Raphael Stevens

In this articlePGEddie Segura #4 of Los Angeles FC defends against Sergio Santos #17 of Philadelphia Union during the MLS match at the Banc of California Stadium on March 8, 2020 in Los Angeles.Shaun Clark | Getty ImagesMajor League Soccer announced Tuesday a big corporate sponsorship deal with Procter & Gamble, a move that could help the league recover some of its Covid-19 losses.P&G will sponsor some top soccer events as part of the five-year deal. These events include the MLS All-Star Game, the Mexican National Team’s U.S. Tour and the Leagues Cup.The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but according to someone familiar with MLS partnerships, the agreement is believed to be worth $80 million to $100 million. The source agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because the deal’s financial terms have not been made public.P&G will use MLS intellectual property on product brands such as Gillette, Old Spice and Crest to promote the league. MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson called partnership “symbiotic.””Those brands serve the broadest group of consumers in our country,” Stevenson told CNBC on Monday. “If we execute the way we both want to execute, we are helping raise awareness for their brand with our audience, and they are helping raise awareness for our brand as well.”Soccer’s popularity is rising among younger sports fans in the U.S. With P&G’s activation, the company aligns with MLS to serve an emerging fan base.”The sport of soccer is the sport for the new North American. It crosses a really valuable audience and it’s multigenerational,” Stevenson said. Referring to P&G, he added: “Their strength in the market and ability to communicate with so many consumers is valuable to us.”Procter & Gamble Co. Crest brand toothpaste sits on display in a supermarket in Princeton, Illinois.Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesLike other U.S. sports leagues, MLS is recovering from the impact of the pandemic. MLS Commissioner Don Garber has said the league lost close to $1 billion due to Covid. He expects revenue to further decline in 2021 since attendance is still limited at large sporting events.MLS also faces other challenges.The league settled a labor dispute with players in February, but it delayed the debuts of three new franchises. One of those franchises — in Sacramento, California — is unlikely to launch. MLS is now considering new markets, and Las Vegas could be in the mix.MLS is also banking on luring a top media rights package to increase its fees from roughly $90 million a year. The current agreement with Disney’s ESPN and Fox Sports runs through the 2022 season.Keep in mind, the two media giants just gave the National Football League $2 billion each to run football games on their networks. Fox will also give Major League Baseball over $700 million per year, and ESPN returned the National Hockey League for $400 million per year. In a few years, the National Basketball Association will want an increase to its broadcasting rights.But the partnership with P&G comes at the right time. The league is welcoming a top market in Texas, as the Austin FC team makes its MLS debut on Saturday. Outside of college sports, MLS will have a market to itself in Austin since there aren’t other pro sports teams in the city.”Major League Soccer is one of the most dynamic sports leagues in North America and this is a time of significant growth for the sport,” Marc Pritchard, P&G chief brand officer, told CNBC via email. “Our multifaceted partnership will enable our brands to engage with millions of passionate fans, while also collaborating with MLS to be a force for good by helping communities throughout the country.” More

In this articleHASRBLXMonopoly board gameGetty ImagesToymaker Hasbro announced on Tuesday a partnership with Roblox, an online video game platform, to release Roblox-themed Nerf and Monopoly merchandise.Both companies shares were trading higher after the announcement. Hasbro shares gained more than 1% while Roblox shares hit a 52-week high of $82.03 in trading Tuesday. Recently, Roblox’s stock was up more than 7%.The Nerf blasters will feature various Roblox games such as Arsenal and Jailbreak, and will be available this fall in U.S. stores. Each blasters will include a code for players to redeem online for a virtual blaster to use in the game.”Our design teams have done a phenomenal job capturing the creativity and essence of Roblox creators and their most immersive, innovative Roblox games in NERF blaster form,” said Adam Kleinman, vice president of Nerf global marketing, in a press release.In addition, a new version of Monopoly will incorporate popular Roblox experiences into the game. It also will include a code for players to redeem online for an exclusive virtual item. The board game will be available for preorder on Hasbro Pulse in the U.S. and Canada and at Big Bad Toy Shop.A Nerf-branded experience will be launched on Roblox’s platform later this year. More

