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The NHL believes it can capitalize on the global popularity of hockey and improve its standing in countries where the league does not yet have as strong of a foothold.
The first two regular-season games of the 2024-25 season were played in Prague, followed by two more in November in Tampere, Finland, for this year’s NHL Global Series.
International expansion means more robust recruiting, a bigger audience and more revenue and sponsorship opportunities.

A general view during the 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on Oct. 7, 2022.
Martin Rose | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

If all goes according to plan for the National Hockey League, its popularity will continue growing well beyond the confines of the countries where its teams are based.
Through events both inside and outside the U.S. and Canada, the NHL believes it can capitalize on the global popularity of the sport of hockey and improve its standing in countries where the league does not yet have as strong of a foothold.

Much of that effort has so far centered on Europe, specifically countries such as Sweden and Finland where hockey is already a popular sport. The first two regular-season games of the 2024-25 season were played in Prague, followed by two more in November in Tampere, Finland, for this year’s NHL Global Series.
All four of the games were sold out, said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
“We think we’re uniquely positioned in hockey, in the NHL, because hockey is such an international sport and we have a strong tradition of high-level players being developed in Europe,” Daly said in an interview with CNBC. 
Executives from several of the teams that played in Europe this year said it was encouraging to see local support for American hockey teams.
“One of the more eye-opening experiences for me was seeing just how many international fans there were and how many Devils fans there were that are truly on a global and world stage,” New Jersey Devils President Jake Reynolds said in an interview. 

Jumping the pond

The NHL Global Series is not new. The event in its current form started in 2017, with a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Regular-season games in Europe date back even further, and the NHL has a long history of playing exhibition games against local teams abroad.
The league also hosts fan tours, this year from Aug. 31 to Nov. 2 across Europe, as a way for fans to engage with the NHL through games, prizes and a peek at the coveted Stanley Cup at some of the stops.
In February, the NHL will host its first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off, an international event where league players from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the U.S. will play for their native countries. 
In 2026, NHL players are planning to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The hope is that increasing exposure for NHL players on a global stage will be a tailwind for the league. 
“They are looking to make the game as global as possible because we operate in a global economy,” said Rick Burton, a professor at Syracuse University and co-author of “Business the NHL Way: Lessons from the Fastest Game on Ice.”
“So you can’t say, ‘Well, this game is only for North Americans.’ It simply isn’t,” Burton said.
Burton also said he would not be surprised to see an NHL team — or a few — launch in Europe in the future.
Daly did not rule out the possibility, but categorized it as a longer-term play if it were to ever happen.
Europe offers an obvious opportunity for NHL growth. Roughly 30% of the league’s players are European, Daly said, which is part of the reason for the warm reception to the Global Series and the strong turnout.
“Sometimes it gets lost how much fun it is,” Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “It’s really fun to go play hockey over there.”

Sam Reinhart, #13 of the Florida Panthers, prepares to shoot the puck against Miro Heiskanen, #4 of the Dallas Stars, during the third period of the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland game at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 2, 2024.
Andre Ringuette | National Hockey League | Getty Images

This season’s Finland games, between the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers, featured players Aleksander Barkov and Roope Hintz, who are both Finnish. When the New Jersey Devils played the Buffalo Sabres in the Czech Republic, both teams leaned into their past and present Czech players. 
“We brought some really good teams and some good European players back to their home markets,” Daly said.

