Raphael Stevens

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said there are other parties in the running to join the group’s investment agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
He said the tour faced an “existential threat” from PIF-owned LIV Golf before the two sides reached a deal earlier this year.
Monahan also discussed his own mental and physical health struggles during the controversy spawned by the deal.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a press conference prior to the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 24, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Cliff Hawkins | Getty Images

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday that the organization is talking to several potential investors as a deadline to clinch a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund rapidly approaches.
He also indicated that the tour is still open to another investor coming onboard alongside the PIF.

“We’re having conversations with multiple parties,” Monahan during The New York Times’ DealBook summit. The Dec. 31 deadline outlined in the original framework agreement is still a “firm target,” he said, adding that he will meet with PIF Governor Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan to “advance conversations.” The fund is controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Monahan gave some insight into how the framework agreement to combine the PGA Tour with PIF-owned LIV Golf came together earlier this year.
“As we approached June 5, it was very clear the PGA Tour was facing an existential threat from the $7 billion sovereign wealth fund, and it was determined to control the future of our sport,” Monahan said.
LIV and the PGA Tour were engaged in an antitrust legal battle dating back to last year. The Public Investment Fund had been luring PGA Tour golfers, including star Phil Mickelson, to LIV with deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We decided to address that by striking a deal that allowed the PGA Tour to remain and retain control” and put an end to the “extensive and divisive litigation,” Monahan said. The deal had the PGA Tour retaining control in the face of an existential threat, he added. “This was a very hard decision, but I am confident this was the right one for our players and our fans.”

Monahan also discussed his own personal struggles as he received backlash, including from lawmakers, pundits and stars such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, for the agreement with the Saudis.
The commissioner took medical leave days after the deal was announced. He said he went for a long walk the morning of June 11, prayed and came home to tell his wife that he was in a bad place and needed help.
The conflict affected “me, my mental and my physical health,” he said Wednesday. “You’re not eating right. You can’t do anything other than think about work because you care so deeply about the game, the PGA Tour, our players and our history. It took its toll on me.”
Key U.S. lawmakers questioned Saud Arabia’s ties to the deal, suggesting that the proposed merger was an attempt by the Saudi government to distract from its human rights record and gain undue influence through sports investments.
The agreement also opened the door to interest from a slew of potential investors, including Boston Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group and TKO majority owner Endeavor Group Holdings. The PGA Tour turned down the Endeavor offer last month, but the Fenway bid appears to still be up in the air following confirmation of talks between the firm and PGA earlier this month. It’s unclear whether Fenway’s involvement would coincide with or usurp the Saudis’ bid.
In a bid to gain players’ blessings, the tour said in memo to players earlier this month that it will offer players equity ownership in the new company following the merger.
When the merger is finalized, “the PGA Tour is going to be in a position where the athletes are owners in their sport,” Monahan said. The PIF and “likely another co-investor with significant experience in business and sports will help the PGA Tour take share from other sports and be even more competitive.”
“What’s most important to our players is that they go from the model of being independent contractors to being owners,” Monahan added. More

Spirit is offering voluntary exit packages to staff to cut spending.
The airline also paused pilot and flight attendant training to cut costs.
Spirit is facing weak off-peak demand and aircraft groundings due to a Pratt & Whitney engine manufacturing issue.

A Spirit Airlines plane takes off at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, June 1, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Spirit Airlines is offering voluntary exit packages to salaried employees, the budget carrier’s latest cost-cutting measure as it expects financial strains to continue next year.
The airline has been facing weak off-peak demand and last month said it will have to ground an average of 26 Airbus A320neo aircraft for inspections of engines made by RTX unit Pratt & Whitney after that company disclosed a manufacturing defect in August, straining its capacity.

