The Oregon Ducks reeled in one of the best players in the country during the 2025 recruiting cycle in five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore. 

Prior to Oregon’s star wide receiver Evan Stewart suffering a knee injury earlier in the offseason, Moore was in line to receive a fair share of snaps as a true freshman. Now, the highly-touted recruit will be relied upon heavily for the Oregon offense 

Michael Cohen of Fox Sports listed Moore as one of his top 10 impactful freshmen in the Big Ten heading into the upcoming season. 

Despite having the No. 2 recruiting class in the Big Ten and three five-star signees according to 247Sports rankings, Moore is the only Duck listed on Cohen’s list. 

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Moore comes to Eugene as one of the most highly-regarded wide receiver recruits in program history. The No. 1 wide receiver and No. 4 player in the country according to 247Sports Composite rankings, Moore was the crown jewel of Oregon’s 2025 recruiting class, which was one of the best in school history.

Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein has been able to get the most out of wide receivers with similar skillsets to Moore like Tez Johnson, who was recently drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Gabe Brooks of 247Sports said that Moore could potentially be a first round pick down the line if he lives up to his potential. 

“Ultra-productive receiver who provides high-volume consistency and explosive playmaking. RAC demon who also stretches the field in the vertical game. One of the nation’s top prospects in the 2025 class, regardless of position, with the potential to become a multi-year impact player and a high-round NFL Draft candidate,” Brooks said.

The Ducks lost out on a majority of their production from a season ago. With Stewart potentially out for the season with a knee injury, Oregon will begin their 2025 season without the four leading wide receivers from last season. Tight end Kenyon Sadiq will open as the leading pass catcher to begin the upcoming campaign for the Ducks. 

Along with Moore, expect to see familiar faces leading the way for Oregon’s receiving room. Kyler Kasper and Gary Bryant Jr. are projected to see their usage increase and fight for a starting spot. 

Florida State transfer Malik Benson will be heavily in the mix after coming over to Eugene this offseason following a couple of productive seasons with the Seminoles. Last season he caught 25 passes for 311 yards and one touchdown. He was ranked as the No. 21 wide receiver and No. 108 player in the transfer portal according to 247Sports rankings. 

Moore wasn’t the only wide receiver the Ducks signed in their 2025 recruiting class.  Oregon went out and plucked one of the best players in Arizona in four-star wide receiver Cooper Perry. The No. 44 wide receiver and No. 4 player in the state of Arizona, Perry will provide depth to the position group with a chance to be featured in the offense after a few seasons of development. 

The Ducks’ offense will be in good hands as long as playmakers like Moore and Sadiq are able to get their hands on the ball.

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The college basketball landscape has changed a ton as players are now able to make money for their name, image, and likeness. Since this has become legal, the money these players are making has skyrocketed every season.

Fox Sports just put out an article listing the ten college players with the highest NIL evaluations, and one of them is a Kentucky Wildcat. That player is Jayden Quaintance, who, according to this article, is the sixth highest-paid player in college hoops with a NIL evaluation of 1.9 million dollars.

Here is what Fox Sports had to say about the NIL evaluation for the Wildcats center, “Quaintance is the youngest player on this list. Even though he won’t turn 18 until July, Quaintance already has a year of college hoops experience, playing at Arizona State this past season. After being named to the Big 12’s All-Defensive and All-Freshman teams, Quaintance entered the portal and landed at Kentucky. While he has a pair of reported deals with PSD Underwear and Panini America, Quaintance likely cashed in on Kentucky’s growing NIL budget, too. Kentucky is rumored to be one of the three-highest NIL spenders in college basketball for the 2025-26 season, helping Mark Pope land a talented transfer portal class. Quaintance, who is also ranked No. 26 in On3’s most valuable college athletes list, is rehabbing from an ACL tear, but he’s hopeful to be back on the court early next season as he seeks to be a top pick in the 2026 draft.”

The only thing surprising about this list is not seeing Otega Oweh listed as he was reportedly bringing in a ton of NIL money after deciding to pull out of the NBA Draft.

Quaintance is deserving of every penny he is getting in NIL money as he is going to be one of the best bigs in college hoops, and he is listed as a projected top five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

It’s that time of year again when the mega-yachts of titans of media, tech and advertising drop anchor in the Mediterranean Sea, where the industry’s biggest names will convene in the glitzy French seaside town of Cannes to make deals and debate the industry’s biggest issues.

The rosé and champagne-infused week-long event, known as the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is roaring back this week for its 72nd year – and boasting over 12,000 attendees from over 97 countries, including a heavy-hitting list of top execs, celebs and athletes.

“These are the biggest numbers they’ve ever had,” said 3CV founder Michael Kassan, who has not only been going to Cannes Lions for over 25 years, but is also instrumental in shaping it into what the event has become.

“You have the agencies, you have the brands, you have the creatives, you have the media side and the platforms,” he said. That’s why you get the buzz and that’s why Cannes is a must-attend event. I’m not saying it’s immune to economic pressures and the like but the numbers for Cannes Lions are through the roof [this year].”

The self-proclaimed grand poobah of the illustrious event rattled off a slew of top names in media who will be at this week’s event, including Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy, newly named Instacart CEO Chris Rogers and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden, who is in the running for the top job when Mouse House CEO Bob Iger is slated to step down in late 2026.

