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Angel City FC announced Willow Bay and Bob Iger had agreed to an investment of an undisclosed amount that values the team at $250 million.
Last year, Angel City FC generated the highest revenue of any women’s team in the world. It was also No. 1 in NWSL attendance and sponsorship revenue.

Bob Iger, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co., and his wife attend Willow Bay the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 11, 2024 in Sun Valley, Idaho. 
Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images

Willow Bay and Bob Iger will take a controlling stake in Angel City Football Club, the world’s most valuable women’s professional sports team.
On Wednesday, Angel City of the National Women’s Soccer League announced the couple had agreed to an investment of an undisclosed amount that values the team at $250 million. The club said Bay and Iger will invest an additional $50 million in the club’s future growth.

According to NWSL bylaws, controlling owners must own at least 35% of the team, which puts the pair’s purchase agreement at a minimum of $87.5 million.
Bay will serve on and have full control of the Angel City FC board, the team said.
Last year, Angel City FC generated the highest revenue of any women’s team in the world. It was also No. 1 in NWSL attendance and sponsorship revenue.
“We know they are the right partners to lead us into this new era – they are committed tofurther strengthening ACFC’s position as a preeminent organization and brand in women’s sports and to championing the team’s broader mission, including the advancement of equity for athletes and women founded businesses,” the ACFC Board of Directors said in a statement.

Claire Emslie #10 of Angel City FC passes against the Bay FC in the first half at PayPal Park on June 22, 2024 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Eakin Howard | Getty Images

Angel City FC was founded in 2020 by actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and entrepreneur Julie Urhman.

The ownership group also includes a long list of sports icons including Billie Jean King, Abby Wambach, and Lindsey Vonn.
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian had been the club’s controlling owner.
Bay, who also serves as Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said she’s committed to advancing the club’s mission of driving equity on and off the field.
“With this investment of resources and capital, we hope to accelerate the growth of the Club and the NWSL,” she said in a statement. More

Spirit said non-ticket revenue, which accounts for the myriad fees long associated with its rock-bottom fares, came in “several dollars lower than anticipated” per passenger.
The carrier is struggling with weak fares, an oversupplied U.S. market, an engine recall and the aftermath of its failed acquisition by JetBlue Airways.

A Spirit Airlines aircraft undergoes operations in preparation for departure at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 12, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Spirit Airlines said Tuesday it would post a wider-than-expected loss for the last quarter because of revenue that came in short of its expectations.
Spirit expects to report an adjusted loss of between $160 million and $173 million for the three months ended June 30, compared with a previous estimate for a loss of no more than $145 million. It expects sales of $1.28 billion, down from a forecast of at least $1.32 billion.

Spirit said non-ticket revenue, which accounts for the myriad fees long associated with its rock-bottom fares, came in “several dollars lower than anticipated” per passenger.
Shares of the budget airline were down about 6% in extended trading after the airline released its investor update in a securities filing.
The airline, along with rival Frontier Airlines, has recently revamped how it sells tickets by offering bundles that include things like seat assignments and carry-on bags that it used to sell a la carte. That brings its business practice more in line with larger competitors.
“As the Company progresses on its transformation strategy, it anticipates that over time it will be able to drive improvement in total revenue per passenger segment,” Spirit said.
The company is facing several challenges, such as oversupplied U.S. domestic market, an engine recall from supplier Pratt & Whitney that has grounded dozens of aircraft and the fallout of a federal judge’s ruling to block a planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways earlier this year.

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Royal Caribbean thinks shortening trips and packing the days with activities and exclusive opportunities will help it capture customers as travel demand soars.
The cruise company is bringing Utopia, the world’s second-largest ship with a maximum capacity of nearly 5,800 passengers, to market. It features 13 pools, 21 dining options, two casinos, and much more.
“There is not an area on the ship that we’ve seen a change in their spending behavior,” CEO Jason Liberty told CNBC.

