SPORTS

Are We Ready for Some Football?

As the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans kick off the NFL season tonight, some things will be different, like Tom Brady in a Bucs uniform, and some things will stay the same, like tailgating then not going into the stadium. Here’s the state of football in 2020.

It’s still a money-making machine

If the NFL were a tech company, reports of stable year-over-year revenue would send shares tumbling. In the 2020 entertainment biz? That’s a huge win. Sportico reports ad spend is “effectively in lockstep with last season’s pace,” showing that not even a pandemic can slow marketers’ appetite for the NFL’s massive audience.  

• Also helping: The league’s most prolific spenders last year—Amazon, Verizon, Procter & Gamble, GM, Apple, Progressive, State Farm, and others—weathered the pandemic better than most.  

It’s also the only pigskin game in town. 41% of college football’s FBS schools won’t be playing in the fall, setting up the NFL for potentially historic TV ratings. On the flip side, it has to contend with the NBA (and NHL) playoffs for the first time ever.

Testing is negative

Which is a positive. Last month, news of 77 positive coronavirus tests threw the league a curveball...until it was discovered all 77 were false-positives. More recent numbers have been Joe Burrow-level promising—only one NFL player returned a positive result in the latest testing period. 

• To monitor any potential spread of the virus, every player and essential team employee will be tested daily (except for game days). 

The other big safety concern stems from fans. So far, only seven teams, including the Chiefs, have agreed to let fans attend games at a reduced capacity. But many other organizations have left the door open as the season progresses. 

Bottom line: The NBA bubble set the standard for sports leagues returning to action, but the financial heft and influence of the NFL will show us whether pandemic-era sports can work on a grander scale. 

LUXURY

Why the LVMH/Tiffany Deal Is Collapsing

Whenever you see the word “Delaware” in a story about the largest luxury deal ever, you know something has gone terribly wrong.

Yesterday, U.S. jeweler Tiffany sued French luxury giant LVMH in Delaware after LVMH tried to back out of its $16.2 billion acquisition of Tiffany. The dustup started with a letter the French government sent to LVMH requesting that it delay the takeover until January 6, 2021. 

Why delay? France wants to sort out a trade dispute with the Trump administration.

• The U.S. claims France’s proposed tax on digital companies unfairly targets American firms like Google and Facebook.
• In response, the U.S. has threatened tariffs on French goods, including makeup and handbags. 

Tiffany thinks LVMH is using the letter as an excuse to get out of a deal it regrets signing. It has a point—the pandemic devastated the luxury industry and, per recent reports, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault was already looking to hit the “cancel order” button. LVMH says France’s request puts the situation entirely out of its hands.

Looking ahead...lawyers.

DIVERSITY

Are You Taking The Board Challenge?

A new initiative launched yesterday to change the look of American boardrooms—specifically, to make them look less white. 

The Board Challenge, a project of Altimeter Capital, Valence, and theBoardlist, is challenging U.S. firms to add a Black director to their boards within 12 months. 

• 17 companies, including Zillow and Nextdoor, have taken the pledge. 
• Another 27 members with at least one Black board member (United Airlines, Nordstrom among them) are working with the project to advance diversity efforts. 

Why it’s an issue: 9% of Fortune 500 board members are Black men and women, while 66% are white men and 18% are white women, according to theBoardlist—and Black representation on boards hasn’t budged in the last few years. 

Some states, like California most recently, have introduced legislation that would require, not just “challenge,” publicly held companies to appoint at least one director from an underrepresented community by the end of 2021.

Zoom out: It’s notoriously difficult for newcomers to find a seat in the boardroom. 72% of directors have previous board experience and half are current or ex-CEOs, per Heidrick & Struggles.

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RESTAURANTS

Responses to the Sentence, “You Can Eat Indoors at NYC Restaurants”

September 2019: Yeah, we know...very odd of you to say that. 

September 2020: OMG are you serious???????

Whatever your reaction, it’s actually happening: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo will allow indoor dining in New York City on Sept. 30 after six months of closures. Of course, this being a pandemic and all, the dining experience won’t be typical:

• Restaurants will be capped at 25% capacity.
• Diners must get their temperature checked at the door, and one member of the party must provide information for contact tracing purposes.

