Raphael Stevens

The NFL is looking for further growth and it’s turning to Latino viewers as a potential new audience.
It’s ramping up its games that are broadcast in Spanish and has expanded its reach to non-Spanish-speaking Latino audiences by hosting a game in Brazil for the first time.
“It’s mathematically impossible for the league to grow without Latinos,” said Marissa Solis, the senior vice president of brand and consumer marketing at the NFL.

Isiah Pacheco #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs for a one yard touchdown during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.
Rob Carr | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Earlier this month a well-known musician showed up at a Kansas City Chiefs game as the National Football League continues its bid to reach a new audience.
But this time it wasn’t Taylor Swift cheering on Travis Kelce — as the pop star has done at Kansas City games, leading to a boost in viewership.

It was Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, known for hits like “Gasolina” and “Rompe.” He attended a Monday Night Football game in Arrowhead Stadium and spent time with running back Isiah Pacheco of the Chiefs. Pacheco, who is of Puerto Rican descent, earlier let Daddy Yankee try on his two Super Bowl rings. 
The moment came as part of the NFL’s “Por La Cultura” campaign, which is in its fourth year and is a key element of the the league’s effort to grow its Latino and Spanish-speaking audiences. 
The NFL is known for its explosive ratings and is one of the most dominant sports when it comes to viewership on both traditional TV and streaming. A report from Nielsen earlier this week showed football drove ratings in September.
However, the league is still itching for further growth, both globally and within the U.S. A key aspect to that expansion is Hispanic viewership, league and media officials told CNBC.

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“I think when you have a successful product you’re a little bit bound to your success, right? I mean, there’s very little growth that [the NFL] can actually achieve within the regular American U.S. [English]-speaking population,” said Olek Loewenstein, global president of sports at TelevisaUnivision.

He noted that the Hispanic population “is one of the largest, if not the largest demographic, that’s growing and younger in the U.S.”

Critical audience

Marissa Solis, senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing at the NFL, said she joined the league three years ago to “get momentum behind our growth audiences.” For the NFL, she said this means three groups: viewers 35 and younger, of which Solis notes a majority are Latino; women; and Latinos.
“It’s mathematically impossible for the league to grow without Latinos,” Solis said. “This audience is critical for our growth. And it’s critical for global growth, because there’s so much cross-border connection and pride, and the fandom crosses borders.”
When it comes to sports in the U.S., Hispanic audiences favor soccer, followed by baseball and boxing, said Loewenstein. The NFL is still working to build its brand in the global market, which is dominated by soccer and other sports.
“I do think the NFL is one of the sports that’s prime to grow and explode among Hispanics,” Loewenstein said.

Jaire Alexander #23 of the Green Bay Packers runs onto the field with the Brazilian flag prior to a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Arena Corinthians on September 06, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
Wagner Meier | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

At the start of the season, the NFL expanded its reach to non-Spanish-speaking Latino audiences, hosting a game in Brazil for the first time as it brings more matchups to international locations. The game was streamed exclusively on Comcast’s Peacock and was the second-most watched live event for the streaming platform after a NFL postseason game earlier this year.
Solis said about 31 million Latinos in the U.S. considered themselves NFL fans four years ago, when the Por La Cultura effort began, and that has since increased to 40 million.

TV en Español

While the campaign has honed in on themes such as how the Latino community expresses their fandom and the stories of players like Pacheco and New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Solis said expanding broadcasts into Spanish language has been a big help.
The NFL has more than 75 broadcasts in Spanish language available this season, the league said.
“All of those efforts have been leading to a massive growth in fandom,” she said.

