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Tag: Routine General News

  • A Fight Over an African Leader’s Body Keeps Getting Weirder

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    NDOLA, Zambia—In the latest bizarre twist in a bizarre story, fans of the late Zambian President Edgar Lungu have appropriated an English soccer ditty to advocate for the return of his body to the southern African country.

    Zambia’s current president, Hakainde Hichilema, wants Lungu—who died in June while seeking medical treatment in South Africa—buried in Zambia. Lungu’s family says he despised Hichilema so much that he barred his political rival from his funeral. They want to keep even more distance between the two men, burying Lungu in Johannesburg. The two sides are fighting it out in court and, now, in bars and on the airwaves.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    Nicholas Bariyo

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  • Opinion | An English City Bars Israeli Soccer Fans

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    Is Britain safe for Jews? On Thursday authorities in Birmingham, the country’s second-largest city, prohibited the fans of an Israeli soccer team from attending a match next month, even though the threats to cause trouble are coming from locals. What an alarming message from police, and it comes barely two weeks after an Islamist terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

    The match, scheduled for Nov. 6, is part of a larger tournament and will pit Birmingham’s Aston Villa team against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Safety Advisory Group, an arm of the city government, last week barred Tel Aviv fans from attending, ruling that the event is “high risk.” West Midlands Police, which advises the committee, said the decision “is based on current intelligence and previous incidents.”

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    The Editorial Board

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  • Jonathan Clements, Longtime WSJ Columnist, Dies at 62

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    Last fall, Jonathan Clements, author of The Wall Street Journal’s long-running personal-finance column, “Getting Going,” wrote a gut-wrenching article for the Journal about his terminal cancer diagnosis.

    Jesting at his own impending death, he proposed to the article’s editors that the headline should be “Getting Gone.”

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    Jason Zweig

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  • Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. team up to launch new sports streaming service

    Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. team up to launch new sports streaming service

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    Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. are teaming to create a joint sports streaming service.

    The as-yet unnamed service, which could be available as early as the fall and offer a sort of Hulu model for sports, comes amid an explosion in sports-streaming rights and audiences.

    The service would essentially be a skinny bundle of the companies’ linear channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as the ESPN+ streaming service.

    “The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney
    DIS,
    +2.73%
    and ESPN, a major win for sports fans, and an important step forward for the media business,” Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a statement late Tuesday. “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service.”

    Added Warner Bros.
    WBD,

    CEO David Zaslav: “This new sports service exemplifies our ability as an industry to drive innovation and provide consumers with more choice, enjoyment and value and we’re thrilled to deliver it to sports fans.”

    Each company will own one-third of the platform, according to Disney, in a deal reminiscent of the original Hulu, which started off as a joint venture between ABC, Fox and NBCUniversal.

    The service will have a new brand with an independent management team, and will be available to bundle with Disney+, Hulu and Max subscriptions.

    “We’re pumped,” Fox
    FOX,
    +0.55%
    CEO Lachlan Murdoch said. “We believe the service will provide passionate fans outside of the traditional bundle an array of amazing sports content all in one place.”

    More details, including pricing, will be announced later.

    Prominently missing from the deal are Comcast Corp.
    CMCSA,
    -1.00%    ,
    which owns NBCUniversal and its sports lineup that includes NFL football and the Olympics, and Paramount Global
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    which owns CBS — which carries the NFL and college football, among other sports.

    The new service will showcase thousands of high-profile sporting events and include all four major sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL — as well as college football and basketball, golf, tennis, cycling, soccer and UFC.

    Shares of Disney were down 1% in extended trading Tuesday, while Fox shares jumped 6% and WBD gained 3%.

    Mike Murphy contributed to this report.

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  • As FanDuel parent Flutter starts trading on NYSE, CEO expects Super Bowl bets to ‘break records’

    As FanDuel parent Flutter starts trading on NYSE, CEO expects Super Bowl bets to ‘break records’

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    Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, started trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time Monday, as the company tries to narrow the valuation gap between it and rivals including DraftKings.

    Flutter said Monday that it’s planning to make the New York Stock Exchange its primary listing and will put that to a vote of its shareholders in May. Making the NYSE its home, rather than London, will help it get included in important U.S. indexes, the company said.

    Launching Monday with the ticker FLUT, it’s targeting New York as its primary listing late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter.

    Having a New York listing will also boost its profile in the U.S., help with recruitment and retention, and access “much deeper” capital markets.

    Flutter CEO Peter Jackson spoke with Yahoo Finance about the company after it started trading on Monday. The total addressable U.S. sports betting market is expected to reach $40 billion by 2023 — but Jackson thinks that’s lowballing it. “I expect [$40 billion] will turn out to be conservative, because everything in America turns out bigger than you expect,” he said.

    And when asked about betting on the Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, he said, “We’ll break records in a couple of weeks time.”

    London-listed shares
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    drifted 0.3% lower on Monday, though the stock has gained 17% this year.

    According to FactSet, DraftKings
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    +1.88%
    trades on 8.2 times estimated fourth-quarter sales, compared to 2.6 times for Flutter Entertainment.

    Flutter said it plans to retain its London listing, having already delisted from Euronext Dublin.

    Flutter earlier this month said that FanDuel was the “clear number one sportsbook” in the U.S. during the fourth quarter.

    Other Flutter brands include Betfair, PokerStars and Paddy Power.

    Weston Blasi contributed.



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  • NFL has ‘decided to rip off fans’ with playoff game on Peacock, congressman says

    NFL has ‘decided to rip off fans’ with playoff game on Peacock, congressman says

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    “‘You’ve decided to rip off fans by exclusively broadcasting tomorrow’s Chiefs vs. Dolphins wild-card game on Peacock. For the first time ever, fans will be forced to choose between signing up for yet another expensive streaming service or missing out on a major playoff game.’”

    That was part of a letter that Rep. Pat Ryan penned to leaders of the NFL and NBC Sports lamenting that an NFL playoff game this weekend will be available via steaming only for the first time.

    “How much more profit do [NFL commissioner Roger] Goodell and NBC need to make at the expense of hard working Americans?” the New York Democrat’s letter went on to ask.

    He wrote: “Congress granted the NFL an antitrust exemption in its broadcast deals with the expectation that you wouldn’t use it to screw over fans. That was clearly a mistake.” 

    Peacock, a streaming service operated by Comcast’s
    CMCSA,
    -0.65%
    NBCUniversal, is one of several streaming platforms that now broadcast NFL games. Some of those services, like Amazon’s
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    Prime Video, have exclusive rights to certain games, meaning there is no other option to watch on network or cable television, or through a cord-cutting live TV subscription. But while there have been NFL games available only on a streaming platform before, never before has it been a playoff game.

    Part of the reason that Ryan, along with many NFL fans, are upset that the Chiefs-Dolphins game is available exclusively on Peacock is that it’s been getting more expensive to watch the NFL in recent years — because, increasingly, games are not broadcast on network TV. In fact, the price to watch every NFL game this season for cord cutters was $1,603, not including the cost of internet service. 

    That commitment includes the cost of six streaming services and five username and password combinations. Those digital streaming services include Google’s
    GOOG,
    +0.40%

    GOOGL,
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    YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, NFL+ and ESPN+
    DIS,
    +1.01%    .

    And the NFL is reaping the rewards. A decade ago, the league made about $3 billion from its TV deals. But, through all of its broadcast deals today with both networks and streaming companies, it makes roughly $10 billion a year.

    Peacock has two plans: a $5.99-per-month subscription with ads, and another option for $11.99 a month that’s ad-free. While fans who live in the local broadcast areas of where the teams play (the media markets around Kansas City and Miami, in this case) will have the ability to watch the game on local TV, the rest of the country will have to pay for Peacock.

    According to the Wall Street Journal, NBC paid $110 million for Peacock’s exclusive NFL broadcast rights. 

    Many fans took to social media to vent their frustrations about having to buy another streaming service to watch an NFL game this weekend.

    Responding to the backlash, an NFL spokesperson said in a statement: “The NFL’s media strategy has been to make our games available in as many ways as possible to meet our fans where they spend their time. As streaming video becomes commonplace, we are increasingly expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while continuing a longstanding policy that all NFL games be shown on free, over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams.”

    NBCUniversal did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment.

    Clermont, Fla., resident Calicia Landry, 53, has been a Dolphins fan for decades. Her family had season tickets during the historic 1972 season when the Dolphins went undefeated — the first and only time that has happened in NFL history.

    When asked if she will pay for Peacock to watch the game, Landry, whose town is in the Orlando, Fla., market, told MarketWatch that, despite Peacock’s cost of just $5, “it’s the principle now.”

    “I bought NFL Sunday Ticket already. I already pay for television service with DirecTV
    T,
    +1.54%    .
    I had to have Prime to watch the Black Friday game,” she said. “It’s too much.”

    Read on: Here’s how much the major streaming services are set to cost are all the price increases

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  • This New Jersey financial pro just won nearly $500K on a sports bet. He'll use it to pay off student loans.

    This New Jersey financial pro just won nearly $500K on a sports bet. He'll use it to pay off student loans.

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    After winning nearly $500,000 on a $5 sports bet, a New Jersey financial adviser said he is planning to follow some of the advice he gives to clients and put the money to good use.

    Travis Dufner, a 32-year-old adviser with Millstone Financial Group in Millstone, N.J., is the bettor who has stepped forward to say he won the $489,378.01 parlay payoff. The wager involved picking 14 players who would score a touchdown over the holiday weekend’s NFL games.

    When…

    Master your money.

    Subscribe to MarketWatch.

    Get this article and all of MarketWatch.

    Access from any device. Anywhere. Anytime.