“The last few months have been a testament to our resilience and dedication as a company, but we must return to profitability, which will require a series of tough decisions,” CEO Ted Christie said in a staff memo on Wednesday, which was seen by CNBC.
The airline had already paused training for new pilots and flight attendants, CNBC reported last month. It has also restricted expense budgets and tweaked its network, including a plan to exit Denver.
“Now, we’re taking the next difficult step – enacting an Early Voluntary Out program for salaried Team Members,” Christie wrote in the memo. The company had a similar plan during the height of Covid pandemic. “Based on the success of that plan, we’re implementing a similar set of opportunities to help us right-size our organization for our current fleet and business constraints.”
JetBlue Airways is in the process of trying to acquire Spirit, a deal the Justice Department has already sued to block with a trial that’s set to wrap up in the coming days in Boston.
The Wall Street Journal reported the Spirit Airlines buyouts earlier Wednesday More

Disney CEO Bob Iger says his number one priority the company’s film studio.
Iger admitted to a number of causes for Disney’s fall from theatrical grace.
Iger said that there has to be a reason “beyond commerce” to make sequels to a hit movie.

NYT Columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and C.E.O. of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger speak during the New York Times annual DealBook summit on November 29, 2023 in New York City. 
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

One year after returning to the helm of Disney, Bob Iger said Wednesday his top priority at the company is revitalizing its film studio after a string of box office disappointments including “The Marvels” and “Wish.”
Iger admitted to a number of causes for Disney’s recent fall from theatrical grace, noting that during Covid lockdowns the company conditioned audiences to expect its films on streaming.

“The experience of accessing [the films] and watching them in the home is better than it ever was,” he told Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit. “And [it’s] a bargain when you think about it. Streaming Disney+ you can get for $7 a month. That’s a lot cheaper than taking your whole family to a film. So, I think the bar is now raised in terms of quality about what gets people out of their homes, into movie theaters.”
Quality has been an issue for Disney since it launched its streaming service in late 2019. In increasing its output to feed Disney+, Iger said the company “diluted” its quality, particularly when it came to its Marvel Cinematic Universe features. He said pandemic-related restrictions made it difficult for executives to oversee its increased number of film and television productions.
“‘The Marvels’ was shot during Covid,” he explained. “There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”
Iger stepped down as CEO in early 2020, handing the reins to Bob Chapek, but he stayed on as executive chairman to oversee creative output through the end of 2021. Iger returned as CEO a year ago as the board fired Chapek.

Iger also defended Disney’s theatrical output, suggesting it was a victim of its own success after having dominated the film business for a decade before Covid.

“And I’m not sure another studio will ever achieve some of the numbers that we achieved. I mean, we got to the point where if a film didn’t do a billion dollars in global box office, we were disappointed,” he said. “That’s an unbelievably high standard and I think we have to get more realistic.”
In 2019, Disney was responsible for seven of the nine movies that grossed more than $1 billion globally. However, it’s struggled to connect with audiences since. Aside from last year’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” acquired as part of Disney’s $71 billion deal for the majority of 21st Century Fox, Disney hasn’t had a movie gross $1 billion since the last Star Wars movie in 2019.
Since then, it’s come close with 2023’s “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3,” which tallied nearly $900 million at the global box office as well as 2022 titles “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($955 million), “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($859 million) and “Thor: Love and Thunder” ($760 million).
Yet, other big-budget franchise films have flopped. 2023’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” generated $378 million globally, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” secured $476 million worldwide, low for a Marvel film, and Pixar’s “Lightyear” collected less than $250 million globally in 2022.
Iger also reiterated comments he’s made before about the need for Disney to be more selective about which Marvel superheroes get sequel films and when to bring in fresh stories.
“I don’t want to apologize for making sequels,” Iger said, talking broadly about all of Disney’s properties. “Some of them have done extraordinarily well and they’ve been good films, too. I think you there has to be a reason to make them, you have to have a good story. And often the story doesn’t hold up to is not as strong as the original story. That can be a problem.”
Iger said that there has to be a reason “beyond commerce” to make a follow-up film to a hit, noting that over the last past few years Disney has “made too many.”
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to continue to make them,” he added. “We’re making a number of them now right as a matter of fact. But we will only greenlight a sequel if we believe the story that the creators want to tell is worth telling.”
Next year, Disney plans to release “Deadpool 3,” “Inside Out 2” and “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
Disclosure: Andrew Ross Sorkin co-hosts “Squawk Box” on CNBC. More

Shares of Cigna and Humana slid after a report that the two health-care giants are in talks to merge.
The nation’s two largest health insurers are discussing a stock-and-cash deal that could be finalized by the end of this year, according to the report from The Wall Street Journal.
A Cigna spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, while a Humana spokesperson declined to comment.

