Business

Tune in to CNBC all day on Sept. 5 for coverage of the Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations

The American Gaming Association expects $35 billion to be legally wagered this NFL season, a fresh record.
That would mark more than 30% growth over the $26.7 billion Americans wagered over the course of last year’s season of the National Football League, according to the AGA.
Licensed sportsbooks like DraftKings, FanDuel and ESPN Bet are working to claim a bigger share of the action.

Joe Milton III #19 of the New England Patriots scrambles from the pressure of Kyu Blu Kelly #36 of the Washington Commanders during the third quarter of a preseason game at Commanders Field on August 25, 2024 in Landover, Maryland.
Scott Taetsch | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Football is back, and it’s expected to bring with it record-breaking betting.
U.S. adults will wager $35 billion this NFL season, according to projections from the American Gaming Association.

That would mark more than 30% growth over the $26.7 billion Americans wagered over the course of last year’s season of the National Football League, according to the AGA, and would set a fresh record. Since last NFL season, Maine, North Carolina and Vermont have allowed sports betting operators to launch in their states. And court decisions have permitted Hard Rock International to relaunch sports betting in Florida.
Today, sports betting is live and legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C.
And yet stocks in the gambling companies aren’t following the same growth trajectory. Shares of DraftKings, Penn, Caesars, MGM Resorts and Entain, which jointly own BetMGM, are all negative year to date. Flutter, owner of FanDuel, is up 19%, after listing on the New York Stock Exchange this year. It posted second-quarter earnings that trounced expectations for revenue and profit, giving shares a lift.
Churchill Downs is positive on the year and Rush Street Interactive has posted notable gains of 109% year to date.

Competition heating up

Each of the licensed sportsbooks is working on strategies to claim a bigger share of the action, trying to attract new customers and convince established players to show more brand loyalty.

NFL kickoff is an opportunity to launch new and improved technology or innovative wagers that entice players. Sportsbooks tailor their promotions to reach new customers.
“The NFL season is our biggest acquisition period of the year,” said Christian Genetski, president of FanDuel, the nation’s leading sportsbook.
FanDuel is the only one to partner with YouTube to roll out a “Sunday Ticket” offer. Players who wager $5 get a three-week trial to watch out-of-market NFL games with “Sunday Ticket.” FanDuel hopes allowing fans to watch their favorite teams will lead to more wagering.
FanDuel also said it has tweaked its app design and added more bets to its Same Game Parlay. It’s upgraded features so fans can wager at “the speed of sports,” the company said.
With more than 95% of sports wagers now happening online, speed matters. That’s especially true when it comes to micro-betting: wagers made on specific plays as the game unfolds.
Fanatics, Michael Rubin’s e-commerce empire that includes sports merchandise and memorabilia, launched its sportsbook last year in four markets. Since then, Fanatics Sportsbook acquired PointsBet’s U.S. operations and technology, which is now fully integrated. And its sportsbook is now live in 22 states.
It’s a pretty impressive ramp for a newcomer to the industry.

Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Fanatics Sportsbook relies on the existing database of 100 million sports fans for customer acquisition throughout the year and rewards them with products from the merchandise and collectibles businesses.
And just before the start of the 2024 football season, Fanatics hosted a blockbuster fan activation called Fanatics Fest NYC where customers could meet athletes and celebrities and celebrate their passion for sports.
Fanatics Sportsbook CEO Matt King told CNBC the customer response was effusive.
“We’ve seen incredible positive sentiment and resonance with our proposition of being the most rewarding sportsbook, both in terms of the economic value of what we give back as well as, frankly, the unique things we can do,” King said.
King said unique player rewards build into the crescendo of the sports calendar, what he described as the “sports equinox” — that time during the fall when nearly every sport is being played on overlapping schedules.
DraftKings said the NFL is its most popular league by both handle and number of bets it accepts.
The sportsbook, which recently pulled back on a plan to tax customers in high-tax states, is offering a “No Touchdown” prop bet this season, meaning bettors will now be able to wager on whether a top player does not score a touchdown.

New offerings

With its shares off 28% this year and its digital business in the red, there is a spotlight and scrutiny on Penn Entertainment. This is its first full NFL season to show off ESPN Bet, its $2 billion investment on a rebranded sportsbook in partnership with the Disney-owned sports juggernaut. It first launched in November last year, smack in the middle of NFL season.
Since then, the platform has grown its customer database to 31 million members, an 80% gain. Penn’s leaders are optimistic about its media integration with ESPN.
“People are active in our app, and our goal over the next several quarters is to drive higher loyalty and retention and better monetize the significant engagement activity through improved product and expanded offerings,” Penn CEO Jay Snowden said on an Aug. 8 earnings call.

The ESPN Bet app on a smartphone arranged in New York, US, on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. 
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

BetMGM just launched the first single wallet for mobile play in Nevada, where customers can transport their accounts from Las Vegas back to their home states. Mobile wallets eliminate the friction of multiple transactions.
“Our players can now immerse themselves in the excitement of MGM Resorts’ Las Vegas destinations or statewide while seamlessly continuing to place wagers in other BetMGM markets,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said in a statement.
Tune in: CNBC reveals the Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations Thursday, Sept. 5 on air and online. More

Professional sports owners and leagues are increasingly focused on how to insure smooth ownership transitions.
Succession and taxes have become especially important in the National Football League, where the average age of team owners is now over 72 and team values are all surging.
CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations list, ranking all 32 professional franchises, will be released Thursday.

A detail view of a NFL shield logo paint of the field during a preseason game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on August 24, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
Ric Tapia | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Sports team owners benefiting from soaring team values are also facing new pressure from two of the oldest certainties in American wealth: death and taxes.
With the average age of team owners rising, and team values skyrocketing into the billions, owners and leagues are increasingly focused on how to insure smooth ownership transitions to the next generation of buyers. While today’s owners have highly sophisticated tax and succession plans, even the best plans can blow up over family disputes or unexpected tax changes.

