Comcast got a needed boost from two of the world’s largest sporting events as it fought through challenges in other sectors of its business.

The NBCUniversal owner brought in $31 billion in the first quarter, up 14% year-over-year.

The company generated $1.5 billion from the Beijing Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles, which collectively accounted for 21.6% of NBCUniversal’s media revenue in the quarter.

• Advertising revenue leapt 59.2% year-over-year, due largely to the two major sports events.
• The Olympics, which took place over 16 days beginning Feb. 4, brought in $963 million in revenue, while the Super Bowl scored $519 million on Feb. 13.
• Over 200 million people watched at least one of the events, factoring in the network’s streaming service Peacock. While the Super Bowl had a robust 112 million viewers, the Olympics sagged to its lowest ratings in NBCUniversal’s history broadcasting the Games.

Feather in Their Cap

The two sporting events helped raise Peacock’s subscriber count by around 4 million, boosting its totals to 13 million paying users and 28 million monthly active accounts. The service still lost money in the quarter, however.

The news comes as investors are growing wary of streaming services following Netflix’s first subscriber loss in a decade. Netflix’s stumble not only knocked its own stock price down, but also triggered 4-6% declines in Disney, Roku, Discovery, and Paramount.

Comcast’s stock slid around 6% on Thursday, in part due to slowing growth in its broadband segment.

Roman Abramovich has reportedly made one more request for the final bidders of Chelsea FC: an extra $623 million.

The three remaining bidders, consortiums led by Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton, and Steve Pagliuca, have been asked to add the amount to their current bids — expected to be around $3 billion — to contribute more to the team’s charitable causes.

• Raine Group, the U.S. bank overseeing the sale, is confident that the winning bid will be chosen by Monday.
• It’s expected to be the most expensive sale of any sports team in history.

In the last week, Raine Group also requested that bidders stay with the team for at least a decade. The group’s co-founder, Joe Ravitch, expects the iconic club to be worth more than $10 billion in five years. In April 2021, the team was valued at $3.2 billion.

Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the U.K. government for his ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, has demanded the extra funds despite being unable to profit from the sale. He still has a say in which group wins the club’s ownership. 

Cash Flow

The Financial Times reported that the bidders in Broughton’s group are planning to finance their purchase with debt, something that the Russian oligarch has never had to do — Forbes estimates he’s worth $13.9 billion.

The team has plans to take out a $630 million term loan and $125 million in revolving credit through Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase.

Churchill Downs reached record quarterly revenue in the company’s latest earnings report. 

The casino owner and iconic home of the Kentucky Derby generated $364 million in revenue in Q1 2022, up from $324 million for the same period last year. Churchill Downs saw its gaming segment pocket $179 million in revenue during the quarter, up $25 million compared to Q1 2021. The company benefited from lifted COVID-related restrictions across its properties. 

Churchill Downs expanded its portfolio of properties and improved existing ones in Q1 2022. 

• It completed the two phases of a $90 million expansion of Rivers Casino Des Plaines.
• The company purchased Peninsula Pacific Entertainment in a deal valued at $2.5 billion.
• It agreed to acquire Chaser’s Poker Room with a plan to invest $150 million in the facility. 

The company announced it repurchased 116,863 shares in Q1 2022 for a total cost of $25 million. Churchill Downs is also expecting 150,000 fans at the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

Last year, Churchill Downs saw 51,838 fans attend the “most exciting two minutes in sports.” 

A New Look

Churchill Downs unveiled plans for a redesigned paddock projected to cost between $185 million and $200 million. Set to debut by May 2024, the redesign seeks to increase guest capacity by 1,300 people, provide enhanced visibility of the Twin Spires, streamline guest circulation, and improve the audiovisual experience.