Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We live in some dark times. From one week to the next, we’re confronted by a parade of horribles that threaten to take our light. The events of this past week have been no exception—whether it be the antisemitic terror attacks at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia or the tragic murder of the wildly talented director and entertainer Rob Reiner.

But even when the days are darkest, the lights always have a way of driving out the dark. From where I sit, it is fitting that this Sunday is the winter solstice, marking the day of the year with the least daylight, yet it is the last night of Hanukkah, on which each of the candles on the menorah are lit, pushing out the dark. And then every day thereafter, we get more and more daylight. Candles and Sun aside, we can all do our part to bring a little light to our communities—and I am fortunate to work in the sports and entertainment, helping others share their light. 

• • On the heels of the New York Knicks’ NBA Cup Championship, Chipotle rolls out a new high-protein burrito in collaboration with Knicks’ Josh Hart. Hart signaled his approval with a big thumb up.
  • Sony acquires the intellectual property to Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” characters and comics. With a purchase price of nearly half a billion dollars, Sony hardly paid peanuts—that type of money is enough to turn Snoopy snooty.
  • Netflix leans further into the podcast industry, acquiring distribution rights to three Barstool Sports podcast series in a deal reported valued in the eight figures. No word on whether Paramount will stir the pot.

With that, we wish you a happy holiday season full of light and love. We will circle back with you after the New Year.

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! If you stopped by last week, you might recall that I discussed Netflix and Warner Bros. coming to an agreement for Netflix to acquire the latter’s content production business in a cash and debt deal valued at about $82 billion (or about the GDP of Panama). I mentioned that deal would unquestionably be part of a year end retrospective. What I didn’t anticipate was that Paramount would put forth an all cash $108 billion (about the GDP of Oman—as in the oil-rich nation or “oh man that’s a lot of money”) hostile takeover offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery. Either deal would result in massive media consolidation and fundamentally change the entertainment business. So it seems the book is not only yet to be closed on that story, but rather we’ve only just begun.

If I could channel the wisdom of my ancestors, like the great King Solomon, I would settle this by cutting WBD down the middle. Instead we’ll just have to wait and see what shakes out—though in the spirit of the season of giving, I wouldn’t be opposed to offering myself as a third buyer. Sure, I don’t have nearly the funds to compete, but what’s a few billion dollars amongst friends?

• • Jay-Z’s MarcyPen Ventures is partnering with Korean firm Hanwha to create a $500 million fund to further fuel the K-culture boom—be it K-pop or bibimbap (the latter of which sounds like it could serve as a bass line on Jay’s next single.
  • With a $1 billion investment in OpenAI’s Disney is bringing 200 of its characters to the video creation platform Sora. So yeah, nothing is sacred anymore.
  • The New York Jets are in the midst of a trademark fight to get trademark protection for “Gotham City Football.” Fitting for their fans who are one losing season away from Arkham Asylum.

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 our entering the 12th frame of 2025, so begins a cavalcade of holiday parties, overindulgences, Spotify Wrapped statistics, Mariah Carey, timeless film classics, travel and year in review retrospectives. Despite recent momentum and tens of millions of dollars poured into lobbying efforts by NCAA commissioners, it does not look like 2025 will be the year that is remembered for Congress’ passing legislation to comprehensively regulate college sports, as lawmakers failed to advance the SCORE Act because (get this:…) Congress could not reach consensus. Go figure! I mean, Congress usually sings “Kumbaya,” respects one another and agrees on everything, right? So, we will have to wait (at least) until 2026 for an overarching federal framework for name, image and likeness rights, medical and mental health benefits for athletes, regulation of agents and NIL contracts.

But, not to worry, my fellow sports and entertainment business junkies, a late entrant to the year in review will be Netflix’s monumental acquisition of Warner Bros. in a deal valued at $82.7 billion, which is, according to my calculations, a lot of money. The deal will bring valuable intellectual property to Netflix for the development of new projects, while providing a direct pipeline of content to the Netflix platform. What it will ultimately mean for theatrical distribution of films—already challenged by the dominant streaming industry is unclear, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start fine tuning your popcorn recipe in case things go sideways.

• • Nationwide Insurance renews its close ties to the NFL with an extension of its sponsorship deal that keeps them as a presenting sponsor of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. With their also having an endorsement deal with NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, it’s clear they’re willing to pay-tons for the exposure.
  • Veteran actor Tom Selleck decides to switch agencies from CAA to UTA. His mustache is still mulling over its options.
  • The US Supreme Court heard arguments from the record industry and internet service provider Cox Communications in connection with a billion dollar lawsuit alleging that Cox is liable for copyright infringement by failing to boot serial copyright infringers off its services. In other words, Cox is facing the music because it didn’t make others face the music for taking the music.
  • Two members of Australian children’s music group, “The Wiggles” found themselves in hot water for appearing in a music video alluding to drug use for musician Keli Holiday’s new song, “Ecstasy.” The video was eventually withdrawn, which seems appropriate since a symptom of withdrawal is the wiggles.

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