🏀 FTX Arena bounces

…and “Black Panther” helps Disney bank on the Marvel-verse [Disclosures](   New name coming in hot (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)   Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 33,537 (-0.63%) S&P 500 3,957 (-0.89%) Nasdaq 11,196 (-1.12%) Bitcoin $16,616 (+0.15%) Dow Jones 33,537 (-0.63%) S&P 500 3,957 (-0.89%) Nasdaq 11,196 (-1.12%) Bitcoin $16,616 (+0.15%) Hey Snackers, Bezos is pulling a Patagonia: the [Amazon]( founder said he plans to [give away]( most of his $124B fortune to fighting the climate crisis and supporting humanitarian causes. Stocks ticked down yesterday after the Fed hinted at more rate hikes ahead. [Bitcoin]( fell slightly as investors considered the potential fallout from FTX’s bankruptcy. Defense Miami ditches “FTX Arena” as sponsorships with the bankrupt exchange haunt sports orgs Chilling in Miami with the heat… Not enjoying the Florida sunshine: FTX. The bankrupt crypto exchange had signed a 19-year, $135M deal for naming rights to the Miami Heat’s home arena last year. Now Miami-Dade County and its NBA team say they’re “immediately taking action” to [end]( their relationship with FTX. The exchange had paid $14M up front and was scheduled to make a $5.5M payment in January. - Bye, FTX Arena: It’ll still be referred to as FTX Arena for Saturday’s Heat game, but social-media [pics]( suggest the FTX logo is already being dismantled. - Hi, [insert name here] Arena: Miami said it would work with the Heat to find a new naming-rights partner for the arena. From the NBA to the MLB… FTX has a stacked portfolio of sports sponsorships. Last year, Major League Baseball signed a five-year deal to name FTX its official crypto-exchange partner (think: FTX.us patches on umpire uniforms). - Racing: FTX also had a long-term sponsorship deal with [Mercedes’]( Formula One team — that’s now been scrapped (no more FTX logos on F1 cars). - Esports: FTX had struck a naming-rights deal with US esports giant TSM, among other esports players. Brazilian org Furia tweeted that it’s ending its deal with FTX. - Football: Last year UC Berkeley struck a $17.5M, 10-year naming-rights deal with FTX for its football stadium. TBD if it’s getting a new name. THE TAKEAWAY Crypto has covered its bases… in sports. Crypto brands spent $130M+ on NBA sponsorships alone last season, up from ~$2M in the previous season. Five crypto companies — including FTX, Crypto.com, and [Coinbase]( — were responsible for 92% of NBA sponsorship spending in the crypto category. Crypto.com’s Lakers’ stadium-naming deal alone is reportedly worth $700M. But now that the Enron-style “[naming-rights curse]( has hit FTX, sports orgs might need to cover their bases too. Versed Disney’s “Black Panther” sequel broke a November box-office record — another win for the Marvel-verse Big opening weekend for Wakanda… [Disney’s]( “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” just [raked]( in $180M in North America, the second-biggest box-office haul of the year and the highest-grossing November debut ever. - It’s a much-needed win for Disney, whose sales and earnings fell short of expectations last quarter despite rebounding attendance at its parks. - Big shoes to fill: “Wakanda Forever” was the first flick to crack $100M since July. But the super sequel fell short of the original “Black Panther,” which featured the late Chadwick Boseman ($202M on opening weekend). It’s Marvel’s universe… we’re just living in it. The only movie that’s outperformed “Wakanda Forever” this year was another Marvel flick, the latest “Doctor Strange.” In fact, 9 of the top 15 domestic debuts in history are now Marvel films (not adjusted for inflation). - Marvel mania: The seven Marvel movies that Disney’s released in the past two years have grossed $2.3B, more than a fifth of total box-office sales in that period. - Well-versed: Disney uses its Marvel-verse to cross-promote shows, parks, and merch. It plans to build an Avatar-verse around its new “Avatar” film, which opens next month. THE TAKEAWAY It’s the “-verses” versus everyone… Disney has invested heavily in “theatrical universes” like the Marvel-verse and the “Star Wars”-verse, whose recognizable characters still attract large audiences even as theater attendance slumps. Last month, rival Hollywood heavyweight [Warner Bros. Discovery]( released “Black Adam” to bolster its growing DC-verse. But as studios focus on a few mega-blockbusters, theater chains like [AMC]( are suffering: US box-office sales this year are still a third below prepandemic levels. DEFI(NE) Heard on the Block: “proof of reserves” 📊 Like if your banker did a show-and-tell, but left half the presentation at home… Crypto exchanges are in the spotlight after FTX’s bankruptcy. Now nine exchanges are rushing to reassure everyone that they've actually got customers' assets. Binance said it would issue "[proof of reserves]( cryptographic proof it holds the coins it claims. But proof of reserves has been criticized because it's only one part of an exchange's financial health. Another part: proof of liabilities (how much the exchange owes). What else we're Snackin' - [Packed]( [Amazon]( is reportedly cutting 10K employees this week, including workers from its money-losing devices division (think: Alexa). Last week [Meta]( and [Twitter]( axed a combined 14K+ employees to cut costs. - [Balexit]( Luxury designer Balenciaga became the first big fashion brand to ditch Twitter since the Elon-quisition. Meanwhile, Elon’s SpaceX just bought a $250K Twitter “takeover” ad campaign to promo Starlink satellites. - [Spoiled]( [Oatly]( shares fell 14% after the oat-milk biz slashed its annual revenue forecast and announced job-cut plans. The company’s losses have grown as it deals with a strong US dollar and China’s zero-Covid policy. - [Nugget]( [Tyson]( shares fell as higher costs and falling beef prices ate into the meat giant’s profits last quarter. Tyson’s CFO again apologized for his actions last week after authorities said he fell asleep in the wrong house. - [Pricey]( NJ’s American Dream mall cut a deal with [JPMorgan]( lenders to extend its debt payments until 2026. The $5B luxury mega-mall includes mini golf and a water park, but is millions of dollars in debt as rent payments pile up. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day The human population has doubled in just 48 years, hitting 8B this week [Read more]( Tuesday - Earnings expected from: Walmart, Home Depot, Advance Auto Parts, Aramark, Tencent Music, and Krispy Kreme Authors of this Snacks own: bitcoin and shares of Amazon, Disney, Twitter, and Walmart ID: 2593257 Robinhood Snacks newsletters reflect the opinions of only the authors who are associated persons of Robinhood Financial LLC (Member [SIPC]( and do not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are for informational purposes only, and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security, digital asset (cryptocurrency, etc) in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All investments involve risk including the loss of principal and past performance does not guarantee future results. [Robinhood Terms and Conditions]( • [Disclosure Library]( • [Our Editorial Principles]( • [Contact Us]( • [FAQ]( [Manage Your Subscription Preferences](