The risk of developing blood clots from Covid-19 is greater than the apparent likelihood of developing them from Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Purvi Parikh told CNBC on Tuesday.Parikh, a New York-based allergist and immunologist, has worked as an investigator for other Covid vaccine trials, including Pfizer.Looking at Tuesday’s FDA recommendation to pause use of J&J’s one-shot vaccine through that prism, Parikh said the temporary halt indicates that regulators’ “safety checks and balances are working.””For now, I would be careful with any of these conspiracy theories and again with the panic,” said Parikh, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.”You’re much more likely to clot from the real Covid-19 virus, which is about 1 in 20 people hospitalized or even 1 in 100 recovering at home. That’s far more likely,” she added on “Squawk on the Street,” citing data from industry group Thrombosis Canada.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:FDA advises states to pause J&J Covid vaccine after rare blood-clotting issue affects 6 women, kills 1Covid cases are rising in more than half of U.S. states, despite ramp up in vaccinationsStates rush to replace J&J vaccine appointments after FDA recommends pauseCVS Health halts Johnson & Johnson vaccines, debates how to handle scheduled appointments    Parikh’s comments came hours after the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked states to temporarily stop administering J&J’s vaccine after six women in the U.S. who got it developed a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder. One of the recipients died, and another is in critical condition.Nearly 7 million people have received the J&J shot. There are no other known cases besides the six being reported by federal health regulators. The J&J vaccine uses an adenovirus delivery system. An adenovirus is a common type of virus that typically causes mild cold symptoms.Asked whether J&J’s vaccine could still be given to Americans while the six known cases of blood clots are investigated, Parikh said it’s best to halt them for now.”They’re not revoking the emergency use authorization. They’re not saying that it’s a bad vaccine. Pauses are completely normal,” she explained. “As we vaccinate more people — millions versus tens of thousands in the clinical trials — these pauses will occur. I think they are the right move, that way we know for sure it’s safe to move forward.”However, Parikh said that when looking “at the big picture” based on currently available information, “the benefits still far outweigh the risks of this vaccination.”White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters Tuesday there have not been any “red flag signals” from the two-shot vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna. Those two vaccines, the only other ones cleared for emergency use in the U.S., employ a new approach to vaccines that uses genetic material to provoke an immune response. More

In this articleMRNA22UA-DEPFEJNJCVSDrugstores and grocers have played a crucial role in administering Covid-19 vaccines to Americans. Now, they are trying to figure out a path forward after the Food and Drug Administration asked states Tuesday morning to temporarily halt distribution of Johnson & Johnson shots.CVS Health spokesman Mike DeAngelis said customers scheduled to receive a J&J vaccine this week will get an email to notify them that it is canceled. He said the company will follow up with those customers to reschedule, as it continues to offer shots developed by other manufacturers.Walgreens said in a statement that it has paused J&J vaccines at its stores and offsite clinics, too. It said it would reach out to people with appointments and reschedule them with another shot, as supply allows.FDA advises states to pause use of J&J Covid vaccine after rare blood-clotting issue affects 6 women, kills 1Rite Aid said in a statement that it has cancelled J&J vaccines scheduled at its stores on Tuesday and Wednesday. Customers will be notified about how to reschedule their appointment for another Covid vaccine, the company said.Wegmans also said it has canceled all J&J vaccine appointments in a statement on its website.Retailers began sharing their responses on Tuesday, after the FDA’s request. The federal agency said it made the move “out of an abundance of caution” after six women in the U.S. developed a rare blood-clotting disorder. Nearly 7 million Americans have received the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsJ&J’s vaccine has not been as widely administered as Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines in the U.S. However, the shots have unique benefits. They can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for months and take only one shot — unlike Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, which require freezers and two rounds of shots spaced about a month apart. That has made J&J’s vaccine an appealing option, particularly for harder-to-reach populations, such as Americans who are homebound, live in poorer communities, rural areas or tribal lands.It is unclear how much of drugstores’ and grocery stores’ vaccine supply is from J&J versus other manufacturers — and what portion of their vaccine appointments the FDA request could disrupt.CVS is offering Covid vaccines in about 2,000 stores across 49 states. DeAngelis declined to say how many of those stores use the J&J vaccine and how many administer the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.Some states, including New York, have announced they will use Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine in J&J’s place for already scheduled appointments. More

More than two dozen states took steps Tuesday to halt inoculations with Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, shortly after the Food and Drug Administration recommended to pause its use after reports some women developed a rare blood clotting disorder.The states, like the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stressed that they were acting out of an abundance of caution, as more than 6.8 million doses of J&J’s vaccine have been injected and only six of the blood clotting cases have so far been reported.J&J said in a statement that “no clear causal relationship” has been identified between the rare type of blood clots and the vaccine, adding it is working closely with regulators to assess the data.New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said the state will “immediately” stop administering the single-dose J&J inoculation, and will use Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine in its place for already scheduled appointments.At least 25 other states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, also announced they are taking J&J’s vaccine doses out of their distribution plans.Those precautions may not be in effect for long, however: Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said Tuesday that she expected the pause to last only for a matter of days.Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, noted Tuesday that people who got the J&J vaccine more than a month ago are at very low risk for developing the blood clots. All six reported cases occurred in women ages 18 to 48, whose symptoms developed within two weeks after they received the shot.New Jersey’s Department of Health said that all vaccination sites in the state “have been told to cancel or put on hold appointments for the J&J vaccine until further notice.” The agency said it will work with those sites to replace J&J appointments with an alternative two-dose vaccine.Virginia “will cease all Johnson & Johnson vaccines” while the FDA investigates the “extremely rare possible side effect,” according to a statement from the state’s vaccination coordinator, Dr. Danny Avula.Connecticut’s Department of Public Health recommended all Covid vaccine providers stop using J&J’s vaccine “for the time being” while the FDA and the CDC complete their review.Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and top health officials in his state issued a similar advisory.Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health notified all vaccine providers in the state to stop administering the J&J vaccine, “effective immediately.”The other states are Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. More