Zoom out: New York City’s restaurants aren’t exactly known for social distancing—it’s not uncommon to take a bite of your neighbor’s sea bass thinking it’s your own. But for desperate restaurateurs that have lobbied the city to reopen indoor dining spaces, any step inside is a big step. Nearly 10,000 restaurants set up outdoor seating since July, writes the NYT, and the prospect of dropping temperatures makes everyone in the industry shiver.

Looking ahead...Cuomo will make a decision about 50% capacity by Nov. 1.

MARKETS

Exchanges Are A-Changin'

With equity volume up about 50% over last year, new stock exchanges are popping up to snag a slice of the hundreds of billions of dollars traded on the stock market each day.  

Say hello to...

The Members Exchange, set to launch its "Phase One" on September 21, is backed by basically everyone on Wall Street, including banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, money managers like BlackRock and Fidelity, and online brokers Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade. In a classic case of “I could totally do this for cheaper,” the coalition aims to undercut the traditional players on fees.

The Long-Term Stock Exchange, which launched yesterday, hopes to recruit companies that are less focused on short-term results and more interested in “long-term value creation,” diversity and inclusion, and the environment. “The goal [of the other exchanges] is to maximize trading revenue,” CEO Eric Ries told CNBC. “This is for companies who can get held to a higher standard.” 

Bottom line: Incumbent exchanges are shrugging it off. Three companies—Intercontinental Exchange, Nasdaq, and Cboe—control 97% of on-exchange flow, Members Exchange CEO Jonathan Kellner told CNBC. Still, Blockbuster probably controlled 97% of the market at one point...

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• President Trump told journalist Bob Woodward in March that he played down the threat of the pandemic because he didn’t want to “create a panic,” according to Woodward’s new book.
• NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said AstraZeneca’s pause of its vaccine study was “reassuring” because it showed that the focus is on safety over speed.
• Simon and Brookfield, two U.S. mall owners, reached a tentative rescue deal for JCPenney.
• Vaping is way down among teenagers, according to a government report.

BREW'S BETS

Bonus points for brushing right. The quip Smart Electric Toothbrush not only helps you track your daily brushing, it offers tips and rewards you for your healthy mouth habits in the quip app. See, you’re smiling already. Brush smarter with quip starting at $45.*

Sweater weather? More like jean season. Bad rhyme aside, we’re pumped to again add to our Revtown jeans collection. Their premium Italian denim is made with a flexible athletic yarn to give you the perfect mix of comfort and class. Check out Revtown jeans today.*

Strange scenes: Our Twitter feed was full of eerie pictures from the Western U.S. yesterday, where dozens of wildfires continue to rage. Here are a few scenes from an orange San Francisco. 

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day: Remember, if you ever need to talk to someone, or are worried about a family member or friend, you can always contact the Lifeline network 24/7 across the U.S.

Popcorn time: Even in 2020, there’s still something so magical about a movie trailer. We’re super hyped for Dune.

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FROM THE CREW

Brew's Bookshelf

Every other Thursday, Brew’s Bookshelf brings you a few of our favorite, business-related reads. This week, we’re talking money: What is it, how to use it, and why you’ve been thinking about it wrong all these years. 

• The Psychology of Money is a brand new book from Morgan Housel, a former WSJ columnist and partner at Collaborative Fund. He offers 19 short stories that explore how people think about money.
• The Ascent of Money by historian Niall Ferguson travels from ancient Mesopotamia to 21st-century crypto wallets to show how money, credit, and finance have evolved throughout history. 
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, money guru and former guest on our Business Casual podcast, runs through strategies to help you save and invest. 

Check out our full list of Bookshelf recommendations here.

MONEY TRIVIA

Let’s keep the money theme rolling with some quick-hitting Money Fill in the Blanks. 

1. _____ are banned from being featured on U.S. currency. 
2. The most common note in circulation is the $____ bill. 
3. The phrase “_________” has been featured on U.S. paper currency since 1957. 
4. Each year, more _____ money is printed than real money.
5. Coins are ____ before they're minted. 

MONEY TRIVIA ANSWER

1. People who are alive are banned from being featured on U.S. currency. 
2. The most common note in circulation is the $1 bill. 
3. The phrase “In God We Trust” has been featured on U.S. paper currency since 1957. 
4. Each year, more Monopoly money is printed than real money.
5. Coins are pickled before they're minted.