Headlining speakers for the five-day fest, which starts Monday, include Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen, who will grab the Creative Champion of the Year award, as well as YouTube CEO Neal Mohan tennis star and entrepreneur Serena Williams, NFL player and Taylor Swift beau Travis Kelce, actress and Hello Sunshine founder Reese Witherspoon and “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon.

Despite the strong attendance, the economy will be top of mind for execs, who are grappling with how to deal with President Trump’s looming  tariffs, a tepid mergers and acquisition environment and uncertainty about how the implementation of artificial intelligence will impact the advertising industry.

“I might have a bit of a hot take on the economy,” said Yahoo Chief Revenue Officer Rob Wilk.”If you look at what you read, it seems way more gloomy than what I experience day to day.”

Wilk. whose media company is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, said that the advertisers are “holding on to dry powder” and waiting to spend versus “slashing budgets and pulling back”  and that he’s seeing that same caution reflected in dealmaking, due in part to the tariff conversation. 

He said M&A deals will only happen if they’re an “accretive acquisition,” giving the example of Yahoo’s April acquisition of Artifact, the AI-driven news aggregation app from Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.

3CV’s Kasan  said he expects the M&A environment to heat up later once two major deals close. He cited  the $13.25 billion merger between ad giant Omnicom and Interpublic, which is expected to close later this year, and Skydance Media’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global.

CBS-parent Paramount is currently embroiled in talks to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against “60 Minutes” over the editing of its sitdown with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The legal settlement will be key for the deal to move forward, according to media experts.

“I do think the M&A landscape and entertainment will get a little busy once the Paramount deal is done,” Kassan said, noting that Cannes will be a hot bed for dealmaking and conversations about how to grow businesses.

This year, execs will be focused on four top issues that can drive revenue; artificial intelligence, commerce, creators and sports media, he said, adding that his new company 3CV will be hosting talks on these themes throughout the week at Plage 3CV on the Croisette.

“AI is everything, everywhere all at once,” he said with a laugh. 

Christopher Vollmer, managing director of MediaLink and partner at UTA agreed, explaining that the “conversations around AI have shifted from can AI create something interesting to how do we create AI responsibly, distinctively and at scale?”

“It’s more about a pragmatic application of AI versus a ‘gee whiz’ reaction,” he said, adding that chief financial officers of companies are pushing their marketing heads to spend efficiently and do more with less money.

“The ability to do that – with the advancements in data, technology, etcetera— reinforces that it is possible to do more with less every year,” he said. “There’s a real focus on what price performance, what marketing investments of any kind can be tied to return on investment.”

Retail or commerce media has become a huge focus for brands looking for growth. He pointed to Amazon– which will have a strong presence once again at Lions– as leading the charge in its value-proposition to partners. 

“Amazon’s whole proposition is ‘we know what you watch and we know what you buy,’” he said, adding that the e-commerce giant is driving a convergence across content, advertising, commerce and shopping.

“It’s not just the big giants anymore,” said Lauren Wiener, Global lead of the marketing, sales and pricing practice of the Boston Consulting Group.”New players and category leaders are turning commerce data into media engines and redefining how advertisers reach consumers.”

Wiener added that chief marketing officers are “reshaping” how they spend, “not retreating,” and this is taking the form of “doubling down” on areas that unlock both efficiency and growth while slashing costs and legacy business models.

Brand building is also central to any marketer’s agenda, and that the importance of sports media and creators/ influencers have exploded in recent years due in part to, its ability to reach younger audiences.

Professional athletes will take center stage at events held by Axios, Medialink, Deep Blue Sports and Stagwell with its impressive Sports Beach complex, addressing a variety of topics from the creator economy, AI, mental health, style and how to support female athletes.

Cannes will welcome NBA all-star Carmelo Anthony, WNBA champion Sue Bird, former NFL star Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, former Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez and  soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, among others.

Brands have leaned on athletes because they have become as important as traditional entertainment franchises due to their popularity and ability to drive engagement with consumers.

Pointing to the NBA finals, Josh Rosenberg, CEO of creative communications firm, Day One Agency said fans across the country are “really lit up.”

“I think it is perfect for storytelling,” he said, referring to the finals. “Everyone is rooting for their person and I think that in this day and age, it is what is uniting large groups of people – and also this is one of the only times that audiences are tuned in at the same time to the same things.”

Rosenberg touted the rise in popularity of women’s sports and sports overall, as a way to also reach younger audiences.

“There are all these new personalities that have their own social media followings and platforms and communities that fans are really engaged with, which are prime opportunities for a brand to capitalize on and for them to support athletes on their journey,” he said.

According to Harry Kargman, CEO of ad tech agency Kargo, working with creators can help brands expand their reach but it’s imperative to have a diversified, measurable and targeted marketing strategy.

Working with influencers can be tricky because it’s almost impossible to measure the power of their reach, unlike with targeted ads, but he said it can be worth it for a brand if they’re looking to reach new customers.

“I think influencers unlike other places- if they build the right content around a brand or around the brand message and if they have authenticity- it can be extraordinarily effective,” Kargman said, “It’s like close to word of mouth but it’s word of mouth to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers.”

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