Raphael Stevens

Leqembi, an Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen and Eisai, could give patients at the earliest stages of the disease more time to live normally and independent of others.
But patients face a long road to treatment due to the new and complicated system associated with taking the drug.
There are bottlenecks related to reimbursement uncertainties, diagnostic test requirements, the need for regular brain scans and difficulties finding neurologists.

Hannah Yoon | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Leqembi, an Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen and Eisai, isn’t a cure for the mind-damaging disease. 
But the treatment promises to give patients such as Missie Meeks more time to live their daily lives normally and independently of others.

Meeks, an English professor based in Ellisville, Mississippi, was diagnosed with an early stage of Alzheimer’s last summer ahead of her 50th birthday. That eventually made her a good fit for Leqembi, which won regulatory approval in the U.S. in July 2023. 
Meeks received her first infusion of Leqembi in September 2023 after overcoming a few logistical hurdles, such as securing an appointment with a neurologist and getting insurance to cover the costly treatment, which it initially denied because of her age. Since then, she has been taking infusions of the drug every two weeks. 
Meeks is no longer teaching, but she said Leqembi is “extending my time of a normal life.”
“I still have fumbles. I’m not perfect by any means. But I can function every day pretty much normally. I can drive, I can go to the doctor, I can go out to eat,” Meeks told CNBC. “It’s extending my time of a normal life.”
Leqembi is considered a breakthrough for a progressive disease that has proven notoriously hard to treat. Leqembi is a monoclonal antibody that moderately slows the decline in memory and thinking in patients in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s. Only a narrow swath of the nearly 7 million U.S. patients with the disease are in those early phases.

Still, the drug carries risks of brain swelling and bleeding. Some neurologists and other experts also say patients taking the drug haven’t had it long enough to see a substantial clinical benefit, which was observed at 18 months in Biogen and Eisai’s late-stage trial. 
Meeks’ experience also points to the new and complicated system associated with taking Leqembi, which has hampered the drug’s rollout. There are bottlenecks related to reimbursement uncertainties, diagnostic test requirements, the need for regular brain scans and difficulties finding neurologists. Some hospitals and clinics simply aren’t equipped to accommodate the new flow of patients who could take the drug. 
Some doctors are also reluctant to prescribe Leqembi, citing their concerns about its risks and skepticism around how much it meaningfully benefits patients. 
Some experts say those issues partly reflect the steep learning curve that comes with a new drug such as Leqembi, which has ushered in a new era for the Alzheimer’s treatment space.
“Every time there’s new technology or medication, it puts a little stress on the system, because change is hard,” said Dr. Julio Rojas, a professor and behavioral neurologist who is involved with administering Leqembi at the University of California, San Francisco Health. “We’re still figuring out how to use the drug, how to monitor it, when to stop it, how to decide if it’s working or not.”
Nonetheless, some patients and their caregivers say the risk and grueling process is worth it. 
“I know Leqembi does not cure Alzheimer’s. The focus is to stop the progression,” said Meeks’ mother, Patricia Waldrup. “She has two children, and she’ll have more time to enjoy their lives and her husband’s life. … We have praises for that.” 
Meanwhile, the number of patients taking Leqembi appears to be increasing.
The treatment raked in nearly $60 million in sales for the first half of the year, up from the $10 million the drug brought in during its first year on the market in 2023, according to Biogen’s first and second quarter earnings reports. In Biogen’s most recent update, in May, it said roughly 5,000 people were taking the drug at the time. 

A long road to diagnosis 

Leqembi’s rollout has been gradual in part due to the arduous process involved in diagnosing a patient with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, the earliest two stages of Alzheimer’s. 

