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• Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2019 (Revised January 2020)

  The Video-Streaming Wars in 2019: Can Disney Catch Netflix?

  Anita Elberse and Monica Cody

  Bob Iger, CEO of entertainment conglomerate Disney, thrilled investors with details about Disney’s upcoming foray into video streaming in April 2019. Disney’s move was only the latest in a series of actions taken by new and established entertainment companies in a fight for dominance in the video-streaming-subscription space. Netflix, led by CEO Reed Hastings, had established an early foothold in that market after entering in early 2007, amassing 140 million subscribers worldwide by early 2019 and spending $10 billion on content annually. Now, Disney was joining the fray with its signature service, Disney+, after first collaborating with other broadcasters in establishing Hulu, later buying up a majority stake in that service, and launching sports-content subscription service ESPN+. The battle for what many industry observers regarded as the future of the television business was truly on. Had Iger and his team of executives found the right formula to unseat Netflix as the leader in video streaming? Was there room for both players in the marketplace? Or would Hastings and his team at Netflix need to respond in some way to the looming threat posed by Disney?

  Keywords: television; Entertainment; Media; Television Entertainment; Management; Strategy; Disruption; Technology; Competition; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry;

  Citation:

  Elberse, Anita, and Monica Cody. "The Video-Streaming Wars in 2019: Can Disney Catch Netflix?" Harvard Business School Case 519-094, May 2019. (Revised January 2020.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2019

  Relevent and LaLiga: Bringing Spanish Soccer to America

  Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente

  “Barcelona backs out of proposed LaLiga match in Miami.” It is December 2018, and Daniel Sillman, chief executive officer of sports and entertainment company Relevent, is tasked with finding a way forward after a significant setback. Relevent had found success by convincing some of Europe’s highest-profile soccer clubs to play pre-season matches in North America as part of its annual International Champions Cup (ICC), held during the summer months. Building on that success, Relevent is now seeking to bring at least one official LaLiga match to the U.S, each season—an effort that is a key pillar of Relevent’s new, 15-year partnership with the Spanish soccer league, aimed at promoting the LaLiga brand in North America. However, the match that Relevent had selected to take place in Miami in January 2019, between FC Barcelona and Girona FC, had become a source of tension, drawing protests from the Spanish football federation, the Spanish players’ association, and the president of worldwide governing body FIFA. Today, FC Barcelona’s leadership team had announced the club would withdraw. Would Relevent find success in bringing a LaLiga match to the United States? And, more generally, did Relevent have the right approach to growing the LaLiga brand in North America?

  Keywords: soccer; football; superstars; Talent; talent development; general management; Marketing; Entertainment; Sports; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Globalization; Strategy; Sports Industry;

  Citation:

  Elberse, Anita, and David Moreno Vicente. "Relevent and LaLiga: Bringing Spanish Soccer to America." Harvard Business School Case 520-021, October 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised June 2019)

  The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

  Anita Elberse and Saskia Van Rheenen

  Should the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament gamble most of its player budget on superstar player Rafael Nadal, even after the event’s previous two editions saw Nadal and Roger Federer pull out at the last moment due to injury, leaving the tournament without any top-five players? That is the question that Richard Krajicek, former Wimbledon champion and current tournament director, is debating with Jolanda Jansen, the director of the venue that hosts the event. It is June 2017, and earlier in the day, Nadal won the French Open (“Roland Garros”) for a record tenth time. Krajicek’s plan for the upcoming edition was to focus his recruiting efforts on five exciting, mostly younger, players, and assemble a group of top-20 players around them—but after Nadal’s record-breaking performance, Krajicek is now considering pursuing the Spanish superstar for the 2018 tournament after all. What is the best course of action?

  Keywords: entertainment; superstar; Talent; general management; Marketing; Sports; Media; Entertainment; Talent and Talent Management; Negotiation; Strategy; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry;

  Citation:

  Elberse, Anita, and Saskia Van Rheenen. "The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament." Harvard Business School Case 518-041, September 2017. (Revised June 2019.)  View Details

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