Greater leverage

Taking the NHL’s product outside the U.S. and Canada to grow its audience will give the league more bargaining chips the next time it negotiates media rights, according to Irwin Kishner, a partner at Herrick Feinstein who has advised sports leagues on media rights, stadium financing and many other sports law pieces. 
“The more eyeballs you have, the more valuable the signal can be,” Kishner said. “And it’s more that you can drive on sponsorship, the more that you can pay for players, the richer the league becomes.”
The NHL’s current media rights deal goes through the 2027-28 season, and if recent sports media rights trends continue, the NHL would also be looking at a hefty increase in its contract value. Live sports have been one of the last pieces of appointment viewing holding together traditional pay-TV bundles, meaning media companies have been willing to pay a premium for the rights.
Revenue from the NHL Global Series, as well as most other international events, goes to the league’s hockey-related revenue, according to the collective bargaining agreement, which is split between the league and players.
There are also revenue opportunities at the individual team level through corporate sponsorships.
Dallas Stars President Brad Alberts said he is interested in exploring a partnership with Nokia, which has a large presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is based in Finland. The New Jersey Devils swapped out their typical Prudential helmet decal with Prudential’s international arm, PGIM, for the European games, Reynolds said.
In all the initiatives expanding outside the U.S. and Canada, the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association work together. 
The two parties are often at opposite ends of the table when negotiating labor contracts, but when it comes to making hockey and the NHL more popular, the organizations are aligned, according to both the NHL and the NHLPA.
“You see it in private sector. When unions and businesses work in the private sector to grow a business, you see a lot of success,” NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said in an interview.
Despite many of the league’s efforts being focused on Europe, there is plenty of interest in other markets. 
Prior to the 2023 season, the NHL had preseason games between the Los Angeles Kings and the Arizona Coyotes in Australia, the first time the NHL played in the Southern Hemisphere. The Vegas Golden Knights, one of the newer teams in the league, have devoted resources to grow its fan base in Latin America.  More

The NHL is one of two of the big four North American sports leagues with a hard salary cap, meaning each team cannot have a payroll over a predetermined amount in a given season.
For the 2024-25 season, the upper limit is $88 million and the lower limit is $65 million.
A salary cap has been in place since right after the labor dispute that caused the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 NHL season.

The Florida Panthers pose for a team photo following game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on June 24, 2024.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

For a National Hockey League team to hoist the Stanley Cup, it takes playing an 82-game regular season, winning four playoff series and some strict attention to math along the way. 
The NHL is one of two of the big four North American sports leagues with a hard salary cap, meaning each team cannot have a payroll over a predetermined amount in a given season.

For the 2024-25 season, the pay ceiling is $88 million and the lower limit is $65 million. Therefore, regardless of whether a team is worth as much as the Toronto Maple Leafs at $4 billion, or as little as the Columbus Blue Jackets at $1 billion in CNBC’s Official NHL Team Valuations, every team is on roughly equal footing for how much they can pay players.
The range is calculated by using a formula outlined in the league’s collective bargaining agreement that involves taking a percentage of the previous year’s preliminary hockey-related revenue, among other inputs.
There was a brief pause in year-over-year salary cap increases when the league’s revenues took a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
The pay limit has been in place since the end of a labor dispute that caused the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 NHL season.
The National Hockey League Players Association and NHL after that campaign agreed to a collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, that included a salary cap, among other terms, for the following season. The current CBA was put in place beginning with the 2012-13 season after a shorter labor disagreement that led to an abbreviated 48-game slate.

The NHL and NHLPA declined to comment for this story.
Sports business experts said the strict salary cap has helped the league’s financial health since the full season stoppage.
“Since that [missed season], the NHL has had notable fiscal stability, which I think a lot of leagues are probably impressed with how the NHL is run,” said Syracuse University professor of sports management Rick Burton, who authored “Business the NHL Way: Lessons from the Fastest Game on Ice.” 
Burton pointed to the increase in franchise valuations, attendance and salary health as ways the NHL has shown success over the past couple of decades.
“The net result, I think, looking back over the last 20 years, is that both parties worked together to bring about a solution that appears to have worked pretty significantly,” he added.
The hard salary cap is a stark difference from Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, which have no salary cap and a soft salary cap, respectively. Both of those leagues have some version of a fee that teams have to pay when they exceed a certain threshold. 
The National Football League, along with the NHL, has a hard salary cap, something sports leagues have traditionally used to try to keep parity and prevent the richest teams from taking top talent. 
“If you have a business that limits the amount that wealthy owners can put into the players, it will enable the lesser clubs to compete with the more wealthy clubs,” said Irwin Kishner, a sports lawyer at Herrick Feinstein and co-chair of the firm’s Sports Law Group.
It’s not that payroll management isn’t important in other sports. The MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers reworked Shohei Ohtani’s contract to have $680 million of the $700 million deal deferred, with payouts on the bulk of it not beginning until 2034, according to The Athletic. The NBA’s New York Knicks caught a huge break when their star Jalen Brunson agreed to take more than $100 million less than he could have in his contract extension, according to ESPN.
But the hard cap means NHL teams have to be especially diligent.
There are some exceptions to the NHL’s $88 million max, one of which is the long-term injury clause that allows teams to be over the cap for the duration of a player’s injury. But the team has to be at or below the salary cap once the injured player is healthy again and ready to rejoin the team.
The memorandum of understanding that extended the current CBA will expire in September 2026, and a new CBA will be negotiated between the league and the NHLPA. The NHL is planning to start negotiations with the NHLPA in early 2025, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at this year’s NHL Board of Governors meeting. More

