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When the public health emergency does end, HHS estimates up to 15 million people will be disenrolled from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
HHS will give the public 60 days notice before lifting the public health emergency, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
The end of the public health emergency will also result in reduced food benefits for the poor and could impact vaccine access at pharmacies among many other consequences.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss reopening schools during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 30, 2021.
Shawn Thew | Pool | Reuters

The Biden administration is telling health-care providers to begin preparing for an end to the public health emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic nearly three years ago.
The change will have broad implications for Medicaid health insurance recipients and could significantly impact how hospitals and pharmacies operate.

How the U.S. manages Covid this fall and winter will provide crucial data on whether the emergency needs to remain in place, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters on a call earlier this month.
The Health and Human Services Department will give the public 60 days notice before lifting the public health emergency, Becerra said. His comments come after President Joe Biden claimed in September that the pandemic is over, though he said Covid still presents a health challenge.
Becerra renewed the emergency declaration until Jan. 11 last week as the U.S. presses ahead with a fall booster campaign, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told health-care providers in August to start preparing for a return to pre-pandemic rules as soon as possible.
The public health emergency, first declared by the Trump administration in January 2020, has been renewed every 90 days since Covid arrived in the U.S. and ravaged the country.

A view of a medical personnel attending to a patient at Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York City on March 27, 2020.
John Nacion | NurPhoto | Getty Images

HHS has used its emergency powers to transform how healthcare is delivered in the U.S., support beleaguered hospitals, simplify access to vaccines at pharmacies and keep millions of Americans enrolled in public health insurance. The health emergency also allowed millions of people to receive increased food benefits through the federal government’s nutrition program.

When the public health emergency does end, HHS estimates up to 15 million people will be disenrolled from Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Nutrition experts fear millions of families will face a hunger cliff. Hospitals are concerned the end of pandemic flexibilities will compound a serious healthcare worker shortage. And pharmacies are warning that it could become more difficult for people to access vaccines.
“We’re in the third year of the pandemic. We’ve gone through hell. We’ve sacrificed. We’ve used all kinds of emergency powers,” said Lawrence Gostin, an expert on health law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
“So if you’re going to end all that, you have to end it in a transparent way honestly with the American public about what they gain and what they lose,” Gostin said.

Millions to lose Medicaid coverage

The most dramatic impact from ending the public health emergency will fall on people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Medicaid provides inexpensive and often free health insurance to lower-income adults while CHIP does the same for children whose families are struggling to make ends meet.
Medicaid and CHIP enrollment increased 26% during the pandemic to a record of more than 89 million people as of June, according to the federal government. Enrollment surged because Congress basically prohibited states, which administer the programs, from kicking people out for the duration of the public health emergency.
States received extra federal money through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act for Medicaid and CHIP on the condition that they kept all current and new recipients enrolled during the public health crisis.
“That basically means states can’t disenroll anyone from the program except under unique circumstances,” said Jennifer Tolbert, a Medicaid expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation. States could only disenroll people if they were no longer a state resident or if the recipient voluntarily left the program.
Before the pandemic, people had to renew their Medicaid coverage every year by confirming to state officials that they still met income and other eligibility requirements. While many people were disenrolled for a change in income, others were kicked off simply because they did not respond to state requests for information or because they couldn’t be contacted, Tolbert said.

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Medicaid and CHIP will return to business as usual when the public health emergency ends. States will have 14 months to verify who is eligible and who is not. An estimated 15 million will have to leave the programs, according to HHS. About 7 million will lose Medicaid coverage due to bureaucratic obstacles despite still being eligible for the program, according to HHS.
While some of these people may be eligible for subsidized coverage through the Affordable Care Act, they have to apply through the health insurance marketplace. Molly Smith with the American Hospital Association said some people will likely fall through the cracks and end up uninsured.
“We don’t have a good track record in this country of transitioning between different types of coverage,” Smith said.
In 12 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, with Florida and Texas the biggest, as many as 383,000 people are expected to fall into a gap in which their incomes are too high to meet their state’s eligibility for Medicaid, which guarantees coverage for the poor, but too low to qualify for discounted insurance under the Affordable Care Act, according to HHS. The ACA, know as Obamacare, was designed to help low- and moderate-income Americans.
HHS, in an August report, said it’s crucial for states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the ACA to do so in order to prevent these people from becoming uninsured after the public health emergency ends.
Medicaid’s expanded role during the pandemic helped reduce barriers to health care and also helped alleviate some of the financial pressure hospitals faced as patients surged, Smith said.

