Raphael Stevens

Nike will continue to be the exclusive uniform provider for the National Football League through 2038, a position it has held since 2012.
The deal comes after the NFL briefly held talks with other bidders competing for the agreement.
Nike is in the middle of a turnaround under new CEO Elliott Hill and has been criticized for falling behind on innovation.

Nike football shoes are seen in a store in Krakow, Poland, on Aug. 29, 2024.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Nike has renewed its partnership with the National Football League for another 10 years after the league briefly opened the bidding process to competitors and held talks with other companies. 
Under the terms of the deal, Nike will continue to be the exclusive provider of uniforms and sideline, practice and base layer apparel for all 32 NFL teams through 2038. Nike has been the NFL’s exclusive apparel provider since 2012. 

“This partnership renewal is a testament to the strength and success of our collaboration with the NFL,” Nike’s newly appointed CEO Elliott Hill said in a news release. “As we embark on this new chapter, we’re committed to co-creating cutting-edge solutions that meet the rapidly changing needs of NFL athletes and fans, while fueling the league’s growth and development initiatives.” 
As part of the partnership, Nike said it will work to expand football’s global reach and use its sports research lab to address lower body injuries and boost footwear safety. 
The company said it will continue to support high school and college football and help bring the sport’s “most compelling narratives to life.” 
“Nike has been an invaluable partner since 2012 and we couldn’t be more excited to have them onboard for years to come,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “In addition to their products and services for our clubs, players, or fans, Nike is a strategic partner who will help us grow football internationally, support youth football and make advances in player safety.”
The renewed partnership comes as Nike looks to turn around its business and hold on to its position as the global leader in athletic apparel and footwear. 

In October, CNBC reported that the NFL was considering other partners for its uniform contract as it prepared for its agreement with Nike to expire after the 2027 season. The league briefly opened up the process to other bidders and held talks with several companies interested in competing for the agreement, a source previously told CNBC. 
The NFL’s decision to open up the bidding process came as Nike faced criticism for falling behind on innovation. Earlier this year, it botched a uniform launch with Major League Baseball, prompting widespread complaints from players and fans that the new outfits were see-through, did not fit right and looked “amateurish,” ESPN reported at the time.
Still, the issue was not enough to scare off the NFL or the National Basketball Association, which renewed its contract with Nike in October. 
Nike is set to report fiscal second-quarter earnings next Thursday.
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Jessica Golden.

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The National Football league has approved the sale of a minority stake in the Philadelphia Eagles to two family investment groups. 
The deal is for an 8% stake in the team and values the Eagles at $8.3 billion, according to a league source.
Longtime owner Jeffrey Lurie will maintain majority control of the team, the source said.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) looks on in the second half during the game between the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles on December 08, 2024 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

The National Football league has approved the sale of a minority stake in the Philadelphia Eagles to two family investment groups. 
The deal is for an 8% stake in the team and values the Eagles at $8.3 billion, according to a league source.

The sale was approved Wednesday at an NFL owners’ meeting in Dallas. It includes the sports team alone and does not include the stadium or any other assets.
Longtime owner Jeffrey Lurie will maintain majority control of the team, said the source, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal operations.
According to CNBC’s Official NFL Team Valuations in September, the Philadelphia Eagles were the ninth most valuable team at $7 billion. CNBC valuations are based on control stakes.
The Eagles were No. 9 in the league by revenue last year, bringing in $669 million in 2023.
The latest sale illustrates the meteoric rise of sports team values, which have been exceptionally strong for the NFL. Over the more than three decades that Lurie owned the Eagles, the team’s value increased 13.2% annually, outpacing the S&P 500, which increased at a rate of 8.9% annually.

The Eagles received robust interest in the sale from families, individuals and private equity firms, according to the source.
The Eagles newest minority owners include Susan Kim, chairman of the board of Amkor Technology, a product packaging company. Zack Peskowitz and Olivia Peskowitz Suter will also join the investor team. They are the children of Ed Peskowitz, founder of United Communications Group and a former co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
Lurie has owned the Eagles since 1994, when he took out a loan to buy the team for $185 million.  
Under Lurie’s ownership, the Eagles won their first-ever Super Bowl title in 2018, in addition to several conference championships throughout his tenure. The Birds are currently ranked first in the NFC East with a record of 11-2.
Lurie first announced the potential sale of a minority stake in the team in June after the league voted to approve private equity investment.

