Layoffs Looming

ESPN could be laying off hundreds of employees in the next few weeks, sources told FOS. Up to 700 employees could be let go, which will mostly hit behind-the-camera jobs — but could include some TV and radio talent as well.

Along with trimming staff, the network might ask high-earners to take a pay cut. ESPN’s parent company, Walt Disney Co., recently laid off 28,000 theme park employees.

Companies across sports media have dealt with layoffs in part to help offset the loss of revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic and sports shutdown.

Sports Media Pandemic Layoffs:

Fox Sports: 5-10% of its staff

Sports Illustrated: 6% of its staff

Vox Media (SB Nation): 9% of its staff in April, additional 6% in July

The NHL and NBA won’t be returning to action in 2020. Both leagues are looking at January 2021 start dates for their upcoming seasons.

A late January start date is being discussed by NBA decision makers — with the goal to play games in-market without a bubble. The NBPA will need to agree to next season’s start date, with players getting an eight-week notice before play begins.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Jan. 1, 2021, is the new target date for the league and NHLPA. Both leagues had originally targeted early December, but have gradually pushed back to ensure uninterrupted seasons, ideally with fans in attendance.

• NHL — 50%
• NBA — 40%

Following Microsoft’s shuttering of its video game streaming service Mixer, Amazon-owned Twitch extended its domination of the market. In the third quarter of 2020, Twitch controlled 91% of live video game streaming.

More than 206 million hours of content was livestreamed on Twitch during the quarter. While that was only a 1% increase from the previous quarter, Twitch had 185 million more hours streamed than Facebook and YouTube combined.

It’s the highest livestreaming market share for Twitch since early 2018, as competitors from Google, Facebook and Microsoft emerged. Mixer had 14% of the live video game streaming market in the second quarter, which Twitch absorbed when it shut down.

Video Game Livestream Share:

Twitch: 91%

YouTube: 6%

Facebook Gaming: 3.4%

StockX is bullish on the future of the global sneaker resale market after massive growth this year. A release this week noted the platform received 25 million global monthly visitors in the third quarter.

With transactions outside the U.S. up 260% year-over-year, StockX sees a big market opportunity in the projected $30 billion global sneaker resale market in 2030. Of that projected total, $19 billion is expected to be outside the U.S.

There were 3.2-times as many collectible purchases on the app compared to the same quarter last year and 62% of users outside the U.S. are under the age of 25.

Hot Brands in Big Markets:

France and the U.K.: Air Jordan 1 Mid

Italy: Travis Scott streetwear

Germany: Adidas ZX 8000

Japan: New Balance