Target missed third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates and cut its full-year guidance.
Target struggled to drive sales even after reducing prices on thousands of items.
The results come a day after Walmart beat Wall Street expectations and hiked its outlook.

People are seen at the parking lot of a Target store in Selinsgrove. 
Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Target on Wednesday missed Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and posted only a slight uptick in customer traffic, despite the discounter’s price cuts on thousands of items and its early holiday sale. 
The big-box retailer reversed course and cut its full-year profit guidance, just three months after hiking that forecast. It said it expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to range from $8.30 to $8.90. That’s lower than the $9 to $9.70 per share range that it shared in August and below the $9.55 a share expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount.

Target now expects fourth quarter comparable sales to be approximately flat. That metric, which is also known as same-store sales, includes sales on its website and stores open at least 13 months. 
Target missed Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate by 20%, its biggest miss in two years. It also marked its first revenue miss since Aug. 2023. 
The company’s shares plunged more than 15% in premarket trading.
On a call with reporters, CEO Brian Cornell said “lingering softness in discretionary categories” and costs associated with rushing shipments and preparing for the short-lived port strike in October hurt the company’s quarterly performance. 
Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke said “it’s disappointing that a deceleration in discretionary demand combined with some cost pressures have caused us to take our guidance back down after raising it last quarter.” But he added that Target feels confident in its long-term outlook. 

Here’s what Target reported for the three-month period that ended Nov. 2 compared with what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.85 vs. $2.30 expected
Revenue: $25.67 vs. $25.90 billion expected

Target, which is known for its cheap chic spin on clothing, home goods and other discretionary merchandise, has struggled to attract steady foot traffic and higher sales. Shoppers have been selective about spending after cumulative years of pricier food, housing and more. 
To woo price-sensitive consumers, Target announced in May that it would cut prices on about 5,000 frequently purchased items, including diapers, bread and milk. It announced another wave of price reductions in October on more than 2,000 items during the holiday season, including cold medicine, toys and ice cream.
Target said it will have lowered prices on more than 10,000 items this year by the end of the holiday season.
Target offered those discounts after hearing from shoppers about “the importance of value and affordability,” Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said. He added the price cuts on frequency items leaves more room in customers’ budgets to splurge on products that they want, whether it’s a new outfit or beauty item.
Yet those price cuts weren’t enough to lift Target’s performance in the fiscal third quarter. 
Target eked out a comparable sales gain of 0.3%, as shoppers spent more on its website but less at its stores. That fell short of the 1.5% gains that analysts expected, according to StreetAccount. 

Target’s fiscal third-quarter net income tumbled about 12% to $854 million, or $1.85 per share, from $971 million, or $2.10 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose from $25.40 billion in the year-ago period.
Customer traffic across Target’s stores and website grew 2.4% year over year. Digital sales were a bright spot, growing 10.8% year over year because of double-digit gains with curbside pickup and almost 20% gains with same-day home deliveries. Comparable store sales, however, declined 1.9% year over year. 
Customers gravitated toward food and everyday essentials during the quarter, along with beauty items. Comparable sales in that category, which includes sales at Ulta Beauty shops inside of Target, grew more than 6%. Two other categories, food & beverage and essentials, posted low single-digit gains compared with the year-ago period.

