Business

Warren Buffett said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that Norfolk Southern dealt poorly with the aftermath of its East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment in February.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns BNSF Railway, which competes with Norfolk Southern.
On Tuesday, a truck carrying around 40,000 pounds of contaminated soil from the East Palestine derailment site overturned on a highway.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Norfolk Southern botched the response to its East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment in February, an accident that spilled toxic chemicals into the environment.
“I think they’ve handled it terribly,” the Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO said Wednesday in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick from Tokyo on “Squawk Box.”

Buffett, whose BNSF Railway competes with Norfolk Southern, said Norfolk was “tone deaf” for its handling of the Feb. 3 derailment in Ohio.
“I don’t think they’re necessarily bad people for sure, but their response should not have been the same way,” Buffett said. He noted that BNSF had a derailment in March that spilled diesel fuel on tribal land in Washington.

Cleanup efforts continue on portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 9, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar | AP

A Norfolk Southern spokesperson pointed CNBC to media coverage of the company’s commitment to working with the East Palestine community.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has said the company will support cleanup efforts in Ohio, pledging roughly $24 million in reimbursements and investments. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board opened a special probe into Norfolk Southern last month that will examine the company’s organization and safety culture.
The Justice Department and the state of Ohio sued Norfolk Southern in March, leading Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Sherrod Brown of Ohio to propose the Railway Accountability Act.

On Tuesday, a truck carrying around 40,000 pounds of contaminated soil from the East Palestine derailment site overturned on a highway.
Buffett’s deputy Greg Abel in the same interview Wednesday said derailments are a “railroad problem” that BNSF and other companies are working to address. He said BNSF aims to improve its practices on safety records and equipment failures to avoid problems at the front end.
Still, Buffett cautioned that rail companies may not be able to eliminate accidents.
“To say that there will never be any more derailments is just plain crazy,” he said.
Buffett added: “We would rather not handle hazardous material. We are a common carrier, we’re required to carry, whether it’s chlorine or you name it.” More

Relativity Space is shifting its strategy in an attempt to accelerate work on the reusable rocket it’s developing.
It’s adjusting its manufacturing approach to blend its 3D-printing-first approach with traditional metal-bending techniques.
Last month, the debut flight of Relativity’s 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket launched from Florida – but failed to reach orbit.

An artist’s rendition of a Terran R rocket launching.
Relativity Space

Relativity Space is shifting its strategy in an attempt to accelerate work on the reusable rocket it’s developing, the company announced on Wednesday. Chief among the changes: adjusting its manufacturing approach to blend its 3D-printing-first approach with traditional metal-bending techniques.
The company is going “all in” on developing its larger Terran R rocket, CEO Tim Ellis told CNBC, effectively shelving its Terran 1 vehicle after one launch.

“We’re putting all energy and resources on getting Terran R to market as quickly as possible and then getting to a higher rate of reuse for scaling the launch volumes,” Ellis said.
Last month, the debut flight of Relativity’s 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket launched from Florida – but failed to reach orbit after an issue about three minutes into the mission. While Ellis hailed the inaugural launch as a success that passed a number of milestones, he noted that it meant Relativity “had some decisions to make” about whether to continue building and launching Terran 1 rockets. 

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The company is currently talking to NASA about an upcoming mission that it no longer expects to fly on Terran 1. It’s already moved other customers over to Terran R.
Although Relativity expects it will be another three years until Terran R debuts, with a target goal of 2026, the company has so far won launch deals from seven customers worth over $1.6 billion for future flights on the rocket.
“We have won 100% of the commercial contracts we’ve gone after to date against other competitors,” Ellis emphasized.

