Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Somehow, we’re nearly in the month of August, which feels both like this year has been going by really quickly, despite it feeling at times like it has gone by really slowly. Time is truly a mystery. Take for instance the fact that Adam Sandler’s classic sports comedy film “Happy Gilmore” premiered nearly 30 years ago. Although it certainly feels like 30 years since I saw the movie for the first time, the fact that it has endured through pop culture references and quotable lines has always made it seem closer in time (that and the fact that I have probably seen the movie once for every year that’s passed by).

Well, today starts a new clock, as “Happy Gilmore 2” premieres with a star-studded cast of actors (including many reprising their roles from the first movie), entertainers and professional athletes—evidently not all mutually exclusive categories. So, I for one, am looking forward to a healthy dose of 90s nostalgia (in my biased opinion, the best decade to have been a kid)—unfortunately without the trip to Blockbuster—mixed with something entirely new for this era. I can only hope thirty years from now, my kids look back on this time the same way. I’ll probably wait a few more years to introduce them to Mr. Gilmore, though…  

• • In celebration of the premiere of the aforementioned “Happy Gilmore 2,” Spotify and Netflix partner up on an interactive video game replete with audio clips, film references and soundtrack playlists. A clever tie-up for two companies that know a thing or two about links.
    
    
  • Seattle Mariners All-Star Catcher, Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh enters an endorsement relationship with portable toilet company, Honey Bucket. Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. 
    
    
  • Snoop Dogg becomes the latest celebrity to invest in a soccer club, taking an ownership Saks in Welsh team Swansea A.F.C. It wouldn’t be surprising if he offers to help out the groundskeepers, too—given his penchant for grass.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! This past week has been an interesting mish mash of Sports and Entertainment candy. Following on the heels of the Wimbledon Tennis Championship across the pond in England and the FIFA Club World Cup championship here in the States (a dry run of sorts for the FIFA International World Cup in 2026, exposing organizers to a large draw of far flung crowds, and players to the sweet air of East Rutherford, New Jersey), Major League Baseball went into its All-Star Break, headlined by the Celebrity Softball Game, the Home Run Derby and the Midsummer Classic (no, not Shakespeare)—the MLB All-Star Game.

There, spectators got to see countless celebrity appearances, a home run hitting competition won by Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (a man whose nickname derives from the size of his posterior) and the League’s best go down to the wire in a game decided by the first ever home run swing-off. To be sure, the event offered something for everyone and a level of fun and entertainment that is hard for so many sports leagues to achieve in their respective all-star exhibition contests. That task will be even harder for the WNBA with news that Caitlin Clark will be missing the upcoming All-Star festivities due to injury.

In any event, the following day the EMMY Nominations were announced, ensuring that your streaming queue remains full of enough content to last you several years. And later that day, ESPN’s ESPY Awards (showcasing the greatest athletes and moments in sports from the year prior) spurred another convergence of entertainment and sports figures. For me, it was stand-up comedian Shane Gillis’ envelope-pushing opening monologue that was the highlight of it all – that, and not being so heavily invested in whether my team won. But alas, that feeling is short-lived with my New York Yankees heading back to the diamond to resume their quest for their elusive 28th World Championship. Though if all else fails, I’ll have plenty of shows to catch up on.

• • Endangered social media platform TikTok is rolling out a feature allowing songwriters to promote themselves through the app to encourage other users to discover them. So, be sure to be on the lookout for up-and-coming writers, Artie Fishel Entelgens and Ian Notaspy.
    
    
  • Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is lead investor behind a better-for-you, ready-to-drink “sport coffee,” called “Throne” (which is suggestive both of royalty and where many end up after a cup of coffee). Perhaps the beverage will awaken referees to missed offensive holding penalties.
    
    
  • 90s superhero cartoon series “Captain Planet and The Planeteers” is being rebooted by Berlanti Productions as a live-action series on Netflix. I know I will be watching, as I love 90s nostalgia as much as anyone – but I can’t help but wonder why we need a team of superheroes to address environmental disasters in this day and age. Thoughts and prayers seem to be working just fine.
    
    
  • Barstool Sports Founder and President Dave Portnoy has been tapped by FOX Sports to appear on their Saturday College Football Kickoff Show, undoubtedly sending stadium concessionaires scrambling to improve their pizza recipes. In the meantime, I eagerly await word from his (and her) representatives whether his dog, the famous Miss Peaches will be in tow.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Last week you may have celebrated the Fourth of July with hot dogs on the grill (70.5 of them, if you’re Joey Chestnut), your favorite beverage of choice in hand and fireworks. This week, you may be celebrating the Eleventh of July (or 7/11) with hot dogs (or at least I think they’re hot dogs) on those rotating rollers, a Slurpee in hand and (depending on the jurisdiction you live in) fireworks—though all bets are off as to whether you have a hand with which to hold the Slurpee after using said fireworks. In any event, if you’re looking for the latest in the sports and entertainment business mixed with humor, like the convenience store, the Spotlight is always open.

• • Many were shocked to learn this week that viral indie band The Velvet Sundown turns out to be completely AI-generated, albeit with some human direction involved. Frankly, not all that surprising given that the band’s hospitality rider included a request for chips and GPUs.

• • Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) strikes back at major record labels in a bid to defend against copyright infringement claims arising from the alleged unauthorized use of hundreds of songs on DSW’s social media accounts. I’m no litigator, but I would like my odds arguing “if the shoe does not fit, you must acquit.”

• • Desperately in search of a laugh (not unlike my writing), former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama join forces with Larry David to produce a sketch comedy show regarding American history. The financial details of the deal are not publicly known, though there will be a jar on set for the Obamas to put a dollar into every time they address Mr. David as “Bernie” or “Senator.”

• • Beverage brand Liquid Death continues its streak of cutting edge (and edgy) marketing, selling autographed DNA (saliva) samples on empty cans of their products drank by endorsement partner and rock legend Ozzy Osbourne. In announcing the promotion, Osbourne encouraged fans to clone him, though I would caution that there’s probably at least a 50/50 chance a fan ends up with a cloned vampire bat instead.

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