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a general term for loss of memory, language and other thinking abilities.
Brian B. Bettencourt | Toronto Star | Getty Images

Tracey Collins, a global public relations officer based in Portland, Maine, said it took her roughly 2½ years to receive a diagnosis for early Alzheimer’s after she started experiencing symptoms of cognitive decline, such as memory loss. 
Collins, 54, said that was in part due to her being younger than the typical Alzheimer’s patient and her physician attributing symptoms to other factors, such as trauma from recent family-related issues and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Collins was also recovering from a benign meningioma — a non-cancerous tumor that forms in tissue covering the brain and spinal cord — which can also cause cognitive dysfunction. But Collins’ physician eventually referred her to a neurologist in Boston who performed a spinal fluid test to diagnose her with early Alzheimer’s in 2022. 
Simply finding a neurologist can be a difficult task, since there are not enough of them practicing in the U.S., Alex Scott, Eisai’s chief administrative officer, told CNBC. 
“Once you are told to go see a neurologist, guess what? That puts you in the position of waiting anywhere between four and eight months or so to get to see one,” Scott said. 
That was the case for Meeks, who said she waited a few months to get her first appointment with her neurologist in South Mississippi.
A 2020 study of Medicare enrollees found that only 24% of patients with a neurologic condition were seen by a neurologist, with notable regional differences. For those with dementia, 38% of people in more rural areas saw a neurologist, compared with 47% in urban areas. 

Eligibility and insurance bottlenecks

Even after a diagnosis, patients and neurologists must jump through several hoops to determine eligibility for Leqembi, experts say.
The drug works in part by clearing toxic plaques in the brain called amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, according to its manufacturers. That means patients must undergo a PET scan or a spinal fluid test to determine if amyloid has accumulated in their brains.
Patients typically prefer PET scans, which are painless, for detecting amyloid, according to Scott. But, he said, Medicare only decided to broaden coverage of those scans for Alzheimer’s in October, which contributed to Leqembi’s sluggish initial launch.
Neurologists also perform an MRI scan to ensure that patients don’t have other brain diseases that may be causing cognitive issues, Dr. Ronald Petersen, the director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, told CNBC. Neurologists use the MRI to evaluate whether patients have microbleeds in their brains, which could make them ineligible for Leqembi because it puts them at a higher risk of its serious side effects, according to experts.

Jay Reinstein, a patient with Alzheimer’s, sits on a bed after receiving a PET scan at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., June 20, 2023.
Michael Robinson Chávez | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Some hospitals and clinics also require genetic testing for two copies of the so-called APOE4 gene variant, which is also associated with an increased risk of brain swelling and bleeding, according to experts and Eisai. Those side effects are also known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, or ARIA. 
Once those tests are complete, a panel of 20 to 30 neurologists, radiologists, psychiatrists and other experts vote on whether they think a patient qualifies for treatment with Leqembi, Petersen said, referring to the process at the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s center.
He said roughly 60% of people evaluated by the Mayo Clinic’s panel end up being eligible for the treatment and that most of those patients agree to take it. The Mayo Clinic’s center, which began screening patients for Leqembi in October, has 50 to 60 patients currently taking the drug, according to Petersen.
Petersen said the center evaluates three to five new patient referrals at the beginning of each week and his team determines whether they are eligible for Leqembi by Thursday.
Still, Petersen said it can take months for a patient at the Mayo Clinic to receive Leqembi due to other hurdles, such as insurance issues. 
While Medicare covers Leqembi, some patients who aren’t old enough to enroll in the federal program may struggle to get coverage. Some commercial health plans simply don’t cover the drug, experts say, which has a $26,500 annual price tag before insurance. 
Collins, the patient from Portland, said her insurance denied her request for Leqembi coverage three times, delaying her ability to start taking the drug. She was referred to a neurologist in April 2023 and received her first infusion in January. 
It can take other patients even longer, particularly if they are going to health centers that aren’t fully equipped to perform MRI scans or other requirements. 
Michael Irizarry, Eisai’s senior vice president of clinical research, acknowledged the lengthy process that patients have to undergo to receive Leqembi. But he noted that “all those steps are completely new, essentially since the approval of [Leqembi], and really is a transformation in the care of these patients.”

Infusion clinics can be hard to find

Once a patient gets coverage for Leqembi, they can start biweekly intravenous infusions of the drug. But some neurologists don’t have infusion clinics in their office, so they have to send patients to another health center that does. 
In some cases, the nearest infusion clinic may be dozens of miles away, which can be a huge obstacle for patients and caregivers who don’t have reliable access to transportation or time to drive to another location. 
An analysis published in April by Being Patient, an online news source dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease, estimated that there are more than 850 infusion sites in the U.S. offering Leqembi. But the analysis found that 11 states had five or fewer infusion clinics administering the drug. 

