Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! This time of year, the color orange not only evokes pumpkins and falling leaves, but also basketball. Indeed, the NBA season tipped off this past week, replete with intrigue and excitement on and off the court. Notably, the offseason media rights shuffle reunited the NBA with NBC (reviving the sweet sounds of John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock”) and brought old faces to new places with the “Inside the NBA” team of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith debuting on ESPN after having moved over from TNT (the latter two hosts predicted a certain orange (and blue) team from New York would be playing for an NBA championship this year).

Regrettably, however, orange also evokes jumpsuits as much as it does jump shots, with the Department of Justice announcing the FBI’s arrest of current and former NBA players Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones and Terry Rozier in connection with a federal gambling probe that uncovered several alleged conspiracies involving fixed poker games and sharing of inside information with bettors. To be sure, the timing is awful for the NBA (if there ever was a time for a sports league to have its integrity called into question). But it is also rather inauspicious timing for it to be announced this very same week that collegiate athletes and schools’ athletics staff will now be permitted to gamble on professional sports. Perhaps the conduct of the pros will serve as a cautionary tale for collegiate athletes rather than a foreshadowing of things to come in this sports business environment. At the very least, it should serve as a reminder of the need for athletes’ mentors and advisors to encourage the exercise of better judgment regarding the use of money and the privileged position that allows them to earn it.

• • Having already launched a lifestyle brand, “American Riviera Orchard” (recently rebranded “As Ever”) Meghan Markle looks poised to be next to wade into the crowded waters of celebrity-branded beauty products. A word of advice to Markle’s potential business partner: go heavy on the equity – she tends to distance herself from royalties.
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bruce Springsteen, when asked about Jeremy Allen White’s portrayal of him in the biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” said that he could not tell the difference between White’s voice and that of his own on certain recordings. AI-driven music companies, when asked about Jeremy Allen White’s portrayal of Springsteen in the biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” said “stay in your lane!”
  • Ari Emanuel’s global events and experience company MARI acquired digital ticketing platform TodayTix, in what I can only assume is a gross overpayment for tickets to see “Wicked” on Broadway.

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! One thing I love about this season is the memorable fall pastime of apple picking, with another installment of that chapter coming for me this weekend. Something about the experience makes paying above retail prices for the opportunity to pick your own fruit off trees just gets my juices flowing. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. As you know, the core of the Spotlight is to plant seeds of sports and entertainment industry with a dash of humor (or at least that’s what I call it). I guess you could say my writing style stems from my desire to make the reading more a-peeling so that you may pick from a tree in my orchard of knowledge—by the bushel, and always free (or at least until I figure out how to monetize this). For those who are feeling rotten from all this wordplay, apple-y for you, I have other fruits to bear.

• • Netflix’s viral sensation film “K-Pop Demon Hunters” is rolling out sing-along screenings of the film around Halloween. It’s perhaps the scariest house of horrors for introverts around.
  • New Balance ink UCLA Basketball’s shooting guards on the men’s and women’s side to NIL endorsement deals, giving their bank accounts new balances.
  • With sights set on a “Rat Pack” themed venue in Las Vegas, Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group acquires the rights to Frank Sinatra’s name, image and likeness. No word on what the venue would be named but the pizzeria there will almost assuredly be named “Amore.”

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! After an exciting Game 3 of the American League Division Series in which Aaron Judge hit a memorable, almost impossible game-tying home run to help propel the New York Yankees to a comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night, the Yankees showed a glimmer of hope that they could mount a comeback and win two more games to advance to the next round of the MLB postseason. Sure enough, aided by the Toronto Blue Jays’ unorthodox decision to swap out their baseball bats for pool noodles and to wear cinderblock cleats, the Yankees had a resounding Game 4 victory on Wednesday night to set up a decisive Game 5 tonight in Toronto.

