Sports & Entertainment Spotlight: A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) That Entitles the Bearer to a Beer with Bill Murray Raised the Equivalent of $185,000 in Ethereum Cryptocurrency for Charity | Foster Garvey PC

Welcome back to “Spotlight!” After over two and a half years, COVID-19 has finally made its way past my doorstep and throughout my home. It’s Wednesday night and I’m physically and emotionally exhausted, I feel like I’ve swallowed a mace and I sound like Barry White, so I’ll be brief. That, and I’m watching Serena in her Center Court Spotlight.

• A non-fungible token (NFT) that entitles its bearer to a beer with Bill Murray raised the equivalent of $185,000 in Ethereum cryptocurrency for charity. At that price point for a beer, you’d also expect to see a Yankees game.
• Grocery delivery company Instacart is making a splash with an ad campaign featuring recording artist Lizzo in a bathtub, creating its own plant-based shopping cart. This is the first high-profile celebrity endorsement, I guess Instacart figured it was “About Damn Time.”
• Pink Floyd’s song catalog is set to fetch approximately $500 million. A gigantic sum, that is, unless of course you play it backwards.

Endorsement agreements, sponsorships and investments

Instacart’s latest feature lets you shop Lizzo’s vegan grocery list
August 31, 2022 via My West Texas
Celebrities – they’re just like us! You might not be able to sing like Lizzo, but thanks to Instacart, you can eat like her.

NIL Cash Spurs US Bank and Opendorse offer courses in financial literacy
30 August 2022 via Sportico (subscription may be required)
More than a year into the name, image and equality era in college athletics, college athletes, financial literacy and money management are still top of mind for many.

Beyoncé narrates Gatorade’s Serena tribute as the US Open begins
August 29, 2022 via Biz Journal
Gatorade has released a video honoring Serena Williams as she prepares to play in her final US Open, and it’s narrated by another superstar: Beyoncé.

Celebrity Net Worth: Charli D’Amelio Joins $80 Million Funding Round in US Career Marketplace
29 August 2022 via The National
Social media personality Charli D’Amelio and her family have joined US career marketplace Incredible Health in an $80 million funding round.

Sport

LIV joins Phil Mickelson’s lawsuit and changes the trial
31 August 2022 via Sportico (subscription may be required)
When Judge Beth Labson Freeman held a hearing two weeks ago regarding LIV golfers suing the PGA Tour, much of the discussion centered on a party that wasn’t in the room: LIV Golf. That has changed.

The New York Yankees invest in AC Milan as part of the RedBird Ownership Group
30 August 2022 via Sportico (subscription may be required)
The New York Yankees and Main Street Advisors, a LeBron James-backed investment fund, are investing in Italian soccer team AC Milan, according to two people familiar with the deal.

The MLB Players Association is taking a “historic” step toward unionizing minor league baseball players
August 29, 2022 via CBS Sports
The MLB Players Association took a step toward bringing together minor league baseball players Sunday night, sending minor leaguers an authorization card that allows them to vote for an election that could make them MLBPA members.

US Open Luxury Ticket Sales Boom, Riding Tennis Pandemic Popularity
29 August 2022 via Sportico (subscription may be required)
Tennis attendance has skyrocketed in the United States since 2020, and as a result the US Open has changed its strategy, meeting the increased demand to see the match in person with additional premium ticket inventory and a year-round sales team.

Music Biz

Man who discovered Drake suing his management for royalties
August 31, 2022 via New York Daily News
A young talent scout from Texas who discovered hip-hop star Drake is suing the entertainer’s executives – accusing them of cheating him out of his share of the royalties.

The music industry is vowing to fight on after broadcasters hit the milestone in the fight against royalties
30 August 2022 via Inside Radio
The radio industry won a symbolic but potentially significant victory in Washington on Monday as lobbying led to 20 names being added to a House resolution opposing the creation of a radio performance royalty.

FN Meka Exec exits project, says ‘There are many lessons to be learned’ from setbacks
August 25, 2022 via Billboard
Anthony Martini is a former artist manager who helped develop artists such as Lil Dicky and MadeinTYO and was also CEO of Royalty Exchange from 2021 until earlier this year.

US Private Equity Group among bidders for Pink Floyd’s catalog worth an estimated $500 million
25 August 2022 via Nasjonal avis
The Financial Times said the deal includes copyright to the song rights and original studio recordings, making it one of the biggest deals of its kind.

Film and TV

Sony Pictures Networks India packages exclusive TV, digital rights for US Open
27 August 2022 via Sakshipost EN
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has signed a three-year deal to broadcast the US Open starting August 2022.

The Supreme Court paved the way for changing the College TV landscape
August 26, 2022 via Honolulu Star Advisor
Andy Coats is not a coach or athletic director. When it comes to the seismic changes in the landscape of major college football, however, he is a seminal figure.

The Big Ten’s new record media deals will top $1 billion annually, far surpassing other Power Five leagues
August 25, 2022 via Biz Journal
The day after the Big Ten approved $8 billion worth of media rights deals with CBS, Fox and NBC, conference commissioner Kevin Warren hopped on an early morning flight to Atlanta and then drove a rental car to Birmingham, where a friend’s daughter was getting married.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

Live Nations Ticketmaster Partners with Dapper Labs to Release Ticket NFTs on Flow Blockchain Expanding NFL Partnership for NFTs to 100 Games
31 August 2022 via Techmeme
Ticketmaster will now allow event organizers to issue NFTs linked to tickets on Flow, a blockchain powered by a16z-backed Dapper Labs.

‘Beer With Bill Murray’ NFT sold for $185K in ETH at charity auction
August 31, 2022 via Yahoo Finance
An NFT ticket for beer with actor Bill Murray sold for 119.2 ETH (around $185,000) on Wednesday in a charity auction-style bidding war.

Meta announces that Facebook and Instagram users can post NFTs from digital wallets
August 29, 2022 via Cointelegraph
“This will enable people to link their digital wallets once to both apps to share their digital collectibles across both,” Meta said.