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  • Why Brenda Lee may not see much money from her No. 1 Christmas song

    Why Brenda Lee may not see much money from her No. 1 Christmas song

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    In case you missed the news, the pop-chart star of the moment is Brenda Lee, a 78-year-old Rock & Roll and Country Music Hall of Famer whose 1958 holiday hit, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” is remarkably now the nation’s No. 1 song, according to Billboard.

    It all follows a major push by Lee’s label, Universal Music Group’s UMG Nashville/UMe
    UMG,
    +0.28%    ,
    to bring the decades-old rockabilly-flavored song to the fore. That included releasing the first-ever video for the song, with cameos by country greats Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood, plus a new EP.

    But here’s a related story that could come as a surprise: Lee may stand to gain relatively little financially from her chart-topping success, according to a number of entertainment-industry attorneys and experts who spoke with MarketWatch.

    David Schulhof, a veteran music-industry executive who is behind the MUSQ ETF MUSQ, an exchange-traded fund focused on the music business, said that Lee might take home $250,000 at best directly from recording royalties through her label.

    Not quite the millions of dollars you might expect, in other words. And certainly not the estimated $2.5 million to $3 million that Mariah Carey rakes in annually from her holiday hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the song that has given Carey the unofficial title of “Queen of Christmas.”

    But Lee’s case is not unique, Schulhof said. “A lot of these artists appear to be richer than they are,” he said.

    MarketWatch reached out to Lee for comment through Universal Music, but didn’t receive an immediate response.

    Lee did issue a statement through the company, however, saying, “This is amazing! I cannot believe that ‘Rockin’ has hit No. 1 65 years after it was released, this is just so special!…The song came out when I was a young teenager and now to know that it has resonated with multiple generations and continues to resonate — it is one of the best gifts I have ever received.”

    A label spokesperson didn’t have immediate comment on the recent royalties generated by the recording.

    Not that Lee’s royalty earnings this year may be anything to sneeze at — certainly, $250,000 is not a bad payday. But in general, the big money in the music business often goes to songwriters, Schulhof and others explain.

    “The richer pot of the two is definitely the composer’s side,” Barry Chase, a Miami-based entertainment attorney, told MarketWatch.

    That is, songwriters are guaranteed a solid chunk of royalties in most contractual arrangements. Indeed, the reason Carey does so well with “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is because she helped pen the hit, which is said to have earned her $60 million since its 1994 release. (That said, Carey is now facing a $20 million copyright lawsuit connected to the song.)

    In the case of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” the songwriter is the late Johnny Marks, who also penned such holiday hits as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold” and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Marks’ catalog is now managed by his estate, with the songwriter’s son, Michael Marks, helping guide the business.

    “Who would have thought?” Michael Marks told MarketWatch about the recent chart-topping success of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” But he didn’t want to respond to other questions, saying, “This is a busy time for us.”

    A key reason songwriters stand to benefit so much is that they receive money from radio play, whereas recording artists — and record labels — do not, explained Chase. And while radio is not as significant in the era of Spotify and other digital outlets, it still counts for something.

    Chase says the radio arrangement was set in motion decades ago and that record companies didn’t push for money tied to airplay because they were eager for the exposure, which they saw as a way to drive sales of the singles or albums.

    Other issues are also at play for recording artists that affect their earnings, experts explain. That’s especially true for older artists who signed contracts decades ago, when the industry was especially known for taking advantage of singers.

    Further complicating matters: The artist contracts back in the day didn’t anticipate the advent of everything from digital platforms like Spotify to ringtones, all sources of royalty revenue, experts note. And while there might have been clauses that allowed for the potential of such future sources, there’s no saying those arrangements were fair.

    “‘It takes a lot of streams to make money.’”


    — Entertainment attorney Lisa Alter

    Contracts can be renegotiated, of course — and often are, particularly if a label is trying to stay on good terms with an artist in anticipation of keeping them signed and making more hit records, industry professionals observe.

    But when it comes to something like Spotify, the royalties still may not amount to much — reports say they can be between $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. And even then, the artist is splitting that streaming revenue with the record label.

    “It takes a lot of streams to make money,” Lisa Alter, a partner and entertainment attorney with the New York-based firm Alter, Kendrick & Baron, told MarketWatch.

    Schulhof throws another wrinkle into the equation: Often, a contract renegotiation involves the recording artist getting an upfront payment from the label in advance of future royalties. So, in theory, an artist like Brenda Lee could be receiving nothing in 2023 from her label, with the money having been paid out years ago, Schulhof said.

    Lee can still mine her chart-topping success in other ways, however. Namely, through concert engagements, personal appearances and film, TV and advertising opportunities. Schulhof said that could easily add $100,000 to $150,000 in earnings this year, but probably not more.

    But Holly Gleason, a veteran music journalist who knows Lee personally, said Lee is both “cute-as-a-button crazy” and sharp and smart — in other words, just the formula that would make her someone in demand for a variety of opportunities and someone who would know how to mine them properly.

    And Gleason told MarketWatch that those opportunities could be endless. “Maybe she’ll be on QVC selling Christmas trees,” Gleason said.

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  • Everton handed 10-point deduction for breaching Premier League’s financial rules

    Everton handed 10-point deduction for breaching Premier League’s financial rules

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    LONDON (AP) — Everton was deducted 10 points by the Premier League on Friday for breaching the competition’s financial rules.

    The club reported three-year losses totaling nearly 372 million pounds ($454 million) last season. The league’s profit and financial sustainability rules allow clubs to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($128 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions.

    Everton has 14 points after 12 games. The penalty drops the team to four points, which is the same as last-place Burnley.

    The club said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling and will be appealing against it.

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  • There’s a ton worth streaming in November 2023. So as prices rise, here’s how to avoid breaking the bank.

    There’s a ton worth streaming in November 2023. So as prices rise, here’s how to avoid breaking the bank.

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    November offers a false spring for streaming viewers.

    After a slow couple of months, there’s suddenly an abundance of top-tier shows on the way, but don’t be fooled — the streaming scene is going to be largely bleak in the coming months, until productions fully ramp up sometime next year following the strikes that have crippled Hollywood.

    Meanwhile, streaming costs keep rising (Netflix’s top tier is the first to cross the $20 barrier) and consumers are getting less for their money, with fewer new shows and smaller libraries, while streamers push subscribers toward ad-supported tiers that generate more revenue per user while providing a worse viewing experience. Still, all the ad-supported tiers cost less than $10 a month, meaning it may be time for budget-conscious consumers to suck it up and deal with commercials if they don’t want to break the bank.

    Read more: Netflix is raising prices to get you to watch ads, and it will probably work

    That’s why it’s even more important to examine which services you’re really willing to pay for. The days of subscribing to six streaming services — even though you might only regularly watch three — are over. But by adding and canceling services month to month, you can save money while still being able to watch your favorite shows (for example, instead of watching a 12-episode show that drops every week and paying for three months, subscribe for just one month once the show nears its end and binge it all at once).

    Such a churn strategy takes some planning, but it pays off. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month.

    Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget, rating the major services as a “play,” “pause” or “stop” — similar to investment analysts’ traditional ratings of buy, hold or sell, and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.

    Here’s a look at what’s coming to the various streaming services in November 2023, and what’s really worth the monthly subscription fee:

    Apple TV+ ($9.99 a month)

    The price of Apple TV+ has doubled in a little over a year, and in any other month, it’d be easy to argue it has priced itself out of the range of casual viewers. But Apple’s November lineup is so impressive that it’s actually somehow still a good deal.

    The alt-history space drama “For All Mankind” (Nov. 10) returns for its fourth season, with an eight-year time jump after Season 3’s shocking finale. The Mars colony is now thriving, but tensions are rising over the mining of mineral-rich asteroids. Toby Kebbell (“Servant”) joins the cast, along with Daniel Stern and Tyner Rushing, who join holdovers Joel Kinnaman, Krys Marshall, Wrenn Schmidt and Coral Pena. It’s a fantastic and frequently thrilling series, and arguably Apple’s best drama.

    And a challenger to that title is also coming back. “Slow Horses” (Nov. 29), the darkly funny thriller about a group of washed-up spies, returns for its third season. Gary Oldman stars as perpetually disgruntled spymaster Jackson Lamb, leading his team of misfits as they get dragged into an international conspiracy after one of their own is kidnapped. Based on the novels by Mick Herron, “Slow Horses” is smart and cynical, a terrific twist on traditional spy stories.

    Then there’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” (Nov. 17), an action-conspiracy series about a ragtag group trying to expose a secretive organization that knows the truth about Godzilla and other kaiju creatures terrorizing the planet. Kurt Russell stars with his son, Wyatt (who plays his dad in flashbacks), along with Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe and Kiersey Clemons. The series is intended to slide right into the MonsterVerse that includes “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” and for anyone who grew up watching monster movies, this could be a lot of fun.

    Apple
    AAPL,
    +1.87%
    also has “Fingernails” (Nov. 3), a sci-fi romance movie starring Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White and Luke Wilson; “The Buccaneers” (Nov. 8), a “Bridgerton”-esque period drama based on the Edith Wharton novel about a group of rich American girls who hit London in the 1870s looking for suitable husbands; the holiday musical special “Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas” (Nov. 22); and a new version of the tear-jerking children’s classic “The Velveteen Rabbit” (Nov. 22).

    Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed “Killers of the Flower Moon” should hit Apple TV+ within the next month or two, after it completes its theatrical run, and Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, his theaters Nov. 22. It, too, will stream on Apple at an as-yet-undisclosed date in the coming months.

    There are also new episodes every week of “Lessons in Chemistry” (finale Nov. 24), and “The Morning Show” (season finale Nov. 8). If that’s not enough, you could always catch up on “Foundation,” “Swagger,” “Platonic” or discover “Bad Sisters.”

    Who’s Apple TV+ for? It offers a little something for everyone, but not necessarily enough for anyone — although it’s getting there.

