Sports & Entertainment Beat

​Welcome back to the Spotlight! Like clockwork, the other side of Labor Day has started to feel a little more like Fall, with a slight chill in the air, pumpkin spice aromas descending down from the heavens (or up from the underworld, depending on your perspective), kids returning to school and my coming down with the Flu (I promise I washed my hands before writing this). Happily, this also means that football season is upon us (though that does not bode well for my already robust sleep deprivation). So I’ll keep it brief this week to rest up in preparation for all that is to come, but as long as you’re here, I might as well share with you the below:   

• • Michelle Juszczyk, famous for designing custom patchwork sports apparel including Taylor Swift’s custom Travis Kelce jacket (and having a killer last name for Scrabble) is due to drop a capsule collection of apparel with Gatorade. A partnership sure to quench the masses with Juszcyzk’s style.
     
  • A new rule by the Federal Trade Commission targets influencers giving fake reviews and testimonials of products.  Luckily for the Spotlight, there is no ban on gratuitous reviews from my parents.  
     
  • Omaha Productions unveils an ingenious, hilarious Broadway-themed promo for Peyton Manning and Eli Manning’s Monday Night Football ManningCast. For this sports and entertainment lawyer who is the grandson of a Tony-winning Broadway producer, it was everything. 
    
    

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

Welcome to the Spotlight! As hard as it is to believe, summer is winding down, Joro spiders seemingly avoided (wish I could say the same about spotted lantern flies), hot dogs (OG or vegan) consumed, marshmallows roasted, medals awarded and for many, lifelong memories made. That last one came into striking relief last weekend at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. As if it wasn’t enough that the kids on these teams get to play in nationally televised baseball games, they also get to spend the day with, and cheer on, their favorite Major League Baseball players as part of annual MLB Little League Classic.

This year featured a game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, but I am not writing to talk about the game—particularly after the Yankees closing pitcher Clay Holmes blew yet another save to hand the Tigers the victory. Instead, the real standout from this year’s event was from a player who did not even play in the game due to a stint on the injured list. The Yankees’ recently acquired dynamic All-Star player Jazz Chisholm, Jr. not only played video journalist to document the Yankees’ day behind the scenes leading up to the game, capturing compelling, joyful, authentic moments shared amongst Major League and Little League teammates alike, but he also took up the mantle of becoming a “big brother” to an adoring Little Leaguer named Russell McGee, proclaiming in a television interview that he’s “gonna make sure he gets to the big leagues one day.” What could have been empty words were followed up with a heartwarming gesture as Chisholm exchanged phone numbers with McGee and joined him in the stands to cheer on Chisholm’s teammates. A really cool moment of kindness, humility and paying it forward to witness—and one that it sounds like McGee and Chisholm will carry with them for a long time to come. I’ll catch you all back on the other side of the Labor Day holiday, but for now here’s my payment forward to you.

• • At long last, the collaboration between Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese and Reese’s candy has become official, as they roll out some cleverly co-branded apparel. What Reese is getting paid for the collaboration is not yet known, but it’s probably more than peanuts.
  • Oklahoma State University’s football team is leaning into the name, image and likeness (NIL) era in college sports as they will all have QR codes on their helmets, linking people to the program’s NIL fund. With this on-field innovation possible, sportsbooks across the country are now wondering whether they can buy a referee if you use a barcode scanner on his or her uniform.
  • NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports sues its former sponsor, restaurant chain Hooters over its failure to pay $1.7 million in sponsorship fees. What a hoot—I thought owls were supposed to be wise!

Welcome back to the Spotlight! As we wave au revoir to the rousing success that was the Paris Olympic Games, in which the United States racked up the most gold medals and highest overall medal total, and NBCUniversal saw its Olympic audience swell to the largest it has been since 1994, the Olympic torch has begun its four year journey stateside to Los Angeles. There, LA28 is set up beautifully to surpass the watermark set by the City of Lights – that is, if people can make it off the 405. What’s on tap for the City of Angels is sure to be even more advertising spend and sponsorship dollars than what we saw in Paris, for one thing. For another thing, California native Snoop Dogg—who became a staple of the past Olympic Games—will undoubtedly reprise his supporting role, with Hollywood cameos to boot. As for the events themselves, although breakdancing will not be returning to the Games (much to internet trolls’ dismay), flag football will make its debut—possibly with NFL players taking the field, while those craving a full contact sport may find themselves drawn closer fo rugby—particularly with the Rugby World Cup coming to America in 2031. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. If recent history is any guide, there’s a whole lot of stuff that can go wrong along the way! On that dark note, here’s a Spotlight to lift you back up…

• • Not content with bringing home a gold medal from Paris, NBA All-Star Kevin Durant is bringing an equity investment in French Football Ligue 1 Champions Paris Saint Germain. It’s been a while since I’ve flown to Europe but it sounds like they’ve really spruced up their duty free offerings. 
     
