Impossible Foods ties up Knicks, Rangers, in MSG deal. Going forward, Impossible Burgers will be available across the iconic New York venue. Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGS) - the owner of the titular iconic New York venue, the New York Rangers ice hockey team, and the New York Knicks basketball franchise - has announced a new partnership with plant-based food producer Impossible Foods. Going forward, Impossible Foods will serve as the official plant-based burger partner of the Rangers, Knicks, and Madison Square Garden (MSG) itself. A new Impossible Foods-themed concourse will debut on the sixth floor of the arena, but the firm's plant-based products will be available at concessions stands and hospitality suites across the 19,812-capacity venue. This will be accompanied with typical sponsorship inventory, including in-game LED signage presence, and activations on the overhead 'GardenVision' screens during regular-season fixtures. Speaking on the agreement, Doug Jossem, MSG Entertainment executive vice president for global sports and entertainment partnerships, said: "This partnership with Impossible Foods represents another step in diversifying its culinary offerings for guests. "Adding Impossible Foods' celebrated plant-based options reflects our commitment to meeting evolving dietary preferences while maintaining the standards our fans expect when they come to events at The Garden." The Knicks have three games remaining of the NBA regular season, all of which are home fixtures, having already secured a post-season playoff berth. Meanwhile, the Rangers also have three regular-season games left, all away games, but the team will not advance to the playoffs, as they currently sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference Metropolitan Division. This new partnership comes as MSGS continues to explore a possible spin-off that would separate the Knicks and the Rangers, creating two publicly traded companies. The move was unanimously approved by the MSG Sports board of directors back in February. The proposed spin-off would see the creation of the New York Knicks company and include the NBA franchise and the Westchester Knicks, the team's NBA G League affiliate. The New York Rangers company will include the Rangers and the Hartford Wolf Pack, a minor-league hockey team in the AHL, and the top affiliate team for the Rangers. Jim Dolan, MSG Sports executive chairman and chief executive, said: "Both the Knicks and Rangers are premier teams in their respective leagues, with storied histories and large and passionate fan bases. We believe this proposed transaction would provide each company with enhanced strategic flexibility, its own defined business focus, and clear characteristics for investors." Give your business an edge with its leading industry insights.

The airport appetite: why food and grocery brands are winning in OOH. From innovative vegan alternatives to beloved national and local franchises, food and grocery brands are leveraging the unique airport environment for their diverse marketing initiatives. Air travelers come from all walks of life, live in destinations across the world, and fly for a wide variety of different purposes. One thing that all travelers have in common, however, is the fundamental human need to eat. Combined with the inherent captive nature of this audience and the brand-building, consumer-driving benefits of Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, this core truth means that the airport environment can be a powerful medium for brands in the grocery, food, and restaurant industries. Reaching healthy food enthusiasts at LAX. The vegan food market is a huge and quickly growing industry, valued at over $22 billion in 2025, and naturally, meat and seafoods represent over a third of this market. The increasing demand for products catering towards alternative diets represents a major opportunity for vegan alternative brands- if they can maintain brand awareness and market share as the industry becomes increasingly crowded. Airport advertising campaigns can be the ideal space for brands looking to create or maintain a foothold. Impossible Foods is doing just that; their campaign, launched across Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in advance of the 2026 Natural Products Expo West, ensures that their brand will remain top of mind with not just traveling industry leaders but also the airport's consistently massive audience. Impossible Foods' campaign messaging aligns directly with their aim to appear as a food- and taste-forward, better for you and the planet alternative that appeals to meat eaters. This strategy, aimed beyond the world of vegan, vegetarian, or 'flexitarian' eaters, is a great fit for the audience passing through LAX. Not only is Los Angeles the 'de-facto vegan capital' of the U.S., where residents eat vegan options 187% more than the average American, but the airport's audience reaches a high-volume of both health-conscious travelers and foodies. According to TransUnion mobile phone signals, 1 in 5 LAX travelers are food enthusiasts- interested in cooking for fun, dining out, and viewing food as an 'experience.' Drive-to-Store dining in the airport. For nationally recognized franchises as well as local food establishments, gaining access to the captive, primed-to-spend audience in the airport environment is a highly lucrative opportunity. In fact, a study of airport shopping habits across the U.S. found that hunger is the number one motivator for spending in the travel environment- and two-thirds of travelers don't bring their own food to the airport. Airports are often very large, complex environments, where directional signage and clear information is important and expected. Clear, contextual, drive-to-store messaging in this environment therefore gains access to consumers already primed to be on the lookout for direction. Leveraging targeted messaging in Orlando International Airport (MCO), Auntie Anne's is using this strategy to direct travelers to locations at nearby gates. Data from the OAAA shows that this is a nearly guaranteed way to get in on travelers' in-airport spend; not only do 70% of consumers who notice a place based digital out of home (DOOH) ad immediately visit the business after viewing the ad, but 89% of those visiting the business made a purchase! Local