Entertainment, Media & Sports · Week of Nov 2, 2026
Athlete and team deals lead the week in entertainment and sports
Sports dealmaking led the week, with DICK'S signing Caitlin Clark and Dodge naming Kaulig Racing for its NASCAR Cup return, alongside retail and event news.
Sports partnerships accounted for the largest items this week. DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. says it has signed Caitlin Clark to a multi-year, exclusive deal covering both DICK'S and Foot Locker, the first athlete brand partner for either banner. In motorsport, Kaulig Racing named AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon as drivers for its program as the anchor team for Dodge's return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027. Avive Solutions added a smaller event sponsorship, supplying AEDs to Nebraska's Good Life Halfsy.
Elsewhere, Outlaw Partners set two John Summit Experts Only headline shows in Big Sky, Montana, for March 2027, and RCMA Makeup, a professional film and theater brand, entered its first beauty retail partnership through Ulta Beauty Marketplace. The week's releases also included network automation work from Verizon and Ericsson, an FDA clearance for FX Shoulder Solutions and a devotional title from WestBow Press, items outside the topic's core.
DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc.
DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. Signs Caitlin Clark as First-Ever Brand Partner Across DICK'S and Foot Locker
DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. signed basketball player Caitlin Clark to a multi-year, exclusive brand partnership spanning DICK'S and Foot Locker, announced Nov. 4, 2026, with no financial terms disclosed. The company says it is the first time either banner has signed an athlete as a brand partner, with plans for national and global campaigns, promotion of her signature products and fan activations.
Ericsson
Verizon and Ericsson partner to transform AI-native Autonomous Networks
Verizon and Ericsson expanded their collaboration on AI-driven radio access network automation, with Verizon planning a nationwide rollout of the Ericsson Intelligent Controller this year. The companies say field-deployed rApps such as the AAS Cell Shaper delivered gains of up to 8.9% on downlink data radio bearer throughput and up to 8% on uplink UE throughput, and that the work advances Verizon's network autonomy toward L4.
Outlaw Partners
John Summit Brings Experts Only to Big Sky for Two Headline Shows, March 13-14, 2027
Outlaw Partners will produce two John Summit Presents Experts Only Big Sky headline shows at the Big Sky Events Arena in Montana on March 13 and 14, 2027, with presale beginning November 10 and public on-sale November 11 at 10 a.m. MT. The release says it will be Summit's first performance in Montana and the only Experts Only ski weekender in the U.S. in 2027.
Stellantis
Kaulig Racing Tabbed as Flagship Team for Dodge Return, Allmendinger, Dillon Named Drivers for 2027
Kaulig Racing named AJ Allmendinger, 44, in the No. 16 and Ty Dillon, 34, in the No. 10 for its 2027 NASCAR Cup Series program as the anchor team for Dodge, which last competed in the series in 2012. Dodge will reveal its 2027 livery Dec. 4 at the 59th annual Snowball Derby, via livestream on FloRacing and the NASCAR channel.
RCMA Makeup
RCMA Makeup, A Fixture in Professional Kits Since 1963, Launches on Ulta.com
RCMA Makeup, founded in 1963, launched nearly its full range on Ulta.com and the Ulta Beauty app through Ulta Beauty Marketplace, its first beauty retail partnership in 63 years. The company says the move extends products long used by film, television and theater makeup artists to consumers beyond professional channels and its own website.
FX Shoulder Solutions
FX Shoulder Solutions Makes History with FDA Clearance of Easytech Reversed®, the First-and-Only Stemless Reverse Shoulder System in the United States
FX Shoulder Solutions received FDA 510(k) clearance for Easytech Reversed®, which the company says is the first and only FDA-cleared stemless reverse shoulder arthroplasty system in the United States. The clearance follows a US IDE study that began in 2018 and involved 90 patients at seven sites.
Avive Solutions, Inc.
Avive Named First Aid Sponsor of the Good Life Halfsy, Nebraska's Largest Half Marathon
Avive Solutions, Inc. is First Aid Sponsor of the 2026 Good Life Halfsy in Lincoln, Nebraska, providing 25 Avive Connect AED®s to be carried by medical volunteers on the course. The company says the 13th annual event has 9,500 registered runners and expects more than 20,000 spectators.
WestBow Press
New Devotional Guides Readers Through 28 Days of the Apostle Paul's Prayers
WestBow Press published Gary P. Rohrmayer's "Deeper Prayer," a 28-day devotional examining the Apostle Paul's prayers in chronological order, in softcover, hardcover and electronic editions. The book is aimed at individual and group study and includes an appendix of tools for church-wide or denominational prayer initiatives.
This roundup is written with AI assistance from the press releases listed above, using only what they state. The releases are the companies' own announcements, not DataCult reporting.