Covid shots at pharmacies

The federal government dramatically expanded the role that pharmacies play in U.S. health care, positioning them at the center of the national vaccination campaign against Covid. Two out of every 3 Covid shots have been administered by pharmacies and more than 40% of people vaccinated by them come from minority groups, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
Prior to the pandemic, some states restricted what vaccines pharmacies could administer and to which age groups, particularly for people under age 18. HHS smoothed out this patchwork, authorizing pharmacies across the U.S. to administer all vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for people ages 3 through 18.

Signs offering COVID-19 vaccinations are seen outside of a CVS pharmacy in Washington, DC on May 7, 2021.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

“They basically took away those inconsistencies that could have impeded pharmacies from delivering those services. That’s one of the biggest advances we’ve had throughout the pandemic,” said Sara Roszak, head of health policy at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
It’s unclear whether the nationalization of rules for vaccinations at pharmacies will end when the public health emergency has lifted. The rules were simplified under a separate emergency power called the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act.
When HHS activated this power, it was able to preempt state laws and provide liability protections for health-care personnel administering vaccines and treatments to combat Covid.
Whenever HHS decides to lift the PREP Act declaration, states will regulate how pharmacies administer vaccines again, which could bring back the inconsistences that existed before the pandemic and make it more difficult for some people to get vaccinated.
HHS has provided the National Association of Chain Drug Stores with a rough timeline of when this might happen, according to Roszak with the drug store association. The PREP Act declaration will lift either when the public health emergency ends, the vaccines have moved to a commercial market which is expected sometime in 2023, or in October 2024 — whichever date comes first.
Steve Anderson, president of the chain drug store association, asked Biden and the White House Covid task force in a September letter to keep the PREP Act declaration in place until October 2024. Roszak said this later date will give states time to make pharmacies’ expanded role in vaccinations permanent at the local level.

FDA authorization

The Food and Drug Administration has also relied on emergency powers to shortcut its normal approval process and rapidly authorize four different Covid vaccines, numerous antiviral and antibody treatments as well as tests. 
The FDA’s ability to issue emergency authorizations for vaccines, drugs and medical devices would not necessarily end when the Covid public health emergency is lifted. These authorizations rely on a separate determination made by the U.S. health secretary under the law that governs the FDA.
But it could become increasingly difficult for HHS and FDA to justify clearing vaccines and treatments through an expedited process that shortcuts the normal system of approval when the emergency declaration is no longer in place. 
Trump administration Health Secretary Alex Azar activated the FDA’s emergency authorization powers in March 2020, about two months after first declaring the public health emergency.
“It could affect emergency use authorization, where you couldn’t give these EUAs and so the FDA would have to fully approve the drug,” Gostin said. “It could have enormous knock-on effects that need to be very carefully thought through,” he said of ending the public health emergency.
But James Hodge, an expert on public health law at Arizona State University, said the PREP Act declaration that supports Covid vaccinations at pharmacies and the FDA’s power to grant emergency use authorizations will probably remain in place for years to come.

Telehealth

The U.S. hospital system has in many ways born the brunt of the pandemic. Every fall and winter since 2020, emergency rooms have faced a surge of patients who have fallen ill with the virus.
The public health emergency helped ease some of this stress by vastly expanding telehealth services for Medicare patients, allowing more people to receive care without having to visit the hospital or doctor’s office. In March, Congress passed a law that temporarily locks in place expanded telehealth for five months after the public health emergency ends, but it’s unclear whether this popular service will eventually be made permanent.