Other NFL deals

In addition to the Eagles, NFL owners on Wednesday also approved new minority stakes in the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders, in the first transactions since the NFL voted to allow private equity investment this summer.
The Dolphins approved the sale of a 10% stake to Ares Management and a 3% take to Brooklyn Nets owners Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg, as previously reported by CNBC. In addition to the team, that transaction includes Hard Rock Stadium, the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix and continued investment in South Florida. The transaction marks Ares’ entry into NFL ownership. The group’s other sports assets include Inter Miami CF, McLaren Racing and Atletico de Madrid, among others.
Meanwhile, Terry and Kim Pegula, the majority owners of the Buffalo Bills, welcomed 10 new minority owners that include private equity firm Arctos; Rob Palumbo, co-managing partner of Accel-KKR; and former NBA players Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, among others.
“This has been an incredible journey to add such an impressive and diverse group of limited partners along with a reputable private equity partner in Arctos that has an extensive track record of success with professional sports franchises,” said Terry Pegula in a statement.
NFL owners also approved the sale of 15% of Mark Davis’ Las Vegas Raiders to Silver Lake co-CEO and Endeavor Board Chairman Egon Durban and Discovery Land Co. founder and Chairman Michael Meldman, according to The New York Times. This transaction comes after Davis sold about a 10.5% stake to Tom Brady and Knighthead Capital Management co-founder Tom Wagner in October.
— CNBC’s Michael Ozanian contributed to this report.
Correction: The Eagles deal is for an 8% stake in the team. An earlier version misstated the percentage.

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Albertsons on Wednesday formally terminated its proposed $25 billion merger with Kroger.
Albertsons filed a lawsuit against its fellow supermarket operator, saying Kroger violated its contract and did not follow through on commitments to help get the deal approved.
It comes a day after a judge blocked the planned tie-up.

Traders work as screens display the trading information for Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies Inc. on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 14, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Albertsons on Wednesday formally terminated its proposed $25 billion merger with Kroger and filed a lawsuit against its supermarket competitor, saying Kroger violated its contract and did not follow through on commitments to help get the deal approved.
It comes a day after a judge blocked the planned tie-up.

In a news release, Albertsons said Kroger broke its merger agreement “by repeatedly refusing to divest assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignoring regulators’ feedback, rejecting stronger divestiture buyers and failing to cooperate with Albertsons.”
“Kroger’s self-serving conduct, taken at the expense of Albertsons and the agreed transaction, has harmed Albertsons’ shareholders, associates and consumers,” Albertsons’ General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer Tom Moriarty said in a statement. “We are disappointed that the opportunity to realize the significant benefits of the merger has been lost on account of Kroger’s willfully deficient approach to securing regulatory clearance.”
In a statement, Kroger called the allegations in the lawsuit “baseless and without merit.”
“This is clearly an attempt to deflect responsibility following Kroger’s written notification of Albertsons’ multiple breaches of the agreement, and to seek payment of the merger’s break fee, to which they are not entitled,” the company’s statement said.
About two years ago, Kroger announced plans to buy Albertsons and combine forces to fend off Walmart, Amazon and Costco. The deal would have put nearly 40 supermarket chains, including Kroger’s Fred Meyer and Albertsons’ Safeway, under a single company.

The lawsuit Wednesday amounts to something of a corporate divorce battle.
The companies are at odds about who should pay for the legal fees associated with the merger and who, if anyone, is responsible for paying a breakup fee.
Albertsons said in its news release that it is owed both a $600 million termination fee and “relief reflecting the multiple years and hundreds of millions of dollars it devoted to obtaining approval for the merger, along with the extended period of unnecessary limbo Albertsons endured as a result of Kroger’s actions.”
Kroger, on the other hand, pushed back against payments to Albertsons in its statement and said it “looks forward to responding to these baseless claims in court.”
Shares of Albertsons and Kroger were up about 0.5% and 1%, respectively, in early trading Wednesday.

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JetBlue plans to add first-class seats on its Airbus planes that don’t include lie-flat Mint class.
The seats will be in a two-by-two configuration.
JetBlue has cut additional routes to get back on a path to steady profits.

Silhouette of passenger in front of the JetBlue Airbus A321neo aircraft spotted on the apron tarmac docked at the passenger jet bridge from the terminal of Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport AMS EHAM in the Netherlands. 
Nicholas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images

JetBlue Airways plans to add domestic first-class seats in 2026 on airplanes that don’t have its top-tier Mint class, the latest initiative to win over higher-paying customers and get back to profitability.
All of JetBlue’s Airbus aircraft without Mint, the airline’s lie-flat seats, will have two or three rows of domestic first-class seats, Marty St. George, JetBlue’s president, said in a note to employees.

