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Netflix will stream NFL games on Christmas Day for the next three years.
It is the streaming platform’s first true step into live sports.
Netflix has taken strides into live entertainment with a deal to stream WWE’s “Raw” and a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.

Netflix will stream Christmas Day National Football League games for the next three years, in its first true step into live sports.
The streaming platform will show two games on Christmas Day this year, followed by at least one matchup in both 2025 and 2026, the league announced Wednesday. The games will continue to be available on broadcast TV in local team markets and on the NFL+ mobile app.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter said Netflix will pay in the ballpark of $75 million per game. Spokespeople for the NFL and Netflix declined to comment.
The streamer will hire its own announcers for the games and partner with existing production companies. Sarandos told CNBC he felt the NFL was the right fit because it matched the streamer’s event strategy, allowing Netflix to effectively own the day.
Netflix has drawn large audiences with sports programming, from the “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” documentary to its “Quarterback” series following NFL signal callers. While the company took major strides into live programming with a deal to stream the WWE’s “Raw” and a boxing fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, the company suggested it had not found a live sports rights strategy that worked for it.
“We have not seen a profit path to renting big sports,” Sarandos said in December 2022.
“We’re not anti-sports, we’re just pro-profit,” Sarandos said.

Now, Netflix will stream games for the most-watched U.S. sports league, at a time when it is trying to boost profits by raising subscription prices, pushing users toward an ad-tier membership and cracking down on password sharing.
The games could give Netflix a major draw for advertisers. The three Christmas Day NFL games averaged 28.68 million viewers last year, according to Sports Media Watch.
The Christmas Day matchups can function as a marketing ramp up for Netflix before it starts airing “Raw” in January.
The streaming giant’s forays into live events have not come without issues. Its live reunion event for the hit reality TV show “Love Is Blind” in April 2023 had a technical bug that delayed the stream for more than an hour, at which point the show was no longer live.
The announcement comes as streamers across the industry show increasing interest in live sports programming, particularly the NFL.
In January, NBCUniversal’s Peacock showed an NFL Wild Card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins, marking the first time a playoff game was broadcast exclusively on a streaming service. Amazon’s Prime Video has already snatched the exclusive rights to an NFL playoff game next season.
Amazon also signed a media rights deal with the NFL in 2021, where it agreed to pay about $1 billion per year to have exclusive Thursday Night Football rights for 10 years, starting with the 2023 season. The deal was the first time a streaming service carried a full package of games exclusively.
Netflix could be looking to branch out into basketball, as well. CNBC reported last year that Netflix, along with Amazon, Apple, YouTube TV and Comcast’s NBCUniversal/Peacock, have all had preliminary conversations with the National Basketball Association about possible interest in media rights when the league’s deal with Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery comes to an end after next season.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman and Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report

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Netflix’s cheaper, ad-supported tier now has 40 million global monthly active users, nearly double the 23 million the company reported in January.
The company also said it would launch its own advertising platform and no longer partner with Microsoft for that technology.
The company said Wednesday that 40% of all signups in countries that have the ad tier available are for that cheaper plan. Netflix now has 270 million total subscribers.

Rafael Enrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Netflix’s cheaper, ad-supported tier has amassed 40 million global monthly active users, the company said Wednesday.
That’s nearly double the 23 million figure the streaming giant shared in January.

The company also said it would launch its own advertising platform and no longer partner with Microsoft for that technology. The tech giant will remain a programmatic advertising partner, but will also be joined by other ad tech companies including The Trade Desk, Google Display & Video 360 and Magnite.
Netflix will begin testing its ad tech platform in Canada later this year and plans to launch it in the U.S. by the end of the second quarter next year. The company aims to set the platform live everywhere by the end of 2025.
The announcements came on Wednesday alongside Netflix’s Upfront presentation, designed to woo advertisers. The streaming giant joined its media peers for the second time in making an annual pitch to lock in advertising for its platform.
Earlier on Wednesday the company said it reached a deal to stream two National Football League games on Christmas Day this year, and at least one matchup on the same day in both 2025 and 2026.
Netflix has the option to host one or two games in future years, with 2024 serving as a test, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told CNBC on Wednesday.

