FOS PM: Spanish TV giant $925 million Q1

Televisa and Univision, which completed the $4.8 billion merger of their content businesses in January, posted pro forma first-quarter revenue of $1 billion in their first earnings report as TelevisaUnivision — up from $896 million the year before.

The separate entities had strong ties before they largest Spanish-language media company in the worldmerging their sports divisions in 2019.

Operating expenses for the quarter were up 16% year-over-year to $608 million as a result of investments across the company, including its streaming business and increases in the cost of sports, entertainment and news programming. Advertising revenue increased by 12% to $569 million, while subscription and license revenues grew 14.3% to $407 million†

TelevisaUnivision achieved a number of other milestones during the quarter.

• TelevisionUnivision was the New. 2-rated network on all TV in the US for the first time in February.
• It launched its new streaming service, ViX AVODin the US, Mexico and most of Spanish-speaking Latin America, with plans to launch a premium subscription platform later this year.

Sell ​​sports

The self-proclaimed “Home of Soccer” continues to score with sports – TUDN is the No. 1 Spanish-language sports network in the US and Mexico.

In about the past year, Televisa joined a $560 millioneight year deal with La Liga, while Univision signed a five-year contract with Combate Americas. Univision already had coverage of Copa America† Copa MXand League MXas well as partnerships with NFL and MLB teams.

A former investor in the Minnesota Vikings and the now-defunct Alliance of American Football has pleaded guilty to charges related to a $600 million cryptocurrency scheme.

Reginald Fowler has filed an “open plea” in Manhattan federal court. Fowler will plead guilty to wire transfer fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and operating an unlicensed money transferring business. Prosecutors alleged that he facilitated unregulated transactions worth millions of dollars on behalf of several cryptocurrency exchanges, telling banks they would process them as real estate transactions.

Fowler, who once attended a training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals and played in the USFL, attempted to buy a stake in the AAF with illegally acquired funds, contributing to the league’s shutdown in April 2019, before its inaugural season ended.

• Fowler originally $170 million pledged to the AAF in 2019, per action network.
• Later he just invested $28 million in the league before it stopped operating.

Fowler initially planned to plead not guilty after his arrest in April 2019, but changed his stance after a maximum of 90 years in prison† He later retracted an offer from prosecutors in January 2020 that included a guilty plea on a single count but demanded that he forfeit up to $371 million.

After Fowler refused to accept the deal, federal authorities added more charges.

NFL Property

Fowler tried to acquire the Vikings for: $600 million in 2005, but failed to provide the necessary capital. Fowler later settled for a minority stake in the team, which he relinquished in 2014.

Phil Mickelson could compete in both the flagship events of the PGA Tour and the inaugural tournament of the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf league, if allowed.

Mickelson requested release from the PGA Tour to play in LIV Golf’s June event at the Centurion Club near London. He also signed up for the PGA Championship and the US open†

Sergio Garcia† Robert Garrigusand up to 20 others, possibly including 15th ranked Louis Oosthuizen, have reportedly requested releases for the tournament, what a $25 million bag.

The requests are the culmination of the drama sparked by Mickelson’s support for LIV Golf.

• After initially threatening life-long bans, the PGA Tour shifted to grant conditional waivers from LIV tournaments.
• Reports from earlier this month indicated that Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Kevin Na would be joining LIV.
• LIV’s June event conflicts with that of the PGA Tour Canadian Openwho has one $8.7 million bag.

LIV’s schedule includes five US tournaments, plus one in Bangkok and Jeddah, with prize pools totaling over $250 million.

Lefty’s Turn

Mickelson attracted attention in February after publishing an interview with author Alan Shipnuck, in which he clearly stated that he was aware of Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record, but that he saw the breakout competition as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshaping how the PGA Tour works†

Mickelson’s comments led to sponsors including Amstel Light, KPMG and Workday, which is owned by Heineken, severing ties with the golfer. Callaway has ‘paused’ his collaboration with Mickelson.