Monthly Archives: July 2022

Art by DJ Skee, Gregory Siff Features All-Stars In New Limited Topps Set

DJ Skee and Gregory Siff, whose amazing artwork has graced numerous Topps baseball cards, take to the canvas again for the limited 2022 MLB All-Star Game set, available now through Thursday at 2 p.m. ET at https://www.topps.com/cards-collectibles/online-brands/2022-mlb-all-star-game.html.

The collection, limited to 2,500, includes rare and new foil parallels numbered to /499 and down, using eye-popping rainbow foil, cracked ice foil and lava foil technology.

Featuring four of MLB’s biggest stars seen through the eyes Skee and Siff, the Topps 2022 MLB All-Star Art Collection includes American League All-Stars Mike Trout and Aaron Judge and National League All-Stars Mookie Betts and Pete Alonso in the four player checklist of this limited edition release.

cover images: Aaron Judge by Gregory Siff, Mookie Betts by DJ Skee

For Soccer Ventures Announces 2022 Plans for Black Star To Extend Impact in Black Soccer Communities

For Soccer Ventures (FSV), an independent media and experiences company focused on the growth and long-term development of American soccer, today announced the calendar of events for Black Star. Launched in 2021 in Detroit and Los Angeles, the program is committed to celebrating the diversity of Black soccer culture, increasing access to the sport, and providing coaching and player development pathways, on and off the field. Black Star’s successful launch in 2021 allowed the program to reach many players, coaches, and families, while providing free soccer programming. A deepened and expanded presence is needed to continue supporting Black soccer communities to drive sustainable impact on a national level. In addition to soccer programming, Black Star strives to build community through content, storytelling, experiences, and capsule collections.

Starting in July, Black Star will host on-field soccer programming and pop-up events alongside local Black-owned businesses in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Los Angeles, and Houston. This year’s soccer programs will include youth clinics, U.S. Soccer Coaching Clinics and Talent ID Workshops, an HBCU Soccer ID Camp, and elite showcase ID programs in which players will have the opportunity to be evaluated for collegiate and professional soccer opportunities. Committed to growing the game across genders, Black Star’s first event in Washington, D.C. on July 23-24, 2022 will include a Girls Elite Showcase, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX. D.C. partner organizations include: U.S. Soccer, D.C. United, the Washington Spirit, DC SCORES, D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, and D.C. Cup. In addition, Black Star will focus on supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), teaming up with HBCU Soccer ID Camps in Houston to provide college soccer recruiting opportunities for players.

As part of the announcement, adidas, Paramount+, Buzzer, and Boyd Parker Sports Group’s HBCU Soccer ID Camps were revealed as official athletic apparel, media, corporate, and soccer partners, respectively.

“Black Star is grateful to have adidas, Buzzer, and Boyd Parker Sports Group’s HBCU Soccer ID Camps as partners. In addition, we are really excited to announce Paramount+ as Black Star’s partner in Washington, D.C., Houston, Detroit, and Los Angeles to help us in our important work of both growing the game and inspiring the next generation of youth and coaches in these communities.” – Patrick Rose, Director, Black Star

“We are proud to partner with Black Star as they continue the important work of promoting access and inclusion within the Black soccer community. At adidas, we believe that through sport we have the power to change lives and our Black Star partnership brings this ethos to life.” – Skate Noftsinger, Director, Sports Marketing Soccer North America at adidas

“Since day one, Buzzer, Strive and Black Star have been committed to leveling the playing field for the Black community. For Soccer Ventures’ plans for 2022 will increase access to the game of soccer on and off-the-field for HBCU students, women and youth. We are excited and proud to expand our partnership with the Black Star and know that we will continue to see great moments and long-term impact as a result.” – Dexter Mason, Head of Social Impact & DEI Strategy at Buzzer

The calendar for 2022 Black Star includes:
· Washington, D.C: July 23-24, 2022
· Detroit: September 24-25, 2022
· Los Angeles: November 12-13, 2022
· Houston: November 19-20, 2022

“The Black community has been foundational to the grassroots growth of soccer in the U.S., but until very recently, Black culture has been mostly excluded from domestic soccer culture. We’re excited to continue the work that we started in 2021 to partner with and support existing Black soccer programs through development and educational pathways, content and storytelling, and experiences that build community,” – Patrick Rose, Director, Black Star.

