🏈 The NFL’s streaming szn

…and Apple’s “Wonderlust” iPhone event   Cable may need a Hail Mary (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)   [Sponsored by]( Last Week’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 34,577 (-0.75%) S&P 500 4,457 (-1.29%) Nasdaq 13,762 (-1.93%) Bitcoin $25,891 (+0.31%) Dow Jones 34,577 (-0.75%) S&P 500 4,457 (-1.29%) Nasdaq 13,762 (-1.93%) Bitcoin $25,891 (+0.31%) Hey Snackers, Our thoughts go back to 22 years ago today: nearly 3,000 lives were lost in the terrorist attacks on New York, DC, and in Pennsylvania. This day is also one of service and remembrance as Americans are called to [volunteer]( and find strength in unity. Stocks were down last week as tech titans like Apple and Nvidia dragged markets and strong econ data stoked interest-rate fears. Still, the Fed is expected to pause rate hikes at its September 19-20 meeting. The goal: secure that Goldilocks soft landing. Btw... Do you want to start getting Snacks daily? Or prefer to unsubscribe? Manage your subscription preferences [here](. Blitz As football season kicks off, streamers like YouTube and Amazon could force a TV turnover On any given Sunday… more NFL games will be available exclusively on streaming sites this year than ever. Yesterday, YouTube TV kicked off its first season airing the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket,” charging subscribers an extra $300/year for access. YouTube’s paying the NFL $2B+/season for the seven-year deal. Also: NBCUniversal’s Peacock (which has the most live sports of any streamer) will for the first time air a regular-season game and exclusively broadcast a wild-card playoff game. - Prime time: Amazon’s on its second year as the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football,” which Prime members can watch at no extra charge. Last year it averaged 11.3M viewers/telecast, drawing younger fans to the NFL. - Red zone: The streaming deals are an effort to reduce the prevalence of illegal streams, too, which lose leagues billions yearly. Full-court press… As subscription saturation (#subscripturation) intensifies, streaming growth has slowed. Now streamers are hoping that investments in live sports will fuel growth, with good reason: last year sports made up 94 of the 100 most-watched telecasts — and 82 of ’em were for the NFL. Streamers are spending $6B+ to snag sports rights this year. - Free tix: Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly going to offer a free live-sports trial on its Max streaming service (fka: HBO Max), thanks to its NBA and MLB media rights. - Wide net: Soccer icon Lionel Messi drove 288K new subs to Apple TV+’s MLS season add-on in a single month. - Cord cut: Disney’s said to be planning to offer an “unbundled from cable” ESPN streamer by 2025, and Spectrum parent Charter said it’s reached a “point of indifference” on staying in TV. THE TAKEAWAY Streamers are stealin’ cable’s playbook… Folks are cord-cutting in record #s, but sports are mostly why many still stick around. As streamers offer more live games, cable’s lifeline could be snipped. ESPN made up over half of top telecasts for cable giant Charter in the past year, yet Charter has lost access to the network in a financial feud with Disney over, yes, streaming. Sponsored by Ladder Have dependents or debt? Consider term life insurance. Two of the most common reasons people get life insurance are because they have dependents and debt. Protect what matters: Term life insurance can help financially protect your loved ones should you pass away. For as low as $1 a day,* you could get $1M in coverage, which your family could use to pay for things like mortgage payments, day-to-day bills, college tuition, and more. [Get your free quote in seconds.]( Ladder, NerdWallet’s 2023 Best Same-Day Term Life Insurance winner, offers a 100% digital application with no medical exams when you apply for $3M or less, only health related questions. [See if you're instantly approved.]