Amazon failed to meet expectations with its latest earnings report on Thursday.

The tech giant generated $113.1 billion in revenue during Q2 2021, but missed Wall Street analyst estimates of $115.2 billion.

It was Amazon’s third $100 billion quarter in a row and Jeff Bezos’ last as CEO.

Amazon — the fifth-most valuable company in the world with a market cap of $1.81 trillion — is leaning into sports to keep its more than 200 million Prime subscribers engaged.

• It secured its first exclusive NFL deal in March to broadcast “Thursday Night Football” at $1 billion per season.
• It struck a deal with the WNBA in May for streaming rights to 16 games per season.
• It’s splitting Ligue 1 media rights with France’s Canal+ as part of a three-year, $802 million agreement.

Amazon also taps into fitness and gaming.

The company is an investor in at-home fitness startup Tonal, which raised $250 million at a $1.6 billion valuation in March.

Its new game, “New World,” saw more than 200,000 players participate in its beta, a substantial increase from its now-canceled “Crucible” title, which peaked at 25,000 users.

Members of the Southeastern Conference voted unanimously on Thursday to admit Texas and Oklahoma to the conference to begin play by the 2025-26 season.

The schools now owe the Big 12 close to $80 million in exit fees and could forfeit up to $160 million each in conference distributions, Front Office Sports previously reported. 

The Big 12 already launched an offensive to ensure it receives the payments.

This latest round of realignment further solidifies the SEC as the dominant Power 5 conference on the field and at the bank.

• The conference could generate $1.3 billion in revenue in 2024-2025 — matching the NCAA’s projected haul that year.
• USA Today reports that the SEC would have seven of the top 10 athletic budgets in the country with the addition of OU and Texas. 

Recent reports have stoked speculation that the SEC also plans to assemble a “Super Conference” that, at least for football, could leave the NCAA entirely.

The effects on other conferences are still a rumor mill. 

The Big 12 could try to expand, unless it implodes first. The Athletic reported that the conference discussed reaching out to the Pac-12. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby alleged to CBS Sports that the AAC was trying to poach the conference’s remaining members.

Before Cade Cunningham became the first overall pick at Thursday night’s NBA Draft, he was already Team Nike.

The newly minted Detroit Piston signed an endorsement deal with the Swoosh in the leadup to the draft. He reportedly has more deals in place with food, energy drink, crypto, trading card, and memorabilia companies.

Cunningham wasn’t the only player to cash in on pre-draft hype.

• Jonathan Kuminga, selected seventh by the Golden State Warriors, signed a multiyear shoe deal with Nike before the draft. 
• Jalen Green (picked second by the Houston Rockets), Evan Mobley (third, Cleveland Cavaliers), and Jalen Suggs (fifth, Orlando Magic) inked pre-draft contracts with adidas.
• Suggs also signed deals with Chipotle, Wells Fargo, AT&T, 2K Sports, Gatorade, Hugo Boss, New Era, and Wilson, which replaced Spalding as the NBA’s official basketball provider last year.

The draft stayed in Disney’s media empire, with ABC and ESPN simulcasting. It was the 19th consecutive NBA Draft on ESPN.

The NBA’s current broadcast deals run through 2025 and are valued at $24 billion. The league is believed to be seeking pacts worth $75 billion for its next set of media contracts.

The WWE announced Thursday that its Q2 revenue increased by 19% year-over-year. Total revenue was $265.6 million, exceeding analysts’ projections of $259.7 million. 

The media and entertainment company also set records across digital and social platforms — 11.2 billion digital video views and 394 million hours consumed.

WWE’s revenue boost was primarily due to increased monetization of content and the live event segment, which includes sales from events like “WrestleMania.” 

• In January, WWE partnered with NBCUniversal’s Peacock in an exclusive network rights deal reportedly worth $1 billion over five years.
• “Wrestlemania 37” was Peacock’s most-watched live event ever and sold 40,806 tickets in-person.
• WWE has 79 million subscribers on YouTube and 11.9 million on TikTok — surpassing the NFL, MLB, and NHL.

WWE returned to touring on July 16, and five shows have been at or close to full capacity. 

Wrestler-turned-movie star John Cena is back with WWE and is expected to appear in a Friday Night SmackDown event on Sept. 10 at Madison Square Garden.