🍿A New Netflix House Is Coming To The Las Vegas Strip

Letter From The Editor
I’ve been busy the last month working on a new YouTube channel that I’m calling The Business Behind The News where do a deeper dive into the stories I write in this newsletter. For those of you who’ve been with me since Day 1 of this newsletter this is my 2nd or 3rd iteration of trying to bring my writing to YouTube in a way that resonates with views. It’s not easy. YouTube is a tough nut to crack! This new YouTube channel is a fun way for me write long-form scripts, plan out locations to record, film, edit, create thumbnails, and launch new videos daily all on my own without any help from my team. Yes it’s time consuming, but in a good way that allows me to have a LOT of skin in the game. The videos are short, typically 1:30-4 minutes long, and I’m having fun picking great looking backdrops to film in front of. So far Saratoga State Park has been my go-to, but this week I’m hoping to scout out some new locations, then later this Summer (weather depending) I plan on making a few roadtrips to film in other scenic locales.

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Now onto today’s issue.

In today’s newsletter I discuss Netflix is bring their Netflix Hoses to the Las Vegas Strip in 2027, Anne Wojcicki is buying back 23andMe, Coinbase is partnering with American Express to issue their own credit card with 4% Bitcoin cash-back, "How to Train Your Dragon" soared to the top of the weekend box office, Snap plans to launch its AI-powered AR glasses called "Specs" in 2026, and Lewis Hamilton was nearly in tears in a post-race interview after learning he had hit a groundhog during the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Scroll on!

WHAT WE’RE READING

🍿A New Netflix House Is Coming To The Las Vegas Strip

Netflix is set to bring its immersive entertainment experience, called Netflix House, to the Las Vegas Strip in 2027. This follows their opening of the company’s first two locations in Philadelphia and Dallas planned for late 2025. These physical venues are part of Netflix's strategy to diversify its revenue streams beyond streaming and further engage its fanbase. The Las Vegas location will be situated in BLVD, a new three-level retail complex. While specific financial figures for the Las Vegas Netflix House haven't been detailed, Netflix has an annual revenue of over $40 billion dollars and a market capitalization exceeding $520 billion dollars, so yea they can afford to build their own movie houses.

The Netflix House venues are designed to bring popular Netflix shows and movies to life through interactive attractions, themed dining, and retail. The Philadelphia location will feature a "Wednesday"-themed carnival and virtual reality games, while the Dallas venue will allow visitors to explore the Creel House from "Stranger Things", and participate in "Squid Game" trials. These experiences aim to deepen fan engagement with Netflix's intellectual properties and offer a new form of entertainment that extends beyond the screen.

This expansion into physical spaces represents a significant move for Netflix, led by Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee, whose goal of Netflix Houses is making "fandom coming to life." The company has already seen success with pop-up events and a temporary "Netflix Bites" restaurant in Las Vegas, which opened in February for a yearlong residency.

I’m still waiting for someone to bring back the experience of going to Blockbuster on a Friday night to pick out a movie for the family to watch, but I might have to settle in for checking out one of the Netflix Houses when they roll out to the East Coast someday.

🧬 Business

Anne Wojcicki is reportedly buying 23andMe and its data out of bankruptcy for $305 million dollars. This comes as nearly 2 million 23andMe users have requested the company delete their genetic data. It seems people are just thrilled to have their personal genetic information floating around. Anne Wojcicki is buying 23andMe back through her nonprofit, TTAM Research Institute, following 23andMe's bankruptcy filing. There’s no new news on what 23andMe plans to do to fix their business model, especially considering the vote of no confidence their customers are making as they scramble to erase their personal data from the platform. It turns out if you pay a one-time fee to find out your genetic history, there’s really no need to ever make a purchase again. Not a good business model to build what was one a multi-billion dollar company.

🎬 Entertainment

The live-action adaptation of "How to Train Your Dragon" soared to the top of the weekend box office, making an impressive $84.6 million dollars domestically and $197.6 million dollars globally in its opening weekend. This dethroned Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" live-action remake, which had held the number one spot for three consecutive weeks, and has brought in a staggering $858.3 million dollars worldwide. Apparently the new formula is to release a live-action version of your existing successful cartoon franchises, and you’ll instantly print money. Works for me!

🤖 AI

Snap plans to launch its AI-powered AR glasses called "Specs" in 2026. This launch is the culmination of their $3 billion dollar investment in augmented reality technology the company has been working on for the last 11 years. CEO Evan Spiegel aims for these lightweight glasses to diversify revenue beyond advertising. In Q1 of 2025 Snap reporting a $140 million dollars net loss, so yea they could use a little diversification right about now. Snap’s previous glasses, called “Spectacles”, only sold around 220,000 pairs in total. So nothing like a $3 billion dollar gamble going all in on augmented reality, when Snap’s current revenue reality isn’t looking so bright.

💳 Crypto

Coinbase has recently forged a partnership with Shopify to integrate USDC payments for merchants, a move designed to streamline digital currency adoption in e-commerce. This collaboration, which leverages Coinbase's Base network, allows customers to pay with USDC from various crypto wallets and offers U.S. shoppers 1% cash back when paying in USDC. Merchants, by default, receive payments in their local currency, avoiding foreign transaction fees, though they can opt to receive USDC directly. Coinbase has also been busy enhancing its subscription service, Coinbase One, by partnering with American Express to issue a Coinbase AmEx credit card. This new Coinbase One Card will allow members to earn up to 4% back in Bitcoin on purchases, with a new Basic tier costing $4.99 dollars per month or $49.99 dollars annually, which includes zero trading fees on up to $500 dollars in monthly trades and a 4.5% APY on the first $10,000 dollars of USDC holdings. Nothing screams "mainstream adoption" like needing a subscription to spend your digital money.

🏁 Sports

Lewis Hamilton was nearly in tears in a post-race interview after learning he had hit a groundhog during the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, an incident that reportedly damaged the floor of his Ferrari and cost him significant performance. Formula 1 cars derive much of their downforce from the design of their floors, which help to “suck” the car down to the ground for greater traction. It turns out hitting a groundhog at 200 MPH causes some serious damage to both a car, and a driver’s psyche.

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irl Media NEWSLETTER is written, edited, and published by Chris Thompson.