Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! For time immemorial (since 1906, to be exact), the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) so-called amateurism rules sought to enforce a bright-line distinction between college sports and professional sports.  To the NCAA, the platform of college sports was educational, while professional sports had underpinnings of commercialism.  Under these rules, prospective and current college athletes were, amongst other things, precluded from profiting off their name, image and likeness (NIL) from endorsements without losing their athletic scholarship or eligibility. But, over time, the core assumptions of those dividing lines became blurred as college sports evolved, ballooning into a multibillion-dollar business itself.  Why could coaches and school administrators make millions in revenue from sports, while athletes of those same schools were relegated to being students first?  Well, after years of feet dragging, antitrust litigation, lobbying and intervention of state legislatures across the country, a watershed moment occurred in July 1, 2021, with the NCAA issuing interim guidelines to enable prospective and current collegiate athletes to enter into endorsement, influencer and other revenue-generating deals centering around the commercial exploitation of their NIL. In the nearly four years since that fateful day, we have borne witness to the rise of NIL collectives, prominent use of the NCAA transfer portal and more litigation. Along the way, many high school and college athletes have earned sums of money that would not have otherwise been available to them unless/until they play professional sports. Now, with a federal judge approving the terms of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement in House v. NCAA, schools themselves will be able to pay their athletes directly: a stunning development that seemed impossible just a few years ago. Key questions do remain, however: How will sports less lucrative than football and basketball fare? Will athletes be treated as employees? Will athletes have collective bargaining rights? Is it too late for me to go back to college? What happens from here is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure: there will be lawyers.

• • Online mental health service BetterHelp partners with three WNBA teams in a sponsorship deal, enabling them to reach more fans to assist with pointing them in the right direction particularly when they’re back on the block and on the rebound after someone steals their heart.

• • Viral drinkware company Stanley 1913 partners with Post Malone on his own collection featuring styles evocative of the artist himself including bolo tie accessories. To make it even more evocative, consumers can pay my sons $5 to scribble on it.

• • Tennis great Andre Agassi is among an impressive list of investors in a racquet sports social club concept called “Ballers.” You might say, Agassi is hoping you love it.

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! Although men’s basketball in New York City is on hiatus with the Knicks falling short of an NBA Finals appearance (I don’t want to talk about it), women’s basketball is picking up the slack, with the defending WNBA champions New York Liberty off to an undefeated start to the season. Indeed, women’s sports continues to be ascendant, garnering investments throughout the sports world. While I have had my unbridled enthusiasm and fandom trampled over the past two weeks or so, there have been notable developments in that regard. For one thing, Major League Baseball got in on the action, making a significant investment in Athletes Unlimited Softball League (equal to a 20% equity stake) before the first pitch was even thrown. Additionally, CBS Sports just acquired US media rights for the UEFA Women’s Champions League – giving viewers access to top-flight soccer matches, and in so doing, yet another way to get their fill of women’s sports. With all the women’s sports, you might want to find somewhere to post up with a lot of screens. Luckily, Oregon-based women’s sports bar, “The Sports Bra” (not a typo) is able to…well…support you in those endeavors, as it received $1 million in funding to franchise the concept far and wide.

• • Eminem’s publishing company Eight Mile Style sues Meta for copyright infringement, alleging $109M in damages stemming from allegedly unlicensed use of Eminem’s songs across Facebook and Instagram. That sum might be enough to make Zuckerberg cough up his mom’s spaghetti. 

• • Restaurant franchise Red Lobster enters into a sponsorship deal with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, thus serving as an ever present reminder that while the sky may be the limit, your shrimp and cheddar bay biscuits don’t have to have one (Editor’s note: Red Lobster’s Unlimited Endless Shrimp deal was discontinued months ago, thus making this joke rather forced and anachronistic).

• • In just one season playing basketball for the Duke University Blue Devils, All-American basketball player and presumptive number one pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg earned an astronomical $28 million in NIL revenue. Looking to make a mark of his own and challenge that figure, high school recruit Davion Thompson partners with Bell’s Master Blend Sauces for his own signature sauce. In contrast to Flagg and Thompson, in high school and college, many of their peers received nil dollars while hitting the sauce.

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! Given the volume of rain across the country recently, I may have to temporarily change the title to “Floodlight.” Yikes. I’d say these late nights watching the NBA Playoffs have made me a little loopy, but then again, that joke is standard fare for this space that is often so corny that it would make a Nebraskan farmer blush. OK, enough of that – let’s get into some of this week’s stories.

• • Actress Sydney Sweeney partners with soap brand Squatch on a limited edition bar of soap made with her used bath water. Glad to see someone is taking conservation efforts seriously! 

