This article was originally published on December 21st, 2018.
Here is this week's dose of “5-Point Friday”. A weekly round-up of the sports news and stories that I find most interesting and enjoyable.
Article I have been reading -
How Adidas is evolving dark social to stay ahead of the game (Marketing Week). Sarah Vizard (@scviz) gives a great insight into Adidas soccer and how it is evolving its marketing strategy to build a community. Utilizing the launch of its first app to grow the brand and stay ahead of its competitors. The success can be seen as the Adidas brand made it into the top 100 global brands for the first time in 2018, according to Kantar Millward Brown’s BrandZ report. Also seeing its value growing by 50% year on year to $12.5bn.
Baseball news that interests me -
The MLB and Cuba's Baseball Federation have reached a deal to let Cuban players sign with MLB teams despite the diplomatic tensions. Eligible Cuban players can now join MLB teams without defecting, in a deal similar to those with Asian leagues. The MLB has also agreed to pay Cuba's Federation a percentage of signing bonuses that Cuban players receive. The deal is designed to stem the trafficking of Cuban athletes.
What I've been watching -
I took the time to watch Bradley Bethel's ‘Unverified: The Untold Story Behind the UNC Scandal.' The 2016 documentary looks to offer the story of the “other side” of the UNC academic-athletic scandal. Bethel said that he hoped to correct what he called the media’s sensationalism of the scandal. Offering the human side of the scandal, through personal interviews with Bethel’s close friends and former athletic tutors Beth Bridger and Jaimie Lee.
E-Sport news that intrigues me -
Gaming giant Blizzard announced that they will be pulling the plug on "Heroes of the Storm" E-sports plans. The news came as a shock to hundreds of players and broadcasters, many of whom say they now find themselves out of income streams with no warning.
“We are troubled by the way the announcement was made; namely the impolitic choice to use social media to share such a message that effectively ended the careers of hundreds of players, content creators, casters, production crews overnight - and broke the hearts of countless fans,” wrote Darrie (@MethodDarrie), the general manager of esports team Method.
Basketball game I attended -
On Monday, I joined sixteen thousand others at the Staples Center, to see the Clippers host the Trail Blazers. Portland started strong, cruised to a 15-point lead in the first quarter. Things went crazy in the fourth quarter when the Clippers fought back from 18 points, however, it wasn't enough as the Trail Blazers held on to win 131-127.
Sending you and yours much love for a joyous holiday season!
Jonathan
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