Guard Landon Dickerson #69 of the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Tanner McKee #16 enter the field during player introductions prior to an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, at Arena Corinthians on September 6, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
Brooke Sutton | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Paramount Global’s CBS aired this year’s Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, but since the network doesn’t have a Spanish counterpart, it licensed those rights in the U.S. and Mexico to TelevisaUnivision.
The Super Bowl on TelevisaUnivision’s over-the-air broadcast network broke records, the company said, averaging 2.3 million viewers across all of its platforms, the largest audience for the Spanish language broadcast of a Super Bowl.
Still, it was a small contribution to the total 123.4 million viewers of the 2024 Super Bowl.
“Seventy percent of the people that had watched the Super Bowl had not watched any other playoff games that year,” TelevisaUnivision’s Lowenstein said.
The first Super Bowl that aired in Spanish was in 2015 on cable TV network Fox Deportes. In 2022, NBCUniversal’s Telemundo aired the Super Bowl for the first time on an over-the-air broadcast network in Spanish.
While having a Super Bowl broadcast in Spanish isn’t a component of the NFL’s media rights deals, it has become a significant priority as the NFL looks to expand availability, according to the league.

Fans arrive prior to a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles at Arena Corinthians on September 06, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
Pedro Vilela | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

That was underscored earlier this week when Fox Deportes and Telemundo announced both networks would air the Super Bowl in February. The two networks will “provide the broadest Spanish-language distribution” of the Super Bowl in the U.S. in history, and the networks will produce separate broadcasts.
Since the 2022 Super Bowl broadcast, Telemundo has experienced “significant growth in our viewership” of the NFL, said Joaquin Duro, executive vice president of sports at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.
Telemundo broadcasts each “Sunday Night Football” game in Spanish on both TV and Peacock. He noted that while the core audience still watches on traditional TV, streaming is becoming increasingly important. “This is helping us attract younger, more tech-savvy viewers,” Duro said.
Like the NFL, Telemundo Deportes highlights the stories of Hispanic players. It has also expanded its coverage around NFL events with an on-site presence at the games and a bigger lineup of interviews, Duro added.
“I love the change, the evolution, the expansion of the NFL,” said Rolando Cantú, a former NFL player and analyst on “TNF en Espanol” and Telemundo Deportes’ broadcast of “Sunday Night Football.”
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. More

General Motors has updated its highly profitable large SUVs for Chevrolet to defend the brand’s long-standing segment leadership.
The Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban have led the mainstream full-size SUV segment for more than 45 years, according to GM.

2025 Chevrolet Tahoe.

DETROIT — General Motors has updated its highly profitable large SUVs for Chevrolet for the 2025 model year to defend the brand’s long-standing segment leadership.
The Detroit automaker’s Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban have led the mainstream full-size SUV segment for more than 45 years, according to GM. But increased competition from automakers such as Ford Motor, Jeep and Nissan Motor has slowly eaten away at the automaker’s market share.

“We’re playing a little offense here with what we’re doing today,” Chevrolet Vice President Scott Bell said Tuesday during a media event in suburban Detroit. “We certainly have a response for our competitors from multiple segments.”

2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate.

Chevrolet’s retail market share of full-size SUVs is about 34.2%. Adding in its GMC sibling Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs, GM’s share is at 64% of the industry, according to the automaker. That is down from more than 70% when the vehicles were last fully redesigned for the 2020 model year.
The large SUVs for GMC have also been updated for the 2025 model year. Both Ford and Nissan have updated their large three-row SUVs that are on sale this year.
Updates to the vehicles in general include new styling, larger interior screens, enhanced performance and, in some cases, the addition of new high-end models to boost profits.

For Chevrolet, the 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban check many of those boxes and include the addition of GM’s hands-free Super Cruise advanced driver-assistance system.
“Overall, they’re critical in our portfolio,” Bell told CNBC. “They’re very important to us from a profitability perspective, and they have been for four years.”
Starting pricing for the 2025 Tahoe will range from about $60,000 for a Tahoe LS to more than $83,000 for the top-end High Country. 2025 Suburban pricing will start between about $63,000 and more than $86,000. Prices include mandatory $1,995 destination charges.
The updated SUVs are expected to begin arriving in U.S. dealerships in the coming weeks, the company said.
Edmunds.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of CarMax, reports the mainstream full-size SUV segment has grown to represent 2.7% of the U.S. market this year, up from 2% in 2017. Segment sales totaled roughly 312,500 units through September of this year.