“The people who bought sports teams a long time ago have now found that a large portion, if not a vast majority, of their long-term estate is now the value of the team,” said Stephen Amdur, co-leader of mergers and acquisitions and private equity practices at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, who advises many billionaire team owners. “They’re thinking a lot about who is going to hold it for the next generation and what they’re going to do with it.”
Succession and taxes have become especially important in the National Football League, where the average age of team owners is now over 72 and team values are all surging. CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations list, ranking all 32 professional franchises, will be released Thursday.
NFL owners face one of two painful choices: They can sell the team while they’re alive, which can create massive capital gains tax bills, or they can pass the team to their families, which can trigger estate taxes or prolonged family battles for control.
Former Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen created a detailed succession and tax plan for the team a decade before his death in 2019. Yet a bitter dispute among family members, both before and after he died, led the team to be sold in 2022 to Walmart heir Rob Walton for $4.65 billion.

Then-owner Bud Adams of the Tennessee Titans signs autographs during a preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings at LP Field on August 13, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Grant Halverson | Getty Images

Tennessee Titans founder Bud Adams, who died in October 2013, had divided ownership of the team among three branches of his family, which he thought would keep the peace. Instead, the split created a highly public battle over control, leading to an eventual deal within the family. Amy Adams Strunk, Bud’s daughter, is now controlling owner of the team.

Longtime New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson touched off years of litigation when he removed his daughter and two grandchildren from his estate and passed ownership of the NFL team and the National Basketball Association’s New Orleans Pelicans to his wife Gayle when he died in 2018. She still maintains control of the Saints.

Then-New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson and his wife Gayle before a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on August 26, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

And perhaps the most poignant cautionary tale in the NFL is the legendary Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie, who left the team to his wife and nine children at the time of his death in 1990. A family feud and estate taxes of more than $45 million forced the family to sell a majority of the team in 1994.
Under current U.S. tax law, estates over $13.6 million for individuals or $27.2 million for couples are subject to a tax of 40%. Since teams in the NFL and NBA are now worth billions, all team owners could potentially be subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes without proper planning. 
Another wrinkle: It’s unclear whether the estate tax rates would change in 2025, when the current levels are set to expire. So owners have to be planning for the potential for more punitive estate taxes in the coming years.
Trust and estate attorneys say today’s team owners have a much broader array of tools at their disposal to minimize the tax impact of succession. One of the most popular is the family limited partnership, which makes family members minority stakeholders and leaves the primary owner, as the general partner, with control. By dividing up ownership, the partnership can lower the value of assets (and therefore of the taxable estate) of the general partner.
Owners can also split ownership among family members through individual trusts, as Chicago Bears owner George “Papa Bear” Halas Sr. did with his 13 grandchildren. They can also transfer an interest in the team into an irrevocable trust through a partnership or an LLC.

Chicago Bears coach George Halas watches his team play the Los Angeles Rams in the Coliseum on Nov. 2, 1958.
Bettmann | Getty Images

“Owners are spending more time on the front end thinking about long-term estate planning to ensure as tax-efficient an outcome as possible,” Amdur said.
That’s assuming the team stays in the family, of course. While owners often hope to pass their passion and financial commitment to a team on to their children, the next generations often have different interests or financial goals, which could mean offloading some team ownership.
And there’s now a fresh pool of prospective buyers.
The NFL last week voted to allow select private equity firms to buy minority stakes in teams, giving owners and their families a chance to draw down cash that they could then reinvest in their teams or invest in nonsports assets to better diversify – all while keeping control.
“I think it’s an appropriate thing to give the teams that liquidity to reinvest in the game and to their teams,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in making the announcement. More

Tesla’s Cybertruck is not a direct competitor for electric trucks from traditional automakers — and in many ways it’s not a “truck” at all.
The $100,000 futuristic vehicle is an experiment for the company regarding its technologies, including a new electrical architecture and steering system.
Like the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino before it, the Cybertruck has created a new segment in the automotive industry that it solely holds.

A Tesla Cybertruck in front of a graffiti mural on Aug. 28, 2024 in Detroit.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

DETROIT – Spaceship. Dream car. UFO. Dumpster. Cool. Stupid. Phenomenal. Abomination.
Those were all words used to describe the Tesla Cybertruck during a 24-hour rental of the vehicle in metropolitan Detroit. They were expressed by strangers, friends, family, and auto industry experts and employees.

A word not used much? “Truck.”
That’s because the Tesla Cybertruck is far more “cyber” than “truck.” It indeed has some truck capabilities, such as a pickup bed and other utilitarian features, but it is not a truck in any traditional sense of the word.
It is a unique product that only comes along every so often. Similar to the first SUV, minivan or “roadster pickups” such as the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino, it has created a new segment in the automotive industry that it solely holds.
That’s good and bad for both Tesla and its competitors, specifically the truck-reliant automakers from Detroit that have spent decades refining their trucks to meet the needs of their customers. That includes things such as bed access and door handle sizes to seating height and interior components.
The Cybertruck is not a direct competitor for electric trucks from traditional automakers. The Cybertruck is a “truck” for Tesla fans/owners and an experiment for the company in many ways regarding its technologies, including a new electrical architecture and steering system.

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

The top vehicles that are cross-shopped for the Cybertruck are Tesla’s other four models, followed by the Ford F-150 Lightning in a distant fifth at 7.4% of potential buyers, according to Edmunds.com.
I drove a roughly $100,000 all-wheel-drive version of the Cybertruck in regular driving conditions and traffic in Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, including a short torrential downpour in which the vehicle’s comically large wiper blade performed fine.
I did not test the vehicle’s towing or hauling capabilities, which have come into question recently following reports of problems involving the durability of the vehicle’s aluminum frame. Most notably, in an over-the-top viral video from YouTube channel WhistlinDiesel.
I wanted to have better first-hand knowledge of the vehicle and compare it with electric trucks from other automakers, but that was harder than initially expected. I also purposely did not watch or read any reviews ahead of time about the vehicle before driving it.

