Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! About 13 years ago, future NBA Hall of Famer Steph Curry famously shunned the mainstream path of signing a brand endorsement and signature shoe deal with Nike, deciding instead to link up with the then far less established brand Under Armour. Curry’s decision was instrumental in elevating Under Armour’s profile (and stock prices) into the giant we know today. Now, a few months after ending his relationship with Under Armour, Curry has made his leanings clear—passing over brands more established in the US market and signing a deal with the Chinese sports apparel brand, Li-Ning. Fittingly, Curry is shooting his shot from long range. On the surface, it would seem Curry has a penchant for taking the road less traveled, rivaled only by that of Robert Frost. But going a bit deeper, a reported 10 year, $400 million deal, plus the flexibility to expand his Curry brand beyond basketball and into other sports such as golf, is rather persuasive. It also helps to be in the network of a company that calls the country with the largest economy in Asia (and where nearly everything is manufactured) “home.” Perhaps the biggest hurdle will be breaking into the Southeast Asian market, which is already replete with curry. 10 years from now, we may be looking back at this deal as another watershed moment in the trajectory of the Li-Ning and Curry brands.

• • Recording artist M.I.A. sues rapper Kid Cudi for $2.8 million over Cudi’s decision to cut her from the remainder of his “Rebel Ragers” tour. In his defense, she did choose her name.
  • A Dallas-area artist is suing FIFA after the organization painted over the artist’s giant mural to promote the upcoming World Cup matches. The artist is suing for $25 million or roughly the cost of entry to one World Cup match.
  • “Euphoria” star Sydney Sweeney’s production company Honey Trap and signs a deal with Sony Pictures, giving the studio the first crack at showcasing her body (…of work) in producer and directorial roles.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! This week’s edition starts off under similar circumstances as where we left off two weeks ago, with the New York Knicks getting another nine days of hard-earned recovery time, awaiting their opponent. For those keeping track at home, that is enough time to listen to Drake’s full triple-album release about eighty-six times over. As of now, we know either two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder or the preposterously tall and athletic French star Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs) in the next round of the playoffs. That next round also happens to be the last round: the NBA Finals. That means (pinch me if I’m dreaming) the New York Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. With Saturday being a Blue Moon, I would say that such an event happens once in a Blue Moon—but there have been 12 Blue Moons in that same period. So, this is more like a Blue and Orange Moon—and the buzz around New York (and ticket prices) are reflecting that Kudos to the Knicks organization for understanding this and making at least 500 tickets available for free to disadvantaged, inner-city youths, to give an opportunity to witness this rare phenomenon. As for things around here, unlike last edition, the Spotlight is going to remain locked in and laser-focused, just as I hope the Knicks do over the next few weeks.

• • The aforementioned Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cries foul as he had his lawyers send a cease and desist letter sent to Underdog Sports relating to the use of his name, image and likeness in a promotional Operation-style game called “Unethical Hoops,” that pokes fun at SGA’s notorious reputation for drawing questionable fouls.
  • Podcaster Jay Shetty signs a $100 million deal with Netflix and Spotify for the videos distribution rights to his motivational, self-help podcast “On Purpose.” So you could say his methods seem to be working.
  • Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Ohio native Travis Kelce buys a minority equity stake in the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians—meaning fiancée Taylor Swift may now have reasons for visiting the city other than accepting Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! For the better part of my life, if the New York Knicks weren’t playing basketball for a long stretch of time around this time of year, it meant that they were eliminated from the playoffs (or, more often than not, were not anywhere close to being in contention to begin with). So you could understand my excitement by the fact that this time off was earned. Indeed, As of this writing, since their next opponent is not yet known (either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Detroit Pistons) they’ll get another two or four days to rest up and regroup since handily sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers last Sunday afternoon on their way to a second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals berth.

For now, the closest to Knicks action that I have been seeing is the Knicks’ Miles “Deuce” McBride endorsing Vuori active apparel, Josh Hart appearing in a Patrón Tequila commercial, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson and Jose Alvarado appearing alongside former Knicks John Starks and Patrick Ewing in an AT&T spot, former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony partnering with skin and haircare brand CeraVe to help launch its new anti-dandruff shampoo and even Brunson’s wife Ali Marks Brunson endorsing Brodo bone broths. Turns out that winning basketball games in the greatest city in the world is a powerful marketing tool.