The Minneapolis-based retailer’s results clash with trends at Walmart, which on Tuesday reported improving sales trends in discretionary merchandise for the second quarter in a row. Walmart also said it’s gaining market share among upper-income households. 
The two big-box retailers, however, have a different sales mix, as groceries account for about 60% of Walmart’s U.S. business but only about 23% of Target’s in the most recent fiscal year, according to the companies’ financial filings.
Gomez said the retailer is contending with savvy and selective shoppers who aren’t willing to buy until the price is right. 
“Consumers have become increasingly resourceful and strategic on how they shop,” he said. “They know deals are out there. They’re willing to search for them, and they’ll wait for the exact right moment to head into our stores or log on to our app.”
For example, Gomez said the week ahead of Target’s Circle Week, a promotional event in October, was quieter. But it was the biggest Circle Week to date in terms of sales, and 3 million new members signed up for Target’s loyalty program, he added.
Gomez said Target is seeing momentum when it offers eye-catching merchandise, such as debuting new workout gear, pet accessories, seasonal flavors of food or a fresh hair care line.
Higher supply-chain costs posed another challenge in the quarter, Fiddelke said. As the company geared up for the port strike, which wound up lasting only a few days, Target rerouted and rushed shipments and loaded up on inventory to make sure it had the merchandise that it needed for the holiday season. 
“That came at a cost,” he said. “It meant we were fuller a little bit earlier in the quarter than we would like to be, and we’re never quite as efficient when our buildings are full, but we felt like that was the right decision to really protect the guest experience.”
Shares of Target have lagged behind the S&P 500. As of Tuesday’s close, Target’s stock is up about 9.5% this year, compared to the S&P 500’s approximately 24% gains during the same time period. The company’s stock price of around $155 is also well off the pandemic highs, when its stock rose to nearly $270.
– CNBC’s Robert Hum contributed to this report.

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Delta Air Lines forecast revenue growth in the mid-single digit percentage points next year, in line with analysts estimates.
The carrier expects to expand capacity by no more than 4% year-over-year in 2025.
The airline is the most profitable, but faces competition from United Airlines, whose shares have more than doubled this year.

A Delta aircraft at the airline’s hangar in Atlanta
Leslie Josephs/CNBC

Delta Air Lines on Wednesday said sales would grow in 2025, citing a “resilient economy” for strong travel demand and credit card spending, especially for higher-end offerings. It also said it expects to grow earnings in the coming years.
Delta forecast revenue growth in the mid-single digit percentage points next year compared with 2024, in line with the roughly 6% growth analysts were expecting.

In an investor day presentation, the carrier said it would expand flying by 3% to 4% next year from 2024. Delta also reiterated its fourth-quarter outlook. Longer term, it said it expects to grow adjusted earnings by 10% a year over the next three to five years.
Delta is the most profitable U.S. airline and its leaders tout its strong partnership with American Express and high demand for pricier seats toward the front of aircraft as part of its success.
The carrier has focused heavily on high-spending travelers, and in an investor-day presentation said it has an advantage because of sharp wealth growth in high-earning households since 2019. It also said millennials and Gen Z are the fastest growing consumer segments.
Its upbeat tone on consumer spending has differed from the picture some other companies are painting. Target on Wednesday cut its profit forecast. Its chief operating officer blamed a “deceleration in discretionary demand” and higher costs.
Delta rival United Airlines has made inroads in growing profits and capturing high-end travelers. Delta’s shares are up 60% so far this year through Tuesday’s close, while United’s are up 128%. Both are outpacing the broader market and other carriers.

Delta said just 43% of its revenue this year comes from main cabin tickets, with 57% of it generated by premium seats and its lucrative loyalty program. That’s up from a 60% share of revenue from the main cabin in 2010.
The carrier has spent years working to get customers to pay up for first class, seats it largely gave away in years past.
Delta’s president, Glen Hauenstein, told reporters that about 15 years ago, about 12% of Delta’s domestic first-class seats were paid for and the rest were upgrades for frequent flyers. Now, more than 70% of those seats are purchased, including buy-ups after booking. He said the change at first was “traumatic” to some travelers.
Hauenstein said Delta is looking for new ways to segment its cabins after the carrier — and rivals — spent years breaking coach-class into options like premium economy, extra-legroom seats and basic economy. While it didn’t provide detail, it’s also considering more options for travelers sitting in the front of the plane too, Hauenstein said.
During its presentation, the airline’s executives could face questions about future demand, controlling costs and steps the airline has taken to avoid another repeat of the massive impact from the CrowdStrike outage last July.
-CNBC’s Melissa Repko contributed to this article. More

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the last four years were marked by governmental “overreach.”
Airline CEOs have urged the incoming administration to invest in modernizing air traffic control.