Driving the Cybertruck

The Cybertruck is unlike any other vehicle I’ve ever driven. That includes every all-electric truck on sale today from General Motors, Ford Motor and Rivian Automotive.
The only vehicle to come close to a similar driving experience is GM’s Hummer EV. Both are large, gaudy and outlandish vehicles that are more infamous than they are practical. But the Hummer EV still feels like a truck in its driving dynamics, seating and overall functionality. The Cybertruck does not.

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

The Cybertruck features tight steering, including a yoke and “steer-by-wire” system; a stiff chassis similar to a sports car; and, while arbitrary, a design that is far more form than function, which is historically one of the top reasons to purchase a pickup truck.
The seating also feels far more like a car than a truck. Even when the vehicle is at its “high” setting, which it can only be in under 25 mph, it’s still several inches lower than most electric trucks.
That’s not to say it isn’t “tough.” As seen on YouTube, the company and owners have shot bullets at it, thrown steel balls at its windows and done other less-than-industry-standard tests. Having said that, the vehicle I drove had just more than 2,000 miles on it and I found two pieces of trim peeling off along the rolling bed cover’s sealant/guide rails.
Potential problems with the durability of the frame are concerning. It is the base of the vehicle that everything is built on. For a vehicle’s frame to break, even in severe testing conditions, is a serious problem.
Regarding its polarizing design, it’s on another level of its own. It makes GMC’s Hummer seem normal. Heads turned, jaws dropped and there were even a few people yelling or screaming, including one fellow driver aggressively giving me a thumbs down as I passed (some Cybertruck drivers have reported more explicit gestures). The reactions came from toddlers and school children to construction workers and police officers.

Interior

Inside the doorstop-shaped, stainless-steel alloy exoskeleton of the Cybertruck is where things get more interesting.
The interior of the vehicle, like its other Tesla siblings, is described by many as “minimalistic.” I’d call it sparse and, in some material choices, cheap for a $100,000 vehicle. Given its size, the interior of the vehicle also feels more like a car than a “truck.”

Interior of a Tesla Cybertruck
Michael Wayland / CNBC

There’s about 3½ feet of unusable space from the driver to the bottom of the vehicle’s windshield, while the back seat is fine for a car but a little lacking for space compared with today’s full-size pickup trucks.
The centerpiece of the vehicle’s interior is a large 18.5-inch, center-mounted touchscreen and minimal controls on the steering wheel, or yoke.
What the Tesla Cybertruck lacks in “truck-ness” and interior qualities, it arguably makes up for in technology, as well as the human-machine interface, or HMI, of the vehicle with the driver.
That includes the gear shifter being a long rectangle in the top left of the screen for drive, park and reverse. It functioned well and I did not miss having to use a traditional shifter, although there are such buttons hidden in the vehicle’s roof, above the screen.

The “shifter” on the Tesla Cybertruck is the long rectangle on the left of the vehicle’s center control screen.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

The processing speed of the infotainment system is impressive, especially when compared with other non-Tesla EVs from traditional automakers. It’s also very manageable, despite the amount of information displayed on the screen.
I’d still prefer a screen in front of the driver or a heads-up display for speed and other rudimentary information projected on the vehicle’s windshield but it didn’t bother or distract me as much as I thought it would.
The vehicle’s mirrors also were largely unusable, and likely only there to meet federal safety standard requirements. The Cybertruck’s camera system, which functions in lieu of useful mirrors, took a little getting used to but worked just fine (several automakers have usable mirrors along with such camera systems that show the rear and sides of the vehicle).

Tech focused

I was able to use the vehicle’s adaptive cruise control system, which Tesla infamously calls Autopilot, but not more advanced systems such as “FSD,” which Cybertruck customers can order but isn’t yet available.
The system’s ability to spot and display other vehicles, streetlights, people and even traffic cones, stop signs and garbage cans on the screen was impressive, but it was nothing more than a standard adaptive cruise control when driving. It also stopped at every traffic light whether it was green, yellow or red.
Another surprising feature was the yoke replacing a traditional steering wheel. Again, this is a feature more popular with race cars than pickup trucks, but it functioned well. It does not rotate fully, instead going about 180 degrees or so for a full turn. Input needed is minimal when changing lanes. The ease also comes from the vehicle’s four-wheel steering and steer-by-wire system.

The Tesla Cybertruck is unveiled at Tesla’s design studio on Nov. 21, 2019, in Hawthorne, Calif. 

Both steering features are emerging technologies being used or looked into by other automakers.
The four-wheel steer makes it so a large vehicle such as the Cybertruck or GMC Hummer, which also features it on its rear wheels, can turn more tightly than a traditional truck. It’s more similar to the turn radius of a car, which helps maneuver the vehicle into tighter places and parking spots.
The steer-by-wire is harder to describe. The system uses electronics and software to control a vehicle’s steering without a mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels. It feels almost like a racing yoke for a video game or aircraft rather than a traditional vehicle.
“You can make it perform much differently. … It gives you much more of a performance bandwidth,” said Terry Woychowski, president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global.

A Tesla Cybertruck next to a GMC Hummer EV SUV.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Woychowski, a former GM executive whose company has tested and benchmarked the Cybertruck, said the steer-by-wire feature is “discretionary.” But he described the change in the vehicle’s electrical architecture that powers all of its systems as “bare bones, engineering efficiency” that has been a needed change for years.
The Cybertruck features a 48-volt architecture to power the components of the vehicle. Doing so allows for additional electrical bandwidth for a vehicle and eliminates the need for a traditional 12-volt battery to power things such as windows, seats and headlights.
Tesla is the first to offer such a 48-volt system on a pure EV. Tesla CEO Elon Musk infamously sent competitors such as Ford and GM essentially a “how-to” guide on developing such a system.
The benefit with using the higher voltage for auxiliary devices is that the same power can be supplied at a lower current. It can save weight and cost as the wiring is about half the size.

