Category: Sports

  • Black-Owned Wine Company La Fte Adds NBA Star Chris Paul as Equity Stakeholder

    Black-Owned Wine Company La Fte Adds NBA Star Chris Paul as Equity Stakeholder

    Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul is now an equity stakeholder in La Fête Wine Company. The growing wine company emphasizes diversity and inclusion in the wine and spirits industry.

    Donae Burston, founder of La Fête du Wine Company (Photo from Instagram, @thurstonburstoniii)

    Paul’s other investments are media flow management software firm Greenfly and financial tech company Goalsetter. He also owns Koia, a 100 percent plant-based nutrition shakes company, and Misha, a plant-based dairy alternative company. And, he has the production company Ohh Dip!!!, which has produced the ESPN+ basketball series “Why Not Us,” focused on HBCU sports teams. 

    “I’m thrilled to partner with La Fête Wine Company and work with them to continue to grow the business and fulfill their brand vision,” Paul said in a press release. “I fully support their efforts in creating a better and more equitable society by helping underserved youth, advancing racial justice, and making wine more inclusive.” 

    The Black-owned wine company was founded in 2019, by Donae Burston. The company’s award-winning wine La Fête du Rosé is now sold in more than 40 markets across the U.S. and online.

    “Not only is Chris an incredible athlete and businessman, but he’s also a wine enthusiast who is vocal and passionate about representation and inclusivity in the wine industry,” said Burston. “He is a natural fit for our team, and we are thrilled to have him on board.”

    “In May 2021, La Fête became the first company to secure an investment from Constellation Brands Ventures as part of its initiative to invest $100 million in African American/Black and minority-owned businesses in beverage alcohol and adjacent categories by 2030,” Beverage Industry magazine reported.

    Burston wants to expose more Black people to the wine industry as a path to creating Black wealth.

    “There are nontraditional careers and paths to take,” Burston told The Beverage Industry. “This is a huge, multibillion-dollar industry, and ownership among Black people is minimal. We’re here to play with the big boys and spread the wealth.”

    Read full story on Finurah here.

    More news from our partners:

    This content was originally published here.

  • NFL should add three new teams and mandate Black owners, Deion Sanders says

    NFL should add three new teams and mandate Black owners, Deion Sanders says

    Trying to force old white men from a certain era to hire Black head coaches is a flawed plan, said Sanders, and he suggests Black ownership to improve diversity

    The NFL should add three teams and require minority ownership for all of them, former league great and now HBCU head coach Deion Sanders said on his podcast Thursday.

    “If you want equality, you have to start from the top-down,” Sanders said on 21st and Prime. “You don’t have equality starting from the middle up. You start from the top down. When you’re shooting for the coach, you’re in the middle. You’ve got to go to the top if you want equality.”

    Currently, there are no Black owners in the NFL. On Tuesday, Allen Media Group CEO Byron Allen, who owns TheGrio, announced that he was preparing a bid to buy the Denver Broncos.

    Deion Sanders thegrio.com
    Jackson State University football coach Deion Sanders in Sept. 2021. (Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

    The NFL has 32 teams and has discussed expanding to as many as 40, according to NFL insider Mike Florio. That would certainly open ample opportunities for prospective Black owners.

    Sanders’ suggestion comes as the NFL reels from a lawsuit by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores alleging discrimination in hiring; and a statement from Commissioner Roger Goodell slamming his own league’s middling progress in diversity and exclusion efforts. 

    The league also faces continued criticism for its lack of Black head coaches. While 70% of NFL players are Black, there are currently just two Black head coaches —- Houston’s Lovie Smith and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. Newly minted Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel identifies as multiracial.

    But Sanders, on his podcast, goes further and argues the diversity debate over coaches misses the boat. Ownership results in the ultimate power in a league in which the average team has a valuation of $3.5 billion.

    Deion Sanders
    (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

    Get more Black owners and they can make real change by offering more high-level opportunities to African Americans throughout the NFL, Sanders believes. 

    In a nod to the Rooney Rule, which mandates interviewing minority candidates for head coaching jobs, Sanders said telling billionaires what to do doesn’t work.

    “You cannot tell a man that’s very, very successful who and when they’re going to hire,” Sanders said.

    Given that, his suggestion makes sense. 

    Sanders played most of his career with the Dallas Cowboys and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. He has since become, arguably, one of the most high-profile head coaches in college football in his position at Jackson State.

    TheGrio is now on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

    The post NFL should add three new teams and mandate Black owners, Deion Sanders says appeared first on TheGrio.

    This content was originally published here.

WordPress Ads