Ed Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines Inc., during an interview in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022.
Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the Trump administration’s approach to regulation could be a “breath of fresh air.”
Speaking to reporters ahead of Delta’s investor day, Bastian noted that President-elect Donald Trump campaigned saying he would take a “fresh look” at regulation and bureaucracy.

The U.S. Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg has issued a host of rules aimed at protecting consumers, some of which the airline industry has bristled at, including one this year that requires carriers to provide automatic cash refunds to travelers when an airline cancels a flight.
Bastian said the industry has seen a “level of overreach” over the past four years.
The department is also looking into airlines’ lucrative loyalty programs, which brings in billions of dollars for carriers, helping to keep them afloat. The current DOT leadership is seeking information about how airlines can unilaterally change the value of frequent flyer points.
Delta on Wednesday said it expects to grow sales and profits in the months and years ahead, pointing to resilient consumer demand and sharp growth in household wealth since the pandemic.
Trump tapped former U.S. congressman and Fox Business host Sean Duffy as his pick to lead the department. Duffy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other U.S. airline CEOs have expressed enthusiasm for the incoming administration and urged incoming officials to make sure the industry has enough resources to improve air traffic control, which falls under the Federal Aviation Administration, and other key pieces of infrastructure.
“We have to invest in this industry,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas last week. He said there is more work ahead to approve more visas so people can visit the U.S.
In an interview last week, Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker said: “We just need stability and resources at the DOT.”
Industry members and analysts also expect the incoming administration to be more open to mergers and consolidation.
Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines without pushback from President Joe Biden’s administration this year. However, Biden’s Justice Department won court challenges to block two airline deals: a proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, by JetBlue Airways and a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines in the Northeast, which had been approved in the last days of the first Trump administration.
“Perhaps this administration would have a different stance,” said Sun Country’s Bricker. “It certainly can’t get more against it.” More

The Disney Treasure will make its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral, Florida, to the Caribbean in December, becoming the sixth ship in the company’s cruise line.
Disney’s fleet will double by 2031, with two ships arriving in 2025, followed by four additional Disney-branded vessels and a partnership with Oriental Land Company to bring Disney’s cruise vacations to Japan.
“The demand that we’re seeing right now for Disney Cruise Line is very strong. We’re a premium brand, occupancy is high, and frankly, the business is doing really, really well,” said Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney’s new experiences portfolio and Disney signature experiences.

The captain of the Disney Treasure is Voyager Minnie, a version of the character that is specially costumed for the cruise ship.

The Disney fleet is expanding.
Next month, the Disney Treasure cruise ship will make its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral, Florida, to the Caribbean, officially becoming the sixth ship in the company’s lineup.

The Treasure, which is 221 feet tall and 1,119 feet long, can carry 4,000 passengers and 1,555 crew members. Like Disney’s other cruise ships, the Treasure features themed dining, curated lounges and premium on-board live entertainment.
As the Treasure sets sail, Disney, too, is embarking on its own journey. The company, which hadn’t launched a new ship in a decade prior to the Disney Wish’s debut in mid-2022, is entering an era of rapid expansion.
Disney’s fleet will double by 2031, with two ships arriving in 2025 — the Disney Destiny and the Disney Adventure — followed by four additional Disney-branded vessels and a partnership with Oriental Land Company to bring Disney’s cruise vacations to Japan.
“Disney Cruise Line is going through an unprecedented period of growth,” said Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney’s new experiences portfolio and Disney signature experiences. “The demand that we’re seeing right now for Disney Cruise Line is very strong. We’re a premium brand, occupancy is high, and frankly, the business is doing really, really well.”

The cruise ship Disney Treasure.

Disney cruises are part of the company’s experiences division, alongside parks, resorts and consumer products. According to the company’s earnings report on Thursday, the division posted record revenue and profit for fiscal 2024, with revenue up 5% for the full year to $34.15 billion and operating income up 4% to $9.27 billion.