“Since launching Mint over a decade ago, we’ve explored the idea of expanding a version of it across the fleet, often playfully calling it ‘mini-Mint’ or ‘junior Mint,'” St. George said. He said Mint “can’t be duplicated on shorter flights,” so the carrier had to come up with a solution for passengers willing to pay for more space on shorter flights.  
“We’re keeping the rest of our ideas under wraps for now while we prepare for a 2026 launch. Let’s keep our competitors guessing,” St. George wrote.
St. George, JetBlue’s former commercial chief, came back to the New York-based airline earlier this year to help new CEO Joanna Geraghty return JetBlue to profitability and cut costs. The airline is focusing more on its core markets in Florida and the Northeast and deferring some of its Airbus aircraft.
The airline expects its initiatives to generate another $800 million to $900 million in earnings before interest and taxes over the next three years, it said in July.

Read more CNBC airline news

JetBlue has been a pioneer in the U.S. airline industry since its first flights almost 25 years ago, adding comforts like seat-back entertainment, free Wi-Fi and a business class that sought to make flying at the front of the plane more affordable for customers compared with large carriers that dominate U.S. air travel.

The airline has become more focused on finding ways to increase sales since its bid to acquire Spirit Airlines was blocked by a U.S. judge in January and its partnership with American Airlines in the Northeast was ruled anticompetitive by another judge.
JetBlue is culling a host new cuts of unprofitable routes, CNBC reported last week. It is also tweaking its European service, announcing a new flight between Boston and Madrid on Tuesday.

Adding better seats that fetch a premium to standard coach has become a focus of the airline industry as many leisure travelers after the pandemic have shown they are willing to shell out more for roomier seats, or other perks like airport lounges.
On Tuesday, Alaska Airlines said it would evaluate its premium seat offerings and upgrade some of its planes following its merger with Hawaiian as part of plans for a global expansion.
JetBlue earlier this year said it will build its first lounges.

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Cox Automotive reports there’s a “renewed optimism” among U.S. car dealers heading into 2025, fueled by Donald Trump’s election as well as positive trends in interest rates.
But dealers aren’t feeling more optimistic about the sale of EVs, according to Cox’s “Q4 2024 Dealer Sentiment Index,” which was conducted after the U.S. presidential election in November.

Alex Tovstanovsky, owner of used-car dealer Prestige Motor Works, checks on inventory with his general manager Ryan Caton in Naperville, Illinois, May 28, 2020.
Nick Carey | Reuters

DETROIT — There’s a “renewed optimism” among U.S. car dealers heading into 2025, fueled by President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House as well as positive trends in interest rates and automaker-backed sales incentives, Cox Automotive reported Wednesday.
But dealers aren’t feeling more optimistic about the sale of electric vehicles, according to Cox’s “Q4 2024 Dealer Sentiment Index,” which is based on wide-reaching surveys of dealers after the U.S. presidential election in November.

“The outlook for EV sales in the coming months fell further, with a majority of dealers suggesting sales would decline in the next quarter. There is concern policies by the new administration are not going to help an already fragile business,” according to Cox.
Those potential policy changes under a Trump administration could include less federal funding for promoting EVs, such as an end to the current consumer credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of one of the vehicles, as well as less strict fuel and emissions regulations.
“We are getting clear feedback that the tax credits are working in both the new and the used markets,” Cox Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said in a release. “This is something that could change fairly rapidly next year, so I think the diminishing outlook is directly tied to the at-risk status of the EV tax credits.”

Stock chart icon

Auto dealer stocks in 2024.

Cox’s market outlook index, which measures dealers’ expectations for the auto retail market in the coming quarter, jumped to 54 in the fourth quarter, up from 42 during the previous quarter. The higher the number, the more confident dealers are feeling about their businesses.
Dealer responses are weighted by dealership type and volume of sales to closely reflect the national dealer population. Data is used to calculate an index wherein a number over 50 indicates more dealers view conditions as strong or positive rather than weak or negative.

“This significant increase suggests that more dealers believe the auto market will be stronger in the next three months. One year ago, the index stood at just 41, one of the lowest readings in its history,” Cox said in a release.
Despite the positive outlook, the current market index score of 42 indicates that a majority of dealers still view the current retail auto market as weak, Cox noted. This score is slightly better than one year ago, but remains well below pre-pandemic norms and long-term averages.
“The recent resolution of political uncertainty following the presidential election has cleared the path for a more optimistic outlook on future auto market conditions,” Smoke said. “Coupled with the potential for supportive measures such as tax rebates and the possibility of lower interest rates, dealers are feeling more hopeful about the road ahead as we move into 2025.”
After the November election, 35% of dealers surveyed said the political climate in the U.S. is affecting their businesses, a significant drop from the 44% of all dealers and 49% of franchised dealers who said the same in the previous quarter.
Shares of publicly traded auto dealers have performed well this year, as pricing of new and used vehicles remains high. Shares of AutoNation, Lithia Motors and Sonic Automotive are up between 15% and 22% for the year, while Group 1 Automotive is the standout, up roughly 40% in 2024.