With consumers getting more selective on how and where they vacation, cruise lines are fighting for Americans’ tourist budgets. Royal Caribbean thinks shortening trips and packing the days with activities and exclusive opportunities will keep customers hooked.
“I think we are an experience-driven mindset,” Royal Caribbean CEO Jason Liberty told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” this week. “Over half of our guests are actually millennials or younger, and when you survey those guests, about 42% of them say in the next 12 months their plans are to actually go on shorter vacation experiences.”

Onboard Royal’s Utopia of the Seas, the world’s second-largest ship with a maximum capacity of nearly 5,800 passengers, customers are welcomed to 13 pools, 21 dining options, two casinos, and much more. This is the second cruise ship Royal Caribbean is bringing to market in the span of six months. Liberty says the voracious appetite to cruise post-pandemic has not died down.
“We’re not seeing any pullback from the consumer, whether that’s planning their vacation experiences further out … [or] then on the ships, they go out and they continue to spend,” Liberty said. “There is not an area on the ship that we’ve seen a change in their spending behavior.”
To scale its business and widen its appeal, Royal Caribbean is looking at how to better compete with other types of vacations customers opt for, like skiing, casinos or theme parks.
“When we look at what our guests are doing when they’re not with us, they’re going to Orlando, they’re going to Vegas, they’re going to all-inclusive resorts,” Liberty said. “What we’re trying to do is make sure that our experience, whether on the ship or at our private islands, is something that is highly competitive with land-based vacation.”
Morningstar travel and leisure analyst Jamie Katz thinks Liberty’s strategy to get the Disney theme park traveler on board is working.

“The American traveler doesn’t always have time to take a six- to eight-day cruise due to work schedules and kids’ school calendars,” Katz said. “A three-day cruise provides customers with more options.”

Expansion plans

One of the benefits of bringing a new ship to market — you’re able to charge more.
“You’re really seeing sizable pricing premiums. Historically, pricing of a new ship is a 20% premium to existing ships across the industry,” said Patrick Scholes, travel and leisure analyst at Truist Securities.
Scholes said the Utopia price bump for Royal Caribbean could be even higher.
Liberty said he expects higher pricing to hold into the second half of the year, pointing to the “value gap” between cruises and land-based vacations.
Rival Carnival, too, has raised prices amid strong demand.
“We haven’t seen that sign of a consumer slowdown, if anything, we are seeing an acceleration,” CEO Josh Weinstein told CNBC after the company’s most recent earnings report in mid-June.

Analysts point out that cruising is one of the few areas within the travel and hospitality sector where prices continue to sharply rise. Last week, Delta Air Lines revealed softer prices compared with last year. HSBC analysts expect airfares to stay flat or decline in 2024 over 2023.
Several analysts and investors will be sailing aboard Utopia this week to better understand what differentiates the cruise ship from its competitors.
One area of interest will be the impact of cutting-edge technologies: Liberty said artificial intelligence is helping Utopia reduce food waste by 30% to 40%. The company is also using AI to help with dynamic pricing and smart management of customer data.
Beyond Utopia, there aren’t too many ships coming online from the cruise giants.
Royal Caribbean currently has the strongest order book in the industry. The company’s Icon of the Seas, the biggest cruise ship in the world with a capacity of 7,600 passengers, made a splash earlier this year.
On Royal Caribbean’s recent earnings call, executives said Icon bookings are holding strong through 2025.
“We’re entering a two- to three-year period where there are minimal number of ships coming online. Typically, the industry grows supply by 5% to 7% ever year,” Scholes said.
But building a massive cruise ship requires extensive work. Wall Street analysts estimate it takes three to five years to order and get a ship delivered.
Norwegian Cruise Line is working on bringing eight new ships to market in the next six years.
Viking Cruises, which went public earlier this year and has seen its stock trade well above its debut price, is bringing three new ocean cruise ships to market over the course of the next three years, not including its river-based ships.