The experiences segment was the second-highest revenue driver for Disney last year behind its entertainment division, which tallied $41.18 billion in fiscal 2024. However, the entertainment segment’s operating profits were smaller, just $3.92 billion.
Full-year revenue growth in experiences was the strongest of any Disney division, and the company expects to see 6% to 8% profit growth for experiences in fiscal 2025.
Disney has become a leader in the family cruising space, despite its relatively small number of ships. For comparison, the three largest cruise lines are Carnival, with more than 100 vessels, Royal Caribbean, with more than 40, and Norwegian Cruise Line, with around 30.
Disney is considered slightly more expensive than Carnival and Royal Caribbean for base pricing, but if guests choose to upgrade to larger cabins or add food packages or experiences to their itineraries, the prices are quite similar.
Disney’s Treasure offers seven-night cruises starting at $4,277 for two guests and $6,994 for a family of four. These prices increase if travelers select cruises tied to Halloween or Christmas.

A guest room on the Disney Treasure cruise ship.

What sets Disney apart is its innovations in cruising and its focus on storytelling, said Gavin Doyle, founder of MickeyVisit.com.
“Disney redefined the cruising space when they entered, and that was in the way they were designing the ships in a guest-centric way that they serviced people on board, and also the beloved characters and intellectual properties that they can integrate,” he said.
Doyle noted that Disney accommodates diners using “rotational dining” on its cruise ships. Passengers don’t eat in one large mess hall — they are prescheduled to dine at different themed restaurants. Disney rotates the restaurant staff, too, to follow each group of passengers to their scheduled restaurant. In so doing, guests have the same servers, busboys and restaurant managers throughout their trip, and the waitstaff gets to know the guests — and their preferences.
“They’re able to just deliver this level of customer service that does feel like magic,” Doyle said.

Immersive dining

While there are traditional amenities onboard the Treasure that are staples on cruise lines — upscale restaurants, pools, spas and gaming rooms for kids — Disney has integrated storytelling into these services to elevate them for guests.
Its dinnertime restaurants are immersive and feature live entertainment. Plaza de Coco, the first theatrical dining experience themed to the 2017 film “Coco,” invites guests to gather at Mariachi Plaza for a festive meal and music.

Plaza de Coco, named for the Disney and Pixar film “Coco,” is one of the many themed restaurants on the Treasure cruise ship.

Meanwhile, over at Worlds of Marvel, guests will experience two different shows, one called “Avengers: Quantum Encounter” and the other “Marvel Celebration of Heroes: Groot Remix.”
The high-tech venue has a number of screens for diners to tune in to during their meal to experience the heroic adventures.

Worlds of Marvel, a restaurant on Disney’s cruise ship Treasure that was inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

There is also 1923, a restaurant named after the founding year of Walt Disney Animation Studios. This location is a bit more subdued and upscale. It features a collection of exploration-themed artwork from modern and classic animated films.

Jumbeaux’s Sweets, inspired by the ice cream parlor in Disney’s “Zootopia,” is a gelato and sweets shop on Disney’s Treasure cruise ship.

In addition to the three main family restaurants, the Treasure has a number of places for casual dining and to grab quick bites during the journey. Those with a sweet tooth can head to Jumbeaux’s Sweets, which is based on the ice cream parlor from Disney’s “Zootopia.”
The Treasure also features some adult-exclusive dining locations for those traveling without kids or looking for a night away.
Palo Steakhouse and Enchante are upscale restaurants inspired by “Beauty and the Beast” and feature gourmet Italian and French menus. The Rose, a chic lounge at the entrance to the two restaurants, has pre-dinner aperitifs and after-dinner cocktails.

Bringing the parks to the open seas

The Disney Treasure marks the first time that Disney has brought intellectual properties from its parks to one of its ships.
The Haunted Mansion Parlor is a bar that features ghostly design elements from the famed attraction as well as spirit-filled cocktails, mocktails and zero-proof beverages.

The Haunted Mansion Parlor is an adults-only bar on the Treasure cruise ship that was inspired by the Disney theme parks attraction.