A Tesla Cybertruck in front of a graffiti mural on Aug. 28, 2024 in Detroit. 
Michael Wayland / CNBC

However, the system requires a complete rethinking of a vehicle’s electrical architecture that can be costly. Whether or not other automakers follow Tesla is yet to be seen.
“The bill to make the change is huge,” Woychowski said. “It really is very, very good technology to bring in. It’s long overdue. There is a direct savings from a cost and mass perspective, and for an EV that is gold.”
It’s apparent that the vehicle appeals to a sector of Americans who have the means to afford it … likely along with several other vehicles. It was the top-selling electric “truck” during the second quarter of this year, edging out the segment-leading Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and GM’s Hummer EV and Chevy Silverado EV.
But how much appeal such a polarizing vehicle has in the long term will be determined in the coming quarters and years ahead. The Chevy El Camino and Ford Ranchero were able to last a couple decades. More

Decarbonising the world’s electricity supply will take more than solar panels and wind turbines, which rely on sunshine and a steady breeze to generate power. Grid-scale storage offers a solution to this intermittency problem, but there is too little of it about. The International Energy Agency (IEA), an official forecaster, reckons that the global installed capacity of battery storage will need to rise from less than 200 gigawatts (GW) last year to more than a terawatt (TW) by the end of the decade, and nearly 5TW by 2050, if the world is to stay on course for net-zero emissions (see chart 1). Fortunately, though, the business of storing energy on the grid is at last being turbocharged. More

Comcast’s NBCUniversal put all of its resources across the company into the Summer Olympics.
It appears to have paid off as more than 30 million viewers tuned in across NBC’s TV and streaming platforms.
Executives say a lot of the same strategies will be used for future live sports, including subsequent Olympics and a new agreement with the NBA.

Mike Tirico is seen on the set of NBCUniversal Paris 2024 Olympics coverage on August 04, 2024 in Paris, France. 
Kristy Sparow | Getty Images

Comcast’s NBCUniversal has a longstanding bet on the Olympics, but this summer the company threw all of its resources at the Games in a bid to grab more viewership — especially for its growing streaming platform, Peacock.
It appears to have paid off so far — more than 30 million people tuned in to NBC’s TV and streaming platforms to watch the games, and a record $1.2 billion in advertising revenue was generated.

NBC executives, having touted the Olympics as a growth driver and differentiator in the increasingly crowded landscape of streaming and live sports, are now looking to extend the benefit beyond the Games and into future live sports.
“We completely changed the game plan internally. We ripped up the playbook two years ago,” said Jenny Storms, chief marketing officer of entertainment and sports at NBCUniversal. “It was very scary at the time to take the institutional knowledge that we had for so long and rip it up and start over. We really started new and fresh in totality, from production to company wide counterparts.”
The Olympics have long been key to NBCUniversal. Paris marked the 18th Olympic Games broadcast by NBC in the U.S. The company renewed the rights in 2014, agreeing to pay $7.65 billion for the Games between 2022 and 2032, amounting to more than $1.2 billion for each.
Just before Paris, efforts had fallen flat. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Olympics drew the lowest-ever audiences for Summer and Winter Games, respectively.
Storms noted there were factors at play in those last two Olympic Games that were largely out of NBCUniversal’s control.

Both of the Games were shrouded by the early stage of the pandemic. Tokyo was postponed by a year, and fans and families weren’t present at either games. The time zone difference from Asia worked against the U.S. broadcast, too.
But notably the strategy for Peacock during those Games appeared to be the biggest misstep. In Tokyo, very few events were available to stream live on Peacock. In Beijing, the live content was there, but fans had trouble finding what they wanted to watch.
“We made a claim that Peacock would be the home of the Olympics, and we didn’t exactly deliver,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. “We were nervous about how much content to put on there, how to program it and how to cross-deliver it [with traditional TV]. And we were rightly told by the fanbase that we didn’t deliver what we said we would.”

NBC family plan

Snoop Dogg is interviewed at the beach volleyball event on day five of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 31, 2024.
Carl Recine | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Executives across the company have credited Paris as a part of the success of this year’s Olympics, between the eye-catching scenery — with the Opening Ceremony on the Seine River and beach volleyball played in front of the Eiffel Tower, to name a couple — and favorable time zone working in NBC’s favor.
The company also began marketing the Olympics much earlier this time around, employing various parts of NBCUniversal to get the word out, from news programs and talk shows, to various forms of advertising, Storms said.
Both Storms and Lazarus also noted the success of airing the Olympic trials in the weeks before the games.
“We never really pushed hard with the trials before,” Storms said. “But it was the most streamed trials ever, and it was important to warm America up.”
And then there was the star factor of NBCUniversal’s internal roster.

(L-R) Comedian and host Jimmy Fallon and Sha’Carri Richardson, American track and field athlete attend the Men’s Gold Medal game between Team France and Team United States on day fifteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France. 
Pascal Le Segretain | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

The company used its own talent more strategically in 2024, executives said. Besides airing promos for content, NBC A-listers were integrated into the events themselves, co-hosting and reporting from the sidelines. Fan favorite Snoop Dogg, a special correspondent for NBC Olympics, generated social media buzz and drew more eyes to the live events. And, his stand-out presence in Paris helped promote his upcoming role with NBC’s “The Voice” this fall.
“We had a great experience with Snoop, we are definitely in the Snoop business with ‘The Voice,’ and hope to be in the Snoop business in the future,” said Lazarus, adding NBCUniversal doesn’t have a commitment yet with Snoop Dogg for future Olympics.
Other NBC talent attended the Games to promote their projects, too. Mariska Hargitay, who’s played the character Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” since 1999, was in Paris promoting the show’s 26th season. A variety of “Saturday Night Live” cast members were present, including Colin Jost, who covered surfing in Tahiti and had to make an early exit due to health issues.
Shows from both NBC and Peacock were also promoted at the Games, and Universal’s upcoming film, “Wicked,” was highlighted often, with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo appearing on the Opening Ceremony red carpet.
The “Wicked” actors also voiced a promotional piece for U.S. gymnastics powerhouse Simone Biles, and an exclusive clip of the film was aired during the “Today” show from Paris. NBC said among moviegoers, “‘Wicked’ gained ground across measures during the Olympics, doubling our level of top of mind awareness, and increasing total awareness,” according to polling.