It marks Netflix’s first real foray into live sports after years of resistance. Sports, particularly the NFL, has proven to be the glue that keeps traditional TV intact — and has also proven to be a boost to streaming services.
Terms of the NFL deal were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter said Netflix will pay in the ballpark of $75 million per game. Spokespeople for the NFL and Netflix declined to comment.
The streamer will hire its own announcers for the games and partner with existing production companies. Sarandos told CNBC he felt the NFL was the right fit because it matched the streamer’s event strategy, allowing Netflix to effectively own the day.

Streaming ad market

Netflix first introduced its ad-supported subscription plan in November 2022 as part of a wider effort to drive revenue amid slowing subscriber growth. That strategy included last year’s password-sharing crackdown.
Since then Netflix has been moving at breakneck speed to grow its ad-supported customer base, after admittedly being slow to join the pack. As part of that effort, Netflix got rid of its cheapest commercial-free plan in the U.S. and U.K.
The company said Wednesday that 40% of all signups in countries that have the ad tier available are for that cheaper plan. Netflix now has 270 million total subscribers.
For comparison, Disney’s flagship service Disney+ has 117.6 million global subscribers, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming unit, led by Max, has 99.6 million. Those two companies recently announced they would offer a streaming bundle in order to prevent subscribers from dropping subscriptions and help them to make their streaming businesses profitable.
Meanwhile, fledgling competitors are adding quarterly subscribers, but still trail. Comcast’s Peacock had 34 million customers as of the most recent quarter, while Paramount Global’s Paramount+ had 71 million.
Netflix’s monthly active ad-tier user figures come just a month after Netflix told investors it would no longer be providing quarterly subscriber number updates. The company said at the time that it was generating substantial profit and free cash flow and that its membership numbers were not the only factor in the company’s growth. It said the metric lost significance after it started to offer multiple price points for memberships.
Meanwhile, linear TV audiences continue to shrink and traditional media companies seek to gain a foothold in the streaming realm.
Legacy media companies have suffered in recent quarters as the advertising market collapsed due to fears of a recession and surging interest rates. Companies typically pullback on advertising spending during times of economic uncertainty.
But with a long runway ahead of it in the streaming business, Netflix has established itself as the leader in the segment as many other companies struggle to make their streaming platforms profitable.
Disney executives recently referred to Netflix as the “gold standard” of streaming, and also noted that there’s been additional supply in the ad market due to a competitor that recently entered the game, likely referencing Netflix.
Media companies recently reported quarterly earnings, which showed the advertising market for traditional TV is still soft, albeit improving. Digital and streaming advertising, however, has been on the rebound.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

The origins of Home Depot, a big American home-improvements store, are inauspicious. In 1978 two of its co-founders were fired from senior roles at Handy Dan’s, a similar chain in southern California, in a power struggle. They decided to start a rival firm. In an effort to lure in customers on opening day, the co-founders’ children stood outside the doors and handed out dollar bills. “By dinner time they still had plenty of cash,” lamented Bernie Marcus, one of the co-founders, in his autobiography.Today the company is a giant. Over the past 12 months it racked up $150bn in sales, making it by far America’s biggest home-improvements chain and its third-largest bricks-and-mortar retailer, after Walmart and Costco. The company now employs half a million staff, who profess to “bleed orange”, a reference to the firm’s striking colour scheme. Its market value, at $350bn, exceeds that of Chevron, an oil giant, and Netflix, a streaming darling. More

The 100% tariff on Chinese EVs, up from a current import tax of about 25%, could still leave room for the often-cheaper Chinese models, like the Seagull from BYD, to undercut domestic prices.
It also leaves loopholes for imports made by Chinese automakers in other countries, like neighboring Mexico.
Automotive and trade experts say the increased tariffs are a near-term protectionism act that may delay but won’t stop Chinese automakers’ EVs from coming to the U.S.

U.S. President Joe Biden announces increased tariffs on Chinese products to promote American investments and jobs in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 14, 2024 in Washington, DC. 
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images

DETROIT — President Joe Biden’s plan to quadruple tariffs on China-made electric vehicles is unlikely to stave off the threat of more Chinese cars on the auto sales market in the U.S.
The 100% tariff announced Tuesday, up from a current import tax of about 25%, covers EVs imported from China but could still leave room for the often-cheap Chinese models to undercut domestic prices and leaves loopholes for imports made by Chinese automakers in other countries, like neighboring Mexico. It also does nothing to address current or future gas-powered vehicles imported from the Communist country to the U.S.

