Meek Mill, Brooklyn Nets, & New York Liberty Team up For REFORM Alliance Event
Twenty-five children adversely impacted by the criminal justice system had a Saturday night at the Barclays Center they won’t soon forget. The event was organized by the REFORM Alliance, a non-profit co-founded by rapper Meek Mill that features a star-powered set of founding partners including Jay-Z, CNN’s Van Jones, and Nets and Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai. As part of the evening, the kids received a gift card to the Fanatics gift shop and an all-around VIP experience at Barclays. It is the second such event that Meek Mill has put on this week – having hosted another set of youth at his hometown 76ers game and distributing $500,000 worth of gifts to Philadelphia families.
ESPN, Disney-Owned Channels Go Dark on Google Platforms
YouTube TV users will be scrambling to catch their favorite teams for the foreseeable future. Negotiations between Google and Disney broke down on Saturday, as their contract expired, leaving all YouTube TV subscribers without the ESPN properties and many more channels. In an official statement, Google expressed its disappointment in the result of the negotiations and the gap in its services and will issue a $15 credit to all subscribers so long as the outage stands.
Adidas Brings In $23M in Sell-Out NFT Drop
Adidas launched its first NFT line on Saturday. After a pre-sale brought in $15.5 million, the general launch added another $7.5 million in sales of 30,000 NFTs. The drop is the byproduct of a collaboration between Adidas, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gmoney, and Punks, which was revealed last week. Eager collectors had to wait a little bit, as there was a slight glitch with the rollout that caused Adidas to pause the sale briefly. Even with the technical struggles, the drop sold out nearly immediately.
Stanford’s Naomi Girma Selected as NWSL’s Top Pick
The NWSL is in the midst of a season of monumental growth, and its next generation of stars heard their names called yesterday as the NWSL draft took place. Stanford star defender Naomi Girma was selected first by the San Diego Wave. Girma was voted the 2020 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. In San Diego, she will get mentorship from some of the USWNT’s best in Abby Dahlkemper and Alex Morgan.
Serena Williams and Michael B. Jordan and Grant TracFlo with Top Award at Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic Startup Pitch Competition
TracFlo, the online platform that allows contractors to track the flow of their costs, has been awarded $1 million from Serena Ventures and MaC Ventures ahead of Saturday’s Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic basketball showcase. The goal of the competition was to give current students or alumni from HBCUs the chance to win money in structured investments from both firms. Khalid David, TracFlo’s CEO, was presented a $1 million check at halftime by Michael B. Jordan, Serena Williams, and MaC Ventures’ Michael Palanck.
Jake Paul Stays Undefeated with Woodley KO
Jake Paul put on a wild show in Tampa on Saturday night, improving his boxing record to 5-0. In a rematch of August’s split decision, Paul definitively knocked out former UFC World Champion Tyron Woodley in the Showtime pay-per-view event. The two boxers are expected to bring in over $2 million for the appearance. Earlier in the night, NBA All-Star Deron Williams took down retired Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore in a split decision.
Bishop Sycamore Revealed as a Scam Following State-Sponsored Investigation
In one of 2021’s most bizarre storylines, an investigation by the Ohio Department of Education has revealed that Bishop Sycamore is a scam. The high school’s football team made national headlines in August when they were blown out 58-0 by the IMG Academy on ESPN and reports quickly ensued highlighting a number of major issues confronting the school’s staff and its overall legitimacy as an educational institution. As details emerged, the story gained traction, and the rights to the story were purchased by SMAC Entertainment, co-founded by Michael Strahan.