The video game business for Microsoft soared to new heights in its second fiscal quarter of 2021.

The technology giant surpassed $5 billion in gaming revenue in a single quarter for the first time as overall gaming revenue increased 51% over the prior year. 

The quarter included the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S — the most successful console debut in Microsoft history. Xbox hardware revenue grew 86%. 

Microsoft’s gaming content and services benefited as well:

• Xbox Live, which allows gamers around the world to play with one another, saw revenue increase 40%. The service now has more than 100 million monthly active users.
• Xbox Game Pass, which offers over 100 games for $9.99 per month, is up to 18 million active users.

“What we have witnessed over the past year is the dawn of a second wave of digital transformation sweeping every company and every industry,” CEO Satya Nadella said on the company’s earnings call. “Digital capability is key to both resilience and growth.”

Microsoft’s overall revenue totaled $43.1 billion, up 17% year over year.  Profits were $15.5 billion, up 33%. 

The company’s shares were up 0.25% Wednesday to $232.90. 

Budweiser’s Clydesdales might be missing from the Super Bowl this year, but Sam Adams plans to run its own ad featuring America’s four-legged icons.

The ad will promote Sam Adams Wicked Hazy IPA, featuring horses similar to the Clydesdales that have appeared on Budweiser’s ads each year since 1975, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The news comes after Anheuser-Busch InBev announced earlier this week that it will not run Budweiser ads during the Super Bowl this year, and instead plans to “reallocate the media investment” to ongoing COVID-19 awareness efforts.

• The company will still run national commercials for Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Anheuser-Busch itself. 
• It’s unclear if the horses will appear in any of those spots, but it opens the door for other companies to capitalize on the idea.

“You see the Clydesdales and you immediately think Super Bowl without even saying the word,” said Jeff Goodby, co-founder of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and creator of the new Sam Adams ad.

Boston Beer Co. — Sam Adams’ parent company — will only run the ad in New York and Boston, evading AB InBev’s longtime deal as the exclusive alcohol advertiser for the Super Bowl.

By only running local ads, Boston Beer will also save millions: 30 seconds of national airtime during the Super Bowl costs around $5.6 million. The company is paying $770,000 for its local commercials and will shell out $2.5 million total for the campaign, including social media, search and online video ads.

The goal of the tactic is to create enough buzz from the ad to make it “national” via other means like social platforms and media coverage. 

Former New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen is joining Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports agency as chief operating officer.

Wagenen was co-head of Creative Artists Agency’s baseball division before taking the Mets job in 2018; he departed the team in November. Somewhat controversially, he represented some of the Mets’ star players before joining the club.

In 2013, when Robinson Cano joined Roc Nation as its first high-profile sports client, the agency partnered with CAA. 

• During that partnership, Cano landed his 10-year, $240 million deal, and was later traded to the Mets under Van Wagenen’s tenure. 
• Yoenis Cespedes, another client who came out of the partnership, has signed multiple contracts with the Mets.

Front Office Sports previously reported that Van Wagenen was being recruited by some of the top sports agencies following his Mets departure. 

“We’re at a unique time where Jay is the only person in his position, the only principal in the agency landscape, who has lived the existence of talent empowerment that has existed today,” Van Wagenen said in a statement today.

Roc Nation’s other top sports clients include Kyrie Irving, Saquon Barkley and Skylar Diggins-Smith.