Automotive and trade experts say the increased tariffs are a near-term protectionism act that may delay but won’t stop Chinese automakers from coming to the U.S. with EVs.
“They’re going to be here. It’s inevitable. It’s just a matter of time,” said Dan Hearsch, Americas co-leader of automotive and industrial practice at consulting firm AlixPartners. “Western automakers, Western suppliers really ought to be upping their game and preparing to take this on or play with them. It’s one or the other.”
The EV tariffs, including other increases regarding battery materials, were among new tariff rates on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Chinese competition

For decades, Chinese auto companies have said they will begin selling vehicles in the U.S. under their own brands, but none have succeeded.
The quality of Chinese automakers’ vehicles has gotten significantly better in recent years, as Beijing has helped by subsidizing their operations to grow domestic production. The increase in domestic automakers has led to a rapid deterioration of market share in the country for global automakers such as General Motors.

Global players have made more inroads in the U.S. market in recent years. The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford Motor and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their market share in the country deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.
GM and others have found it hard to compete against budget and mainstream Chinese vehicles, including EVs. For example, a small EV from Warren Buffett-backed BYD called the Seagull starts at around $10,000 and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.
Though the Seagull isn’t yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it’s only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.
Even with the new 100% tariff, its pricing would likely be in line with or better than many EVs currently on sale in the U.S.
“Ultimately, we think protectionism from the West could remain a near-term overhang for Chinese EV/parts makers aiming for rapid global expansion, but we think it is unlikely to halt China’s EV push in the long run,” Morgan Stanley analyst Tim Hsiao said in an investor note this week.

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Though some automakers currently import gas-powered vehicles from China into the U.S., the numbers are small. Wall Street analysts, citing the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, report fewer than 75,000 vehicles were imported into the U.S. last year.
Vehicles made in China and currently sold in the U.S. include GM’s gas-powered Buick Envision, Ford’s Lincoln Nautilus and two all-electric vehicles from Geely-owned Volvo and its spinoff EV startup Polestar.
Polestar, with a small lineup of vehicles, is notably reliant on its Chinese imports. The company, in a statement, said it is “currently evaluating the announcement of tariff increases from the Biden Administration,” saying it believes “free trade is essential to speed up the transition to more sustainable mobility through increased EV adoption.”

Green goals

Biden’s focus on China-made EVs — and the exclusion of gas-powered vehicles in the higher levies — fits with the White House’s clean energy agenda, which has emphasized electric vehicle production and adoption as well as enhanced U.S. charging infrastructure.
“EVs are where we’re focused in terms of placing tariffs, because that’s where we’ve made hundreds of billions of dollars of public investments. We’ve made those investments to build resilience in our clean technology supply chains. And so that’s our focus here,” a senior administration official told reporters this week.
It’s possible U.S. officials are taking a warning sign from Europe, where Chinese automakers have quickly flooded markets with gas-saving EVs and undercut domestic automakers.
Chinese companies accounted for 8% of Europe’s all-electric vehicle sales as of September and could increase their share to 15% by 2025, the European Union said in October 2023. The EU believes Chinese EVs are undercutting the prices of local models by about 20%.
The Biden administration’s new EV tariffs could have a ripple effect on other countries, including in Europe, if they’re successful in stemming Chinese exports, according to Coco Zhang, vice president of ESG research at ING Group.
She said similar tariffs elsewhere could force Chinese companies to move more quickly to establish local production operations or joint ventures with other companies in an attempt to lower export costs.
“From China’s perspective, if there can be supply or other sorts of partnerships, they can still find their way going into the U.S. market,” Zhang said.
Such moves would be reminiscent of how Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor as well as South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, including Kia Motors, entered the U.S. market in recent decades.
– CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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McDonald’s $5 value meal will run for roughly a month, beginning on June 25.
The offering will include four items — a McChicken or McDouble, four piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink.
The monthlong promotion comes at a time when restaurants are finally beginning to feel a long-anticipated consumer pullback.

A McDonald’s store sign in Austin, Texas, Oct. 30, 2023.
Brandon Bell |Getty Images

McDonald’s is set to offer a $5 value meal in the U.S., but only for a limited time.
The promotion will include four items for $5 — a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink — and will run for roughly a month, beginning on June 25, according to a person familiar with the offering who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.