Changes for Terran R

An overview of Terran R’s design update as of April 2023.
Relativity Space

Since Ellis unveiled plans for Terran R two years ago, the rocket’s design has continued to evolve. But Relativity’s update on Wednesday features its most dramatic change yet, with the 3D-printing specialist incorporating an aluminum alloy into the rocket’s initial models through manufacturing “tank straight-section barrels” – a practice that is more traditionally common in aerospace.
Relativity made a name for itself with its 3D-printing approach to manufacturing rockets, building massive additive manufacturing machines. The company 3D-printed about 85% of the mass of its Terran 1 rocket, and previously planned to get that number above 90%. Ellis declined to specify what percent of Terran R will now be 3D-printed in the company’s new “hybrid manufacturing approach,” emphasizing instead that the shift is to prioritize its timeline to first launch.
“We’re using printing everywhere else strategically to really reduce the vehicle complexity,” Ellis said. “We can actually take the more simple, straight sections of the vehicle and build them traditionally and not have a huge decrement to the amount of difficulty that it is to build.”
“Our long-term vision has not changed … we’re still super focused on additive development,” Ellis added.
The company has raised over $1.3 billion in capital to date at a $4.2 billion valuation. It continues to expand its footprint — with its headquarters and factory in California, engine testing facilities in Mississippi, and the launch site in Florida.
Terran R is planned to be a 270-foot-tall rocket that can launch either 23,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit in a reusable mode, or up to 33,500 kilograms if the booster is not landed for reuse. That would put Terran R in the “heavy” side of the rocket market, and above SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket in terms of capability.
Relativity plans to add on to its existing facility in Cape Canaveral in preparation for Terran R launches. The rockets will be built at its 1-million-square-foot factory in Long Beach, called “The Wormhole.” Ellis estimated Relativity will be capable of producing upwards of 45 rockets a year from that facility.

Building off Terran 1

Central to Ellis’ confidence in Terran R is the data and experience that Relativity gained from Terran 1’s launch.
“I think there’s a strong argument that we proved more than any other company has in that first flight,” Ellis said.

The company’s Terran 1 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Mar. 22, 2023.
John Kraus / Relativity Space

Terran R builds upon the technologies that Relativity flew with Terran 1, with similarities ranging from its “methalox” propellants to the software, ground infrastructure and  more.
Although Terran 1 did not make it to its target orbit, the rocket did reach space. Alongside the FAA, the company continues to investigate the cause of the problem with the second stage of the rocket. Relativity shared its preliminary findings: It discovered the main valves of the second stage’s engine opened more slowly than expected, and a suspected vapor bubble in the engine’s oxygen pump appears to have also kept it from reaching full power.
“There’s just no way to test exactly like you fly,” Ellis said. More

Walmart is accelerating its use of automation across its supply chain as it chases higher profits.
The company showed off an automated distribution center in Florida at an investor day.
CEO Doug McMillon said he anticipates the retailer’s workforce will stay about the same size, but said its composition will change.

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — At first glance, this warehouse looks like many: Forklifts unload pallets from the back of dozens of tractor-trailers. Canned soup, soda and cleaning supplies whiz by on conveyer belts. Store-bound merchandise gets sorted by department and store aisle before getting stacked high like an elaborate game of Tetris.
The difference? Tasks are powered by giant automated claws and rolling robots, instead of people. The driver’s seats on the forklifts are empty.

Welcome to the future of Walmart.
The big-box retailer at an investor event last week previewed how it plans to use automation to more quickly and cost-effectively manage inventory, stock shelves and keep up with online orders. The company took investors on a tour of an approximately 1.4 million-square-foot facility in Brooksville, Florida — the first automated distribution center for packaged foods and other shelf-stable household items.
Walmart plans to add that same automation from Symbotic — a warehouse technology company that Walmart took a majority stake in last year — to all of its 42 regional distribution centers, though it didn’t share a timetable for doing so. By the end of January, roughly a third of stores will get distribution from the automated facilities, the company said.
Walmart’s automation is a piece of a broader plan to drive profits higher. CEO Doug McMillon said in the coming years the retailer’s revenue will grow about 4% year over year — a slower growth rate than the approximately 8% it saw in the past three Covid pandemic-fueled years, but still faster than growth of 3.1% and 3.6% the retailer posted in the three years prior to the pandemic.
McMillon added that he expects profits to grow at a quicker pace than sales over the next five years as Walmart adds automation and grows its higher-margin businesses like advertising, last-mile delivery and fulfillment services.