Speaking of powerful marketing tools, the Spotlight will be following the lead of its hometown team and taking time to recharge. If the bodies of the New York Knicks could stand to benefit from some recovery, so too could the wit of my New York-ness. So, I’ll catch you on the other side of Memorial Day. Until then, it’s “Go NY Go NY Go!”

• • Buddy comedy “Grown Ups” is getting another sequel at Netflix with its original cast – Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock and Kevin James. The film comes 13 years after the last sequel, “Grown Ups 2”—so in a way, it is the Grown Ups sequel’s bar mitzvah.
  • Former New York Yankees Hall of Fame Closer Mariano Rivera is launching his own line of hot sauces, while teammate Alex Rodriguez partners with sunflower seed brand, “SMACKIN” to unveil a limited edition Honey BBQ flavor. Both sound great, but my preferred Yankees flavor would be the taste of a 2026 World Series victory.
  • Pop star Dua Lipa sues electronics giant Samsung for allegedly using her image on the box of its televisions without her permission – evidently not what the singer had in mind when she dreamt as a little girl of being on TV.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Ever since I took up New York Yankees fandom in the 1990s (for the record, several years before they won the World Series in 1996), I have known at least two truths to be self-evident: 1) I was fortunate not to be brought up as a Mets fan and 2) when it came to listening to a play-by-play broadcast of Yankee games, there was no one better than John Sterling. Sterling’s colorful, candid commentary, signature home run calls and trademark victory line “YANKEES WIN, THEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!” made him an indelible voice of the team, befitting of his last name. So, the news that he had passed on Monday created one of those unique moments where an entire fanbase who may never have actually met the man, had a personal sense of loss because of knowing the man. Amidst the tributes pouring in, there was also a baseball game to be played on Monday, and in a poetic way that only sports can deliver, the Yankees, playing with Sterling’s initials on their caps, defeated the Baltimore Orioles, propelled by a “Judgian blast” from team captain Aaron Judge in the first inning. If that does not convince you that sports is more than a game, then I don’t know what else will. In any event, John’s commitment to the team (never missing a pitch in 34 years of broadcasting), like his voice, will not be soon forgotten.

• • The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments are seeing their fields again expanding – from 68 teams to 76 teams. This reminds me of those shaving companies that try to convince you that you need additional razorblades in their already adequate razorheads, all in the name of making a few extra bucks. So far, reception to the news of the expansion, like that of the use of additional blades, seems to be increased irritation.
  • Pickleball, Inc., parent company of Major League Pickleball, receives a $225 million investment from Apollo Sports Capital and Dundon Capital Partners, bringing the company’s valuation to a cool-as-a-cucumber $750 million.
  • James Cameron and The Walt Disney Company were sued by actress Q’orianka Kilcher alleging that her likeness was used to create the facial features of a blue-skinned character Neytiri in “Avatar.” Lawyers for Smurfette and The Blue Man Group could not be reached for comment as to whether they’d assert claims of their own.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! This week I am reporting to you on location in the land of Maverick, Ron Burgundy, the Padres and once upon a time, the Chargers—San Diego, California. I am here for my firm retreat, so tempus fugit. All I really have to say is that the weather is beautiful until the sun goes down—after which I’d be shivering in my knickers if not for the warm feeling of the New York Knicks’ dominant 51(!) point victory over the Atlanta Hawks to propel them to next round of the NBA playoffs. Still I made time (couldn’t sleep due to jet lag) to deliver a few quick hitters.

• • Projected first pick in this year’s NBA Draft, AJ Dybantsa trades in his $4 million NIL deal with Nike for a multi-million dollar professional endorsement deal with the brand, complete with his own logo for signature shoes. Through Nike’s investment in the young talent, they see Dybantsa a shoe-win.
  • Last week’s London Marathon featured two runners (Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha) becoming the first ever to finish the race in under two hours, due in part to $500 pairs of Adidas sneakers Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. In other words, two two-hour feats on two feet thanks to what two were wearing on two feet.
  • *Non-foot/shoe story*: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently launched a sunscreen product under his PAPATUI men’s skincare brand, presumably driven by a desire to capitalize on the men’s skincare market as well as to protect sunbathers who have over-consumed his Teremana tequila.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! The biggest drama currently unfolding in Hollywood is not one that you can see in theatres (or what’s left of them), but is rather focused on the pending $111 billion merger between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Although WBD shareholders overwhelmingly approved over the transaction this week, there are still several hurdles for the transaction to clear before it is finalized. Still, many are expressing their opposition to the merger citing concerns about the wide-ranging impacts of the transaction. Indeed as of this writing, over 4,000 industry figures (from A-listers to below-the-line personnel) have signed a petition aimed at blocking the merger and forestalling what they anticipate will be layoffs (or as some might call it “synergy” and “efficiency”), fewer TV shows and movies being made (albeit with bigger budgets) and higher costs for consumers – that’s to say nothing of the broader concern about one company having such a massive influence over what people can watch and what gets greenlit. This big budget saga is far from over, and time will tell whether regulators decide to block the deal on antitrust grounds. Until then, get your popcorn ready.