Eisai | via Reuters

A spokesperson for Eisai did not provide a specific number of Leqembi infusion clinics in the U.S. but noted that the company has a tool that helps patients locate sites in the U.S. near them.
But Eisai and Biogen said they are working on more convenient forms of Leqembi that could reduce the burden on patients and their caregivers and potentially expand uptake.
The companies are hoping to win regulatory approval for a so-called “maintenance dose” of Leqembi, which would stretch infusion intervals to once per month after an initial period of receiving biweekly infusions.
Eisai’s Scott added that the company is hoping to win regulatory approval for a version of Leqembi that is injected weekly under the skin at home or in a medical facility. The approval would allow patients to eventually switch to that subcutaneous form of the drug as a maintenance dose of Leqembi.
Collins drives 20 minutes to her primary care doctor in South Portland to receive Leqembi infusions, which she said feels like “a spa day” despite having an IV in her arm for almost an hour. 
“They give me coffee, snacks, and I sit and read on reclining chairs. I kind of make it a fun event,” she said. “My kids have sometimes come to hang out with me. It’s not really in a hospital setting so it doesn’t feel scary.” 
Meeks said her infusions feel like “therapy sessions” because she gets to talk to other patients and their caregivers at her clinic about their experiences with the disease. 
“It’s just comforting to hear other people’s stories as you sit in there,” Meeks said, adding that the roughly 40-minute infusion is “done before you know it.”
Patients may experience infusion-related reactions during their first two sessions, such as flu-like symptoms, according to Irizarry.
Neurologists also conduct regular MRI scans on patients to monitor for ARIA, or brain swelling and bleeding, side effects, according to Eisai.

Side effects

Leqembi has so far been well-tolerated by patients, according to Rojas. But he said the risk of ARIA is “always in the back of our head at all times.” 
UCSF’s clinic will have patients skip infusions of Leqembi until ARIA goes away, or use steroids to decrease brain inflammation. 
The Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s center similarly stops dosing patients if ARIA appears on an MRI, according to Petersen. The center has seen a few cases of those side effects, but “nothing too dramatic, nothing fatal,” he said.
“Our experience thus far has generally been positive,” Petersen said. 
Meeks’ neurologist, Dr. Wendell Helveston, said a follow-up MRI picked up one small area of bleeding in her brain that didn’t cause any symptoms. 
Helveston, who practices at the Hattiesburg Clinic in Mississippi, said Meeks’ bleeding was “well below the level where we would need to stop dosing” Leqembi.
He also said Meeks’ rate of cognitive decline has stabilized after several months of treatment, which is “exactly what we would like to see” from patients taking the drug. 

The promise of Leqembi

But even as uptake of the drug ramps up, Petersen said it may still be too early to say how much patients are benefiting from the drug. 
Leqembi reduced cognitive decline by 27% after 18 months in Biogen and Eisai’s pivotal late-stage trial – data that supported the treatment’s approval in 2023. Eisai in July also released new data showing that the progression of the disease in patients on Leqembi continued to slow after three years, suggesting the need for them to take the treatment long-term. 

Mr. Bobby Pugh, 91, cares for his wife Bessie Pugh, 90, an Alzheimer’s patient at the Ave Maria Home, an assisted living center for seniors, in Bartlett, Tennessee, U.S., September 13, 2023. 
Karen Pulfer Focht | Reuters

But it’s only been roughly 14 months since Leqembi was approved, and some patients have been taking the drug for an even shorter period of time.
“We’re not out that far yet to really see if people are remaining relatively stable,” Petersen said. “Subjectively, it looks like it, but that’s really a soft criterion at this time. So we’re just going to continue on and evaluate our experience at the end of the 18 months.” 
Meanwhile, patients such as Collins are pinning their hopes on Leqembi to give them extra time to live independently and perform their usual daily activities.
“Having something that can keep me living in my environment, doing my job and being able to take care of teenagers — it’s what gets me through the next week,” she said.  More

Tesla, GM, Rivian and Ford have created a new market in the U.S. automotive industry of pricey, powerful and precarious $100,000 electric pickup trucks.
The electric trucks currently on the U.S. market are the Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and General Motors’ GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra Denali and Chevrolet Silverado.
This electric “truck” market, including SUV variants, accounted for nearly 58,000 vehicles sold during the first half of this year, according to estimates from Motor Intelligence.