He said Walmart has given customers more ways to shop online and get those purchases faster. It offers more general merchandise, including exclusive brands in categories like apparel. And it has more sellers that have joined its third-party marketplace, too.
“We’re now in a phase that is less about scaling store pickup and delivery, e-commerce assortment, and e-commerce FC [fulfillment center] square footage and more about execution and operating margin improvement,” he said.
In three years, Walmart anticipates that about two-thirds of its stores will be serviced by some kind of automation, about 55% of fulfillment center volume will move through automated facilities and that unit cost averages could improve by about 20%.

Workforce shifts

For Walmart, the country’s largest employer, the automation push means rendering obsolete some of its 1.6 million roles.
At the Brooksville facility during the investor tour, few people appeared to be on the distribution center’s floor, though Walmart said its overall head count at the facility hasn’t changed.
David Guggina, executive vice president of Walmart U.S.’ supply chain operations, said automation is about increasing capacity, not cutting jobs. He said retention has significantly improved, since work is not as physically demanding. He declined to share specific turnover numbers, but said the first year after the Brooksville facility became automated, no employees left the job.
In an interview with CNBC, McMillon said he anticipates the retailer’s workforce will stay about the same size. But he said its composition will change. For example, he said, Walmart may need fewer people to unload pallets at warehouses, but more people to deliver online orders to customers’ doors.

Walmart Symbotic
Courtesy: Walmart

Walmart recently laid off hundreds of workers at e-commerce facilities across the country. McMillon said those layoffs came after a surge in online sales during the early years of the pandemic, as the company tried to understand what its sales trends would look like beyond the holidays.
Walmart has not shared how much it will spend on the automation projects. At last week’s investor event, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said the company expects its capital expenditures will be slightly higher than last year, at roughly 2.5% to 3% of sales.
He said about 90% of the company’s capex will be in “high-return areas” like e-commerce, supply chain and store investments.
As Walmart plans for the bigger rollout, some employees have already had a change in their routines. Jose Molina, who shared his experience as part of the organized tour, began working at the Brooksville distribution center in 1995. For years, he said, he kept track of inventory with a pen and paper. He grew tired from lifting heavy boxes with a pallet jack or operating a forklift.
With the automation, Molina watches the robots unload the truck and intervenes if they run into a problem, he said. Scanners keep count of each item, so he can skip the pen and paper or mental math. He leaves work without feeling exhausted and coaches high school soccer at the end of his day.
“I even kick the ball sometimes,” he said.

Bearing fruit

Brad Thomas, a retail analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, took a tour of the Tampa-area facility during the investor event. He said he was sold on the investments after seeing real-world results in the back of a nearby store.
Thomas referred to two trailers, packed with pallets and ready to unload from the distribution center. One was packed manually by employees and included a bunch of items from numerous departments piled in a haphazard stack. A box of Pop-Tarts precariously propped up other items at the bottom of the towering pallet.
The other trailer was packed by a robot, organized with the help of automation for fast and easy unloading for workers. Like items together, heaviest at the bottom.
The contrast, Thomas said, helps highlight what he views as a significant transformation for Walmart — the company’s “most exciting setup that it’s had in the past 10 years.”
“Ten years ago, Walmart was still playing catch-up in areas like e-commerce, and I think that many of the investments they have made are bearing fruit,” he said. “We’re actually seeing areas like automation where arguably Walmart is more of a leader than a follower.”
Other retailers are pushing into automation, too. Grocery giant Kroger is opening huge, robot-powered sheds with U.K.-based Ocado to expand its online grocery business, including one that allowed it to break into the Florida market without building a single store.
Amazon has increasingly automated the picking and sorting of packages in its warehouses. Its $775 million acquisition of Kiva Systems in 2012 was a pivotal moment in that transition, giving Amazon access to robots that can carry shelves of goods from worker to worker, speeding up the fulfillment process.
Walmart is banking on automation to help get more online orders to customers next day or with two-day shipping. The retailer currently picks, packs and ships orders at 31 fulfillment centers across the country, and it has plans to build four automated fulfillment centers, including one that’s already opened in Joliet, Illinois, 45 miles southeast of Chicago.
The retailer has an additional 46 distribution centers to support the fresh side of its grocery business and has an automated grocery distribution center in Shafter, California. It has plans to open another in Lancaster, Texas, later this year and one in Spartanburg, South Carolina, next year.
It’s also testing mini fulfillment centers in the back of stores where employees work side by side with automation to get online grocery orders ready.
— CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report. More

Walmart announced Tuesday it will abruptly close four underperforming Chicago stores, citing millions in annual losses.
The company said its eight Chicago stores collectively have not been profitable since the first opened 17 years ago.
The locations are in the Kenwood, Lakeview, Little Village and Chatham neighborhoods of Chicago.