The Cigna Group headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut, on Oct. 27, 2023.
BlooJoe Buglewicz | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of Cigna and Humana slid Wednesday after a report that the two health-care giants are in talks to merge.
A Cigna spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the report from The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter. A Humana spokesperson declined to comment.

The companies are discussing a stock-and-cash deal that could be finalized by the end of this year, the people told the Journal. 
A merger would be a mega deal. Cigna’s market value sat at roughly $77 billion on Wednesday and Humana’s was nearly $60 billion, making them two of the nation’s largest health insurers.
Shares of Cigna closed 8% lower Wednesday, while Humana’s stock closed more than 5% lower.
The rumored deal comes after reports earlier this month that Cigna was exploring a sale of its Medicare Advantage business, which manages government health insurance for people age 65 and older. A Cigna spokesperson at the time said the company does not comment on “rumors or speculation.” 
Some analysts have suggested that a potential combination with Humana could be a reason for Cigna to offload its Medicare Advantage business. Doing away with that business could potentially temper antitrust concerns for such a merger, Scott Fidel, health care stock analyst at Stephens, wrote in a note earlier this month, according to STAT News. 

“We would see this action being one component of a potential pursuit of Humana as an acquisition target, with the divestiture being a proactive move to reduce antitrust risk,” Fidel said.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Miriam Adelson and her family are buying a majority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban.
Adelson and her casino company, Las Vegas Sands, have spent millions in Texas to push for broader legalization of gambling.
Cuban, a proponent of legalized gambling, said last year he was interested in partnering with Sands.

Dr. Miriam Adelson speaks onstage during the 24th annual Keep Memory Alive ‘Power of Love Gala’ benefit for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 07, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive)
Denise Truscello | Getty Images

News that Miriam Adelson and her family would sell $2 billion in Las Vegas Sands stock to buy a majority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks stunned the sports and gambling worlds alike.
After all, Las Vegas is the headquarters of the family’s empire, even if it doesn’t have any casino resorts in the city anymore. Adelson is the widow of Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson, who died in January 2021.

And Las Vegas is now a preeminent destination for sports, with the NHL’s Golden Knights, the NFL’s Raiders, the WNBA’s Aces and a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Soon, Major League Baseball’s As are expected to relocate to the desert from Oakland.
Likewise, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has suggested it’s a matter of when, not if, Vegas gets a team. LeBron James has said he’s interested in bringing basketball to Vegas at some point. Retired NBA legend and former Sacramento Kings minority owner Shaquille O’Neal has also expressed interest in a Vegas team. The city is also set to host the final games of the NBA’s midseason tournament.
An NBA team in Vegas could command a price tag in the $6 billion to $7 billion range, according to Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis.
So why is Adelson and her family throwing billions into a Dallas team?
In a statement to CNBC, they said: “The Adelson and Dumont families are honored to have the opportunity to be stewards of this great franchise. Through our commitment and additional investment in the team, we look forward to partnering with Mark Cuban to build on the team’s success and legacy in Dallas and beyond.”

Patrick Dumont is married to Miriam Adelson’s daughter, Sivan. He is also the president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands.
The Adelsons have already invested millions into political contributions and lobbying in Texas, trying to coax lawmakers into more broadly legalizing gambling in the state. Las Vegas Sands itself has spent years and millions of dollars as well in pursuit of the same goal.
The company sold the Venetian, Palazzo and the Venetian Expo center in early 2022 to affiliates of Apollo Global Management and VICI Properties, raising more than $6 billion. The company has said it intends to use that capital to pursue gaming licenses elsewhere.
Late last year, Mavericks owner Cuban said he was interested in partnering with Sands to build a development that would include a new arena and a casino resort if the state more broadly legalized gambling.

