Business

Dollar General and Dollar Tree, which will report earnings this week, have cut their sales outlooks even as consumers look for deals.
Low-income households, who tend to shop at the deep discounters, have been hit hardest by inflation.
Company-specific problems such as messy stores, worker safety concerns and limited e-commerce businesses have also hurt the dollar stores.

As shoppers look for value, dollar stores might seem to be logical destinations. But that penny-pinching mentality hasn’t been enough to lift sales for Dollar Tree and Dollar General.
Shares of the deep discounters have plunged so far in 2024. The retailers have each cut their full-year forecasts because of weaker-than-expected sales. And both have had leadership shakeups: Dollar General and its former CEO Jeff Owens parted ways in October 2023, and Dollar Tree CEO Rick Dreiling stepped down Nov. 4. Dollar Tree is also exploring selling off Family Dollar, its more grocery-focused brand.

Those results are a sharp turnabout for the dollar stores, which were once Wall Street darlings. The struggles have put scrutiny on the two retailers, which will report quarterly earnings this week.

Dollar General and Dollar Tree stores
Getty Images

Peter Keith, a retail analyst for Piper Sandler, said a challenging mix of factors hurt the retailers. Lower-income customers, who tend to shop at the chains, are most vulnerable to economic changes such as inflation. Razor-thin operating models, such as lean staffing and low hourly pay, contributed to sloppy aisles and a poor customer experience, he said. And competition grew fiercer, as legacy retailers such as Walmart made significant investments in e-commerce to keep up with consumers’ changing habits during the pandemic, he said.
“Dollar stores inherently are sort of convenient because they have a lot of locations, but they don’t have very strong digital offerings,” he said. “And I think that’s become a disadvantage in the current environment.”

Arrows pointing outwards

Shares of Dollar Tree and Dollar General have both fallen more than 40% this year, while the S&P 500 has gained more than 26% during the same period.

Stretched shoppers

For decades, dollar stores have drawn in shoppers by offering a wide array of items at simple prices and smaller sizes that fit a constrained household budget. Yet each of the dollar store banners has a different spin on strategy and assortment.

Dollar Tree is made up of two store brands, its namesake and Family Dollar. Dollar Tree sells a lot of seasonal and discretionary items, such as party supplies and toys, at stores in suburban strip malls.
Family Dollar, which Dollar Tree acquired in 2015 for nearly $9 billion, is found in more urban areas and sells more food and household staples. Family Dollar has been the weaker part of Dollar Tree. The company plans to close about 1,000 Family Dollar stores and is exploring a potential sale of the business.
Dollar General focuses primarily on rural customers. It historically sought out small towns or residential areas where shoppers otherwise had to drive a long distance to get to a grocery store or a Walmart. In recent years, it’s debuted a new store concept, Popshelf, which sells more discretionary merchandise aimed at middle- and upper-income shoppers, such as makeup, candles and throw pillows.

Though they deployed different strategies, both chains relied on store openings to fuel sales growth. The two retailers are the largest in the U.S. by store count. Dollar Tree has more than 16,000 stores, while Dollar General has nearly 20,000 locations across the U.S. Between the two brands, there is more than one dollar store for every 10,000 people in the U.S.
They have many more stores than their rivals: Walmart has roughly 4,600 stores, and Target has nearly 2,000 locations across the country.
Yet high inflation has tested their business models. About 60% of Dollar General’s overall sales come from households with an annual income of less than $30,000 per year, CEO Todd Vasos said at Goldman Sachs’ retail conference in September.
Those frequent customers tend to feel the pinch first during challenging economic times.
Vasos said in September that Dollar General saw “a pretty drastic slowdown” in the middle of the three-month period that ended Aug. 2. He said the drop-off “happened across every region, every division that we had, almost the same amount” — including its newest stores.
And the past two years of high inflation have played out differently than in the Great Recession, Piper Sandler’s Keith said. During the roughly 2007-to-2009 period, middle- and upper-income households started shopping more at the dollar stores to stretch their budgets further.
This time around, unemployment has remained low, and other value-focused retailers, including Walmart, have attracted those middle- and upper-income shoppers, Keith said.
In the most recent fiscal quarter, most of Walmart’s market share gains came from households with annual incomes of over $100,000, CFO John David Rainey said.
Warehouse clubs such as Costco and Walmart-owned Sam’s Club, online players such as Amazon and Temu, and private label-focused grocers Aldi and Trader Joe’s are also competing for — and sometimes stealing away the business of — price-conscious shoppers.
Dollar General has acknowledged stiffer competition. “The guys in Bentonville [the Arkansas home of Walmart’s headquarters] took a little bit larger piece” of the retailer’s middle-income customers, Vasos said at the September conference.
On Dollar Tree’s earnings call in early September, Chief Operating Officer Mike Creedon, who was recently named interim CEO, said the retailer had to cut its full-year outlook to reflect “how the challenging macro environment continues to pressure our customers.”
He said Family Dollar’s core customer, who is lower income, “remains weak.” Yet he said Dollar Tree, a chain that draws a more diverse mix of customers, noticed a pullback from shoppers across middle and upper incomes in the recent quarter, as the toll of inflation, high interest rates and economic pressures mounted.
Discretionary merchandise items, which tend to be more profitable than food or household essentials, were some of the worst sellers at Family Dollar in the most recent quarter, as shoppers bought fewer home decor, seasonal and beauty products, Creedon said on the earnings call.