Plumping up Peacock

A view of bread with NBC logos and the Olympic Rings at The TODAY Show at Rockefeller Plaza on April 17, 2024 in New York City. 
Dustin Satloff | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Arguably no NBC property shined brighter during the Olympics than streaming platform, Peacock.
Due in large part to Peacock, 23.5 billion minutes of the Olympics were streamed, up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined, according to a release.
“Peacock delivered in every way that we hadn’t before,” said Lazarus.
Besides having all live coverage, exclusive shows like “Gold Zone,” hosted by Scott Hanson of “NFL Red Zone,” gave fans more options for all-day viewing. There were also features built solely for the Olympics, such as an artificial intelligence function featuring daily recaps in the voice of Al Michaels, a longtime voice of marquee NFL games.
An estimated 2.8 million consumers signed up for Peacock during the first week of the Summer Games, averaging nearly 400,000 additions daily, according to data provider Antenna. This nearly matched the sign ups driven by Peacock’s exclusive NFL Wild Card game in January, according to Antenna. The game is considered the most streamed live event in history with 27.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
While Comcast recently reported Peacock had 33 million paid customers as of June 30 — 500,000 less than the prior period, and widely attributed to the loss of customers exiting after the Wild Card game —analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson said it’s worth noting the customers that remained since the Wild Card game.
“I suspect they’ll have the same experience with the Olympics,” Moffett said. “Sure, some of those customers will leave but they will probably end up keeping a lot more than not.”
Still, traditional TV made up the bulk of viewership during the Paris Games — nearly 90% of viewers watched on broadcast and cable channels, Lazarus said. Aided by the more favorable time zone, NBC aired live events on TV and Peacock during the day and rebranded the evening broadcast as “Primetime in Paris,” replaying big events with sidecar programming and interviews.
The strategy used in Paris will serve as the roadmap for future Olympics — the Milan Winter Olympics in 2026 and Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028 — as well as other live sports aired on NBC’s TV networks and Peacock, executives said.
Shortly after the 2024 Olympics comes the new seasons of English Premier League soccer, American college football and National Football League. NBC will also be the rights holder of National Basketball Association games beginning in the 2025-2026 season.
“I think Peacock is getting much more sophisticated, as we’ve seen with the Olympics, in how they can do sports coverage,” said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at Perkins Coie.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings have soared this year, and the restaurant industry is not immune to the trend.
Excluding franchisees, at least 10 restaurant chains have filed for bankruptcy protection this year.
Red Lobster, Buca di Beppo and Roti are among the notable names that filed for Chapter 11  bankruptcy protection.

The Red Lobster logo is displayed outside of a closed restaurant in Torrance, California, on May 14, 2024.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images

Restaurant bankruptcy filings have surged so far this year, echoing a broader rise in corporate bankruptcies across sectors.
At least 10 restaurant chains, not including multi-unit franchisees, have filed for bankruptcy in 2024. August alone brought three Chapter 11 filings from notable eateries. The increase in bankruptcies comes as diners pull back their spending, labor costs keep rising and Covid-era government help disappears.

Several more restaurant chains could file for bankruptcy before the end of the year. BurgerFi, which also owns Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings, said in a regulatory filing in mid-August that there is “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to operate. Others, such as Mod Pizza, have narrowly avoided bankruptcy through a last-minute sale.
Restaurants are not the only companies seeking bankruptcy protection as high interest rates weigh on businesses. Chapter 11 filings have climbed 49% this year as of Aug. 20, according to BankruptcyWatch. Mall retailer Express, nursing home chain LaVie Care Centers and Joann Fabrics and Crafts are among the companies that have filed for bankruptcy protection this year.
Here are the 10 notable restaurant chains that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2024:

Roti

Mediterranean fast-casual chain Roti filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Aug. 23. The company said it is working with its landlords and suppliers to keep its 22 locations open while it searches for a new buyer or investors.
The company began struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic because roughly half its locations were in downtown business districts, CEO Justin Seamonds said in a statement at the time of the bankruptcy filing. New investors helped it hold on, but the recent downturn in consumer spending led to insolvency.

Roti had raised $58 million as of June, according to Pitchbook.

Buca di Beppo

People dine outside a Buca di Beppo restaurant in San Diego on Aug. 11, 2020.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Buca di Beppo declared bankruptcy on Aug. 5. The Italian American chain is keeping 44 of its locations open while it restructures, and plans to open another restaurant, too.
The company blamed its financial difficulties on rising costs and labor challenges, according to court filings.
Buca di Beppo was founded in 1993 and sold to Planet Hollywood in 2008, following an accounting scandal involving some of its top executives.

World of Beer

The exterior of World of Beer at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland, New York.
Lori Van Buren/ | Albany Times Union | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

Tavern chain World of Beer filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 2. The company blamed high interest rates, inflation and a slow return to pre-pandemic dining habits.
World of Beer plans to restructure and end leases at underperforming locations through bankruptcy.
The company was founded in 2007, when craft beer popularity was soaring. These days, craft beer sales have fallen as consumers broadly drink less.

Rubio’s

Rubio’s Restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. The fast-casual chain, known for its fish tacos, had 86 locations at the time across California, Nevada and Arizona.
The company said rising food and utility costs, the shift to hybrid work cutting lunchtime traffic and minimum wage hikes in California put too much pressure on some of its restaurants.
In April, California raised its minimum wage for fast-food workers at chains with more than 60 locations to $20 an hour. Several days before it filed for bankruptcy, Rubio’s closed 48 underperforming restaurants in California.
In August, Rubio’s agreed to a sale to an affiliate of TREW Capital, one of its lenders.
The restaurant company previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020.

Melt Bar & Grilled

In June, the Cleveland-based chain said it was struggling to pay its vendors and landlords. It turned to Chapter 11 to save the business.
The company, known for its grilled cheese sandwiches and craft beer offerings, was founded in 2006. It had 14 locations at its peak, but its footprint had dwindled to four restaurants by the time of its bankruptcy filing.