Fronts of the GMC Sierra Denali,Tesla Cybertruck and Ford F-150 Lightning EVs (left to right).
Michael Wayland / CNBC

DETROIT – Tesla, General Motors, Rivian Automotive and Ford Motor have created a new market in the U.S. automotive industry of pricey, powerful and precarious electric pickup trucks that sell for $100,000 or more.
Just five years ago, the idea of a customer paying six figures for a pickup truck — historically a work vehicle meant for hauling and towing — was cause for national headlines. But it has quickly become normal, as automakers attempt to increase profits on traditional trucks and simply make a profit on electric ones.

“Customers are willing to spend, so automakers are going to give it to them,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “In general, pickup trucks getting more equipment, better features and better materials really just reflects general consumer attitude of wanting more.”
But unlike $100,000 traditional pickup trucks with internal combustion engines that offer superior capabilities compared with their lower-priced counterparts, electric trucks have higher price tags in part because of their technologies, including the costly batteries needed to power the vehicles.

“If you think about who’s actually buying these new EVs, it’s definitely, for the [automakers], a different demographic,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive director of industry insights. “These are very expensive, very niche vehicles.”
There are currently a handful of electric trucks for purchase in the U.S. market: the Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and General Motors’ GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra Denali and Chevrolet Silverado. The GMC Hummer and Rivian also have SUV versions, which feature similar functions as their pickup counterparts but in different forms.
All those vehicle can get close to or easily top $100,000, including Tesla’s “Cyberbeast” model for about $120,000 and a limited-edition GMC Hummer for more than $150,000. Kelley Blue Book reports both vehicles transacted for over $100,000 last month — and the Tesla Cybertruck became the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. priced at six figures or more.

That compares to the average price paid for a traditional full-size pickup of $65,713, including average discount incentives of 7%, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Overall, this electric “truck” market, including the SUVs, accounted for nearly 58,000 vehicles sold during the first half of this year, according to estimates from Motor Intelligence. That’s less than 1% of the roughly 7.9 million light-duty new vehicles sold during that time in the U.S., but a 35% quarterly increase from the first to the second quarter, according to the data.
The market is expected to keep growing, but for now I’ve driven each of those $100,000 vehicles for varying amounts of time. They all drive and handle well, but in varying ways. Here are some thoughts on each:

Tesla Cybertruck

The Tesla Cybertruck is in a league of its own when it comes to pretty much everything — design, function, polarization and features.
It is far more “cyber” than “truck.” It indeed has some truck capabilities, such as a pickup bed and other utilitarian features, but it is not a truck in any traditional sense of the word.

A Tesla Cybertruck near General Motors’ Renaissance Center world headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

The Cybertruck features tight steering, including a yoke and “steer-by-wire” system; a stiff chassis similar to a sports car; and, while arbitrary, a design that is far more form than function, which is historically one of the top reasons to purchase a pickup truck.
The Cybertruck, like its GM competitors, also features “four-wheel steer” in which all the vehicle’s wheels assist in its turning. Compared with a traditional vehicle where two wheels turn the vehicle, it makes larger vehicles much easier to maneuver.
What the Tesla Cybertruck lacks in traditional “truck-ness,” it makes up for in technology, as well as the human-machine interface, or HMI, of the vehicle with the driver.
The vehicle is arguably an experiment for the company in many ways regarding its technologies.