    Play, pause or stop? Play. Even though its price has soared, Apple is still cheaper than most, and it delivers value this month. (Remember, you can get three free months of Apple TV+ if you buy a new Apple device.)

    Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, or $17.99 with no ads)

    After a fallow October, Hulu has a lot more to offer in November, continuing its strong year.

    FX’s “A Murder at the End of the World” (Nov. 14) was pushed back from an August release date due to the Hollywood strikes, but it should fit better in a colder season anyway. From Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the producers of Netflix’s cult favorite sci-fi series “The OA,” the limited series is an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery set at a billionaire’s secluded, snowbound retreat in Iceland. Emma Corrin (“The Crown”) stars as an amateur detective while Clive Owen (“Children of Men”) plays the mysterious tycoon.

    A wintry setting also plays a key role in the fifth season of FX’s “Fargo” (Nov. 22), the latest installment in Noah Hawley’s noirish crime anthology. Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso”) plays a seemingly ordinary Midwestern housewife who’s not at all what she appears to be. She’s joined by an all-star cast that includes Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lamorne Morris and Dave Foley. Each season of “Fargo” is a quirky, violent delight, and this one looks no different.

    Also: Disney officially plans to buy remaining Hulu stake from Comcast

    Just to make things confusing, while both “A Murder at the End of the World” and “Fargo” are FX series, “Murder” will stream exclusively on Hulu, while “Fargo” episodes will first air on FX then stream a day later.

    In an interesting experiment, director Baz Luhrmann has recut his 2008 romantic drama “Australia,” starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, and turned it into a six-episode miniseries — renamed “Faraway Downs” (Nov. 26) — using extra footage shot during the original filming. The movie flopped in theaters, but Luhrmann says it should work better as a miniseries, saying “episodic storytelling has been reinvigorated by the streaming world.”

    For more: Here’s what’s new on Hulu in November 2023 — and what’s leaving

    Hulu also has “Black Cake” (Nov. 1), a generations-spanning family drama based on the bestselling novel by Charmaine Wilkerson; “Quiz Lady” (Nov. 3), a comedy movie about estranged sisters, starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh; and a handful of sports documentaries, including “The League” (Nov. 9), about Negro League baseball, and “Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story” (Nov. 15), hosted by Keanu Reeves.

    Fresh off October’s addition of “Moonlighting,” Hulu is adding all eight seasons of another 1980s classic, “L.A. Law” (Nov. 3), along with a ton of holiday fare, including “Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights” and “Miracle on 34th Street” (both Nov. 1), and “Elf” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (both Nov. 23).

    And don’t forget the season finales of “Welcome to Wrexham” (Nov. 15) and “Goosebumps” (Nov. 17), as well as next-day streams of network shows such as “The Golden Bachelor” and “Bob’s Burgers.”

    Who’s Hulu for? TV lovers. There’s a deep library for those who want older TV series and next-day streaming of many current network and cable shows.

    Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. If you’re on the ad-supported plan, it’s well worth it. But for the pricey, $18 ad-free plan, you may want to wait until December and see how some of these new series pan out.

    Netflix ($6.99 a month for basic with ads, $15.49 standard with no ads, $22.99 premium with no ads)

    Netflix just raised some prices again, but for most customers, it’s still a good value.

    The critically acclaimed royal-family drama “The Crown” (Nov. 16) is back for the first half of its sixth and final season (four episodes drop this month, with the final six coming in December). Events pick up in 1997 after the marriage of Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) ends, as Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) reflects on her legacy. There’s already controversy over how it’ll handle Diana’s tragic death.

    Read more: Here’s what’s new on Netflix in November 2023 — and what’s leaving

    Netflix
    NFLX,
    +2.06%
     also has “The Killer” (Nov. 10) a “slick but conventional” thriller movie from director David Fincher, starring Michael Fassbender as a hit man on the run; “Squid Game: The Challenge” (Nov. 22), a reality competition show putting 456 players through challenges inspired by the hit Korean drama (minus the murders, presumably); “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” (Nov. 17), an anime version of the graphic novels and cult-favorite movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” (which is also coming Nov. 1); “All the Light We Cannot See” (Nov. 2), a critically panned miniseries about a blind French girl and a German soldier in the final days of WWII, starring Aria Mia Loberti, Louis Hofmann and Mark Ruffalo; Season 5, Part 2 of the popular small-town romantic drama “Virgin River” (Nov. 30); and “The Netflix Cup: Swing to Survive” (Nov. 14), Netflix’s first livestreamed sporting event, with teams of Formula 1 drivers and PGA stars in a match-play golf tournament from Las Vegas.

    There are also fresh episodes of “The Great British Baking Show” every Friday until its season finale Dec. 1.

    Who’s Netflix for? Fans of buzz-worthy original shows and movies.

    Play, pause or stop? Pause. “The Crown” and “The Great British Baking Show” are the top draws, but aside from those, there’s not a lot else to move the needle this month. However, if you can live with commercials, you can find value at $7.

    Paramount+ ($5.99 a month with ads, $11.99 a month with Showtime and no ads)

    Paramount+ has some interesting stuff in November. But is it enough to justify a subscription?

    “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (Nov. 5), joins the streaming service’s extensive slate of shows produced by Taylor Sheridan, telling the story of one of the Wild West’s most overlooked real-life heroes: Bass Reeves (played by David Oyelowo), who was the first Black U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi and overcame countless hurdles in enforcing the law in the era of Reconstruction. A marksman with something like 3,000 arrests to his name, Reeves was purportedly the inspiration for the story of the Lone Ranger. Say what you will about Sheridan’s formulaic shows, but he knows how to make a good Western. This should be worth a watch.

    There’s also “The Curse“ (Nov. 10), an intriguing new Showtime series starring Nathan Fielder (“Nathan for You”) and Oscar-winner Emma Stone that puts a dark twist to an HGTV-like home-improvement show; and “Good Burger 2” (Nov. 22), a sequel to the 1997 cult-classic fast-food comedy starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell.

    On the sports side, Paramount has NFL football every Sunday, Big Ten and SEC college football every Saturday, and a full slate of UEFA Champions League soccer.

    Who’s Paramount+ for? Gen X cord-cutters who miss live sports and familiar Paramount Global 
    PARA,
    -0.74%
      broadcast and cable shows.

    Play, pause or stop? Pause. There’s decent value with a couple of promising new shows, especially when factoring in Paramount’s live sports and vast library of movies and network shows.

    Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $15.99 with no ads, or $19.99 ‘Ultimate’ with no ads)

    It’s a very skippable month for Max.

    The Warner Bros. Discovery 
    WBD,
    +1.41%
     streaming service only has a handful of new originals to offer, including Season 2 of Issa Rae’s hip-hop comedy “Rap Sh!t” (Nov. 19), as Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion) come to a crossroads on their road to fame; Season 2 of the biographical drama “Julia” (Nov. 16), starring Sarah Lancashire as iconic chef Julia Child as she and her husband return from France and face new challenges; “Bookie” (Nov. 30), a new comedy from Chuck Lorre (“Big Bang Theory”) and Nick Bakay about an L.A. bookie looking for new angles as the potential legalization of sports gambling threatens to upend his shady business; and Rob Reiner’s documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” (Nov. 11), delving into the life of the comedy legend.

    Also: Here’s everything coming to Max in November 2023 — and what’s leaving

    There are also a ton of holiday-themed shows from Food Network, HGTV and OWN; live sports on its free (for now) Bleacher Report tier that includes NBA and NHL games, college basketball and U.S. men’s soccer (Nov. 16 and 20); and new episodes of “The Gilded Age” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

    Who’s Max for? HBO fans and movie lovers. And now, unscripted TV fans too, with a slew of Discovery shows.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. Max still has a great library, but the new offerings fall short. Even the ad tier isn’t worth it — try again another month.

    Amazon’s Prime Video ($14.99 a month, or $8.99 without Prime membership)

    “The Boys” spinoff “Gen V” ends its first season on Nov. 3, but fans of ultra-violent superheroes will be able to slide right into Season 2 of the hit animated series “Invincible” (Nov. 3), which returns to Prime Video after a two-and-a-half-year layoff. Based on the graphic novels by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, the very adult series picks up with Mark (Steven Yeun) still reeling from the revelations about his superhero father (J.K. Simmons) at the end of Season 1, while a new villain (voiced by Sterling K. Brown) appears on the scene. Annoyingly, Season 2 will be split in two, with four episodes in November and another four coming in early 2024.

    More: What’s new on Amazon’s Prime Video and Freevee in November 2023

    Amazon’s
    AMZN,
    +2.94%
     streaming service also has “007: Road to a Million” (Nov. 10), an “Amazing Race”-like competition series hosted by Brian Cox where nine teams of two endure James Bond-inspired challenges around the globe to try to win a big cash prize, and “Twin Love” (Nov. 17), a reality dating show involving 10 sets of identical twins split into two houses.

    Who’s Prime Video for? Movie lovers, TV-series fans who value quality over quantity.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. There’s no a compelling reason to start a relatively pricey subscription now. That even goes for “Invincible” fans, who would be better off waiting until the second half drops and bingeing when all episodes are available. Splitting up eight episodes is ridiculous.

    Disney+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $13.99 with no ads)

    Tim Allen returns for Season 2 of “The Santa Clauses” (Nov. 8), as the jolly one continues his search for a successor. Eric Stonestreet joins the cast as the exiled “Mad Santa,” along with Gabriel Iglesias as Kris Kringle and Tracey Morgan as the Easter Bunny (because, of course!).

    Meanwhile, Lil Rel Howry, Ludacris and Oscar Nunez star in the new family comedy movie “Dashing Through the Snow” (Nov. 17), and Danny Glover will play Santa in the Disney Channel original film “The Naughty Nine” (Nov. 23).

