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It's Wednesday and The Walt Disney Company is getting a new CEO. Come March 18, 2026, Bob Iger is out (again) and Disney Experiences chairman Josh D'Amaro is in. |
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Today's News |
🏈 The Super Bowl bans prediction markets 🔊 YouTube paywalls background play 💸 The BBC funds TikTok content 🇪🇸 Spain might ban kids from social media ✊🏾 Minecraft brings Civil Rights protests to life
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GAME ON |
 | Kalshi ads have been everywhere, but you won't see them during Super Bowl LX. |
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Prediction markets are everywhere—except at the Super Bowl |
The ban: 2025 was a banner year for prediction markets. By letting users bet on everything from the return of Jesus Christ to pro sporting events, Polymarket and Kalshi combined to amass a trading volume of $12 billion in December alone. |
All that cash still isn't enough to get them into the Super Bowl. As it has all season long, the NFL will continue to ban ads for prediction markets during the big game. |
The league's decision (which comes amid a gambling scandal that has rocked the NBA) places prediction markets in the same group as forbidden ad subjects like pornography, firearms, and tobacco. The NFL noted that the new gambling platforms lack necessary "safeguards," including "prohibitions on easily manipulated markets." |
Traditional sports betting companies like FanDuel and DraftKings will still be able to run Super Bowl commercials, but won't be able to promote the new prediction markets portion of their offerings. No more than six sportsbook ads are expected to run throughout the broadcast. |
The question: If prediction markets struggle to get airtime on traditional broadcasts, will they deploy even more resources on social media? That seems like a probable outcome, and one that could increase visibility on YouTube. The video hub has become a popular platform for prediction market titans, with Polymarket sponsoring at least 101 YouTube videos over the past 90 days and Kalshi backing at least 140 videos over the same timeframe (per Gospel Stats). |
The dangers of social gambling content became clear in 2022, when creators captivated Twitch viewers by making outrageous bets on stream. Twitch responded by cracking down on external links to gambling sites. YouTube took a similar stance by barring users from linking out to "unapproved" gambling sites and pledging to age-restrict videos that shill for gambling companies. |
We'll have to see if the rising popularity of prediction markets calls for any additional safeguards or if they'll be a ubiquitous part of the marketing landscape from here on out. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
 | YouTube wants users to pay up. |
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INDUSTRY BUZZ |
 | The 103-year-old broadcaster really wants to innovate. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images) |
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The BBC is giving production companies £600K to make digital-first content |
The accelerator: On the heels of announcing a deal with YouTube to make original content, the BBC has unveiled a shortlist of 12 companies that could receive a slice of funding from its first digital accelerator initiative. |
That £600,000 project, which the BBC launched last year in partnership with the North East Screen Industries Partnership, aims to encourage local studios to make digital-first content for distribution across YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch (per C21Media). |
"The Digital Accelerator is about backing brilliant ideas and ambitious companies to reach young audiences in fresh, authentic ways." | | | | - Fiona Campbell, BBC Controller of Youth Audiences and Interim Director of Unscripted |
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To be eligible, production companies must be headquartered in England's North East or Tees Valley regions, have an established record in content production, and must commit to employing locals to fill at least 50% of its talent pool. |
The shortlist: Shortlisted companies include Adventure Alliance Films, Candle & Bell, Film Nova, MOTIF, MediaBorne, North Wrestling, Northern Child, Nrthrn Baby, Second Draft, Sea & Sky Pictures, Twenty Six 03, and Wander Films. |
That list will be narrowed to four based on the strength of their content pitches to the BBC commissioning team. Those finalists will receive funding to make their pitched ideas and will take part in a nine-month program with education and mentorship on creating successful content for 16-to-24-year-olds. |
This accelerator, combined with BBC's YouTube deal, makes it clear that one of England's largest legacy entertainment companies is planning big moves in digital. That pivot makes sense. YouTube, after all, is dominating TV watch time in the U.K. and the BBC has obviously decided to join 'em rather than try to beat 'em. |
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POLITICS AS USUAL |
 | Will Spain follow Australia's lead? (Photo by Graeme Robertson/Getty Images). |
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Spain plans to ban users under 16 from social media |
The planned ban: Late last year, Australia showed the world that it's possible to enforce restrictions on youth social media use. Now, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced his own government's plan to "protect" children under the age of 16 by requiring social media platforms to set up "effective age-verification systems." Sánchez didn't say which platforms would be included in Spain's regulation, but directed specific criticisms at X, TikTok, and Instagram. |
Sánchez is not the only world leader following Australia's lead. Denmark has signaled plans to impose similar restrictions, and lawmakers in Greece, France, and the U.K. are eager to follow suit. |
The the context: When the Australian government first announced its ban, critics questioned whether its could actually keep teens off social media. By threatening to fine platforms that fail to institute age-verification checks, however, Australia seems to have found an enforcement mechanism that works. Meta reported in January that it had removed 550,000 accounts. |
At the same time, however, the Facebook parent company has urged lawmakers to find a "better way forward." Reddit went one step further by filing a legal challenge against the ban. |
In Spain, the effort to restrict children's social media use could meet another hurdle. The Iberian nation is one of the world's premier creator hotbeds, with numerous Spanish hubs cracking our ranking of the 50 most-watched YouTube channels in the world in 2025. On Twitch, superstars like Ibai and TheGrefg have shattered viewership records. Their support for the Kings League helped the streamer-led soccer competition attract 90,000 in-person attendees at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. |
If Spain includes Twitch and YouTube in its social media ban, it will handicap some of its most promising homegrown talents. But if those platforms receive exemptions, the ban may not be effective. In that context, is restricting kids' social media use worthwhile or counterproductive? |
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WATCH THIS 👀 |
 | Minecraft is giving users lessons on protests. |
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Minecraft wants players to get in Good Trouble during Black History Month |
The lessons: Minecraft is adding an interactive twist to Black History Month. The sandbox game's scholastic division, Minecraft Education, has released a historical learning experience that recreates pivotal moments from the Civil Rights movement. |
The name of the experience, Lessons In Good Trouble, derives from a quote spoken by late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who played a pivotal role in the African American struggle for liberation. Good Trouble players will get firsthand looks at notable events from the Civil Rights movement by walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with Lewis and sitting on a Birmingham bus with Rosa Parks. |
The experience also transports players across the world to meet blocky depictions of social justice pioneers like Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Emmeline Parkhurst. |
Check out a trailer for Lessons In Good Trouble here. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
