Publications

February 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Michael Brown: Negotiating Slots at Foxwoods (B)

By: James K. Sebenius

The approach taken by Michael Brown and Governor Lowell Weicker and the means by which the agreement's sustainability was enhanced in the face of attacks by other gaming operators are detailed. View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Agreements and Arrangements; Government and Politics; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Connecticut

01 Dec 2004
News

Pyramid Scheme

(MBA ’03) told the Boston Globe (September 22, 2004). DuPlessie, who studied mechanical engineering at MIT, launched TOMB after gaining experience working on projects at Disney and Universal Studios. Boston-based TOMB, the first project of the new View Details

Keywords: Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

25 Aug 2022
News

Full Stream Ahead

David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Paul Simon, and John Legend made headlines for catalog sales in 2021, a year that was noteworthy both for the volume of deals and their valuations. When Sony Music Entertainment bought Bruce... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

26 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

Airbnb wasn't an option" Competition between traditional hotels and Airbnb is intensifying. Last Friday, Airbnb announced it is expanding its "experiences" offerings to an additional 1,000 cities. Meanwhile, the lodging View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Travel

2013
Working Paper

NBC and the 2012 London Olympics: Unexpected Success

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Vadim Kogan

"The 2010 Vancouver Winter Games lost $223 million, astonishing for a 17-day event. Next year's London Summer Games, which cost a record Olympic rights fee of $1.18 billion, are expected to lose at least as much..." wrote Richard Sandomir in The New York Times. "NBC... View Details

Keywords: Success; Profit; Sports; Failure; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Vancouver; Beijing; London; Brazil; Russia

Read Now

November 1981 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Gotham Giants

The owner of a professional baseball team is trying to figure out if promotions are having an effect on ticket sales, and if televising games is hurting attendance. He considers renegotiating the television contract. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Sports; Television Entertainment; Sports Industry

12 Dec 2016
HBS Case

Business Lessons from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

his wallet and saw he only had seven dollars left. That stuck with him, and it has fueled him ever since. “The power in the entertainment industry is shifting to the superstars, and the smartest among those... View Details

Keywords: Re: Anita Elberse; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

May 2023
Supplement

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats Video Supplement Playlist

By: Boris Groysberg

Keywords: Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Goals and Objectives; Power and Influence; Music Industry; Music Industry; Music Industry

October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Strategic Inflection: TiVo in 2003 (A)

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Christina L. Darwall

Mike Ramsey, TiVo's CEO, must decide on which direction to build the company. Facing an onslaught of new competitors, a huge opportunity in the cable industry, and the possibility of becoming the new "user interface" for TV entertainment, Ramsey must balance the... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Profit; Product Positioning; Standards; Opportunities; Commercialization; Competition; Technology Adoption; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

November 1997 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Cinemex

By: James L. Heskett

The founders of Cinemex, the largest capitalized venture start-up in Mexican history, are debating several issues concerning the operations of their new chain of motion picture theatres in Mexico City. The first concerns whether some seats should be left unsold to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Service Operations; Debates; Venture Capital; Customer Satisfaction; Advertising; Investment; Theater Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Mexico City

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Giant Cinema

By: Malcolm P. Baker, Richard S. Ruback, Erik Stafford and Kathleen Luchs

The owner of Giant Cinema must decide whether to invest in a digital projector, a new technology for screening films, or purchase a traditional projector. The impact of the new technology is uncertain, and the case describes probabilities for different outcomes that... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Film Entertainment; Technology Adoption; Financial Strategy; Investment; Outcome or Result; Risk and Uncertainty; Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

19 Feb 2008
News

The Scoop Behind the Silver Screen

A bit of Hollywood came to HBS recently when Steven Samuels spoke at the invitation of the School’s Entertainment and Media Club. A former real estate developer, Samuels is an independent movie producer with a solid body of work under his... View Details

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment; Arts, Entertainment

Nov 2008
Conference Presentation

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), United Artists, and Tom Cruise: A Case Study.

By: Anita Elberse

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

April 1984
Case

General Cinema Corp. (B)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Mar 2008
News

He’s Back

Wesleyan, he returned three punts for touchdowns and led the NCAA’s Division III in average punt-return yards his senior year), Robinson returns to his former stomping grounds at a busy time. Several big projects are in progress: a $2 billion shopping and View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

December 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Xanadu on Broadway

By: Anita Elberse

Can one of Hollywood's biggest flops magically turn into a Broadway hit? Xanadu, an adaptation of a 1980 Olivia Newton-John roller-disco film described by one critic as "the epic failure to end all epic failures," opened on Broadway in July 2007. Producer Rob Ahrens,... View Details

Keywords: Theater Entertainment; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Risk and Uncertainty; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

June 17, 2016
Comment

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

By: John A. Quelch

Recent events in Orlando underscore an important marketing truth: consumer safety and security are mission critical. A popular nightclub, Pulse, known as a safe place for the LGBT community, is put out of business at least temporarily by a terrorist act. Not far away... View Details