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WHEN BEYONCÉ performed at a pre-wedding party for Isha Ambani in 2018, India was agog. Merely receiving an invitation conferred bragging rights on status-obsessed business leaders and politicians. The cost of the nuptials, with countless ancillary events, was said to be in excess of $100m. That is a staggering sum for almost anyone—but not the Ambani family, which owns a controlling interest in Reliance Industries, the country’s most valuable company, dominating everything from telecoms to oil refining. Despite some anti-rich finger-wagging, many Indians appear to have viewed the event, which even the maharajas of yore would envy, as evidence that India—and Indian business—could once again glitter. More

It’s natural for prices to rise over time, but the pandemic pushed inflation to levels not seen in decades.
There are a handful of retail categories, dominated by consumer electronics, however, that are cheaper today than they were pre-pandemic.
Some of the deflation has to do with nuances with the calculation of the consumer price index.

Getty Images

It’s the nature of prices to go up over time, even in low-inflation environments. Historically, the target for the U.S. Federal Reserve has been 2% annual inflation.
So when worldwide events like the Covid-19 pandemic push inflation well above that 2% target, it can be a real shock to consumers. Since hitting 9% in June 2022, it’s been a slow crawl to get the pace of inflation down to the Fed’s preferred target.

And while inflation has indeed pulled back from that 2022 peak — now down to 3%, according to the most recent consumer price index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — prices are still about 20% higher than they were pre-pandemic.
There are a handful of retail categories, dominated by consumer electronics, that buck the trend and are actually cheaper now than they were before the pandemic, based on a CNBC review of CPI categories in June 2024 compared with June 2019.
That includes telephone hardware; televisions; audio equipment; computers; certain cookware; and toys, game and hobby items.

Same price, better value

Even when annual inflation was at its peak, prices for consumer electronics consistently showed signs of deflation. Some of that has to do with nuances with the calculation of the CPI itself.
Prices for smartphones, for example, which are a large component of the telephone hardware category, get special adjustments at the Bureau of Labor Statistics to account for rapid improvements in technology.

The CPI routinely shows that smartphone prices are falling, but it’s actually reflecting that consumers are getting better, more sophisticated products for the same price.
Such hedonic adjustments — the term BLS uses to describe it’s adjustments for changes in item quality — span the whole consumer price index and include categories from men’s underwear to home computers to refrigerators. They’re meant to reflect the change in value that the consumer is receiving for what they’re paying.

Why televisions continue to be cheap

But hedonic adjustments can’t account for everything when the CPI is registering drops in prices. Televisions are a good example: Prices keep falling, but in some cases, manufacturers have to slash prices to stay competitive and get consumers’ attention.
“Purely from a manufacturing standpoint, in general with new technology and consumer electronics, there’s a learning curve that naturally evolves, which lowers the cost of a product without compromising the quality,” Andrew Csicsila, head of the Americas for consumer products at AlixPartners, told CNBC ahead of Black Friday last year.
That’s happened aggressively with smart TVs, to the point that the technology has become pretty universal and making it difficult to compete on product features. But Csicsila has also cited other revenue streams for manufacturers that allow them to sell units barely above cost and flood the ultra-competitive marketplace with low-price products.

“The reason they’re trying to do this is really to gain data,” Csicsila said. “If you look at their earnings reports, [manufacturers] are citing new revenue streams, which are actually the monitoring and exchanging of data that they’re capturing.”
In other words, the price of the television box is just an entry point to get into your house. Once you’ve connected it to the internet and use it with all the functionality a smart TV can offer, there’s a lot for manufacturers and app developers to learn about your entertainment habits.
“The amount of data that is being leveraged and targeted for advertisers to capture is astounding,” Csicsila said.
In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for those door-buster prices. More

New Balance has signed a multiyear deal with the WNBA.
The agreement will make New Balance an official partner of the WNBA and will include broadcast, digital and retail content featuring Los Angeles Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink.
New Balance is banking on the women’s category to continue its growth trajectory — at a time when women’s sports have never been hotter.

