Mexico could join the U.S. and Canada as countries with NBA teams.

Ahead of Saturday’s Miami Heat-San Antonio Spurs game in Mexico City, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that Mexico City is “doing all the things necessary to demonstrate to the league that ultimately we may be positioned to house an NBA team here.”

“There’s no doubt we will be looking seriously at Mexico City over time,” he said.

Silver acknowledged logistical concerns that have come with NBA teams in Canada, but also referenced Mexico City’s population, facility, and fan support as arguments in its favor.

• Mexico City is the most populated city in North America with an estimated 9 million people.
• Mexico City Arena seats 22,300 fans — while United Center, the NBA’s largest arena, seats nearly 21,000 for Chicago Bulls’ games.
• There are reportedly around 30 million NBA fans in the country.

Las Vegas and Seattle are often considered other possible contenders for a new franchise, but the league hasn’t added a team since 2004.

Prioritizing Pennies

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum told Front Office Sports that expansion is not in the league’s immediate plans — a new collective bargaining agreement and media rights deal are taking priority.

The NBA will seek $50 billion to $75 billion for its next media agreement. Amazon NFL host Charissa Thompson “absolutely” believes the tech giant can handle it.

This year’s World Cup final is being called the best ever, and some television networks would likely agree.

France’s leading broadcaster TF1 averaged a record 24.1 million viewers when Argentina defeated France on Sunday, with a peak of 29.4 million and a market share of 81%.

• France’s 2018 World Cup final win over Croatia averaged just 19.3 million, peaking at 22.3 million.
• The last record in France was the country’s 2006 World Cup semifinal against Portugal, which averaged 22.2 million viewers.
• It was the first edition for which audience measurement firm Médiamétrie counted out-of-home-viewing.

BeIN Sports also broadcast the game in the country but hasn’t released figures.

The game was the third-most-watched Qatar World Cup match in the U.K. BBC One reportedly peaked at 14.9 million, while ITV One peaked at 4.4 million. The channels averaged at a respective 9.1 million and 2.7 million viewers.

England’s quarterfinal loss to France was the U.K.’s most-watched match of the tournament and of the year across U.K. TV.

In India, 32 million viewers tuned in on JioCinema.

Red, White, and Les Bleus

Fox Sports hasn’t released its figures for viewership in the U.S. yet, but it has high expectations.

Argentina’s semifinal win over Croatia on Dec. 13 brought in 6.47 million viewers — making it the most-watched World Cup semifinal on English-language TV.

The maker of “Fortnite” has resolved legal disputes with a government agency over child privacy laws. 

Epic Games has agreed to a $520 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission following allegations that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. 

• The FTC alleged that Epic collected personal information from “Fortnite” players under the age of 13 without parental consent.
• It alleged that Epic illegally enabled voice and text chat communication for children and teens, exposing them to “dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues.”
• The regulator also alleged that the North Carolina-based company coerced millions of players into making unintended in-game purchases.
• Epic will pay $275 million for violating the COPPA and pay $245 million for the inadvertent purchases. 

Epic reported $5.5 billion in profit from “Fortnite between 2018 and 2019” — its first full year on the market. Available on multiple platforms, the title has more than 400 million players. 

In April, Epic raised $2 billion in funding from Sony and Kirkbi, owner of The Lego Group, to build its metaverse offerings and expand. The funding gave Epic a $31.5 billion valuation. 

Staying Busy 

Earlier this month, the FTC sued to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of “Call of Duty” owner Activision Blizzard.

The agency believes the sale would give Microsoft “both the means and motive to harm competition” amid concerns of price increases and command over the cloud gaming sector.

The pending deal is also under regulatory scrutiny in the U.K., European Union, and Australia.