🎬 Video of the Week
Is This The End of Sports?!
No one listened to the boomers when they said that social media would ruin our lives and it looks like their doomsday prediction is starting to come true! Could Tik Tok be killing live sports? What lessons could sports learn from Netflix and Spotify? Learn all that and more in the latest Athletic Interest video on YouTube.
✍️ Deal of the Week
Fenway Sports to Buy Some Penguins 🐧
What is the best way to get rid of a curse? Employing the services of a priest? Well, new evidence suggests that you simply need to be purchased by Fenway Sports Group!
Before Fenway, the Boston Red Sox were suffering a drought caused by the ‘Curse of the Bambino!’ Post takeover and they have become one of the most successful MLB teams of the past decade.
Liverpool, who seemed obsessed with failing to win the Premier League, finally won their first Premiership title in 2020 under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp and Fenway Sports.
Now Fenway has their sights set on the NHL and surprisingly they have NOT put in a bid for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, John W. Henry seems intent to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that won the Stanley Cup in 2017 and seems relatively curse-free. Should the deal go through it is likely to cost around $845 million and is still subject to board and NHL approval.
Fenway appears to be looking to expand their profile across more sports with Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy calling the NHL a ‘natural place’ for the brand.
🗞 Story of the Week
F1 Talent = Speed + Money
Ah, Formula 1. The pinnacle of motorsport, where the very best drivers on the planet compete in a fair and just competition… well not really!
F1 is suffering from a PR problem when it comes to drivers. Some have accused the sport of giving seats to drivers with large bank accounts over those with genuine talent. While these ‘paid drivers’ would not even be in contention if they did not have at least some talent, recent events seem to confirm this mentality.
Alfa Romeo has announced that Chinese F2 driver Guanyu Zhou will be joining the team in 2022, at the expense of incumbent Antonio Giovinazzi.
Don’t get us wrong, Zhou is a talented driver and currently sits second in the F2 championship, but why did Alfa dump Giovinazzi, or overlook Callum Ilott (considered a potential next Lewis Hamilton)? Well luckily Alfa team principal Frédéric Vasseur was on hand to explain:
"It was not only based on the fact that he is Chinese but it will be a mega-push for the company, for sponsors and I think also for F1 in general."
What Alfa is essentially saying is that talent is not enough these days, a hopeful driver also needs a hefty commercial appeal and a strong fanbase. Considering that Zhou is reported to bring as much as $30 million a season (around 1/4 of the budget cap) it is understandable why they went with Zhou.
📱 Social Media Madness of the Week
Toto Wolff’s Message to the Stewards
After Toto Wolff’s recent meme it is easy to see why Valterri Bottas is probably scared of him!
I mean look at those eyes! That man is not playing around.
This rather brilliant meme is an image of the Mercedes boss celebrating Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the recent Brazil Grand Prix. The race weekend was marred in controversy, with Lewis Hamilton receiving a disqualification from qualifying and Max Verstappen escaping punishment for supposedly driving Hamilton off the track.
When Lewis finally prevailed against the odds, Toto seemed a little overcome with emotion and displayed his true feelings to the camera.
While Toto insists that it was a ‘little friendly hello to the race director,’ fans were instantly taken with the image and suggested that it was also directed towards title rivals Red Bull and team principal Christian Horner.
Whatever the reason for the look, it is fair to say that you don’t want to get on Toto’s bad side, just ask any table!
🤪 Weird Deal of the Week
The Largest Naming Rights Deal in History 💸
Crypto is everywhere these days! Social media is obsessed and the news programs seem to be both paranoid and strangely interested at the same time.
But, at least when sports came on the TV everyone could just go back to a simpler time without NFTs and virtual currencies, a time where…. oh damn!
Crypto.com the online virtual currency exchange has been invading sports over the last few months. They now sponsor Formula 1, the Philadelphia 69ers, and the UFC. Now the company wants to make Crypto the biggest thing in sports sponsorship.
The company has just purchased the naming rights for the Staples Center in LA for a whopping $700 million. The iconic home of the LA Lakers will now be called the Crypto.com Arena for the next 20 years, with the transition officially starting on Christmas day.
This is one of the largest stadium sponsorship deals in history and will also see Crypto.com become official partners to the LA Lakers and LA Kings.