Numlock News: June 30, 2023 • Ponzi, Bubble Tea, Beyoncé
By Walt HickeyAhh! Deal, MonstersEnergy drink producer Monster Energy will buy beleaguered rival Bang Energy for up to $362 million through a subsidiary called Blast Asset Acquisition, because once caffeine gets involved corporate names get extremely stupid. Bang has had lots of legal and business issues, some of which pertained to their charismatic owner Jack Owoc, but the biggest issues included a breakup with PepsiCo and losing a $293 million false advertising and trade secrets lawsuit lodged by none other than Monster, which is in fact the company’s largest unsecured creditor as a result. Bang’s got about 2.6 percent of the U.S. energy drink market, which if all goes according to plan will abet Monster’s 35.1 percent market share. Christopher Doering, Food Dive Love On TopBeyoncé wrapped up the European leg of her Renaissance World Tour, grossing $154.4 million on the road across 21 shows, the largest haul of any of Beyoncé’s previous continental tours. The tour was a smash hit, posting a local record in 12 out of 14 markets, with her five nights in London alone accounting for $42.2 million. The tour now comes to North America, with 36 shows in the United States and Canada; should the pace continue, the North American leg would gross something like $264 million. RedactedWhoever redacted a court filing supplied by PlayStation to the FTC v. Microsoft hearing goofed really bad, as the black sharpie didn’t actually black out important, proprietary numbers that has the gaming press salivating over the accidental leak. For instance, Horizon Forbidden West cost $212 million over five years to develop, and The Last of Us Part II cost $220 million. It also reveals some juicy information about just how important Call of Duty is to the whole operation, with the document identifying that 6 million PlayStation users spend 70 percent of their time playing Call of Duty, averaging 296 hours on the game, and a key 1 million users literally spending 100 percent of their gaming time on Call of Duty. That game alone drove $800 million in revenue in the United States alone in 2021. Tom Warren and Sean Hollister, The Verge PonziZadeh Kicks was a service that catered to sneakerheads and resellers as a way to get highly sought-after shoes at costs far below market, and I’ll just cut to the chase here: The federal government is alleging the whole thing was a Ponzi scheme revealed by the release of Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey in 2021. They say that the site didn’t actually have inventory on-hand when making a sale, and would instead scour the secondary market to try to fulfill the sale down the line, leaving customers out a bunch of money and potentially not even getting the shoes. When it came crashing down, Air Jordan 11 Cool Greys retailed for $225, Zadeh Kicks offered them for $115, and on release day owed customers 600,000 pairs. That is a massive amount of footwear, given that Nike only actually produced something like 1.2 million to 1.7 million pairs. Federal prosecutors say they owed customers $70 million worth of shoes that didn’t exist. Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou and Kim Bhasin, Bloomberg Surprise SongsSwifties love to find out which special songs Taylor Swift will play at a given show on the Eras Tour, the songs that deviate from the main setlist and serve as a nice little surprise. In terms of unique songs performed at concerts — based on an analysis of 113,565 song performances at 5,029 concerts by 98 artists from Setlist.fm — she’s not too shabby. Swift played 66 unique songs at fewer than 20 percent of her shows on the Eras Tour, eighth place among tours, averaging a consistent 2.0 unique songs per concert. A few acts dominate these metrics: Phish’s Summer Tour 2022 averaged 7.58 special songs per night and 197 different songs played at fewer than 20 percent of shows. Dead & Company, Dave Matthews Band and Pearl Jam also crush it, placing Taylor Swift in the company of a bunch of jam bands. Chris Dalla Riva, Can’t Get Much Higher Not Cleared For TakeoffThere were 90,000 flight delays from June 26 to June 28 and nearly 8,000 cancellations in the U.S., and a new report from the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation about understaffed air traffic controllers illuminates why. The IG reported that staff levels are below the 85 percent threshold in 20 out of 26 critical facilities. New York and Miami are particularly troublesome: New York Terminal Radar Approach Control is at 54 percent staffing, and Miami’s at 66 percent. BobaBased on the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show in June, the largest specialty food show in North America — snacks flavored like boba tea — are having a moment, just as the beverage continues to succeed across the country. From 2019 to 2022, seven major urban areas in the U.S. saw a more than 60 percent jump in the number of bubble tea shops, with the U.S. market for boba expected to hit $640 million in 2023. In a decade, it’s projected to be massive, with projections of a $2.2 billion market for the sweet tea with tapioca pearls in it. In last Sunday’s subscriber special, I spoke to S.P. Sullivan and Amira Sweilem, who wrote “Claw & Order, Jersey Shore edition” for NJ Advance Media. I’ve unlocked it, and it’s the perfect story to kick off summer; Sullivan and Sweilem talk about the state task force that holds Jersey Shore carnival operators accountable, the biggest scandal on the Shore, and which games are the ones to avoid. They can be found at NJ.com and on Twitter at @spsullivan and @sweilem_amira. Thanks to the paid subscribers to Numlock News who make this possible. Subscribers guarantee this stays ad-free, and get a special Sunday edition. Consider becoming a full subscriber today. Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. Send corrections or typos to the copy desk at copy@numlock.news. Check out the Numlock Book Club and Numlock award season supplement. Previous Sunday subscriber editions: Psychedelics · Country Radio · Zelda · Coyotes · Beer · Nuclear · NASCAR · Seaweed · Working · Cable · Ringmaster · Hard Seltzer · Enhanced Geothermal · Hoop Muses · Subsea Cables · Wrestling ·Tabletop Renaissance · BTS · Baby Boom · Levees · Misdirection · Public DomainSunday Edition Archives: 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018You're currently a free subscriber to Numlock News. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
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Numlock News: June 29, 2023 • Yachts, Palladium, Flights
Thursday, June 29, 2023
By Walt Hickey Apologies for any delay, some readers did not receive the original email blast! Yachts The America's Cup is the most prestigious race in all of yachting, and for nearly the entire
Numlock News: June 28, 2023 • Buffets, AM, Sling
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
By Walt Hickey Thanks to everyone who preordered my book yesterday, the early presales are a massive help. Preorder a copy of You Are What You Watch at your local bookstore or wherever books are sold!
Numlock News: June 27, 2023 • Wes Anderson, Pickleball, Sriracha
Tuesday, June 27, 2023
By Walt Hickey It's 120 days until my book launches! I just got my hands on an early copy, and this thing is gorgeous. Early preorders are really, really helpful, get a copy today at your local
Numlock News: June 26, 2023 • Flash, Snails, Vanna
Monday, June 26, 2023
By Walt Hickey Flash Crash Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was again the top movie of the weekend following a massive crash for The Flash in its second week of release. The Flash made $15.3 million
Numlock News: June 23, 2023 • Bees, Cheese, Fees
Friday, June 23, 2023
By Walt Hickey Have an excellent weekend! Deleted JPMorgan Chase is paying a $4 million fine to settle an allegation from the Securities and Exchange Commission that the bank permanently deleted 47
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