2025 Chevrolet Tahoe.

GM said sales of the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban are significantly lower this year due to the model-year changeover and reduction in fleet sales, but the brand continues to easily lead the segment.
Combined sales of the Chevy SUVs, which are essentially the same vehicle but in different sizes, were off 19.3% through September compared to a year earlier to 102,292 units.
Sales of the Ford Expedition — the closest competitor to Chevy’s SUVs — totaled 73,396 units in 2023. Sales of that vehicle were up 3% through September of this year to more than 58,000 units.

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GM has agreed to establish a joint venture with Lithium Americas Corp. that includes the automaker supplying $625 million in cash and credit to the company.
The deal is centered on the development, construction and operation of a lithium carbonate mining operation called Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, Nevada.

The clay mixture from which lithium will be extracted is held by Tim Crowley, spokesman for Lithium Americas Corp. 
Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

DETROIT — General Motors has agreed to establish a joint venture with Lithium Americas Corp. that includes the automaker supplying $625 million in cash and credit to the Canadian mining business, the companies announced Wednesday.
The deal is centered on the development, construction and operation of a lithium carbonate mining operation called Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, Nevada. Lithium is a key component for batteries that power electric vehicles.

The joint venture agreement replaces a previously announced, planned equity investment by GM into the Vancouver, Canada-based company.
Securing raw materials such as lithium from the U.S. is crucial to GM’s plans to profitably grow its all-electric vehicle business and meet tightening federal requirements for incentives to produce and sell the vehicles and the large batteries needed to power them.
“We’re pleased with the significant progress Lithium Americas is making to help GM achieve our goal to develop a resilient EV material supply chain,” Jeff Morrison, GM senior vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, said in a release. “Sourcing critical EV raw materials, like lithium, from suppliers in the U.S., is expected to help us manage battery cell costs, deliver value to our customers and investors, and create jobs.”

Stock chart icon

GM and Lithia Americas stocks

The announcement sent shares of Lithium Americas higher by 23% in trading Wednesday to close at $3.29. The company’s market cap is $532.9 million.

In windswept, remote Thacker Pass in the far northern reaches of Nevada permits approved for a massive lithium mine, proposed by Lithium Americas Corp., are drawing impassioned protest from the local indigenous population, ranchers, and environmentalists. 
Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

GM will have a 38% interest in Thacker Pass, according to the release. The joint venture investment is expected to include $330 million cash to be contributed on the date of its closing; $100 million cash to be contributed at a “final investment decision” for a phase of the project; and a $195 million letter of credit facility prior to first draw on the $2.3 billion Department of Energy Loan.

“Our relationship with GM has been significantly strengthened with this joint venture as we continue to pursue a mutual goal to develop a robust domestic lithium supply chain by advancing the development of Thacker Pass,” Lithium Americas CEO Jonathan Evans said in a release.

June 7, 2021Jonathan Evans is President and CEO of Lithium Americas Corp. He holds the clay mixture from which lithium will be extracted. 
Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

The joint venture is in addition to GM’s $320 million investment into Lithium Americas in February 2023. The investment included GM acquiring approximately 15 million common shares of Lithium Americas.
In August, GM and Lithium Americas agreed to delay a second tranche investment worth $330 million in the miner to explore alternative structures for the investment.

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Ulta Beauty shares ticked up slightly on Wednesday, as the company stuck by its current forecast and shared its longer-term financial targets.
The beauty retailer’s CEO Dave Kimbell said the company is facing stiffer competition and a more dynamic consumer backdrop.
The company missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations and cut its full-year forecast in August.

An Ulta Beauty store in New York on Aug. 19, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ulta Beauty shares ticked up slightly on Wednesday, despite the company saying it sees “headwinds” and tougher competition in the beauty industry.
As it hosted its investor day near its Chicago headquarters on Wednesday, the specialty retailer stuck by its forecast for this fiscal year. Ulta said it anticipates net sales will range between $11 billion and $11.2 billion and comparable sales will range from a decline of 2% to roughly flat. It said earnings per share will range between $22.60 and $23.50.