  • Prime Video is debuting “The Money Game,” a docuseries following Louisiana State University most prominent NIL athletes including gymnast Livvy Dunne, basketball players Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson and Quarterback Jayden Daniels through their 2023 seasons on and off campus. A documentary about getting paid in college while getting paid to be followed said is notable, particularly considering how many people would pay NOT to have footage of their time at college released. 
     
  • Semiconductor company Qualcomm is extending its sponsorship of the English Premier League’s Manchester United Football Club through 2029. With that type of ‘chip’ reaching ubiquity in England, perhaps they’ll start referring to deep fried potatoes as “fries.”
     
  • Tennessee Titans Quarterback Will Levis, who (in)famously puts mayonnaise in his coffee, unveils a playful, albeit nausea-inducing collaboration with Hellmann’s Mayonnaise for a mayo-scented cologne. For his safety, Levis is advised not to wear the fragrance during games, because if ever there were a time to smell like mayo, it definitely wouldn’t be while being chased down by a 300 pound defensive lineman.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! After years of training and trials, our United States’ Olympians are assembling an impressive, gleaming mosaic of accomplishments as if their medals were tiles. In track & field, a new “World’s Fastest Man” was crowned, his name is Noah Lyles. In gymnastics, a hard-fought redemption was earned for Simone Biles, both individually and alongside teammate Jordan Chiles. Even in defeat, the pair generated smiles, in a show of sportsmanship and grace they bowed to the victor, in so doing, cementing courage in their profiles. I would be remiss not to mention swimmer Katie Ledecky’s continuing to stack up medals through butterflies, breaststrokes, and freestyles.  In the meantime, don’t forget USA basketball is in the gold medal game, so be sure to set your TV dials. Upon their return home, each of these athletes is going to receive endorsement deals in anything from technology to textiles and in their country be the opposite of exiles. I hope you enjoyed my poetic styles, and if you think I’ve run out of rhymes, I assure you I have them in piles. 

• • The US Army claims that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his United Football League should refund the $6 million it paid for social media promotions intended to drive enlistments, when in actuality, no enlistments resulted from the promotions, and a number of enlistments may have even dropped out. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
     
  • With sights set on appealing to a new generation of fans, the New York Yankees are putting out their own original content in the form of an animated Saturday morning cartoon series. On the one hand, I miss the good old days of winning the World Series. On the other hand, the series will be required curriculum for my boys.
     
  • NBA All-Star Steph Curry stole the show on Thursday, as his mockumentary series “Mr. Throwback” launched on Peacock, while he played the role of Mr. Comeback in Paris, propelling Team USA—who trailed by as many as 17 points--into the gold medal game with a victory over Serbia. Excellently scripted if you ask me.  Oh and by the way, the national bird of Serbia? You guessed it…the eastern imperial eagle.
     
  • While recording artist Adele had a $130 million structure built specifically for her performance residency in Munich, Germany, another recording artist is paying $1.5 million to have his slapped his name on the side of a stadium, as Pitbull enters into a multiyear naming rights deal with Florida International University. The delta can almost certainly be attributed to there being more construction costs, and better pretzels and beer

Hard to believe that June is just around the corner. Interestingly, June is one of two months with four letters in it (the other being July).

Speaking of four letter words (don’t worry—I’m not about to channel my inner George Carlin. I have a reputation to uphold here!), one four letter word that has not been recently uttered in this space is “NFTs.” That could be because after pandemic-fueled NFT bubble (I guess people were attracted to the fact they did not need hand sanitizer to handle them…) popped, leading valuations into a freefall and spurring a number of high-profile civil and criminal cases to crop up, not the least of which being a pending $1 billion class action lawsuit against Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo arising out of his promotion of NFTs on the cryptocurrency platform Binance. You might think that such a hefty lawsuit might influence Ronaldo to lay low for a little bit. Pelo contrário meus amigos.

Instead, Ronaldo has chosen to double-down and release a new collection of NFTs on Binance. But hey, when you’ve been labeled one of the sexiest men in the world, one of the greatest soccer players of all time and are paid $200 million a year to play soccer in a foreign land, you might have some built-up hubris. Sure, it’s not quite the same confidence booster as being told (mostly by family) that your “Spotlight” was well done in a given week, but I imagine it is up there…Whatever comes of Ronaldo’s decision, I would hope for the sake of him (and his lawyers) that they got a robust indemnification provision in Ronaldo’s deal with Binance.  Otherwise, his defense attorney will be drinking Champagne while his transactional attorney drinks something stronger.  

In any event, if you’ve made it this far, why not double down and see what else is in store this week.  

