Raphael Stevens

Gabriel Jesus of Manchester City and Real Madrid CF’s Fede Valverde competes for the ball during the UEFA Champions League match, round of 16 first leg between Real Madrid and Manchester City at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. (Photo by Manu Reino / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)Manu Reino | SOPA Images | Sipa USA via AP ImagesThe power struggle upending European soccer has drawn widespread criticism from former players, pundits and politicians. Now, it could reshape the broadcast rights deals that underpin the multi-billion dollar industry.”Audiences are decreasing, rights are decreasing, and something had to be done,” European Super League (ESL) Chairman Florentino Perez told Spanish television show El Chiringuito de Jugones on Monday.”Whenever there is a change, there are always people who oppose it… and we are doing this to save football at this critical moment,” Perez, who also serves as President of Real Madrid, said, laying down the gauntlet for what could be a long and complex battle over broadcast rights.Announced on Sunday, the ESL was set up with twelve of Europe’s wealthiest teams in a bid to rival the UEFA Champions League format, which is currently Europe’s top annual club competition. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin slammed the Super League as a “disgraceful, self serving proposal” and a “spit in the face” for fans. UEFA takes in nearly $4 billion a year from media rights across all of its competitions, according to its latest financial report. Broadcast rights made up more than 85% of total revenue, followed by commercial rights (12.8%) and tickets and hospitality fees (1.3%).”Once you get a fight between the UEFA Champions League and the European Super League, then you’re effectively competing for the same slot on a Wednesday night, 8 p.m. European time, which is going to have an impact on the prices that people are willing to pay,” James Walton, sports business group leader at Deloitte told CNBC’s Capital Connection on Tuesday.”Nobody knows yet who they’re going to go to try to sell these TV rights, but the early names that are being thrown in the mix are some of the online providers: Disney, Amazon and Netflix,” he said. Reacting to changeThe Financial Times reported on Monday that ESL organizers had held early discussions with Facebook, Amazon, Disney and Comcast-owned Sky to secure broadcast deals, without elaborating on the discussions. Facebook said on Monday it is not in talks to acquire broadcasting rights, according to a Reuters report. While Amazon has secured exclusive rights to screen Champions League matches in Italy and Germany from 2021 to 2024, sources say it’s not in discussions with the European Super League at this time. Meanwhile, other broadcasters are distancing themselves from the spat. “We have not been involved in any discussions with the proposed breakaway European Super League,” Sky said in a statement to CNBC. Others, including U.K. pay-TV broadcaster, BT Sport, which paid $2.2 billion to retain the exclusive broadcast rights to the Champions League through 2024, have condemned the plan saying the breakaway group could undermine existing contracts and threaten the future of the sport.”BT recognises the concerns raised by many of football’s leading voices and fans, and believes the formation of a European Super League could have a damaging effect to the long term health of football in this country,” BT said in a statement to CNBC.Broadcast cash cowRights to show the lucrative games are hard fought between broadcasters globally, who use the content to generate advertising and subscription revenue. However, as consumption and advertising habits rapidly change, analysis by Deloitte says sports fans are looking for more technologically advanced and personalized solutions to deliver high-quality content, at the right time and through the right channel.”We don’t know yet who the broadcaster is, or if there are any signed up to be on board, but we would expect it to be some form of over-the-top streaming provider looking to package this sport in different ways,” said Daniel Plumley, a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University who specializes in English professional soccer.”It’s no coincidence to me that the timing of this announcement is linked around the pandemic,” Plumley added. “We know football (soccer) clubs are struggling, even the bigger ones, and as in any sort of wider economic situation, the bigger players in the market look to capitalize at times of recession or times of financial hardship,” he said. Analysts say rival broadcast packages could be worth hundreds of millions a year, as shifting advertising and viewer trends and the impact of the pandemic push viewers further away from traditional linear television to streaming platforms. “Both sides seem to be in this fight for the long haul,” Walton said. “You can expect every day for the next couple of weeks, there are going to be developments on this story.”Disclosure: Comcast, which owns CNBC parent NBCUniversal, is the owner of Sky.Correction: Florentino Perez’s title was updated to correctly reflect his role as European Super League (ESL) chairman. 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Image by Marie LaFauci | Moment | Getty ImagesAny possible tax changes for ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth investors could result in an increased tax burden.  