OK, so that part didn’t actually happen in real life (the Yankees were eliminated in Game 4 after the Yankees’ bats might as well have been pool noodles), but it did appear to happen with the aid of OpenAI’s new hyper-realistic Sora 2 video generation AI model. The absurdity of my account of Game 4 undoubtedly provided a big hint that it was contrived. But, what happens when the model gets so advanced, and the absurdity gets removed?  People will have an exceedingly difficult time separating fact from fiction and the individuals depicted in these videos may find themselves losing control of their personas.  That is exactly why Hollywood’s talent agencies have voiced concern over the technology—with WME going so far as to opt-out from having their talent’s likenesses licensed for use by Sora 2. It will be interesting to see whether OpenAI puts safeguards in place to protect brands’ and individuals’ intellectual property from unauthorized exploitation by Sora 2. But for now, I think I’ll try to create a video of me at the New York Yankees’ ticker tape parade that never was.

• • LeBron James teased a “Second Decision” making light of his infamous 2010 television special surrounding his NBA free agency in which he announced he would be signing with the Miami Heat. This time around, the “Decision” turned out to be an endorsement for Hennessy Cognac. Incidentally, for New York Knicks fans like myself, the initial Decision was also taken as an endorsement of liquor.
  • Innovative Artists Entertainment signs 6’10” NBA Hall of Famer Dwight Howard for representing him in broadcasting opportunities. In a related story, Innovative Artists Entertainment signs a purchase order for larger door frames.
  • This year’s selection of Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show has roiled many to the point that Conservative organization Turning Point USA will be counterprogramming the halftime show. In other words, halftime will be as much about the divide between the first and second halves of a football game as it will be about the divide between Americans.

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 and Shana Tovah to those, like me, who celebrate Rosh Hashanah—the Jewish New Year. Here’s to hoping that the year ahead will be as sweet as apples and honey. The Spotlight will be off next week as I fast in observance of Yom Kippur (the Jewish day of atonement). For those who haven’t been around me when I am hungry, consider yourself lucky. For those who have, you’re welcome and I am truly sorry. While I am at it, I might as well atone for the words that I have said (or will say while stuck in Long Island traffic due to the Ryder Cup this weekend). I am SOOOO sorry for my sarcasm. And most of all, I am sorry that I am not sorry for my corny dad jokes (some of which appear below!).

• • Actor Ben Stiller (who also observes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) launches his own low calorie soda brand called Stiller’s. At 30 calories per serving, it is a better-for-you option that even Derek Zoolander could indulge in. It also already has a huge NFL fanbase in Pittsburgh.
  • Having portrayed the New York Yankees’ Assistant to the Traveling Secretary in his role as George Costanza (Ben Stiller’s father Jerry’s on-screen son) on Seinfeld, Jason Alexander is the face of lifestyle brand KITH’s New York Yankees collection. You might need to read this one a few times.
  • Director Christopher Nolan was elected the new president of the Directors Guild of America—which means that he’ll probably hire Cillian Murphy as a union organizer.

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 feel a chill in the air, it might be because the seasons are changing and Fall is nearly upon us. Or perhaps, it’s the free speech and expression that Americans have held dear being chilled out of fear of reprisal or getting silenced whether it be by force or coercion. If the eggshells that I am walking upon are any indication, it seems like it is the latter. Call me old fashioned, but I miss the days of when people could hold differences of opinion, have civil discourse and engage in sifting and winnowing (shoutout to my alma mater University of Wisconsin) as opposed to resorting to violence or “cancelling” someone. In any event, I fear I have probably said too much, but yet not enough—so let’s switch gears…

• • Fresh off her album release, Sabrina Carpenter is grabbing headlines with a cup giveaway and promotional “daydream” hotline with brand partner Dunkin’, and an announced October 18 host and musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live (assuming the show is still on air).
  • Tom Brady is coming out of retirement again – sort of. The future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback is slated to compete in a Fanatics-sponsored flag football exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Chances are that he’ll lead his team to victory--as long as Eli Manning isn’t there.
  • Pop-punk singer and songwriter Avril Lavigne is launching a wine brand of the same name as her early 2000s song that put her on the map: “Complicated.” Consumers are encouraged to remember to stay well hy-drated and not to drive while intox-icated.

