Netflix is all-in on gaming, but its subscribers haven’t gotten the message yet.

The streaming giant is making gaming an increasingly central part of its offering as it seeks to reverse a recent slip in subscribers.

• The company has released 24 mobile titles, with plans to grow that figure to 50 by the end of the year.
• It acquired indie game developers Night School, Next Games, and Boss Fight Entertainment.
• However, only 1.7 million people – less than 1% of Netflix’ 221 million subscribers – engage with the company’s games on a daily basis, according to data from Apptopia obtained by CNBC. 
• The games have been downloaded 23.3 million times.

The company has both ported over popular titles and developed original games.

Big Tech Competition

Netflix isn’t the only company growing its gaming library to compete for subscribers. Apple Arcade, launched in September 2019, now boasts over 200 titles. 

Amazon’s Prime Gaming bundles games, in-game offerings, and a Twitch.tv subscription as part of Amazon Prime. Google provides access to hundreds of games through its Play Pass, and Meta has invested heavily in its Oculus Quest VR headset and platform.

Netflix lost nearly 1 million users from April to June, marking its second straight quarter with declining subscribers. The company earned $7.9 billion in the quarter, up 8.6% year-over-year.

FC Barcelona has struck a deal to sell a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios, the club’s media production arm, for $102 million — marking its second minority stake sale this month. 

The La Liga club — which reported more than $1.5 billion in debt in October 2021 — will sell the minority stake to investment fund GDA Luma, according to Spanish daily newspaper Sport. 

• The deal comes after Barcelona was unable to register players for the upcoming season.
• In June, the club leadership said $535 million was needed to avoid financial devastation.

Barcelona’s deal with GDA Luma is the fourth transaction the club has made to alleviate its ongoing financial woes. Earlier this month, Barcelona agreed to sell a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios to fan engagement company Socios.com in a pact also valued at $102 million. 

In June, Barcelona secured a deal with private equity firm Sixth Street to sell a 10% stake in its TV rights that’s worth up to $278 million. The club doubled down in July after signing a deal with Six Street to sell an additional 15% stake in its TV rights for $326.5 million.

Still Not Enough 

Barcelona will still not be able to register all of its signings for the upcoming La Liga season, which starts on Aug. 13, despite an influx of fresh capital following its deal with GDA Luma.

The club still needs to secure $61.4 million “through sales or other income,” according to Spanish news outlet COPE.

Take-Two Interactive reported mixed results in its latest earnings report, adding to a growing list of video game companies with underwhelming profits this year.  

The New York-based company — which owns major video game publishers including Rockstar Games and 2K — generated $1.1 billion in revenue in fiscal Q1, a 36% increase year-over-year. 

• Projected adjusted earnings per share range between $4.60 to $4.85 in FY2023.
• Wall Street estimates expected an average of $5.37 per share, per Bloomberg.
• The company has also seen its stock fall roughly 29% in 2022.

Take-Two will look to garner stronger results for the rest of FY2023 following the acquisition of mobile game developer Zynga for $12.7 billion in May. 

The deal has already paid dividends for Take-Two, which reported $1 billion in net bookings in fiscal Q1 2023, up 40% compared to the same period the year prior. The company also saw recurrent consumer spending — 75% of net bookings — grow 48% during the quarter.

As a result, Take-Two raised its full-year net bookings outlook, projecting a range between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion, surpassing estimates of $5.42 billion.

Big Deal 

Take-Two’s deal for Zynga allows the company to expand its reach in a mobile gaming market expected to reach $338 billion by 2030. Last year, the market was worth roughly $119 billion.

The acquisition — first announced in January 2022 — was funded with $2.7 billion in financing from JPMorgan Chase, Take-Two’s balance sheet, and a debt issuance.

Despite being one of the many sporting events affected by the pandemic, the Australian Open generated $405.3 million in economic benefit in 2021 and 2022, per Nielsen Sports.

Over the past decade, the event has produced a total of $2.71 billion for the Victorian economy. 

• The Australian Open created more than 1,650 full-time jobs in 2021 and 2022.
• Melbourne visitors’ daily spend in 2022 was $259, up 24% from 2020.
• In 2022, the event generated $267.3 million of Real Gross State Product, compared to $138 million in 2021.

This year, viewership for the event reached 746 million hours — a 20% increase from 2021 — across 226 territories and 25 broadcast partners. Ashleigh Barty’s victory is the most-watched program in Australia so far in 2022, peaking at roughly 4.3 million viewers.

“These numbers are even more remarkable considering the conditions at the time,” tournament director Craig Tiley said. “Borders had recently opened, and international travel had barely restarted.”

“This all augurs well for potentially the biggest return on record for AO 2023,” Tiley added.

In 2022, the event drew 346,468 attendees, up from 130,374 in 2021. Over the last 10 years, more than 6.34 million people have attended. 

Tennis TV

In May, Tennis Australia extended its broadcasting deal with ESPN, which will see the tournament remain on the network until 2031. Nine is in the middle of a $300 million, five-year deal for rights in Australia. Stan also has Australian rights.