Pros: Design, technology, software, weight (lowest in segment), four-wheel steer
Cons: Design, bed access, interior space and quality

GMC Hummer EVs

The GMC Hummer EV — the first electric truck to hit the market — is the most comparable to the Cybertuck in terms of performance, price and overall gaudiness.
Driving the vehicle, whether it’s on- or off-road, is an experience. GM has called it the world’s first “supertruck.” It is fast, large and the least efficient consumer EV on sale today, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The SUV version is smaller and more manageable to drive than the pickup truck version.
Both Hummer variants carry the weight of GM’s rapid development of vehicles. They’re heavy — estimated at nearly 9,200 pounds for the pickup — compared with every other consumer vehicle on today’s market, including their all-electric truck counterparts.

GMC Hummer EV Edition 1
Michael Wayland / CNBC

While the Hummer EVs can achieve 0-60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds or less and are extremely capable with their performance parts, the weight of the vehicles can easily be felt when driving them.
GM’s designers did a nice job of modernizing the Hummer’s exterior design for the new EVs, including the ability to remove roof panels. But the interior can feel, much like the vehicles themselves, very bulky.

Pros: Design, capability, durability, four-wheel steer, hands-free Super Cruise advanced driver-assistance system
Cons: Design, efficiency, bulky interior, range

Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra

GM’s newest all-electric pickup trucks are the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Debali, both offering high-end models that cost nearly $100,000.
While the GM design team did an exceptional job of separating the looks of the vehicles to appeal to their respective brands, the parts and functionalities of the vehicles are largely the same.

A Tesla Cybertruck and GMC Sierra Denali EV First Edition next to one another.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Both vehicles have an EPA-rated range of 440 miles and offer up to 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. Important for many truck customers, they also tow up to 10,000 pounds and can charge for 100 miles in roughly 10 minutes with a DC Fast Charger (as long as you can find a compatible charger).
The Sierra is more refined and luxurious than its Chevrolet counterpart: It has open pore wood, larger total screens, GMC’s “crab mode” with four-wheel steering — shared with the Hummer — and other features.
A unique standout feature of the Silverado and Sierra EVs compared with others is the capability of a “midgate,” in which the back seats of the vehicle fold down and the back glass can come out to create a nearly 11-foot-long truck bed and segment-leading cargo area.
Both the Silverado and Sierra EVs drive well and feel like a “truck” but also remain far heavier than their non-GM competitors.

Pros: Capability, charging speed, range, Super Cruise, midgate, four-wheel steer
Cons: Efficiency, interior (mainly Silverado), weight

Rivian R1T and R1S

Rivian’s flagship R1T pickup and R1S SUV remain standouts in the electric truck segment when it comes to outdoor adventure and lifestyle vehicles — emulating the likes of Jeep.
The second generation of the vehicles, which were released earlier this year, improved on the ride and quality of the trucks. The R1S driving experience was noticeably smoother than the first generation of the vehicles.

2025 Rivian R1T and R1S

While the exterior designs of the vehicles were largely unchanged for the second generation, Rivian says they deliver 10 times more computing power than before. The company also has changed more than half the hardware components.
Where the R1T and R1S truly stand out are their interior designs. They’re minimalistic, much like Tesla products, but still have enough other controls to appease mainstream, traditional buyers. The functionality and HMI also are impressive.

Pros: Design, software, interior
Cons: Charging speed capability, no four-wheel steer, advanced driver-assistance system

Ford F-150 Lightning

The F-150 Lightning is the most approachable all-electric truck on the market. That includes its starting price of about $63,000, driving dynamics and functionality. It largely operates like a traditional F-150 — but it’s electric. That’s because it shares many parts with its internal combustion engine siblings.
When the F-150 Lightning hit the market, it was the first “mainstream” electric truck. It followed the Hummer “supertruck” and Rivian R1T, but it was the first true test of such an all-electric vehicle for traditional truck owners.

An electric Ford F-150 next to a Tesla Cybertruck in front of Ford’s world headquarters on Aug. 27, 2024 in Dearborn, Mich.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

At launch, the vehicle was a standout, but the competition has largely caught up to it or exceeded it when it comes to range, driving dynamics and overall performance, especially when comparing it to the $100,000 trucks above.
The F-150 Lightning, which can top $90,000, remains a solid vehicle but for buyers seeking to spend around $100,000 or more, the competition is far more intense than it was when the truck launched in 2022. More

Tune in to CNBC all day for coverage of the Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations

Automakers are rushing back into advertising during the National Football League season after a slowdown in recent years.
Toyota and Hyundai are among the automakers expected to capitalize on NFL games in the coming months.
NFL games dominate viewership on traditional TV, with an average of 17.9 million viewers per game during last year’s NFL regular season, according to Nielsen.

