Highlight Reel: Netflix is "not anti-sport, we're just pro-profit" 📺
This week's top stories feature Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Disney+, Netflix, Ted Sarandos, Great Britain SailGP, and the DFL.
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Happy Friday!
A huge weekend of live sport is almost upon us but, before all that, here’s a few of the biggest stories that grabbed the headlines for me this week… (let me know what I missed!)
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe launch culture-driven production company
Disney+ launches its ad supported tier to compete with Netflix
Netflix is ‘not anti-sports, we’re just pro-profit’ says Ted Sarandos
British SailGP team valued at $40 million as Larry Ellison cashes out
DFL chief Hopfen makes an early exit over strategic differences
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe launch culture-driven production company 🎬
U.S. soccer legends, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are launching a production company to help tell the stories of “the revolutionaries and game-changers who move culture forward.”
In partnership with TOGETHXR, the pair have announced the founding of A Touch More, a production company that will make scripted and unscripted content that puts the spotlight on narratives of identity, activism, and underrepresented communities, including LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and women.
Disney+ launches its ad supported tier to compete with Netflix 📺
Disney+ has launched its ad-supported tier, “Disney+ Basic,” at $7.99/month in the U.S., following in the footsteps of Netflix, which launched its “Basic with Ads” plan in November.
“Today’s launch marks a milestone moment for Disney+ and puts consumer choice at the forefront. With these new ad-supported offerings, we’re able to deliver greater flexibility for consumers to enjoy the full breadth and depth of incredible storytelling from The Walt Disney Company,” Michael Paull, president of Direct to Consumer, said in a statement.
Geetha Rangathan, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, has told Yahoo Finance that she expects Disney to generate between $500m to $1bn in ad-supported revenue within its first year.
Netflix is “not anti-sport, we’re just pro-profit” says Ted Sarandos 🏈
Despite big tech companies like Amazon (NFL’s ‘Thursday Night Football’) and Apple (MLB and MLS deals) being aggressive in acquiring sports rights for their streaming platforms, Netflix has stood firm.
“We’ve not seen a profit path to renting big sports,” said Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer, speaking at the UBS Global TMT Conference in New York. “We’re not anti-sports, we’re just pro-profit,” Sarandos said. Netflix “can get twice as big without sports,” he added, pointing to the more than 100 million viewers of Squid Game.
It would be interesting to consider the economic case that could lead to interest… perhaps buying and having ownership of a rightsholder versus ‘renting’ would be more appealing to them?
British SailGP team valued at $40 million ⛵️
The Great Britain SailGP team has been valued at US$40 million following a new funding round that sees Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison’s yacht racing syndicate and SailGP’s main backer, cash out its remaining ten per cent stake in the team.
London-based Misland Capital come onboard as an investor and join British sailing legend Ben Ainslie and Vitol director Chris Bake as a shareholder in the privately-owned team.
DFL chief Hopfen makes an early exit over strategic differences ⚽️
Donata Hopfen has resigned as chief executive of the German Football League (DFL) after less than a year in the role, following a supervisory board meeting on Wednesday.
The decision was said to have been made by mutual agreement with the main reason about differing ideas around the future strategic direction of the organisation. Hopfen follows Robert Klein, chief executive of Bundesliga International (October), and Andreas Heyden, the chief executive of DFL Digital Sports (July) in leaving DFL over the past 5 months.
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