Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Last week Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Shohei Ohtani made baseball history, becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season (for good measure, he hit that milestone in a game in which he had a ridiculous 10 runs batted in, 6 hits, 3 home runs, 2 stolen bases and a partridge in a pear tree). This week, 18-year-old Florida resident Max Matus made sports law history, becoming the first person to sue to stop the auction of a 50th home run ball hit by a player that also stole 50 bases in a single season. Matus, who claims that the home run ball was rightfully his after having allegedly caught the ball only to—again, allegedly—have it forcibly ripped away from him, certainly has financial incentive for his claim with the ball estimated to fetch $4.5 million at auction.  Even the wisdom of King Solomon might be challenged in the face of that kind of money, but allow me to throw a suggestion into the pot. Ohtani purchases the ball (he can well afford it) and Matus gets 50%. Voila! Problem solved! For those going to the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees series this weekend – if you happen to catch Aaron Judge’s 60^th home run, hold on for dear life.  

• • Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown decided against $50M in endorsement money and instead launched his own brand and signature shoe. Clearly well acquainted with the marshmallow test.
     
  • Financial services company Robinhood inks a jersey patch sponsorship with its third NBA team – each are odds-on favorites to lead the league in steals.
     
  • Former Heisman Trophy Winner Reggie Bush sues the NCAA and his alma mater University of Southern California Trojans over lost name, image and likeness revenue, calling his inability to cash in during college as an injustice. For their part, the NCAA and USC called it an am-bush.
     
  • Husband and wife artists Clifford “T.I.” Harris and Tameka “Tiny” Harris recover $71 million after toymaker MGA’s “OMG Fashion Dolls” were found to infringe the Harris’ “OMG Girlz” intellectual property. Now I am wondering whether this BloOMGarden can get a cut of that…

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 wish you happy Fall, y’all. If I close my eyes while typing, the keystrokes almost sound like crunching crisp leaves. With the start of my favorite season—made that much better with the Yankees set to play October baseball, we also bid farewell to Emmys season. In case you missed it, the awards show rose (Johnny and David, to be exact) to its best ratings since 2021, all on the backs of father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy. Their performance was such a success, it makes me wonder whether I should give my sons a platform in the Spotlight (it would arguably improve the quality of the jokes). As it stands, I don’t have time to work through the logistical challenges of onboarding a 6 year-old and 3 year-old, so you’ll just have to be content with me.

• • The University of Tennessee Football program announced that they will be increasing ticket prices by ten percent to finance revenue sharing with its collegiate athletes. For a team whose name is the Volunteers, it’s rich to volunteer its fanbase to subsidize the cost. Then again, if they brand the increase as “Ten-to-see,” I might just come around.
     
  • YouTubers MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI unveil grab and go packaged lunch kits called Lunchly to rival Oscar Meyer’s Lunchables. While the modestly improved nutritional values and the celebrity backing of Lunchly may set it apart, the allure of a hot dog shaped vehicle still makes Lunchables a wiener/winner in my book. 
     
  • Popular beverage brand Liquid Death and NASCAR are taking a different tact to sports marketing—offering the fans, rather than the drivers sponsorship deals. Not surprising given how undesirable having the word “death” emblazoned on your car while traveling at 150 mph must be. 

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! Though you may have been down on your luck this Friday the 13th, I am here to do my best to help you reverse course. Even if you happened to step on a crack, walk under a ladder, break a mirror, have your path crossed by a black cat or upset a bowl of salt (they can be rather temperamental), you may still consider yourself amongst the fortunate (ever-dwindling) few to be regaled with sports and entertainment business stories in a pithy, snarky and downright cheesy format. 

• • Pop singer/actress Sabrina Carpenter inks beauty and haircare endorsement deals with Prada and Redken. An espresso-oriented deal (if not one for sandpaper and clamps) can’t be far off. 
     
  • Social Media Platform (and target of Congressional scrutiny due to being a possible national security threat) TikTok is now a sponsor of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the holding company for the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Mystics. I guess they figure it’s time they ingratiate themselves with *someone* in DC. 
     
  • Following the lead of LeBron James with his DraftKings Sportsbook endorsement, fellow NBA Superstar Kevin Durant is now a spokesperson for FanDuel Sportbook. A few years ago would it have been surprising to hear that active NBA players were promoting legal sports gambling? You bet. 

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.