For registration and more information please visit www.blackstarsoccer.com and follow Black Star social media channels on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

SGPN Candidate For SBC’s Sports Media Company of Year

Sports Gambling Podcast Network (SGPN), the leading independent sports wagering analysis/prognostication content provider offering free user content, is among eight companies selected by SBC Awards 2022 as candidates for Sports Media Company of the Year. The announcement of the winner will take place Thursday as the third annual SBC Sports & Betting Conference Summit North America trade show culminates at Pier 60 in Manhattan, New York City.

SGPN’s competition in the category includes some of the most prominent and well-heeled companies in the sports media space, including American Affiliate, Better Collective, Catena North America, MediaTroopers, NBC Sports Next. Playmaker Capital, The Game Day and XLMedia. Almost all are backed by capital resources in the billions or tens of millions of dollars. By contrast, SGPN co-founders Sean Green and Ryan Kramer launched 10 years ago in Green’s one-car garage, taking advantage of new technology to push out their content inexpensively and begin building a following.

In 2017, Green won $200,000 in a DraftKings Fantasy Competition and SGPN used the money to turn the corner as a profitable, sustainable business. With the repeal of the Professional Sports and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) that following year, SGPN was well positioned to seize the moment and grow the enterprise that now includes 60 contributors and 23 different podcasts providing analysis and selections on 18 wagerable sports plus special events. SGPN is headquartered at a state-of-the-art studio in Los Angeles.

Other companies that are shortlisted in various categories at the SBC Awards North America 2022 include: Circa Resort & Casino, DraftKings, FanDuel, Penn Interactive, PointsBet, BetMGM, Resorts Digital Gaming and Rush Street Interactive. Awards will be presented in 27 categories as the highlight of the summit finale in front of 600-plus industry executives following two days of events, symposiums and networking sessions at Meadowlands Exposition Centre in Northern New Jersey.

“This is as big as it gets in our industry,” said Green, a Philadelphia-area native. “We are going up against some of the biggest brands in the space. We started with personal seed money and have continued to grow through traditional channels. Our candidacy for Sports Media Company of the Year is a testament to all the hard work everyone at SGPN has put in over the last 10 years to deliver a high-quality experience for our followers.”

“This is a great way to celebrate our 10th anniversary,” added Kramer, who hails from the North Jersey community of Scotch Plains. “We believed we could package sports wagering information in an insightful and entertaining way and it has caught on. It’s awesome to see our efforts being recognized.”

“With such strong competition among the Awards entrants, just making it on to the shortlists is a real mark of quality, so it will be fascinating to learn who our expert judges select as the big winners on the night,” said Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC.

The SBC Awards North America Awards is the culmination of a week of events at the SBC Summit North America, the biggest conference and trade show for the sports betting and iGaming industries in the US and Canada. The awards recognize the achievements of operators, affiliates and suppliers from all the major disciplines including payments, marketing, platform providers and data.

Ready® Earns Full Distribution at Walmart; Ready® Bars Set for National Launch

Ready® (@ready_nutrition), one of the fastest growing sports nutrition companies in America with co-owners Aaron Donald and Giannis Antetokounmpo, continues to rapidly expand its national distribution with the June 24th launch of its Ready® Protein Bars in over 4,400 Walmart locations nationwide.

After less than a year in approximately 25% of Walmart stores, America’s largest grocery retailer notified Ready® it had earned full distribution with its performance that includes all 50 states.