For 2026 and beyond, Ulta said its financial targets will be 4% to 6% net sales growth and low double-digit diluted earnings per share growth. It said it expects mid-single-digit operating profit growth and operating margins around 12% of net sales.
Yet, it did not provide a specific outlook for the 2025 fiscal year. The updates come after the company missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations and cut its full-year 2024 forecast in August.
Ulta’s stock closed the day at $373.21, up about 1%. As of Wednesday’s close, Ulta’s shares have fallen about 24% so far this year. The company’s stock had dropped early in the day before recovering.
In his opening remarks at the investor day on Wednesday morning, CEO Dave Kimbell said this year “has been more challenging than planned.” Kimbell said the beauty category has normalized to more modest historic growth levels, the consumer backdrop is more volatile and more competition has emerged, especially in the prestige category.
He said the company is taking action to boost its sales by striking partnerships with new brands, expanding its loyalty program and personalizing promotions to engage customers.

Plus, he said demographic trends will drive growth for Ulta. More men are buying beauty products, including fragrances and self-care items.
Younger generations, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, are more interested in spending on beauty than prior generations, particularly on skin care or as a form of self-expression, Kimbell said. He added that Hispanic customers, who tend to be more engaged in the category, are becoming a larger portion of the U.S. population.
“While we anticipate that some of these headwinds will persist in the near term, we are confident in our ability to deliver on our plans and set ourselves up for long term growth,” he said.
In her presentation on Wednesday, Chief Merchandising Officer Monica Arnaudo said Ulta will step up its emphasis on exclusive products, lead on beauty trends and carry a mix of trusted, well-loved brands as well as promising up-and-comers.
“We are experts in identifying [and] bringing key trends to the market with our brand partners,” she said. “This will be more critical than ever as the market become increasingly competitive.”
In makeup, for example, more shoppers seek multiuse products and want to get supplies for glamorous looks. In skin care, customers want to know more about items’ ingredients and want dermatologist-recommended brands as they grow more health conscious, she said. In hair care, shoppers are thinking beyond shampoo and conditioner and adding on products such as scalp treatments or items designed for curly and textured hair.
Already, Arnaudo said, the company has more than 40 exclusive brands and upward of 65 brands with some exclusive products.

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MLB viewership numbers on TNT Sports and Fox Sports have been strong throughout the playoffs.
Star power and compelling storylines have helped draw attention.
The solid postseason is a continuation of a 2024 regular season when fan attendance and engagement increased.

Shohei Ohtani, #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers, hits a two-run home run, his 50th of the season, becoming the first player with a 50/50 season in MLB history, during the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot park in Miami on Sept. 19, 2024.
Megan Briggs | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Major League Baseball’s postseason has been knocking it out of the park.
The National League Championship Series’ first game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday averaged 8.26 million viewers across Fox Sports’ TV networks and streaming, making it the most-watched LCS game on any network since 2009, according to Fox Sports.

The first game of the American League Championship Series on Monday night between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians saw an uptick of 4% from 2023, grossing 3.9 million viewers, according to a TNT Sports spokesperson.
Both series were competing for national attention during “Sunday Night Football” and “Monday Night Football,” where all three of New York’s National Football League teams were playing in the primetime slots.
The championship series gains come right after four successful league division series for MLB and its broadcast partners. The American League Division Series averaged three million viewers, a more than 20% increase from 2023, according to TNT Sports. Viewership for the National League Division Series rose, too, with game four in each series climbing from 2022.
Concerns have grown in recent years that MLB’s cultural relevance is falling, namely as younger generations perceived to have shorter attention spans age into key demographics for media companies. Highlights and clips have become go-to programming for sports broadcasters.
Last year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks also tracked the worst TV ratings in the championship series’ history, although some reportedly had attributed it to the fact that the teams did not have much national appeal.

The 2024 regular season was a success for MLB, as well. The league said it recorded increases in attendance, fan engagement, streaming and viewership, something it attributes to the shorter games —helped by a pitch clock introduced last season — and rule changes that have created more in-game action.
“The increased enthusiasm baseball fans of all ages have shown the last two seasons is evident in all of the ways we track fan engagement,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a release. “Building off last year’s momentum, the 2024 season was memorable with historic performances, emerging young stars, a series of successful special events, and tight pennant races.”