That means there’s motivation to find ways to protect that wealth.Some solutions that reduce exposure to specific anticipated Biden tax increases involve making charitable donations — a plus for the charitably inclined. Among these vehicles are charitable remainder trusts and donor-advised funds.CRTs are complicated arrangements that require attorneys to set up and accountants to maintain. DAFs, much simpler and far less expensive, have grown significantly in popularity in recent years.Both vehicles enable income tax deductions — in the current year or carried forward for five years —  on cash contributions of up to 60% of the donor’s adjusted gross income and up to 30% of AGI on contributed assets. These contributions also can reduce the size of taxable estates.These similarities aside, the two vehicles are quite different.More from The New Road to Retirement:Here’s a look at more retirement news.Biden tax plan may lead to more Roth retirement accountsHow to handle Covid-related withdrawals from retirement accounts3% of near-retirees can answer all these Social Security questionsThese features hold new allure for many wealthy families as they wait to see if Congress approves Biden’s ambitious tax agenda for the upper brackets. It’s also possible changes will substantially lower the gift and estate tax exemption from the current $11.7 million.As for CRTs, they funnel asset income into a tax-advantaged cash stream that goes to the donor or another designated non-charitable beneficiary. This income stream flows for a set term, or often, for the lifetime of the non-charitable beneficiary.Rules require that these trusts be designed so that, at the end of this period, at least 10% of their funds remain for donation to a charity designated at the outset.No tax is due on proceeds from the sale of trust assets until this cash goes to the non-charitable beneficiary, potentially years later. When assets are held by individuals, their sale generates capital gains tax in the year that they’re sold.This difference creates a huge advantage for CRT donors, because they can fund these trusts with highly appreciated assets and then manage them for optimal returns while minimizing tax exposure by adjusting the income stream to spread the tax burden over many years. This advantage would be heightened if, as expected, the current Congress raises capital gains tax rates for high earners.DAFs don’t allow dispersals to non-charitable beneficiaries. All contributions, including gains from contributed assets, must ultimately be donated to charity. But for many donors, DAFs nonetheless hold distinct advantages, including:Ease of creation. Most large financial services companies offer DAF accounts for individual clients. Getting them set up is relatively simple, compared with the extensive legal work needed to create CRTs.Substantially lower costs. Creating a CRT can cost several thousand dollars in legal fees and, atop this, recurring fees from accountants for handling required IRS filings and from financial advisors for managing the trust assets. By contrast, charges from financial institutions for DAFs typically run between 0.1% to 1% annually, depending on size, plus a small custodial charge for holding the account.Great deal of flexibility. Individuals or families can create and fund a DAF and get the deduction on it that same year. Then they can wait for years to designate charitable beneficiaries and direct specific donations. With CRTs, donors have the pressure of having to name charities upon creating the trust. Such elections are complicated to change down the road, as these are irrevocable trusts, while DAFs enable ongoing review of giving goals and enable regular family meetings about the merits of candidate charities.Low barrier to entry. Generally, a DAF can be initially funded with as little as $5,000. With a CRT, that amount in some cases might cover only half of the legal fees to create it, let alone fund it.Wide latitude in the types of assets that can be contributed. DAF contributions can include shares of privately held businesses, collectibles such as fine art or even cryptocurrency — as long as valuation methods meet IRS rules. This gives donors more opportunities to get tax deductions without having to pony up cash, as they can donate a wide range of assets they may own.Help with itemizing tax deductions. For less wealthy donors, a DAF is a way to qualify for itemizing tax deductions some years, rather than taking the standard deduction. As DAF donations are deductible the year that they’re made, this enables filers to consolidate what, for them, might normally be two years’ worth of charitable donations —potentially, to be made years later — into a single year for tax purposes. This way, they can meet the IRS threshold, set down in the 2017 tax law, to qualify for itemizing deductions. This feature, along with their simplicity and low cost, has led to rapidly increasing use of DAFs. Contributions to them in 2019 ($38.8 billion) increased 80% over 2015.Meanwhile, as the popularity of DAFs has grown, they’ve drawn criticism as a way to get a huge charitable tax deduction now without actually benefitting a charitable cause for many years.Yet actual grants from DAFs to qualified charities in 2019, totaling more than $25 billion, represented a 93% increase from 2015. Moreover, proponents say, gaps between funding DAFs and directing donations from them gives donors time to assess the merits of candidate charities. With CRTs, this delay may last an adult lifetime. Yet, as their lack of accessibility makes them somewhat esoteric, CRTs tend to fly beneath the critical radar.Which of the two devices works best depends on an individual’s situation — how much wealth needs protection, whether an income stream is desired and what charitable goals are involved.— By David Robinson, CEO and founder of RTS Private Wealth Management More