Kuma’s Corner

Kuma Holdings, the parent company of Kuma’s Corner, filed for bankruptcy protection in June.
The midwestern burger chain opened its first location in 2005, setting itself apart from the competition with its metal- and punk-themed menu items.

Red Lobster

A menu is displayed on a plate at a Red Lobster restaurant in Austin, Texas, on May 20, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Seafood giant Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy protection in May, citing a “difficult macroeconomic environment, a bloated and underperforming restaurant footprint, failed or ill-advised strategic initiatives, and increased competition.”
One scapegoat for its insolvency was its disastrous “endless shrimp” promotion in 2023. But a less-obvious culprit was a lease-back agreement made under a prior owner that made Red Lobster’s leases too expensive, especially as sales fell.
On Tuesday, the investment group buying Red Lobster tapped former P.F. Chang’s CEO Damola Adamolekun as the company’s next leader if it exits Chapter 11 successfully.

Tijuana Flats

A Mexican-style pizza from at Tijuana Flats.
Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

In April, Tijuana Flats announced new ownership, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the closure of 11 restaurants in a single press release.
AUA Private Equity Partners sold the fast-casual Tex-Mex chain to Flatheads LLC as part of the restaurant company’s restructuring.
The chain was founded in 1995.

Sticky’s Finger Joint

Chicken-tender chain Sticky’s Finger Joint also declared bankruptcy in April. Rising commodity costs, the hangover from the pandemic and legal expenses from a trademark case brought by rival Sticky Fingers led the company to restructure.
Sticky’s was founded in 2012. By 2023, it had annual sales of $22 million, according to a court filing.

Boxer Ramen

The Portland, Oregon ramen chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. In late April, it abruptly closed all four of its locations, more than a decade after the chain’s founding.

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Major movie studios are offering more ways than ever for film buffs to get a behind-the-scenes peek at how — and where — the magic is made.
Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount use such tours to show off the movie-making process from set design and sound recording to costumes and props.
They also bring in revenue for the studios, offer a training program for lower-level employees and can serve as supplemental marketing for upcoming projects.

The Hollywood sign is viewed during a clearing storm.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images

For over 100 years, Hollywood has transported audiences to worlds outside their own, from the slick streets of New York City to the yellow bricks of Oz. 
Hundreds of acres of land in Los Angeles are dedicated to crafting stories for the biggest and smallest screens, and movie studios are offering more ways than ever for cinema lovers to get a behind-the-scenes peek at how — and where — the magic is made.

“Touring the studios, being able to go where this stuff happened, to be in the physical space of all these things that for over 100 years now people have been watching, seems the most natural kind of tourist destination in the world,” said Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University.
Hosted by Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount, studio lot tours showcase the movie-making process from set design and sound recording to costumes and props. These paid experiences not only drive revenue to the studios, but can also act as a training program for lower-level employees who are just getting started at the companies and as supplemental marketing for upcoming projects.
“Los Angeles is the only destination in the world where guests can visit multiple working studio lots, located in distinct neighborhoods in our city,” said Adam Burke, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism Board and Convention Board.
The film industry brings in more than $100 billion in tourism, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. Attractions like studio tours, the Hollywood sign, the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame entice tourists from near and far.
“While visitors are often drawn to studio tours by their favorite TV shows or movies … we hope they leave with a deeper understanding of the entertainment industry, LA’s unique culture and the city’s vibrant creative legacy,” Burke said.

Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount declined to specify how much their studio tours generate each year or how many people pass through their gates, but each noted that foot traffic and demand remain strong for their offerings.
“[Studio lot tours] can appeal to all different levels of people, the people who really are fascinated with the behind the scenes and how it works and how it gets made, and even for regular people that don’t have that level of curiosity, just the thrill of being present in the place where all of this stuff actually gets done,” Thompson said.

Sony

Situated in Culver City, Sony Pictures Studio is the newest tenant of its 45-acre lot. The complex was the original studios of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is now home to popular TV staples “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.” 

The “Seinfeld” set at Sony Pictures Studio.
Sarah Whitten | CNBC

Sony’s two-hour walking tour, which costs $55 per person, starts by taking guests through a recreation of the “Seinfeld” set and through a prop display with items from famed films and TV shows like “Spider-Man,” “Justified,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” “Groundhog Day,” “A League of Their Own” and “The Social Network.”
Guests will quickly see the massive 94-foot rainbow, constructed in 2012 by artist Tony Tasset, that looms over the studio. It is an homage to “The Wizard of Oz,” which was filmed on the lot more than 85 years ago. Tour guides eagerly point out which sound stages were the site of different moments from the film, including the infamous Wicked Witch melting sequence.

The Sony Pictures Entertainment movie studio lot.
Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc Images | Getty Images

The lot’s modern tenants, “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune,” are among the most-watched programs on television outside of live sports. When the shows are not filming, guests can step onto the sets; otherwise, the tour guide will showcase different locations. Tours change daily based on which areas of the studio are open to the public and which are closed for production use.
Additionally, Sony allows guests to step into its Foley studio to see how sound is created for movies and television.

A cluttered collection of kitchen items used in the Foley stage at Sony Pictures Studio.
Sarah Whitten | CNBC

The cluttered space has a hodgepodge of flooring — wood, concrete, stone, gravel — multiple handles on doors with different kinds of locks, a shelf of various shoes, a kitchen set up with an assortment of plastic and metal bottles, cups, cutlery and, yes, some coconut shells, as well as a closet filled with jackets which can be used to make different zipper sounds.
Vehicles from “Breaking Bad” and “Ghostbusters” are also on display.

A “Ghostbusters” vehicle spotted during the Sony Pictures Studio tour.
Sarah Whitten | CNBC

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. goes big for patrons of its studio lot tours.
In addition to a guided tour of the grounds, which can range from one to three hours, depending on the package, the company has created a full interactive sound stage, known as Stage 48, to show off how movies and television shows get made and provide guests with plenty of free and paid photo opportunities. 
The tour is a mix of walking and being carted around backlot neighborhoods. Guests are allowed to walk around the suburban filming locations for “Friends,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Gilmore Girls” as well as the jungle area that “Jurassic Park,” “True Blood” and “Aquaman” have all used.