Customers shop at a Walmart store on May 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

Walmart announced Tuesday it will abruptly close four underperforming Chicago stores, citing millions in annual losses.
The company said its eight Chicago stores collectively have not been profitable since the first opened 17 years ago. This has amounted to a loss of “tens of millions of dollars a year,” according to a press release, losses that have nearly doubled over the last five years.

The four stores will close on April 16, though their pharmacies will remain open for up to 30 days. The locations are in the Kenwood, Lakeview, Little Village and Chatham neighborhoods of Chicago.
“Over the years, we have tried many different strategies to improve the business performance of these locations, including building smaller stores, localizing product assortment and offering services beyond traditional retail,” the company said in a release. “As we looked for solutions, it became even more clear that for these stores, there was nothing leaders could do to help get us to the point where they would be profitable.”
Walmart said all employees at these four stores are eligible to transfer to other Walmart locations and will be paid through Aug. 11. The company will keep its other four Chicago stores open, it said.
Walmart said in March it will close a dozen or so stores, according to media reports. Walmart also announced in March it would lay off hundreds of employees at e-commerce fulfillment centers across the country.
As of Jan. 31, the company operated more than 5,300 retail locations, including Supercenters, discount stores, Sam’s Clubs and small-format stores. More

Lamborghini’s quick sellout of its new $600,000 hybrid supercar is proof that wealthy car buyers are still spending, according to the CEO.
Lamborghini already has a waiting list and two years worth of orders for the Revuelto, its first ever plug-in hybrid that was launched last month, CEO Stephan Winkelmann told CNBC.
“The resilience of our customers, with everything that is happening in the last 24 months is incredible,” Winkelmann said. “We don’t see any slowdown in order intake for buying cars like ours.”

Lamborghini’s quick sellout of its new $600,000 hybrid supercar is proof that wealthy car buyers are still spending, according to the CEO.
Lamborghini already has a waiting list and two years worth of orders for the Revuelto, its first ever plug-in hybrid that was launched last month, CEO Stephan Winkelmann told CNBC. The orders come despite the global turmoil in financial markets and banking systems in recent months.

“The resilience of our customers, with everything that is happening in the last 24 months is incredible,” Winkelmann said. “We don’t see any slowdown in order intake for buying cars like ours.”
The rush of orders for the Revuelto and other supercars highlights the continued strength of the wealthy consumer despite slowdowns in other segments of the consumer economy. The share price of Ferrari is up 27% this year on the back of continued demand for trophy cars, especially in the U.S.

Lamborghini Revuelto Ambient
Courtesy: Lamborghini

Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls Royce and other top brands reported record sales and production last year.
Lamborghini produced a record 9,233 vehicles worldwide last year, up 10% over 2021. Winkelmann said it’s too early to forecast 2023 production, but if orders continue as they have in the first quarter the company can match or exceed last year’s record.
The big question for supercar makers like Lamborghini is how to define their brands in the age of electrification. Prized for their powerful, thundering engines, supercar makers are working to develop silent, high-performance EVs that are distinct enough from Tesla and other brands to command higher premiums.

Every Lamborghini model launched after the Revuelto will be a hybrid, with plug-in versions of the Urus SUV and Huracan sportscar expected in the coming years. Lamborghini plans to launch its first fully electric model sometime in 2028 or 2029.
With the Revuelto, Lamborghini utilized the best of both worlds, pairing three electric motors with a new 6.5-liter, naturally aspirated V12 engine for a combined 1,001 horsepower. It has a top speed of over 217 miles per hour and can do 0 to 62 mph in under 2.5 seconds.
With hybridization, the Revuelto is 30% more fuel efficient.
Car collectors say part of the appeal of the Revuelto is owning one of the last generations of V12 supercars to be sold and built.