“Walt Disney World has been around 50 years,” said Mazloum. “Disneyland even longer. Many of our guests over the years have been growing up by coming to our parks and over time you have these iconic attractions and experiences … Our Imagineers, and I’ve got to give them a lot of credit, came up with the idea.”
“We were literally thrilled with that idea, and even more thrilled with the reception we’ve received,” he added.
Another fan-favorite parks property coming to the Treasure is Jungle Cruise. Skipper Society is a place to grab themed cocktails and light snacks surrounded by camp-style furnishings.

Skipper Society, inspired by the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disney theme parks, is one of several adults-only bars on the cruise ship Treasure.

Other adults-only spots include Scat Cat Lounge, based on “The Aristocats,” and Periscope Pub, based on “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Multigenerational fun

Of course, for many, Disney cruises are a family affair.
“People often say that they have been designed with families in mind, which is absolutely correct,” said Mazloum. “I would go a step further and say they’ve really been designed for multiple generations so that everyone is allowed to enjoy their experiences.”
According to the Cruise Lines International Association, cruises are a top choice for multigenerational travels, with one-third of families sailing with at least two generations. Another 28% of cruise travelers board with three to five generations, the organization said in its annual state of the cruise industry report published in April.
Disney has dedicated spaces for every age group. It’s a Small World nursery offers babysitting services for children ages six months to three years, while older children can head over to Disney’s Oceaneer Club, which features several immersive spaces.
Families can also catch “Disney the Tale of Moana” at the Walt Disney Theatre onboard the Treasure. The Broadway-style production features a massive Te Ka puppet and introduces an all-new song called “Warrior Face.” The stage will also feature “Disney Seas the Adventure” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Additionally, the Treasure will have Hero Zone and the Wonderland and Never Land Cinemas, popular spaces from the Disney Wish. Hero Zone is a sports and recreation venue with game show-style competitions and physical challenges, while cinemas are luxe screening rooms featuring first-run films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm.
Similar to the Wish, the Treasure also has a Toy Story-themed area that includes a splash pool, wading pool and family waterslide. There’s also an adapted version of the Wish’s AquaMouse water coaster called “Curse of the Golden Egg.”

A water coaster called AquaMouse: Curse of the Golden Egg, inspired by Mickey Mouse animated shorts, on Disney’s cruise ship Treasure. More

Comcast is moving forward with the spinoff of its cable networks, including CNBC, MSNBC and E!, according to people familiar with the matter.
The spinoff is expected to take about a year, the people said. Bravo is not part of the spinoff, they added.
Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said during the company’s quarterly earnings call in October that it was considering spinning off the cable networks.

The Comcast NBC logo is shown on a building in Los Angeles, California, June 13, 2018.
Mike Blake | Reuters

Comcast is moving forward with the spinoff of its cable network channels, people familiar with the matter told CNBC on Tuesday.
The separation is expected to take about a year, and an announcement from the company could come as early as Wednesday, the people said.

The new entity will be led by Mark Lazarus, the current chairman of NBCUniversal’s media group, one of the people said. NBCUniversal’s Chief Financial Officer Anand Kini, will serve as the CFO and operating chief of the new entity, the person said.
Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts will maintain a voting position in the company, but will not serve as an officer or on the board of directors, the person added.
By separating the cable networks, it will give them the optionality to merge with other networks, or potentially be sold to private equity, one of the people said.
The spinoff will be tax free and the share structure of the new entity will mirror that of Comcast’s, according to the person.
At NBCUniversal, Donna Langley, the current chief content officer, will become chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios, while Matt Strauss, the current head of the direct-to-consumer unit, will be chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, overseeing sports, ad sales and distribution, the person said. Cesar Conde will remain as NBCUniversal News Group’s chairman, including oversight of NBC News Group, while Executive Vice President Adam Miller will become NBCUniversal’s Chief Operating Officer, they said.

