About Boardroom

Boardroom is a sports, media and entertainment brand co-founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman and focused on the intersection of sports and entertainment. Boardroom’s flagship media arm features premium video/audio, editorial, daily and weekly newsletters, showcasing how athletes, executives, musicians and creators are moving the business world forward. Boardroom’s ecosystem encompasses B2B events and experiences (such as its renowned NBA and WNBA All-Star events) as well as ticketed conferences such as Game Plan in partnership with CNBC. Our advisory arm serves to consult and connect athletes, brands and executives with our broader network and initiatives.

Recent film and TV projects also under the Boardroom umbrella include the Academy Award-winning Two Distant Strangers (Netflix), the critically acclaimed scripted series SWAGGER (Apple TV+) and Emmy-nominated documentary NYC Point Gods (Showtime).

Boardroom’s sister company, Boardroom Sports Holdings, features investments in emerging sports teams and leagues, including the Major League Pickleball team, the Brooklyn Aces, NWSL champions Gotham FC, and MLS’ Philadelphia Union.

All Rights Reserved. 2022.
News...Straight to the point.
October 3, 2024
Get the Newsletter

Subscribe for the biggest stories in the business of sports and entertainment, daily.

A favorite for this year’s MLS Cup, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are officially set to kick off Round One of the playoffs on Friday, Oct. 25. Adding to the intrigue of Messi making his MLS Cup postseason debut, the match will be broadcast live on big screens in Times Square. Called the “Mega-Zilla,” the release describes the eventual set-up as a 78-foot by 330-foot digital TV display located on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets. Miami clinched home-field advantage and secured the top spot in the Eastern Conference after winning the coveted Supporters’ Shield, awarded to the club with the best regular season record. For those who can’t make it to New York City, the match will be aired exclusively on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV for free.

During Nike’s quarterly earnings call on Oct. 1, CFO Matt Friend confirmed that the line dedicated to the late Kobe Bryant had quadrupled its growth over the last 12 months. While the franchise includes numerous products and apparel items, sneakers pushed the line forward, with 15 different drops hitting retail in 2024 under the Kobe logo. Additionally, releases affiliated with New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu and her signature line multiplied “roughly five times,” per Friend. Ionescu has two signature sneakers with Nike.

TikTok is once again calling on one of the biggest names in music to help unveil new features on the app. After partnering with the social media app in May to highlight a different feature, Billie Eilish has been tapped to usher in a new TikTok add-on called “Flip Story.” It’s billed as an innovation where users can post an image, and then viewers can tap to “flip” and reveal a second image. TikTok used Eilish as its example in the trendy “how it started vs. how it’s going” memes with before and after shots of the preparations of Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft tour that began late last month.

Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz drew 43.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures obtained by Bloomberg. CBS News, which hosted the debate, led the coverage with nearly 9.6 million viewers, while Fox News took first place among cable channels, with more than 7.9 million gathering to watch on that platform. Tuesday’s number wasn’t enough to top the 2020 VP debate when Vice President Kamala Harris and then-Vice President Mike Pence garnered 57.9 million viewers across 18 networks.

After announcing Wednesday that its Artistic Director of nearly seven years, Hedi Slimane, would be stepping down, Celine has named Michael Rider as his successor. Rider, who had previously spent a decade at Celine before most recently serving as the Creative Director of Polo Ralph Lauren, will begin his new role early next year. “Celine is a maison with values very close to my heart and a beautiful heritage to build on. I am honored to come back and shape the future of the maison together with the Celine team,” said Rider.

Spotify has unveiled a solution for listeners who forget to download a playlist prior to boarding a plane. The audio platform announced Thursday the arrival of Offline Backup, a feature that when activated, automatically creates and downloads a playlist for offline use. Once created from a person’s queued and recently streamed songs, they can categorize the Offline Backup playlist by feeling or genre. Offline Backup rolled out in beta last year and is now accessible globally to Spotify Premium users.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt have reason to celebrate, as their latest project, Wolfs, just became the most-viewed film in the history of Apple TV+. According to Deadline, the flick increased viewership by roughly 30% week over week since its Sept. 27 premiere in over 100 countries. While Apple didn’t specify numbers, Deadline writes that the Jon Watts-directed movie made the biggest splashes in the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Italy, and Germany.

On Friday, Otis Redding, affectionately referred to as the “King of Soul,” will receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the announcement, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce shared that Redding’s daughter, Karla Redding, will represent the family and accept the honor. She will be joined by guest speeches from Grammy winners rapper Killer Mike and songwriter Jimmy Jam. On Wednesday, Variety exclusively revealed that John Boyega and Danielle Deadwyler were cast to portray Redding and his widow, Zelma Redding, in the forthcoming biopic Otis & Zelma.

Vinciane Ngomsi

Vinciane Ngomsi is a Staff Writer at Boardroom. She began her career in sports journalism with bylines at SB Nation, USA Today, and most recently Yahoo. She received a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Truman State University, and when she's not watching old clips of Serena Williams' best matches, she is likely perfecting her signature chocolate chip cookie recipe or preparing a traditional Cameroonian meal.