3 charts for you today:
India's COVID situation is concerning.
The latest data from Our World In Data reveals that cases in India have exploded in the last month, with 1.7 million new cases confirmed in the last 7 days alone. That is roughly 3x the previous peak that topped out at around 650,000 new cases per week back in September. This latest surge is partly being blamed on a new COVID variant, dubbed B.1.617, which is thought to be more transmissible.
The recent wave is beginning to overwhelm healthcare facilities in India, with authorities in New Delhi announcing that hospitals could begin to run out of medical oxygen sometime today. Tuesday also saw the country register its highest ever death toll, with 1,761 official deaths recorded, although some experts believe the official numbers are likely to be undercounted across the country.
The situation in India is particularly frustrating as India is the world's largest vaccine maker, thanks to the Serum Institute of India. In a typical year India would produce roughly 60% of the world's vaccines.
For a country with such vaccine expertise, the COVID vaccination drive has been solid, but unspectacular. More than 120 million doses have been administered in India, which is an impressive logistical feat, but for a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion people actually equates to less than 10% coverage.
A breakaway Super League, designed to guarantee more revenue for some of the largest football (soccer) teams in Europe and negotiated almost entirely in secret, has united sports fans around the world like few proposals ever have. Within just two days of announcing, the backlash to the proposed Super League was so severe that 9 of the 12 teams have now pulled out - leaving the competition in tatters before a single ball was kicked.
"Saving football"
Florentino Perez, who is president of Real Madrid and was set to be the first chairman of the Super League, has publicly said that the Super League was intended to "save football", citing declining revenues and losses at many of the biggest European clubs.
We dug out the revenue data thanks to Deloitte's Football Money League report, finding that from 2016 to 2019 the revenue of the 12 clubs actually increased by 27% in total, to €6.4bn ($7.7bn). Even if you include 2020, where revenues fell (like pretty much every other industry), 9 of the proposed 12 clubs had still grown their revenue since 2016.
Declining revenues is certainly not the issue for these teams, although many are still indebted to the tune of multiple millions, thanks mostly to spiralling wages for players which routinely eat up 60%, 70% or even 80% of clubs revenue. If nothing else the ruined plans for the Super League might encourage the European institutions to take a leaf out of American sports and think seriously about a salary or wage cap.
It's hard to argue that the pandemic wasn't a good thing for Peloton, the tech company that makes "smart" fitness equipment such as exercise bikes and treadmills. The New York based Peloton saw its sales jump dramatically at the start of the pandemic, and last quarter almost 100 million workouts were logged on a Peloton machine by its "Connected Fitness" subscribers — up roughly 4x on the previous year.
Safety concerns
Peloton has been extremely deliberate in crafting its brand and message. The company clearly markets itself towards wealthy individuals who want the absolute best in home fitness equipment. Unfortunately that brand has taken a significant dent in the last few weeks as concerns about the safety of their treadmill product (which costs $4,000+) have cropped up, with 23 incidents reportedly involving children, including the tragic death of one child.
With the US Consumer Product Safety Commission now warning users with children about the Peloton product, the company is increasingly under pressure to recall its Tread+ treadmill, which — so far — the company has declined to do. Peloton shares have fallen 13% in the last 5 days.
1) Netflix reported its latest quarterly earnings which revealed the company's growth has slowed dramatically, adding just 4 million new subscribers in its latest quarter, and expecting to add just 1 million subscribers in the next.
2) Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of George Floyd's murder on all 3 counts. Sentencing is expected in 8 weeks and Chauvin could be sentenced to up to a maximum of 40 years in prison.
3) Apple's Spring event yesterday revealed its latest product innovations, TechCrunch has everything you need to know on the 7 biggest releases.
4) 80,000 people get The Daily Upside — a business newsletter that's engaging, insightful and fun. Sign up here for free.**
5) Discord has rejected Microsoft's $12bn acquisition offer and will now reportedly focus its efforts on a potential IPO.
6) Scientists now estimate that 20,000 Tyrannosaurus Rexes lived at any one time, with some 127,000 generations of the dinosaur living and dying in total. That implies that a T. Rex would have been on average 15 miles from you, were you able to go back in time.
**This is sponsored content.