“We know how much it means to our customers when McDonald’s offers meaningful value and communicates it through national advertising. That’s been true since our very beginning and never more important than it is today,” McDonald’s said in a statement to CNBC.
CNBC last week reported the fast-food giant was working to bring a value offering to menus, with details being discussed and voted on by franchisees. An initial proposal for the meal did not clear necessary hurdles.
Coca-Cola added marketing funds to the equation to make the deal more appealing, CNBC reported Friday. In a statement on Wednesday, Coca-Cola said: “We routinely partner with our customers on marketing programs to meet consumer needs. This helps us grow our businesses together.”
Financial terms of that partnership were not disclosed.
The monthlong promotion comes at a time when restaurants are finally beginning to feel a long-anticipated consumer pullback.

McDonald’s recently reported a mixed first quarter, with U.S. same-store sales slightly missing expectations. Higher prices helped grow average checks, but some consumers pulled back as a result of the steeper costs.
“Consumers continue to be even more discriminating with every dollar that they spend as they faced elevated prices in their day-to-day spending, which is putting pressure on the [quick-service restaurant] industry,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the company’s earnings call on April 30.
He added McDonald’s has to be “laser-focused” on affordability to attract diners.
“Great value and affordability have always been a hallmark of McDonald’s brand, and all three legs of the stool are coming together to deliver that at a time when our customers really need it. This is the power and promise of the Golden Arches,” John Palmaccio, McDonald’s owner and operator and chair of the Operators National Advertising Fund, said in a statement to CNBC on the $5 promotion.
— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.

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Walgreens said it will offer its own cheaper version of the over-the-counter opioid overdose reversal spray naloxone online and in stores.
The drug store retailer aims to boost the accessibility of the life-saving medication in the U.S. as the nation grapples with the toll of the opioid epidemic.
Walgreens said it will sell a two-dose pack of its naloxone for $34.99, around $10 cheaper than over-the-counter Narcan nasal spray.

A person rides past a Walgreens truck, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, in Manhattan, New York City, on Nov. 26, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Walgreens on Wednesday said it will offer its own cheaper version of the over-the-counter opioid overdose reversal spray naloxone. The drug is available online and will be in all stores at the end of the month. 
The drug store retailer aims to boost the availability of the life-saving medication in the U.S. as the nation grapples with the toll of the opioid epidemic and attempts to bring down alarmingly high drug fatality rates.

More than 645,000 people died from overdoses involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids, from 1999 to 2021, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Naloxone can temporarily reverse the effects of an overdose from opioids, including heroin and fentanyl, when administered in time. The drug blocks the effects of opioids on the brain, restoring normal breathing and preventing death.
Despite naloxone’s efficacy, access to the treatment “remains limited in many communities,” according to a Walgreens release. 
The company said it will sell a two-dose pack of “Walgreens Brand Naloxone” for $34.99. That’s around $10 cheaper than the over-the-counter branded drug Narcan, which became the first prescription-free version of naloxone to win Food and Drug Administration approval last year. Previously, patients needed a prescription to access naloxone.
“That was a concerted decision to really do everything we can to increase accessibility, not just in terms of quantity and availability, but also in price,” Dr. Priya Mammen, senior medical director in Walgreens’ Office of Clinical Integrity, told CNBC in an interview. 

The company said the launch of its prescription-free naloxone nasal spray comes after the FDA’s recent approval of the product. It is the generic equivalent of over-the-counter Narcan, which Walgreens currently offers in its stores.
Mammen hopes that Walgreens can help reduce the stigma associated with drug overdoses and naloxone use. 
The drug “is not just for some people. It’s a life-saving medication that can intervene on anyone at any age, anytime, and it’s something that families, individuals and communities can empower themselves by having it available and can be part of the solution,” she said.  More

Boeing broke a 2021 settlement that protected it from criminal prosecution over two fatal crashes of the 737 Max, federal prosecutors said.
Boeing must respond to the U.S. Department of Justice by June 13.
The DOJ said Boeing violated the agreement by failing to set up and enforce a compliance and ethics program to detect violations of U.S. fraud laws.

Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are pictured outside a Boeing factory on March 25, 2024 in Renton, Washington. 
Stephen Brashear | Getty Images

Boeing violated a 2021 settlement that protected it from criminal charges tied to the fatal 737 Max crashes, opening the company up to potential U.S. prosecution, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors said in a court filing in Texas they are still determining “how it will proceed in this matter” and that Boeing will have 30 days to respond.

The airplane manufacturer broke the agreement by “failing to design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations,” the DOJ said.
Boeing denied those claims.
“We believe that we have honored the terms of that agreement, and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this issue,” Boeing said.
In January 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a conspiracy charge with the Justice Department. After a roughly two-year probe, the DOJ accused the company of concealing information about its Max plane that had been involved in two crashes that claimed the lives of all 346 people on board.
Boeing had admitted that two of its 737 Max technical pilots “deceived” the Federal Aviation Administration about the capabilities of a flight-control system on the planes that was later implicated in the two crashes, the Justice Department said at the time.

“This is a positive first step, and for the families, a long time coming. But we need to see further action from DOJ to hold Boeing accountable, and plan to use our meeting on May 31 to explain in more detail what we believe would be a satisfactory remedy to Boeing’s ongoing criminal conduct,” Paul Cassell, a lawyer for crash victims’ families said in a statement on Tuesday.
The plane-maker has been under heightened federal scrutiny after a door panel blew out midair from a 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines on Jan. 5. A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board said bolts that hold in the door plug, which fills an optional emergency exit, didn’t appear to be in place.
The near-tragedy has created a fresh crisis for Boeing, just as it was trying to stabilize its production and improve its reputation after the 2018 and 2019 crashes.

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The return of meme stock architect “Roaring Kitty” has led AMC shares to more than double since Friday’s close.
The last time these retail investors rallied around AMC and its stock surged, the movie theater chain was able to avoid bankruptcy.
Now, it has a chance to put a dent in its substantial debt load.

Cars drive near an AMC Theater in New York City on March 29, 2023.
Leonardo Munoz | View Press | Corbis News | Getty Images

Can AMC Entertainment capitalize on a second meme craze?
The stock, alongside GameStop, surged this week after “Roaring Kitty,” the man who inspired the massive short squeeze of 2021, posted online for the first time in nearly three years. The return of Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, has led AMC shares to more than double since Friday’s close. They rose above $6 in afternoon trading Tuesday.

The last time these retail investors rallied around AMC and its stock surged, the movie theater chain was able to avoid bankruptcy. Now, it has a chance to put a dent in its substantial debt load.
CEO Adam Aron made three major acquisitions “in a relatively short amount of time” after taking over the company in 2015, which included theater chains Carmike, Odeon and Nordic, said Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM. AMC spent about $3 billion on the deals collectively.
While the acquisitions bolstered the size AMC’s theater network, they also levered the company’s balance sheet, Handler said.
“So, when the pandemic hit, they sort of got a double whammy because they were already highly levered and then they had to raise more debt to survive and give them more cash,” Handler said.

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Since the beginning of 2022, AMC has paid down nearly $1 billion of its debt, but about $4.6 billion remains.

AMC has around $20 million due in 2024 and $118 million due in 2025, which is “not a hurdle,” according to Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese. But the looming $2.96 billion set for collection in 2026 requires the most attention.
“I think they’ll be able to renegotiate a portion of it, but a lot of it’s probably just going to get extended maturities,” Reese told CNBC.
Lenders have been willing to renegotiate terms, but a bump in share price could allow AMC to secure better deals.
Currently, AMC is paying about $100 million every quarter in interest expenses, which is eating into its potential profits. With the box office still recovering from pandemic- and strike-related production shutdowns, AMC has not been able to absorb its fixed expenses, such as rent, employee payroll and other operational costs, said Eric Wold, senior analyst at B. Riley Securities.
“What to me matters is whether or not, like they did a few years ago, is can you take advantage of this to bolster their balance sheet?” he said.
AMC raised $250 million of new equity capital in a sale that wrapped up Monday, just as the meme stock craze was revived. The cinema chain sold 72.5 million shares in an at-the-market equity offering that started in late March. AMC sold the stock at an average price of $3.45 per share before commissions and fees. The majority of stock was sold prior to the stock price jump.
“The recent surge in the stock presents an additional opportunity to raise equity funds that can support liquidity and debt reduction, eventually moving AMC to a structure that could facilitate institutional support,” James Goss, analyst at Barrington Research, wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.

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