from AP

Hulu, the free online video site where television shows and movies can be watched in their entirety, will start charging fees at some point, one of its owners said.

Hulu has struggled to make money despite its popularity as an ad-supported site. News Corp., which co-owns the site with NBC Universal, Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity Partners, said it hasn’t decided what form the subscription model would take. (more…)

American billionaire Stan Kroenke and chairman Peter Hill-Wood

Stan Kroenke maintained his silence at Arsenal’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday afternoon, when questions were directly raised as to the intentions of the American billionaire investor. The Denver-based sports magnate is now the largest individual shareholder in the Gunners’ holding company, with a stake of some 28.86% which includes a recent £765,000 purchase. (more…)

Honda has created a series of short documentary films that celebrate the companies beliefs and values. I think they are pretty clever. This one is awesome, its called Failure: The Secret to Success.

“Failure: The Secret to Success” depicts Honda’s belief in the importance of never being afraid to try something new. Through personal experiences of Honda associates and those affiliated with Honda, such as IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, the film explores failures and risks taken that helped lead to new innovations.

I dig it mostly because even though its put out by a particular company, it really gives you something that you can apply to anything. A lot of these words we have heard many times, but it doesn’t hurt to hear ‘em again. See “Kick Out the Ladder” after the jump, another pretty good one. (more…)

The state would be the first in the nation to adopt energy-efficiency standards, but some in the electronics industry say the rules would result in higher prices and job cuts.

Concerned that the growing popularity of big-screen televisions could make it harder for California to keep pace with electricity demand, state energy regulators are poised to crack down on energy-guzzling sets despite opposition from a powerful electronics trade group.
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Casey Wasserman is on ESPNs Bill Simmons Podcast today. You may not know who he is, but he is BIG in sports and entertainment. How big you say.. .. big like his company WMG, The Wasserman Media Group, by his estimation represents about 45% of MLS players! He has an interesting take on sports and the economy and its a good listen. The second half of the conversation is mostly about getting an NFL team to LA, but before that he dabbles in what the MLS needs to do to become huge in the US, his thoughts on owning an MLS team, what the effect of increased international league (La Liga, EPL, etc.) viewership in America could mean and how some interesting partnerships could be on the horizon. Check it out here

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Arsène Wenger has revealed he believes a European Super League could become a reality within the next 10 years. The Arsenal boss, preparing for Tuesday night’s Champions League Play-off showdown with Celtic at Parkhead, believes some clubs will soon become frustrated with the level of financial rewards on offer in Europe’s leading club competition and will look for a way to start a breakaway league. (more…)

With Miami out of the MLS expansion race, Vancouver moves to the front according to those in the know. Yesterday, Vancouver investor and NBA star, Steve Nash, signed up with the powerful marketing group IMG to help with marketing efforts specifically in Canada and outside the US.

Is a plan by Steve Nash for a big marketing push in Canada a possible first sign that a team could be coming to Vancouver?

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Spanish giants Real Madrid have retained their position as the richest football club in the world — according to an annual survey issued by accountancy firm Deloitte.

from Deloitte UK

Welcome to the Deloitte Football Money League 2008 (register to download your report). This is the eleventh year of the publication, profiling the largest clubs in the world’s most popular sport. The Deloitte Football Money League is the most contemporary and reliable analysis of clubs’ relative financial performance and is released less than nine months after the end of last season, as soon as all the clubs’ revenue figures are available to us.  For the purposes of this publication, we look at the best publicly available measure of financial comparison: turnover from day to day football business operations.

Top 20 after the jump

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