ESPN faces an existential crisis as it seeks to secure a streaming future while the cable TV bundle is in terminal decline. Its solution: Ask sports leagues if they want to buy a stake in the network.
Why it matters: Among a bevy of conflict of interest questions, the "worldwide leader in sports" being partially owned by a major professional sports league would shatter any wall between business and editorial.
Most of Sports Illustrated's unionized staff were laid off Friday after its parent company, the Arena Group, failed to make a $3.75 million quarterly payment to the group that it licenses Sports Illustrated's brand from.
Why it matters: The Arena Group executives were hoping to gain leverage over Authentic Brands Group (ABG) — the company that controls the Sports Illustrated brand license — by withholding the payment, sources told Axios. ABG called that bluff, and now dozens of people are out of jobs.
Morgan Stanleyhas agreed to pay $250 million after it emerged that the head of its block trading desk, Pawan Passi, had tipped off hedge funds to large upcoming sales — after explicitly promising his clients that he wouldn't do so.
Why it matters: The case sheds a tiny bit of light on how far the government will go when it's investigating a bank.
State of play: Several musical films have delivered strong performances at the box office in recent weeks, suggesting moviegoers aren't altogether averse to the musical film genre.
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