• • Hitting $200 million in retail sales in just three years, Comedian Kevin Hart’s Tequila Brand Gran Coramino is experiencing significant growth—which is more than can be said for Kevin Hart.
  • YouTube rolls out DeepFake AI detection to Hollywood, allowing celebrities to police content that may make unauthorized use of their likenesses. The service is being offered for free, presumably because of the ease with which one can spot a fake in Hollywood.
  • New York Yankees players have formally requested that the team approve the use of alternate, blue jerseys with gray lettering for games played on the road (rather than the gray with navy lettering that they have historically used when not in their home white with navy pinstripes). Meanwhile New York Mets players were considering invisibility cloaks in the midst of their recent 12 game losing streak.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! I remember just about eight years ago being excited about the 2026 FIFA World Cup being selected to take place in my own backyard, and making a point of saying—perhaps naively—that I would “definitely” be in attendance at the Meadowlands in a sea of fans from all over the world and from all walks of life for what would undoubtedly be a memorable global sporting event. Well, over the span of that eight years, that “definitely” has been eroded, and my romanticism blunted by astronomical ticket prices fueled by high demand and in some instances, gouging. Indeed, prices range from a monthly car payment to several months mortgage payments.

For this “beautiful game,” the lower barrier to entry for those learning to play, stands in stark contrast to the price of entry for those looking to watch in person. And that’s to say nothing of concession prices (which don’t really seem like much of a “concession”) or even transit prices, which could cost about $150 for a train ride between New York City and the Meadowlands. That people are willing to pay these prices is a testament to the draw of the World Cup and the explosion of popularity of soccer here in the US, but still, it does not have to be this way. The mountains of dollars that go into infrastructure, security and planning for these events have to come from somewhere—and municipalities are (rightly so) loathe to pass the costs onto taxpayers, and FIFA is not ponying up any money despite standing to earn an estimated $11 billion from this Summer’s tournament. So, alas, prices get passed along to the consumer. So, unless I win some sort of sweepstakes or get invited to a match (first two rounds of beers are on me, just saying…), I will be making a fiscally responsible decision to watch from the best seat in the house (my own). And if these prices seem like a strain for a gainfully employed lawyer who has a casual interest in soccer, then they are completely out of reach for a working class family with kids that eat, sleep and breathe soccer and who would give anything to be close to the action.

• • Philadelphia 76ers Guard Tyrese Maxey debuts his signature New Balance shoe, the Maxey v1 during his team’s NBA Playoffs play-in game – meaning not only are the shoes tie-on but they are on Ty.
  • Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi has been sued for $7 million for allegedly breaching a contract to play in an international friendly match between Argentina and Venezuela. So much for being friendly!
  • Just four years after the commercial success of the 2024 film “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 film “Top Gun,” Actor Tom Cruise is reprising his role for “Top Gun 3.” A big relief for those concerned that another 18 year lag might mean that Maverick’s fighter jet might have to be replaced with a missile-equipped wheelchair.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Historic events such as the recent mission around the Moon are notable not just because of their being, well…notable and historic, but also for their capacity to stimulate curiosity and imagination about space travel. Undoubtedly, the seeds for tomorrow’s sci-fi films and biopics have been planted through this captivating mission – making my task this week all the more difficult. SO, while I can’t promise that I will be able to show you the other side of the Moon or other celestial bodies, I will do my best to make this week’s Spotlight downright stellar, if not out of this world. With Apollo-gies, you’d have to be a lunatic not to keep reading, though if you don’t gravitate to puns, then maybe this is one you Artemis.

