Tencent is building its own game streaming platform after its merger of China’s two most popular video game streaming sites — Huya and DouYu — was blocked by China’s antitrust regulator, according to Bloomberg. 

Tencent is battling both antitrust concerns and new restrictions in China on the amount of time children can play video games — a max of only three hours most weeks. 

As a result, the company, which counts value-added services — video games, online advertising, and social networks — as a third of its revenue, saw its stock drop 1.03% by market close on Monday.

Despite the inability to merge the platforms, Tencent continues to expand its offerings. 

• It signed a three-year deal in April with Major League Baseball to broadcast in Asia. 
• The company inked a multiyear distribution deal with Sony Music in May. 
• It took a majority stake in Berlin-based game maker Yager in June. 
• Last month, it acquired British gaming company Sumo Group for $1.27 billion. 

The company generated $21.5 billion in revenue in Q2 2021, a 20% increase year-over-year. 

The value-added services segment (video games, online advertising, and social networks) brought in $11.1 billion in Q2 revenue, up 11% from the same period a year prior.

Collectively, Roger Federer, Naomi Osaka, and Serena Williams have earned $192.5 million over the last year — yet, only a small fraction of their income has come from playing tennis.

According to Forbes, tennis’ top six earners since the start of the 2020 U.S. Open  brought in $283.5 million, only $20.5 million (7.2%) of which was made on the court.

• Roger Federer topped the list with $90.6 million in earnings — $90 million from off-court activities. He invested $54 million in the shoe company On, which may IPO later this year. 
• Naomi Osaka ($60.1 million) and Serena Williams ($41.8 million) were the second- and third-highest earners. Of the $101.9 million they earned, only $6.9 million came from tournament winnings.
• Kei Nishikori, Japan’s top-ranked player, benefitted from the Tokyo Olympics this year, earning $25 million in sponsorships on top of $1 million in tournament winnings.

The sport is top-heavy when it comes to earnings: Only seven players made over $10 million in the last 12 months. The 10th-highest earner, top-ranked women’s player Ashleigh Barty, earned $5.8 million in total.

The U.S. Open, which began on Monday, has a record prize pool of $57.5 million. That sum will be more evenly distributed than in previous years, with each singles’ winner pocketing $2.5 million — a 35% drop from 2019. 

Sports Illustrated Media Group is now the fastest-growing sports media property in the U.S., with its number of unique visitors growing 293% year-over-year.

The sports media vertical, made up of Sports Illustrated, The Spun, FanNation, Hockey News, Morning Read, and Athlon Sports, now ranks sixth in the industry for 13+ and 18+ age groups with more than 42 million monthly users, according to Comscore.

In May 2019, Meredith Corp. sold Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. In June of that year, ABG announced a 10-year partnership with Maven to license and operate the Sports Illustrated media business. 

Since then, SI Media Group and Maven have made a number of business moves despite pandemic-related layoffs and $30 million in reduced revenue for the latter.

• 888 Holdings, an internet gambling operator, obtained exclusive rights to the Sports Illustrated brand for online sports and casino wagering, according to Bloomberg. 
• On Feb. 2, Sports Illustrated began placing its “premium” content behind a paywall. Readers can read five free “premium” content pieces per month. An annual subscription costs $69.99 for a bundle of digital access and SI’s flagship magazine.
• In June, Sports Illustrated launched SI Tix, a ticketing platform for more than 100,000 concerts, theatre, and sporting events across the world.

In June, Maven acquired digital and social sports brand The Spun for $11 million and secured $20 million in equity financing.

Wynn Resorts is set to spend more than $100 million on marketing for its new sports betting app this football season, according to Bloomberg.

Launched in 2020, WynnBet currently operates in six states: Indiana, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia, New Jersey, and Tennessee. 

The app also has market access opportunities in Iowa, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Ohio. These opportunities will become effective once regulatory and licensing requirements are met. 

Prior to 2018, federal regulations barred television networks from accepting commercials advertising sports betting. Since then, the race has been on.

• Caesars Entertainment will be spending more than $1 billion over the next two-and-a-half years to bring in new users. 
• Last year, FanDuel and DraftKings allocated $311 million combined toward TV ads, more than three times what was spent in 2019, according to Kantar. 
• Nielsen Ad Intel reports that sportsbook firms spent nearly $154 million in the first quarter of 2021 on local TV commercials. In Q1 of 2019, sportsbooks spent only $10.7 million on such spots.

Shaquille O’Neal became a brand ambassador and strategic consultant for WynnBet earlier this month. As a result, the four-time NBA champion is selling his stake in the Sacramento Kings to comply with NBA rules. 

Wynn generated $990.1 million in revenue in Q2 2021, up from $85.7 million for the same period a year prior.