    In non-holiday fare, Disney has three upcoming Doctor Who specials celebrating the iconic sci-fi series’ 60th anniversary. The first, “Doctor Who: The Star Beast” (Nov. 25), reunites David Tennant and Catherine Tate, as the Doctor and Donna Noble battle the villainous Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris), with the other two specials coming in December, when the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa of “Sex Education”) will be introduced.

    There’s also 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” (Nov. 3), and new episodes of “Loki” (finale Nov. 9), “Goosebumps” (finale Nov. 17) and “Dancing With the Stars.”

    Who’s Disney+ for? Families with kids, hardcore “Star Wars” and Marvel fans. For people not in those groups, Disney’s
    DIS,
    -0.64%
     library can be lacking.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. After a recent price hike, there’s just not enough to justify a subscription (unless your kids will absolutely melt down without it).

    Peacock ($5.99 a month with ads, or $11.99 with no ads)

    It’s a pretty bleak month for Peacock originals, with only the reality dating spinoff “Love Island Games” (Nov. 1); “Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain” (Nov. 17), the first movie from the “SNL” comedy trio; and Season 2 of the Paris Hilton reality series “Paris in Love” (Nov. 30).

    It’s a bit brighter on the sports side, with Big Ten college basketball starting Nov. 6, Big Ten college football every Saturday, NFL Sunday Night Football and a full slate of English Premier League soccer, golf, motorsports and winter sports.

    And on Thanksgiving (Nov. 23), Peacock will stream the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the National Dog Show and an NFL game, as the 49ers play the Seahawks.

    Who’s Peacock for? Live sports and next-day shows from Comcast’s 
    CMCSA,
    +1.28%
     NBCUniversal are the main draw, but there’s a good library of shows and movies.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. The live-sports offerings are the only lure.

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  • Big Tech earnings have been strong, but Apple is about to answer the thousand-dollar question

    Big Tech earnings have been strong, but Apple is about to answer the thousand-dollar question

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    While the stock market reactions may not prove it, Big Tech is four-for-four so far this earnings reporting season.

    Alphabet Inc.
    GOOG,
    -0.03%

    GOOGL,
    -0.09%    ,
    Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    +6.83%    ,
    Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +2.91%
    and Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    +0.59%
    all beat earnings and revenue expectations for the latest quarter, showing, among other things that the advertising market was healthy in the latest quarter and that software spending is holding up.

    But one more major test looms in the week ahead. Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    +0.80%
    is due to deliver September-quarter results on Thursday and those earnings will answer a key question: Are consumers still so willing to purchase thousand-dollar iPhones in the current economy?

    Results from other companies in recent weeks have painted a mixed picture of consumer spending. Visa Inc.
    V,
    -0.87%    ,
    Mastercard Inc.
    MA,
    -0.14%
    and American Express Co.
    AXP,
    -1.42%
    say that spending remains resilient, but there are also signs that cracks are starting to form in categories deemed non-essential. Just look at Align Technology Inc.
    ALGN,
    +0.20%    ,
    the maker of Invisalign orthodontic aligners, which saw its stock plunge last week after noting that people seem to be putting off dental and orthodontic visits.

    Read: Invisalign maker’s stock craters after soft earnings, but analysts still say it’s a buy

    Granted, some might say that iPhones are glorified necessities these days for Apple fans, even with their high price tags. But Apple conducted an effective price increase on its iPhone 15 Pro model when it rolled out its new phones in September, all while delivering a mostly incremental suite of feature upgrades across all its latest models. Will the new phones prove enticing enough in a period of stretched budgets?

    Just judging by S&P 500
    SPX
    results so far in the aggregate, the odds would seem to be in Apple’s favor for a beat this quarter. About half of index components have already reported, and 78% have posted earnings upside, while 62% have surprised positively on the top line, according to FactSet.

    Revenue will be the key item for Apple, as consensus expectations call for a small decline on the metric, which would mark the fourth consecutive year-over-year drop. It’s also worth noting that companies on the whole haven’t been topping revenue estimates by their usual margin. S&P 500 components in aggregate have reported revenue 0.8% above expectations, which compares with a five-year average of 2.0%, FactSet Senior Earnings Analyst John Butters wrote in a recent report.

    Apple’s report could also highlight the impact of currency on corporate results, as the company generates more than half of its revenue internationally.

    “Given the stronger U.S. dollar in recent months, are S&P 500 companies with more international revenue exposure reporting lower (year-over-year) earnings and revenues for Q3 compared to S&P 500 companies with more domestic revenue exposure?” Butters asked. “The answer is yes.”

    This week in earnings

    Many U.S. investors in financial-technology companies likely hadn’t heard of European payments player Worldline SA
    WLN,
    +9.06%
    before last week, but a warning from the French company about deteriorating conditions in Europe helped send shares of PayPal Holdings Inc.
    PYPL,
    -2.63%
    and Block Inc.
    SQ,
    -3.98%
    sharply lower Wednesday, in a selloff one analyst deemed an overreaction. Those companies will look to reassure Wall Street about the health of their businesses with their own reports this week. Plus, while not a payments name, SoFi Technologies Inc.
    SOFI,
    -0.43%
    will provide another read on the fintech sector. Investors will be watching to see how the end of the student-loan moratorium impacted student lending volumes.

    The week ahead will also shed light on how consumers’ dining preferences have evolved in the current economy. Starbucks Corp.
    SBUX,
    -0.70%    ,
    Dine Brands Global Inc.
    DIN,
    -0.12%    ,
    Cheesecake Factory Inc.
    CAKE,
    -0.47%
    and Sweetgreen Inc.
    SG,
    +0.59%
    are among names on the docket. Plus, amid concerns about the impact of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy on eating habits, Kraft Heinz Co.’s management will be in the spotlight.

    Don’t miss: What exactly are patients taking new weight-loss drugs eating and what are they avoiding? Bernstein asked them.

    The call to put on your calendar

    You can’t spell Advanced Micro Devices without AI (sort of): Nvidia Corp.
    NVDA,
    +0.43%
    has been ruling the chip world this year thanks to its dominance with the sort of hardware needed to power the corporate AI fervor. Investors will be watching Tuesday afternoon to see how quickly Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s
    AMD,
    +2.95%
    own AI story is coming together. “The AMD narrative feels all about their data center (and, particularly, their AI story) right now,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote in a note to clients. “In the near term the achievability of their 2H data-center growth (guided to 50% half-over-half) will be the question.” Rasgon expects AMD to discuss recent customer wins for its MI300X chip, though he thinks it will take time for the company to see “real volume.”

    The number to watch

    PayPal transaction margins: Shares of the one-time investor darling are trading at their lowest levels since May 2017, and the latest source of anguish for Wall Street is the company’s transaction margins. PayPal’s lower-margin unbranded checkout business has been growing more quickly than its higher-margin branded checkout product, a trend that’s been weighing on overall transaction margins. Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal expects the third quarter to mark a bottom on the metric before trends stabilize in the fourth quarter. “We do not believe the stock is crowded on the long or short side into earnings, as investors lack conviction regarding the magnitude of transaction margin headwinds in Q3,” he wrote in a recent preview. “In any case, we view Q3 as a potential clearing event.” PayPal posts results Wednesday afternoon.

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  • U.S. pending home sales stay near record low despite modest pickup in September

    U.S. pending home sales stay near record low despite modest pickup in September

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    The numbers: U.S. pending home sales rebounded in September but remain near a record low as high mortgage rates and low inventory continue to hurt the real-estate sector.

    Pending home sales rose 1.1% in September from the previous month, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

    But pending home sales were still depressed on an annual basis due to the dearth of home listings. The September figure was the second-lowest reading since the NAR began tracking the data in 2001.

    Transactions were down 11% from last year.

    Nonetheless, the sales pace exceeded expectations on Wall Street. Economists were expecting pending home sales to fall 1.5% in September.

    Pending home sales reflect transactions where the contract has been signed for the sale of an existing home, but the sale has not yet closed. Economists view it as an indicator of the direction of existing-home sales in subsequent months.

    The NAR also released an updated forecast for existing-home sales on Thursday. The group expects sales to fall 17.5% in 2023 to a pace of 4.15 million, which will be the slowest pace since 2008. Yet due to low inventory, the median home price will increase by 0.1% in 2023, the NAR said, to $386,700.

    The group expects home sales to rebound in 2024, rising 13.5% to a rate of 4.71 million. Home prices are expected to rise 0.7% next year, to $389,500. 

    The NAR also expects the 30-year mortgage rate to fall to 6.9% in 2023 and 6.3% in 2024. The 30-year was averaging 7.98% as of Wednesday, according to Mortgage News Daily.

    Big picture: The U.S. housing market is dealing with problems on both the demand and supply sides, but the NAR seems confident that the sector will recover in the new year.

    At present, not only are rates high enough to discourage home buyers, the lack of inventory is also making homes more expensive, which further spooks buyers. The NAR expects the pace of existing-home sales to fall to the slowest in 15 years, when the U.S. was in the midst of a recession caused by the subprime-lending crisis.

    What the realtors said: “Because of home builders’ ability to create more inventory, new-home sales could be higher this year despite increasing mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “This underscores the importance of increased inventory in helping to get the overall housing market moving.”

    Market reaction: Stocks
    DJIA

    SPX
    were mixed in early trading on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
    BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
    rose above 4.9%.

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  • Police shoot dead suspected extremist accused of killing 2 Swedish soccer fans on a Brussels street

    Police shoot dead suspected extremist accused of killing 2 Swedish soccer fans on a Brussels street

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    BRUSSELS (AP) — Police in Belgium on Tuesday shot dead a suspected Tunisian extremist accused of killing two Swedish soccer fans in a brazen shooting on a Brussels street before disappearing into the night.

    Hours after a manhunt began in the Belgian capital, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told broadcaster VRT: “We have the good news that we found the individual.” She said that the weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered.