Toyota’s “We Roll Deep Anthem” spot includes fans and NFL stars “setting off on an adrenaline-packed NFL adventure.”
Screenshot

Automakers are rushing back into advertising during the National Football League season after a slowdown in recent years.
Toyota Motor Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company and the Detroit automakers are among those expected to capitalize on the NFL and its games as main advertising platforms in the coming months. Toyota in particular is entering football season as the “Official Automotive Partner of the NFL,” a first for the world’s largest automaker.

“There [are] so many variables that can impact budgets, but automakers are starting to pick back up,” said Ryan Briganti, head of ad sales at Paramount’s CBS Sports, which airs NFL games each week on CBS and Paramount+. “We have autos advertising across the whole portfolio.”
The automotive industry significantly pulled back advertising and marketing budgets in recent years because it did not have enough vehicles to sell. The Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain problems caused historically low vehicle inventory levels. But vehicle inventory levels have been growing amid high interest rates and economic fears, and automakers are turning to live sports, especially the NFL, to help promote new products.
General Motors, for one, expects to increase advertising spend by more than $400 million during the second half of the year compared to the first six months to promote new or redesigned vehicles. GM declined to discuss details of the spending, including how much of that amount is specifically tied to NFL advertising, but reiterated it remains significantly lower than historic levels.
The NFL is a crucial piece of advertising strategy for automakers. During last year’s NFL season, from September to February, about 44% of the automotive ad spend budgets in national TV were for the NFL, according to media planning and data company Guideline. That compares to 31% of budgets across all sectors, the company reports. 
“The impact of the NFL on the automotive advertising industry is really very, very substantial,” said Alberto Leyes, head of product strategy at Guideline. 

Fueling TV viewership

NFL games dominate viewership on traditional TV. Last year’s NFL regular season games averaged 17.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The Super Bowl, meanwhile, drew 123.7 million average viewers. 
The NFL’s consistent viewership — despite customers fleeing the pay TV bundle — has led to a surge in the value of its media rights deals, which have in turn been a significant driver of NFL team valuations. Today, an NFL team is worth an average of $6.49 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations.

The advertising market overall has shown signs of a rebound this year, particularly for streaming and digital players. Across the board, live sports still fetch the most significant ad spends, downturn or not.
“We’ve seen a much stronger growth in 2024 than we’ve seen in any of the post-Covid years,” Leyes said regarding overall media spend. “We know we are going to have a strong second half of the year as well, with the return of NFL.”
Last NFL season, automakers were the most-seen brand industry, with more than 10% of TV ad impressions, according to ad data company iSpot. 
Disney, which airs “Monday Night Football” on its TV networks and streaming, namely ESPN, has seen “positive, continuous double-digit growth over the last five years” when it comes to automakers’ ad spending, said Andrew Messina, senior vice president of sales at Disney Advertising. Messina noted growth especially from Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis.
Brands have also begun expanding commitments to include sponsorship opportunities alongside ad spots, Messina said. 
Automakers own “key marketing real estate” on “Sunday Night Football,” which airs on Comcast’s broadcast network NBC and streaming service Peacock, said Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships. While traditional TV still drives the dominant share of auto ads, there has been an increased presence on Peacock, which has streamed exclusive NFL games in the past year. 
Guideline reports viewership of NFL broadcasts grew about 7% over the past season, whereas ad spend in NFL programming doubled that pace at 14%. Automotive ad spend increased 17% over the past two seasons and is expected to increase again this year, according to Leyes.
“For auto brands in particular, we’ve seen 139% year-over-year growth as they look to be more precise with their media spend in a complex U.S. market,” said Jenny Wall, chief marketing officer at TV measurement company VideoAmp.

