🏟 Michael Jordan is back!

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MICHAEL JORDAN IS BACK!

It’s not often Michael Jordan appears in a brand campaign these days.

He’s barely even seen on the @Jumpman23 IG feed.

This nostalgic campaign brings back Gatorade's iconic “Is It In You?” tagline from the 90s and 2000s.

The brand’s marketing team flexed all their muscles with MJ’s narration, appearances by their signature athletes Caitlin Clark, Jayson Tatum and A’ja Wilson and licensed footage from their league partners (NFL, NBA, WNBA). They even secured an IG collab post with Travis Scott (55.6M+ followers!) as they licensed his “FE!N” song for the ad.

Props to the Gatorade team for this great commercial spot.

I’m grabbing a blue cherry flavor right after I finish writing this.

QUICK READS AND LINKS ICYMI:

• 💰 NCAA and Power 5 have agreed to allow schools to directly pay players for the first time in the 100-plus-year history of college sports. All Division I athletes dating back to 2016 are eligible to receive a share as part of the settlement class.

• 👟 Kyrie Irving announces his lifestyle shoe with Anta. His signature Anta basketball shoe, the Kai 1, first launched in March and since then, colorways of the sneaker have regularly sold out. The superstar guard also serves as the Chinese sportswear brand’s Chief Creative Officer as he looks to lead the Mavericks to their first NBA Championship since 2011.

• ⚽️ Northern Super League is announced as the official new name of Canada's professional women's soccer league. The new season will begin in spring of 2025 with six founding clubs from Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

• 🏈 SBV and United Football League are partnering to amplify new job opportunities at the UFL. The UFL is a fan-first, fast-paced professional football league, with an ownership group that includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and has a media rights partnership with Fox and ESPN. The UFL and their 8 team franchises are rapidly growing and hiring for various roles that'll be shared on SBV's platforms.

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WE HAVE OUR EYES AND EARS ON THE FOLLOWING:

• 🎾 Serena Williams announces July 10th as the premiere date for her eight-part docuseries “In The Arena: Serena Williams” on ESPN+. The following day, she will be hosting the 2024 ESPYs at the Dolby Theatre in LA.

• 🏈 Beginning in 2025, the NFL will be able to schedule up to eight international regular season games per season. The league's global expansion strategy is considering regular season games in Abu Dhabi, Australia, Japan and Italy.

• 🎟 The US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation for alleged violations of antitrust laws. Concerts and sports event tickets have soared in recent years but this is likely to be a long trial before concertgoers and sports fans see any type of relief.

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