• • UEFA Champions League Final-bound, German soccer club Dortmund strikes a sponsorship deal with a German arms manufacturer, but don’t expect the deal to be a difference-maker for the club. After all, the sport relies more heavily on legs. 
    
    
  • Range Sports and The New York Mets partner up on a development deal to produce short form off-field content around the players. An exciting development for a team that struggles to produce quality on-field content. 
    
    
  • Sony Music seems poised to bid a king’s ransom of over $1 billion on the song catalog of legendary rock band Queen. Alexa, please play “We Are The Champions.”

Fresh off a much needed vacation, I spent part of this week at the 4se conference here in New York City (presented by Leaders Group and Sports Business Journal). My experience as the event was as good, if not better than last year’s. For one thing, it was gratifying to focus on the business side of sports and entertainment with my still licking my fandom wounds from the Knicks’ playoff exit.

For another thing, I geek out on the convergence of sports, entertainment, fashion and music and becoming even more conversant about the ecosystem in which our clients thrive—and I got to know a number of people who feel the same. Unsurprisingly, against the backdrop of artificial intelligence’s emergence, the import of authenticity, loyalty and understanding consumers’ and fans’ emotions and desires was prominently highlighted.

What *was* most surprising what was not that the WWE has a writers room of 50 people (jarring enough to learn that pro wrestling is scripted!) but rather that there was not one Taylor Swift and/or Travis Kelce reference in any of the panel discussions (I guess they’ve had their 15 minutes…). In any event, I look forward to leveraging all that I learned about to make me a more well-rounded, business-minded lawyer and you, better-informed readers.

To that end, let’s get to it, shall we? 

• • A landmark settlement was reached in the House v. NCAA case that will enable the member schools of the so-called “Power 5” NCAA sports conferences to pay their athletes directly—further blurring the line between college and professional sports. As I understand it, the primary difference is that spectators will still be able to afford a hot dog…I think.
    
    
  • The U.S. Department of Justice filed a milestone antitrust suit against live events and ticketing juggernaut Live Nation—which seems like a slight overreaction to missing out on tickets to the Eras Tour.
    
    
  • Scarlett Johansson pens a strongly-worded letter to push back at a strongly lettered-word (A.I.)’s use of a voice eerily similar to hers for OpenAI’s ChatGPT assistant. Particularly after OpenAI had previously courted Johansson for her to lend her voice to the program (and was rebuffed), it doesn’t take much intelligence – artificial or otherwise – to understand her gripe.    
    
    
  • Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark enters into a multiyear endorsement deal with Wilson Sporting Goods Co., becoming the first athlete since Michael Jordan to have her own line of signature basketballs. While Wilson’s products are likely to bounce, the deal is undoubtedly lucrative enough to ensure that Clark’s checks do not.

If you were wondering where last week’s edition was—allow me to put the rumors to rest. I was not at the tailor getting fitted for the Met Gala. I was not practicing my set for the Roast of Tom Brady—I thought about it, but apparently you had to be famous or gifted at sports (the ship on the latter has sailed, but the former…). Instead, I was at my firm’s attorney retreat meeting, getting better acquainted with and forming a rapport with teammates located across the country. So, in the spirit of the word “retreat,” I guess I pulled back. Next week, I’ll be out of the country taking another retreat of sorts, recharging my batteries and taking the week off.  But this week, in the spirit of the word “treat” I’ll provide you with just enough decadent mind morsels to tide you over. Read it again until I’m back and you’ll be re-treated. 

• • The honor of holding the first ever (official) alcohol sponsorship of a college football bowl game will be held by some guys who know a thing or two about money and bowls as the Arizona Bowl will be branded “The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.” 
    
    
  • NBA Hall of Fame and former Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton appears super interested in owning a piece of a potential Seattle expansion team (years after the Seattle franchise relocated to and rebranded as the Oklahoma City Thunder. The investment would be fitting for Payton—you might say like a glove. 
    
    
  • Just ten days after retiring from the WNBA, highly decorated Candace Parker shuns the shuffleboard courts in favor of a boardroom, landing at Adidas as the President of Women’s Basketball. 

If you’re joining me as a reader this week, kudos to you for having used proper eye protection for the solar eclipse. This week, between the college basketball season coming to an end, and the NBA and NHL’s regular season winding down, I wanted to focus in on the young baseball season—namely, my beloved New York Yankees. It’s early, but something about this year’s team is special and exciting. Newcomers (Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Marcus Stroman) have stepped seamlessly into the lineup alongside other big names like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton and have already contributed remarkably not only on the field but to the team’s culture. 

