Blockbusters Quotes

“Why, then, would MLB allow Bowman’s BAM to make such a forceful push into the digital age? As counterintuitive as it may sound, BAM’s pursuit of direct-to-consumer, paid-content products actually strengthens MLB’s existing revenue model. BAM increases the league’s leverage over its existing distribution partners. MLB’s aim is to gain the upper hand in negotiations with television networks—not to eventually displace those networks as channel partners. This is a common theme in markets for entertainment: when content producers pursue new channels, they typically do so not to disintermediate their current distribution partners, but rather to increase competition and drive up fees for their content. In MLB’s case, the more it has a significant online presence and a direct route to the consumer, the more the league can credibly threaten to walk away from a deal it deems insufficiently lucrative. After all, when trying to profit from its content, MLB is no longer completely at the mercy of its distribution partners.”
― Anita Elberse, Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment

“Mauricio Macri. He successfully ran for mayor of Buenos Aires, and when I asked him a few months into his term whether it was more challenging to run a soccer club or a city, he responded: “A soccer club. Without a doubt.”
― Anita Elberse, Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment