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The Incredible Story of Blockbuster Rejecting Netflix

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Blockbuster Video was the big kid on the block and Netflix was the fledgling startup. An excerpt from Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph’s new book posted by Vanity Fair details the fateful meeting the led to the streaming giant’s ultimate victory over the former brick and mortar juggernaut. Hear Daniel…

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The Incredible Story of Blockbuster Rejecting Netflix

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It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Blockbuster Video was the big kid on the block and Netflix was the fledgling startup. An excerpt from Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph’s new book posted by Vanity Fair details the fateful meeting the led to the streaming giant’s ultimate victory over the former brick and mortar juggernaut.

Hear Daniel Litwin and Tyler Kern discuss this story on this excerpt from Business Casual.

Tune in to MarketScale Radio LIVE every Wednesday and Friday morning at 9 a.m. CT for Business Casual with Tyler Kern and Daniel Litwin. From interest rates to eSports – we’ll be talking all things B2B.

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How MLB, FIFA and Wimbledon decide who gets to overrule the camera

How MLB, FIFA and Wimbledon decide who gets to overrule the camera

Baseball rations two challenges per team, soccer keeps referees in charge, and Wimbledon handed line calls to the machine. Each choice moved risk rather than removing it. Companies automating decisions face the same questions: who triggers a review, who decides, and what happens in an outage.

  • 01Wimbledon swapped about 300 line judges for roughly 80 match assistants, and human error moved with them, to whoever held the off switch.
  • 02An overturn rate from a challenge system describes the cases people chose to contest. MLB's 52.2% spring-training figure measures player selection as much as umpire accuracy, a trap for any business dashboard built on appeals.
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MotoGP named ESPN its exclusive U.S. rights holder on linear networks for 2027 and 2028. A two-year deal gives sponsors and production teams a fixed U.S. partner to plan around, though only for two seasons.

  • 01ESPN gives MotoGP a two-year U.S. home for 2027 and 2028, succeeding Fox Sports, with MotoGP's current U.S. arrangement ending after the 2026 season.
  • 02A regional rights relationship can grow into a bigger territory: ESPN, which has carried MotoGP in Latin America since 2002, is expanding its rights to include exclusive U.S. coverage.
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Sportico: NBA 2025-26 revenue $14.5B; teams got $13.7B

Sportico estimates the NBA made about $14.5 billion in 2025-26, with the 30 clubs taking in $13.7 billion, or $456 million apiece. Team revenue ranged from $895 million for Golden State to $339 million for Memphis, both after revenue sharing. Media-rights payouts rise about 7% a year on average. Local business—tickets, sponsorships and arena events—helps explain much of the gap between clubs.

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