With multiple deals taking place across the industry, May was a month of mergers and acquisitions.
From a personal standpoint, May was also the month when my wife and I got fully vaccinated!!
We are planning some travel to the family homelands of Turkey and Ireland before the little one starts school in September.
In the media, tech and innovation world:
Twitter acquires Scroll to enhance subscription plans and offerings on the platform
FanDuel will be the exclusive provider of sports odds across AP’s global sports properties
The New York Times in talks to buy The Athletic
Twitter Blue launches in Australia
Blue Origin prepares for its first crewed space tourism flight
I’m taking a break for the summer and will be back in September. In the meantime, I will continue to post on my other social channels. If you are not following my company accounts already, you can do so here:
Twitter acquires Scroll
On Tuesday, Twitter announced the acquisition of subscription service Scroll as it expands its plans for subscription offerings.
Scroll charges its users a fee in order to block advertising from the long-form content experience, then distributes a cut of its earnings to participating publishers including USA Today, Vox and The Atlantic.
Twitter plans to integrate the service into its platform, and use its technology to build other subscription services.
The Big Picture - Twitter’s plans to supplement its advertising revenue with subscriptions necessitated the addition of content like newsletters and audio chats. Its acquisition of Scroll will add journalism to that list. I’m a long time friend and advocate of Scroll CEO Tony Haile, and wish him great success in this new acquisition.
Fan Duel to be the exclusive provider for AP
FanDuel and The Associated Press have reached an agreement to make FanDuel the exclusive provider of sports odds across AP’s global sports report.
FanDuel is paying the AP an undisclosed amount to be the AP's exclusive partner.
The AP will cite FanDuel betting odds as a singular source in its copy and will hyperlink out to FanDuel's home page, not to any of its betting pages. The company wants to steer clear of any direct affiliate marketing relationships.
FanDuel has a robust media presence that includes partnerships with The Ringer, Turner Sports, CBS, Audacy, Hulu, the NFL, NBC, DC United, the Brooklyn Nets and dozens of others.
The Big Picture - Like Rivals Draft Kings, FanDuel iw working to become a media and content company, along with a gaming one. FanDuel has a robust media presence that includes partnerships with The Ringer, Turner Sports, CBS, Audacy, Hulu, the NFL, NBC, DC United, Brooklyn Nets and dozens of others.
The New York Times in talks to buy The Athletic
The New York Times is exploring a potential acquisition of The Athletic, a popular subscription-based sports media outlet.
The Athletic competes against a host of sites that offer largely free sports content, including the Ringer, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports and ESPN.com.
The Athletic was valued at $475 million in its last funding round, announced in January 2020, according to PitchBook.
The Big Picture - The Athletic doesn’t disclose detailed financial results including profitability. The company has significant expenses, including more than 600 employees - many of them top-tier reporters recruited from other news organizations. Although The New York Times has experienced mixed results with past acquisitions, the digital and global sports audience of The Athletic would be a great feather in their cap to expand into the global sports market.
Twitter Blue launches in Australia and Canada
Twitter has launched its first-ever subscription service, Twitter Blue, in Australia and Canada. The subscription will allow Twitter users to access premium features, including tools to organize bookmarks, clutter-free reading formats, and an “Undo Tweet” feature — the closest thing Twitter will have to the long-requested “Edit” button.
Twitter Blue will be introduced in Canada and Australia to help determine whether its existing feature set will meet the needs of those who are looking for more customization in their Twitter experience. The early rollout will also encourage discussion of other features that Twitter should prioritize in future iterations of Twitter Blue.
In Canada and Australia, the subscription will cost $3.49 CAD and $4.49 AUD.
The Big Picture - The subscription service isn’t just a way to better serve Twitter’s power users, but an integral part of the company’s broader plan to reduce its reliance on advertising revenue. As Twitter has struggled to grow its user base over the years, the focus has shifted to monetizing the dedicated users it does have. These plans will include offering tools to creators, including the upcoming Super Follow subscription, as well as Twitter Blue.
JOBS IN MY NETWORK
For anyone qualified and looking for referrals, recommendations, introductions for any of the below roles I am happy to help.
WeAreGlow - Creative Project Manager
King and Partners - Office Manager
Vanity Fair - Product Design Lead
Thanks for reading, stay safe and enjoy your summer!