• • Emmy Award winning actor Zendaya builds on her partnership with apparel and footwear brand, On – rolling out a co-created collection of athleisure clothing to go with a new sneaker, the Cloudnova Moon. With the brand hiring Spike Jonze to direct the ad launching the collection, they are betting that sales will not crater.
  • Shaquille O’Neal unveils a new professional dunking league called “Dunkman” in which competitors will vie for prize money of $500,000 and a world championship title. Perhaps that can inspire my kids to slam their laundry in their hampers.
  • Faced with sponsors defecting over a string of antisemitic comments, actions and behaviors by its announced headliner, Ye, UK music festival Wireless was forced to cancel the festival altogether. Kudos to them for making the “difficult” choice of letting their conscience catch up with them (rather than rebranding as “Sponsorless”).

Welcome back to the Spotlight! With it being a holiday for me, I will keep things brief, but if you know one thing about me, it’s that I could not pass-over an opportunity to get in some wordplay while sharing sports and entertainment industry happenings with you. To do otherwise wouldn’t be phar-aoh to you—it would be the ultimate de-nile. I guess I couldn’t bear to let my people go a week without the Spotlight. Well, I’m here to lead you to the promised land.

• • Having had earlier stints playing professional basketball in Africa and Canada, rapper J.Cole is now looking east, signing with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Nanjing Monkey Kings. Talk about a world tour.
  • Kim Kardashian is teaming up with Paramount+ to produce “Team Moms,” an unscripted show following youth baseball players and their families. Undoubtedly the biggest draw to the project was that it involved large diamonds.
  • Taylor Swift is sued by a Las Vegas showgirl for Swift’s use of “The Life of a Showgirl” as her latest album title, allegedly infringing on the latter’s trademark, “Confessions of a Showgirl.” So while she may have been saved from the fate of Ophelia, Swift may not be saved from the Central District Court of California.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Spring is in the air (depending on what day you check the weather), so this past Wednesday marked the official start of the Major League Baseball season, with just two teams (the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants) leading off with a primetime game on Opening Night, as a prelude to the broader, more familiar Opening Day with twenty-two additional teams taking the field for the first time. The Opening Night game was notable for its featuring the ABS Challenge System, allowing catchers, pitchers and hitters the opportunity to elect to challenge an umpire’s ball/strike calls by using automated technology. The broadcast of the Opening Night game was also notable for its being exclusively offered by a streaming service (Netflix), signaling a similar embrace of technology by the MLB, while also leaving baseball fans wanting an opportunity to challenge that call. Indeed, whatever the broadcast was, it was not for true baseball fans—evidenced in part by a lack of execution in a difficult-to-read, vanishing scorebug and missed in-game action. At times, it seemed like the broadcast was trying to bring a Savannah Bananas-type (bananified?) experience to viewers. 

Perhaps that was the point, as Netflix’s stated intention was to bring in a new audience for MLB action. I guess that was the explanation for the over-the-top (I will stipulate to the American flag effect created by drones that emitted red, white and blue smoke being extremely cool), at times head-scratching show for pregame introductions that featured, amongst other things, dancing on New York City-style taxicabs while the Yankees took the field and the Giants emerging from San Francisco-style trolley cars. Notably that show ended up delaying the start of the baseball game, upsetting an audience that was already up in arms about needing to have a subscription to watch what would have ordinarily been a nationally-televised game. So all in all, it seemed misguided to bananify, because Savannah Bananas games are about everything other than the game and Major League games are about the game (the end result of the game, by the way, (a 7-0 Yankees victory) was much appreciated by this writer, even if the background noise was not.

• • New York Yankees First Baseman Ben Rice lands a tailor-made endorsement deal with Ben’s Original Rice. Hopefully those carbs are put to good use.
  • Composer Lebohang Morake sues comedian Learnmore Jonasi for over $27 million over a now viral clip in which Jonasi mistranslated the opening chant to Morake’s “The Circle of Life” from “The Lion King.” Jonasi has launched a GoFundMe campaign to finance his defense—presumably so he can hire the high-powered litigators at Timon & Pumba LLP.
  • OpenAI pulls the plug on its AI video app Sora as Disney steps away from its $1 billion deal with OpenAI that included the licensing of Disney characters in Sora. Not even true love’s kiss seems to be enough to salvage the deal.