Sports Illustrated

Travel + Leisure Co. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2023 Results and Provides 2024 Outlook

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Travel and Membership revenue decreased 3% to $158 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in the prior year.

Key Points: 
  • Travel and Membership revenue decreased 3% to $158 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in the prior year.
  • At the end of the fourth quarter, the Company had $1.3 billion of liquidity in cash and cash equivalents and revolving credit facility availability.
  • The Company amended the credit agreement governing its $1 billion revolving credit facility and term loan B facilities on December 20, 2023.
  • Travel + Leisure Co. will hold a conference call with investors to discuss the Company’s results and outlook today at 8:30 a.m.

STRATA9 Announces John Barnshaw as its Managing Director

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 7, 2024

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- STRATA9, a leading social impact management consulting firm, proudly announces the appointment of John Barnshaw as its new Managing Director.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- STRATA9, a leading social impact management consulting firm, proudly announces the appointment of John Barnshaw as its new Managing Director.
  • Over the past 15 years, Dr. Barnshaw has cultivated extensive knowledge in higher education, ed-tech, workforce development, and management consulting.
  • Prior to joining STRATA9, John Barnshaw served as Vice President at Lightcast, a global leader in labor market analytics.
  • In addition to his professional accomplishments, John Barnshaw serves as a Research Affiliate for Innovation at Davidson College (NC).

New Athletes Blake Griffin, Shaun White, and Diana Flores; Sports Personalities Taylor Rooks, and Pablo Torre Confirmed to Appear at Stagwell's (STGW) Sport Beach 2024 During Cannes Lions

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 6, 2024

NEW YORK and CANNES, France, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, announced today additional athletes and brand partners confirmed to activate at Sport Beach 2024 (June 17-20), the flagship sports business destination at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (Cannes Lions). Six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin, three-time Olympic Gold medalist Shaun White, Mexican Captain and Flag Football star Diana Flores, and former NFL player and American Ninja Warrior host Akbar Gbajabiamila join Sport Beach and will participate in featured programming and appearances.  

Key Points: 
  • Stagwell previously announced the return of Sport Beach with athletes Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and more.
  • Leading sports media personalities Taylor Rooks and Pablo Torre also join Sport Beach's programming, bringing their unparalleled journalism and thought leadership to the week's conversations.
  • Previously, Stagwell announced the return of Sport Beach with athletes Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird, Hélio Castroneves, Brandon Marshall and Megan Rapinoe confirmed to attend.
  • "As leaders, innovators, and cultural influencers, Blake, Shaun, and Diana all represent what makes athletes dynamic and interesting in new ways," said Stagwell Chief Brand and Communications Officer Beth Sidhu.

U.S. Polo Assn. Sponsors SI The Party, Celebrating the Big Game in Vegas

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024

Headlined by The Chainsmokers, Kygo, and other special guests, SI The Party featured one of the Big Game weekend's most buzzed-about lineups ever.

Key Points: 
  • Headlined by The Chainsmokers, Kygo, and other special guests, SI The Party featured one of the Big Game weekend's most buzzed-about lineups ever.
  • "As a sport-inspired, global brand, this partnership for the Big Game is one that's a great match with the DNA of U.S. Polo Assn."
  • Sports Illustrated is synonymous with the celebration of sports; fans around the world and SI The Party was no exception.
  • The star-studded event to celebrate the Big Game Weekend invited fans to mingle with the who's who of the sports and entertainment worlds.

Manoj Bhargava Invests $12 Million More in The Arena Group

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Key Points: 
  • https://arenagroup.gcs-web.com/node/11216/html
    “This infusion of cash is needed to help The Arena Group transition to a profitable, multi-media business,” said Bhargava.
  • We’re not going anywhere.”
    This new $12 million investment will raise Simplify’s equity stake to 54.5% of The Arena Group.
  • The Arena Group continues to work with Authentic Brands Group (“Authentic”), the licensor of Sports Illustrated, to negotiate a new publishing license.
  • The proposed merger between Bridge Media Networks and The Arena Group would form a new company, The Arena Group Holdings, Inc.

Ads, food and gambling galore − 5 essential reads for the Super Bowl

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 9, 2024

I didn’t get a pass to media day, so I didn’t get a chance to ask Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about how he tends to his mustache.

Key Points: 
  • I didn’t get a pass to media day, so I didn’t get a chance to ask Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about how he tends to his mustache.
  • But my colleagues and I were able to ask an all-pro lineup of scholars to write about a range of football-related topics, from the partisan food divide to the numbers behind the biggest gambling bonanza in league history.

1. Flag, you’re it

  • A year ago, league officials decided to shake up the annual showcase.
  • It would no longer be a tackle football game.
  • But Woods points to a gender divide and a political divide that could end up clouding the sport’s future.

2. X’s, O’s and Z’s

  • In 2011, former NFL cornerback Sam Shields was a rookie playing for a Green Bay Packers team that had made the Super Bowl.
  • The night before the big game, he tossed and turned.
  • Something tells me I’d be a lot like Shields.

