, fine it’s $1 billion).
     
  • Paying homage takes on a new meaning, as Kevin Durant, Jason Kelce and Rob McElhenney invest in Nostalgia-inspired sports apparel brand Homage, joining the likes of Ryan Reynolds. 
     
  • YouTube users hoping to listen to songs by Adele and others found themselves sitting in silence this week as a continued dispute between performing rights organization SESAC and YouTube’s parent Alphabet led to the music being taken down from the site.  Said one disheartened Adele fan, “I must’ve clicked a thousand times.”

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Last week Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Shohei Ohtani made baseball history, becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season (for good measure, he hit that milestone in a game in which he had a ridiculous 10 runs batted in, 6 hits, 3 home runs, 2 stolen bases and a partridge in a pear tree). This week, 18-year-old Florida resident Max Matus made sports law history, becoming the first person to sue to stop the auction of a 50th home run ball hit by a player that also stole 50 bases in a single season. Matus, who claims that the home run ball was rightfully his after having allegedly caught the ball only to—again, allegedly—have it forcibly ripped away from him, certainly has financial incentive for his claim with the ball estimated to fetch $4.5 million at auction.  Even the wisdom of King Solomon might be challenged in the face of that kind of money, but allow me to throw a suggestion into the pot. Ohtani purchases the ball (he can well afford it) and Matus gets 50%. Voila! Problem solved! For those going to the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees series this weekend – if you happen to catch Aaron Judge’s 60^th home run, hold on for dear life.  

• • Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown decided against $50M in endorsement money and instead launched his own brand and signature shoe. Clearly well acquainted with the marshmallow test.
     
  • Financial services company Robinhood inks a jersey patch sponsorship with its third NBA team – each are odds-on favorites to lead the league in steals.
     
  • Former Heisman Trophy Winner Reggie Bush sues the NCAA and his alma mater University of Southern California Trojans over lost name, image and likeness revenue, calling his inability to cash in during college as an injustice. For their part, the NCAA and USC called it an am-bush.
     
  • Husband and wife artists Clifford “T.I.” Harris and Tameka “Tiny” Harris recover $71 million after toymaker MGA’s “OMG Fashion Dolls” were found to infringe the Harris’ “OMG Girlz” intellectual property. Now I am wondering whether this BloOMGarden can get a cut of that…

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Allow me to be among the first to wish you happy Fall, y’all. If I close my eyes while typing, the keystrokes almost sound like crunching crisp leaves. With the start of my favorite season—made that much better with the Yankees set to play October baseball, we also bid farewell to Emmys season. In case you missed it, the awards show rose (Johnny and David, to be exact) to its best ratings since 2021, all on the backs of father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy. Their performance was such a success, it makes me wonder whether I should give my sons a platform in the Spotlight (it would arguably improve the quality of the jokes). As it stands, I don’t have time to work through the logistical challenges of onboarding a 6 year-old and 3 year-old, so you’ll just have to be content with me.

• • The University of Tennessee Football program announced that they will be increasing ticket prices by ten percent to finance revenue sharing with its collegiate athletes. For a team whose name is the Volunteers, it’s rich to volunteer its fanbase to subsidize the cost. Then again, if they brand the increase as “Ten-to-see,” I might just come around.
     
  • YouTubers MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI unveil grab and go packaged lunch kits called Lunchly to rival Oscar Meyer’s Lunchables. While the modestly improved nutritional values and the celebrity backing of Lunchly may set it apart, the allure of a hot dog shaped vehicle still makes Lunchables a wiener/winner in my book. 
     
  • Popular beverage brand Liquid Death and NASCAR are taking a different tact to sports marketing—offering the fans, rather than the drivers sponsorship deals. Not surprising given how undesirable having the word “death” emblazoned on your car while traveling at 150 mph must be. 

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn.