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The WNBA had record viewership during the 2024 regular season as the league’s popularity soared with rookie stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Viewership spiked to more than 54 million unique viewers across various networks and platforms, including ESPN, ABC, CBS and Ion.
In addition, game attendance soared to the highest in more than two decades, along with growth across social media and merchandise sales.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, drives to the basket against Atlanta Dream guard Destanni Henderson, #33, during a WNBA preseason game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2024.
Brian Spurlock | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

The Women’s National Basketball Association’s viewership and attendance boomed during the 2024 season, as the league’s popularity soared due to young stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
The league’s games drew more than 54 million unique viewers, an all-time record, across various networks, including Disney’s ABC and ESPN, Paramount Global’s CBS, E.W. Scripps’ Ion and NBA TV, among others, according to data the WNBA released Friday.

In addition, WNBA game attendance hit its highest level in 22 years and grew almost 50% from the 2023 season, according to the league. There were 154 sellout games during the year, more than triple the 45 sellouts in 2023.
The explosive metrics and popularity this season came with a top rookie class, including Clark of the Indiana Fever and Reese of the Chicago Sky, and as the Las Vegas Aces made a bid for their third straight championship. The figures underscore why the league was able to attract a lucrative new media rights deal and is in an expansion phase: The WNBA announced this month it will be adding a 15th team in Portland in the 2026 season.
As attention on the league increased, more players said they experienced online harassment or racism. Asked about the dynamic on CNBC earlier this month, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert did not explicitly condemn the vitriol toward players, sparking criticism from around the league.
She later clarified that she opposes “hate or racism.”

Clark’s impact also showed in the Fever’s attendance numbers. Every WNBA team had a double-digit year-over-year increase in attendance. However, the Fever had more than a fourfold jump, significantly more than the Los Angeles Sparks’ 69% growth, which was second, according to the WNBA.

The WNBA also saw sizable growth across merchandise and social engagement during the season. WNBA social media accounts drew nearly 2 billion video views, more than quadruple the number from the 2023 season.
The heightened attention has led to a $2.2 billion media rights contract for 11 seasons, with a price reevaluation after the 2028 season, CNBC previously reported. WNBA media rights were negotiated within the broader NBA agreement earlier this year.
During the rights negotiations — which led to a $77 billion, 11-year agreement in total — the NBA had pushed to get more money for the WNBA given its rising popularity.
During the 2024 WNBA season, 22 regular season game telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.
Several individual games broke records for WNBA viewership on ESPN, and this was the most viewed regular season ever for ESPN, with an average of 1.19 million viewers, up 170% from last season, according to the league. The 2024 season featured the seven most-watched WNBA games of all time on ESPN, as well as the top two on ABC.
It was also the most watched regular season ever for CBS Sports, with CBS Sports’ five most-watched WNBA games ever, including the Sky at Fever game in June that averaged 2.25 million viewers.
The explosive viewership has carried into the postseason, as a Sept. 22 matchup between the Fever and Connecticut Sun attracted a record audience, according to ESPN. Clark’s Fever were eliminated in two games in the first round.
The league’s playoffs are now in the semifinals, which feature a rematch between the Aces and the New York Liberty, last year’s runner-up. More

EchoStar is in advanced talks to sell satellite TV provider Dish Network to rival DirecTV, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the sides hope to complete a deal by Monday, no deal is assured, and the talks may still fall apart, said the people.
The deal is being driven by EchoStar’s desire to pay off $1.98 billion of debt that matures in November, said two of the people familiar with the process. EchoStar had just $521 million in cash and cash equivalents and marketable investment securities as of June 30.