    The federal prosecutor’s office was more cautious, saying in a text message to The Associated Press: “There are strong presumptions but no certainties” that the man was the shooter. He was shot by police in the Schaerbeek neighborhood where the rampage had taken place.

    Amateur videos posted on social media of Monday’s attack showed a man wearing an orange fluorescent vest pull up on a scooter, take out a large weapon and open fire on passersby before chasing them into a building to gun them down.

    “Last night, three people left for what was supposed to be a wonderful soccer party. Two of them lost their lives in a brutal terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at a news conference just before dawn. “Their lives were cut short in full flight, cut down by extreme brutality.”

    De Croo said his thoughts were with the victims’ families and that he had sent his condolences to the Swedish prime minister. Security has been beefed up in the capital, particularly around places linked to the Swedish community in the city.

    “The attack that was launched yesterday was committed with total cowardice,” De Croo said.

    Not far from the scene of the shooting, the Belgium-Sweden soccer match in the Belgian national stadium was suspended at halftime and the 35,000 fans held inside as a precaution while the attacker was at large.

    Prosecutor Eric Van Duyse said “security measures were urgently taken to protect the Swedish supporters” in the stadium. More than two hours after the game was suspended, a message flashed on the big stadium screen saying, “Fans, you can leave the stadium calmly.” Stand after stand emptied onto streets filled with police as the search for the attacker continued.

    “Frustrated, confused, scared. I think everyone was quite scared,” said Caroline Lochs, a fan from Antwerp.

    De Croo said the assailant was a Tunisian man living illegally in Belgium who used a military weapon to kill the two Swedes and shoot a third, who is being treated for ”severe injuries.”

    Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw described how the suspect, a 45-year-old man who wasn’t identified, had posted a video online claiming to have killed three Swedish people.

    The suspect is alleged to have said in the video that, for him, the Quran is “a red line for which he is ready to sacrifice himself.”

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  • These 10 college athletes are making over $1 million a year from NIL

    These 10 college athletes are making over $1 million a year from NIL

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    It now pays to be an amateur.

    The NCAA started allowing college athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness in 2021, after decades of student-athletes saying it wasn’t fair that they didn’t receive any money while the games they played in generated millions of dollars — especially football and basketball contests. And today, many of these athletes are not just making some extra cash on the side — they’re making millions.

    These NIL deals are negotiated by college athletes and their representation, and typically involve leveraging an athlete’s brand and influence through promotional means. For example, a car dealership near a university campus may ask the college’s high-profile quarterback to do a commercial for them in exchange for a monetary payment or a car. Similarly, an athlete can make money from social media, depending on how big their following is.

    Football players are among the college athletes who make the most money from NIL deals, followed by men’s basketball, women’s volleyball and women’s basketball. That’s because college football and basketball have multibillion-dollar TV contracts to broadcast games, while most other sports generally have lower visibility.

    With that in mind, here are the college athletes who make the most money from NIL deals according to On3’s proprietary NIL algorithm, which is based on NIL-deal data, performance, influence and exposure

    10. J.J. McCarthy, $1.3 million 

    J.J. McCarthy of the Michigan Wolverines in action against the Georgia Bulldogs.


    Getty Images

    As the junior quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines football team, McCarthy is one of the six college football QBs in the top 10 of NIL earners.

    McCarthy sports 276,000 followers across his social-media platforms, and has deals with Alo, Bose and Bowman.

    Tie-8. Bo Nix, $1.4 million

    Bo Nix of the Oregon Ducks throws a pass against the Stanford Cardinals.


    Getty Images

    The senior QB for the Oregon Ducks has led his team to a perfect 5-0 start this season.

    Nix has 219,000 followers on social media and NIL deals with 7-Eleven, Bojangles and Celsius. Nix is considered one of the top players in the nation and has the third-best betting odds to win college football’s Heisman Trophy on DraftKings
    DKNG,
    -2.52%
    sportsbook.

    Tie-8. Spencer Rattler, $1.4 million

    Spencer Rattler of the South Carolina Gamecocks warms up before a game against the Tennessee Volunteers.


    Getty Images

    The South Carolina Gamecocks senior QB has one of the more robust NIL profiles in the nation. He has deals with Mercedes-Benz
    MBG,
    -1.23%    ,
    Leaf trading cards and Raising Canes.

    Rattler also has 578,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram
    META,
    -0.71%
    and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

    7. Angel Reese, $1.7 million

    Angel Reese of the LSU Lady Tigers during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game.


    Getty Images

    Reese was one of the breakout stars of the women’s March Madness basketball tournament this year. The Louisiana State University hooper led her team to the 2023 title and famously flashed a “you can’t see me” gesture in the title game.

    Reese has brand deals with Airbnb, PlayStation and Intuit TurboTax
    INTU,
    -0.50%
    and has appeared in ads for Amazon
    AMZN,
    +0.01%
    and Pepsi Co.’s
    PEP,
    +0.59%
    Starry. She also has 5.2 million followers across her social-media platforms.

    During LSU’s magical title run last season, Reese set an NCAA single-season record with her 34th double-double against the Iowa Hawkeyes and was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four.

    Reese is one of just two female athletes inside the top 10 in On3’s NIL valuation tracker, and the top college basketball player on the list.

    6. Travis Hunter, $2.3 million

    Travis Hunter of the Colorado Buffaloes signals first down after a catch against the TCU Horned Frogs.


    Getty Images

    Hunter was one of the college football players who transferred to the University of Colorado from Jackson State last season to follow coach Deion Sanders.

    Hunter, a five-star sophomore prospect, plays on both offense and defense — as a wide receiver and a cornerback — a rarity in a high-level college program. He has 1.9 million followers on social media, a successful YouTube
    GOOG,
    -0.08%
    channel, and endorsements with Celsius Energy Drink and 7-Eleven.

    Hunter entered the 2023 college season as the most highly touted NFL prospect at Colorado, and Deion Sanders contends rival schools have attempted to poach him via lucrative NIL deals.

    “People offered Travis Hunter a bag — about $1.5 million to try to lure him and buy him out of the transfer portal,” coach Sanders told 247Sports over the summer. “But Travis is not the kind of guy that can be bought. He isn’t built like that. Travis is a relational young man that is built on relationships and stability. And that’s what he wanted and desired. That is why he decided to ride and stay with us.”

    If and when Hunter decides to declare for the NFL draft, he will likely have a multimillion-dollar contract as a rookie that could dwarf his collegiate NIL earnings.

    5. Caleb Williams, $2.7 million

    Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans warms up before a game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.


    Getty Images

    The University of Southern California QB is seen as a generational NFL prospect and the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but he isn’t the top NIL earner.

    Williams has 347,000 followers on social media, and brand deals with United Airlines
    UAL,
    -1.24%    ,
    Alo and Beats by Dre.

    Once the USC junior QB declares for the draft, his rookie contract will likely be set above $37 million, per Spotrac’s estimates.

    4. Arch Manning, $2.8 million

    Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns warms up prior to a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide.


    Getty Images

    The Texas Longhorns freshman QB is one of several top NIL earners whose family plays a role in their fame. Arch Manning is the nephew of Super Bowl champion QBs Peyton and Eli Manning, and the grandson of former NFL QB Archie Manning.

    Despite being a backup quarterback with no recorded statistics, the younger Manning has 277,000 followers on social media and has a brand deal with Panini. That deal involved him autographing an extremely rare one-of-one Prizm Black card that was auctioned off for $102,500, which was later donated to charity.

    Manning was a standout high school recruit, ranked No. 5 in the nation in the 2023 class, and could have an NFL future.

    3. Livvy Dunne, $3.2 million

    Olivia Dunne of LSU looks on during a PAC-12 meet against Utah.


    Getty Images

    Dunne is the only college athlete in the top 10 of NIL earners who doesn’t play basketball or football. The junior LSU gymnast is the top female NIL earner in the nation and has brand deals with Vuori clothing, Body Armor
    KO,
    +0.62%
    and American Eagle Outfitters.

    Dunne is the second most-followed college athlete on social media with 12.1 million followers on Instagram, TikTok and X combined.

    For many years Dunne was seen as the poster child for NIL deals, and she said earlier this year that she could make as much as $500,000 from a single post.

    “What I love with certain brands is getting long-term brand deals,” Dunne said on the Full Send podcast in June. “Those are probably the best because you build a relationship with the brand and they want you year after year.”

    2. Shedeur Sanders, $4.8 million

    Shedeur Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes celebrates as he walks off the field following an NCAAF game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.


    Getty Images

    University of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders has become a phenomenon in the sports world. The 21-year-old junior made headlines after throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns in Colorado’s season-opening shocker against No. 17–ranked Texas Christian.

    Colorado has become the center of the football world since Shedeur’s father Deion took over as coach. Coach Prime’s team is currently 4-2 — the team was 1-11 last season, good for last place in its conference.

    The quarterback has more than 2.3 million followers on social media, and has already inked several deals with big brands, including with yogurt producer Oikos
    0KFX,
    -1.13%    ,
    Gatorade and Mercedes-Benz. He has shown fans some of his new Mercedes cars on social media, too.

    Overall, Shedeur Sanders’s NIL value currently sits at $4.8 million, according to On3, up from $1.5 million at the beginning of the year — that’s the highest value in all of college football. For context, that’s nearly twice the average NFL player’s salary.

    1. Bronny James, $5.9 million

    Bronny James playing at his high school, Sierra Canyon.


    Getty Images

    James has perhaps the most famous family member of any person on this list. He is the son of NBA legend LeBron James, and is currently set to begin his freshman basketball season at USC.

    The younger James has yet to play a game at his new school, but will immediately be one of the most well-known players in college athletics. James has 13.5 million social media followers, the most of any college athlete, and has brand deals with Nike
    NKE,
    +1.10%
    and Beats by Dre
    AAPL,
    -0.06%    ,
    two brands his dad is also repped by.

    Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest in July during a basketball practice and had to be taken to the hospital. But he’s on the road to recovery, and hopes to play basketball this season.

    “Bronny is doing extremely well,” the older James said last week. “He has begun his rehab process to get back on the floor this season with his teammates at USC. (With) the successful surgery that he had, he’s on the up-and-up. It’s definitely a whirlwind, a lot of emotions for our family this summer. But the best thing we have is each other.”

    See also: Michael Jordan is now worth $3 billion. Here’s what billionaire athletes have in common.

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  • Taylor Swift’s film opened Thursday, surprising (and disappointing) some fans

    Taylor Swift’s film opened Thursday, surprising (and disappointing) some fans

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    So much for being the first in line for the highly anticipated Taylor Swift “Eras Tour” concert film.

    With the last-minute news that the film’s release was being moved to Thursday instead of the originally announced date of Friday, some Swift fans have expressed frustration that they may have to buy tickets all over again.

    Or as one commented Wednesday on X (formerly Twitter), “you’re telling me I had to fight for my life on the cineplex website for opening day tickets just for her to add showtimes tmrw?”

    Swift revealed the change to the film’s release schedule on Wednesday, saying, “Due to unprecedented demand we’re opening up early access showings of The Eras Tour Concert Film on THURSDAY in America and Canada!!”

    Swift attended the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, joined by some 2,200 fans. But on Thursday, she was back to taking in a Kansas City Chiefs game, according to an Associated Press report.

    Swift has attended other Chiefs games this season to root on tight end Travis Kelce. The pair are said to have a growing relationship.

    Some Swifties greeted the announcement of the film’s new Thursday release date with joy. “Taylor Swift always knows how to surprise us! Can’t wait for this incredible journey to begin!” said one.

    But others were disappointed that they no longer had those first-to-see bragging rights. And they suddenly were faced with the dilemma of having to buy tickets all over again if they wanted to maintain that position. In turn, that left them with the problem of what to do with the tickets they purchased for Friday showings.

    One commenter on X thought it was pretty savvy of Swift to boost the box office this way, saying the singer is “getting more sales out of her fans by moving opening night.”

    Another commenter also said this was “a smart move” on Swift and her team’s part.

    Not that theaters haven’t already sold plenty of seats for the film. The movie is set to have at least a $150 million opening, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and has buoyed the AMC
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    +5.57%
    and Cinemark
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  • You just won the Powerball jackpot — what should you do next?

    You just won the Powerball jackpot — what should you do next?

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    One lucky person picked the winning $1.73 billion Powerball number in California. It is a life-changing amount of money for the lucky winner or winners — but not necessarily in a good way. 

    Robert Pagliarini, author of “The Sudden Wealth Solution,” has been guiding lottery winners for decades. And he has seen plenty of people run through their winnings faster than you can say “jackpot!” Or, friends and family (and certainly office lottery pool players) can see their winnings tied up in legal battles for years, as the parties argue over who gets how much. About 70% of lottery winners lose or spend all the money in five years or less, after all. 

    “Money — especially when you’re talking about this level of money — absolutely upends people’s lives,” Pagliarini, the president of Pacifica Wealth Advisors, told MarketWatch. “You should be excited, but you should also be prepared, for sure.” 

    These are his five tips for what to do if you win the lottery or get another windfall.

    Document that the winning ticket is YOURS

    Sign your name on the winning ticket, take a picture of yourself holding the winning ticket — in fact, take a video of yourself holding the signed, winning ticket, for good measure. 

    “The first step is really all about securing the ticket … because whoever has it is the owner,” says Pagliarini. “There’s no record of you having purchased that ticket with those numbers. So having that ticket is everything.” 

    Related: Hoping to win Mega Millions? This woman hit a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot.

    You have to document that this ticket is yours, which is why Pagliarini says legal experts recommend signing it. “I would absolutely sign it myself,” he adds. 

    And then put that ticket in a safe place, like a home safe or lockbox.

    Don’t tell anyone yet!

    You may want to sing the good news from the rooftops that your financial troubles are over. Problem is, everyone else’s troubles aren’t — and Pagliarini warns that, for your own personal safety and peace of mind, it’s better not to let the world know you’ve just become a billionaire overnight — if you can help it. Unfortunately, most states make you disclose that you’ve won.

    “We’re used to seeing people with the big check on TV, which looks pretty cool — but now everybody in the entire world knows that you’re worth $1 billion. And that’s not really the kind of publicity that you want,” says Pagliarini. “You’re going to be hit up for lots of money requests as people come out of the woodwork. And that adds such a huge amount of stress when you’re in a situation that is already stressful.” 

    You generally have 180 days to collect the winnings, and you’re going to have to make some big, life-changing decisions during that time. Staying anonymous, if you can, will give you the space to make those decisions with a clear head. 

    Unfortunately, as noted, most states compel lottery winners to come forward publicly. If you have to reveal yourself and do press interviews, protect your personal information. Some past Powerball winners didn’t answer questions about any meaningful or personal significance associated with the winning numbers that they played, for example, or they refused to share details about their children. One couple simply moved out of their house and refused to speak with the media at all while they settled their affairs.

    “My rule is basically, you tell one family member, and then you immediately try to get professional help,” Pagliarini adds. Which leads us to…. 

    Get a lawyer and a financial adviser

    Bring in the professional help as soon as you can. An attorney can help you decide the best time to claim your lottery prize, and offer more advice on keeping your ticket safe. They can also help navigate your rights and protect your best interests with regards to how much you need to present yourself publicly. And they can also help you manage your safety. 

    Meanwhile, a financial adviser can assess your financial situation and help you decide whether it makes sense to take a lump sum of cash, or to collect your winnings over annual payments. A financial adviser can also help you manage your money so that you can check things off your bucket list without overspending.

    “You know you’ve won, and then typically you have about 180 days to collect the winnings,” says Pagliarini. “So you’ve got to do some serious planning.” You need all the help you can get.  

    Do you take the lump-sum payment or the annuity payment?

    Pagliarini considers staying anonymous as the first big decision a lottery winner makes. The second most important question, however, is how they collect their winnings. Do you want to take a lump sum, or do you want to take the annuity (aka, a payout over time)?

    “This is really the biggest financial decision you’ll ever make in your entire life,” he says. (Granted, it’s one that most of us will never have to make, since the odds of winning the lottery, let alone a jackpot of this size, are infinitesimal.)  

    He notes that most people take the lump-sum payment, and in some circumstances this can be a better decision. But keep in mind that if you win a $1 billion Powerball jackpot, for example, you are not getting $1 billion.

    “They send you about 60-ish percent of whatever the lump sum is,” Pagliarini notes. So for a $1 billion prize, for example, “you would get around $600 million instead of $1 billion,” he said. And after state taxes, depending on where you live, and federal taxes, that jackpot may be closer to $300 million in the end. Whereas, the annuity is given as 30 payments over 29 years, which will come closer to hitting the advertised $1 billion jackpot than lump-sum takers would get. So being patient can pay off in the long run, especially with a bigger prize like this.

    As far as taxes are concerned, Pagliarini still leans toward annuity — especially for a smaller jackpot, like if it was $1 million. That’s because you would get a lump-sum payment of about $600,000, which would put you in the highest federal and state income tax bracket (for single filers anyway) that year — versus taking an extra $30,000 a year for 30 years. “That annuity payment is probably not going to catapult you into the highest tax bracket,” he says. But for a $1 billion-plus jackpot like this, you’re going to be in the highest tax bracket whichever payout you choose, he says.

    But there’s another reason to consider going the annuity route, Pagliarini says — it can save you from yourself. 

    “The biggest advantage of the lump-sum payout is that you get most of the money up front, and then you can do whatever you want with it,” he says, such as pay off debt, invest it, buy a house, etc. “But that actually happens to be the biggest disadvantage of the lump sum,” he continues. And that’s because, if you overspend your winnings and run out of cash with your lump sum, then you are out of luck. But the annuity payments are almost like a do-over each year, he says, because you can learn from your mistakes and spend the next annual windfall more wisely. “I’ve advised most people honestly to take the annuity,” he says. “It just allows you to really make mistakes, but have them not be a total derailment.” 

    If you still can’t make up your mind, he also has a free online quiz to help you decide whether you should take a lump sum or an annuity payment. 

    Keep it simple when deciding where to put your new money.

    So you’ve secured your ticket, tried to keep it quiet, hired some professional help, and decided how you are going to collect your winnings. Then what do you do with all of this cash? 

    Every financial situation is different, of course, which is where a financial adviser can help you sort out the nuances to make this lottery win a real dream come true for you. But in general, Pagliarini recommends keeping things simple — even considering that this $1 billion jackpot (even whittled down after taxes) would allow you to do basically whatever you wanted to do. 

    “If I were meeting with you, we would sit down and make some serious decisions, and prioritize what you want to do,” he says, “such as paying off debt, and discussing what is on your wish list. Do you want to buy a new house or a second house, or buy your family houses?” He suggests pricing out your wish list together with your adviser to see whether you could afford to do everything you want.

    But you still want money left over to live on. “We want to make sure the money left over is generating enough income so that they could survive on that for as long as they wanted — and particularly in this case, I’m sure generations would be able to survive on this amount of money,” he says. “I would invest in index funds. I wouldn’t get esoteric with limited partnerships and venture capital. Just go for a diversified portfolio, because as soon as you start deviating from ‘simple’ you can really increase your chances of just losing it all.” 

    He notes that because lottery winnings don’t feel “earned,” the prize may not feel like “real” money — which is one of the reasons so many lottery winners don’t manage their newfound wealth well. Again, about 70% of lottery winners lose or spend all that money in five years or less. “If the money doesn’t feel earned or real, you’re going to make decisions with that money that are probably not going to be in your best interest,” he adds. “You’re giving it away more freely, spending more freely, or freely investing in things a lot riskier than you would have done if you had to sweat and earn that money.” 

