People are back at Disney’s theme parks but the company’s earnings haven’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. 

The Mouse turned a $1.1 billion profit in its fiscal Q2 2021, despite a 13% year-over-year drop to $15.6 billion in revenue. Expected revenue was $15.9 billion. Disney stock dropped 3.5% in after hours trading Thursday.

Disney+, which saw massive growth during the pandemic, hit 103.6 million paid subscribers at the end of fiscal Q2, just short of the 109 million subs anticipated. 

Still, the outlook is positive, especially for entertainment giant’s sports offerings.

Disney announced a seven-year extension with Major League Baseball beginning in 2022. ESPN will broadcast 30 regular-season games, plus all wild-card playoff games.

The MLB extension is one of several key sports rights deals Disney has secured in the last six months: 

• Dec. 10: 10-year deal with SEC football, basketball begins in 2024
• March 10: Seven-year deal with the NHL begins in 2021
• March 18: 10-year deal with the NFL begins in 2023
• May 13: Eight-year deal with LaLiga soccer begins in 2021

CEO Bob Chapek said the company is in talks about a new NFL Sunday Ticket deal, but will only move forward if it will be profitable.

Chapek also said Disney+ is on track for 230 million to 260 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2024. Hulu subscriptions grew 30% year-over-year to 41.6 million, and ESPN+ subs are up 75% to 13.8 million.

Disney considers both linear and direct-to-consumer rights with each deal. DTC revenue shot up to $4 billion, but production costs from Disney+ drove expenses above segment earnings to a $300 million loss.

Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame posthumously on Saturday and he leaves a legacy that transcends sports. 

Kobe earned just over $323 million during his 20 seasons in a Lakers uniform, providing the 18-time All-Star with resources to build a remarkable business portfolio.

• He founded Bryant Stibel & Co., a VC firm that invested in more than 40 businesses including Epic Games. 
• Launched Granity Studios, an Academy Award-winning multimedia company. 
• Co-founded sports drink brand BodyArmor, which generates more than $1 billion in sales and plans to overtake Gatorade as the No. 1 sports drink by 2025.
• Co-founded Art of Sport, a line of body and skincare products made for athletes. The company has an exclusive deal with Target. 

Kobe’s business legacy continues with what appears to be the imminent debut of a Mamba sneaker and apparel brand.

Vanessa Bryant and Kobe’s estate failed to reach an agreement on a new contract with Nike last month, ending an 18-year relationship with the company.

Michael Jordan and Vanessa Bryant will present Kobe for induction in a Hall of Fame class that includes Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Tamika Catchings.

Trevor Bauer, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ big offseason signing, said he was “pissed” about the team’s recent skid. Should the defending champs fail to right the ship, Bauer, due to his unique contract, doesn’t have to stick around. 

Bauer will make $38 million this season, followed by two one-year options for $32 million. 

Coming off a Cy Young win, Bauer could have opted for a more conventional contract that may have equaled the nine-year, $324 million pact his one-time roommate, Gerrit Cole, signed with the New York Yankees in 2019.

“For me, this type of contract made the most sense because the most important thing to me isn’t long-term security, it’s being able to control my destiny,” Bauer told Front Office Sports.

The 30-year-old was the first client of his agency, Luba Sports. Instead of a flat fee, typically 4-5% of the total contract, Luba charges a lower base with optional add-ons.

“I pay for the services I need — contract negotiation, various reviewing of off-field contracts,” Bauer explained. “This allows me to use the money I would have spent in the traditional agency model to build a dedicated team around me that can service me more personally.”

Whether or not he stays in L.A., Bauer is making an impact while he’s there, using his #KsForACause campaign to donate $1,000 to organizations for every strikeout he notches each month.

“I’m really focused on identifying and supporting organizations doing impactful work in STEM and a variety of youth programming in the greater Los Angeles area,” Bauer told Front Office Sports. “I’ve worked closely with my team and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) to review and select each organization.”

In April, he donated $51,000 to Think Together to facilitate afterschool STEM programs, and this month his 16 Ks (and counting) will go to Matthew McConaughey’s just keep livin Foundation, focused on youth empowerment.

Shaquille O’Neal is joining Alkaline Water Co. as an equity partner, becoming the company’s largest shareholder as it attempts to turn around recent losses — the stock is down 62% since July.

O’Neal will join the board of advisers and receive roughly 7 million common shares — 5% to 6% — of the company over a three-year period.

The announcement comes just two months after the Hall of Famer co-founded Majority, an ad agency focused on diversity, and follows a string of other investments.

“Seventy-five percent of all athletes go broke two years after they’re playing,” he told Vanity Fair last year. “People said, ‘You gotta invest, you gotta know what you’re investing in.’”

O’Neal made an early investment in Google before it went public in 2004. He has also invested in Apple, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Ring, and PepsiCo — among many others. Other highlights on his resume:

• A SPAC he advises took fitness brand Beachbody public in a $3 billion merger.
• A minority stake in the Sacramento Kings.
• O’Neal also owns several franchises between Papa John’s and Auntie Anne’s, and once owned 155 Five Guys restaurants but sold his stake.

The four-time NBA champion has endorsed dozens of companies too, from IcyHot to Buick.

Shaq’s total earnings across his ventures aren’t clear, and the basketball star-turned-businessman intends to keep it that way. “My mother would be disappointed if I talk about numbers,” he’s said.