An iconic Las Vegas location is making a huge investment ahead of Formula 1’s arrival in the city.

The Venetian, known for its replica canals and gondolas, is investing over $1 billion in renovations. It is already undertaking a huge project with Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which it aims to finish before F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2023. 

• The Venetian is revamping its casino floor, restaurants, and entertainment areas, as well as spending $50 million on a beach day club.
• The hotel company is a presenting partner of the Vegas Grand Prix, and the street track will pass the Venetian. The Venetian will offer suites and experiences connected to the race.
• Race founding partner MGM Resorts plans to purchase $20 million–$25 million in F1 tickets and could offer packages around the event priced over $100,000.

The Venetian is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which acquired the property in February. 

Apollo owns private golf club operator Invited, which rebranded from ClubCorp earlier this year as it considers a $4.5 billion initial public offering. In May, Apollo offered a $1.25 billion investment to Liga MX.

Having a Ball

The Venetian already has a major construction project in the works: It is teaming with MSG Entertainment, owner of Madison Square Garden, on a $1.85 billion entertainment center called MSG Sphere. 

The 20,000-seat venue will be one of the world’s largest spherical structures.

The Chicago Bears agreed to purchase a 326-acre property in suburban Arlington Heights last year — but the village’s mayor doesn’t seem fully confident that the team will actually move there.

The team is expected to close on the $197.2 million land purchase — the site of the former Arlington Park race track — by the end of this year or early next year, but mayor Tom Hayes said at a village board meeting that it’s “certainly possible” that the board could reject the Bears’ $5 billion development plans.

Concerns about traffic, parking, and taxpayer money could affect the predevelopment agreement presented by the Bears.

• Hayes clarified that the plans are early and don’t include much detail, so more concerns and questions will be “answered down the road.” 
• He also indicated that the pending predevelopment agreement is in place to assist the team in closing its purchase.

“This predevelopment agreement does not provide a former approval of the preliminary concept,” village manager Randy Recklaus said. “It may not even be the concept that is formally proposed by the Chicago Bears when we’re all said and done.” 

The board will hold a final vote on Nov. 7.

Build A Bears Stadium

Last month, the Bears released renderings of their proposed home away from Soldier Field and an adjacent multipurpose entertainment district.

The project would “result in $9.4 billion in economic impact for Chicagoland and provide $3.9 billion in labor income to workers across the region.”

Nearly a decade after a tumultuous breakup, Fox and News Corp. are considering a merger that could see the combined entity tap into the competitive sports betting market. 

Owned by Rupert Murdoch, the two entities split in 2013 following a phone-hacking scandal in the U.K. which exposed Fox and News Corp. to legal and financial risks. A restructure was also put in place as News Corp.’s extensive portfolio of newspapers struggled to remain profitable in the embattled print industry.

• No deal is imminent, but Fox and News Corp. have established committees to explore the potential merger.
• Merging the companies would allow for streamlined content across news and sports.
• Costs saved from the merger could be invested in sports betting. 

Fox has already established a footprint in a U.S. sports betting market that saw more than $52.7 billion wagered throughout 2021, per data intelligence agency Morning Consult.

Sports Betting

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In 2019, Fox partnered with FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment after the latter bought The Stars Group, the online gambling company that created Fox Bet, for $6 billion. 

Ownership Dispute

Fox Bet has failed to gain traction in the U.S. betting market due to its poor reach and tech.

The failure to expand has caused a rift between Fox and Flutter over Fox Bet’s option to purchase 18.6% of FanDuel at an $11.2 billion valuation.

SiriusXM is looking to bump up its investment in live sports rights to attract and retain premium subscribers.  

“Trial subscribers that listen to sports channels convert to a paid tier at a higher rate than those who don’t,” SiriusXM president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein told Axios. 

The Liberty Media-owned company holds exclusive audio rights to regular-season and postseason games for the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB. Sirius XM wants to add more sports-focused listeners as it continues to build a subscription-driven company — despite a recent flurry of off-platform deals for ad revenue. 

• Nearly a quarter of its ads sales are sports-related, per CEO Jennifer Witz.
• Live sports rights have helped increase its digital streaming subscriptions.
• Roughly 80% of revenue comes from subscriptions.
• As of October 2022, SiriusXM has about 34 million subscribers. 

Partners since 2004, SiriusXM and the NFL extended their broadcast agreement for an additional five years in July. As part of the deal, SiriusXM will continue to carry every NFL game as the official third-party audio provider in North America, as well as deliver more content on the SXM App.

Financial Results 

Liberty Media — which also owns Formula 1 and the Atlanta Braves — generated $2.25 billion in revenue from SiriusXM in Q2 2022, a 4% increase compared to the same period last year.

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SiriusXM reported an Adjusted EBITDA of $679 million, compared to $699 million in Q2 2021.