U.S. President Joe Biden joins a CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience via video conference from the Roosevelt Room at the White House on April 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.Amr Alfiky | Getty ImagesMore than 300 businesses and investors are calling on President Joe Biden to nearly double U.S. targets to reduce planet-warming emissions below 2005 levels by 2030.In a letter published Tuesday, corporate leaders from companies like Google, Apple, Walmart, Unilever and General Electric praised the Biden administration for rejoining the Paris climate accord and aggressively addressing climate change.The push by executives of some of the country’s largest companies to set a goal to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases by at least 50% — a target in line with what environmental groups want — comes ahead of the global leaders’ climate summit the administration is hosting April 22.The White House plans to unveil a stricter emissions target for the Paris accord on or before the summit of world leaders. The Obama administration set out to cut emissions by up to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, but former President Donald Trump halted federal efforts to meet that target and pulled the U.S. from the Paris accord.The companies that signed the letter comprise more than $3 trillion in annual revenue and more than $1 trillion in assets. The letter indicates a shift by the private sector to address their own climate change impact and better align with the goals of the Biden administration, which has vowed to put the country on a path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.CNBC PoliticsRead more of CNBC’s politics coverage:Executives call on Biden to slash greenhouse gas emissions to curb climate changeBiden says he is ‘prepared to negotiate’ scope of infrastructure plan and how to pay for itProgressive group targets FedEx, Nike in campaign calling for higher corporate taxesBiden’s climate ambitions, including a sweeping infrastructure package that invests heavily in clean energy technologies, would be paid for largely by raising corporate tax rates, a move that could trigger objections from some of the very corporations who signed the letter.The president has also promised to adopt new regulations for fossil fuel producers, automobiles and electric utilities. Signatories of the letter include utilities like PG&E Corp. and Exelon but no notable oil and gas companies.”Many of us have set or are setting emissions reduction goals in line with climate science since the establishment of the Paris agreement,” the letter said. “The private sector has purchased renewable energy at record rates and along with countless cities across the country, many have committed themselves to a net zero-emissions future.”Nearly every country is part of the Paris agreement, a landmark nonbinding accord among nearly 200 nations to reduce their planet-warming emissions. The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. More

Engines assembled as they make their way through the assembly line at the General Motors (GM) manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, August 22, 2019.Harrison McClary | ReutersDETROIT – General Motors is restarting production sooner than expected at a crossover plant in Tennessee after supplies improved of the semiconductor chips needed to produce vehicles at the facility.The automaker’s Spring Hill Assembly plant will return to regular production on Monday instead of April 26, a week earlier than initially announced Thursday by the company. The facility builds the GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5 and XT6 crossovers.A GM spokesman attributed the change in scheduling to near-term improvements in supplies allowing the automaker to avoid the production impact at the plant. The United Auto Workers union informed Spring Hill’s more than 2,800 hourly workers of the change in plans Tuesday.The company also will not halt production next week of the Chevrolet Blazer at a plant in Mexico, which was announced last week due to the chip shortage. Other plant shutdowns due to the parts disruption in Michigan, Kansas and Canada remain unchanged.”Following our announcement last Thursday, April 8, GM’s supply chain organization has made strides working with our supply base to mitigate the near-term impacts of the semiconductor situation on both Spring Hill Assembly and Ramos Assembly,” GM said in an emailed statement.Automotive executives have characterized the chip shortage as fluid. GM, Ford Motor and others have said the shortage will cut billions off their earnings in 2021.Semiconductors are key components in automotive used in infotainment, power steering and braking systems, among other things. As multiple plants shuttered last year due to Covid, suppliers directed semiconductors away from automakers to other industries, creating a shortage after consumer demand snapped back stronger than expected. The parts can contain several different sizes and types of chips.The change in fortune for GM, while unrelated, comes a day after CEO Mary Barra and other business leaders from automotive, tech and a variety of sectors met with President Joe Biden to discuss the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage.After the meeting, GM, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) and a lobbying group for the Detroit automakers issued statements saying they were grateful the Biden administration held the meeting and was making the issue a priority. They said they looked forward to working Biden to resolve the shortage as well as long-term safeguards for supplies of such parts. More