Long-time KTIV sports director Brad Pautsch died on Saturday, October 19. He was 58. Pautsch underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his brain in March 2021. After his surgery, he suffered a stroke. He made it through the seven-hour procedure, five rounds of chemotherapy, and stem cell treatments at the Mayo Clinic. In…
Yahoo Sports unveiled its new combat sports franchise, called Uncrowned, last week, part of a broader effort from the privately owned media firm to expand its presence in growing sectors of the sports ecosystem. The franchise includes five distinct offerings–The Ariel Helwani Show, The Boys in the Back, The Craic with Petesy Carroll, Ariel +…
When ESPN has both a Formula 1 race and Texas football in Austin on the same weekend, it’s hard to blame the network for encouraging partners to drift into each other’s lanes. Under the “Texas Takeover” banner, ESPN is hosting a college football matchup between the No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns and No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs…
Alexandra Matcham has been named vice president of content for NBC Sports Philadelphia, while Kelsey Lauder was promoted to director of live events production for NBC Sports Philadelphia. Matcham will report to NBCU Local Philadelphia president and general manager Ric Harris starting Monday, October 21. Lauder, who has served as the network’s live events operations…
The New York Times sports publisher The Athletic partnered with the sports streaming service Fubo on Tuesday, the latest in a series of integrated partnerships spearheaded by The Athletic since it debuted advertising on its website two years ago. The multiyear tie-up will first see Fubo integrated into live game blogs, with future plans for…
Genius Sports and the Los Angeles Rams know that just because you have fans in your building on game day doesn’t mean you have their undivided attention. The growth of fantasy sports, gambling, short-form video, and streaming content means fans are still deferring to their devices regardless of what they’ve paid for admission or what’s…
KUSA sports anchor Jacob Tobey is leaving the Denver NBC affiliate to work as the voice of the NBA team the San Antonio Spurs. Tobey will join veteran commentator Sean Elliott in the broadcast booth for Spurs games, filling the role previously held by longtime announcer Bill Land who recently announced his retirement. Tobey will…
It’s a new era for the NBA, and its marketing is reflecting that. We’re still a little less than a month away from the start of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season and the 11 games that comprise Kia NBA Tip-Off 2024, but players have reported to training camp and preseason and international exhibitions in…
Women are the future of sports because women are shaping the future of sports. To close out ADWEEK’s Brandweek event in Phoenix, Ariz., on Thursday, ADWEEK Chief Brand and Community Officer Jenny Rooney welcomed some of the most powerful women in both sports and sports marketing to discuss the value of investment and access in…
Welcome to another special Greatest Hits episode of the Marketing Vanguard podcast. Today, host Jenny Rooney speaks with Tim Ellis, the National Football League’s evp and chief marketing officer. Ellis delves into the league’s digital growth and strategies for reaching diverse audiences. He highlights the importance of authentic partnerships with creators, the NFL’s cultural integration…
Let the tears of flamin’ hot joy flow, creators: PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay and Doritos are bringing back Crash the Super Bowl. Nearly 20 years ago, Crash the Super Bowl first allowed anyone with a camera to make their own 30-second spot and compete for cash prizes and the ability to work with famous directors. By the…
Michael Jordan and his championship runs in the ’90s introduced the world to the Chicago Bulls, but the team is still introducing itself to fans who know them as Los Bulls. The Bulls just introduced their Spanish language Instagram account–@LosBulls–featuring Spanish-language content from team members past and present. Former 2000s Bull and Argentine Olympic gold…
Soccer can bring a European company into the U.S. market, but baseball can make a bit of pioneering promotion seem absolutely American. Major League Baseball announced recently that it will place ads on its batting helmets for the first time ever this postseason, and they’ll feature the name and ostrich logo of the league’s new…
Lay’s road to the World Cup has been paved in potato chips, or a lack thereof. Today, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay announced that its Lay’s brand will serve as an official sponsor of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Canada, and the United States and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. The potato chip…
If either Matt Damon or Ben Affleck has an actual superpower, it’s their epic friendship—a bond so endearing and renowned that it even won them an award.
Until Tom Brady arrived.
The #BFFgoals-inspiring pair are facing off for Brady’s affections via Skype in this weird, but charming, promotion for fundraising platform Omaze, which is offering you the chance to win an afternoon in Boston with all three of them, part of an effort to raise money for three charities.
One December day at the International Scene of Contemporary Dance in Stockholm, Sweden, a man named Olle, one of the best air acrobats in the world, did a triple-somersault jump. It was a jump like hundreds of others he’d done before, but this time was different.
He fell on his head.
“Within that second I heard my neck break. A moment devoid of time,” Olle writes. “The sound of the neck break echoed in my head, itself an endless, dark, spherical space in which I was hovering weightlessly.”
Olle crushed several cervical vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord. He was paralyzed from the neck down. The doctors couldn’t say how much brain functioning he’d regain, or even whether he would walk again. One thing was sure: He’d never jump again.
It’s been 10 years since then. Olle has miraculously recovered. Many people like him would count their blessings, move to a quiet town and take up gardening. But in what’s being dubbed “the most irresponsible circus performance ever,” Olle is gearing up to repeat the same jump, with just one difference. This time, he’ll do it from up to 12,000 feet in the sky.
When Major League Soccer began play in 1996, those of us who lived in New York City had only one team to root for—the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. But despite their odd hybrid name, they were pretty solidly a New Jersey team. They played out at Giants Stadium, and those of us coming from Manhattan would often arrive late to games, as they never scheduled enough buses from Port Authority. Intentional or not, the indifference to fans east of the Hudson was palpable.
That franchise has since cleaned up its act, and become the formidable New York Red Bulls. They still play in Jersey, though, at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison (which is, admittedly, a lovely stadium). But luckily for New York City fans, there’s been another option over the past two seasons—New York City Football Club, a new MLS franchise that plays its home games at Yankee Stadium.
NYCFC clinched its first-ever MLS Cup playoff berth this past weekend, and is celebrating with a gritty new spot from Johannes Leonardo, its first-ever brand commercial.
The poetic spot, called “Along These Lines,” is as much a tribute to the city as the team—rallying New Yorkers to get behind their soccer team, using a theme of connection that’s both literal (the subway system connects everyone, and of course stops at Yankee Stadium) and figurative.
Gatorade is back to gleefully shame more of its own consumers for being lazy and out of shape—this time with a roving crew of top athletes and nasty sportscasters, who all pop out of the back of a box truck to mock them for drinking the beverage while not sweating.
“Odd, isn’t it? For a man to run when technically he shouldn’t even be walking?”
We live in a magical time, when disability doesn’t have to spell the end of an active person’s journey. And a fascinating new Adidas campaign from India draws attention to something that has never occurred to most of us: Why should a blade-running athlete with only one foot—or anyone else—have to buy expensive athletic shoes for both feet?
Basketball jerseys might seem like an odd medium for honoring historical figures or making political statements, but maybe the post-Kaepernick sports era is more woke than the one before it. It’s certainly made for better designs, if these images of the Memphis Grizzlies team jerseys are any indication.
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