Building facades at the Warner Bros. studio lot. 
Sarah Whitten | CNBC

Tourists will notice that a number of non-Warner Bros. productions take place on the lot, which is common across all of Los Angeles’ studios. Productions will rent studio space at other studios based on need. For example, the famous upside-down kiss on the fire escape from 2002’s “Spider-Man” was produced by Sony but filmed on the Warner Bros.’ lot.
The guided tour also includes a brief walk through Warner Bros.’ expansive prop house. This area has replicas of the falcon statues from “The Maltese Falcon,” an entire section of marble and faux marble busts, and a room filled floor to ceiling with lamps, candelabras and chandeliers.

Floor to ceiling shelves filled with marble and faux marble busts at Warner Bros.’ studio tour prop house.
Sarah Whitten | CNBC

After the guided portion of the tour, guests arrive at Stage 48. This area features a recreation of Central Perk from “Friends,” including purchasable food and drinks.
Here fans of “Friends,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Lord of the Rings,” the Batman films and “Harry Potter” can take photos on recreated sets and on green-screen sets. Some of these photo ops cost extra.

A view of Central Perk at Stage 48 during the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Grand Re-Opening at Warner Bros. Studios.
Matt Winkelmeyer | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

This area also has a number of costumes from famous classic films and interactive stations showcasing various elements of the post-production process.
Guests are then carted back to the welcome center to walk through an area where Warner Bros. showcases costumes and props from films in the DC cinematic universe like “Wonder Woman,” “Aquaman” and “The Flash,” costumes from “Game of Thrones,” and props and costumes from Harry Potter and the Fantastic Beasts franchises.

A view of costumes on display in Action Made Here: DC Universe during the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Grand Re-Opening at Warner Bros. Studios on June 24, 2021 in Burbank, California.
Matt Winkelmeyer | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

The one-hour guided tour, plus two hours unguided at Stage 48 costs $73 per ticket. Meanwhile, a two-hour guided tour, which comes with the Stage 48 access and lunch, costs $160, and the deluxe three-hour guided tour, which comes with a fine-dining lunch and access to Stage 48, is $330 per ticket.
Warner Bros. also recently launched its Turner Classic Movies tour, which takes guests through areas of the lot that were used for films like “Casablanca,” “My Fair Lady” and “The Music Man.”

Paramount

While the Warner Bros. tour focuses much of its attention on completed works of film and television, Paramount’s studio lot tour delves deep into how these movies and shows are made.
This tour features a combination of walking and being carting around the lot, as a guide — who is part of Paramount’s page program — brings guests to meet with the people who keep production running.
For the first six months of their employment with the studio, these pages serve as studio tour guides. After that, they become eligible to work utility positions around the lot, assist with audience management for TV shows and even be hired to do VIP tours.

The Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California.
Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Paramount tour has three tiers: the regular studio tour, which lasts two hours and costs $65 per person; the premier tour, which lasts three hours and gives guests access to the archives and more of the backlot and costs $150 per person; and the VIP tour, which takes four hours and costs $215 per person.
That most in-depth option introduces guests to a number of tradesmen on the lot, including lighting crew members and signmakers, as well as an on-staff archivist who will walk them through a collection archival costumes and props, including jewelry. The VIP option also comes with a private lunch or breakfast.

Signs created in Paramount Studios sign studio.
Paul Dergarabedian

Guests will get to see where director Alfred Hitchcock’s office was, walk around “New York” and peek into the “blue sky tank,” which has been used in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” “The Truman Show” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
The prop warehouse features a number of vehicles, including the “egg mobile” from “Sonic the Hedgehog” and a pod from “Star Trek: Beyond,” as well as a life-size Bumblebee from the Transformer franchise.

Universal Studios 

The Universal Studios Hollywood theme park actually began as a studio tour. Starting 60 years ago, guests were given exclusive access to the production lot and, over time, Universal began to introduce special effects attractions. 
These have developed to include a staged flash flood, where 10,000 gallons of water rush downhill toward the guests, an earthquake simulation and, of course, the terrifying Jaws erupting from a small lake.

The set of the Steven Spielberg film “Jaws” is pictured at Universal Studios in Hollywood.
Gabriel Bouys | Afp | Getty Images

The one-hour studio lot tour attraction, which is included in the theme park’s admission, also features two immersive rides: One shows King Kong fighting off dinosaurs, and the other sees the cast of the Fast and Furious films entering into a high-speed street chase. Guests remain on their trams while experiencing these rides.
The standard tour also takes parkgoers through several classic sets including the Bates Motel from “Psycho,” the plane crash from “War of the Worlds” and the courthouse from “Back to the Future.”

The press take the Universal Studios tram tour of the newly rebuilt New York Street, which was gutted by a fire two years ago. Universal Studios Hollywood will open the New York backlot tram tours on Friday, which was rebuilt after a 2008 fire destroyed the New York Street area.
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

General admission to the theme park ranges starts at $109 per person but can vary depending on the time of year — the holiday seasons are often more expensive.
Those who want a more in-depth look at the studio lot can purchase VIP tour packages, which include extended backstage access, a private trolley, a buffet lunch and front-of-the-line access for all rides and attractions at the park. The VIP experience can cost between $379 and $499 a person.
“The concept of Hollywood is so elusive and when guests visit Los Angeles there’s always a part that wonders ‘Will I see a movie star?,'” said Dennis Satterfield, director of studio tour operations at Universal Studios Hollywood. “The Studio Tour helps take some of that wonder away. Guests have access to a real movie studio, have a chance to see production, movie sets and maybe sometimes movie stars in their environment.”
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Cannabis consumption is gaining traction in the luxury market — as are retailers targeting high-end clients.
There’s now a high-end marijuana dispensary on New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue.
The upscale marijuana experience isn’t limited to dispensaries, as companies start selling luxury accessories and THC-infused drinks.