    So keep it simple. “Don’t think just because you have x-millions of dollars now that you really have to get ‘sophisticated,’” he adds.

    And some bonus advice for office pools

    This is more of an extra, hindsight tip for before you and your co-workers start throwing in a buck apiece for a long-shot bid at a jackpot like this. Pagliarini warns that office pools can get “tricky,” so it’s good to sign a contract setting some ground rules before you all pool together. 

    “There’s been a lot of litigation around office pools, because maybe somebody forgets to play one week, and that’s the week everyone wins. Or someone thought they played this week, but on this particular week they didn’t,” he says. “So loosey-goosey situations can end up in court to battle it out.”

    A much simpler solution to avoid this is to have an office pool contract that spells out who is in this pool, how much they are contributing, and it also determines in advance whether the group will take the lump-sum payment or the annuity payment. 

    “Because the last thing that you want is to win $1 billion or $100 million dollars, and then to be tied up in court for four years,” says Pagliarini. “That’s no fun.”

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  • Jets-Chiefs is highest-rated TV show since the Super Bowl, thanks to Taylor Swift and 2 million more female viewers

    Jets-Chiefs is highest-rated TV show since the Super Bowl, thanks to Taylor Swift and 2 million more female viewers

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    Taylor Swift continues to boost the NFL’s profile.

    NBC’s Sunday Night Football game between the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs averaged 27 million viewers, making it the most-watched TV show since Super Bowl LVII in February, according to NBC’s PR team.

    Swift attended the Chiefs’ 23-20 win and was shown on the television broadcast several times, alongside celebrities Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Swift has a new public friendship and rumored relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and the interest in that topic has led to increases in TV ratings for the two games Swift has attended, and to boosts in sales of NFL merchandise.

    Swift’s massive fanbase has influence across all ages and all types of people, but she is particularly popular among women and girls, and that group is who propelled NBC
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    +0.34%
    and Sunday Night Football to such lofty viewership heights.

    “Viewership among teen girls (age 12-17) spiked 53% from the season-to-date average of the first three weeks of SNF, while the audience among women aged 18-24 was up 24%, and women 35+ increased 34%,” NBC said. “The collective growth resulted in an approximate viewership increase of more than 2 million female viewers.”

    Viewership peaked at an estimated 29.4 million viewers between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. Eastern, as the Jets attempted to claw their way back in the second quarter of the game. Last year’s Sunday Night Football games averaged 19.9 million viewers, according to same-day data released by Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

    In preparation for Swift’s attendance, NBC used a Swift song, “Welcome to New York,” as the theme music for its video promo of the game, which was viewed roughly 8 million times.

    Since Swift was first linked to Kelce, the Chiefs tight end has enjoyed the Taylor Swift effect. For example:

    • The “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” podcast, featuring Kelce and his brother, shot up to No. 1 on Apple’s podcast charts last week.

    • Kelce’s social-media influence has flourished, with his Instagram followers jumping from 2.7 million followers to 3.8 million in about two weeks.

    • Kelce had one of the top five highest-selling NFL jerseys last week, and sales of Kelce merchandise spiked 400% on Fanatics, the NFL’s official merchandise seller.

    See also: Want to watch every NFL game this season? Here’s how much it will cost you.

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  • How El Niño will impact this winter: a warmer north, wetter Florida, good skiing

    How El Niño will impact this winter: a warmer north, wetter Florida, good skiing

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    Much of the northern half of the U.S. could see a milder winter in coming months thanks to a combination of the latest El Niño and ongoing patterns of above-average heat owed to human-made climate change.

    That’s especially true of forecasts for Maine and parts of Washington and Oregon.

    The recurring weather phenomenon known as El Niño could mean greater rain amounts in Florida’s typical wet season, and still doesn’t preclude a freeze that could put citrus crops at risk. The western Carolinas, too, could see greater-than-usual snow.

    The latest predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could mean short-term relief for Americans who struggled through summer’s heat extremes, but also pose a downside for retailers banking on a flurry of winter-clothing and supplies purchases. The added precipitation, however, points to plenty of snowpack for skiing and snowboarding at popular sites.

    According to NOAA’s models, there is a 95% chance El Niño continues through the winter. Generally, whenever there is an El Niño pattern in place, the Northern U.S. has warmer winters, NOAA said. 


    NOAA

    Meanwhile, across the South and for much of the Atlantic coast into southern New England, the forecast calls for greater chances of a wetter-than-normal winter, said NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

    Parts of the Northwest, Mountain West and Great Lakes could see greater chances of below-normal precipitation and while a less-snowy winter can mean safer travel, it can hurt the precipitation build relied upon for a healthy crop-growing season later in 2024.

    What’s an El Niño and what does it mean for climate change?

    Because an El Niño, packing the opposite effect of a cooling La Niña, happens every few years, people often wonder what the relationship is between these weather events and long-running atmospheric warming known as climate change.

    “Climate change will likely strengthen any ‘normal’ El Niño effects,” Dr. Stefan Schnitzer, professor of biological sciences Marquette University, told MarketWatch. “The increased global temperatures will add to the El Niño event, especially where rainfall increases.”

    Human-made climate change — caused by the greenhouse gas emissions put off by burning coal, oil
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    -0.02%
     and gas and blamed for accelerating historical climates shifts — has been warming the Earth’s temperature.

    An El Niño is the somewhat regular pattern in the tropical Pacific that brings warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures and influences weather. It emerged earlier-than-expected in 2023. 

    NOAA in earlier reporting said that the continental U.S. had its ninth-warmest August on record. It also was the 15th-warmest summer on record for the continental U.S. alone. Globally, August 2023 was the hottest on record. Through August, 2023 has been the second-warmest year on record across the world, NOAA said. 

    Don’t miss: It’s official: This summer was the hottest on record

    “Not only was last month the warmest August on record by quite a lot, it was also the globe’s 45th-consecutive August and the 534th-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average,” said Dr. Sarah Kapnick, NOAA’s chief scientist.

    “Global marine heat waves and a growing El Niño are driving additional warming this year, but as long as emissions continue driving a steady march of background warming, we expect further records to be broken in the years to come,” she said.

    Read: Already roasting in extreme heat? 2024 could be even hotter, NASA scientists warn.

    What about El Niño and winter weather in the U.S. South and Midwest?

    El Niño tends to bring wetter conditions to the Southeast. Florida, in particular, experiences higher-than-average rainfall during El Niño winters. This can lead to localized flooding, especially in low-lying areas and regions prone to heavy downpours.

    According to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Central Florida averages between 8 to 10 inches of rainfall during a typical winter. But during El Niño winters, that rainfall total rises to between 10 and 13 inches.

    As for other parts of the South, El Niño typically means more precipitation, which in mountain areas, can mean snow.

    Because the jet stream is displaced farther south, El Niño brings frequent storms across these areas, leading to above-average precipitation and below-average temperatures. This combination typically means more snow in Western North Carolina. In fact, some of the biggest seasonal snow totals have come during El Niño winters. Most notably, in the winter of 1968-69, more than 48 inches of snow fell in Asheville, N.C. And more recently, the winter of 2009-10 was unusually snowy with a whopping 39 inches accumulating.

    In the Midwest, El Niño normally results in warmer and drier winters, meaning less snow.

    “During an El Niño winter, the polar jet stream shifts northward, reducing the extremely low temperatures that normally swing down into the Midwest, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and so on,” said Marquette’s Schnitzer.

    Schnitzer reminds that weather variability is always unpredictable. Forecasts use models and historical patterns to try to offer an educated guess about the coming months.

    “Occasionally we can get very cold temperatures and snow during an El Niño. It depends on what other weather systems blow through the area,” he said.


    NOAA

     

    What is El Niño’s impact on skiing and snowboarding?

    Of course the amount of precipitation can impact how much snowfall is expected at higher elevations and what kind of season major skiing and snowboarding destinations can expect.

    During the early parts of the winter season, through the rest of 2023, data suggests a normal- to drier-than-normal period for most of the western U.S. As for the eastern U.S., predictions look wetter than normal, says meteorologist Chris Tomer, in an outlook for the On the Snow website, with a prediction closely aligning with other experts looking at NOAA’s data.


    Chris Tomer/On the Snow

    By January, says Tomer, the bulk of the El Niño-driven snowfall typically occurs across parts of the West with a strong subtropical jet. 

    “The pattern suggests a higher likelihood of atmospheric river (AR) events. In the Northeast, normal- to above-normal snowfall appears possible. Be warned, though. “The pattern suggests that NorEaster storm systems are more likely,” Tomer said.

    To him, that means New England ski areas could see a particularly advantageous snowy winter, which would be a welcome snapback from last season’s winter on the East Coast.

    Many Colorado ski areas, including Summit County resorts, Loveland, Telluride and Arapahoe Basin, also stand to be among the biggest snow “winners,” says Tomer. He’s also upbeat for accumulation for New Mexico ski areas and California ski areas in the Sierras.

    “El Niño historically doesn’t favor any particular outcome for Wasatch, Aspen Snowmass and Vail [in Colorado],” he added. “However, if the Modoki contribution [when the warming is generated in a different part of the Pacific Ocean] to this El Niño increases, then all of these resorts could tilt a little higher to 105% to 110% of normal winter snowfall.”

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  • How Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is making people around him rich

    How Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is making people around him rich

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    The “Prime Effect” is real.

    With his confidence and his aphorisms, to say nothing of his coaching skills, Deion Sanders has led the University of Colorado football program to a 3-0 record and a top 20 ranking. 

    Just weeks into his first season at the helm in Boulder, Sanders, known as “Prime Time” when he played in the NFL — and MLB — and now called “Coach Prime,” has already made his Buffaloes the most talked-about team in college football.