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! After the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on American soil, today’s date (September 12) has become synonymous not only with a profound paradigm shift, but also with historic levels of unity, patriotism, mutual aid, resiliency and resolve that emerged in the wake of the attacks. The sports and entertainment world did a tremendous job in the ensuing days to do their part to lift people’s spirits—whether it be through tribute songs or New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza’s go-ahead home run in the first game played after 9/11. It is amazing to think that as much as it feels like 9/11/2001 was just yesterday, the polarization, hate and violence we see on a daily basis (in no small part due to mass distortions and disinformation on social media), makes it feel as if we’re a long way off from September 12. It has been said that the best way to honor the lives lost on September 11 is to be the people we were on September 12. So, go take a break from social media (influencer/branded content deals that I have negotiated and dog photos excluded) and be kind -- hold a door for someone, let someone go ahead of you in line, talk to each other and find common ground.

• • Music duo Twenty One Pilots sues online marketplace Temu over peddling of counterfeit, knock-off merchandise—which might explain why I recently received a “Twelve Sailors” t-shirt.
  • Artificial Intelligence company Anthropic enters into a class action settlement to pay a group of book authors $1.5 billion for having pirated works to train its chatbot. That’s a lot of booty.
  • Speaking of boot-y, filmmaker Spike Lee enters an endorsement deal with Timberland to help commemorate the iconic yellow workwear boots’ 50th anniversary.

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

Welcome back! School is back in session and so too is this Sports and Entertainment business classroom we like to call the “Spotlight.” Here, the sharpness of your pencils will be matched only by that of my wit, the sardonic humor flows free like a hallway water fountain and that rectangular, cafeteria pizza is almost as cheesy as my jokes. Heck, you might even learn something along the way. Without further ado, please take your seats and have a look at your assigned reading below.

• • Everything is coming up Travis Kelce, as the All-Pro Kansas City Chiefs Tight End scores a partnership with American Eagle, while Garage Beer, the company in which he and his brother Jason are major investors, closes a funding round valuing it at $200M (a 10x increase in just about a year’s time).  Oh, also his newly betrothed happens to be a billionaire singer-songwriter.
  • Rapper and producer Lil Jon wins third place at the 2025 Muscle Beach fitness competition in Venice, CA. In recognition of the achievement, he received a bronze medal and will henceforth be referred to as “Jon."
  • A British man named Oliver McCann (professionally known as “imoliver”) makes (AI-generated) waves in the music industry, garnering a record deal from indie label Hallwood Media for his creation of AI-generated music. Certainly not the first time someone with minimal music talent has gotten a record deal and it won’t be the last. One thing is for certain: clearing the rights to the music must be a nightmare.

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! Please accept my sheepish apology—I had planned to use this week’s Spotlight to announce Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl” but Jason and Travis Kelce beat me to the punch on their “New Heights” podcast. It seems having a top rated podcast, several Super Bowl rings and a high-profile romantic relationship with said recording artist, puts you higher in the pecking order than having a middling newsletter, a few legal profession awards and (checks notes) no prior contact with said recording artist. I’m not mad, Taylor. I’m just disappointed. Granted, we will never have a basis for comparison, but I will give credit where credit is due, as Swift’s appearance and announcement of her new album on the podcast has yielded a record for the most viewed podcast in history within the first 24 hours of posting.

It all boils down to yet another example of the melding of sports and entertainment coming together to launch to…new heights. As for me, I still have an announcement, after all: the Spotlight is going on hiatus during a period in which many — myself included (“The Life of a Lawboy”?) — will be on vacation. I hope to see you all back here in September.