3. Going all in on gambling

  • Or maybe you’re betting on Reba McEntire’s national anthem to last longer than 90.5 seconds.
  • The country’s gambling mania has been aided, in part, by the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling that overturned a federal ban on sports betting.
  • The NFL has gone all in on its embrace of gambling, forging billion-dollar partnerships with the country’s top sportsbooks.
  • Read more:
    The Super Bowl gets the Vegas treatment, with 1 in 4 American adults expected to gamble on the big game

4. At least they aren’t serving donkey meat

  • And even the Super Bowl – one of the few communal events left in a polarized, atomized nation – can’t avoid the creep of partisanship.
  • Maybe you could just serve salmon – a food that, according to Dyck and Pearson-Merkowitz’s research, is “resistant to partisan cues.” Grim times, indeed.
  • Read more:
    Super Bowl party foods can deliver political bite – choose wisely

5. ByeDaddy

  • That’s one reason companies are willing to fork over so much cash for a coveted slot – as much as US$7 million for a 30-second spot.
  • Ferrell point out, many regulars on the airwaves of the Super Bowl, such as GoDaddy and Ford, are missing from this year’s lineup.
  • Read more:
    Super Bowl ads: It's getting harder for commercials to score with consumers

    This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.

The Super Bowl gets the Vegas treatment, with 1 in 4 American adults expected to gamble on the big game

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 8, 2024

A record 67.8 million American adults are expected to bet US$23.1 billion on Super Bowl LVIII, according to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult for the American Gaming Association.

Key Points: 
  • A record 67.8 million American adults are expected to bet US$23.1 billion on Super Bowl LVIII, according to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult for the American Gaming Association.
  • The estimated number of bettors has increased 35% from the previous Super Bowl, while the total amount being bet is estimated to have shot up from $16 billion in 2023.
  • Both figures would represent records – fitting for a Super Bowl held in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the U.S. For the NFL, partnering with sportsbooks has been a boon for business.

Staunch opposition

  • The NFL’s leadership, however, remained adamantly opposed to its broadcasting partners explicitly encouraging gambling.
  • So Snyder communicated the lines by predicting the final score, thereby allowing careful listeners to learn a point spread.
  • The routine lasted until 1988, when Snyder suggested that slavery had made Black players better athletes.
  • We have to make it clear to the athletes, the fans and the public, gambling is not a part of sport, period.” The measure passed.

More money, more problems?

  • Since then, more than 30 states have legalized sports gambling.
  • In 2021, the league announced seven companies, including BetMGM, Draft Kings and Caesars, as the league’s official gambling partners.
  • Even casual fans can’t miss the surge in gambling advertisements that now air during the games, all of which buttress the value of media rights.
  • Meanwhile, the NFL’s official sportsbook partners will fork over more than $1 billion to the league over the course of the five-year contract.
  • Gambling addictions are at an all-time high, likely spurred by the ease with which people can place bets from their phones.


Thomas Oates does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Travel + Leisure Co. Continues Brand Portfolio Expansion with Acquisition of Accor Vacation Club

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Key Points: 
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240130191390/en/
    Travel + Leisure Co. Continues Brand Portfolio Expansion with Acquisition of Accor Vacation Club (Photo: Business Wire)
    Under the terms of the deal, Travel + Leisure Co. will acquire Accor’s vacation ownership business, Accor Vacation Club , representing 24 resorts and nearly 30,000 members.
  • Travel + Leisure Co. also receives the exclusive rights to develop new vacation ownership clubs and products utilizing the Accor Vacation Club brand across a region including Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
  • Upon deal closing, the Accor Vacation Club business line will report into Barry Robinson, president and managing director of international operations for Travel + Leisure Co., based in the company’s Singapore office.
  • The addition of Accor Vacation Club to the Travel + Leisure Co. international portfolio increases its membership to more than 100,000 in the Asia Pacific region and grows its club resort count by approximately 40 percent to 77.

Slone Partners Places Dan Latore as CEO at Red Door Community

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 1, 2024

SOUTH RIDING, Va., Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Slone Partners, a nationwide executive search firm for life sciences, healthcare, and cybersecurity organizations, has announced the placement of Dan Latore as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Red Door Community, a New York City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a welcoming community of FREE cancer support to bring knowledge, hope, and empowerment to anyone and everyone impacted by cancer.

Key Points: 
  • "Dan Latore is exceptionally devoted to his profession and will be a tremendously valuable addition to the leadership team at Red Door Community," said Bridget Burke, Slone Partners' Senior Vice President & Practice Leader, Healthcare, Nonprofits & Social Impact.
  • "He is exceptionally devoted to his profession and will be a tremendously valuable addition to the leadership team at Red Door Community."
  • "We are thrilled to welcome Dan aboard at a very exciting time in Red Door's evolution," said John DiGiovanni , Chair of the Board of Directors at Red Door Community.
  • "It is with great confidence that I am stepping down as CEO knowing Dan will be the next CEO to lead our organization moving forward," said Lily Safani , Red Door Community's outgoing CEO.

Uproar PR Chosen as Agency of Record for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 29, 2024

Being held in Orlando, Florida, on February 3, 2024, the trials will determine who will run for Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Key Points: 
  • Being held in Orlando, Florida, on February 3, 2024, the trials will determine who will run for Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
  • Uproar’s strong connections with sports reporters nationally, locally and in trade publications make this partnership a natural fit.
  • “It’s crucial to have a team that knows what is important to both the media and community in the area.
  • The relationships our team has fostered over the past decade will make this project a success,” said Mike Harris, CMO of Uproar PR.