AJ Watt | Getty Images

The emergency has also given hospitals greater flexibility in how they can deploy staff, where they can add beds and how they care for patients. More patients who are acutely ill can now receive treatment from nurses at home rather than in the hospital.
These flexibilities would expire when the public health emergency ends. Nancy Foster with American Hospital Association said hospitals are facing a major staffing shortage right now, and the loss of pandemic-era flexibilities could compound the problem as Covid continues to circulate and public health officials expect a serious flu season for the first time since the pandemic began.
The AHA has called for the Biden administration to renew the public health emergency until there’s a sustained period of low Covid transmission. The hospital group wants expanded telehealth, hospital care at home and other flexibilities to be made permanent.

Food insecurity

Millions of struggling families also received additional money to purchase food during the pandemic through the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP for short.
The number of people receiving SNAP benefits increased significantly from about 36 million to 43 million from February 2020 to June 2020 as the pandemic caused massive economic disruption, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Today, there about 41 million participating in SNAP which is still well above pre-pandemic levels, according to the data.

A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps benefits is displayed at a Brooklyn grocery store on December 5, 2019 in New York City.
Scott Heins | Getty Images

Family food benefits were increased by the states to the maximum allowed. Poorer households that were already receiving the maximum got an extra $95 per month. The average monthly benefit per household jumped from $276 per month in March 2020 to $416 as of June 2022, according to federal data.
It also became easier for people to remain enrolled in SNAP. Before the pandemic, adults ages 18 to 49 who were unemployed and didn’t have children could only receive benefits for three months every three years. That time limit was suspended during the public health emergency.
The additional food benefits kept 4.2 million people out of poverty in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to an August report from the Urban Institute. The increased food benefits reduced child poverty by 14% across the board. The greatest impact was among Black families with child poverty dropping by about 18%, according to the report.
The increased food benefits will end when HHS declares the Covid public health emergency is over. Households participating in SNAP will lose $82 a month on average, according to the Food Research Action Center. Those who qualify for the minimum SNAP benefit will see their monthly subsidy drop from $250 to $20, according to the group.
Ellen Vollinger at the Food Research & Action Center said an abrupt loss of pandemic-era SNAP benefits will result in more food insecurity in the U.S.
“As much hardship and disruption there was in this country during this period, this was one of the ingredients that helped protect against food insecurity and hardship,” Vollinger said of the increased food benefits.

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Year-end Planning

The IRS has released higher federal tax brackets for 2023 to adjust for inflation.
The standard deduction is increasing to $27,700 for married couples filing together and $13,850 for single taxpayers.
There are also changes to the alternative minimum tax, estate tax exemption, earned income tax credit and flexible spending account limits, among others.

Andersen Ross | Blend Images | Getty Images

Amid soaring inflation, the IRS on Tuesday announced higher federal income tax brackets and standard deductions for 2023.
The agency has boosted the income thresholds for each bracket, applying to tax year 2023 for returns filed in 2024.

These brackets show how much you’ll owe for federal income taxes on each portion of your “taxable income,” calculated by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.

Higher standard deduction

The standard deduction will also increase in 2023, rising to $27,700 for married couples filing jointly, up from $25,900 in 2022. Single filers may claim $13,850, an increase from $12,950.

More from Year-End Planning

Here’s a look at more coverage on what to do finance-wise as the end of the year approaches:

Other tax provisions adjust

The IRS also boosted figures for dozens of other provisions, such as the alternative minimum tax, a parallel system for higher earners and the estate tax exemption for wealthy families.
There’s also a higher earned income tax credit, bumping the write-off to a maximum of $7,430 for low- to moderate-income filers. And employees can funnel $3,050 into health flexible spending accounts.

While the agency hasn’t yet released 2023 limits for 401(k) and individual retirement accounts, experts predict IRA limits will jump to $6,500 for savers under 50. More

Procter & Gamble topped Wall Street’s estimates for quarterly earnings and revenue as higher prices helped mitigate rising costs.
But the pricing strategy has hurt demand for its products, leading to shrinking volume for the last two fiscal quarters.
P&G also said it expects foreign currency to be a bigger drag on its fiscal 2023 results than previously forecast.