Meanwhile, young prospects Oswaldo Cabrera and to a greater extent, Anthony Volpe have become rising stars. The team chemistry and energy is palpable and has already propelled these “DAWGS” to a a handful of come-from-behind victories en route to the best record in the MLB. The established talent and star power (and yes, substantial payroll) of the Yankees roster—as in years past—has never been in doubt. Yet, the Yankees have consistently underperformed for a decade. The lesson? You can have all the talent in the world on your team (an agent, a business manager, a lawyer), but without quality people around you to support and motivate you as a family would (in good times and bad), you’re unlikely to reach the heights you aim to achieve. Through the first few weeks of the season, the Yankees appear to have something.

• • eBay purchases major sports memorabilia auction house Goldin Auctions from Collectors Holdings. Not only was the transaction motivated by an apparent desire to compete with Fanatics, but also free shipping and a 99.8% Feedback Score.
    
    
  • This week Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was charged by U.S. Attorney’s Office for bank fraud, allegedly stealing $16 million from Ohtani for illegal gambling (talk about surrounding yourself with the right people!). In uncovered text messages to his bookie, Mizuhara damningly says “technically I did steal from [Ohtani]. It’s all over for me.” To my chagrin, there was no text reading “Ohtani boyyy, the Feds, the Feds are calling.”
    
    
  • Step aside pickleball, the sport professional curling (essentially an icy version of shuffleboard with large kettle-sized stones and brooms) may be taking a move into the mainstream with a strategic acquisition by an investor group with lofty ambitions for the sports. But with the amount of ice dwindling on the planet, it might be a better investment to put the big bucks behind sports that can be played on barren wastelands. 

Suffice it to say that the Women’s basketball revolution was indeed televised, as this past week 12.3 million viewers tuned in to watch Caitlin Clark’s University of Iowa Hawkeyes take on Angel Reese’s Louisiana State University Tigers in a rematch of last year’s national championship game. This year, it was Clark who had the upper hand, powering her team to victory and on to their second consecutive Final Four appearance. Both stars, propelled into American households in no small part due to their talent and availing themselves of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, are certain to square off again in the WNBA (endorsing rivaling chocolate and peanut butter candy bars would be a layup, too). But let’s get back to the numbers. 12.3 million viewers is more than any other ESPN televised college basketball game ever, more than any other women’s college basketball game ever, more than any MLB, NHL and MLS game last season and more than nearly all other NBA basketball games and College Football games last season. Oh and the average ticket price of this year’s Women’s Final Four is about double that of the Men’s Final Four. Seems *oh so* reasonable given that media rights and pay for women’s sports is in parity with men’s sports…right??? (Checks notes…sighhh…) Never mind. But hey, there’s no time like the present for a change! 

• • Beyoncé’s Country Album “Cowboy Carter” spurs a rewriting of the history books, becoming the most single day streamed album in Spotify history.
     
  • The premiere of Season 3 of Ryan Reynolds’s and Rob McElhenney’s “Welcome to Wrexham” is being delayed from April 18 to May 2 for reasons currently unknown. In other words, if you had plans to host a viewing party on April 18, this news wrecks ‘em. 
     
  • Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Center Joel Embiid was well-received in his return to action this week, notably sporting Skechers basketball sneakers. In so doing, Embiid joins Snoop Dogg as a high profile endorsement partner. For those keeping track at home, there’s two “I’s” in Embiid, two “G’s” in Dogg, no “T’s” in Skechers and I before e, except after c. 

I write this piece still licking my wounds from a rough week that saw my alma mater University of Wisconsin Badgers lay an egg against James Madison University in the first round of the Men’s NCAA basketball tournament (we’re still unquestionably the superior Madison) and come up one goal short against Ohio State University in the Women’s NCAA Hockey National Championship. That misfortune is to say nothing of my utterly destroyed NCAA tournament brackets.

But no matter.

Just ahead this early Spring weekend is a full slate of opening weekend Major League Baseball games, where I can once again rebuild my hopes (perhaps only to have them dashed in a few months’ time) while digging into Cadbury Mini Eggs (only the U.K. version will do). But before that sheer Easter candy bliss, I share the following with you: my Peeps.

• • Tennessee becomes the first of these United States to pass legislation entitled the ELVIS Act, that is targeted at Artificial Intelligence (AI) imitations of musical acts. Quite the bit of hypocrisy from the Volunteer State. They turn a blind eye to fat guys with long sideburns, rhinestones and gyrating hips to impersonating an artist, but when a machine gets in on the act, all bets are off. 
     
  • Iowa Hawkeyes Guard Caitlin Clark has been a TV ratings machine over the past few months of college basketball. Advertisers and sponsors have already taken note, but now Ice Cube is offering $5 million for her to play 10 games for his 3-on-3 basketball league, Big3.  Somehow that offer isn’t as shocking as the approximately $75,000 base salary she stands to make next year in the WNBA.
     
  • The NFL is planning to take a regular season game on the road to Brazil, to be streamed exclusively on Peacock. I guess Amazon carrying the game would have been a little too on-the-nose.