Disney's Bob Iger has resigned from Apple's BOD as both companies ramp up efforts around OTT servicesGETTY IMAGES
Disney Chair & CEO BOB IGER has resigned from Apple's BOD. The move happened last Tuesday and was made public on Friday. Apple TV+ will launch in November and offer a "limited number of original television shows and films." Its arrival "puts Apple in the thick of Hollywood's so-called streaming wars." Disney owns Hulu, ESPN+ and the soon-to-be-launched Disney+ (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13).
TECH MONEY: Nets G SPENCER DINWIDDIE is "looking to convert" at least part of his three-year, $34M contract into a "digital investment deal that will lead to an upfront payment for himself." The move to "sell bonds in himself to get more money at his fingertips now" is the "first of its kind in the NBA and involves the securitization of his contract." Dinwiddie is "effectively trading away a portion of his future income through a digital coin-backed bond in exchange for an upfront cash payment." It is a "strategy that will allow him to invest more money earlier and, in theory, ultimately create more wealth" (N.Y. POST, 9/14).
OUTSIDE BASKETBALL: WNBA Minnesota Lynx F MAYA MOORE, who decided to sit out this season for personal reasons, has "spent a lot of her time away from the game trying to help" a family friend "get his conviction overturned." JONATHAN IRONS has been incarcerated since '97 after he was "convicted in the nonfatal shooting of a homeowner during a burglary." He is "serving a 50-year sentence" (AP, 9/16).
AMERICAN PASTIME: Prior to Red Sox-Phillies yesterday, 15 people were sworn in as U.S. citizens "along the first-base line at Citizens Bank Park." The moment was "part of an initiative organized by the federal court system" which, since '15, has been "hosting naturalization ceremonies in public places in the days and weeks surrounding the anniversary of the Constitution being signed." This year "more than 700 new citizens will be sworn in" at 11 ballparks, seven in the major leagues (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/16).
NAMES: A posthumous study of Hockey HOFer STAN MIKITA's brain shows that he suffered from CTE "at the time of his death last year." Mikita is the "eighth former NHL player diagnosed with CTE" (AP, 9/13)....USWNT members MEGAN RAPINOE, ROSE LAVELLE, MALLORY PUGH and ALLIE LONG on Friday night at the Gaithersburg Marriott Washington Center held a “discussion about youth sports and their relationship to girls’ confidence.” Washington Spirit MF ANDI SULLIVAN also participated (WASHINGTON POST, 9/14)....Pro Football HOFer ED REED is “working with Wells Fargo to donate $100,000 for the restoration and development of housing projects in West Baltimore.” Reed “presented the grant Friday morning at Booker T. Washington High School, alongside the Upton Planning Committee, elected officials, members of Wells Fargo and community leaders” (BALTIMORE SUN, 9/14)....Jazz G MIKE CONLEY on Saturday staged his 11th annual Bowl ‘N Bash to benefit the Methodist Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center in Memphis. Conley played for the Grizzlies from ’07-19 (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 9/15)....Longtime Wrigley Field organist GARY PRESSY, who began his Cubs career in ’87, has “decided to end his run at the conclusion of the season” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/15)....Mavericks G SETH CURRY and CALLIE RIVERS, daughter of Clippers coach DOC RIVERS, were married in Malibu on Saturday (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/15).