The Travel Agency on Fifth Avenue in New York Cityis an adult-use recreational marijuana dispensary.
Courtesy: The Travel Agency

Cannabis consumption has turned a corner — and now it’s on Fifth Avenue.
Shoppers walking along the iconic New York stretch of retailers can pick up jewels from Cartier and new threads from Saks, as well as pre-rolled, New York state-grown marijuana joints from a new dispensary. 

In the 3½ years since New York state legalized adult-use marijuana, licensed cannabis sales have taken off, topping $100 million last year. And now, legal avenues for cannabis consumption are gaining traction in the luxury market. 
As New York officials crack down on the hundreds of illicit shops throughout the city, 166 licensed dispensaries are open to shoppers across the state, including over 50 in New York City — and one just across the street from Lululemon and Ted Baker. 
The Travel Agency on Fifth Avenue is an adult-use recreational marijuana dispensary outfitted with white interiors, glass cabinetry, a host of “budtenders” and a lot of marijuana.
The retailer’s exterior fits in with the chic storefronts of its neighbors, and with its sister locations in Union Square and Downtown Brooklyn. All three stores opened in the past year and a half, and founder Paul Yau said a fourth is coming soon to one of the city’s other high-end shopping districts, SoHo.

The Travel Agency on Fifth Avenue in New York Cityis an adult-use recreational marijuana dispensary.
Courtesy: The Travel Agency

At The Travel Agency, Yau said the average purchase includes two products, largely gummies, marijuana flower or pre-rolls, at the average price of $80 to $90 a ticket. Products range from $3.50 THC seltzers to flower selling at $150 per ounce, and accessories go for even higher price points.

New York City’s first licensed dispensary, Housing Works Cannabis Co., sells products at rates that are similar, but a shopper can spend even more there, paying up to $240 on one ounce of marijuana. All of Housing Works Cannabis Co.’s proceeds support the Housing Works nonprofit in NYC. 
The Travel Agency’s Union Square location donates 51% of its proceeds to the Doe Fund, which supports formerly incarcerated people transitioning to life outside of prison. The Fifth Avenue and Brooklyn stores are run by owners with a past in the justice system related to cannabis.
While the elevated interiors get legacy and new shoppers through the door, Yau said the ethical mission keeps customers coming back. “It’s huge, it just provides such a halo,” he added.

Reaching the ‘canna-curious’

New York has always had what the industry calls the “legacy” customer base, or those who used marijuana before it was legalized.
Now, with The Travel Agency locations in high-traffic, high-spending areas, Yau said he’s reaching the “canna-curious” with curated product offerings and an architecturally inspired space to ease onboarding into the legal market.

The Travel Agency on Fifth Avenue in New York Cityis an adult-use recreational marijuana dispensary.
Courtesy: The Travel Agency

“The 40-year-old female shopper is a really strong demographic, and that demographic is just emerging in New York,” Yau said, adding that the stores were designed with that kind of new shopper in mind. “When people came into our store, they knew immediately it wasn’t an illicit store.”
One such female patron, Katie, a 37-year-old advertising executive working in New York who declined to give her last name, said the atmosphere and the employee expertise keep her coming back. “You feel like you’re in a boutique,” she said.
THC seltzer company Cann is also hoping to appeal to curious consumers, particularly those who have had a negative experience in the past with marijuana. Both Yau and Cann founder Jake Bullock told CNBC that marketing is key to navigating that headwind in onboarding the canna-curious.

THC seltzer company Cann sells a 12-pack of 8 ounce seltzers with 2 milligrams of THC for $49.95.
Courtesy: Cann

“Part of the reason we made these cans, little and small and pink and pastel, is because we’re trying to communicate approachability to the consumer, like you can drink the whole thing. Don’t worry, it’s just 2 milligrams,” Bullock said.
A 12-pack of 8 ounce Cann seltzers with 2 milligrams of THC costs $49.95. By comparison, shoppers can find a 12-pack of White Claw alcoholic seltzers for well under $20.
The upscale marijuana experience isn’t limited to THC products.
Luxury home designer Jonathan Adler sells marijuana home decor items like marijuana storage canisters and bowls for nearly $300 a piece. Lifestyle brand Edie Parker sells everything from smoker-friendly handbags to rolling papers, giant colorful glass pipes and $450 table lighters, many of which can be found at boutiques and legal dispensaries like The Travel Agency and Housing Works Cannabis Co. 
Actor Seth Rogen’s lifestyle and decor brand Houseplant also caters to the luxury cannabis user. Marble rolling trays and ash trays go for well over $200, and the company recently collaborated with high-end apparel retailer Kith.

The Travel Agency on Fifth Avenue in New York Cityis an adult-use recreational marijuana dispensary.
Courtesy: The Travel Agency

The collaborations will likely keep coming. Yau said he thinks dispensaries like The Travel Agency offer promising partnerships for fashion brands hoping to tap into the “coolness” of the burgeoning cannabis industry. 

Finding luxury consumers where they are

THC seltzer company Cann has backers that are high-end themselves, including actress and lifestyle entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow and two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis. The beverage company is trying to catch consumers where they’re willing to spend. 
At the Montauk Surf Lodge in New York, where guests pay a minimum of $3,000 for a one-night table, they can now purchase a hemp-derived version of Cann’s seltzers alongside local rosé and high-end liquor.
Cann co-founder Jake Bullock said his brand’s target audience is a premium, largely millennial consumer, and its competition is alcohol. Bullock and his co-founder Luke Anderson view the Surf Lodge partnership as an ideal introduction to that audience — via the wealthy Hamptons crowd that’s already indulging and spending big.

THC seltzer company Cann sells a 12-pack of 8 ounce seltzers with 2 milligrams of THC for $49.95.
Courtesy: Cann

“It kind of has that very classic customer that Luke and I thought about the brand as fitting into their lives,” he said.
Yau, who spoke to CNBC while working remotely near the Hamptons, is also aware of that target audience. “We think we’re still in the first inning of New York’s legal cannabis,” he said. More