Charlie Ergen, chairman and co-founder of Dish Network Corp.
Jonathan Alcorn | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Charlie Ergen is getting close to selling the pay-TV business he founded more than 40 years ago.
EchoStar is in advanced talks to sell satellite TV provider Dish Network to rival DirecTV, the closely held pay TV operator owned by private-equity firm TPG and AT&T, according to people familiar with the matter. While the sides hope to complete a deal by Monday, no deal is assured, and the talks may still fall apart, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

The combination of Dish and DirecTV has been rumored for years and nearly happened in 2002 until it collapsed under regulatory pressure. This time, the deal is being driven by EchoStar’s desire to pay off $1.98 billion of debt that matures in November, said two of the people familiar with the process. EchoStar had just $521 million in cash and cash equivalents and marketable investment securities as of June 30 and forecast negative cash flows for the remainder of 2024, according to public filings.
The prospect of a future EchoStar bankruptcy and deal approval from creditors make the completion of a deal complicated. Dish attempted to refinance some of its debt earlier this week with bondholders, but the negotiations failed, according to a Sept. 23 filing.
The company said in public filings it remains in discussions with other debtholders.
A potential DirecTV-Dish transaction is being structured as all cash, with DirecTV paying EchoStar for the satellite TV business, its digital business Sling and associated liabilities, said people familiar with the matter. All in, the transaction may be worth more than $9 billion, according to one of the people.
A spokesperson for DirecTV declined to comment. A spokesperson for Dish couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“The bottom line is that we now see bankruptcy in the next four to six months as the most likely outcome [for EchoStar],” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett said in a note to clients in August. “They will need to raise new capital.”
EchoStar has a total enterprise value of about $31 billion and a market capitalization of about $7.6 billion. There is no wireless spectrum involved in the proposed deal, which Dish Network has spent the past decade accumulating in its quest to transition into a wireless company, the people said.
Satellite TV, once some of the biggest distributors of the TV bundle, has been declining for years — often at a faster rate than cable competitors — as consumers switch to subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Dish ended its last quarter with 6.1 million satellite subscribers and 2 million customers for Sling TV, Dish’s over-the-internet package of linear networks.
DirecTV has also felt the pain, losing millions of subscribers since AT&T bought the company in 2015 for $67 billion with debt. AT&T spun it out in 2021 and sold a portion of the company to TPG. At that time, DirecTV had approximately 15.4 million subscribers. It has about 11 million today, CNBC previously reported.
The company has recently been focused on building out its streaming business, centering its latest ad campaign around dispelling the belief that DirecTV is only available through a satellite dish. MoffettNathanson estimates DirecTV added more than 20,000 streaming customers earlier this year. The bulk of its customers still use satellite dishes.
Most recently, DirecTV was in a distribution fight with Disney, which saw networks including ESPN go dark for nearly two weeks for the satellite TV company’s customers. The two companies reached a deal that gives DirecTV the ability to offer skinnier, genre-specific bundles.
— CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report. More

The Food and Drug Administration approved Bristol Myers Squibb’s highly anticipated schizophrenia drug, the first novel type of treatment for the debilitating, chronic mental disorder in more than seven decades. 
The company expects the twice-daily pill, which will be sold under the brand name Cobenfy, to be available in late October.
Cobenfy will cost $1,850 for a month’s supply or $22,500 annually before insurance and other rebates, according to Bristol Myers Squibb executives.

Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy drug
Courtesy: Bristol Myers Squibb

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Bristol Myers Squibb’s highly anticipated schizophrenia drug Cobenfy, the first novel type of treatment for the debilitating, chronic mental disorder in more than seven decades. 
Schizophrenia affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves, and can cause paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and changes in emotions, movements and behavior. Those symptoms can disrupt a patient’s everyday life, making it difficult to go to school or work, socialize and complete other daily activities. Most people are diagnosed in their late teens to early 30s.

Bristol Myers Squibb expects the twice-daily pill, which will be sold under the brand name Cobenfy, to be available in late October, executives told CNBC. The drug is a badly needed new option for the nearly 3 million adults in the U.S. living with schizophrenia, some medical experts say.
Only 1.6 million of those patients are treated for the condition, and 75% of them stop taking existing medications in the first 18 months because they struggle to find treatments that are effective or easy for them to tolerate, according to the drugmaker. 
Cobenfy could also be a huge long-term sales opportunity for Bristol Myers Squibb, which faces pressure to offset the potential loss of revenue from top-selling treatments that will see their patents expire. The drug comes from the company’s whopping $14 billion acquisition of biotech company Karuna Therapeutics at the end of last year. 
In a July research note, Guggenheim analysts said they view Cobenfy as a “longer-term multi-billion dollar opportunity” for the company. But they said the drug will likely have a slow launch, so it may not meaningfully contribute to Bristol Myers Squibb’s top line in 2024 and 2025. 
“I think there’s potentially a really transformational moment in how we treat and talk about schizophrenia. And what you have is, unfortunately, an often disadvantaged population that doesn’t get the attention they deserve from a research and health-care perspective,” Andrew Miller, founder and former president of research and development of Karuna Therapeutics and now an advisor to Bristol Myers Squibb, told CNBC.

“I think the most important moment is going to be five or 10 years from now, when we look back and say we’ve actually made a difference,” he continued. “We’ve helped people, we’ve improved outcomes, we’ve provided caregivers and physicians with another tool that they can use.”

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Cobenfy will cost $1,850 for a month’s supply or $22,500 annually before insurance and other rebates, Bristol Myers Squibb executives said.
They said that pricing is in line with existing branded oral schizophrenia treatments and that they expect most patients, particularly those enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid plans, to have minimal out-of-pocket costs for the drug. Around 80% of patients living with the condition are covered by government insurance, according to Bristol Myers Squibb.
The company intends to launch a program aimed at helping patients afford Cobenfy, executives added. 
It’s still unclear how much that program will increase access for people without insurance.
Cobenfy will have to compete with some existing schizophrenia drugs – called antipsychotic treatments – with lower list prices, particularly generic copycats of branded treatments. For example, patients without insurance can get the generic version of an antipsychotic treatment called Abilify for as little as $16 for 30 once-daily tablets with free coupons from GoodRx.
Existing schizophrenia drugs work by directly blocking the dopamine receptors in the brain to generally improve symptoms in patients. 
But they come with a long list of serious potential side effects that can cause patients to stop treatment, including weight gain, excessive fatigue and involuntary, uncontrollable movements. Roughly a third of people with schizophrenia are also resistant to conventional antipsychotic treatments, according to WebMD.
Cobenfy is the first treatment approved from a new class of drugs that do not directly block dopamine to improve symptoms of schizophrenia, Dr. Samit Hirawat, Bristol Myers Squibb’s chief medical officer, told CNBC. 
He said one part of Cobenfy is a drug called xanomeline, which activates certain so-called muscarinic receptors in the brain to decrease dopamine activity without causing the side effects associated with antipsychotics. The second part of Cobenfy is called trospium, which reduces the gastrointestinal side effects linked to xanomeline, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation. 
“The majority of these patients have already cycled through one or two of these products,” Adam Lenkowsky, Bristol Myers Squibb’s chief commercialization officer, told CNBC. “So the enthusiasm that we’re hearing from physicians is the opportunity to have a patient go onto treatment without seeing the side effects but also getting unprecedented like efficacy.” 

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Lenkowsky said the company expects Cobenfy to eventually become the standard treatment for schizophrenia as physicians learn more about the drug and get more comfortable with prescribing it to patients. 
But the price could limit use of the drug to patients who have already tried and failed with other existing treatments, said Nina Vadiei, clinical associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational sciences at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy.
“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t necessarily say we have to try X number of antipsychotics first. But I know from experience in a hospital setting that that is probably what’s going to have to happen because of cost, mainly,” said Vadiei, a clinical psychiatric pharmacist who sees patients with schizophrenia at San Antonio State Hospital.”

Trial results and upcoming research

The approval was based on data from three clinical trials comparing Cobenfy to a placebo, as well as two longer-term studies that examined how safe and tolerable the drug is for up to one year. Cobenfy met the main goal of the three trials, significantly decreasing symptoms of schizophrenia compared with a placebo, according to Bristol Myers Squibb. 
In the studies, Cobenfy mostly led to mild to moderate side effects, which were mainly gastrointestinal and dissipated over time, Miller said.
Bristol Myers Squibb said Thursday’s approval for schizophrenia may only be the beginning for Cobenfy.
For example, the company has ongoing late-stage clinical trials examining Cobenfy’s potential in treating Alzheimer’s disease patients with psychosis. Bristol Myers Squibb said it expects to release data from those studies in 2026. 
The company also plans to study Cobenfy’s potential to treat bipolar mania and irritability associated with autism. 
“When we think about Cobenfy, we think about it as multiple indications packed in one product … because we are really developing the drug not only for schizophrenia but six other indications,” Hirawat said, referring to other potential uses for the drug. 
— CNBC’s Angelica Peebles contributed to this report.

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Tigeraire, a company that makes cooling products for athletes, said Sun Day Red and Tiger Woods have “unlawfully hijacked” Tigeraire’s design into their own branding.
The dispute will bring the trademark application that Woods filed for his new logo to a halt.
Sun Day Red pays homage to the fact that Woods always wears red on Sundays and the logo is a tribute to the 15 majors he’s won over the course of his career.

Tiger Woods speaks during the launch of Tiger Woods and TaylorMade Golf’s new apparel and footwear brand “Sun Day Red” at Palisades Village on February 12, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Tiger Woods’ new logo for his Sun Day Red golf apparel line is facing a trademark dispute.
Tigeraire, a company that makes cooling products for athletes, has filed a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, alleging that Sun Day Red and Tiger Woods have “unlawfully hijacked” Tigeraire’s design into their own branding.

Arrows pointing outwards

Applicant’s Marks and the Registered Mark.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

“The actions of SDR, TaylorMade and Tiger Woods blatantly ignore Tigeraire’s long-standing protected mark, brand and identity, violate federal and state intellectual property law, and disregard the consumer confusion their actions create. SDR’s application should be denied,” the court filing said.
TaylorMade Golf, the company behind Sun Day Red, told CNBC, “We have full confidence in the securitization of our trademarks.”
Sun Day Red was launched in May, following Woods’ 27-year partnership with Nike.
The brand pays homage to the fact that Woods always wears red on Sundays and the logo is a tribute to the 15 majors he’s won over the course of his career, Woods said previously.

A detail of hats and a club cover during the launch of Tiger Woods and TaylorMade Golf’s new apparel and footwear brand “Sun Day Red” at Palisades Village on February 12, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California. 
Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

“Sun Day Red continues to penetrate the North American marketplace,” TaylorMade CEO David Abeles said. “Our products have been extremely well received.”

A spokesman for Woods declined to comment on the matter.
Woods and the Sun Day Red team will have 40 days to file an answer on the notice.
The opposition proceeding will bring the trademark application that Woods filed for his new logo to a halt, Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney, told CNBC. It is unlikely to affect future production of the line, though, he said.
“They now likely give themselves an opportunity to negotiate with Tiger and TaylorMade to see if there’s a resolution that might be had,” Gerben said.
He expects the case to settle before it gets close to a trial.
“By filing this opposition, the portable fan company really basically gets them a seat at the table to negotiate,” he said. “Because in order for Tiger and TaylorMade to get this trademark registered there, you’re gonna have to win this case.” More

The majority of investors with at least $1 million of investible assets plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a UBS survey.
However, the millionaire investors gave former President Donald Trump a better grade on the economy.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at the Philip Chosky Theatre during a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2024. 
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

A majority of millionaire investors said they plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, even though they give former President Donald Trump a better grade on the economy, according to new survey.
According to a UBS survey of investors with at least $1 million of investible assets, 57% plan to vote for Harris and 43% plan to vote for Trump.

Harris wins 91% of Democratic millionaires surveyed, 12% of Republicans and 60% of independents. Trump wins 88% of Republican millionaires, 9% of Democrats and 40% of independents.
Like many voters, millionaire investors rated the economy as their No. 1 issue. Fully 84% said the economy is the top issue in the election, followed by Social Security (71%), then taxes (69%) and immigration.

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While they support Harris more broadly, the investors who were surveyed give Trump slightly higher marks on the economy and taxes. When asked “who is better equipped to address the economy,” 51% said Trump and 49% said Harris. Trump also edged out Harris on taxes, at 52% to 48%.
Trump has proposed extending the 2017 tax cuts entirely, while Harris wants them to apply only to those making less than $400,000. She has also proposed higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
Millionaire investors give Harris better grades on Social Security and health care.

