With brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• CNBC reports that "Amazon has purchased Veeqo, a company that makes tools to help online businesses sell products on and off Amazon.
"The Big Tech company quietly acquired the e-commerce software start-up last November, but it didn’t publicize the acquisition. Veeqo announced the deal in a company blog post, and Octopus Ventures, one of the firm’s investor, confirmed the deal on Monday.
"Amazon is estimated to claim about 40% of the nation’s e-commerce sales, but has long been interested in claiming a share of sales on other digital platforms like eBay, Etsy, Shopify and Walmart … By acquiring Veeqo, Amazon could integrate more robust tools for sellers into its MCF program, potentially luring them away from other providers."
• Variety reports that Apple "has snared rights to a Friday-night package of Major League Baseball games, extending Silicon Valley’s reach into the world of sports.
"Under terms of the new pact, Apple will have exclusive rights to telecast two 'Friday Night Baseball' games each week — totaling about 50 per year — in the U.S. and to eight countries overseas, via its Apple TV Plus."
The deal follows Amazon's landing of exclusive Thursday Night Football" rights from the NFL, starting later this year.
Two things here.
First, this is a vivid example of how traditional ways of doing business can be disrupted by non-traditional companies. Everybody is competing with everybody. Consider yourself warned.
Second … whether this even matters will depend on the Major League Baseball owners and players are able to resolve their labor differences and actually have a season.