( (Fun fact: 80% of Ladder policyholders were instantly approved). Events Coming up this week One more thing… At Apple’s annual iPhone event tomorrow (this year dubbed “Wonderlust”), the mobile magnate’s expected to showcase its iPhone 15, fresh Apple Watches, and updated AirPods. Like its predecessor events, the reveal should be heavy on style and substance. Picture: new phone colors, camera upgrades, and (EU-mandated) standard charging ports. Apple’s hoping new gadgets will fuel customers’ appetites: hardware makes up 75% of its total revenue, but iPhone, Mac, and iPad sales all fell last quarter as electronics demand cooled. Runnin’ on fumes… The United Auto Workers’ contract deadline with the Detroit Three automakers (GM, Ford, Stellantis) expires Thursday night. If a deal isn’t reached, as many as 146K workers could strike simultaneously — a labor move that could cost the US economy $5B in just 10 days. The union’s self-described “audacious” demands include a 32-hour workweek with 40-hour pay, the restoration of traditional pensions, and a 46% raise (for ref: UPS workers recently nabbed a 48% raise). Some analysts say a strike is likely. Zoom Out Stories we’re watching Antitrust issues… The EU named six tech heavyweights as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act, a landmark regulation that aims to prevent techies from playing favorites with their own products and unfairly controlling (aka: gatekeeping) markets. On the naughty list: Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok owner ByteDance. They have six months to comply with the DMA or face fines of up to 10% of their global annual sales (yikes). The DMA includes a ban on exclusive app stores and self-preferencing (think: pre-installed iPhone apps). Beyond “Yes I am 18+”… A Texas judge stalled a law that would require adult-content sites like Pornhub to verify visitors’ ages. TX is one of six states that have passed laws requiring these sites to ask visitors for ID uploads (Utah also uses facial-age analysis) and 12+ states have similar bills. Pornhub said its site traffic — which, btw, is the US’s 12th highest — plunged 80% in Louisiana after the state became the first to enact age verification in January. That drop led Pornhub parent MindGeek to shutter its service in several states. ICYMI Last week's highlights - [Pantry]( Warner Bros. Discovery cut its profit forecast as the Hollywood strikes drag on. While some studios are reporting cost savings (because… no production), they can’t survive on the content stockpile forever. - [Airbnban]( NYC Airbnb hosts must now register to rent their places for stays <30 days (and live at the location). Officials are trying to curb a housing shortage that’s driven rent prices to record highs. - [Pumped]( Gas prices hit a decade-plus seasonal high after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they’d continue to cut oil production throughout the year. The price hike could stoke inflation beyond the pump. What else we're Snackin' - [RainLoop]( Music streamers have beef with rain sounds. Streamer Deezer and Universal Music struck a deal to double payouts to artists to ensure they get paid more than popular white-noise uploads. - [NetWorth]( New data from the Fed showed that the stock market propelled US household wealth to a record $154T (yes, trillion) last quarter. Rebounding home values helped drive the surge. - [Subs]( Automakers are putting subscriptions into 4WD, requiring drivers to pay extra to unlock features like live traffic info and hands-free driving. GM is targeting $25B in subs and software revenue by 2030. Want your Snacks daily? The Daily Newsletter Get fresh takes on financial news every week day. Try a sample: 🕹️ [YouTube 4 gamers]( • Sep 8, 2023 🥫 [Hollywood’s stockpile savings]( • Sep 7, 2023 🗽 [NYC’s Airbn-ban]( • Sep 6, 2023 [Subscribe to the Daily]( Snack Fact Of the Day 73M Americans plan to bet on this NFL season — a 60% spike from last year [Read more]( This Week - Monday: Permissionless DeFi conference begins. Earnings expected from Bowlero and Oracle - Tuesday: Apple’s iPhone event - Wednesday: August core CPI data. Earnings expected from Cracker Barrel and Semtech - Thursday: Initial jobless claims. United Auto Workers contract set to expire. Earnings expected from Adobe and Lennar - Friday: Consumer-sentiment data Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Disney, GM, Microsoft, and Nvidia *Advertiser's disclosure: Price based on a 30-year-old male, preferred plus, $1M policy, 10-year term. Ladder Insurance Services, LLC (CA license # OK22568; AR license # 3000140372) distributes term life insurance products issued by multiple insurers – for further details see [ladderlife.com](. All insurance products are governed by the terms set forth in the applicable insurance policy. Each insurer has financial responsibility for its own products. This email may be considered advertising under applicable law. ©2017-2023 and TM, NerdWallet, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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