☀️ APPLE Sets Sights on Next Global Sports Deal
SPOTIFY turns profit corner as price hikes loom / RMP gets new investment / NETFLIX gets more Fluffy
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY, April 23, 2024.
Where I’m sorry Davos and Sun Valley, but it sounds like your exclusivity factor is being one-upped by a new series of . . . well, I don’t think we can call them conferences.
Bougie Confabs? Money Balls? Eyes Wide Shut without the masks? (I’m open to ideas as always). The multi-day, very off-the-record events in fabulous locations are being led by folks like Ari, Daniel Ek and Marc Benioff, and companies like LIONTREE and GOOGLE, according to this new WSJ piece.
I mean, my contact info is at the bottom of every newsletter — and LIONTREE even holds a “game-show style quiz focused on trends in tech, telecom and media” at its event (which the cool kids call “Slopes”) that I would totally dominate . . . and yet, nothing. Richard must be getting all the invites 😏.
PLUS: The PGA Awards and the DGA Awards will now both take place on Saturday, February 8 next year.
AND: Caitlin Clark sealed her deal with NIKE, for a reported (up to) $28M over 8 years ($3.5M a year max), which will also cover 3 Olympics. Oddly enough — NIKE is also the company making her INDIANA FEVER jerseys for FANATICS that . . . will have no supply until about 2/3 of the way into the WNBA season this year, for some reason.
Again remember — Ice Cube’s BIG3 hoops league reportedly offered Caitlin $5M to play just one season of about 8-10 games. Of course, they unfortunately take place during the WNBA season.
ALSO: The WNBA’s DALLAS SHOCK sold out its season tickets for the first time in the team’s history (the franchise moved there in 2016]).
OH: David Beckham is suing Mark Wahlberg for $10.5 Million, over allegedly getting screwed over in an endorsement deal in exchange for equity in Wahlberg’s F45 fitness chain.
ALSO: NY state has created a program giving $30M a year for a 3-year period in state tax credits to companies hiring journalists in NY, according to Axios. Individual newsrooms can receive up to $300k annually.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
APPLE’s sports appetite is still quite strong, as news of a new global deal surfaces.
SPOTIFY shows that layoffs and marketing cutbacks work! Meet the new profitable streaming service — take a look at the numbers, and the price hikes . . . err I mean “growth tactics” ahead and much more.
The latest sports TV audiences roundup, including a big new record in women’s sports.
AND: Sending a Happy Passover to those who are celebrating today! Just a housekeeping note — Richard’s Tuesday column will come to you tomorrow instead.
FINALLY:
Just taking a moment to thanks the numerous readers who have connected with me here on LinkedIn and dropped me notes in the past couple of months.
Including our international readers — one of whom got in touch to let me know that DISNEY+’s entry into sports streaming rights in a 3-year deal in Sweden and Denmark was for UEFA’s Europa League & Conference League (not the Champions League as indicated in other reporting).
However, DIS+ will be the only place to stream these ⚽️ matches from 2025-27 in those countries — showing sports streaming is increasingly the go-to expansion move on the global streaming stage as well, with apparently APPLE expanding their ambitions as well . . .
📺 THE SILVER TV SET 📽