New ad campaigns

Toyota, as the “Official Automotive Partner of the NFL,” launched a new ad campaign for the NFL season this week called “Roll Deep.”
It debuted an “anthem spot” for the campaign. Toyota also had a prominent role in the NFL’s first game of the season Thursday night.

The Toyota Halftime Show during a Thursday night matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs as the two clubs kick off the NFL season on NBC and Peacock.
Screenshot

For Toyota, it kicks off what will be a “season-long schedule of content across linear broadcast, digital, paid social and in-game formats,” the automaker said. 
Toyota decided on the new partnership with the NFL after an overall review of its marketing and advertising spend, according to Dedra DeLilli, vice president of Toyota North America marketing communications.
The automaker had previously advertised and run sponsorships around NFL games, but felt the best value for its media spend was in upping the partnership to become the official automotive sponsor of the league.
“The most appealing aspect of this partnership is we have access to 218 million highly diverse, highly engaged fans of the NFL. That’s almost 72% of the population. You are not going to find scalability and diversity like that in any other U.S. sport,” DeLilli said.
“It’s a match made in heaven,” she said.
DeLilli declined to disclose Toyota’s ad spend for the NFL. It follows a successful partnership with the Olympics and Paralympics this year in Paris.
Stellantis is expected to soon launch new ads for the NFL season, including around its Jeep brand, but a spokeswoman declined to provide additional details.  
Hyundai will continue to have a prominent role during NFL broadcasts, including as presenting sponsor of NBC’s Sunday Night Football kickoff show for the seventh consecutive year.
The company declined to provide details of its spending plans, but Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker said the company’s spend is expected to be level from last year.
“We want to catch consumers when they’re watching television live,” he told CNBC. “We do think from a strategic perspective that’s really, really important. … Especially sporting events, you can see the number of eyeballs increase year over year over year.”
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on Friday.
After leaving, the capsule is expected to take about six hours to return to Earth and reach a landing zone at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
The spacecraft is leaving without the two astronauts it carried into orbit and months later than originally planned after it faced issues with its propulsion system.

In this image from video provided by NASA, the unmanned Boeing Starliner capsule undocks as it pulls away from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.
NASA | Via AP

Boeing’s Starliner undocked from the International Space Station on Friday, months later than the spacecraft was originally supposed to depart — and without the two astronauts that it delivered to orbit in early June.
Instead, NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will stay at the ISS for the rest of the year and will return to Earth in February aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

It left the space station at 6:04 p.m. ET Friday. The capsule is expected to take about six hours to return to Earth and reach a landing zone at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. NASA said it could be visible from parts of western Mexico and the Southwestern United States before landing.
The undocking process will work slightly different than it would have with a crew, in an effort to protect the ISS and because astronauts will not be on board to take manual control if necessary, NASA officials said Wednesday.
“We have your backs, and you’ve got this,” Williams told mission controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday before the undocking. “Bring her back to Earth. Good luck.”

Read more CNBC space news

The return of Boeing’s Starliner capsule “Calypso” ends a test flight that was ultimately much longer than NASA initially predicted — and that did not go as planned. The agency delayed the spacecraft’s return multiple times, citing the desire to gather more data about its problematic propulsion system.
Starliner, initially expected to be in space for about nine days, spent roughly three months at the ISS while Boeing investigated an issue with the capsule’s thrusters. Boeing officials were adamant in press briefings that Starliner was safe for the astronauts to fly home in the event of an emergency, even though they delayed the return multiple times.

But NASA officials ultimately decided in late August that the agency would send Starliner back empty, saying it wants to “further understand the root causes” of the spacecraft’s issues.

In this image from video provided by NASA, the unmanned Boeing Starliner capsule fires its thrusters as it pulls away from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.
NASA | Via AP

The Starliner crew flight test was supposed to be a final step for Boeing and a key addition for NASA. The agency was hoping to have two competing companies — Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX — with the ability to fly alternating missions to the ISS.
Instead, the test flight has set Boeing’s progress in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program back and, with more than $1.5 billion in losses absorbed already, could threaten the company’s future involvement with it.

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