Week in Review
The most impactful moves I'm seeing each week across sports, media, content & general culture.
If you read 1 article from this newsletter, skim through this on “the future of TV content”.
I’ve written about TBPN a bunch, but between TBPN & The Pat McAfee Show, the future of daily live-stream shows is built for Instagram / YouTube / X (where viewers can see their tweets / comments read live…they are a part of the story) and then post-stream, the video editing teams will fire off the clips that flood your feed.
These shows are “niche” (you don’t need to serve everyone; a hyper-engaged audience > a larger, but passive fanbase), have high-profile guests, and live on YouTube for full stream if you want to watch later on.
The Chicago Bulls had the NBA’s first “Creator Game Takeover” with YouTuber Jesser (37m subscribers). A pioneering initiative; this is awesome for the game, awesome for kids, and shows us the power that content creators have in 2026.
NHL Players 🤝 Substack — first I’ve read about a Substack from an NHLer, love to see it.
Just another example of legacy media 🤝 content creators. Nature & Science, specifically, feel so niche that creators are authentically so invested in their area of expertise —> genuine & fun content.
Above, we got the Chi-town Bulls & Nat Geo opening the door to work with content creators; NY Times coincidentally published this article ⬇️ about leagues doing so. It’s not just leagues; it’s every big company, team & brand in 2026.
Netflix is getting more into music concerts. Similar to their “marquee events” approach to the sports they stream, they seem to be translating that to music concerts.
It’s Harry’s first live performance of his new album, Kiss All the Time.
Shoutout to this kid Jeston for finding a really creative way to pitch Notion to be an intern…these social media platforms are your outlets.
Love what Vogue’s been doing. They understand their community really well and they’re being super intentional and thoughtful with the content / events they are putting on.
I wrote about this trend of tapping athletes, musicians, celebs to be Creative Directors. Instead of traditional endorsements, brands continue to partner with the talent themselves to boost the storytelling and reach.
Another “adjacent to the ‘Creative Director’ move”. Music AI company taps Charlie Puth for reach, credibility, and for his deep knowledge.
MSG has truly embraced the popping NY brands over the last few years — they’ve done collabs with KITH, Siegelman Stable & New York or Nowhere. And I always love the sports x fashion crossovers.
Cosm is changing the game with what I call “experiential content”.
Fans are raving about NBC’s throwback NBA broadcast. We love nostalgia.
In one way or another, every company is a media company. And similarly, every human might be a media company too 🤔?
Partnerships are more than just clothing drops in 2026…The Kith On team will compete in its first race in April in NYC.
In a world oversaturated with content, this is the full-circle power of “physical” marketing.
There are no limits on what people / brands can do in this modern age we’re in.
Another example supporting this thesis I’m continuing to hone in on that “sports are the center of culture”. All these new heavily funded AI companies understand the exposure in sports marketing.
For sports fans, Omaha (Peyton Manning’s production company) does a great job of providing a podcasting platform to the most plugged-in sources in football & now baseball.
Just a really cool idea here — think fans will love this entertainment.
MH