The store problem

But some of the challenges for the dollar stores are more self-inflicted.
Both companies have faced backlash on social media and agreed to pay millions of dollars in fines to federal regulators for the conditions of stores and warehouses, including cluttered aisles and blocked fire exits. Dollar General in July reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $12 million in penalties for workplace safety concerns, on top of more than $21 million in fines from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 2017.
Dollar Tree agreed to improve worker safety in a 2023 settlement with federal regulators after it had racked up more than $13.1 million in OSHA fines since 2017. In February, it pleaded guilty and agreed to pay nearly $42 million after inspectors found live and dead rodents in an Arkansas warehouse that stored food, drugs and cosmetics.
Those safety violations can scare away customers who see those news headlines and notice when employees seem overworked and shelves are sloppy, Keith said.
“No one wants to shop in what looks like a kind of a dirty, messy environment,” he said.
Some of those problems date back to the Covid pandemic, said Alasdair James, who was Dollar Tree’s chief customer officer from early 2021 to early 2022. As the government paid out stimulus funds and the Covid virus spread, retailers struggled to fill jobs at their stores.
Some Dollar Tree locations wound up with a single worker who was left to juggle all the duties, from checking people out to stocking shelves — resulting in messy stores that turned off shoppers, he said.
Plus, vendors and consumer packaged goods companies prioritized big-box stores during the pandemic by making the more typical bulk sizes of items rather than the downsized, budget-friendly sizes sold by dollar stores, James said.
He said those out-of-stocks and poorly staffed stores drove customers to rivals.
Dollar Tree has also shaken up its pricing approach. During the pandemic, the retailer raised the price of most of its items to $1.25, and it has rolled out merchandise at higher price points, including $3, $5 and $7.
In a statement, a Dollar Tree spokesperson said the “multi-price expansion at Dollar Tree, which we believe will be a long-term growth driver, continues to resonate with our customers.” He described the retailer as “a solution for families who may be feeling the financial strain of inflation,” including families who don’t live near a grocery store or pharmacy.
Both companies also face a new risk under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has pledged to roll out additional tariffs on imports from China, a source of many goods sold at the dollar stores.
Dollar General declined to comment about the company’s challenges.
It recently touted one strategy aimed at attracting more visits from holiday shoppers, though. Dollar General is promoting a “24 Days of Savings” event in December, where it offers a deal on a featured item each day. The promotions, such as discounted holiday mugs or 12-ounce packs of bacon, are only available in stores.
— CNBC’s Ryan Baker contributed to this story. More

Famed British carmaker Jaguar revealed its new vehicle design direction Monday night with the introduction of an all-electric concept car called “Type 00.”
The vehicle features a minimalistic yet somewhat gaudy design.
The new car is boxy with sleek lights and large wheels, a notably visual change from the brand’s current, sporty cars and SUVs.
Jaguar is expected to produce several new electric vehicles over the coming years, including a four-door GT car that is expected to be revealed next year that resembles the concept car.

Image of Jaguar Type 00 concept vehicle

Famed British carmaker Jaguar revealed its new vehicle design direction Monday night with the introduction of an all-electric concept car called “Type 00.”
The vehicle, pronounced “Type Zero Zero,” features a minimalistic yet somewhat gaudy design. It is boxy with sleek lights and large wheels, a notably visual change from the brand’s current, sporty cars and SUVs.

Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest in a design or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.
Jaguar is expected to produce several new electric vehicles over the coming years, including a four-door GT car that is expected to be revealed next year that resembles the concept car.

Image of Jaguar Type 00 concept vehicle

Jaguar is projecting a range of up to 430 miles on a single charge with its new production EV, with up to 200 miles of range in 15 minutes when rapid charging.
The new concept vehicle comes weeks after Jaguar released an artistically flamboyant video meant to debut the company’s “Copy Nothing” rebranding.
The video featured androgynous models of varying ethnicities and sizes posing in vibrant clothing in a brightly colored landscape. The 30-second clip was accompanied by new logos and fonts for the embattled car company, a part of Tata Motors-owned group Jaguar Land Rover.

The rebrand and video went viral online, drawing widespread criticism on social media last month. The criticism ranged from commenters critiquing the company’s font choice and decision to remove the Jaguar animal logo — which has been featured on the car since the 1950s — to calling the company “woke” and saying it was abandoning its heritage.
Critics also noted that the ad did not have a car in the video. The company defended its efforts despite the backlash, saying the “brand relaunch for Jaguar is a bold and imaginative reinvention and as expected it has attracted attention and debate.”
The advertising campaign came after Jaguar in early November halted all new car sales in the U.K. as it prepares to relaunch as an electric-only company in 2026, part of a wider industry shift that is presenting numerous challenges for automakers.

Image of Jaguar Type 00 concept vehicle

Over the past few years, several automakers have announced plans to exclusively sell EVs, but many have backed off amid slower-than-expected adoption of the vehicles.
“We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently. We wanted to move away from traditional automotive stereotypes,” Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times in an interview last month.
Glover also condemned “the level of vile hatred and intolerance” expressed by some people commenting on the marketing video and denied it was “woke.”
— CNBC’s Jenni Reid contributed to this report.

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General Motors plans to sell its stake in a $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery cell plant in Lansing, Michigan, to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution, the automaker announced Monday.
The Detroit carmaker said it expects to recoup its investment in the facility, which a source familiar with the plans said is anticipated to be roughly $1 billion.
The automaker said the sale does not affect its overall ownership stake in the joint venture or its future plans for a separate joint venture plant with LGES rival Samsung SDI.

General Motors revealed its all-new modular platform and battery system, Ultium, at its Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan, on March 4, 2020.
Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors

DETROIT — General Motors plans to sell its stake in a $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery cell plant in Michigan to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution, the automaker announced Monday.
The Detroit carmaker said it expects to recoup its investment in the facility, which a source familiar with the plans said is anticipated to be roughly $1 billion. The sale is part of a nonbinding agreement between the two companies that is anticipated to close during the first quarter of next year, GM said.

The nearly completed, 2.8 million-square-foot plant in Lansing, Michigan, was expected to be the third battery cell facility of the joint venture, known as Ultium Cells LLC, following plants in Ohio and Tennessee that have already opened and are operational.
The Lansing plant was announced in January 2022, and the two companies first announced their joint venture five years ago.
GM’s move comes as the automaker attempts to right size production of EVs and confronts slower-than-expected consumer demand. It also comes amid uncertainty regarding federal incentives for manufacturing and purchasing EVs in the U.S. under President-elect Donald Trump.
The automaker said the sale does not affect its overall ownership stake in the joint venture or its future plans for a separate joint venture plant with LGES rival Samsung SDI.

GM CEO and Chairman Mary Barra and LG Chem Vice Chairman and CEO Hak-Cheol Shin at the automaker’s battery lab in Warren, Michigan, where the companies announced a new $2.6 billion joint venture on Dec. 5, 2019.

“We believe we have the right cell and manufacturing capabilities in place to grow with the EV market in a capital efficient manner,” GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said in a release. “When completed, this transaction will also help LG Energy Solution meet demand by leveraging capacity that’s nearly ready to come online and it will make GM even more efficient.” 

GM said the South Korean battery supplier will have immediate access to the Lansing facility to begin installation of equipment. The plant, which currently employs nearly 100 people, was expected to begin operating by the end of this year.
Separate from the sale of its stake in the Lansing facility, GM on Monday announced it will extend a 14-year battery technology partnership with LGES to include the development of an emerging type of battery cell called prismatic cells.
Prismatic cells are a flat, rectangular shape with a rigid enclosure, which allows for space-efficient packaging within battery modules and packs. GM said the cells are expected to reduce EV weights and costs, while simplifying manufacturing by reducing the number of modules and mechanical components.
“We’re focused on optimizing our battery technology by developing the right battery chemistries and form factors to improve EV performance, enhance safety, and reduce costs. By extending our partnership with LG Energy Solution, we’re taking an important step towards these goals,” Kurt Kelty, GM vice president of battery cell and pack, said in a release.
GM had previously said it planned to expand its battery cell technologies from its flat “Ultium” pouches to include other forms such as prismatic cells.

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When Pat GELSINGER took over as Intel’s chief executive in 2021 he seemed to possess the same impatient mindset as his mentor, Andy Grove, a former boss of the chipmaker famed for declaring that “Only the paranoid survive”. Barely a month into the job Mr Gelsinger unveiled a plan to restructure the business and advance through five generations of production technology within four years. Nearly four years on, however, it is Intel’s investors who have grown impatient. On December 2nd Intel announced that Mr Gelsinger would be retiring. That his departure is effective immediately, with a permanent successor yet to be appointed, suggests it was hardly voluntary. It leaves both Intel and the incoming Trump administration in an awkward spot. More

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has resigned from the automaker, which cited “different views” between him and the board of directors.
The Jeep maker said its process to appoint a new CEO is “well under way” and that it expects to conclude the search during the first half of next year.
Until then, the company said it will establish a new interim executive committee led by chairman John Elkann.

Carlos Tavares, chief executive officer of Stellantis NV, speaks to the media at the Stellantis auto manufacturing plant in Sochaux, France, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. 
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images

DETROIT — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has unexpectedly resigned from the automaker amid increasingly “different views” between the executive and the board of directors, the company said Sunday.
The world’s fourth-largest carmaker said its board accepted Tavares’ resignation on Sunday. His departure is effective immediately.

Jeep-maker Stellantis said its process to appoint a new CEO is “well under way” and that it expects to conclude the search during the first half of next year. Until then, the company said it will establish a new interim executive committee led by chairman John Elkann.
“Stellantis’ success since its creation has been rooted in a perfect alignment between the reference shareholders, the Board and the CEO. However, in recent weeks different views have emerged which have resulted in the Board and the CEO coming to today’s decision,” Henri de Castries, Stellantis’ senior independent director, said in a release.
A Stellantis spokesman declined to disclose any additional information regarding the resignation.
Tavares’ resignation comes less than two months after the company announced he would retire at the end of his contract in early 2026. At the time, Stellantis said it planned to name a a replacement by the fourth quarter of next year.

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Stellantis’ stock in 2024

Tavares has led Stellantis since its creation through a 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Groupe, where he had been board chair since 2014.

The longtime automotive veteran — a prodigy of former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn — was widely heralded in recent years for spearheading the merger and making Stellantis one of the world’s most profitable automakers.
But this year, the company’s financial results have severely underperformed expectations amid mismanagement of the U.S. market — its prime cash generator — with a lack of investment in new or updated products, historically high prices and extreme cost-cutting measures.
The company, which also owns brands such as Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, lowered its annual guidance targets in September, a month ahead of the automaker reporting a 27% decline in third-quarter net revenues.
Stellantis’ sales also have struggled this year. Most recently, the company reported a roughly 20% decline in year-over-year global vehicles sold during the third quarter. That included extending a yearslong free fall during in the U.S. despite Tavares’ attempts to correct what he has called “arrogant” mistakes.
U.S.-traded shares of the company are off roughly 43% in 2024.
Tavares made cost-cutting a critical mission for Stellantis, including a self-reported 8.4 billion euros ($9 billion) in reductions from the merger.
The cost-saving measures have included reshaping the company’s supply chain and operations, as well as reducing head counts in the U.S. and increasing work in lower-cost countries such as Brazil and Mexico.
Several current and former Stellantis executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to potential repercussions, previously described the cuts to CNBC as grueling to the point of excessiveness and leading to problems in the U.S.
Tavares pushed back on the claim that the company’s massive cost-cutting efforts had created problems.
“When you don’t deliver for any reason … you may want to use a scapegoat. The budget cut is an easy one. It’s wrong,” Tavares said in July.
Stellantis has reduced headcount by 15.5%, or roughly 47,500 employees, between December 2019 and the end of 2023, according to public filings. Additional job cuts this year involving thousands of plant workers the U.S. and Italy have drawn the ire of unions in both countries.
The United Auto Workers union has been calling for Tavares’ removal for several months as its members face layoffs and production cuts. Stellantis’ U.S. dealership network also has spoken out against Tavares amid bloated inventories and a lack of financial support from the company to sell vehicles. More

Disney’s “Moana 2,” Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” pushed the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to its biggest haul in cinematic history.
“Moana 2” led with $221 million in domestic ticket sales, the top performance of a Thanksgiving weekend film ever.
“Wicked” continued to soar, adding $117.5 million in estimated ticket sales for the holiday.
“Gladiator II” tallied an additional $44 million over the same period.

Auliʻi Cravalho voices Moana in Disney Animation’s “Moana 2.”

It was all feast and no famine at the Thanksgiving box office this year.
The tag-team of Disney’s “Moana 2,” Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” pushed the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to its biggest haul in cinematic history — an estimated $420 million as of Sunday.

“A perfect storm of Thanksgiving box office, powered by a trio of films from the musical, epic drama, and family film genres, has arrived at the most advantageous moment to reinvigorate the theatrical marketplace after a post-summer malaise,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
“Moana 2” led the frame with $221 million for the five-day period, a significant overperformance compared to the $100 million box office analysts had initially expected. It marked the highest Thanksgiving weekend performance of a film ever, beating out 2019’s “Frozen II” which snared $125 million during the period.
“Wicked” continued to soar with $117.5 million in estimated ticket sales for the holiday, bringing its total domestic haul to $262.42 million. It is now the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all time at the domestic box office. Globally, the film stands at $359.2 million after 10 days in theaters.
“Gladiator II” added $44 million to the Thanksgiving total. It has snared an estimated $111.2 million in domestic ticket sales during its first 10 days in theaters and $320 million globally since opening internationally earlier this month.
“There is no shortage of words to describe the historic weekend we’ve seen unfold at movie theaters,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “When one film exceeds expectations in the way ‘Moana 2’ has, that alone is a big story. When fellow tentpole films like ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator II’ excel at the same time, it’s a powerful reminder of the importance moviegoing continues to hold in our culture.”

The Thanksgiving holiday haul hasn’t topped $200 million since 2019, according to data from Comscore. And, prior to this weekend, only one Thanksgiving period had surpassed $300 million.
The previous record was held by 2018′s slate, which was led by “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Creed II” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” These titles helped generate $315 million in ticket sales combined.
This year’s overperformance at the box office during the Thanksgiving period has also helped narrow the gap between 2024 and 2023’s hauls. The 2024 box office was hit hard following dual labor strikes in Hollywood the previous year, which halted production and pushed many of the major blockbuster releases to 2025 and beyond.
Heading into this holiday period, the 2024 box office was down 11% compared to the previous year’s numbers. Now, it’s just 6.4% behind, according to data from Comscore.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal distributed “Wicked” and owns “Fandango.” More

Sports Media

Disney’s TV networks and streaming platform are getting a boost from the expanded College Football Playoff this season — particularly when it comes to advertising.
That’s expected to continue during the slate of college football games scheduled throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. Ad performance is expected to surge, according to data firm EDO.
College football across Disney’s networks is on pace for the most-watched season since 2016. The new 12-team College Football Playoff format has led to wider viewership.

Donovan Edwards #7 of the Michigan Wolverines hurdles a tackle attempt by Michael Taaffe #16 of the Texas Longhorns during the first half of a college football game at Michigan Stadium on September 07, 2024 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
Aaron J. Thornton | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

The expanded College Football Playoff format has changed the game for media companies this season — and for Disney in particular.
This season marks the first of the 12-team College Football Playoff format, meaning fans of more teams than ever have more skin in the game. As a result, Disney’s TV networks that air college football — including ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 — are on pace for their most-watched season since 2016, according to the company.

This has translated to more viewership engagement with the commercials aired during the games, according to EDO, an advertising data company. That’s expected to continue through this Thanksgiving weekend, a busy stretch on the college football calendar that’s chock full of rivalries and will shape playoff seeding and the upcoming Bowl games.
During the 14th and final weekend of the season, longstanding rivals such as Ohio State and Michigan, and Texas and Texas A&M will take the field.
“We have higher hopes, I think, and higher expectations for this coming weekend because of that change in format,” Kevin Krim, CEO of EDO, said of ad engagement on Disney’s networks. “The significance of these games matters, in our experience, in the data.”
In 2022, the university presidents who oversee the College Football Playoff voted to expand the postseason system that determines the national champion from four to 12 teams. The change has not only offered Disney more games on its schedule, but also increased the intrigue around the games earlier in the season.
“College football is a key cog in our portfolio, not only the sports portfolio but also our Disney platform portfolio. From an ad sales standpoint and content standpoint, we’ve had unbelievable success,” said Jim Minnich, senior vice president of Disney advertising revenue and yield management, noting “record breaking viewership across the company’s platforms.”

ABC in particular is on track to have its best season for college football ratings since 2009. The company said 12 of the 15 most-watched games were on the broadcast network this season.
Consumers were 11% more likely to engage with ads during college football games this season on Disney networks through week 10 compared with the competitive broadcast and cable prime-time average, according to EDO. That means people were more likely to search for products and offerings they saw on the commercial breaks, making those slots more valuable to advertisers.

Amari Daniels #5 of the Texas A&M Aggies runs the ball while defended by Marvin Burks Jr. #1 of the Missouri Tigers in the first quarter at Kyle Field on October 05, 2024 in College Station, Texas.
Tim Warner | Getty Images

In particular, the ad performance during the Thanksgiving weekend slew of games on Disney’s networks is expected to surge again this year, after an already strong 2023, EDO estimates. The firm reported that the ads during Disney’s games were 93% more effective last year than the programming happening in the same time slot on other networks — which also amounted to a 39% year-over-year increase.
Some of the brands that see particularly strong consumer engagement during college football games on Disney’s channels are consumer packaged goods brands such as Jimmy Dean and Just for Men; restaurants such as Popeyes; and pharmaceutical products such as AbbVie’s Skyrizi, according to EDO.
These are notable metrics as the media industry faces significant turmoil. Consumers are fleeing the pay-TV bundle, and changes media companies have made in recent years — particularly a shift in resources to streaming platforms — are more in focus than ever. Companies are leaning more than ever on advertising, too.
Disney has already seen “significant demand on renewals” for its College Football Playoff partners, with some wanting to renew early for 2027 and beyond, Minnich said.
“There’s a renewed interest earlier than ever,” Minnich said, adding that it’s driven by both the College Football Playoff and sports more broadly.
On the advertising front, Disney is sold out of its spots through the conference championship games. It has also sold about 90% to 95% of ads for the College Football Playoff games.
“We’re actually more well sold in the championship game than we have been in years past,” Minnich said. “We’re ahead of pace than we were last year, and that includes the growth that was projected for CFP.”
Live sports has remained the last bastion of solid ratings for TV networks. The National Football League is often the leader in viewership and advertising, with college football as a close second. Even as the advertising market has softened in recent years, advertisers have continued to spend on sports.
“Football is generally the most expensive thing on TV because it generates larger audiences who are more engaged with both the program and the ad breaks than anything else on TV. The NFL is the absolute pinnacle of the mountain of value, but right behind it is college football,” said Krim.
In response, media rights for sports have ballooned across the board.
Disney being the home of all Southeastern Conference football games has been a boon to advertising demand, too. The media company is reportedly paying around $300 million annually for SEC rights over the next 10 years.
ESPN and the College Football Playoff announced in March that they had agreed to a six-year $7.8 billion contract through the 2031-32 season. Shortly after, Warner Bros. Discovery signed a five-year sublicensing deal with ESPN to broadcast first-round and quarterfinal College Football Playoff games.
College football also plays a big role for Disney’s competitors, including Paramount’s CBS Sports, Fox Corp., and Comcast’s NBC Sports.
Krim said college football is more effective than average programming across all of the networks that show the games.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC. More

Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are poised to spend more this Black Friday while Kamala Harris voters might pull their budgets back, experts told CNBC.
Overall, consumers tend to spend more when they’re feeling better about the economy, which means Trump’s victory could be a boon for holiday spending in many parts of the country and a drag in others.
In the aftermath of the 2024 election, shipping volumes surged in many red states and fell in most blue states.

BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN – DECEMBER 18: A hat tops off a Christmas tree at a “Merry Christmas” rally hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the Kellogg Arena on December 18, 2019 in Battle Creek, Michigan. The House of Representatives will vote later today to determine if Trump will become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Black Friday is poised to take on a new tint of red, white and blue this year after an election that many say was won and lost on consumer sentiment and the economy. 
CNBC analyzed shipping trends in red and blue states and spoke with shoppers in Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and Virginia to better understand how the 2024 presidential election results could influence the holiday shopping season. 

People who voted for President-elect Donald Trump were overwhelmingly positive about the future of the economy, while supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris were more pessimistic, concerned that the incoming president’s policies could make things harder on the middle class. In a world where sentiment drives purchasing decisions, these differences in opinion could shape how much people end up spending this holiday season.
For example, Harris voter Amanda Davila, a 30-year-old New York City educator, told CNBC she’s planning to spend less on the holidays this year and is “trying to be more cautious” about spending in the leadup to Trump taking office in January. 
“I’m worried about my own student loans and whether things will be taken out of forbearance, how much I’m going to be owing if the SAVE Plan [for student loan repayment] goes away and things like that,” said Davila. “It’s very hard being a millennial and having to worry about buying a house, affording groceries, rent, all that stuff. With our income, it’s not enough for everything these days.” 
Meanwhile, Trump voter Armando Duarte, a 62-year-old retired utility worker from Fort Lee, New Jersey, told CNBC he’s feeling a lot better about the holiday shopping season after Trump won. 
“I’m optimistic that people are gonna feel a little bit more encouraged to spend because they may feel that the economy might be on the mend and coming back,” said Duarte. “I think things are going to really pick up for the better … I think that inflation is going to come down. Jobs are good, but they’re going to get a lot better, and hopefully wages are going to go up, and people are going to be able to afford to just basically live.” 

In the months before the 2024 election, retailers fretted over whether it would hurt sales and the all-important holiday shopping season, which was already facing a bleak outlook due to the shortened time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, among other challenges. Many companies issued cautious guidance for the back half of the year in part over concerns that the election would distract consumers from shopping or a drawn out certification process would lead to unrest and dampen sales. 
However, now that Trump has decisively won the popular vote, it appears the election could boost sales — at least in many parts of the country — because his supporters largely believe that economic conditions will improve under his direction. If most Americans are feeling better about the economy, it means they’ll likely spend more, too, experts said. 
“If they feel optimistic about what comes ahead, then they are willing to spend more, even if it is on a credit card, knowing or expecting that they’re going to have the money to then pay it off,” said Meir Statman, an expert in behavioral finance and a professor at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. “So the general optimism of Republicans, on the whole, is likely to affect their spending. We know that sentiment generally affects what people do, including spending, and conversely, it might depress, of course, the sentiment of Democrats, and in all likelihood, negatively affect their spending.” 
The way some Americans were shopping online in the aftermath of the election bolsters that argument.
Shipping data gathered by e-commerce logistics provider Grip, which ships billions in merchandise across the country every year and specializes in the delivery of perishable goods, shows different shipping patterns in blue and red states. The firm examined the total number of packages it sent in the two months before the election and what percentage went to each state, and how that changed in the two weeks after the election.
In GOP-won states, shipping volumes increased by 50.4% after the election, while Democrat-won states saw volumes decrease by an average of 11.2%. Only two blue states — Illinois and Minnesota — saw shipping volumes increase after the election, while all others saw rates fall.

“Our data shows how major events like elections can significantly impact consumer sentiment, driving changes in eCommerce shopping behavior and logistics patterns,” Grip’s CEO Juan Meisel told CNBC. “After this year’s election, we saw significant shifts in spending activity, with some regions experiencing increased volumes as consumer confidence surged, while others saw declines.”
In a national consumer survey taken after the election, GlobalData found 51.3% of respondents believe a Trump presidency will positively affect the economy, while 13.5% plan to spend more this season now that he’s been elected. Conversely, 7.2% said they plan to spend less.
In another survey conducted by retail analytics firm First Insight, a third of consumers said they are planning to reduce their holiday spending budgets because of the election.
“Consumers have mixed feelings about the election result. However, on balance, there are more who see it as positive for the economy than those who see it as negative,” said GlobalData managing director and retail analyst Neil Saunders. “If people feel good, they are more likely to spend a little more over the holidays. Trump may not have had a huge impact on Christmas, but as far as spending is concerned, he is more of a Santa-like figure than a Grinch.”

Can Trump save Christmas? 

In the leadup to the holiday shopping season, sales projections from the National Retail Federation and various consulting firms fell a bit flat after several years of strong growth, buoyed by inflation and pandemic stimulus checks.
In the 10 years before the pandemic and after the Great Recession, holiday retail sales grew on average by 3.68% each year. In some ways, this year’s forecast is a return to that historical average.

The NRF said it expects winter holiday spending in November and December to grow between 2.5% and 3.5%. At the high end, that’s close to the pre-pandemic, 10-year average, but on the low-end, it’s 32% lower than the historical average. 
Either way you slice it, the forecast would represent the slowest growth since 2018, when holiday retail sales grew 1.8% from the year-ago period. 
“I think we’re gonna have a tough Christmas this year,” said Isaac Krakovsky, the consulting retail leader for EY Americas. “All my clients, big clients, are telling me they’re spending less in capex. All of them, right? When it’s every single one of them, and it’s driven by what they’re seeing in the market, that leads me to think we’re gonna have a tough holiday season.” 

A man dressed as Santa Claus holds up a sign as he arrives at former US resident and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on December 19, 2023. 
Kamil Krzaczynski | Afp | Getty Images

Most holiday forecasts came out before the election so they had not factored in any effects from Trump’s win. But most experts agree that a decisive victory is good for business one way or the other. 
“The good news is, certainty is better than uncertainty, even if your person didn’t win … So I suppose that will help,” said Aaron Cheris, a partner with consulting firm Bain & Company. “Usually, in election years, you see a little bit of back loading where people maybe didn’t do stuff earlier because they were waiting to see what happened, and so will you see a little of that at the margin? Probably.”
While many Americans appear to be feeling better about the economy in the aftermath of Trump’s election, inflation pain lingers and is expected to dampen holiday spending. Plus, some categories are expected to outperform others, which could create another winners and losers situation for retailers come January.
Holiday sales for furniture and home furnishings are expected to decline in the high single digits, electronics and appliances are forecast to be flat while apparel and grocery are expected to grow in the low single digits, according to Bain’s forecast. Those differences across categories came out earlier this week when companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and Best Buy reported earnings. Abercrombie issued robust holidy guidance ahead of expectations while Best Buy fell short, warning demand for consumer electronics was waning.
The retail sales forecasts gets a bit murkier, and a bit worse, when inflation is taken into consideration. The NRF’s forecast isn’t adjusted for inflation, nor are Bain and EY’s outlooks of 3% growth. When higher prices are stripped out of the guidance, real growth is expected to land around 0.5%, Krakovsky estimated. Cheris agreed that real growth should be much lower after inflation is taken into consideration.
“It’s not negative, it’s not recessionary, but it’s not exciting,” said Cheris. 
Between 2010 and 2019, holiday retail sales grew on average by 4.41% when adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis of data published by Bain. If real sales only grow between 0.5% and 1% this holiday season, it would be a major drop from the pre-pandemic historical average. 

Shoppers browse for dresses during the Black Friday sale at the Vivo Activewear women’s clothing store in downtown Nairobi, Kenya November 24, 2023. 
Thomas Mukoya | Reuters

Overall, inflation has been propping up retail sales for the last few years, and many of the shoppers interviewed by CNBC lamented the impact of higher prices, regardless of their political affiliation. Some said they plan to spend more this year, but that’s only because prices are higher – not because they’re buying more things. 
For Meri Pitts, a 24-year-old college student in Detroit who works in customer care, higher prices have made the holiday season feel more like a chore than something to look forward to.
“I am the type of person, even if it’s not the holiday time, I love to go shopping. I love to, like, get my friends little gifts and things like that,” said Pitts. “Prices have skyrocketed so much that a pastime of mine that I’ve literally been enjoying since I was in high school … it’s just not as fun as it used to be because now I’m more worried about breaking my bank than I am about like getting people gifts that I feel like they deserve.”
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Michael Wayland, Melissa Repko, Sarah Whitten and Kristian Burt More