October 19, 2022

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CJ Stroud is among the best college athletes in America, with a long list of accolades and NIL deals to prove it.

On the latest episode of My Other Passion, we sat down with the Ohio State quarterback to talk about the Heisman Trophy race, his NFL dreams, NCAA conference realignment, his favorite TV shows — and, of course, what it’s like raking in all of that NIL money at just 21 years old.

Listen or watch now on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

Netflix Adds 2.4M Subscribers, Spotlights Sports Content [[link removed]]

Netflix

Netflix reversed its subscriber slide and is now showing off its sports content library with its third-quarter earnings release.

The streaming leader brought in 2.4 million subscribers to reach 223 million globally, rebounding from losses in the previous two quarters.

Q3 revenue hit $7.93 billion, a 0.6% dip from the previous quarter, but a 5.9% year-over-year rise.Net income was $1.4 billion, holding steady with both the previous quarter and the same period last year.The company projected more strong subscriber growth in Q4 to 227.6 million and revenue of $7.78 billion.

The company compared itself to rivals Disney and Amazon in a letter to shareholders:

“Our competitors are investing heavily to drive subscribers and engagement, but building a large, successful streaming business is hard — we estimate they are all losing money, with combined 2022 operating losses well over $10 billion, vs. Netflix’s $5 to $6 billion annual operating profit.”

The company’s stock was up over 13% on Wednesday.

Non-Live Sports

The company still doesn’t offer live sports programming, but it trumpeted its sports content in a trailer [[link removed]] online prior to the NBA’s season-opening games on Tuesday.

Its “Drive to Survive” show on Formula 1 is credited with catalyzing the league’s skyrocketing popularity, but Netflix’s growing library includes shows about the 2008 men’s Olympic basketball team, Naomi Osaka, Bill Russell, Neymar, and many more.

Bettman Says NHL Salary Cap Could Rise by $4M [[link removed]]

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

The National Hockey League could pay off a major pandemic debt — which could have major implications for its salary cap.

The cap was decoupled from league revenues when the pandemic forced teams to play in empty arenas, but could rise [[link removed]] significantly next year if revenues reach high enough for players to pay off around $1 billion in accumulated debts to owners.

“We believe that there is a good probability that the escrow will be paid off this season,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday. “It may not be, but it’s going to be close we think, which means the flat cap will be replaced by a bigger increase.”

Bettman said the league notched around $5.4 billion in hockey-related revenue last season, beating its own projections by around $500 million.The cap reached $82.5 million after increasing by $1 million, its first increase in three years. It will rise by that amount again next year if the players are still in debt. Otherwise it could go up by as much as $4 million. Lack of Diversity

The NHL released its first diversity and inclusion report [[link removed]] on Tuesday, which revealed a league and staff dominated by people of European descent.

Team players and employees are 83.6% white, with the remainder split mostly between Asian (4.2%), Black (3.7%), and Hispanic (3.7%) people.

Full-time internships and fellowships showed a similar, if less stark trend, at 65.4% white, as did human resources departments, which were 69.6% white.

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Oracle’s two most technologically advanced sports partners – SailGP [[link removed]] and Oracle Red Bull Racing – came together to compare how they both rely on the performance of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to drive their success on the water and on the track.

Join [[link removed]] drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as they experience the fastest race boats in the world with SailGP for the first time.

Watch “ From Track to Tack [[link removed]]” now, and tune-in to CBS this Sunday at 5 p.m. ET to watch exclusive USA highlights from the fastest race day in SailGP history!

Messi Launches Sports-Focused Investment Firm [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi has enjoyed monumental success on the pitch — and now he’s looking to secure some wins in venture capital.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or award winner has launched a holding company that will target investments in sports, media, and technology.

Play Time Sports-Tech is based in California and will look to invest [[link removed]] in “stage agnostic” opportunities, including helping soccer-focused tech startups get off the ground.

Play Time will be run by Graph Ventures partner Razmig Hovaghimian.The firm has already invested in Matchday.com — a soccer-focused gaming venture.Play Time also holds a stake in soccer collectibles marketplace AC Momento.

Messi — who has rotated in and out of the No. 1 spot on Forbes’ list of highest-paid soccer players since 2014 with Cristiano Ronaldo — is the second-highest-paid player in the world for the 2022-23 season. Messi is expected [[link removed]] to earn $110 million this season, including endorsements.

Last Go Round

When asked if the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar would be his last, Messi said [[link removed]], “Yes, definitely yes.” Qatar — whose population was roughly 3 million as of Oct. 14 — has sold [[link removed]] 2.9 million tickets, per FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

[[link removed]] Global Sport [[link removed]] | by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]] World Cup Ticket Sales Near 3M, Residents Kicked Out of Homes [[link removed]] Over one million visitors are coming to the World Cup in Qatar. October 17, 2022

Qatar expects more than 1 million foreign visitors and thousands of domestic fans to attend.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, the Venetian is investing over $1 billion in renovations ahead of Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Chicago Bears’ Arlington Heights proposal could be rejected, Fox and News Corp. consider a merger with an eye on sports betting, and SiriusXM seeks more subscribers by investing in live sports. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. The NCAA is progressing on discussions [[link removed]] to move the Division I Final Fours to separate weekends as it receives more stakeholder feedback. Apple is all in on sports with major deals for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, MLS and MLB broadcasting rights, and a bid for NFL Sunday Ticket. On the latest episode of The Newsroom, the Front Office Sports team breaks down what Apple is up to, and how sports fit into the tech giant’s overall strategy. Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

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Market Movers

U.S. stocks experienced declines across all three major indexes on Wednesday. Here’s a look at how some sports-related stocks performed:

LULU [[link removed]]

Lululemon Athletica inc.

[[link removed]]

$296.88

[[link removed]]

+0.64%

[[link removed]] LYV [[link removed]]

Live Nation Entertainment Inc

[[link removed]]

$79.61

[[link removed]]

+0.90%

[[link removed]] DKS [[link removed]]

Dicks Sporting Goods, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$109.17

[[link removed]]

-2.13%

[[link removed]] UA [[link removed]]

Under Armour Inc

[[link removed]]

$6.20

[[link removed]]

-2.21%

[[link removed]] ELY [[link removed]]

Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp

[[link removed]]

$17.43

[[link removed]]

-3.11%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 10/19/22) What to Watch

UFC 280 marks another star-studded event for the promotion, and it’s sure to pack a punch.

In the main event, Charles Oliveira (33-8-0, 1 NC) faces Islam Makhachev (22-1-0) in a lightweight title bout.

Oliveira is coming off a win over Justin Gaethje by submission at UFC 274, while Makhachev enters the fight following a knockout win over Bobby Green at UFC Vegas 49 in February.

How to Watch: Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+ / Stream all of UFC 280 on ESPN+ [[link removed]]*

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

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