People are still spending a noteworthy amount of time outdoors as the pandemic carries on.

At a recent Outdoor Retailer trade show, NPD shared some specific numbers behind the unprecedented spike in outdoor activity. In the year ending May 2021, sales of kayaks jumped almost 30%, backpacking tent sales were up nearly 50%, and sleeping bags increased 28%.

The sales correspond to participation numbers from the Outdoor Foundation: 8.1 million more Americans went hiking in 2020 compared to 2019, and 7.9 million more went camping.

Participation in recreational sports like tennis and golf is also growing.

• The United States Tennis Association said the sport had nearly 3 million first-time players last year.
• The National Golf Foundation found that the number of active, on-course U.S. golfers increased by 500,000 last year. 
• Callaway Golf saw net revenue jump from $617 million to $914 million year-over-year.

Skiing has been a hit, too. Richard Hodges, the Nordic director at White Pine Touring in Park City, Utah, says he’s “stunned about the seemingly limitless interest right now in cross-country skiing.”

Overall, revenue from the sports and outdoor segment is estimated to reach $43.6 billion by 2025.

Two big rivals in U.S. media are teaming up to launch a streaming service in Europe.

SkyShowtime will combine the libraries of NBC and Peacock owner Comcast with that of ViacomCBS. The venture will be owned 50-50 by the two media conglomerates and launch in over 20 European countries, including Spain, Poland, and all of Scandinavia. 

• The service will not overlap with another recently announced partnership between Paramount+ and Comcast-owned Sky, which will launch the ViacomCBS streaming service in the U.K., Italy, and Germany.
• ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ has 42 million subscribers. Comcast’s Peacock has 52 million.

Comcast bought European media giant Sky for $39 billion in 2018. Sky broadcasts a slew of sports, including the Premier League, Bundesliga, and Formula 1.

In the U.S., the two companies often compete for the same sports audiences. 

Both will pay the NFL around $2 billion annually from 2023-2033 for broadcasting rights and a place in the rotating Super Bowl schedule.

CBS and NBC are also the main broadcasting partners of the PGA Tour, with ESPN+ joining the fold on a roughly $680 million, nine-year set of deals signed in 2020.

Fila recorded a 63% year-over-year increase in revenue, reaching $870.7 million in the second quarter as its mix of athletic wear and golf products bounced back from pandemic lows.

Both the company’s revenue and gross profit of $446.2 million eclipsed 2019’s totals, as well. 

Key to Fila’s comeback is its majority stake in Acushnet, owner of golf product brands including Titleist, Footjoy, and Scotty Cameron. The company’s non-core holdings, namely its 52% stake in Acushnet, accounted for $598.4 million — 68.7% of its Q2 revenue.

• Fila’s U.S. division saw its revenue rise 101.1% to $97 million — still 19.8% below its Q2 2019 showing of $120.9 million.
• In April, consulting firm Brand Finance rated Fila the fastest-growing apparel brand, with a 68% year-over-year increase in brand value to $2.7 billion. 
• Acushnet’s net sales more than doubled year-over-year to $624.9 million in the second quarter. That figure was up 35.2% from the same period in 2019.

Fila first bought into Acushnet in 2011, when the latter was acquired by a group of investors for $1.1 billion. It became majority owner in 2016 when it bought a 20% stake through its holding company, Magnus Limited.

Tencent generated $21.5 billion in revenue in Q2 2021, a 20% increase compared to the same period a year prior. 

The results were driven by Tencent’s value-added services segment, which consists of video games, online advertising, and social networks.

• The segment saw revenue reach $11.1 billion in Q2, an 11% increase year-over-year. 
• The company’s gaming business alone took in $6.6 billion in revenue, a 12% uptick compared to Q2 2020, due to strong sales for games such as “Honor of Kings” and “PUBG Mobile.” 

Tencent beat Wall Street estimates for the quarter despite concerns fueled by China’s antitrust regulator. 

Since last year, the company has faced scrutiny over its failure to report details of several investments and other anticompetitive practices.

Last month, Tencent was blocked from merging China’s two most popular video game streaming sites, Huya and DouYu, which are worth a combined $6 billion. 

It did, however, successfully acquire British gaming company Sumo Group for $1.27 billion.

All in all, Tencent has invested in 62 companies since the start of 2021. It reported $42.3 billion in revenue for the first half of the year, up 23% compared to H1 2020.