Two French broadcasters have announced plans to merge into a $4.1 billion media company that would take over almost 70% of France’s broadcast advertising market.

If the merger between TF1 and M6 is approved — a process which could last as long as 18 months — it would form the largest broadcasting group in the country’s history, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The deal is comparable to the planned Univision-Televisa merger that’s valued at $4.8 billion.

The consolidation is “an absolute necessity if the French audience and the industry as a whole are to continue to play a predominant role in the face of exacerbated international competition,” said M6 boss Nicolas de Tavernost.

The companies are no stranger to each other, and their sports connection runs deep.

• TF1 and M6 are splitting broadcasts for the upcoming UEFA Euro tournament, repeating the co-operation of the 2016 tournament.
• Both have domestic broadcast partnerships for France’s UEFA European Championship.
• The pair’s partnerships also include the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and UEFA Nations League. TF1 has free-to-air rights for 28 matches in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

TF1 announced a four-year partnership with Spanish broadcasting group Mediapro last year, forming a new soccer channel airing top Ligue 1 matches. It also split the $15.8 million media rights for the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship with French network Canal+.

Come 2024, new Lamborghinis won’t have that familiar roar.

The Italian sports car maker is spending $1.8 billion to develop plug-in hybrid versions of all its current models and produce fully electric cars by the latter half of this decade.

It is not clear at this moment what that means for the company’s racing pursuits, which include the GT World Challenge and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, a competition that exclusively features the automaker’s Huracán Super Trofeo Evo model cars.

Lamborghini, owned by Volkswagen, follows Porsche, another VW luxury brand, in offering electric models. Porsche entered the all-electric Formula E series in 2019, joining VW-brand Audi, which has participated since the inaugural 2014-2015 season. 

Many other luxury brands are making the electric pivot in racing and consumer cars.

• Longtime Formula 1 competitor McLaren is entering Formula E in the 2022-2023 season. All new McLaren models will be hybrids by 2026, with fully electric vehicles coming by the end of the decade. 
• Ferrari, another competitor in both F1, with potential plans to enter Formula E, will offer electric cars by 2025.
• Daimler-owned Mercedes was ahead of the game, rolling out its first fully electric model in 2018. Mercedes has competed in Formula E since 2020.

The reason for the gear shift is clear: EV sales are surging, growing 81% year-over-year in Q1 2021, as more automakers develop models to compete with market dominator Tesla.

Callaway’s short and long games are looking pretty good right now. 

The company is reaping the benefits of a booming U.S. golf market, reporting record results last week with $652 million in Q1 revenue, a 47% increase year-over-year.

Callaway shares have been riding the wave ever since and reached a 52-week high of $35.55 on Tuesday.

Another recent highlight: Callaway completed its $2.66 billion merger with Topgolf in March. 

Callaway expects full-year 2021 revenue to exceed the $1.7 billion it made in 2019.

“Our golf equipment business is continuing to experience unprecedented demand, while our soft-goods business and Topgolf business are recovering from the pandemic faster than anticipated,” said Callaway President & CEO Chip Brewer.

Callaway still faces fierce competition as the golf industry gains momentum. 

Last week, Centroid Investment Partners, a South Korea-based private equity firm, acquired TaylorMade Golf for $1.7 billion, the largest acquisition ever in the golf goods industry.