⚽ FIFA Women’s World (sponsorship) Cup

…and a battle between NYT and ChatGPT could be brewing   Spain striker Jennifer Hermoso (VCG/Getty Images)   Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 34,475 (-0.84%) S&P 500 4,370 (-0.77%) Nasdaq 13,317 (-1.17%) Bitcoin $26,520 (-7.60%) Dow Jones 34,475 (-0.84%) S&P 500 4,370 (-0.77%) Nasdaq 13,317 (-1.17%) Bitcoin $26,520 (-7.60%) Hey Snackers, This destination isn’t on Airbnb, but that didn’t stop tourists from spending the night there: two Americans were [found]( sleeping in the Eiffel Tower. Sounds like a scene from “Emily in Paris.” US stocks were in the red yesterday as a bond selloff pushed Treasury yields higher. Meanwhile, recent positive economic data made investors more negative about the possibility of an end to Fed rate hikes. Claaaassic “good news is bad news.” Goal As the Women’s World Cup gears up for the final, more brands are scoring marketing wins It’s the final countdown… England and Spain are set to face off in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals on Sunday, sealing weeks of heart-stopping matchups. A record 1.7M+ tickets were sold for the tournament, up from 1M for the 2019 Cup. A third of women's-soccer fans are new to the sport, boosting visibility for Women’s World Cup sponsors like [Budweiser]( and [Coke]( - [Nike]( limited Martine Rose designer collab, which featured gender-neutral fits worn by the US women's team, sold out most pieces ahead of the tourney. FYI: Nike sponsors England (among other teams). - [Adidas]( has seen over a fifth of its women’s team products sell out this tournament — nearly 3X as many as in 2019. Adidas sponsors Spain (among others). - [Visa]( Frito-Lay, [Adobe]( Dove maker [Unilever]( and [Roblox]( have jumped onto the sponsors’ list as more corporations support women’s sports. Behind the goal line… For years, women's-sports pay and sponsorships have trailed men’s, and women’s games don’t usually get as much ad spend. That’s starting to change: last year, the US women’s national soccer team won a $24M equal-pay settlement. Media biggies are also catching up: [CBS]( aired the National Women’s Soccer League finals on prime-time TV for the first time last year. Meanwhile, ESPN could cough up $100M to renew its NCAA Women’s Basketball broadcast rights next year as popularity booms. THE TAKEAWAY Gettin’ in the game can pay off… Women’s-sports fan bases are growing twice as fast as the broader sports-fan community. Experts say fans of women’s teams tend to watch longer and are more brand loyal. Now more brands are hoping to score the benefits. [Ally Bank]( said it would spend the same amount on ads for men’s and women’s sports over the next five years. [Google]( last year signed a multiyear deal with sports site The Athletic to double its women’s-sports coverage. NYTvGPT The New York Times is reportedly considering suing OpenAI as genAI backlash builds May AI approach the bench?... Lawyers for [The New York Times]( are [considering]( a copyright suit against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, NPR reported. The concern: that the bot is using NYT reporting to train products that could draw readers away from their media platforms. If NYT does sue, it would be the most notable AI-copyright battle yet, and likely create precedents around the legality of genAI’s data-scraping ways. - Pay-to-mine: For months, media publishers have been talking to companies like OpenAI, Google, [Microsoft]( and Adobe, trying to establish licensing deals that would allow AI to use publishers’ work — for a fee. - Ctrl+Alt+Del: Negotiations between NYT and OpenAI appear to have soured. If a judge were to rule that OpenAI illegally used NYT’s work to train ChatGPT, OpenAI could be forced to destroy its dataset and start over. - Not just NYT: Other publishers could join the suit too. Wall Street Journal parent [News Corp]( Axel Springer, and IAC have reportedly discussed forming a coalition to sue AI companies. The “shiny new toy” luster is fading… and it’s making companies rethink how they use AI. Fear that the tech could eliminate jobs (and its prominent focus in Hollywood strikes) has created a culture of backlash. In one of the biggest examples involving photographers, [Getty Images]( sued Stability AI earlier this year, accusing it of copyright infringement on a “staggering scale” (Getty says it copied 12M images). THE TAKEAWAY Choose your fighter: trust or productivity… With AI’s status as a reputational (and legal) risk, companies have to make tough decisions about how to use it. [Levi Strauss]( faced criticism earlier this year after announcing plans to use AI to generate models for its jeans. Audiences decried the AI-made opening credits of [Disney]( “Secret Invasion.” Last week, [Zoom]( got pushback over its apparent ability to train AI on customer calls (the company updated its terms of service to clarify it will not). WORLDCON The Crypto Catch-Up… 🌶️ Spicy… Small to midsize exchanges like Huobi and KuCoin are [snatching]( market share from 800-pound gorilla Binance. The world’s largest crypto exchange is being squeezed by regulator suits in the US and license-application rejections in the EU. 🤹‍♀️ Quirky… Traders poured $450K+ into Coca-Cola’s Masterpieces NFT offering, lapping up digi-tokens tied to bottle-themed art. Meanwhile, prices for “blue chip” NFTs like Bored Apes and Doodles have sagged 40% over the past few months. 🤔 Sus… Scammers are [riding]( Worldcoin’s crypto coattails in early-adopter Kenya (350K+ signups), conning new users out of coins. The biz behind the eye-scanning orb has been met with growing concern over privacy risks since its July launch. What else we're Snackin' - [Cart]( [Walmart]( raised its annual outlook after beating expectations for sales and profit growth, with earnings up 53%. America’s largest retailer attracted more shoppers looking for deals on groceries. - [Uninsure]( [CVS]( stock sank after Blue Shield of California said it would replace CVS’s pharmacy benefit services with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co. and [Amazon]( Pharmacy to lower drug costs for its 5M members. - [Racks]( [Ross]( stock spiked after the discount-clothing legend lifted its growth guidance as consumers riffled for $8 dresses and discount Levi’s jeans. Rival [TJX]( (TJMaxx, Marshalls) also had strong sales. - [Spin]( [Peloton]( is pushing its fitness app and bike discounts as corporate benefits. The spin icon struggled post lockdown, but sees deals like a partnership with benefits giant Sequoia as a potential turnaround. - [Shake]( [Wendy’s]( opened the first of a planned 200+ new “next-gen” restos (picture: self-serve kiosks, pickup cubbies). The shift comes as fast-food chains like [McDonald’s]( close dining rooms and focus on to-go. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day A United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three carmakers could cost $5B over 10 days [Read more]( Friday - Earnings expected from Estée Lauder and Deere Authors of this Snacks own shares of: AB InBev, Amazon, CVS, Disney, Google, Microsoft, and Walmart Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... [See more]( [Sherwood Terms and Conditions]( • [Our Editorial Principles]( • [Contact Us](mailto:hellosnacks@sherwoodmedia.com) • [Privacy Policy]( • [Advertise with us](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com) [Unsubscribe](