brands Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Tennessee Responds To Your Nike FOIAs And The Answer Is Super Shady
Wednesday, I asked those of you in Tennessee to submit a public records request on behalf of Deadspin because ours had been denied due to a chilling and arbitrary law limiting records requests to Tennessee residents only. I wanted copies of Tennessee's communication with Nike, because the universi...

Tennessee Won't Give Us Nike's Emails; Maybe They'll Give Them To You
The University of Tennessee recently decided to do away with calling nearly all its women's sports teams Lady Vols, a move that came at about the same time the university announced switching from Adidas to Nike for athletic apparel. Now, they are all Volunteers who will use the Power T logo—except f...

"Sports Analytics" Is Bullshit Now
The 9th annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics conference takes place this weekend, and you've likely noticed all the coinciding and ongoing coverage of the analytical side of sports. Some of these stories are illuminating explanations of what's going on at the vanguard of sports analysis; others bitch, ...

Greedy Dad Wants Free Stuff From MLB Teams Just Because He Has A Baby
There are many dads in America, and every day there are more. Many of these dads feel reasonably entitled to certain things—the right to put on their slippers and read the paper after work with their loyal hounds at their sides, for instance, or to just have a few minutes of peace and quiet, for C...

Kevin Durant Is Turning Into Drake Right Before Our Eyes
In case you haven’t noticed, Kevin Durant is making a transition. Tired of the unselfish, humble, respectful, One Of The Good Ones role he was involuntarily cast in when the sports press needed someone to hold up in opposition to the post-Decision LeBron, Durant is apparently in the midst of a publi...

Are "Maximalist" Running Shoes The Next Big Con? No One Knows!
Today, The New York Times has a piece out on the maximalist running shoe, a trend now old enough to warrant an article written with characteristically Times-ian remove from rigorous examination of its subject. The thing about these shoes, though, is that even if the Times had wanted to conduct a mor...

Read No More's Talking Points And Guide For How To Tweet Them Support
Are you ready for No More week? Guess what, it's coming! So are a bunch of tweets that read: "Learn about #NOMORE, a public awareness campaign making a difference in the lives of survivors." And probably people pointing you to this story about a domestic-violence hotline in the Dayton, Ohio area...

No More, The NFL's Domestic Violence Partner, Is A Sham
The brands have spoken, and they want you to know that domestic violence and sexual assault are bad. In fact, the brands not only think they’re bad, but have a theory as to why they persist: the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault don’t have a strong enough brand. So, to help get America ...

<i>SI</i> Nobly Accepts Ad Money To Put Normal-Sized Woman In Swimsuit Issue
Sports Illustrated has revealed the cover of its annual issue of Boobs: The Great Subsidy, and all the predictable heavy breathing that comes on a day like this has been joined by another kind of "buzz," as one might call it. Between now and the issue's publication date, you are probably going to se...

Do The NFL's Anti-Domestic Violence Initiatives Actually Even Exist?
As long ago as it now seems, it was only this past July when Roger Goodell decided to suspend Ray Rice for two games after the Baltimore Ravens running back cold-cocked his future wife in an Atlantic City casino elevator. There was outrage, but not enough to change the NFL commissioner's mind. He ...

Watch The Deadspin Super Bowl Ad That Was Too Hot For TV! (NSFW!)
You know the drill by now: Some dipshit company like GoDaddy or Carl's Jr. makes a lascivious Super Bowl ad, only to be bombarded with a host of last-second edits from the prudes in your average network's S&P department. And then they go ahead and post the uncut ad—highly NSFW (OOH!), like the one a...

Three More Sponsors Decide To Stop Supporting Slavery, Drop FIFA
Good news everybody! Three of FIFA's biggest sponsors—Johnson & Johnson, Castrol, and Continental Tires—confirmed to The Telegraph that they have cut their ties with FIFA, joining Sony and Emirates in declining to continue supporting slavery. As second-tier World Cup sponsors in 2014, the three co...

Coin Flip Photo Is A Nike Hoax
This photo was tweeted out by Nike, and then re-tweeted (without context) by ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. It's not real....

46 Times Vox Totally Fucked Up A Story
If you work in the media, you're going to get things wrong. Accuracy and timeliness are in conflict, and when you're dealing with vast amounts of information, accuracy will sometimes suffer. No one is happy about this, but it's how it is, and this is the tradeoff you implicitly accept when reading n...

You Do Not Fuck Around With FIFA's Logos
This will probably not come as a shock, but FIFA really, really cares about its brand. Sure, it's fine allying with slavers and shrugging at the deadly work conditions for "employees" in its host nations, and, when evidence of corruption in the World Cup bidding process is found, is more concerned...

Darren Rovell Bravely Defends The Brands From Richard Sherman
Yesterday, Seattle Seahawks corner/provocateur Richard Sherman used a mandated media availability (and a life-sized cardboard cutout of Doug Baldwin) to mock the NFL for fining Marshawn Lynch $100,000 for refusing to talk to reporters two weeks ago, for blatant hypocrisy, and for expecting its athle...

Chick-Fil-A Is Either On A Homicidal Rampage Or Bad At Twitter
So either a Chick-Fil-A employee forgot to log out of the company Twitter account before tweeting about his/her gaming exploits, or the pious chicken chain has snapped and is out here cruising the streets with a weapon, looking for blood, and super chipper about it....

Sony Ends FIFA Sponsorship, No Longer Supports Slavery
Following the footsteps of Emirates airlines, Sony has officially decided to end its sponsorship with FIFA. Some—but not all—of the brands are realizing, it seems, that supporting a group that supports any number of corrupt and nefarious practices isn't a good look....

Coca-Cola Supports Slavery
Someone should do something about the human rights catastrophe that is the 2022 World Cup! Qatari authorities, for example, are reportedly using North Korean slave labor to build infrastructure in preparation for the event. If only someone would put enough pressure on them, maybe they would not use ...

Cristiano Ronaldo Enjoys His Own Crotch, In Cake Form
Ah yes. We've reached the first anniversary of walking brand Cristiano Ronaldo's underwear line—which you may remember from our previous coverage. In celebration, Ronaldo's team has memorialized the occasion by baking him a cake. Of his bulging crotch....