• • Just three years after launch, Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode is being acquired by e.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion – which sounds great at first blush, but I know from my research to be wary of an elf that spins things into gold.

• • Coffee company Nespresso and recording artist The Weeknd link up for an iced coffee campaign, meaning a recording session with Sabrina Carpenter can’t be too far off.

• • The WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces enter a sports betting partnership with BetMGM – a heart-warming reminder to always bet on yourself.    

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 the past 7 months, I have borne witness to monumental postseason collapses by two of my favorite professional sports teams: my beloved hometown New York Yankees and New York Knicks. Last October, in epic fashion, the former blew a five-run lead in the top of the fifth inning in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, en route to the Yankees’ eventual demise. And this past Wednesday night, the Knicks lost Game One of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, despite having held a 14-point lead with about 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. There are a litany of other heartbreaks over the years. Begging the question of why I (and others) keep coming back for more? For one thing, it’s the drama of the game - each has a story to tell. Sometimes, that story is a reminder that those who rake in the big bucks through endorsements and salaries, often appearing larger than life, are still human. Or maybe I just like to be miserable. After all, it’s the losses - torturous as they can be - that teach the greatest lessons and make the wins that much sweeter.

• • Following fellow recording artist Post Malone’s limited edition run of signature Oreo cookies, Selena Gomez has partnered with the brand to roll out her own spin on the iconic sandwich cookies. Perhaps the cookies will become collector’s items. Though if the artists really wanted to stand the test of time, they’d launch their own Twinkies.
  • Jason Momoa and WWE wrestler Roman Reigns are among those signed on for a Street Fighter movie, rebooting a film based on the video game of the same name. Meanwhile, I am still waiting on a call from my agent on my Pong screenplay.
  • Hip hop duo Salt-N-Pepa are suing Universal Music Group in an effort to reclaim the rights to their catalog recordings including their late 80s and early 90s hits “Push It” and “Shoop.”  Fortunately for the duo, their legal team is said to be seasoned.

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! While I appreciate your valiant efforts in coming back to this space, that comeback pales in comparison to the two comebacks the underdog New York Knicks have had against the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics – somehow clawing back from 20 point deficits in consecutive games to seize a 2-0 lead in the 2^nd round of the NBA Playoffs.  The games have been nothing short of captivating, yet immensely trying. What started out with questions in my mind about how the Knicks could possibly survive this series has been replaced by questions about whether I can survive the ups and downs of this series. Regardless, these NBA Playoffs have provided some of the most compelling moments in recent memory—the TV ratings have certainly backed up that assertion. So, for all the concerns about who will be the stewards of the league now that LeBron James is reaching the end of his career, it’s clear that the present and the future are bright as ever, with chances for athletes to build their own brands and author their own success stories. Speaking of comebacks, I’ll be out recharging next week but will return the week of 5/19—hopefully you will do the same.

• • Country music star Chris Stapleton’s Tennessee whiskey brand, “Traveller” becomes the first official whiskey of Major League Baseball. Given the name, it’s unlikely that the NBA will follow suit.
     
  • Nine-time NBA All-Star guard Russell Westbrook comes aboard as a founder of Eazewell, a startup company that uses artificial intelligence to ease grieving loved ones’ burdens with funeral planning. Humanity will have dodged a bullet if artificial intelligence sticks only to that sense of the words “funeral planning…”

• • Rihanna’s multibillion dollar beauty brand Fenty Beauty, becomes the latest such brand to secure sponsorship in the WNBA, partnering with the defending WNBA Champions New York Liberty. As part of the sponsorship, the brand’s logos will be included on the team’s pregame warm-up apparel, while other in-game activations are contemplated. No word on whether the team will be creating a co-branded umbrella…ella…ella

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! Based on the layers of pollen caked on my car and nary an unstuffed nose to be found, I would venture to guess that allergists are doing well for themselves this Spring.  After the past week in sports, another profession perhaps seeing a boon is family therapy. First, during last week’s NFL draft, University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders (who also happened to be Shedeur’s coach and vocal supporter), found himself amidst a precipitous fall from being an expected top 3 pick all the way down to the 144^th pick. If that was not enough for Sanders to en-deur, he also received a prank phone call from Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son, purporting be an NFL general manager that was drafting him. As a result of the egregious error in judgment, Ulbrich received a $100,000 fine (in addition to a $250,000 fine levied on the Falcons organization. Suffice it to say, Ulbrich’s son will not be receiving an allowance for quite some time. Or, at the very least, the elder Ulbrich should never have to do dishes or take out the garbage in his home ever again. Then, this past week in the NBA playoffs, on the heels of an improbable collapse by the Milwaukee Bucks at the hands of the Indiana Pacers and their star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, Bucks’ All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was confronted on the court by Haliburton’s overzealous father. Rather than congratulating Giannis on a hard fought series, Haliburton’s father shamefully taunted Giannis, the result of which was to overshadow the Pacers’ (and his son’s) accomplishments and force the NBA to keep the elder Haliburton from attending future games. Both instances are examples of abhorrent behavior by family members trying to claw their way into relevance, and a reminder for those with actual jobs and reputations on the line to keep relatives away from the negative spotlight.  

