The Australian Open had been a sign of what life may be like post-COVID, but for now it shows that the pandemic is far from over.

The event was allowing 30,000 fans to attend each day, but will proceed without spectators after 13 positive cases of what is believed to be the more infectious United Kingdom strain of COVID-19 were identified among guests staying at a Holiday Inn in Melbourne.

The Australian state of Victoria will enter a five-day lockdown at midnight on Friday. “The UK strain is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country,” said Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews.

• Victoria residents may only leave home for essential reasons, such as grocery shopping and family care. Australian Open players are considered “essential athletes,” allowing them to continue competing.
• Should the lockdown lift as scheduled, fans will be able to attend the women’s and men’s finals matches.

Tennis Australia previously imposed a 14-day quarantine on players who had arrived to Melbourne in January on charter flights with passengers who tested positive for COVID-19.

Every Grand Slam event has been impacted by the pandemic. Wimbledon was canceled, the U.S. Open had no spectators, and the French Open only permitted 1,000 attendees per day.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. released dismal Q2 earnings for its fiscal year 2021. 

MSG Entertainment’s prized possession, Madison Square Garden, closed to guests in March 2020. As a result, the company reported revenue of $23.1 million during the quarter – a 94% decrease from last year’s Q2. 

MSG also took an operating loss of $112.5 million during the quarter, and operating income was only $69.6 million. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent approval of a plan to reopen stadiums and arenas provides opportunity for MSG to bounce back. Cuomo announced that stadiums and arenas can reopen beginning Feb. 23.

• Stadiums that have an occupancy of 10,000 people or more will be limited to 10% capacity. Madison Square Garden has a capacity between 18,000 and 21,000, depending on the event.
• The Garden plans to allow 2,000 fans at New York Knicks and New York Rangers home games upon reopening.

“We know there continues to be significant pent-up demand for live entertainment and we remain confident in the strength of our business and the long-term outlook for our Company,” said Executive Chairman and CEO James Dolan in a press release.

Roblox is finally on its way to a direct listing after months of delays. 

In December, the video game company announced it was pushing back its go-public date in order to raise its IPO price. Roblox then changed course in January, stating plans to go public in February through a direct listing, after raising $520 million in Series H funding.

Now, the company says its direct listing will take place in March after the SEC scrutinized its method of recognizing revenue.

By adopting the SEC’s requests, Roblox changed how it reports “consumable” game items, differentiating them from “durable” items. The changes were also applied retroactively.

“We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting which resulted in our restatement of our financial statement for the years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019 and the nine months ended September 30, 2020,” the filing said.

• Updated numbers show revenue through September rose to $613.9 million, up 70% from a year earlier. 
• Previous numbers indicated revenue was up 68% to $588.7 million.
• The company’s net loss was also updated to $194.5 million from $213.3 million.

Roblox’s valuation rose to $29.5 billion in January, compared to just $4 billion the year prior.