Whoever wins, however, millionaire investors are bullish on the economy and markets. A majority (55%) said they are highly confident about the economy, up from 43% during the same period in the 2020 election cycle (which was during the Covid-19 pandemic). Three-quarters of investors are also “highly optimistic” about their portfolio returns in the next six months.
More than three-quarters of wealthy investors are also planning to make changes to their portfolios based on the election results. If Trump wins, they said defense and energy stocks look attractive, but if Harris wins, they said health-care, sustainable investing and tech names look best, according to the survey.
The survey polled 971 investors with at least $1 million in investible assets between Aug. 13 and Aug. 19.

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Local fans of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche will have a couple more ways to watch their teams’ games this season.
Twenty of each team’s games will be aired via local broadcast stations owned by Tegna.
All of the teams’ games that are not exclusive to a national network will be available on a new streaming service, Altitude+, for $19.95 a month.

Nikola Jokic, #15 of the Denver Nuggets, shoots the ball against Bones Hyland, #5, and Norman Powell, #24, of the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half of a preseason game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on October 19, 2023.
Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images

Local fans of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche will have some new ways to watch their teams’ games this season.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment — Stan Kroenke’s company that owns several professional sports franchises including Denver’s NBA and NHL teams along with their regional sports network, Altitude — is partnering with broadcast station owner Tegna to offer a chunk of Avalanche and Nuggets games this season. It’s also launching a direct-to-consumer streaming service.

The local broadcast partnership and new streaming service is part of a growing trend, especially among NBA and NHL teams, which are searching for more ways to offer games to fans who have turned away from the traditional pay TV bundle.
Beginning this season, there will be 20 Nuggets and 20 Avalanche games on Tegna’s free local over-the-air broadcasts, 9NEWS and My20.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is also launching the direct-to-consumer streaming service, Altitude+, in October. The platform will give fans in the Denver media market access to all Avalanche and Nuggets games for $19.95 a month.
The NHL season begins on Oct. 4 when the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres play in Prague. The season in North America begins on Oct. 8. The NBA season begins on Oct. 22.
While both teams’ local games are aired on Altitude Sports, the regional sports network is only available to fans in Denver on DirecTV and Fubo TV. It’s also available on Charter Communications’ Spectrum in some parts of its nine-state territory.

However, Altitude hasn’t been available to Comcast and Dish pay TV customers since 2019, leaving a big hole in the Denver market. The availability on Tegna’s broadcast stations and the introduction of the streaming service may solve problems for fans in the market.
“It certainly played a role. But what we’re really focused on is trying to get maximum exposure for our two great teams,” Steve Smith, president of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment’s KSE Media Ventures, said in an interview with CNBC. “And we think this deal really gives people the opportunity to do it however they want.”
Altitude Sports sued Comcast in 2019 after the two sides could not reach a distribution agreement, leading to a so-called blackout for Comcast’s customers. The two sides settled in March 2023, but notably the settlement did not include a restoration of Altitude Sports on Comcast.
The Bally Sports regional sports networks owned by Diamond Sports, which is under bankruptcy protection, went dark for Comcast customers earlier this year. However, the two sides reached an agreement in July.
In the wake of Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy, numerous teams have parted ways with their regional sports networks, opting for deals with broadcasters and launching streaming services.
Most recently, the NHL’s Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks exited Bally Sports. Stars games will be available on streaming service Victory+ this season, and the local Ducks games will be available via Victory+ and a local over-the-air broadcast. The streaming option for both is free.
Meanwhile, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans have both turned to local over-the-air broadcasters instead of Bally Sports for all their games this season. This followed both teams reaching agreements similar to the Nuggets and Avalanche’s deal with Tegna. Before offering all games through broadcasters, the Pelicans had aired 10 of their matchups on Gray’s stations, while the Mavericks offered 13 games in the latter part of last season on Tegna’s stations.
Regional sports networks are also increasingly offering streaming options.
The YES Network, which airs MLB’s New York Yankees, and MSG Networks, which offers the NBA’s New York Knicks and NHL’s New York Rangers, among others, are also debuting a streaming option through a joint venture this fall.
The pricing of regional sports networks’ streaming options reflects that they must be careful not to further disrupt the pay TV model and breach contracts with distributors. These pay TV contracts help support the billions of dollars in fees that the networks pay professional sports leagues to air their games.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

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Sales are expected to fall roughly 2% during the third quarter compared with the same time in 2023 to about 3.9 million vehicles sold, according to Cox Automotive and Edmunds.com.
Analysts note that the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to cut rates was positive, but it does not necessarily guarantee a major uptick in sales through the rest of the year.
Sales of EVs are expected to increase about 8% during the third quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Cox.

