Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! My grandfather and five-time Tony Award winning Broadway producer, Kermit Bloomgarden was, like many in the entertainment industry, prone to superstition. Both my interest in the entertainment industry and certain superstitions can undoubtedly be traced to him.  It’s fair to wonder then, what am I doing proclaiming my sports fandom. Last year I sang the praises of University of Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz. Two mediocre (at best) seasons later, he is transferring out of the school. This summer, I waxed more poetic than a Crayola sonnet on the once unbeatable New York Yankees, only to send their season into a tailspin, culminating with a pathetic playoff showing against the (eventual World Series champion) Houston Astros.

Last week, I extolled the U.S. Men’s National Team ahead of their World Cup soccer match against the Netherlands. And, well…they lost. So, perhaps to Badgers Nation, Yankees Nation and Nation…Nation, it was my fault and I should be more judicious with my praise. Or, maybe I should just blame supply chain issues—that seems to be en vogue nowadays. Yeah, let’s go with that.  Besides, it is not as if anyone is reading this anyway. Anyhow, let’s get on with the show and what’s taking centerstage in this week’s Spotlight:

• • Celebrity crypto influencers such as Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. dodge a lawsuit over the endorsement of the EthereumMax platform on grounds that the plaintiffs could not prove that they were actually influenced to purchase EthereumMax assets. In other words, the suit amounted to an effort to redirect blame for questionable financial decisions.
  • As energy drink brand Bang Energy and makeup and skincare company Iconic recently found out the music available for synchronization on TikTok may not necessarily be approved for use in advertising. And no amount of caffeine and cover-up will get you out of a copyright infringement claim.  
  • New York state finally passes a name, image, and likeness law, but comes up short of the lofty promises once imagined for it. Notably, rather than including a mandatory 15% revenue sharing arrangement between the colleges and athletes, colleges have no such requirement and are instead prohibited from paying prospective athletes for use of their name, image and likeness. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere…seemingly as long as “it” does not mean as many NIL dollars as you anticipated.