Ready® Bars can be found in Walmart’s Cereal and Snack Aisle, packaged in convenient, 5-Count Boxes. Flavors include Chocolate Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond, Vanilla Swirl and Chocolate Chip. The all-natural, Project Verified Non-GMO Bars feature 15 grams of protein and seven grams of fiber and are gluten free.

Ready® Bars aren’t the only Ready® products sold in Walmart stores. The retailer also carries the brand’s Ready® Sports Drink flavors in select stores across 20 states.

“We’re excited that our Ready® Bars resonated so quickly with Walmart shoppers and our sales performance earned the opportunity for full distribution.” said Ready® founder and CEO, Pat Cavanaugh. “We look forward to introducing our brand and bars to millions of Walmart shoppers looking for a healthier, better-for-you, science-based snack bar.”

Heritage Auctions Proudly Presents the Greatest Muhammad Ali Collection Ever to Step in the Ring

Troy Kinunen didn’t set out to assemble one of the world’s greatest Muhammad Ali collections; far from it. He was once solely a baseball fan, a former Little Leaguer who idolized Ruth, Mantle, Cobb, Gehrig. He coveted their keepsakes, their cards and signatures. But even decades ago, their treasures were out of reach, too expensive for a young man beginning his journey as a collector.

When Kinunen attended a New York sports memorabilia convention in 1988 and bought his first Ali piece – a poster from his Nov. 14, 1966, fight with Cleveland Williams at Houston’s Astrodome – he picked it up only because it was one of the few items he could afford.

“It was colorful, it was cardboard, it was kind of small, and I thought I could display it,” says Kinunen, president and CEO of MEARS Authentications. “And a kind of light bulb went on at that very moment.”

He would spend the next three decades amassing more than 1,600 items tied to the legend of Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali. Things Ali wore and signed during (and often after) his most memorable, immortal and infamous fights –robes, gloves, trunks, even mouthpieces (including the one from The Rumble in the Jungle!) over which he uttered those infinitely quoted taunts and jeers. Every single poster, save for one, displayed in the venues in which those 61 bouts took place. Every ticket and every pass to every bout. And every photo he could find, among them some of the earliest taken of the kid from Kentucky named Cassius.

Here, too, are the seemingly impossible to obtain keepsakes Ali accrued during his sojourn from Golden Gloves great to The Greatest, among them the elaborately embroidered prayer cap gifted to him before 1975’s Thrilla in Manila and the red robe worn before his first fight with Joe Frazier in 1971.

Kinunen’s entire Ali collection is now available to the public for the first time, as this historic assemblage serves as the centerpiece of Heritage Auctions’ July 21-23 Summer Sports Catalog Auction.

“Quite simply, it is the most comprehensive Muhammad Ali collection ever to come to auction,” says Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage. “What Troy has done here is tell Ali’s life story with treasures that were present for every bout and every brag and every historic highlight in between. It’s one of the most extraordinary collections we have ever been honored to offer.”

Kinunen will be the first to admit: When he bought that first poster, he knew little about Ali outside of his appearance in ABC’s Wide World of Sports opening sequence and what he’d read in grade-school primers. But in time that flicker grew into an all-consuming flame, beginning with Kinunen’s run-ins with Ali at conventions, where he saw The Champ, slowed by age and Parkinson’s, still interact with fans just as he had decades earlier – posing for photos, sparring and shuffling with the wide-eyed and the awestruck, teasing and taunting everyone like they were Howard Cosell with a mic.

“The lightning bolt hit me, and I was fully dedicated to collecting him,” Kinunen says. “I had never seen anything like that. It was so inspirational, so special, to witness it.”

Soon after Kinunen began taking out classified ads in Louisville, Ken., seeking keepsakes Ali might have given to hometown folks who knew the young Cassius Clay. The result was a goldmine of treasures offered by old friends and acquaintances to whom Ali had given the robe off his back or the gloves off his hands.