real sportsball/jock themed edition, my bad.. + skate, social, links
PSA it's still summer for 17 more days.
Hi yall-
just wanted to say thanks for reading and sharing this with your friends/coworkers/opps. It blows my mind anyone looks at these emails.
I'm sending on a Thurs this week instead of Fri because i plan on being at a Liberty game tonight. Anyway-
Should we be a lil worried about all the money pouring into sports?
I don’t know. I can’t think of an industry made better by private equity, but would love to be corrected? This week alone I read about private equity entering the arena of not only NFL team ownership but also youth sports (!!), along with the incredible viewership success of the Olympics on streaming (image and quote via
);
let’s get to the real question: monster numbers aside, was it worth it? NBCUniversal paid $2.5 billion for this year’s summer and 2022’s Winter Olympics. And I have to be honest:
Probably.
See, I expected the Olympics to cost NBC-Universal a fortune for such a limited run. And they do! But it’s “only” $2.5 billion for this year’s summer and 2022’s Winter Olympics. That is a lot a lot of money, truly. You could make ten Knives Out sequels on Netflix for that much money.
But in an age when top TV shows regularly cost more than $100 million—see The Acolyte just this year at $160 million—guaranteeing 30 million eyeballs across linear TV and streaming for something like $1.5 billion for 17 straight days probably pays off, especially considering the sponsorships and advertising that just don’t show up for streaming.
I already mentioned this awhile back, but this is coming off the back of NBA making something along the lines of $76 billion in their latest media deals. Its clear that we are collectively craving monocultural water-cooler media fodder and sports is providing it.
Relatedly… track is having her cultural moment
It was so cool watching people show so much love to the women of track during the Olympics:
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Fortunately we don’t need to wait another 4 years for more! In a couple of weeks in NYC, Alexis Ohanian-backed Athlos will hit icahn stadium. He’s described it as “the coachella of Track”, complete with Meg Thee Stallion performances and Tiffany crowns instead of medals. At the moment, tickets are about $155 a pop. Athlos represents one slice of his investment portfolio, which focuses heavily on the enablement of womens sports. He clearly sees a path to immense profit ahead (and so do i).
I wonder if the momentum is also a byproduct of the surge in run clubs in general; either way, track is a very fun new canvas for fashion and beauty in particular. The higher end fashion labels seem thrilled by sports right now.
HOWEVER, I have to share a nicely contrarian take from
“The over-abundance and over-influence of activewear on fashion — from yoga pants to joggers to athleisure generally all the way up to these generally outdoor wear — is just drag. Yes, Naomi Osaka can bring fashion to sports — but bringing sports to fashion is increasingly meaningless. Yes, do the run clubs. Yes, hit the climbing gym. But, like a military officer or person working at a Target, one does not wear their uniform when they aren’t in the act — and all of fashion is worse for this.
This may seem like a petty fashion issue [..] it’s a symptom of cultural vacuousness where activity is confused for culture.”
Great week for branded skate moments too
Playlab continue their undisputed RUN for Vans with this incredible replication of iconic, now closed downtown staple Max Fish. I dont know how to contextualize this bar for people reading from afar, but iykyk …
elsewhere, a Margiela moment:
Shot by prolific photographer Matt Price. At a risk of stating the obvious, this is how its done (both Vans and Margiela) … work with the conventions of the culture and the creatives who operate within it, and come from a place of respect. Usually takes a decision maker on the inside who ‘gets it’ so kudos to whoever made it happen on both of these. Its also interesting to note the $600 price difference between these two shoes - but neither look out of place amongst skate culture, both are beloved and worn for form and function.
The power of Brand
loved this article about Moleskin notebooks that also shows the power of brand
Rare valuable linkedin post (albeit with somewhat corny content) with an embedded deck that includes some INCREDIBLE numbers on the value of brand investment - specifically showcasing results from the prolific E.L.F beauty.
Link/social stuff round-up
Incredible Q&A with none other than Yohji himself. come on man.
Someone has built out an army of 1000 autonomous agents operating independently in Minecraft (and outside of it) to create a self-sustaining economy and society. We’re cooked….
A palate cleanser from the above minecraft link. A scathing read entitled “I will piledrive you if you mention AI again” from a no-nonsense tech advisor.
“I started working as a data scientist in 2019, and by 2021 I had realized that while the field was large, it was also largely fraudulent.”
Excellent open “provocation” deck on the state of social media from Matt Stassoff at Anomaly. real big brain stuff.
On the eve of NYFW, eBay have announced an entirely pre-loved, buyable runway show.. I love the idea. Would be cool if labels did this too…
In other fashion month news -
Absolutely obsessed with this partnership between Luar and Amex. Finance marketing does not need to be boring!
Aussie designer brand Dion Lee seems to be folding, even despite massive success, with no willing buyers. Wild to see this happen after how much i saw his clothing in Bushwick the past few years (lol) but more importantly on Taylor Swift at the Superbowl? thats gotta move an insane amount of product.
FEETS/etc zone is back
On continue to eat Swoosh’s lunch with a beautiful campaign starring FKA Twigs.
This is off the back of their hugely successful US Open activation, the clubhouse.
I love Labucq campaign imagery.
the smart folks at onitsuka are heating up some of the models that have had energy with the fashion set as an alt to the samba.
Stussy chengdu chapter looks so beautiful. Really hope to visit there next year.
Thanks for scrolling!
GG x
Filtered through your genius lens as usual, but extra special when Max Fish is included!
bartender at Katana a few weeks ago was wearing a Max Fish shirt iykyk