November 9, 2021

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Tennessee senior John Fulkerson — who has already signed several NIL deals — plans to give money back to his school. The preseason first-team All-SEC selection has pledged to donate $1 to the Tennessee Gift Fund for every point the Vols score this season.

Apple Complicates Netflix Gaming Push

Netflix/Design: Alex Brooks

Netflix’s gaming ambitions could be slowed by another tech giant: Apple.

The leading video streaming company has been developing games as a way to attract and retain customers, releasing [[link removed]] titles for Android earlier this month. The games are offered free to the company’s subscribers, who numbered 213.6 million as of Sept. 30.

However, Apple retained [[link removed]] its right to keep other game stores out of its App Store in its court battle with Epic Games, preventing Netflix and others from offering an easy-to-use platform for mobile iOS users.

Apple also doesn’t allow [[link removed]] third parties to offer gaming platforms on its App Store, blocking products like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Google Stadia from appearing in their fully realized form on iPhones and iPads.

The App Store generates $19 billion in annual revenue, most of which comes from its 30% developer fee on in-app purchases inside free-to-play games.The number of iPhone users topped 1 billion in January, according to the company.Apple has also been trying to move into Netflix’s domain, but lags far behind: Apple TV had under [[link removed]] 20 million subscribers as of July.

Netflix plans to release games individually on the App Store, allowing users to launch, but not play them from the Netflix app.

FanDuel, DraftKings Among Those Chosen for NY Mobile Betting

Mitsu Yasukawa/Northjersey.com/Design: Alex Brooks

The New York State gaming commission has chosen two of the six bidders — or groups of bidders — that submitted proposals this past summer for mobile sports betting licenses.

A group formed by DraftKings, BetMGM, Bally’s, and FanDuel was chosen [[link removed]] for one of the bids on Monday, with the other going to a group that included PointsBet, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, Rush Street Interactive, Resorts World, and Kambi Group.

Fanatics, Penn National, Fox Bet, and bet365 were among operators who did not [[link removed]] receive approval.

Each operator is required to pay a 51% tax rate to the state for 10 years — state tax revenue could reach $500 million by 2025, according to state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Sports betting has been legal in the state since 2013, but was limited to casinos.

Colorado recorded $2.3 billion [[link removed]] in wagers in its first full year of sports betting.New Jersey became the first [[link removed]] state to hit $1 billion during a single month in September, reaching a total of $7 billion [[link removed]] for the first nine months of the year.

“Once we enter the arena, we’ll eclipse New Jersey,” New York Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. said.

New York will become one of the largest states with mobile sports betting once the operators are set up, which Addabbo hopes will happen by the Super Bowl in February at the latest.

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49ers Up Their Game for Season Tickets

This season, the San Francisco 49ers are turning season ticket members into MVPs by becoming the first team to include select food and beverage items at every game as an added benefit for all season ticket holders.

Their enticing Member Inclusive Menu [[link removed]] is powered by VenueNext’s industry-leading mobile [[link removed]]commerce and point-of-sale [[link removed]]technologies to make the fan experience more seamless than ever. Redeeming member inclusive benefits is simple and smart: when fans pay with their VenueNext wallet inside the 49ers mobile app at a concession stand, the point-of-sale technology instantly recognizes eligible discounts and exclusivities and automatically applies them to member orders.

This touchdown-worthy tech greatly enhances the gameday experience and reinforces VenueNext and the 49ers as innovation leaders.

Roblox Revenue Jumps 102% in Q3

Roblox/Design: Alex Brooks

Roblox, the online game-creation platform, generated [[link removed]-'21-Earnings-Release-(w-tables)-Final.pdf] $509.3 million in revenue in Q3 2021 — a 102% increase compared to the same period a year ago.

The quarter was driven by a spike in daily active users, which reached 47.3 million in the third quarter, a 31% increase year-over-year.

Roblox users spent more than 11.2 billion hours on the platform in Q3, a 28% uptick compared to Q3 2020.

Roblox went public in March at a $41.9 billion valuation after multiple delays amid scrutiny by the SEC regarding how revenue is recognized in its finances.The company announced a partnership in July with Sony Music Entertainment to bring Sony recording artists into the Roblox metaverse.In August, it acquired Guilded, a company focused on building a platform to connect gaming communities.

In October, Roblox announced that it plans [[link removed]] to sell $1 billion of junk bonds and will use the proceeds to assist with “general corporate purposes,” including capital expenditures, production and development, and potential acquisitions.

The National Music Publishers’ Association sued [[link removed]] Roblox for $200 million in June due to an alleged failure to compensate writers or copyright holders for songs used on the platform.

MLS Adjusts Private Equity Ownership Requirements

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Nearly a year after the National Basketball Association finalized a new set of private equity ownership guidelines, Major League Soccer published its own equity ownership adjustments this week, following up on a 2020 vote to change requirements.

The MLS’s rules are stricter than the NBA’s [[link removed]], where qualified private equity firms can own up to 20% in a single franchise but cannot invest in more than five teams. Neither league allows any team to have more than 30% [[link removed]] of its equity owned by private funds.

In order for a fund to be considered “qualified,” more than 25% [[link removed]] of the fund itself cannot be owned by a single investor, and total investments in MLS teams cannot surpass 25% of the total fund.

Each fund must have raised at least $500 million, and no more than 10% of a fund can be invested in one team. Funds are limited to four teams each.Each investment in a single club must be more than $20 million, but it can’t surpass 20% of the club’s equity.

The funds investing in MLS teams will not be allowed to hold a board position or have controlling ownership, and the club’s majority owner will have first negotiation rights if a fund chooses to sell its stake.

The adjustments come two months after MLS’ Inter Miami received a $150 million investment from Ares Management.

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Hear more about the program and why they are #InALeagueOfOurOwn [[link removed]] at their next information session.

Conversation Starters Jayson Tatum, Rory McIlroy, Klay Thompson, and Connor McDavid are among a list [[link removed]] of new investors in Hyperice. Financial terms of the round were not disclosed. Former Buffalo Bills CEO Russ Brandon is among a group of former NFL and XFL executives hired [[link removed]] to the XFL ahead of the league’s 2023 return. Brandon will serve as president. Formula 1 has extended [[link removed].] its Chinese Grand Prix deal, keeping the Shanghai championship until 2025. Baseball cards. Collectibles. NFTs! There’s a whole world of alternative assets out there, but how do we value them? Enter a newsletter literally called Alternative Assets [[link removed]], navigating us all through investment options that don’t get as much attention.*

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Today's Action

NHL

07:30 PM

Oilers (-210) at Red Wings (+180)

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NCAA

07:00 PM

Akron (+1400) at Western Michigan (-3300)

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NBA

07:40 PM

Bucks (-240) at 76ers (+195)

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*All times are EST unless otherwise noted.

*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See [[link removed]] for details.

Question Of The Day

Do you subscribe to Netflix or Apple TV+?

Netflix [[link removed]] Apple [[link removed]] Both [[link removed]] Neither [[link removed]]

Monday’s Answer

40% of respondent have worked out at a Planet Fitness.

Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]]

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