• • NBA Hall of Famer, Broadcaster, Entrepreneur, DJ and Investor Shaquille O’Neal is adding another entry to his LinkedIn profile, becoming the General Manager of Sacramento State University’s Men’s Basketball program– a potential boon for the team’s prospects in its efforts to secure name, image and likeness (NIL) dollars for top talent. With Shaq’s son Shaqir already on the team’s, “Shaq State” may emulate the success that Deion Sanders brought to the University of Colorado’s football program—ideally, culminating without a prank call.
    
    
  • Influence Media Group and music producer DJ Khaled forge a partnership--anchored by Influence’s acquisition of Khaled’s music catalog—that will see Khaled and his affiliated company We The Best Music enter into two joint ventures for the development and production of film and television content, leveraging Khaled’s NIL.  They actually started with one joint venture, but Khaled insisted on “another one.”
    
    
  • 2-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Eli Manning is rumored to be preparing a bid to buy a minority ownership interest in his former team, the New York Giants. Perhaps someone up there misunderstood my and other Giants fans’ prayers for an elite quarterback.

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! Like clockwork, the other side of Labor Day has started to feel a little more like Fall, with a slight chill in the air, pumpkin spice aromas descending down from the heavens (or up from the underworld, depending on your perspective), kids returning to school and my coming down with the Flu (I promise I washed my hands before writing this). Happily, this also means that football season is upon us (though that does not bode well for my already robust sleep deprivation). So I’ll keep it brief this week to rest up in preparation for all that is to come, but as long as you’re here, I might as well share with you the below:   

• • Michelle Juszczyk, famous for designing custom patchwork sports apparel including Taylor Swift’s custom Travis Kelce jacket (and having a killer last name for Scrabble) is due to drop a capsule collection of apparel with Gatorade. A partnership sure to quench the masses with Juszcyzk’s style.
     
  • A new rule by the Federal Trade Commission targets influencers giving fake reviews and testimonials of products.  Luckily for the Spotlight, there is no ban on gratuitous reviews from my parents.  
     
  • Omaha Productions unveils an ingenious, hilarious Broadway-themed promo for Peyton Manning and Eli Manning’s Monday Night Football ManningCast. For this sports and entertainment lawyer who is the grandson of a Tony-winning Broadway producer, it was everything. 
    
    

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

Welcome to the Spotlight! As hard as it is to believe, summer is winding down, Joro spiders seemingly avoided (wish I could say the same about spotted lantern flies), hot dogs (OG or vegan) consumed, marshmallows roasted, medals awarded and for many, lifelong memories made. That last one came into striking relief last weekend at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. As if it wasn’t enough that the kids on these teams get to play in nationally televised baseball games, they also get to spend the day with, and cheer on, their favorite Major League Baseball players as part of annual MLB Little League Classic.

This year featured a game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, but I am not writing to talk about the game—particularly after the Yankees closing pitcher Clay Holmes blew yet another save to hand the Tigers the victory. Instead, the real standout from this year’s event was from a player who did not even play in the game due to a stint on the injured list. The Yankees’ recently acquired dynamic All-Star player Jazz Chisholm, Jr. not only played video journalist to document the Yankees’ day behind the scenes leading up to the game, capturing compelling, joyful, authentic moments shared amongst Major League and Little League teammates alike, but he also took up the mantle of becoming a “big brother” to an adoring Little Leaguer named Russell McGee, proclaiming in a television interview that he’s “gonna make sure he gets to the big leagues one day.” What could have been empty words were followed up with a heartwarming gesture as Chisholm exchanged phone numbers with McGee and joined him in the stands to cheer on Chisholm’s teammates. A really cool moment of kindness, humility and paying it forward to witness—and one that it sounds like McGee and Chisholm will carry with them for a long time to come. I’ll catch you all back on the other side of the Labor Day holiday, but for now here’s my payment forward to you.

• • At long last, the collaboration between Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese and Reese’s candy has become official, as they roll out some cleverly co-branded apparel. What Reese is getting paid for the collaboration is not yet known, but it’s probably more than peanuts.
  • Oklahoma State University’s football team is leaning into the name, image and likeness (NIL) era in college sports as they will all have QR codes on their helmets, linking people to the program’s NIL fund. With this on-field innovation possible, sportsbooks across the country are now wondering whether they can buy a referee if you use a barcode scanner on his or her uniform.
  • NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports sues its former sponsor, restaurant chain Hooters over its failure to pay $1.7 million in sponsorship fees. What a hoot—I thought owls were supposed to be wise!