Cameron Brink #22 of the Los Angeles Sparks plays defense against Bridget Carleton #6 of the Minnesota Lynx on June 5, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. 
Juan Ocampo | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

New Balance on Tuesday announced a multiyear deal with the WNBA, joining a growing roster of backers for women’s sports.
The agreement will make New Balance an official partner of the WNBA and will include broadcast, digital and retail content featuring Los Angeles Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink.

New Balance joins Adidas, Nike, Puma and Under Armour as a league partner. The WNBA does not have an exclusive footwear partner, but only league sponsors are permitted to display their logos on court. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal comes as New Balance looks to grow the company’s share across basketball and to become a leader in women’s sports.
“It’s really exciting that we’re going to play a small part in continuing the growth and progress towards achieving parity in women’s sports,” said Jessica Vassall, global head of partnerships for New Balance.

In August, Cameron Brink became the first woman’s basketball player to sign with New Balance.
Courtesy: New Balance

Nearly a year ago, New Balance signed Brink, then a star at Stanford University. The four-time NCAA All-American became the first female basketball player on the New Balance roster. The brand also represents a handful of NBA stars, including Kawhi Leonard.
“Even though my parents worked at Nike for a long time, it was such an easy conversion. … I felt like family with [New Balance], and it felt like a great environment,” Brink told CNBC.

Brink, the Sparks’ No. 2 draft pick, suffered a season-ending ACL tear in June. She will miss the remainder of the 2024 season and the Paris Olympics as she rehabs.
New Balance said she will be featured in various lifestyle and performance campaigns, in addition to working with their teams to influence future products.

The sneakers worn by Cameron Brink #22 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the game against the Chicago Sky on May 30, 2024 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. 
Jeff Haynes | NBA | Getty Images

Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, Puma, and Under Armour currently dominate the women’s basketball market. But it is still only a fraction of the total pro market at just 6%, according to market research firm Circana. Still, men’s basketball sneakers are seeing sales declines of late, with the women’s business up double digits.
“[New Balance is] known for running and walking and training … but they have shown they can be a player in a number of new sports they’ve moved into — like tennis and baseball,” said Beth Goldstein, a footwear industry analyst at Circana.
New Balance also represents top ranked tennis player Coco Gauff and in 2023 signed Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani.
The 118-year-old Boston-based company did $6.5 billion in sales last year, up 23% from 2022, according to New Balance. For the last three years, the brand has seen double-digit growth globally across footwear and apparel, according to the company.
Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon on a May 30 earnings call noted the strength of the brand once known for its “dad shoes.”
“New Balance continues to drive consumer excitement at scale as they are trending positively with consumers globally, importantly including our women’s men’s and kids’ consumers,” Dillon said.
The privately held entity is also growing its footprint, with 90 new stores planned in 2024.
Now, the company is turning to the women’s sports category to continue that growth trajectory — at a time when it has never been hotter.
“We are outperforming every single metric,” said Colie Edison, chief growth officer for the WNBA.
Helped in part by the popularity of rising stars like Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, the WNBA is now averaging 1.2 million viewers per game with attendance up 16% from last season.
“We’re seeing an influx of fans and partners, which allows us to create a new economic model that is going to set the league up for long-term business sustainability,” Edison said.

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GM’s target of being capable of producing 1 million all-electric vehicles in North America by the end of 2025 is heavily in doubt.
The production capacity goal was one of the last standing EV targets GM hadn’t lowered or withdrawn amid slower-than-expected demand for EVs.
More details about the automaker’s EV plans could come when GM reports second-quarter results on July 23.

General Motors’ goal of being capable of producing 1 million all-electric vehicles in North America by the end of 2025 in heavily in doubt, following comments Monday by CEO Mary Barra.
The production capacity target for next year was one of the last EV targets the automaker hadn’t lowered or withdrawn as demand for EVs has not materialized as quickly as many companies such as GM previously expected.