In this articleDKNGPFLJason High (red gloves) fights Caros Fodor (blue gloves) lightweight event during Professional Fighters League: Daytona at Daytona International Speedway on June 30, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida.Jared C. Tilton | Getty ImagesSports gamblers can now legally bet on bouts in the mixed martial arts Professional Fighters League after a partnership with betting firm DraftKings.Under the agreement, the DraftKings logo will be placed around PFL fighting cages, betting odds will be integrated into PFL broadcasts featured on Disney’s ESPN network, and DraftKings will offer heavy promotion of the league. Wagers on PFL matches can be placed in states where online sports betting is legal.The agreement is a multiyear, seven figure deal, meaning it’s worth less than $10 million.In an interview with CNBC on Monday, PFL CEO Peter Murray declined to reveal specific financial terms but said it’s “a combination of rights fees around exclusivity for our official sportsbook in the U.S. And it’s a combination of license fees for the data; marketing and sponsorship.”DraftKings becomes PFL’s first sportsbook and will sponsor a prefight show and use PFL’s in-fighting technology, which captures real-time data on fighters to help fuel future prop bets. Those wagers are in-fight bets placed around estimations like a fighter’s punch and kick speed while competing.PFL is a single-entity league controlled by investors that include prominent sports and entertainment figures like Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner and actor Kevin Hart. The league has a regular season and a postseason and concludes with six championship competitions. Fighters usually receive $1 million if they win.PFL said it is expanding after it raised $65 million in February, bringing its total to $175 million. After the funding round, Reuters reported PFL was valued at roughly $400 million. Asked about that figure, Murray declined to comment on PFL’s valuation.Pavlo Gonchar | LightRocket | Getty ImagesPFL expecting growthStill, the league appears positioned for growth in 2021 with international expansion in the plans.Aside from its partnership with DraftKings, PFL also partnered with Twitter in an advertisement revenue-sharing model. The social media company will leverage PFL content, including during fights, and use its new audio feature, Twitter Spaces, to stage conversations between influencers and fans. The parties will divide the ad revenue from the content.”Our mission is simple – reimage and grow the sport and we’ll scale the league,” Murray said. “After the (2020) season, our focus is on executing the product combined with expanding the audience, and Twitter is an example of that.”PFL is expected to announce distribution deals in France and Germany. Murray said the company wants to renew its ESPN deal after the 2021 season, which is expected to conclude in June. PFL wants to capitalize on plans to increase its fighting events from 10 to 16.”We’re excited about a long-term partnership with ESPN,” Murray said. ‘We’ll be talking about 2022 and forward after the regular season.”DraftKings is also partnered with top martial arts company UFC. The company reached perhaps its most significant sports partnership last week, becoming one of three betting operators to align with the National Football League.DraftKings stock was down 2% on Monday, closing at $56.68 per share. The company has a market cap of $22.5 billion. More

In this articlePEPHRLCAGCLXGISPeople shop for toilet paper at a Costco store in Novato, California on March 14, 2020.Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty ImagesSurging demand stemming from the coronavirus pandemic led sales of consumer packaged goods, which encompasses everything from toilet paper to canned soup, to climb 9.4% to $1.53 trillion last year, according to new report from the Consumer Brands Association.But the boom in demand hasn’t abated yet, and the trade group said that manufacturers are still struggling to catch up on inventory. To meet the challenge, companies are hiring more workers, adding new factory lines and boosting wages amid the protracted surge in demand.”This was the greatest test that the system could’ve ever experienced,” said Geoff Freeman, chief executive of Consumer Brands. “Our wildest imagination may not have been able to imagine the 12-month surge that we just went through.”Even as the pandemic subsides, Consumer Brands is forecasting that industry’s 2021 sales will still be up 7.4% to 8.5% from 2019. January sales are up 16% from the same time a year ago, representing the highest year-over-year change since last March. February sales growth slowed slightly but was still in the double digits. Before the pandemic, strong growth for a CPG company meant an increase in the low single digits.”This industry is still sprinting a marathon,” said Katie Denis, Consumer Brands’ vice president of research and industry narrative.The last year’s soaring demand means that manufacturers are still trying to catch up on supply, and every obstacle can mean millions of dollars in lost sales. Freeman cited a conversation with a chief executive who saw more than a quarter of his manufacturing plants closed for a week in February due to the Texas winter storm. The Suez Canal blockage in March caused even more headaches.General Mills and Clorox are among the companies that turned to third-party manufacturers for a temporary fix to skyrocketing demand. The situation has prompted some CPG companies to rethink inventory targets and how close products should be to retailers. Freeman said that some manufacturers won’t be able to catch up on inventory until new capital expenditures come online.The current stress on the supply chain means that some