The company had announced during its quarterly earnings call in October it was considering a split of the cable networks. Comcast President Mike Cavanagh had said the company was exploring creating “a new, well-capitalized company owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks.”
Comcast is moving forward with the decision as millions of customers exit the traditional pay TV bundle in favor of streaming. The company has been beefing up NBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock in recent years.
Comcast shares were up more than 2% in after hours trading.
The networks that are part of the spinoff also include E!, Syfy, Golf Channel, USA and Oxygen, a person close to the matter said. Bravo will remain part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal since its content is heavily featured on Peacock, one of the people said.
Cavanagh had said in October that NBCUniversal’s broadcast network NBC and Peacock would remain with Comcast.
Although cord cutting has impacted the business, traditional TV networks remain cash cows for media businesses. Comcast reported in October that third quarter revenue for its media segment, which is mainly comprised of the TV networks, was up nearly 37% to $8.23 billion, largely due to the Olympics. Without the Summer Games, revenue was up almost 5%.
The spinoff will take roughly a year as the company figures out whether licensing agreements need to be put in place, and whether MSNBC and CNBC will continue to work with NBC News, two of the people said.
Formal discussions have yet to take place between CNBC and MSNBC and NBC News, one of the people said.
The spinoff was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
— CNBC’s Julia Boorstin contributed to this article.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. More

SpaceX launched the sixth test flight of its Starship rocket on Tuesday, its fourth in 2024.
The uncrewed Starship took off from the company’s facility near Brownsville, Texas before splashing down intentionally about an hour later in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX aimed to again catch the rocket’s “Super Heavy” booster with its launch tower but instead splashed down the booster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on November 19, 2024, for the Starship Flight 6 test. 
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images

SpaceX launched the sixth test flight of its Starship rocket on Tuesday, as the company looks to keep up momentum of the mammoth vehicle’s development.
The rocket took off from SpaceX’s private “Starbase” facility near Brownsville, Texas. There were not any people on board the Starship flight.

Starship reached space and traveled halfway around the Earth before reentering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX had aimed to return the rocket’s “Super Heavy” booster after it separated from Starship and land it on the arms of the company’s launch tower. But SpaceX said during its webcast that the booster did not clear its “commit criteria” needed for the catch attempt, so the booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico instead.

As with each previous test flight, SpaceX is pushing development further by testing additional Starship capabilities, including this time reigniting an engine while in space and testing new elements of its heatshield.
Additionally, the evening launch time means that this was the first time Starship made a daylight splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump looks on as Elon Musk explains the operations of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in a control room on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. 
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Pushing the envelope

SpaceX catches the first-stage “Super Heavy” booster of its Starship rocket on Oct. 13, 2024.
Sergio Flores | Afp | Getty Images

SpaceX has flown the full Starship rocket system on six spaceflight tests so far since April 2023, at a steadily increasing cadence. Its previous launch last month featured the dramatic first catch of the rocket’s more than 20-story tall booster.
After the successful fifth flight, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that SpaceX was authorized to move forward with the sixth flight.
But, as with its previous test flights, the fifth launch was not without incidents. SpaceX management, in audio posted after the launch on social media by Musk, revealed that Starship’s booster nearly missed the catch due to a timing issue with one of the rocket’s subsystems.

SpaceX Starship rocket takes off during its sixth test flight, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Via Reuters

“We were one second away from that tripping and telling the rocket to abort and try to crash into the ground next to the tower instead of [landing at] the tower — like, erroneously tell a healthy rocket to not try that catch,” an unidentified person told Musk in the audio.
SpaceX did not catch the booster again. The company said on its website that it made hardware upgrades to the rocket’s booster for improved redundancy and improved structural strength.
The Starship system is designed to be fully reusable and aims to become a new method of flying cargo and people beyond Earth. The rocket is also critical to NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon. SpaceX won a multibillion-dollar contract from the agency to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander as part of NASA’s Artemis moon program.

Read more CNBC space news

Starship is both the tallest and most powerful rocket ever launched. Fully stacked on the Super Heavy booster, Starship stands 397 feet tall and is about 30 feet in diameter.
The Super Heavy booster, which stands 232 feet tall, is what begins the rocket’s journey to space. At its base are 33 Raptor engines, which together produce 16.7 million pounds of thrust — about double the 8.8 million pounds of thrust of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which launched for the first time in 2022.
Starship itself, at 165 feet tall, has six Raptor engines — three for use while in the Earth’s atmosphere and three for operating in the vacuum of space.
The rocket is powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane. The full system requires more than 10 million pounds of propellant for launch. More