Lamborghini Revuelto Ambient
Courtesy: Lamborghini

“The team worked hard on this car for years,” Winkelmann said. “The reception of the customers is positive in two ways, because on one hand side they recognize it’s a true Lamborghini. And on the other side there is no fear about having a hybridized car.”
Winkelmann said the Revuelto is likely to sell as well or better than its top-of-the-line Aventador model, which the Revuelto replaces. Lamborghini sold over 11,000 Aventadors over its decade-plus life. He said demand from the U.S. — Lamborghini’s largest market — has been especially strong.
The China market, however, remains an unknown since the country just reopened from lockdown, Winkelmann said, adding that demand in South Korea “exploded” last year. Central Europe and Australia were also strong, he said.
“In the U.S., California, Florida, Texas and the Northeast are always good for positive surprises,” he said.
Production of the Revuelto will start in the second half of 2023, with the first cars delivered to the U.S. in the fourth quarter.
“And then next year, we go full speed and we will see how the market is moving,” Winklemann said.

Lamborghini Revuelto Ambient
Courtesy: Lamborghini More

Ford will invest about $1.3 billion in its Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, to transition the facility into a new electric vehicle hub.
The plant will build the company’s next-generation EVs that are expected to arrive to market around mid-decade.
The changes to the Oakville complex will include combining three body shops into one and adding battery pack assembly, Ford said.

Ford display at the New York Auto Show, April 6, 2023.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

DETROIT – Ford Motor will invest 1.8 billion Canadian dollars (about $1.3 billion) in its Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, to transition the facility into a new electric vehicle hub, the automaker said Tuesday.
The plant, which will be renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will build the company’s next-generation EVs that are expected to arrive to market around mid-decade. The retooling is expected to take six months and begin in the second quarter of next year, Ford said.

“We’re reusing all of its infrastructure, from the land itself to the buildings and even its roads to quickly prepare for a new generation of manufacturing,” said Dave Nowicki, director of EV manufacturing at the automaker, during a media call.
Ford declined to disclose the plant’s expected production capacity or how many electric vehicle models the retooled facility will build. When the automaker initially agreed to the investment deal with Canadian auto union Unifor in 2020, the plant was expected to produce five EV models. However, those plans may have been scaled back to two vehicles, according to Automotive News.
The changes to the Oakville complex will include combining three body shops into one and adding battery pack assembly, Ford said. The facility will use cells from a battery plant that’s currently under construction in Kentucky.
The Oakville complex will be the company’s first time completely retooling a North American facility producing gas-powered vehicles into one that manufactures EVs. It has previously retooled parts of plants, built onto existing plants or announced new production facilities for EVs.
The Oakville plant will continue to build the gas-powered Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers up until the plant’s downtime next year. A company spokesman declined to disclose its production plans for those vehicles after the investment is completed.
The investment is part of Ford’s plan to have production capacity for 2 million EVs globally by the end of 2026. More

Boeing delivered 64 planes to customers last month, the most since December.
The company resumed handovers of 787 Dreamliners in mid-March after addressing a data analysis flaw.
The manufacturer is planning to increase production of its popular narrow-body and wide-body jets.

An aerial view of the engines and fuselage of an unpainted Boeing 737 MAX airplane parked in storage at King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, June 1, 2022.
Lindsey Wasson | Reuters

Boeing delivered 64 planes last month, the most since December, while some customers continue to await new aircraft to capitalize on a boom in travel.
The handovers included seven Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which the company resumed deliveries of in mid-March after addressing a data analysis flaw that was reported in late February. Boeing also handed over 52 of its bestselling 737 Max jets, just as it gears up to increase production of the planes.

Both Boeing and Airbus planes have arrived late to some customers as the world’s two largest manufacturers of commercial jets grapple with lingering supply chain and worker training strains from the Covid pandemic.
Last month, Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing’s commercial aircraft unit, told reporters at an industry event in New York that the company plans to increase production of the 737 Max planes “very soon” from the current rate of 31 a month, but he didn’t provide further detail. The company has targeted deliveries of more than 400 Max planes this year.
Boeing also reported net orders for 38 planes in March as demand picks up for new jets. Recent high-profile sales have come from United Airlines, which ordered at least 100 Dreamliners late last year, Air India and two Saudi airlines. More