Welcome back to the Spotlight! As we wave au revoir to the rousing success that was the Paris Olympic Games, in which the United States racked up the most gold medals and highest overall medal total, and NBCUniversal saw its Olympic audience swell to the largest it has been since 1994, the Olympic torch has begun its four year journey stateside to Los Angeles. There, LA28 is set up beautifully to surpass the watermark set by the City of Lights – that is, if people can make it off the 405. What’s on tap for the City of Angels is sure to be even more advertising spend and sponsorship dollars than what we saw in Paris, for one thing. For another thing, California native Snoop Dogg—who became a staple of the past Olympic Games—will undoubtedly reprise his supporting role, with Hollywood cameos to boot. As for the events themselves, although breakdancing will not be returning to the Games (much to internet trolls’ dismay), flag football will make its debut—possibly with NFL players taking the field, while those craving a full contact sport may find themselves drawn closer fo rugby—particularly with the Rugby World Cup coming to America in 2031. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. If recent history is any guide, there’s a whole lot of stuff that can go wrong along the way! On that dark note, here’s a Spotlight to lift you back up…

• • Not content with bringing home a gold medal from Paris, NBA All-Star Kevin Durant is bringing an equity investment in French Football Ligue 1 Champions Paris Saint Germain. It’s been a while since I’ve flown to Europe but it sounds like they’ve really spruced up their duty free offerings. 
     
  • Prime Video is debuting “The Money Game,” a docuseries following Louisiana State University most prominent NIL athletes including gymnast Livvy Dunne, basketball players Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson and Quarterback Jayden Daniels through their 2023 seasons on and off campus. A documentary about getting paid in college while getting paid to be followed said is notable, particularly considering how many people would pay NOT to have footage of their time at college released. 
     
  • Semiconductor company Qualcomm is extending its sponsorship of the English Premier League’s Manchester United Football Club through 2029. With that type of ‘chip’ reaching ubiquity in England, perhaps they’ll start referring to deep fried potatoes as “fries.”
     
  • Tennessee Titans Quarterback Will Levis, who (in)famously puts mayonnaise in his coffee, unveils a playful, albeit nausea-inducing collaboration with Hellmann’s Mayonnaise for a mayo-scented cologne. For his safety, Levis is advised not to wear the fragrance during games, because if ever there were a time to smell like mayo, it definitely wouldn’t be while being chased down by a 300 pound defensive lineman.

Welcome back to the Spotlight! After years of training and trials, our United States’ Olympians are assembling an impressive, gleaming mosaic of accomplishments as if their medals were tiles. In track & field, a new “World’s Fastest Man” was crowned, his name is Noah Lyles. In gymnastics, a hard-fought redemption was earned for Simone Biles, both individually and alongside teammate Jordan Chiles. Even in defeat, the pair generated smiles, in a show of sportsmanship and grace they bowed to the victor, in so doing, cementing courage in their profiles. I would be remiss not to mention swimmer Katie Ledecky’s continuing to stack up medals through butterflies, breaststrokes, and freestyles.  In the meantime, don’t forget USA basketball is in the gold medal game, so be sure to set your TV dials. Upon their return home, each of these athletes is going to receive endorsement deals in anything from technology to textiles and in their country be the opposite of exiles. I hope you enjoyed my poetic styles, and if you think I’ve run out of rhymes, I assure you I have them in piles. 

• • The US Army claims that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his United Football League should refund the $6 million it paid for social media promotions intended to drive enlistments, when in actuality, no enlistments resulted from the promotions, and a number of enlistments may have even dropped out. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
     
  • With sights set on appealing to a new generation of fans, the New York Yankees are putting out their own original content in the form of an animated Saturday morning cartoon series. On the one hand, I miss the good old days of winning the World Series. On the other hand, the series will be required curriculum for my boys.
     
  • NBA All-Star Steph Curry stole the show on Thursday, as his mockumentary series “Mr. Throwback” launched on Peacock, while he played the role of Mr. Comeback in Paris, propelling Team USA—who trailed by as many as 17 points--into the gold medal game with a victory over Serbia. Excellently scripted if you ask me.  Oh and by the way, the national bird of Serbia? You guessed it…the eastern imperial eagle.
     
  • While recording artist Adele had a $130 million structure built specifically for her performance residency in Munich, Germany, another recording artist is paying $1.5 million to have his slapped his name on the side of a stadium, as Pitbull enters into a multiyear naming rights deal with Florida International University. The delta can almost certainly be attributed to there being more construction costs, and better pretzels and beer