The Shoe Surgeon will create an exclusive pair of kicks for the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger for Saturday’s national broadcast.
In conjunction with FOX’s first “Baseball Night in America” telecast of the season on May 22, FOX Sports and Topps announced a series of collaborations with some of the world’s most influential pop artists.
Dominic “The Shoe Surgeon” Ciambrone, Sophia Chang, CES, and Distortedd will all produce original artwork and short-form content that will be shown during nationally televised broadcasts this season. And to get things started, Ciambrone is preparing a special pair of custom sneakers for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts.
During Saturday’s telecast pitting the Dodgers against the rival San Francisco Giants, viewers will see footage of The Shoe Surgeon creating the former MVP and reigning World Series champ’s custom kicks. This ongoing initiative will be featured through unique teases in respective pregame shows, pre-pitch rollouts for each game, and in-game bumps during FOX Sports broadcasts in 2021, including during July’s All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver.
“FOX Saturday baseball and Topps are a perfect pairing of two brands that live and breathe Major League Baseball,” said Robert Gottlieb, FOX Sports’ Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing. “Working with Topps to celebrate special baseball moments is a labor of love for all of us.”
Works to be made specifically for FOX Sports broadcasts for this new venture could include not just original shoe designs, but fine art pieces like sculptures and paintings. These artists have already gotten their feet wet with Topps this season on their Project70 initiative, which re-imagined iconic baseball cards and moments, like the mouth a venomous snake emerging out of a baseball thrown by Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson, former Yankees manager Joe Torre waiting at a New York City Subway station, and a 1988-style Betts card also designed by The Shoe Surgeon himself.
“The way that pop art and baseball have come together through the amazing work of these superstar pop artists in Topps Project70 is a great blueprint for some of the creative ideas we can do in the collaboration with FOX Sports,” said Jeff Heckman, Topps’ global director of new business ventures. “Opening up the canvas beyond cards and revealing the work across FOX MLB platforms will further showcase their creativity.”
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