YouTube’s baseline “Sunday Ticket” package will cost $349 for YouTube TV subscribers or $449 for non-subscribers.
The streamer is offering $100 off all its plans for anyone who signs up before June 6.
YouTube TV became the owner of “Sunday Ticket” in December, paying roughly $2 billion for the rights, and taking over DirecTV’s longtime contract.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs the ball in for a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium, Oct. 2, 2022.
Kim Klement | USA Today Sports | Reuters

Are you ready for some “Sunday Ticket” football — with or without a pay TV subscription?
For the first time this season, the NFL’s package of out-of-market games will be offered as part of Google’s YouTube TV, an internet-TV bundle of channels, as well as to those who don’t want to subscribe to a bundle of any kind, albeit, at a premium.

For those who already subscribe to YouTube TV, which costs $72.99 a month, the base “Sunday Ticket” package will cost an additional $349 for the season. The streamer is also offering a bundle with Redzone, the NFL’s linear cable TV channel, that will cost $389 for the season.
And though you can bypass the YouTube TV subscription and still snag “Sunday Ticket,” it will come at a cost. Offered through YouTube Primetime Channels, which allows you to subscribe to individual streaming services and channels as well as watch movies, the base plan will cost $449 and the Redzone bundle will cost $489.
All of the above packages come with a $100 discount for anyone who signs up before June 6.
“We have a really large audience of millions of sports and NFL fans that come to YouTube every day, and now can get access to this,” said Christian Oestlien, YouTube TV’s vice president of product management, in an interview. “One of the things we were really trying to do here was simplify the experience for the user with the flexibility and choice we can provide.”
YouTube TV became the newest home of the “Sunday Ticket” package in December, in a deal that will see the tech giant shell out roughly $2 billion annually for the rights, CNBC previously reported.

Until that deal, which kicks off with the upcoming NFL season, DirecTV had been the exclusive home of “Sunday Ticket” and required a subscription to the satellite pay TV service in order to watch the games.
The new pricing is in line with DirecTV’s offering, which Oestlien said YouTube leaned on as the current market precedent. The streamer also talked to existing subscribers about what they’d be willing to pay, he said.
“We didn’t want to give this away for free or anything. There was a real opportunity to price this in a smart way, and we worked really closely with the NFL,” Oestlien said.
DirecTV had held the rights to “Sunday Ticket” since its inception in 1994, and paid $1.5 billion annually for them since the latest renewal in 2014. The package cost $79.99 a month for the base option, or $149.99 a month for extra features, on top of a DirecTV subscription.
YouTube and the NFL are still doing research together about other new packages they could offer down the road, Oestlien said. There’s been a focus on midseason and late-season packages as potential opportunities, although the parties have nothing to announce at the moment, he added.

Move to streaming

Retaining the rights to “Sunday Ticket” will boost YouTube’s profile in the competitive streaming landscape, especially among internet-TV bundles once thought to be the answer to traditional cord cutting. YouTube TV, like other competitors including Hulu Live TV+ and Fubo TV, has been slow to fill the gap for those fleeing traditional pay TV subscriptions, who increasingly turn to the likes of premium entertainment streamers like Netflix. YouTube TV reached 5 million subscribers in July.
And the deal could be seen as a win for the traditional TV network channels, too: The cheaper pricing available to YouTube TV subscribers — which includes the broadcast and cable TV channels that recently renewed their rights deals for NFL games — could entice football fans to opt into the whole bundle and keep eyeballs on other networks, which have seen viewership fall due to cord cutting.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the time of the YouTube TV deal announcement that the league had “been focused on increased digital distribution of our games.”
“This partnership is yet another example of us looking towards the future and building the next generation of NFL fans,” Goodell said in December.
Oestlien said the deal “opens up a whole new market to people who would have been less interested in getting Sunday Ticket” from traditional pay-TV means.
Recently the NFL said it teamed up with RedBird Capital Partners to form a partnership that holds the exclusive rights to distribute Sunday Ticket to bars, restaurants and other commercial venues in the U.S.
Amazon holds the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football, requiring a Prime Video subscription to watch the games at home. However, DirecTV airs the games for bars, restaurants and other businesses.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this article.
Disclosure: Comcast, which owns CNBC parent NBCUniversal, is a co-owner of Hulu. More