England is making its most ambitious run at a soccer championship in decades, and the country’s economy is set to reap the benefits.

England secured its first-ever trip to a UEFA Euro final with its 2-1 victory over Denmark on Wednesday.

While pandemic-related restrictions have reduced fan capacity at matches, England — which will host the final at London’s Wembley Stadium — is practically guaranteed a serious boost in consumer spending.

• A 2018 study found that spending in England rose by over $1.38 billion during the 2018 World Cup, which was played in Russia. 
• That analysis predicted the economic boost would have reached $3.73 billion had England made the final. (The team finished fourth.)
• Leicester City’s surprising Premier League win in 2015 brought an additional $193.2 million to the local economy.

France, which hosted the UEFA Euro 2016, generated $1.44 billion in economic activity from the tournament. UEFA made $1 billion in net revenue.

This year’s games have drawn more attention than previous Euros. Viewership on ESPN and ABC was up 33% for the first 24 matches of the tournament, compared with 2016.

Italy and Spain’s semifinal match, which Italy won on penalty kicks, drew an average of 19.4 million viewers in Italy and 11.7 million in Spain.

“Pokemon GO” may not be all over your timeline the way it was in 2016, but its cashflow never slowed down.

The game has made $5 billion since it was released five years ago, per Sensor Tower.

Revenue jumped to $1.2 billion in 2020, a 41% increase from 2019. This year is set to be the best year ever for “Pokemon GO,” with 2021 revenue already up 34% from last year.

San-Francisco-based Niantic makes the game, in addition to a popular “Harry Potter” title. Last month, the company announced an upcoming “Transformers” game in a deal with Hasbro.

For all of its success, “Pokemon GO” still has room to grow on a global level.

• The U.S. accounts for 18% of downloads, or 115.5 million — the highest user base from any country, followed by Brazil and India.
• The U.S. brought in $1.9 billion of the total $5 billion in revenue — 36.6% of the game’s lifetime spending. Japan accounts for 32% of the total, with Germany next at 5.4%.

The virtual Pokemon GO Fest 2021 — which offers special challenges for players for a $5 admission fee — takes place on July 17-18.

If you want to know how the new NIL regulations are changing life for college athletes, just ask members of the University of Miami Hurricanes football team.

The 90 scholarship players on the team were all offered the same deal by a Florida-based mixed martial arts gym: $500 per month to promote the business on social media.

Should every player accept the offer, the combined $540,000 would be one of the largest endorsement deals for college athletes since the NCAA allowed players to make money from sponsorships beginning July 1. 

Master P’s son Hercy Miller reportedly inked a $2 million deal with tech company Web Apps America. Other standouts from the NIL era:

• Miami quarterback D’Eriq King and Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton were announced as co-founders of Dreamfield — a platform that helps college athletes book live events. 
• LSU defensive back Derek Stingley Jr. signed a deal with restaurant franchise Walk-On’s.
• Fresno State basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, who are twin sisters and have 3.4 million TikTok followers, announced deals with Boost Mobile and Six Star Nutrition. Boost was acquired by Dish Network last year for $1.4 billion.

The NCAA made $519 million in revenue last year, down dramatically from the $1.18 billion it took in the previous year due to pandemic-related cancelations.

Embracer Group has emerged as Europe’s most valuable video game developer thanks to a spending spree that included 27 acquisitions over the past year.

The video game holding company reached a market value of $13 billion, surpassing its France’s Ubisoft, according to Bloomberg.

The Sweden-based group has been particularly busy in the first half of 2021. 

• Embracer completed its acquisition of Gearbox Software — which makes the smash hit “Borderlands” — in an April deal worth up to $1.3 billion.
• It agreed to acquire development studios Kaiko, Appeal Studios, Massive Miniteam, and Frame Break in May for approximately $8.25 million.
• Founder Lars Wingefors increased his stake to 28.4%, amounting to $2.4 billion, up from $1.4 billion a year ago.

Embracer plans to list on a major index like Nasdaq Stockholm to raise more capital and continue its takeover. 

The company generated $1.33 billion in sales in fiscal Q4 2021, an 80% increase year-over-year. Full-year sales reached $5.24 billion, a 72% uptick compared to FY2020.