Containers of Tide detergent on grocery store shelves.
Richard Levine | Corbis | Getty Images

Procter & Gamble on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ estimates as higher pricing helped offset lower demand for its products and currency headwinds.
The maker of Tide detergent, Charmin toilet paper and Pampers diapers also said it’s expecting foreign currency to hit its fiscal 2023 results more than previously expected. Net sales are expected to decline 1% to 3%, lower than its previous outlook of flat to up 2%. P&G is now forecasting earnings per share on the low end of its prior range of flat to up 4%.

The stock rose 1.7% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.57 vs. $1.54 expected
Revenue: $20.61 billion vs. $20.28 billion expected

Net sales for the quarter rose 1% to $20.61 billion, topping expectations of $20.28 billion. Unfavorable foreign exchange rates dragged revenue down by 6%.
When stripping out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency, the company said organic revenue climbed 7% in the quarter. Higher prices fueled organic sales growth and offset a 3% volume decline.
The company has been raising prices on products to mitigate rising costs, but the strategy has hurt consumer demand for its products, leading to shrinking volume for the last two fiscal quarters.

Executives stood by the strategy, expressing confidence that it hadn’t sparked any significant changes in consumer behavior.
“We feel very good about the consumer reaction to our price increases because we don’t see any major trade downs,” Andre Schulten, the company’s chief financial officer, said on a call with reporters.
However, he added that some categories in certain markets have seen their market share temporarily pressured. For example, P&G slashed marketing spending for laundry detergent in the U.S. due to supply constraints, leading some customers to buy other brands instead, according to Schulten. He said the supply issues have been fixed and P&G’s market share for the category is rebounding.
Schulten also said that 2% of volume declines during the quarter is due to its smaller Russian portfolio. Like many global companies, P&G moved to reduce its Russian exposure after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine earlier this year. The company has stopped marketing and new capital investments in the country and scaled back the products it sells there. Russia previously accounted for less than 2% of P&G’s global sales.
P&G’s grooming business, which includes Gillette and Venus razors, was the company’s only unit to report volume growth for the quarter. The segment’s volume rose 1%, although the company noted a slowdown in grooming appliances.
There were a few other bright spots for P&G’s volume. Skin and personal care, which is part of the company’s beauty segment, saw higher demand, fueled by new and upgraded products. A strong cold and flu season drove volume growth of its personal health care segment, which includes brands like Vicks and Zzzquil.
For the three-month period ended Sept. 30, P&G reported a net income of $3.94 billion, or $1.57 per share, down from $4.11 billion, or $1.61 per share, a year earlier. The company’s gross margin fell 1.6% compared with the year-ago period, weighed down by higher freight and commodity costs.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, with over 4.8 million people playing the game. However, its rapid growth has caused some growing pains, stemming from competing professional leagues, managing hundreds of tournaments, a lack of courts to meet demand and channeling the flood of investments.
By 2030, pickleball is projected to attract an estimated 40 million players across the globe, with even more investors jumping in looking to cash in on the craze.

Pickleball has existed since 1965, but it wasn’t until people were looking for a participatory sport during the pandemic that its popularity soared. From 2016 to 2019, pickleball grew an average of 7.2% annually in the U.S. from 2.8 million players to 3.5 million, but that growth skyrocketed 39.3% from 2020 to 2021, with 4.8 million Americans playing the racket sport. And over the past five years, pickleball saw an average annual growth of 11.5%, while similar sports like badminton and pingpong saw negative growth of -3.7% and -1.2%, respectively. What’s more, pickleball is being played by people across a broad spectrum of age and income levels, according to a 2021 report by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
That surging popularity has led to a spate of team investments and growing equipment sales, with the pickleball paddle market size expected to grow 68% from $152.8 million in 2021 to a forecasted $256.1 million by 2028, according to Absolute Reports.
Professional leagues are competing for players, with Major League Pickleball, or MLP, which just launched last year, making headlines with investments in the seven-figure range from celebrity athletes like LeBron James and Tom Brady. Next year, the MLP is looking to expand from 12 teams to 16 and to shell out over $2 million in prize money.