• • The Estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is selling ownership of the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers to an ownership group led by Tom Dundon. Dundon brings to the table not only sports ownership experience as majority owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, but also a last name that sounds like an episode of “Law & Order.”
  • With news of Paramount’s $7.8 billion media rights acquisition for UFC, the mixed-martial arts event promotion company may be abandoning its pay-per-view distribution model about 33 years after first rolling it out, and about 30 years after I learned the distribution model was not “paper view.”
  • After his translator was convicted for illegal gambling last year, Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Shohei Ohtani is again courting controversy, this time on the receiving end of a $240 million lawsuit alleging he sabotaged a luxury real estate deal in Hawaii. Clearly, the highest paid player in baseball is finding out “Mo’ Money, Sho’ Problems”
  • The International Olympic Committee is allowing event organizers for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics to allow sponsors to secure naming rights for competition venues, abandoning long-standing tradition against the practice in favor of long-standing tradition of generating as much revenue as possible.

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! In many cultures, the number eight is considered lucky—one that is associated with wealth, prosperity and good fortune. So, it’s only appropriate then that on the eighth day of the eighth month, you’ve joined me (vintage '88) here to receive a wealth of knowledge, prosperity (if dad jokes had any value) and the good fortune of the best sports and entertainment industry newsletter this side of the Mississippi. Before you go rushing out the door to pick up your lottery ticket, allow me to prove my mettle:

• • On the heels of great news of beating bladder cancer, University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders announces an endorsement deal with incontinence underwear brand, Depend. The partnership promises to destigmatize the product while having the added benefit of cutting down on restroom lines at football stadiums everywhere.
  • Actor Zendaya and athletic footwear brand On unveil a co-designed shoe. The cushioned design of the shoe is likely to bring your feet Zen, daya-in and daya-out.
  • Legal deja vu: Sony Music takes Napster to court alleging copyright infringement. In other news, a cat chased a mouse.
  • The NFL and ESPN agree to a tie up that makes the football league a 10% owner of the sports network in exchange for NFL Media Properties (including the popular NFL RedZone channel) and media rights to additional football games. For my part, I will be contributing a Josh-shaped imprint on my couch. 

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! Allow me to be among the first to welcome you to August. If you’ve made it this far into summer, congratulations on plodding along through joy-blunting, sizzling hot temperatures. That is not to say that I don’t like the heat, but it would be nice to be able to comfortably wear jeans without having to wring the sweat out afterwards.

Speaking of jeans, you may have heard that there has been somewhat of an outcry over Euphoria and The White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney’s participation in a campaign promoting clothing company American Eagle’s jeans. In particular, the controversy surrounds the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress appearing in advertising materials that say she has great jeans, an obvious double-entendre for her genes that critics maintain evokes eugenics movements from darker moments in history. What’s most offensive to me, however, is the easy pun the brand used. Why couldn’t they at least have considered, “our jeans cover these ‘neys”? Whatever the reason and intent behind the campaign, in a not-so-surprising turn of events, the outrage has only drawn more eyeballs to the campaign, sending American Eagle’s stock price soaring like…a bird of prey. Particularly in light of my wringing (not ringing) description above, the partnership and ensuing Streisand-esque reaction is arguably the best thing that happened to American Eagle since I stopped wearing their jeans after college.

• • Happy Gilmore 2 is now the owner of the Netflix record for most-viewed film with 46.7 million views. I’d like to think my free advertising in last week’s Spotlight contributed about five viewers to that tally—not asking for money, just a “thank you” would be nice.
  • Ex-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron—whose now viral and infamous marital affair was caught on a “kiss cam” during a Coldplay concert—is rumored to be weighing legal action against the British rock band for their audacity in uncovering his web of lies. If Byron is trying to strike back against being thrust into the spotlight (no relation), he may have to trade in his Coldplay fandom for that of Barbra Streisand.
  • Former NBA Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested as part of a federal probe into illegal, high-stakes poker games he hosted at his California mansion. If convicted, he could face a maximum of five years in prison, but he may be able to get off with probation, if he plays his cards right.
    Congratulations to the winners who predicted the “over” on the over/under of 1.5 Barbra Streisand references! See you next week!

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