The NFL has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations and it’s prepared to hit players and teams where they’ll feel it most: their bank accounts.

In a memo issued Thursday, the NFL informed all clubs that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the regular season due to a COVID-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players, the team with the outbreak will forfeit and be credited with a loss. 

• “Neither team’s players” will get paid for canceled games.  
• The forfeiting team will also have to foot the expenses of the other team.

Fourteen NFL teams currently have at least 85 percent of players vaccinated, according to Judy Battista of NFL Media.

“The NFL is pressuring/’influencing’ guys to get the vaccine,” Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey tweeted on Thursday. Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins tweeted, and later deleted, that the new COVID-19 guidelines were making him “question” his future in the league.

In 2020, the NFL went out of its way to reschedule 18 games as COVID-19 outbreaks flared up. The league will likely be less accommodating this year now that vaccines are available.

The NFL is “not mandating vaccinations,” tweeted Andrew Brandt, an ex-Green Bay Packers executive. “They are, instead, making it very difficult on the unvaccinated.”

The Olympics have been a mess for Japan, but they might not be for NBCUniversal.

The Games’ primary U.S. broadcaster expects to bring in $2.25 billion in ad revenue, per the New York Times, nearly double the $1.2 billion it earned from Rio 2016.

While advertisers have adjusted strategies to reflect the pandemic-related struggles the Tokyo Olympics have endured, they ultimately expect a large audience, and are willing to pay for ad space.

• NBCU has set the price of a 30-second primetime commercial at $1.25 million. 
• In 2011, NBCU parent Comcast paid the International Olympic Committee $4.38 billion for the four Olympics from 2014 to 2020. It extended that deal in 2014 to include the Summer and Winter Games from 2022-2032 for $7.75 billion. 
• NBC partnered with Twitch to produce 150 hours of programming surrounding the Games; Snapchat is creating five daily shows.

NBCUniversal has a slew of top sports broadcasts on the schedule in the coming year: It will air the Super Bowl in February and the FIFA World Cup in November 2022. 

The network is reportedly seeking up to $6 million for each 30-second Super Bowl ad and has already sold 85% of those slots.

The Premier League sold exclusive digital broadcast rights in China, stabilizing a situation that turned chaotic when its previous deal fell apart.

The top English soccer league agreed to a deal with iQiyi Sports that begins in August and runs to the end of the 2024-25 season.

iQiyi, a streaming company created by China’s top search engine company Baidu and marketing firm Super Sports Media, will show games without ads in multiple languages. Season-long subscriptions cost $49.

• The league had signed a three-year, $719.8 million pact with Suning-owned PPTV in 2019, but that unraveled after one year. The two sides are now in a legal battle over breach-of-contract claims made by the Premier League. 
• The league kept itself on the air in the world’s most populous country with a one-year deal with Tencent, reportedly worth less than $10 million.
• Its new contract is believed to be worth half as much annually as the PPTV deal.

The Premier League is the second to only the NBA as the most popular sports league in China. 

Launched in 2018, iQiyi has media rights to LaLiga and the Asian Football Confederation. It also streamed the Euro football championship match between England and Italy, as well as tennis’ Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Mercedes-Benz plans to spend more than $47 billion to go all-electric by the end of the decade.

The German luxury automaker will electrify all segments of its business come 2022, with all-electric alternatives available for every model by 2025. 

Integrating EV will likely impact Mercedes’ motorsports division, where it is experiencing a huge amount of success with two drivers currently in the top five of Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. 

“We will be ready as markets switch to electric-only,” said Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius. “The tipping point is getting closer.” 

Mercedes-Benz is far from the only automaker making the pivot. A number of its competitors — on racetracks and in consumer showrooms — are investing heavily in EV.

• McLaren will stop developing petrol engines by 2030 and in Q1 2021 completed a $261 million strategic investment in McLaren Racing to fully fund its teams through 2023. 
• Ferrari confirmed in April that its first all-electric vehicle will debut in 2025. The iconic automaker is the latest to integrate the LMH classification of sportscar racing.

Formula E, the single-seater series that only allows electric cars, has seen its live race viewership grow by 125% in key markets like France, Germany, and Italy. Mercedes made its debut with the series in 2019.