We choose team owners as it relates to really looking for strategic partners. So, media experience and resources, sponsorship connections and experience, branding entertainment [are important]. LeBron’s group is already leaning in and working with us on three different projects. So, it’s very important to us not just to have somebody who can write a check, but who buys into our goal of growing the sport from the top down.

Anne Worcester
Strategic Advisor, Major League Pickleball

While the United States is seen as the mecca of pickleball, advocates are hoping it will get a worldwide forum if it were to be introduced as a sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics games in Los Angeles.
One potential downside has come with the pickleball craze. In recent years, the tournament scene has exploded with a deluge of events, as organizers attempt to keep up with the demand. In consequence, player health and safety has become a growing concern for some players and event organizers.

“The sport is changing. It’s getting physically and grueling, and it’s a lot on our bodies,” Kyle Yates, a professional pickleball player and tournament organizer, told CNBC. “I know that a lot of tournaments are run in a way where the players really aren’t the first priority, and they should be. And so there’s a lot of new players coming in that are training and playing a lot of tournaments, and physically it might be too much to them.”
From its humble beginnings as a simple pickup game for the family to enjoy to significant investment opportunities, with an estimated 40 million players by 2030, pickleball’s gold rush isn’t ending anytime soon.
Watch the video above to learn more about why celebrities such as Tom Brady and LeBron James are investing in pickleball.

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Sustainable Energy

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DOE says the funding opportunity represents the “largest investment in tidal and river current energy technologies in the United States.”
Over the past few years a number of projects related to tidal power have taken big steps forward.
While there is excitement about the potential of renewable technologies such as tidal power, there are significant challenges when it comes to scaling up.

While there is excitement about the potential of renewable technologies such as tidal power, there are challenges when it comes to scaling up.
Laro Pilartes / 500Px | 500Px | Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Energy said $35 million in funding would be made available “to advance tidal and river current energy systems” under plans it hopes will provide a shot in the arm to a sector whose current footprint is tiny.
In a statement Tuesday outlining the move, the DOE said the funding opportunity — which is slated for release in 2023 — represented the “largest investment in tidal and river current energy technologies in the United States.”

A notice of intent related to the funding opportunity has been posted online. The DOE said it proposed “to develop a tidal or river current research, development, and demonstration site and to support in-water demonstration of at least one tidal energy system.”
Alejandro Moreno, who is acting assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said oceans and rivers represented “a huge potential source of renewable energy.” The DOE said the funding would come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

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Over the past few years a number of projects related to tidal power, including ones in the United States, have taken significant steps forward.
In July 2021, for instance, a tidal turbine dubbed “the world’s most powerful” started grid-connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, an archipelago located north of mainland Scotland.
In May 2022, a £4.6 million (around $5.18 million) facility that can test tidal turbine blades under strenuous conditions was officially opened, with those behind it hoping it will accelerate the development of marine energy technology and lower costs.

While there is excitement about the potential of renewable technologies such as tidal power, there are significant challenges when it comes to scaling up, a point the DOE acknowledged in its announcement.
“The U.S. tidal and river current energy industry requires long-term and substantial funding to move from testing devices one at a time to establishing a commercial site,” it said.
“The complexity of installing devices and navigating permitting processes, combined with a lack of connection to local power grids, have proven to be a consistent barrier to advancing tidal and river current energy.”