shortages, like the ongoing ketchup packet scarcity first reported by the Wall Street Journal, are harder to forecast.”That’s the kind of thing that we should see coming six to 12 months in advance,” Freeman said.The surge in demand has resulted in higher wages for CPG manufacturing workers. PepsiCo and Hormel were among those who gave out bonuses to their frontline employees last year. According to the Consumer Brands report, pay for food manufacturing workers climbed 3.4% in July through September compared with the same time a year ago. Nationwide non-farm wages fell 0.8% in the same period.”I don’t know if [wages] will climb higher than 2020, but there’s no reason to believe that there will be a drop off, according to the companies that we surveyed with McKinsey,” said Denis.CPG companies also ramped up their hiring. After initial job losses hit the industry, particularly for foodservice suppliers, other food, beverage and household product manufacturers scrambled to scoop up more workers. Some companies hired 10% to 20% more workers than they actually needed to account for employees who were quarantining or caring for sick relatives, according to Freeman.According to the Consumer Brands report, current manufacturing employment within the industry is down just 2% from January 2020 levels, while the overall U.S. employment rate was 6% in March. More

Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid pictured on February 18, 2020 in Madrid, Spain.Mateo Villalba | Quality Sport Images | Getty ImagesLONDON — The chairman of the European Super League has said plans to form a new breakaway elite competition are designed “to save” soccer, pushing back against widespread criticism by claiming that change is necessary because young people “are no longer interested” in the sport.In an interview with Spanish television show El Chiringuito de Jugones on Monday, Florentino Perez, who is also the president of Spanish club Real Madrid, said: “Whenever there is a change, there are always people who oppose it … and we are doing this to save football at this critical moment.””Audiences are decreasing, and rights are decreasing and something had to be done. We are all ruined. Television has to change so we can adapt,” he continued.”Young people are no longer interested in football. Why not? Because there are a lot of poor-quality games and they are not interested, they have other platforms on which to distract themselves,” Perez said.Perez did not provide evidence of younger soccer fans turning away from the sport due to lack of interest nor for the decline in television viewing figures.His comments come shortly after it was announced 12 of Europe’s wealthiest soccer teams, including Real Madrid, had signed up as founding members of the ESL. The project has been backed with $6 billion in debt financing from JPMorgan.The ESL is designed to rival the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s top annual club competition, and is intended to commence “as soon as it is practicable.”Teams that have agreed to play in the ESL:England: Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal.Spain: Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.Italy: Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.The ESL will eventually comprise of 20 clubs and 15 of those will be permanent, meaning they can’t be relegated. That’s controversial because teams currently must qualify for the Champions League each year and they can be promoted and relegated from England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, and Italy’s Serie A.The move has sparked outrage among lawmakers, governing bodies, former players, fans, managers and pundits, with many concerned about the ramifications for the structure of domestic competition.That’s because the current “pyramid” system allows teams to rise and fall from their respective leagues on merit. The 14 Premier League clubs not participating in the ESL are expected to discuss their response to the matter on Tuesday.UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has condemned the ESL project, describing the move as “a spit in the face” of all soccer lovers. “We will not allow them to take it away from us,” he added.’Core principles’In 2018, the Premier League reported a significant drop in money raised from the sale of rights to broadcast soccer matches in the U.K.BT and Sky bid £4.4 billion ($6.1 billion) to televise the lion share of 200 games for each season between 2019 to 2022. That figure was down from £5.1 billion in 2015.In a joint statement on Sunday, the 12 teams planning to join the ESL said: “The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model.””The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid,” they added.Roberto Firmino of Liverpool shoots whilst under pressure from Eder Militao of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield on April 14, 2021 in Liverpool, England.Shaun Botterill | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesThe organizers claim the ESL will generate more money than the UEFA Champions League competition and will result in a greater distribution of revenue throughout the sport.World governing body FIFA has sharply criticized the proposal and called for further discussions with those involved.”In our view, and in accordance with our statutes, any football competition, whether national, regional or global, should always reflect the core principles of solidarity, inclusivity, integrity and equitable financial distribution,” FIFA said on Monday.”Moreover, the governing bodies of football should employ all lawful, sporting and diplomatic means to ensure this remains the case,” they added.— CNBC’s Sam Shead contributed to this report. More