Peacock is spreading its feathers.

NBCUniversal’s streaming service booked $1 billion in upfront ad revenue this year, doubling its 2021 total of $500 million.

The network has sought to grow Peacock through major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the Olympics, both of which were on NBC and Peacock in February. 

The service also added WWE last year on a $1 billion, five-year deal, and inked a $30 million deal for 18 Sunday morning MLB games in April.

• Peacock had 28 million monthly users, including 13 million paid subscribers, at the end of the first quarter.
• NBCUniversal’s total haul reportedly exceeded $7 billion, the most since Comcast acquired the network in 2013.
• The company raised rates by a figure in the mid-single digits, according to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell.

Ad-Tech Upgrade

Peacock is also working in new ways to display ads. It has rolled out frame ads in which the content the user is watching gets smaller, opening up part of the screen for an ad.

Another ad type, in-scene ads, remains in testing stages. In these, the network displays an ad somewhere in the actual show, movie, or game someone is watching, such as on a billboard.

In both cases, ads are geo-targeted and can be updated to be more relevant.

The U.S. Department of Justice said last year that FIFA would be compensated $201 million for losses suffered from global corruption schemes by soccer’s governing officials. Until Thursday, $32.3 million had been remitted.

The DOJ announced that an additional $92 million would be distributed to the victims.

Many of the officials involved in the schemes, which were largely related to bribes for media and marketing rights, were ordered to forfeit the assets they obtained.

More than 50 defendants from more than 20 different countries have faced charges since the corruption probe was unveiled in 2015. Four corporate entities have pleaded guilty, with other businesses acknowledging their roles.

• Reynaldo Vasquez, former president of El Salvador’s soccer federation, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, and was sentenced to eight years in prison. FIFA banned him for life and fined him $522,000.
• Juan Angel Napout, former president of CONMEBOL, was sentenced to nine years in prison. 
• Jose Maria Marin, former head of the Brazilian Football Federation, was sentenced to four.

Where the Money Goes 

“Various constituent national soccer federations” are set to benefit from the funds, according to the DOJ, including CONCACAF, which oversees North and Central American soccer, and CONMEBOL, which governs South American soccer.

Under the supervision of the FIFA Foundation, a World Football Remission Fund was created with the money. It focuses on women’s and girls’ soccer, education, safeguarding, youth programs, community outreach, and humanitarian needs.

The Chicago Bears are drawing up plans for a new football stadium — and might throw in one for baseball while they’re at it.

The team is actively exploring relocating to Arlington Heights, a city of about 78,000 northwest of Chicago.

• The team has paid $125,000 for studies to examine its stadium proposal. 
• Team chairman George McCaskey has been involved in talks surrounding a new stadium development. The team wants to close a deal by early 2023.
• In September, the Bears agreed to pay $197 million to purchase the Arlington International Racecourse from Churchill Downs, pending final approval on both sides.

The team would presumably have to break its lease at Soldier Field, which runs until 2033. The team can pay $84 million to leave after 2026.

Let’s Play Two

The team is reportedly looking into a proposal to house a new baseball league for undrafted college players on the same site.

William Larsen, former general manager of the Kane County Cougars minor league team, has proposed a four-team league, all of whom would initially play in a 4,000-seat stadium. Larsen has said that he hasn’t heard if the Bears are interested in hosting the league.

Larsen estimated that the league could draw 450,000 fans per year and would offer summer programming during the NFL’s offseason.

Australia’s Channel Seven has filed court proceedings in an effort to terminate its $310 million broadcasting rights deal with Cricket Australia.

Filed in the country’s federal court, the Seven West Media company claims Cricket Australia has breached its contract. The six-year agreement, which covers Australia Test cricket and the Big Bash League, still has two summers remaining.

The BBL Twenty20, whose last two seasons were disrupted by the pandemic, is reportedly at the center of the dispute.

“The SWM proceedings will seek both a court declaration that Seven is entitled to terminate the MRA [media rights agreement] on the basis of material contract breaches by CA which were not remedied, and damages arising out of past breaches,” the broadcaster said.

Cricket Australia said it was “astonished” by the claim, adding that it delivered “two very successful cricket seasons.”

• This year’s fifth Ashes Test, aired by Seven and the Fox Sports pay-TV service, averaged 1.43 million viewers across three days — one of the highest domestic broadcast audiences in the sport’s history.
• Seven reportedly saw a 10% viewership drop for its 2020-21 season — the second consecutive year its BBL audience dropped — forcing the broadcaster to ask for a smaller rights fee.

Rough Relationship

In 2020, Cricket Australia received notice from SWM that the former breached its contract over the proposed summer calendar — rendering Seven unprepared to make its $17.2 million payment.

The proceedings are expected to start early next year.