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Today, America’s electricity generation mix remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels.  
According to preliminary figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2021 fossil fuels’ share of utility-scale electricity generation was 60.8%. By contrast, renewables’ share stood at 20.1%, while nuclear accounted for 18.9%.
While tidal barrage developments were the initial focus of those operating in the marine energy industry — EDF’s La Rance tidal barrage dates back to the 1960s, for example — recent years have seen companies focus their attention on different systems.
These include tidal stream devices which, the European Marine Energy Centre says, “are broadly similar to submerged wind turbines.” Compared to other renewables, the overall size of tidal stream and wave energy projects is very small.
In data released in March 2022, Ocean Energy Europe said 2.2 MW of tidal stream capacity was installed in Europe last year, compared to just 260 kilowatts in 2020.
For wave energy, 681 kW was installed, which OEE said was a threefold increase. Globally, 1.38 MW of wave energy came online in 2021, while 3.12 MW of tidal stream capacity was installed.
By way of comparison, Europe installed 17.4 gigawatts of wind power capacity in 2021, according to figures from industry body WindEurope. More

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The WEDUSEA collaboration involves 14 partners from academia and industry.
Funding for the project is coming from Innovate UK and the European Union’s Horizon Europe program.
While there is excitement about the potential of marine energy, the footprint of wave and tidal stream projects remains very small compared to other renewables.

This image shows waters off the coast of Orkney, an archipelago north of the Scottish mainland that’s home to the European Marine Energy Centre.
Capchure | Moment | Getty Images

A 19.6 million euro (around $19.3 million) initiative centered around commercializing large-scale wave energy projects will be officially launched later on Wednesday, in a move that marks another step forward for the emerging sector.
The collaboration, called WEDUSEA, involves 14 partners from academia and industry, with funding coming from Innovate UK and the European Union’s Horizon Europe program.

The launch will take place at the International Conference on Ocean Energy, which is being held in the coastal city of San Sebastian, in Spain.
WEDUSEA is being coordinated by OceanEnergy, an Irish firm that’s developed the OE35, a piece of kit that’s been dubbed “the world’s largest capacity floating wave energy device.” Capacity refers to the amount of electricity a generator is able to produce when operating at full volume.
According to a statement released by the European Marine Energy Centre earlier this week, WEDUSEA is set to last four years, with its initial phase concentrating on the design of a 1 megawatt version of the OE35.
“This will be followed by a two-year grid connected demonstration at the European Marine Energy Centre’s … Billia Croo wave energy test site in Orkney, Scotland,” the statement added.

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Orkney is an archipelago located in waters north of the Scottish mainland. EMEC, which is based there, has become a major hub for the development of wave and tidal power since its inception in 2003.

In another statement, OceanEnergy said a third phase of the project would look at commercialization, among other things. An overarching goal of the project is to “create a technology deployment pathway for a 20 MW pilot farm,” according to EMEC.
“The innovative actions taken in this programme aim to improve the efficiency, reliability, scalability and sustainability of wave energy technology, and reduce the LCOE of the technology by over 30%,” Myles Heward, who is project manager at EMEC, said. “This will help to de-risk investments in wave energy.”
LCOE refers to levelized cost of energy, a term the U.S. database Tethys defines as being “the measure of a device’s lifetime costs divided by energy production.”
Tony Lewis, OceanEnergy’s chief technical officer, was bullish about the prospects for WEDUSEA.
He said the project would “demonstrate that wave technology is on a cost reduction trajectory and will thus be a stepping stone to larger commercial array scale up and further industrialisation.”
“We predict that the natural energy of the world’s oceans will one day supply much of the grid,” Lewis added.

More from CNBC Climate:

While there is excitement about the potential of marine energy, the footprint of wave and tidal stream projects remains very small compared to other renewables.
In data released in March 2022, Ocean Energy Europe said 2.2 MW of tidal stream capacity was installed in Europe last year, compared to just 260 kilowatts in 2020.
For wave energy, 681 kW was installed, which OEE said was a threefold increase. Globally, 1.38 MW of wave energy came online in 2021, while 3.12 MW of tidal stream capacity was installed.
By way of comparison, Europe installed 17.4 gigawatts of wind power capacity in 2021, according to figures from industry body WindEurope. More

Fanatics has hired Andrea Ellis to be chief financial officer of its Sports Betting and Gaming Division.
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin says the company will launch sports betting in January.
Sports betting is a crowded and competitive landscape, but Fanatics is seen as a potentially formidable contender with its database of 94 million customers.