Mr. Met poses before the game between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Sept. 14, 2022.
Rob Tringali | Major League Baseball | Getty Images

MLB has recently implemented several rule changes designed to increase action in games such as making the bases larger and restricting the shift. The league has also leaned in to its generational stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, who are on the Dodgers and Yankees, respectively, and would face off in the World Series if each of their teams win their LCS.
“The two most storied franchises in Major League Baseball coming together and playing in the World Series, there couldn’t be anything better for baseball,” Eldridge Industries CEO Todd Boehly said Tuesday to CNBC’s Scott Wapner on “Halftime Report.” Boehly’s firm is an owner of the Dodgers, among other professional teams.
The two other remaining teams, the Mets and Guardians, have their own draws. The Mets turned around their season in June after a winning streak, which followed a McDonald’s mascot, Grimace, throwing out a first pitch at a game.
The Guardians righted their season after giving up their division lead to the Kansas City Royals at the end of August behind a hot September from their star Jose Ramirez.
The Yankees have a 2-0 game lead against the Guardians, and the Mets-Dodgers series is tied at 1-1.

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Diamond Sports and FanDuel have reached a naming rights agreement for Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks.
The agreement will start with the 2024 NHL and NBA seasons and will be long-term, pending Diamond’s emergence from bankruptcy, according to a bankruptcy court filing.
The agreement gives FanDuel the right to buy equity in the reorganized Diamond Sports.

Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

More change is coming to Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks.
The company said in court papers filed Tuesday that it reached a naming rights deal with Flutter-owned FanDuel, which will rebrand the Bally Sports channels just as the National Hockey League season has started and the National Basketball Association’s 2024-2025 season is less than a week away.

Diamond Sports said in the filing that if it is able to emerge from bankruptcy protection, FanDuel will be a “long-term naming rights partner.” The new naming rights agreement would also give FanDuel the right to buy up to 5% of equity in the reorganized company and get performance warrants for up to 5% of equity.
The agreement is subject to court approval.
The new partnership will allow Diamond Sports to get one step closer to emerging from bankruptcy and will give FanDuel, which is already the top sports betting company by market share, even more exposure.
In Tuesday’s court papers, Diamond said that while discussions with FanDuel began in February, it waited until it finalized agreements with the NBA and NHL to negotiate the final terms of the naming rights deal. A FanDuel representative declined to comment beyond the filings, and the specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Diamond Sports said in court papers it considered FanDuel “an attractive potential partner … due to the high degree of alignment” between the regional sports networks and the online gaming business.

This will be the regional sports networks’ third name. As part of its acquisition of Fox Corp.’s assets, Disney had to divest the networks in order to gain regulatory approval. Disney offloaded the networks, still under the Fox Sports banner, in 2019 to Sinclair. A naming rights deal was later signed with gaming company Bally’s Corp.
The Bally’s Corp. agreement ended as part of the settlement that came earlier this year between Diamond Sports and Sinclair.
Diamond, which remains an independently run, unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair, alleged in the lawsuit that Sinclair’s ownership exacerbated its problems. Sinclair did not admit wrongdoing.
Diamond Sports filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Since then, Diamond’s restructuring has been filled with back-and-forth discussions with the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball as the debt-saddled company has attempted to emerge from bankruptcy.
Diamond Sports has said in court papers that based on financial projections, it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy as early as December.
Throughout the bankruptcy proceedings, teams across all three leagues have been exiting the networks and flocking to different local viewing options for their fans.
Earlier this month, Diamond Sports said it was planning to drop all of its MLB teams except for the Atlanta Braves for the 2025 season. The existing teams’ contracts are in various stages with Diamond Sports, but in total, the company would see 11 MLB teams exit.
A Diamond Sports attorney said in court earlier this month that dropping these teams “is not our preferred path.”
Several MLB teams, including the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, left the regional sports networks in 2023, and the MLB has produced the teams’ local games since then. On Tuesday, the league announced it would also do the same for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins for the 2025 season.
Some NBA teams that have left the regional sports networks have turned to local broadcast stations to air local games. The NHL’s Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks have launched over-the-top streaming partnerships with Victory+, a sports streamer owned by Canada-based A Parent Media Co., for their local viewing. More