Dez Reads. Pitbull Stadium (!), Crypto Lobbying, the Death of Cable, and Olympic Shooters (Two Ways).

Happy Friday to everyone, especially the four new talents we added to our team at Dezenhall this week. You can read a note from Anne Marie and me here about how we identify talent and how Maggie Johnston, David Manitsky, Nathaniel Beach and Helen Taylor are going to help push our firm to the next level.

I’m back from vacation in the ultra-remote Isle Royale National Park, and in summary, it was the Pine Barrens episode of Sopranos, but with two pre-teens and 90-degree temperatures. Suffice it to say, I’m glad to dive back into the news.

This week, Mark Emerson and I highlight some memorable Olympic moments, Mike Bova tracks crypto’s rising influence in DC, and Dezenhall COO Maya Shackley makes her Dez Reads debut with a look at a man near and dear to her heart – Pitbull – as he slaps his name on a football stadium and continues to diversify away from churning out reggaeton bangers.

Enjoy your weekends, and hopefully a somewhat sleepy August as we round out our summers.

Here we go.

Business.

Bleacher Report. Pitbull Buys Naming Rights to FIU's Football Stadium in $6M Contract Agreement

Remember Pitbull? We’ve long been fans of Mr. Worldwide, Lil’ Chico, Mr. 305. From 2011 to 2015, you couldn’t escape him.  Mr. Ubiquitous was dropping monthly hits and collaborating with everyone from Enrique Iglesias “I Like It,” to Christina Aguilera “Feel This Moment.”  He took unknown artists like Ne-Yo and Nayer and with his Midas touch propelled their song “Give Me Everything” to their first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single.

In the years since, he’s been less prolific, or so it seemed.  He simply turned his attentions to reggaeton, Latin hip-hop, pop and ventures outside of music. He bought Voli Vodka and renamed it “Voli 305 Vodka.”  He became co-owner of the NASCAR Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing and an investor of the restaurant chain Cilantro Taco Grill.

His latest venture is perhaps his most interesting – a $6 million deal for the naming rights to Florida International University’s football stadium. The Panthers home turf will now be known as “Pitbull Stadium,” and Pitbull himself will be referred to as the “Official Entrepreneur of FIU Athletics.” He will create an FIU anthem that will be played at all FIU athletic events and his namesake spirit will be a preferred vodka distributed at the stadium and stadium club.  While he may have receded from the music charts, he certainly hasn’t called it quits; rather, he’s wisely diversified, making sure he lives up to his moniker.  Dale!

– Maya Shackley

Politics.

POLITICO. Crypto interests drop $13M on lobbying in first half of 2024

It looks like the crypto industry is still willing to play the DC game, with the latest lobbying disclosures showing key businesses and trade associations have poured almost $13 million into influence efforts during the first half of the year, according to an analysis by POLITICO. This number puts them on track to spend roughly the same as they spent in 2023, the year after the collapse of FTX and the same year that saw another major crypto player’s CEO resign and be sentenced to prison. The publicly traded crypto exchange, Coinbase, was the industry’s biggest spender, with $1.9 million in lobbying expenditures. With more politicians and regulators realizing that crypto is here to stay, the industry is making the smart move to try to discuss the regulatory framework instead of waiting to be punished by it.

Despite some major headwinds over the past two years, the rally in digital assets has put some wind in the crypto industry’s sails, culminating in hosting a major party’s presidential nominee — former President Donald Trump — at an industry event over the weekend.

– Mike Bova

Entertainment.

FT. TV groups slash cable network valuations

We all know that streaming is ascendant and traditional cable TV is in freefall. Now we have some compelling numbers to back it up.

This week, Paramount (MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central) and Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN, HGTV, Food Network) slashed the valuations of their cable channels by a combined $15 billion. Gone are the days of these networks serving as cash cows for media companies seeking to expand into film, amusements and other entertainment offerings. Cable is now an albatross for legacy firms, and as we have seen with the extremely rocky rise of streaming, success is far from certain as companies like Paramount seek to pivot and/or sell themselves or their spare parts.

– Josh Culling

Sports.

Yahoo! Sports. Paris Olympics: Stephen Curry leads Team USA out of 17-point hole to beat Serbia, reach gold medal game

Did you catch the semifinal men’s Team USA basketball game yesterday? If not, you missed a forever timeless hardwood classic. Team USA faced off against Serbia in a semifinal that had everything you could want from Olympic basketball: star power, fierce competition, and a comeback for the ages.

Curry was in MVP form, dropping 36 points and hitting nine threes, including the go-ahead three-pointer with just over two minutes left. LeBron was everywhere—racking up a triple-double and playing every second of the fourth quarter. Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, a nine-time NBA champion as a player and coach said, “It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of.” This was one of those rare moments when the three best NBA players came together to do what they do best, just when we needed it most and in dramatic fashion.

To wrap up this soon-to-be 30-for-30 is the final gold medal game between Team USA’s biggest Olympic rival and home team, France. This is must-watch TV, but let’s be real—they should be rolling through the competition.

– Mark Emerson

Culture.

NPR. A conspicuously dressed-down shooter won Olympic silver. Then he went viral.

Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec, who won a silver medal in the air pistol mixed team competition in Paris, is my favorite athlete of all time.

In fact, “athlete” is how he lists his occupation on his Olympic bio page. He lists one hobby: dancing. But most notably, this eccentric medalist gives off an air of complete nonchalance while competing at the highest levels of his sport, clad in what appears to be a T-shirt and jeans, one hand in his pocket, seeming almost annoyed to be there.

In a world where athletes have become so obsessed with optimizing every aspect of their performance, give me the grumpy dancing athlete.

– Josh Culling