Andrea Ellis has been appointed CFO of Fanatics Betting & Gaming.
Source: Fanatics

Fanatics is getting one step closer to launching its highly anticipated sports-gambling division, nearly five years after the Supreme Court overturned the rule preventing states from legalizing bets on sporting events.
The sports platform and e-commerce company, which has been valued at more than $27 billion, said Tuesday it hired Andrea Ellis to be the chief financial officer of its betting and gaming division. Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said last week the company expects to launch the unit in January.

Fanatics enters a crowded market in an uncertain economy at a time some executives say is ripe for consolidation. Yet Rubin is betting the company’s e-commerce success will translate into sports-betting customers.
Ellis brings expertise in technology, products and operations to the Fanatics executive team. She worked as CFO at Lime, the largest electric scooter and bike share company, for the past two years. Previously, she worked with Burger King owner Restaurant Brands.
At Fanatics, she will be tasked with scaling the new division and providing strategic and operational leadership, the company said.
She’ll report to Matt King, Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO, who previously was CEO at FanDuel. “We are thrilled to welcome Andrea to our team as we inch closer to formally launching a new, dynamic online sports-betting and gaming product for fans,” King said.
A January launch would coincide with the very lucrative NFL playoffs. By the start of football season next autumn, Fanatics anticipates being up and running everywhere it’s legal to do business.

“We’ll be in every major state other than New York, where you can’t make money,” Rubin said at a Sports Business Journal World Congress of Sports event. Last fall, Fanatics applied for a mobile-betting license in New York, but was not selected.
Rubin predicts sports betting and Fanatics’ other business segments “could be $8 billion, even in the next decade, in profits.”

With more than 50 sports-betting operators emerging in recent years, led by Flutter-owned FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM (co-owned by MGM Resorts and Entain), Fanatics is late to the party. The fight for market share is intense and the first sportsbooks to get licensed frequently say they see first-mover advantage.
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe told CNBC at the Global Gaming Expo this month that she thinks it’s only a matter of time before the industry consolidates.
“It’s not inconceivable to think that the top two or three [operators] will drive somewhere between 60, potentially 70% of the market,” she added.
DraftKings co-founder and CEO Jason Robins said size will matter.
“I do think that you’ll continue to see that the advantages of having scale the way Amy’s [Howe] company does and mine are more and more apparent as more states roll out and more revenues coming through the industry,” he told CNBC at the gaming industry conference.
Size and scale make Fanatics a formidable future competitor, even in the eyes of the current market leaders. Thanks in large part to his wide business network and Fanatics’ 94 million customer database, Rubin was able to raise an additional $1.5 billion in March with investments from Fidelity, BlackRock and Michael Dell.
Fanatics plans to tap into its network by using a loyalty program across all of its businesses, according to Rubin: “You buy merchandise? You’re incented to game. You gamble? You’re incented to get a collectible.”
“So our patience saved us money,” Rubin said. “I’d rather let everyone spend their brains out and then have to make money, then I come in with a big checkbook and I’m spending money when nobody else can.”
Fanatics is a three-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company. Sign up for our weekly, original newsletter that goes beyond the annual Disruptor 50 list, offering a closer look at private companies like Fanatics that continue to innovate across every sector of the economy.

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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ON Semiconductor Corp: “Right now, I’ve got a pause on the semis. Why? Because we’ve got so many problems right now in China.”

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Dutch Bros Inc: “I want you to put half the position on now, and then half when it goes below $30. … I like the stock, though.”

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NIO Inc: “I have to say no to that. … I think that that stock is not a buy.”

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Cinemark Holdings Inc: “This is a very difficult business. … I’m going to have to say, once again, [don’t buy.]”

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Cano Health Inc: “I like the healthcare space, I think they do quality healthcare work, and I’m going to have to say that I think it’s worth buying.”

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Uranium Energy Corp: “There’s been no real sign that we’re going back to nuclear. … I have to say, [don’t buy].”

Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

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