Texas Rangers senior advisor DAYTON MOORE acknowledged that he is “studying the possibility” of entering the 2026 Kansas gubernatorial race. Moore said that he has “only recently begun to contemplate the possibility” in the weeks since multiple Kansas political figures persuaded him to “at least think about it.” It would be “premature to speculate on whether this will or won’t come to pass,” but he is “trying to be absolutely open-minded about it, and it’s hard to know where that will lead him” (K.C. STAR, 2/3).
MOST INTERESTING MAN: Levy Restaurants CEO ANDY LANSING was profiled last week by Fast Company, with the publication saying he "might be the most interesting CEO in America." As the head of a 50,000-employee, $4B hospitality company that leads culinary operations for more than 250 sports and entertainment venues globally, Lansing "visits them all, spending most of his time on the road, assuring food quality and innovation and meeting field team members and partners along the way." In his travels, he "sometimes eats up to 10 hot dogs per week, fulfilling the tradition of eating one at each venue" (FAST COMPANY, 1/25).
CELEBRATION: The Florida Panthers visited the White House yesterday to celebrate the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship, presenting President DONALD TRUMP with a golden stick and a framed jersey with both the Nos. 45 and 47. They were the first team from the 2023-24 athletic calendar that won a championship to visit the White House. Among the attendees at the event beyond the Panthers’ contingent were NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN; U.S. Senators RICK SCOTT and ASHLEY MOODY; and U.S. Representatives BYRON DONALDS, GUS BILIRAKIS, MIKE HARIDOPOLOS, ANNA PAULINA LUNA, JARED MOSKOWITZ and MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR (MIAMI HERALD, 2/3).
SOMETHING NEW: PETER SCHWARTZ, a fill-in WFAN update man and occasional host, has been named the GM of a new arena football team coming to Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. The team will be in the Entertainment Football Association, which features four teams -- the Long Island entry, plus Morristown, N.J.; Danbury, Conn.; and Fitchburg, Mass. Schwartz spent time as play-by-play voice of the N.Y. Dragons, who played at the Coliseum from 2001-08. He had “dabbled” in front-office duties with the team and league, but that league folded in 2009 (NEWSDAY, 2/3).
NAMES: Former Barstool Sports CEO ERIKA AYERS BADAN will “share lessons from her seven-plus-year tenure” and “other insights gleaned from her career” in a new podcast series titled “ WORK,” which premiered yesterday and will feature new episodes releasing weekly. Lemonada Media is handling distribution (VARIETY, 2/3)....Warriors F DRAYMOND GREEN is opening his first-ever restaurant with two notable Bay Area chefs. Meski, a “swanky Ethiopian ‘fusion’ restaurant” will open with chefs NELSON GERMAN and GUMA FASSIL (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/3)....Former NFLer J.J. WATT and wife KEALIA are expecting their second child. They had their first child in October 2022 (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/3).