New Jeep vehicles sit on a Dodge Chrysler-Jeep Ram dealership’s lot on October 03, 2023 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images

DETROIT — U.S. sales of new vehicles are expected to have struggled during the third quarter amid economic and political uncertainties, as well as elevated interest rates and prices, according to industry forecasters.
Sales are projected to fall roughly 2% during the third quarter compared with the same time in 2023, to about 3.9 million vehicles sold, according to Cox Automotive and Edmunds.com. That would be a roughly 5% decrease compared with the second quarter of this year.

Analysts note that the Federal Reserve’s decision last week to cut rates was a step in the right direction, but it does not necessarily guarantee a major uptick in auto sales through the rest of the year.
“2024 has been a volatile year for the new vehicle market, and more of the same is expected in Q4,” said Charlie Chesbrough, Cox Automotive senior economist. “Affordability remains the main obstacle to a stronger market, but it is improving, so we remain optimistic on the outlook for industry sales.”
Both Cox and Edmunds expect light-duty U.S. vehicle sales to total about 15.7 million vehicles in 2024. Edmunds has maintained its guidance since the beginning of the year, while Cox lowered it from an initial forecast of 16 million.
Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights, said the current market is just too expensive for many consumers, limiting the number of Americans who can purchase a new vehicle.
“Who can afford new cars seems to be the big issue. People, on average, are having to finance $40,000 for a new car,” she told CNBC. “The new market is quite limiting for a lot of buyers.”

The average transaction price for a new vehicle is down from a year ago but remains elevated compared with historical levels at $47,870, according to Cox.
Honda Motor and Ford Motor are expected to be among the only major automakers to experience growth during the third quarter compared with a year earlier, according to forecasts. Those with the biggest losses are expected to include Stellantis, Toyota Motor and BMW.
Stellantis’ sales, which Cox forecasts to be off as much as 21% in the third quarter from a year earlier, have been in a freefall for more than a year. CEO Carlos Tavares has prioritized pricing and profits over market share, especially with the automaker’s crucial Jeep and Ram brands.
Regarding electric vehicles, sales are growing but are still slower than many had previously anticipated. Sales of EVs are expected to increase about 8% during the third quarter compared with a year earlier, according to Cox.
The projected rise in EV sales comes despite a forecast decrease in sales of 2.4% during the quarter for U.S. EV leader Tesla, Cox reports. Tesla, which has dominated EV market share for years, is expected to have its share drop below 50% for the second consecutive quarter, according to Cox.
EV sales are being heavily assisted by incentives. While average transaction prices for new EVs is anticipated to be flat year over year, incentives for the vehicles are expected to have increased, to represent 13.3% of the average transaction price of the vehicles. That’s the highest rate so far this year and more than 80% higher than incentives for traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines.
The EV incentives include an up to $7,500 federal credit from the U.S. government for consumers to purchase or lease an electric vehicle. Not all new EVs qualify for the incentive, unless they’re leased.

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THE 2015-16 season was an epic one for Nike’s athletes. LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to basketball glory in the NBA play-offs and the Denver Broncos, quarterbacked by the Nike-shod Peyton Manning, triumphed in American football’s 50th Super Bowl. In proper football, Cristiano Ronaldo won both the UEFA Champions League (with Real Madrid) and the European championship (with Portugal). In tennis, Serena Williams secured her seventh Wimbledon singles title. At the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, 89 track-and-field medallists plus the entire male marathon podium wore Nikes, and Simone Biles, who had clinched an endorsement deal with the sportswear giant the year before, tumbled her way to four gymnastics golds and a bronze. More