advertising to build loyal, local customers. Local grocery chains may not at first glance, seem to be the most expected fit for the airport advertising environment. But the savvy brand H-E-B has looked past this initial impression to discover the actual value airport out-of-home can bring to their already popular business. Recently, a Neilsen study of frequent fliers and their response to airport advertising proved that frequent flyers want to see local advertising in their hometowns- in fact, 88% want to see ads from local businesses, making this the most desired category across all ad types. This actually translates into action. Among frequent flyers exposed to airport advertising, over 6 in 10 actually visited the advertised location, and 53% visited the brand's website. With digital advertising campaigns across three of Texas's largest airports (Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental, and Houston Hobby), H-E-B is maximizing their reach with a massive, captive audience who is ready and excited to engage with their advertising. Capturing the engagement of consumers is the first step in building a strong consumer base- but maintaining brand loyalty is an equally important, and often more difficult challenge; on average, consumers now belong to 18 different loyalty programs- with two to three for grocery alone. H-E-B is already excelling in this regard. Despite being a Texas-only chain, H-E-B has ranked as the country's number 1 most-preferred grocery store for four straight years. Their choice to activate airport advertising is one of the ways H-E-B is committed to maintaining their excellence. Airport advertising is an excellent tool in H-E-B's arsenal to continue standing out from the competition in their existing markets, and has also been a crucial tool in expanding their brand awareness with new consumers. In conjunction with their late-2025 expansion into Dallas, H-E-B leveraged innovative airport advertising to make a big splash with Texas travelers during the 2025 holiday season. Their single-day pop ups at IAH, HOU, and DFW guaranteed that these consumers had their brand top of mind at exactly the right time; solidifying their position with existing consumers as well as positioning themselves to capture an audience with new access to the popular Texas chain.

Beyond Meat drops the 'meat' from its name as it pivots to plant-based drinks and snacks. Beyond Meat is dropping "meat" from its name as it moves beyond the struggling market for plant-based burgers, sausages and tenders and expands into new categories like protein drinks. The company, rebranded as Beyond The Plant Protein Co. - or simply Beyond on its packaging - changed its website and social media channels this week. Beyond introduced its first beverage, a sparkling protein drink called Beyond Immerse, in January and plans to release a protein bar this summer. The refresh could be critical for the brand. U.S. sales of plant-based alternatives to meat are flagging and have dragged Beyond down with them. The company's net revenue dropped 14% in the first nine months of 2025. Its shares have been trading below $1 since the start of this year. "For me, it is an opportunity to reshape the company around very real food that is directly from plants," said Beyond President and CEO Ethan Brown, who founded the company in 2009. "It's about delivering all those benefits of the plant kingdom to the consumer in ways that they're going to be able to easily integrate it into their lives." Beyond is not the only vegan food company making a pivot. Consumer demand for protein is skyrocketing, and several companies are scrambling to serve up more plant-based options. Eat Just, which makes plant-based eggs, introduced a protein powder made with mung beans last spring. In January, Impossible Foods announced a partnership with Equii Foods to develop protein-packed breads and pastas. Silk, a plant-based dairy brand, also unveiled a protein drink in January. Chris Costagli, a food thought leader at NIQ, said plant-based brands have struggled in recent years as customers scrutinized their labels and found unfamiliar ingredients, added sugars or high sodium content. After peaking in 2020, U.S. retail sales of plant-based meat have plummeted, falling 26% over the last two years, according to NIQ. "There's a lot of fillers and gums and texturizers and things that give those products a more familiar feel," Costagli said. "I think as people have been paying closer and closer attention to what they're actually ingesting, it's causing some products to stumble." Costagli said reformulating products to make them simpler and healthier has helped some brands in the plant-based dairy market. He thinks new products and recipes could also boost plant-based meats. That's what Beyond is betting. In 2024, it revamped its flagship burger to make it healthier. Last summer, it introduced Beyond Ground, which contains just four ingredients - faba bean protein, potato protein, psyllium husk and water - and doesn't have the word "meat" on its packaging. Brown said the company will increasingly focus on products that showcase plants, like chickpea sausages or faba bean strips. Brown said Beyond wants to "celebrate the realness" of its products and its simplified ingredients. He also hopes the new products will lead customers back to its plant-based meats. "Hopefully, at some point people will say, 'Wait a minute, how did we get here, where protein taken from red lentils, peas and brown rice and oil taken from avocado and mixed together into a burger is somehow not good for you?'" Brown said. For now, new products like Beyond Ground and Beyond Immerse are only available online through a website the company has dubbed Beyond Test Kitchen. Brown said the company wants to to innovate and collect feedback quickly, but will eventually put its products in stores. El Segundo, California-based Beyond will continue to make plant-based burgers, chicken and other products designed to mimic meat, Brown said. They remain popular in Europe, where Beyond's burgers and nuggets are found on McDonald's menus. Brown still believes plant-based meat will be a "much more dominant choice" over the next decade or two, but the company has to navigate what he calls "a period of confusion." "It's just not the moment for plant-based meat right now," he said.