Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry has stepped down as board chairman of Ozy, putting some distance between himself and the embattled media company.

Ozy, which covers news, sports, and culture and hosts festivals, has dealt with a string of embarrassing incidents, including a recent revelation that Ozy’s chief operating officer Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube executive on a call with Goldman Sachs investors.

Goldman had been considering a $40 million investment in Ozy.

An additional report detailed a saga in which producers and guests working on Ozy’s “Carlos Watson Show,” featuring the company’s CEO, were repeatedly told that the show would broadcast on A&E when no such deal was in place.

• In stepping down, Lasry said that Ozy “requires experience in areas like crisis management and investigations, where I do not have particular expertise,” adding that he is still an investor in the company. 
• Ozy had its first profitable year in 2020 off $50 million in revenue, according to Axios. The company has raised over $70 million.
• Watson resigned from the board of NPR on Friday.

Lasry, whose net worth is $1.8 billion, per Forbes, joined an ownership group to purchase the Bucks for $550 million in 2014. Forbes now values the team at $1.63 billion.

Inter Milan won its 19th Serie A title in May, but the Italian soccer club still suffered a record loss of $284.6 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, up from $118 million the year prior.

Total revenue reached $422 million, down from $444 million a year earlier.

The loss is, of course, attributed to stadium closures and a decline in sponsorships due to the pandemic.

• Genoa, Italy’s oldest soccer team, saw a $38 million loss in 2020. 
• Juventus recorded a $246.6 million loss during the 2020-21 financial year.
• Manchester United posted a $148.2 million loss in fiscal Q4.  

Inter hopes to alleviate its financial woes with American investors. 

In May, Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital agreed to acquire a 31% stake in the team from Hong Long’s LionRock Capital in a deal valued at $336 million. Oaktree will also loan money to the club. 

Chinese holding company Suning is Inter’s majority owner, with a 68.5% stake it purchased for $306 million in 2016. Between 2015 and 2017, Chinese investors spent $1.8 billion acquiring stakes in more than a dozen European soccer teams.

Now, U.S. investors are swooping in, with Serie A clubs AC Milan, Fiorentina, Spezia, AS Roma, Venezia, and Genoa all under American ownership.

Last week, Miami-based private equity firm 777 Partners acquired full ownership of Genoa in a deal valued at $175 million.

Comcast has a lot of moving parts lately, with NBCUniversal agreeing to a “short” extension with YouTube TV and Xfinity dropping MSG Networks.

It was reported earlier this week that Comcast-owned NBCU’s channels could be removed from YouTube TV if a new deal was not reached by midnight Eastern time on Thursday. 

After the standoff, the pair agreed to a last-minute extension in which YouTube TV will continue streaming NBCUniversal-owned shows, sports channels, and regional sports networks while negotiations carry on.

• NBCUniversal was reportedly looking for a higher rate to its channels on YouTube TV, as well as push Peacock Premium as a mandatory add-on for subscribers.
• YouTube TV was prepared to lower its price from $64.99 to $54.99 per month if it lost NBCU content. The service has over 3 million subscribers.

It’s not clear how long the extension will last.

Comcast also announced it would drop MSG Networks from its Xfinity cable lineup. Fans of the New York Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, and New Jersey Devils will no longer have access to games through the provider.

MSG released a scathing statement that said Comcast pulled the plug to “try to force us to accept terms they’d never agree to for their own regional sports networks.”