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Professional gamer Ninja rang Nasdaq's opening bell this week as part of the new executive team for GameSquare.

Why it matters: The Twitch star was celebrating the closing of GameSquare's merger with Engine Gaming and Media, with its goal of becoming a "one-stop shop" for advertisers to reach younger audiences, executive chairman Tom Rogers tells Kerry.

Catch up quick: GameSquare owns esports franchise Complexity and is backed by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and real estate investor John Goff.

Engine Gaming and Media formed in 2020 as the merger between Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc. and WinView Inc. It provides data analytics, influencer marketing and programmatic advertising.

Rogers, a media veteran whose resume includes CNBC founder and TiVo president and CEO, had served as executive chairman of WinView and Frankly and has continued in the role.

What they're saying: Rogers says the merger, announced in December, sought to address three issues in the media industry — traditional media struggling to attract young audiences, the new limits of targeting with digital advertising and the fractured state of platforms effectively reaching young audiences.

"My focus has always been bringing companies through major transitions in the media industry," Rogers says. "Obviously, this is a huge transition in the media industry, particularly given what's happened to youth audiences."

"We create a truly scalable solution of reaching youth audiences and that means we reach in total about 290 million gamer touch points around the globe," he says. As chief innovation officer, Ninja "brings 74 million followers to the table," along with expertise for the incubator, Ninja Labs.

Between the lines: Esports investments have cooled in recent years. FaZe Clan, an esports and entertainment brand that went public last July, has been trading for under $1.

GameSquare "is much more than esports," Rogers says. "It does have an esports team. But this is much more about a marketing machine that has multiple ways of creating, distributing content and the touch points that come from it, where esports is one element."

What's next: Rogers confirmed the company's goal is to reach profitability later this year, as previously shared in its January earnings call.

GameSquare CEO Justin Kenna told D CEO, "I think a $1 billion valuation is in our near future — in my mind it's three years away."

1 big thing: Tom Rogers chats GameSquare

GameSquare executives ringing the bell at the Nasdaq

Data: S&P Global Market Intelligence; Chart: Axios Visuals

The total value of sports media rights in the U.S. across TV and streaming will surpass $30 billion by 2025, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

Why it matters: The inclusion of deep-pocketed tech giants like Apple and Amazon bidding for sports rights has driven the price sky-high, Tim writes.

A slew of key deals up for renewal in the next few years, including the NBA and NASCAR, will only drive the price up further.

By the numbers: The NFL's new TV deals with Fox, Paramount and Disney kick in this fall. Including its "Thursday Night Football" deal with Amazon, the 11-year contracts are worth more than $110 billion.

Also starting this fall is the league's seven-year deal with YouTube for Sunday Ticket, for which the online video giant is paying $2 billion a year. 

What's next: Now that the NBA has agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement with its players, negotiations with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery on new TV deals are expected to begin in earnest. 

Disney and WBD have an exclusive negotiating window until early next year.

The new CBA includes the implementation of an in-season tournament, which gives the NBA a chance to sell as a separate TV or streaming package. 

💭 Tim's thought bubble: It's getting harder for media companies, especially those tied to the fading cable TV bundle, to justify these high prices. This threatens to push sports into a subscription-based environment. 

Sports leagues will be faced with a choice: Reach the biggest audience, or get the most money. They may no longer be able to get both. 

U.S. sports media rights value to reach $30B by 2025

2. Charted: Show them the money

• Vox Media said it is spinning off NowThis, the progressive, social media-focused publisher it acquired as part of Group Nine, to nonprofit Accelerate Change for an undisclosed cash payment. It will retain a minority stake. https://axios.link/3nYQMsq

• Sun Group has been removed as the lead investor looking to acquire Forbes over concerns with its ties to Russia, Sara Fischer reports. https://axios.link/3zOTJOS

• Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is an investor in TMRW Sports, the media and tech-focused sports startup from Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Mike McCarley. https://axios.link/43B0YYG

• National CineMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced a debt restructuring deal with lenders. https://axios.link/43pVPCq

• Paramount Television Studios signed a first-look deal with Brillstein Entertainment Partners for scripted series. https://axios.link/3zSSu1b

3. Deal flow

• Mark Shafir is stepping down as Citigroup's co-head of global M&A, per the WSJ. https://axios.link/40g18lr

• The CW named former Roku exec Ashley Hovey as its first chief digital officer. https://axios.link/3mk9GK5

• The Guardian U.S. named Dana Canedy as managing editor. She was the former publisher of Simon & Schuster and previously worked at the New York Times for more than 20 years. https://axios.link/3MCvxa5

4. Movin' on up (or out)

📺 From "glitchy" HBO Max to "overwhelming" Amazon Prime Video, Hollywood insiders spill on their (least) favorite streaming interfaces (Variety)

"They're all bad. They're all so terrible," said Stephen Schiff, a writer and executive producer on such series as FX's "The Americans" and Disney+'s "Andor." "I don't want to say because I work for all of them. But they're all bad."

💥 UFC+WWE: A combustible combo, with a fighting chance at becoming a powerhouse (THR)

"The pending merger of the WWE and Endeavor's mixed-martial arts juggernaut UFC may be, in the words of Bank of America's Jessica Reif Ehrlich, a financial 'heavyweight tag team,' but beyond the numbers, the deal is also a merger of egos," Alex Weprin writes.

🎶 Streaming services urged to clamp down on AI-generated music (FT)

"Universal Music Group has told streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple, to block artificial intelligence services from scraping melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs, according to emails viewed by the Financial Times," Anna Nicolaou writes. 

5. Channel surfing

Illustration of a pair of sunglasses with lenses that look like tv screens.

🐦 Situational awareness: NPR said it will stop using Twitter after the platform added a "government-funded media" label to its account. It tweeted a thread of other ways to follow NPR content.

Plus: Rupert Murdoch's "succession drama" is Vanity Fair's May cover story.

@tim_bays: "Nope" on Amazon Prime Video. Finally caught Jordan Peele's latest over the Easter weekend.  

@kerrymflynn: Daytona Tortugas vs. Palm Beach Cardinals at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Enjoying some Minor League Baseball while in Florida this week. 🐢

✏️ Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Katie Lewis for copy editing this newsletter.

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April 12, 2023

1 big thing: Tom Rogers chats GameSquare