<\/p>\n
\n\tAs the worlds of entertainment and sports continue to overlap, Variety<\/em> held its inaugural<\/a> Sports & Entertainment Studio in New York, featuring Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson<\/a>, NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson<\/a> and ESPN studio analyst Jay Williams<\/a>, as well as top executives from State Farm, PepsiCo and Teads.<\/p>\n \n\tOn July 16, Variety<\/em> reporters Joe Otterson, Marlow Stern and Brian Steinberg led conversations in the New York City studio about the players\u2019 and executives\u2019 respective careers, growing sport fandoms, and how networks and brands can collaborate and connect to better reach consumers during an explosive time for media.<\/p>\n \n\tTop players like Wilson are often tapped to provide commentary and expertise for weekly programs, such as CBS Studios\u2019 \u201cThe NFL Today,\u201d giving fans an inside look into gameplay strategy and the reality of playing in high-pressure games aired around the world. But they also recognize the current missed opportunities in the marketplace.<\/p>\n \n\tRead below for a recap of Variety<\/em>\u2018s conversations with the leaders across sports and entertainment.<\/p>\n \n\tRussell Wilson, Super Bowl Champion Quarterback, Entrepreneur, Sports\u00a0Owner\u00a0and Philanthropist\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tRussell Wilson has had quite the busy year, announcing his retirement from the NFL in June to move to CBS Sports as a broadcaster for the network\u2019s Sunday pregame show. The record-breaking quarterback\u2019s varied career allows his commentary to tap into what is really going on in a player\u2019s mind. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything I can\u2019t talk about, meaning I\u2019ve had all the highs, I\u2019ve had some of the lows,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI\u2019ve won a Super Bowl, I\u2019ve also been in an unfortunate situation of not being able to win one. So all those experiences I think you use.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWilson compares being a quarterback to the responsibility a CEO of any organization might face. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly speaking to people, but also, too, you\u2019re constantly leading people,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you come into the huddle, there\u2019s ten other guys in the huddle. And everybody has different socioeconomic statuses. Everybody\u2019s a different size, everybody has different years and experience. Everybody has different talents.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWilson also spoke about how his work with CBS Sports allows him to tip his hat to the game and say thank you, both to his biggest fans and to those who doubted him along the way. \u201cTo be the second Black quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl, that\u2019s history,\u201d he reflected while speaking to his accomplishments.<\/p>\n \n\tJimmie Johnson,\u00a07-time NASCAR Cup Champion and Team Owner, Legacy Motor Club\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tJimmie Johnson found himself accomplishing many of his dreams early on in his NASCAR racing career, from landing a Cup Series job to winning a race himself. Now at the age of 50, Johnson has joined TNT Sports as a studio analyst while still racing in select events.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur sport has done an incredible job of creating parity and equality on the track. I think there\u2019s been a lot of variables over the years thrown at motor sports in general,\u201d Johnson said, noting that from 2010 to 2020 there was a significant decline in motor sports\u2019 popularity. \u201cBut as it turns out, timing is in a really good place for NASCAR. We\u2019re still the second-largest viewed sport in America and the largest attended. And so although we\u2019re not where our peak once was \u2014 I think the only exception to that is the NFL \u2014 [considering] all other sports and how the consumer has changed the way they digest anything, NASCAR is holding its own.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhile NASCAR races thrive on fans wanting to experience their favorite drivers go head-to-head in person, Johnson said the industry \u201cis a little behind\u201d on staying connected through different forms of media: \u201cWe see these reality TV shows pop up in sports and out. People want to look behind the curtain, and finding the right creative storytelling is everything. And that\u2019s how you capture someone on their device, it\u2019s how you get them to watch on television, that\u2019s how you get them to the event.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tKristyn Cook,\u00a0EVP and\u00a0Chief Agency, Marketing and Sales Officer,\u00a0State Farm; and Carolyn Braff, Head of Sports and Entertainment, PepsiCo<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tAs top executives at State Farm and PepsiCo, Kristyn Cook and Carolyn Braff know they have to meet consumers where they\u2019re at. So naturally, they get into the business of sports, with milestone events like the World Cup and Super Bowl providing extra incentives to buy out ad space and collaborate with various teams.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt is becoming harder and harder to reach big groups of consumers at the same time,\u201d Braff said. \u201cYou have to find places where you\u2019ve got large swaths of people paying attention. Sports is a great place to do that. Now, once you\u2019ve got that huge group of consumers, you have to talk to them as individuals and not a large swath.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCook noted that State Farm has found success leaning into fan connections with their favorite athletes, including partnerships with Patrick Mahomes from the NFL and Chris Paul from the NBA. \u201cPeople really tune into the athletes, and we\u2019re there for it,\u201d Cook said.<\/p>\n \n\tJay Williams,\u00a0ESPN Personality \/ Entrepreneur & Investor\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWhen Jay Williams\u2019 NBA career was halted back in 2003 due to a near-fatal motorcycle accident, he quickly had to learn the art of pivoting as a businessman. Now, as he sees \u201csports valuations\u201d continuing to rise, the ESPN studio analyst and media personality is focused on trying to turn Las Vegas into the \u201cMecca\u201d of basketball.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t expect anybody to give anything to me because of the color of my skin,\u201d Williams said of his desire to pursue an NBA expansion franchise, noting the achievements of previous Black owners like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Grant Hill. \u201cI want to actually do it on the merit of my character and actually the capital that we have raised behind what our overall value proposition is to the league.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNow, Williams finds himself going up against the likes of former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital CEO Joshua Kushner, but he\u2019s \u201calways open\u201d to healthy competition. \u201cThe road has been laid out for more athletes and entertainers who have played this sport to have a seat at the table as an owner,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd I hope that we\u2019re able to get the ball over the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDani Cushion, Chief Marketing Officer at Teads<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tAs a top executive at Teads, an omnichannel ad platform that helps brands bring their stories to life, Dani Cushion recognizes the natural impulse for advertisers to focus on major events like the Super Bowl and the World Cup.<\/p>\n \n\tCushion sees that as a missed opportunity to build something more sustainable with the passionate sports fans who stick around all year long. \u201cYou actually do have better value if you\u2019re building a relationship before, during, after and throughout major tournament,\u201d she said, noting how it can be \u201cexpensive\u201d to buy an ad for just one specific campaign.<\/p>\n \n\tCompanies like Teads also have the data to prove that as consumer behavior evolves, most sports fans are now watching games at home \u2014 or even on a second screen while multi-tasking. \u201cIt\u2019s really about thinking how those screens work together to surround the consumer with a great story that\u2019s going to break through,\u201d Cushion added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the worlds of entertainment and sports continue to overlap, Variety held its inaugural Sports & Entertainment Studio in New York, featuring Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson, NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson and ESPN studio analyst Jay Williams, as well as top executives from State Farm, PepsiCo and Teads. On July 16, Variety reporters Joe Otterson, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2514260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[496185,442281,308977,496186],"class_list":["post-2514259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-jay-williams","tag-jimmie-johnson","tag-russell-wilson","tag-sports-and-entertainment-studio"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Insides-Varietys-Sports-and-Entertainment-Studio-With-Russell-Wilson.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2514259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2514261,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514259\/revisions\/2514261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2514260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}