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The valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX hit $350 billion based on a secondary share sale, CNBC confirmed on Wednesday.
SpaceX and investors agreed to buy stock from insiders in a $1.25 billion purchase offer at $185 a share, according to copies of the offer obtained by CNBC.
SpaceX’s soaring valuation, ranking well above U.S. defense contractors and among the top 25 in the S&P 500 by market cap, comes as the company furthers its dominant position in the space industry.

SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is launched on its sixth test at the company’s Boca Chica launch pad in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024.
Joe Skipper | Reuters

The valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX hit $350 billion based on a secondary share sale, CNBC confirmed Wednesday.
SpaceX, as well as investors, agreed to buy stock from insiders in a $1.25 billion purchase offer at $185 a share, according to copies of the offer obtained by CNBC. The round does not include raising new capital, as the purchase offer represents a secondary sale of existing shares.

Notably, SpaceX is buying as much as $500 million in common stock as part of the offer, in a rare share buyback that demonstrates the strength of the privately held company’s financial position.
The company routinely performs these secondary rounds — about twice a year — to give employees and other shareholders a chance to sell stock. The latest valuation represents a 67% surge from SpaceX’s previous high of $210 billion, which the company hit through a June secondary share sale.
SpaceX’s soaring valuation comes as the company furthers its dominant position in the space industry, all while Musk has become an influential figure in the coming presidential administration.
The space company has a near-monopoly on the U.S. satellite launch market, led by its workhorse Falcon rockets, as its rivals have struggled to field operational rockets to compete.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business is a key economic driver for the company, with about 7,000 satellites launched to date and a service boasting about five million subscribers.

Meanwhile, its monstrous Starship continues to advance in flight tests, representing an attempt to create a next-generation reusable rocket of unprecedented scale and power.

Read more CNBC space news

SpaceX’s latest valuation ranks the company higher than the market value of top U.S. defense contractors. Among U.S. companies in the S&P 500, SpaceX would rank in the top 25 by market cap, between Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America, according to FactSet.
The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the sale process. Bloomberg first reported SpaceX’s $185 a share pricing.
Musk, replying to a social media post about the SpaceX share sale, wrote that “almost no investors wanted to sell shares” at the new $350 billion valuation.
“SpaceX reduced the amount of shares it bought back from employees in order to allow some new investors in,” Musk wrote.

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Tom Brady’s 41 items for sale at Sotheby’s went for a combined $9 million.
Brady’s rare yellow gold Rolex Daytona Paul Newman ‘John Player Special’ from 1969 sold for $1.1 million.
Sotheby’s has ventured further into sports as a way to engage a younger generation of collectors.

Tom Brady’s Rolex worn during his 2023 season.
Sotheby’s (L) | Reuters (R)

Sotheby’s has scored big off of Tom Brady.
The auction house held its “GOAT Collection” sale on Tuesday night, selling all 41 items offered for a total of $9 million. The lots consisted of watches, jerseys and other sports treasures. The watches alone brought in $4.6 million.

Brady’s rare yellow gold Rolex Daytona Paul Newman ‘John Player Special’ from 1969 sold for $1.1 million, making it the top-selling item in the auction.
The watch was first worn by Brady in the 2023 season during a ceremony at Gillette Stadium where owner Robert Kraft announced the seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback would be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame.

FOXBOROUGH, MA – SEPTEMBER 10: New England Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft embraces Tom Brady during a game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles on September 10, 2023, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

Four collectors battled it out for a chance to own a piece of Brady history from his University of Michigan days. His final college game day-worn jersey fetched $792,000. Brady scored four touchdowns in that iconic game and had 369 passing yards.
The sale highlights the success Sotheby’s has seen as it ventures into the world of sports collectibles.

Tom Brady’s University of Michigan jersey worn during his final college game.

“Regardless of their team allegiance, collectors eagerly gathered to admire these cherished mementos from Tom’s iconic career, honoring and respecting the remarkable accomplishments of The GOAT,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles.

Sports has been a bright spot for Sotheby’s, bringing in new and younger clientele.
The auction house says of the 800 people registered to participate in Tuesday’s auction, 34% were new customers and 40% were under the age of 40.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have such an amazing journey in my career, and these watches and collectibles really capture those unforgettable moments and all the hard work behind them,” Brady said ahead of the sale. More