Apple generated at least $100 million in revenue during the 30-month run of “Fortnite” on the App Store, according to an Apple executive’s testimony on Wednesday. 

The testimony was the latest bombshell during the Epic Games v. Apple trial, now in its third week. The legal battle stems from Apple’s decision to remove “Fortnite” from the App Store in 2020 after Epic figured out how to circumvent Apple’s 30% commission fee.

The $100 million figure was confirmed by Michael Schmid — Apple’s head of business development for App Store games — during a line of questioning on the witness stand.

However, Schmid did not specify the exact amount that Apple made from “Fortnite” and said it would be “inappropriate” to disclose if his employer made more than $200 million off the game. 

Data firm Sensor Tower said last year that App Store users spent nearly $1.2 billion on “Fortnite,” generating roughly $354 million in revenue for Apple. 

This latest revelation adds to the list of industry secrets revealed since the trial started:

• Sony makes Epic pay up for the cross-platform availability of “Fortnite.”  
• Epic’s digital store isn’t profitable, with losses expected to reach $719 million by 2027.
• Xbox executive Lori Wright said that Microsoft has never turned a profit on hardware sales from its Xbox consoles when she testified as a witness for Epic.

Apple brought in $275 billion in revenue during its fiscal 2020, and most recently reported $89.6 billion in revenue for fiscal Q2 2021. Epic has a valuation of $28.7 billion as of April. 

Facebook made billions of dollars by outsourcing content production to its users. It may take the same approach to sports broadcasting.

The social media giant is building out its pay-per-view broadcasting platform, launched last August, with a focus on allowing high schools, colleges, and smaller leagues to distribute and profit from their content.

Facebook reportedly has paid online events available in 44 markets globally. In its most recent earnings report, it reported 2.85 billion monthly active users and 1.8 billion daily active users.

The social platform is betting that within its user base is an audience willing to pay for one-off sporting events.

• Major Arena Soccer League partnered with Facebook in January to broadcast games for $7.99 a piece or $74.99 for the season.
• In March, the site drew 18,300 fans, each paying $2.99, to watch the Challenge Miami Triathlon.
• That same month, Facebook partnered with LiveXLive on a series of PPV events, including boxing matches between YouTube and TikTok stars.

Facebook initially took a more traditional approach to sports — purchasing broadcast rights to sports leagues with large audiences such as LaLiga and MLB — but scaled back those ambitions at the start of 2020.

Paid events could lead to growth in the company’s non-advertising revenue, which totaled $732 million in Q1, just 2.8% of Facebook’s $26.2 billion total revenue for the quarter.

Inter Milan won’t be getting that Super League bonus, so instead it is raising capital through an increasingly common source: American investors.

Oaktree Capital Group is buying a 31% stake in the team, currently held by Hong Kong investment firm LionRock Capital, and will loan money to the team in a $336 million deal. At present, Chinese holding company Suning will retain its 68.5% stake, though the deal has not been finalized. 

The Serie A champion’s revenue dropped 20% in 2020 to $355 million.

Oaktree is just the latest U.S.-based investor to buy into a major European soccer club. Nearly half of Premier League teams are fully or partially owned by Americans. 

• Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family, which bought it in stages for a total price of around $1.13 billion in 2005.
• Liverpool is owned by Fenway Sports Group, which bought it for $423.5 million in 2010.
• Arsenal is owned by Stan Kroenke, who recently rebuffed a $2.5 billion offer from Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.
• Aston Villa, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, and Fulham are also owned or co-owned by Americans. 

The Glazers and Kroenke — who, respectively, also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and L.A. Rams — both faced fan protests following the Super League failure, with calls for each to sell their soccer teams.

While Serie A teams are mostly Italian-owned, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Parma, and Spezia all have U.S.-based owners. 

LionRock becomes the latest Greater China investor to divest from European soccer, after Chinese firms poured in funds four years ago.

Under Armour wants its talent to stick around. 

The sportswear company is opening its wallet with a 50% raise, increasing its $10 minimum wage to $15 in an effort to retain employees.

The increased pay rate should also be a selling point for the 3,000 open positions listed on the company’s website. Starting next month, 90% of Under Armour’s store and warehouse staff — about 8,000 employees — will see the uptick on their paychecks. 

“We needed to make a strategic decision on our hourly wages to be a competitive employer in the retail space,” said Stephanie Pugliese, president of the Americas at Under Armour.

Retail job openings were up 53% to 878,000 in March compared to the same period last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

• Amazon said last week that it’s hiring 75,000 workers starting at $17 an hour.
• McDonald’s is increasing pay for 35,000 employees by 10%.

Like many retailers with a heavy brick-and-mortar presence, Under Armour struggled in 2020, losing $590 million in the first quarter alone.

The company also terminated a 15-year, $280 million licensing deal with UCLA and a 10-year, $50 million deal with the University of Cincinnati. It declined to renew its on-field sponsorship deal with the NFL as well, estimated to be worth $10 million to $15 million per year.

But the company’s prospects look promising again, and the minimum wage hike isn’t the only sign of restored life.

Under Armour’s Q1 2021 sales rose 35% year-over-year, giving them $1.26 billion in revenue for the quarter. Online sales alone were up 69%.