“We won’t get to a million just because the market is not developing, but it will get there,” Barra said Monday at a virtual CNBC CEO Council event. “We’re going to be guided by the customer.”
For more than two years, GM has said it would have production capacity of 1 million in EVs in each China and North America by 2025. Even after it changed or withdrew several EV targets and product plans in the last year, the company continued to say it would install the North American capacity for EVs.
A GM spokesman said the company’s target was about the production capacity, while the question was regarding actually producing 1 million EVs in 2025. Barra did not specifcally address whether it was production or production capacity that she was referring to.
The spokesman later said the company would no longer reiterate the EV production capacity plans for 2025. The company has continually said its EV plans will be flexible to meet demand.
More details about the automaker’s EV plans could come when GM reports second-quarter results on July 23. More

Department store Macy’s said Monday its board has unanimously decided to end negotiations with the activist group that had been looking to take the retailer private for roughly $6.9 billion.
Arkhouse and Brigade had for months been attempting to buy out the storied retailer.
Macy’s is in the middle of a turnaround effort led by CEO Tony Spring, who stepped into the top job in February.

The Macy’s company logo is seen at the Macy’s store on Herald Square on January 19, 2024 in New York City. Macy’s department-store chain announced that they will be laying off roughly 2,350 employees which is about 3.5% of their workforce. The company says that it will also be closing five stores in order to adjust to the online-shopping era. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Department store Macy’s said Monday its board has unanimously decided to end negotiations with the activist group that had been looking to take the retailer private for roughly $6.9 billion, saying in a statement that questions on financing and premium were insurmountable.
“We have concluded that Arkhouse and Brigade’s proposal lacks certainty of financing and does not deliver compelling value,” Macy lead independent director Paul Varga said in a press release.

Arkhouse and Brigade had for months been attempting to buy out the storied retailer. Earlier this month, the bidders increased their offer to $24.80 per share, the latest in a series of price hikes since they first launched their takeover effort last year.
Macy’s said the company had gone “well beyond what is customarily required” in a due diligence period, offering the bidder group store-by-store profit and loss information and leases for each location. The company also noted that Arkhouse and Brigade had been allowed to share that confidential information with more than a dozen “credible financing sources.”
Arkhouse, after its initial efforts had been rebuffed, said earlier this year it intended to mount a proxy fight for control of Macy’s. The two sides were able to reach a settlement in April, adding two independent directors to the Macy’s board.
Arkhouse did not immediately return a request for comment. Shares of Macy’s fell roughly 15% in premarket trading Monday.
Macy’s is in the middle of a turnaround effort led by CEO Tony Spring, who stepped into the top job in February. The department store operator announced earlier this year that it would close about 150 of its namesake stores and open new locations of Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, its two brands that have put up stronger results. It’s also opening smaller Macy’s locations in bustling strip malls in the suburbs.

But the legacy department store operator’s efforts to grow sales have been stymied by high inflation, as consumers became more selective about spending on discretionary items. Macy’s has had to fight to stay relevant, too, as younger shoppers turn to online players like Shein, big-box stores like Target and off-price chains like T.J. Maxx instead of department stores.
For the fiscal year, Macy’s expects net sales to range between $22.3 billion and $22.9 billion, which would be a drop from $23.09 billion in 2023. It expects comparable sales, which take out the impact of store openings and closures, to range from a decline of about 1% to a gain of 1.5% on an owned-plus-licensed basis and including third-party marketplace sales.
On an earnings call in late May, Spring said Macy’s is in the “early innings” of revitalizing its namesake stores. Yet he pointed to better sales results at the first 50 stores where Macy’s had invested in more staffing, sharper merchandise displays and special events.
Arkhouse is a well-known real estate investment firm led by Gavriel Kahane and Jonathon Blackwell. While it is not a conventional activist investing firm, it has made a handful of unsolicited bids for REITs in the last few years. Brigade Capital Management focuses on retail companies, and has previously invested in names like Sears and Neiman Marcus.
Together, the bidding group sought to unlock what it saw as trapped value inside Macy’s real estate holdings, while simultaneously overhauling the company’s operations. Other department store names have been activist targets in the recent past for similar reasons: In 2022, activist fund Macellum urged Kohl’s to sell itself. More