Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! I really wanted to open this week talking about the football game. I wanted to talk about Usher’s performance at the halftime show. I wanted to talk about the commercials. I even wanted to be the lone voice among us to talk about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce (did you hear that they're dating?!). Instead of reflecting on the uniquely American sports and entertainment spectacle that is the Super Bowl, I find myself obliged to address the uniquely American experience of living in a country in which gun violence continues to be commonplace. A day that was supposed to be a celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2nd Super Bowl victory in as many years has instead been marred by a mass shooting that killed a local radio DJ and left at least 20 others—many of whom being children—injured. In the wake of these tragedies there is always a curiosity about the motive, as if understanding why it happened brings comfort. While undoubtedly important for law enforcement and criminal justice, the reason for why a gunman acted is less important than the fact that it did happen and preventing it from happening again—just ask victims or their family members. As of Wednesday, there have been more mass shootings in the US in 2024 (49) than there have been days in 2024 (45). We can do (and should demand) better. 

• • This year’s Super Bowl was the most watched US broadcast since the 1969 moon landing. Great—more fodder for the tinfoil hatters. 
    
    
  • Speaking of moonwalks, the rights to Michael Jackson’s music catalog were purchased by Sony at a $1.2 valuation. 
    
    
  • NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo launches his endorsement relationship with Starry, the lemon-lime flavored official soft drink of the NBA, WNBA and G-League. A fitting partnership because I get parched every time I say “Giannis Antetokounmpo.”
    
    
  • Tiger Woods officially announces his apparel brand in conjunction with TaylorMade Golf. Its name is a homage to Woods’ decades-long tradition of wearing red for the final round of golf tournaments: “SUN DAY RED.” Of course, that’s not to be confused with my lifestyle brand for working parents with young children: “AL WAYS TI RED.”

Welcome back to the Spotlight! While many bask in the afterglow of last weekend’s history making Grammy Awards, the lights along the Las Vegas Strip and heat lamps along the Las Vegas buffets begin to burn brighter, as the NFL brings Super Bowl LVIII (58 for non-Romans and/or any children left behind). It is an exciting time of year, in which national attention, fanfare and financial expenditures are at their peak—paralleled only maybe by a Presidential election.

This year, the parallels are in greater relief as the Super Bowl contenders and presumptive Presidential candidates are the same as they were four years ago, both sides have been desperately vying for an endorsement from Taylor Swift and most Americans are deciding who they want to win based on who they least want to lose.

With this Super Bowl being the first to take place in Las Vegas since the Raiders relocated to the humble desert town and legal sports wagering in the mainstream, I suspect this year’s event will be filled with things that a few wish they could remember and many wish they could forget. (Hey that’s catchy – maybe I’ll adopt that as my new tagline here…)

• • Not the Super Bowl, but a type of football championship nonetheless – New York/New Jersey was awarded the distinction of hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium. Meanwhile, Newark, New Jersey was awarded the distinction of hosting first-time visitors who think that they’re on their way to the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.
     
  • Actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba announced the launch of a media production company named, “Lady Spitfire” – which sounds like a hybrid of the titular nanny in a 1993 Robin Williams film and a character in “Bridgerton.” 
     
  • The NBA forges a multiyear sponsorship deal with global air carrier, Emirates. As part of the arrangement, NBA referees’ uniforms will be branded for the first time with an Emirates patch. Probably not going to see referees sporting BetMGM, FanDuel or DraftKings patches any time soon, though. 

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Proudly artificial intelligence and brain chip-free since 2021^SM. Would ChatGPT or a Neuralink brain-computer interface make my weekly task here easier? Perhaps. But ChatGPT wouldn’t be authentically me and a thought-reading Neuralink chip would be maybe *too* authentically me. That being said, I don’t have a high bar of originality to prove otherwise with history repeating itself with the Super Bowl matchup from four years ago (Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers) matching the one on tap for February 11. Speaking of high bars of originality, TikTok creators woke up Thursday morning to learn that they may need to channel their inner Charlie Chaplain on account of Universal Music Group pulling its song library from TikTok due to a row over an unfair artist royalty structure and proliferation of artificial intelligence on the platform. It will be interesting to see whether other labels follow suit to ratchet up pressure on the music-driven platform—now that’s something for which users could tap into their boundless attention span. (Editor’s Note: it was at this moment that—between Charlie Chaplain references and sarcastic remarks about the younger generation--Josh realized he’s turning into an old curmudgeon). Now, let’s get the rest of this out of the way…

• • Tom Brady’s Brady and TB12 apparel and fitness brands merge into Mike Depole’s (of VitaminWater and BodyArmor) athletic performance wear brand, NOBULL. Brady and Depole elected to keep the NOBULL name, though as a Giants fan, i think NORINGS might have been more fitting. 
    
    
  • An upcoming documentary will examine on the recording of the philanthropic 1985 song “We Are The World” meant to foster global cooperation in support of Africa. Me thinks the world could use more songs…
    
    
  • Slim Jim snaps out of its decades-long sponsorship of World Wrestling Entertainment after disgraced former chairman Vince McMahon is the subject of sex trafficking allegations. A shocking move considering the bad taste and difficult-to-digest things are the core of Slim Jim’s business model.