A detailed view of the Dallas Mavericks logo on the court during the fourth quarter in Game Four of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on May 24, 2022 in Dallas, Texas.
Ron Jenkins  | Getty Images

It didn’t, and the campaign is still in limbo. State lawmakers failed to push forward legislation that would bring it to Texas voters as an option on the ballot. It’s unlikely they’ll take another stab at it until the legislative session in 2025.
“When you think of all the places you want to save up to vacation, Texas isn’t one of them,” Cuban said earlier this month, according to The Dallas Morning News. “There’s no real destination that you save up for. That’s a problem and I think resort gaming would have a huge impact.”
Owning a team in Dallas will strengthen the Adelsons’ ties to Texas. Possibly, they would gain both a carrot and a stick to get local support for a casino license by wielding power and influence over the future of the Mavericks. A company insider told CNBC that it’s just smart to strengthen community ties.
It’s a similar strategy that Las Vegas Sands has deployed to secure one of three new casino licenses to be awarded in New York.
The company has invested millions of dollars and many years of lobbying efforts to woo government and community leaders in Long Island’s Nassau County. And the company has committed to redeveloping the Nassau Coliseum into a destination mixed-use resort, regardless of whether it wins a license. But the size of its investment presumably would depend on whether it can offer casino gambling.
Adelson stands to benefit mightily if the bets on eventual casino licenses in New York and Texas pay off. She and her family will continue to own more than 50% of Las Vegas Sands stock.
There’s still a great chance the Mavericks investment could pay off for the Adelsons, even without a gambling business in Texas.
“It’s a very smart family, and sports assets have performed great,” said Jason Ader, a former Las Vegas Sands board member who runs SpringOwl Asset Management. “NBA teams are marquis assets that are likely to continue to appreciate.”
Cuban bought his stake in the Mavericks for $285 million in 2000. Forbes recently valued the team at $4.5 billion, the seventh-highest value in the NBA. The team won the NBA title in 2011. It currently features superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
CNBC has reached out to Cuban for comment. The NBA has not commented, and the Mavericks referred questions to the Adelsons.
–CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this article. More

Netflix on Wednesday announced three “Grand Theft Auto” titles will join the company’s mobile game library, available for subscribers to play next month.
It’s a big get for Netflix, as “Grand Theft Auto” is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
It’s unclear if the new releases will drive subscriber growth.

Grand Theft Auto V packaging and the Netflix logo are displayed on a phone screen in this photo taken in Krakow, Poland, on Oct. 18, 2023.
Nurphoto | Getty Images

Netflix announced Wednesday that it will make three “Grand Theft Auto” titles available to play for subscribers next month.
Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition” will launch Dec. 14 on the Apple App Store, Google Play and in the Netflix mobile app, the streaming media company said in a blog post. The release will include “Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition,” “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition” and “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition.”

Subscribers will not need a controller to play the mobile release, like most of Netflix’s 80-game library. Rockstar Games originally released “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition” for consoles and PC platforms in November 2021.

Courtesy of Netflix

The games are a big get for Netflix, as its mobile games lag behind other publishers in downloads. “Grand Theft Auto” is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, shipping more than 405 million units worldwide, according to data firm Statista.
It’s not the first time Netflix has gotten its hands on a big-name franchise. Netflix released “Sonic Prime Dash” earlier this year for mobile platforms. The title is based on Sega’s “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which is the gaming company’s best-selling franchise, according to Statista.
It’s unclear if licensing another popular franchise will lead to more subscribers downloading the games — or if the releases will attract new Netflix subscribers.
“Netflix’s addition of GTA is by far its most promising game launch and shows Netflix is getting more serious about gaming,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Ross Benes. But the mobile platform may limit gameplay, he added.

“Playing ‘Vice City’ or ‘San Andreas’ on your phone is a cool feature for existing subscribers,” but don’t expect new subscribers to sign up just to “access a game they’re probably already familiar with so that they can play it in an inferior format.”
The company has started testing games on larger-screen devices, Netflix said in August. The beta test requires gamers to use their phone as a controller when playing on the TV.
It has been two years since Netflix announced its push into gaming, and the efforts have puzzled Wall Street and industry experts alike. The streaming giant has outwardly maintained a rosy outlook for its gaming efforts, despite recent download data that implied less than 1% of subscribers played a Netflix game on a daily basis.
Netflix’s gaming trajectory is not different from what the gaming company has seen when launching other new initiatives, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call last month.
“When we’ve launched a new region — or when we launched new genres, like unscripted” we had to “crawl, walk, run, but we see a tremendous amount of opportunity to build a long-term center value of entertainment,” Peters said.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More