Formula 1, LVMH Team Up for Next Decade in Global Partnership
Formula 1 confirmed Wednesday that it has entered a decade-long global partnership with LVMH, a collaboration both sides call an “unprecedented agreement between the world leader in luxury and the pinnacle of motorsport.” The 10-year deal will launch in 2025, F1’s 75th anniversary, with further details of what to expect coming early next year. However, expect a number of LVMH’s brands, including Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy, and TAG Heuer, to participate throughout the partnership.
Brittney Griner Becomes Latest WNBA Star to Commit to Unrivaled League
The full roster for the inaugural season of the newly founded professional women’s basketball league Unrivaled is slowly nearing completion. On Wednesday, league organizers announced that Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner is lending her talents to the 3-on-3 league when it tips off in early 2025 in Miami. The 10-time All-Star joins a stacked cohort that includes founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Kahleah Copper, Jackie Young, Angel Reese, and more.
Pink Floyd Sells Music Catalog to Sony for $400M
Pink Floyd has reached an agreement with Sony to sell its music catalog, Variety reported Wednesday, as well as the band’s name and likeness, for around $400 million. Described as “one of the largest of many in recent years,” the British rock band still holds the rights to their songwriting, as the deal covers just recorded music. Allegedly years in the making with a reported asking bid of $500 million, this deal could have been closed in 2022, Variety writes, but contentious discord among surviving members derailed the plan.
Alabama-Georgia was Most-Watched Regular Season Primetime Game on ESPN/ABC Since 2017
Always an entertaining matchup, Saturday’s showdown between SEC powerhouses Georgia and Alabama proved to be a ratings success yet again. According to Nielsen, the Crimson Tide’s 41-34 win over the Bulldogs averaged 12 million viewers on ABC and ESPN’s streaming platforms, making it the most-watched regular-season primetime game since 2017. ESPN added the audience peaked at 14.1 million viewers.
2 Chainz to Perform at NBA Fan Appreciation Day in Abu Dhabi
2 Chainz will perform at NBA Fan Appreciation Day at Etihad Arena on Oct. 5 in Abu Dhabi. The concert serves as an intermission between days of preseason basketball when defending NBA Finals champion Boston Celtics play the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6. In addition to the show, Billboard says fans can expect 3-point and dunk contests and appearances from players on both teams. Retired NBA legends like Kevin Garnett, Muggsy Bogues, Shaquille O’Neal, Derek Fisher, Mitch Richmond, and others are also expected to make an appearance.
Elon Musk’s X Worth Nearly 80% Less than 2022 Purchase, Fidelity Says
Fidelity estimates that X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is now worth nearly 80% less than when Elon Musk purchased it for the reported $44 billion in April 2022. Per CNN, X is now valued at $9.4 billion, with shrinking ad profits being a catalyst for its decline. In August, X had 73.5 million monthly active users on iOS and Android devices combined, a nearly 11% tumble year over year and a 20% slide from October 2022.
Coldplay to Retire After Next 2 Albums, Finishing with 12
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says the band only plans to drop two more “proper albums” before retiring from producing new music to finish at a dozen. “To make an album great as a band, it’s such a lot of wrangling of people, and I want to give the others some of their life for themselves,” Martin explained to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. Coldplay’s 10th studio album, Moon Music, arrives this Friday. “There’s only 12 and a half Beatles albums. There’s about the same Bob Marley, so all of our heroes [reach an end],” Martin added.
NWSL, Tiffany & Co. Expand Partnership With Updated Trophies
The NWSL and Tiffany & Co. are expanding their partnership with a redesign of the league’s year-end trophies. The new Shield trophy, awarded to the 2024 NWSL regular-season champion, features a blend of 24K gold vermeil and sterling silver with a soccer ball at the center. The second new-look hardware is the regular season MVP trophy, which has a miniature soccer ball perched atop an intricate base. With these two additions, it brings the league’s total of end-of-year trophies developed in collaboration with Tiffany & Co. to four.
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