đ NFL streaming play
Hey Snackers,
Treat yourself (or someone who needs it): McDonaldâs is offering free food and deals every day this week, including buy one, get one McFlurries and Kid Cudi merch.
Stocks barely budged to kick off Julyâs final trading week as investors braced for tomorrowâs Fed rate-hike decision and Thursdayâs GDP data. If the GDP report reveals a second quarter of economic shrinkage, itâll be another signal that the US could be in a recession.
The NFL is the last major sports league to launch its own streamer, but its heart is still in cable
Flea flicker... The NFL preseason kicks off on August 4, but the National Football League already has a few tricks up its sleeve. The NFL just launched its own streaming service called (you guessed it) NFL+. The streamer will replace NFL Game Pass, and is available exclusively on smartphones and tablets (no streaming to TV). For $5/month, or $40/year:
- On-the-move: NFL+ subscribers get access to all out-of-market preseason games. That perk was previously only available for $100/year through NFL Game Pass (RIP).
- In-the-palm: Subscribers also get live streaming access to regular and postseason local and prime-time games. Previously, that was free through the Yahoo Sports app and the NFL mobile app (womp).
- Not included yet: Exclusive regular-season games. Nationally televised games like the preseason kick off between the Raiders and the Jaguars wonât be featured.
Perfect spiral... into sports streaming. The NFL is the last of the major sports leagues to add streaming to its playbook: the NBA, MLB, and NHL already offer streamers that feature games outside of viewers' broadcast regions. Streaming provides an opportunity for the NFL to rake in extra $$ as cord-cutting continues, especially among Gen Zâers. But NFL+ is way more limited than other major sports streamers â possibly because the NFL doesnât actually need streaming.
The NFL is cableâs lifeline⊠For the NFL, streaming is a bonus â like a post-touchdown extra point, itâs a nice-to-have. For cable, the NFL is a necessity: the NFL is one of the biggest viewership drivers for the traditional TV industry, and is still thriving on air. Last year, the NFL attracted its highest regular season viewership average since 2015. Average viewers jumped 10% from 2020 to 17M/game. Also last year: the NFL sealed a 10-year deal with its TV partners thatâs worth $100B+.
The strong dollar has led to billions in lost corporate earnings, and could spell trouble for Big Tech
Doomed by the dollar⊠The US dollar is so strong that it's hurting earnings for US corporate giants that do business abroad. The USDâs value is at its highest in 20 years: even the euro was worth less than the greenback this month for the first time in decades. Global investors have gained more confidence in the dollar relative to other currencies (high interest rates are one reason).
- Itâs good for US tourists spending abroad⊠but bad for US corporations earning abroad. S&P 500 businesses earned 29% of their sales abroad last year â and now, those earnings are in foreign currencies that are worth less than before.
- IBM, Netflix, J&J, and Philip Morris reported a combined billions of dollars in lost earnings last quarter courtesy of the strong dollar. Think: selling the same amount of software in Japan, but in return for fewer dollars (after conversion).
Foreign exchange⊠weighs more heavily on certain industries. The appreciating dollar hits Big Tech hard, since tech giants in the S&P 500 earn 59% of their revenue abroad â twice the S&Pâs overall average. Weâll see the damage when multinationals like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Meta report this week.
The buck hasnât stopped⊠Since the dollarâs expected to keep rising for months, experts predict S&P 500 companies will lose $100B in earnings this year (i.e. 5% less earnings growth). Shares of globally exposed US companies have already fallen more than twice as much as their US-centric peers this year. IBM expects a $3.5B dollar-driven dip in sales, and Apple could also take a big hit since nearly two-thirds of its sales come from outside the US.
What else weâre Snackinâ
- Ship: Targetâs adding three new "sorting centers" (no Hogwarts relation) to meet online shopping demand and catch up with rivals like Walmart and Amazon. Currently, barely 20% of Target's sales are online.
- Bars: T-Mobile agreed to pay customers $350M to settle last yearâs data breach exposing private info (including SSNs) of 77M US residents. Data breaches hit a record last year, up nearly 70% from 2020.
- Smokey: Weber shares fell 13% after the grill icon's longtime CEO resigned amid a major sales slowdown. Backyard BBQs were a hit mid-pandemic, but inflated meat prices have cooled hot dog demand.
- Law: The SEC argued in an insider trading case that nine cryptos including Amp and Rally are securities. If the courts agree, that could bring those assets under SEC regulation â and possibly set legal precedent.
- Cattle: Farmers are selling cows at the highest rate in a decade as heat waves rip through the US. While higher temps dry out water and grass sources, the cost of cow feed has doubled.
Tuesday
- Earnings expected from Microsoft, Google, Visa, Coke, McDonaldâs, UPS, Mondelez, GE, Raytheon, and 3M
Authors of this Snacks own: Amp and shares of Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Netflix, and Walmart
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