    Colorado was 1-11 last season, good for last place in its conference.

    Then, in December, Sanders was lured away from Jackson State, where he’d been head coach since 2020 and his teams had gone 27-6.

    Last weekend’s game in Boulder, against in-state rival Colorado State, drew 9.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched late-night college football game ever on ESPN
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    -1.55%    .
    It also attracted star power to Boulder, with rappers Lil Wayne and Offset, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and NBA players Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard on hand. 

    The success and the publicity are making many people in Sanders’s orbit wealthy. 

    Colorado’s top three NIL — or name, image and likeness — earners this season are coach Sanders’s sons Shedeur and Shilo, and Travis Hunter. All three players transferred to Colorado from Jackson State last season, an HBCU.

    His top players have cashed in on newfound fame with NIL deals to the tune of millions of dollars.

    Perhaps most notable among them is his son, junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The 21-year old made headlines after throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns in Colorado’s season-opening shocker against No. 17–ranked Texas Christian. Since then, he’s thrown six more touchdown passes in two further victories.

    The quarterback has more than 2 million followers on social media and has already inked several deals with big brands, including with yogurt producer Oikos
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    Gatorade
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    and Mercedes-Benz
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    — he has shown fans new Mercedes cars on social media more than once.

    Through his stellar play, Shedeur attracted the attention of another noted quarterback, Tom Brady, who inked the dynamic collegian to an endorsement deal with his clothing company, Brandy Brand, last October.

    “I think he needs to get his a— in the film room and spend as much time in there as possible,” Brady joked with the young quarterback during a recent recording of his podcast, “Let’s Go.”

    Overall, Shedeur Sanders has an NIL value of approximately $5.1 million, according to On3’s proprietary NIL algorithm, up from $1.5 million at the beginning of the year — that’s the highest value in all of college football. On3’s algorithm considers NIL-deal data, performance, influence and exposure.

    Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt said on Wednesday that he believes Shedeur Sanders might be able to make $10 million in NIL deals, more than three times the average NFL player’s salary.

    While Shedeur Sanders is the headliner at Colorado, he’s not alone in mining the NIL vein. Travis Hunter, a five-star sophomore prospect, has an On3 NIL valuation of $2.2 million, the fourth highest among all college football players. Hunter’s NIL value was $1.7 million at the beginning of the year.

    Hunter plays wide receiver on offense and cornerback on defense, a rarity in a high-level college program. He has 1.8 million followers on social media, a successful YouTube
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    channel, and endorsements with Celsius Energy Drink and 7-Eleven.

    Hunter entered this season as the most highly touted NFL prospect at Colorado, and Deion Sanders contends rival schools have attempted to poach him via lucrative NIL deals.

    “People offered Travis Hunter a bag — about $1.5 million to try to lure him and buy him out of the transfer portal,” coach Sanders told 247Sports over the summer. “But Travis is not the kind of guy that can be bought. He isn’t built like that. Travis is a relational young man that is built on relationships and stability. And that’s what he wanted and desired. That is why he decided to ride and stay with us.”

    Hunter suffered a lacerated liver on a late hit by a Colorado State defensive back last weekend.

    Don’t miss: Colorado coach Deion Sanders condemns fans’ death threats against Colorado State defensive back over late hit

    Sanders’s other son on the team, Shilo, is also a top NIL earner. A senior defensive back who took an interception 80 yards and into the end zone during the Buffaloes’ win over Colorado State, Shilo’s NIL value, per On3, sits at $719,000. He has NIL deals with Porsche
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    +0.10%

    P911,
    +0.26%    ,
    Oikos and KFC
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    +0.37%    .
    Shilo Sanders’s NIL value stood at $575,000 at the end of last year.

    The NCAA started allowing college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses in 2021, ending a years-long crusade by student athletes. Football has been the college sport attracting the most NIL deals, followed by men’s basketball, women’s volleyball and women’s basketball, according to NIL platform Opendorse.

    “NIL money, that’s a real part of college football now,” former University of Colorado and NFL football player Tyler Polumbus told CBS shortly after Sanders took the coaching job at Colorado. “I never thought that Colorado would be able to live in that world and compete in that world, but with Deion Sanders it becomes a whole new land of opportunity.”

    From the archives (April 2022): Women are set to make more money than men on NIL deals in college basketball

    Sanders, the coach, is getting paid, too, of course.

    In addition to the $33.5 million he made while playing in the NFL (to say nothing of the nine big-league baseball seasons in which he was an active player), coach Sanders is on a five-year contract with the University of Colorado worth $29.5 million, as reported by the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, with various escalators tied to performance.

    If Sanders continues to have success at Colorado, he’s likely to field even richer offers from bigger-time football schools. At Jackson State, his salary reportedly was just $300,000.

    The wealth coming to Sanders and his top players, including his own offspring, is also accruing to the school and brands attached to “Coach Prime.”

    The university has sold out all home games on the current schedule — a first in program history — and he’s selling tens of thousands of $67 “Prime 21” sunglasses, which won’t ship until December. He’s also helping sell merchandise at Colorado’s bookstore — it’s up 819% this fall vs. 2022 — and several varieties of Colorado-themed Prime gear are sold out at Nike’s
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    online store.

    Also on Sanders’s radar: trademarks. The six-time NFL All-Pro, two-time Super Bowl champion and Hall of Famer has filed for trademarks on “Coach Prime,” “Prime Effect,” “Daddy Buck” and “It’s Personal,” according to attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben Intellectual Property.

    Colorado plays at the University of Oregon on Saturday afternoon. The Ducks are ranked No. 10, while Sanders’s Buffaloes, unranked in the preseason, have climbed to No. 19.

    Oregon is a 21-point favorite, according to DraftKings oddsmakers, but 81% of all bets have been placed on Colorado.

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  • Five American captives have flown out of Iran, U.S. officials say

    Five American captives have flown out of Iran, U.S. officials say

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran flew out of Tehran on Monday, officials said.

    Flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP showed a Qatar Airways flight take off at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, which has been used for exchanges in the past. Iranian state media soon after said the flight had left Tehran.

    Two people, including a senior Biden administration official, said that the prisoners had left Tehran. They both spoke on condition of anonymity because the exchange was ongoing.

    Context: Iran and U.S. set to exchange prisoners as $6 billion in once-frozen Iranian assets reaches Qatar

    Also see: Iran identifies prisoners it wants freed by U.S. even as President Raisi voices view of unfrozen funds at odds with Washington’s

    In addition to the five freed Americans, two U.S. family members flew out, according to the Biden administration official. of Tehran.

    “ The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran — but had not yet paid — for oil shipments. U.S. House Democrat Jason Crow said Monday that the Biden administration’s recent negotiations led to a situation in which those funds have more, rather than fewer, strings attached. ”

    Earlier, officials said that the exchange would take place after nearly $6 billion in once-frozen Iranian assets reached Qatar, a key element of the planned swap.

    Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, observed early Monday on MSNBC that the funds were available to Iran, and that South Korea could unilaterally have transferred them to Tehran, under terms of an arrangement struck by the Trump administration. The Biden administration’s recent negotiations led to a situation, he said, in which those funds have more, rather than fewer, strings attached.

    The U.S. Treasury holds the power to reject any requested fund transfers to Iran, U.S. officials have said, even as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi claimed last week in an NBC interview that he was free under the deal’s terms to define the term humanitarian as he chose.

    Observers, seeking to reconcile those positions, noted that Raisi likely had a domestic audience in mind and was expressing a view that he knew did not comport with reality.

    Despite the exchange, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in various disputes, including over Tehran’s nuclear program.

    Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was the first to acknowledge the swap would take place Monday. He said the cash sought for the exchange that had been held by South Korea was now in Qatar.

    Kanaani made his comments during a news conference aired on state television, but the feed cut immediately after his remarks.

    “Fortunately Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea were released and God willing today the assets will start to be fully controlled by the government and the nation,” Kanaani said.

    “On the subject of the prisoner swap, it will happen today and five prisoners, citizens of the Islamic Republic, will be released from the prisons in the U.S.,” he added. “Five imprisoned citizens who were in Iran will be given to the U.S. side.”

    He said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S.

    Mohammad Reza Farzin, Iran’s Central Bank chief, later came on state television to acknowledge the receipt of over 5.5 billion euros — $5.9 billion — in accounts in Qatar. Months ago, Iran had anticipated getting as much as $7 billion.

    The planned exchange comes ahead of the convening of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York, where Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi will speak.

    A Qatar Airways plane landed Monday morning at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, according to flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP. Qatar Airways uses Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport for its commercial flights, but previous prisoner releases have taken place at Mehrabad.

    The announcement by Kanaani comes weeks after Iran said that five Iranian-Americans had been transferred from prison to house arrest as part of a confidence-building move. Meanwhile, Seoul allowed the frozen assets, held in South Korean won, to be converted into euros.

    The planned swap has unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.

    The deal has also already opened U.S. President Joe Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say that the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his reelection campaign as well.

    On the U.S. side, Washington has said the planned swap includes Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence. All of their charges have been widely criticized by their families, activists and the U.S. government.

    U.S. official have so far declined to identify the fourth and fifth prisoner.

    The five prisoners Iran has said it seeks are mostly held over allegedly trying to export banned material to Iran, such as dual use electronics that can be used by a military.

    The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran — but had not yet paid — for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.

    The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.

    Iranian government officials have largely concurred with that explanation, though some hard-liners have insisted, without providing evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.

    Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution. Their most recent major exchange happened in 2016, when Iran came to a deal with world powers to restrict its nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions.

    Four American captives, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, flew home from Iran at the time, and several Iranians in the U.S. won their freedom. That same day, then-President Barack Obama’s administration airlifted $400 million in cash to Tehran.

    The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners — including those with dual nationality — as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.

    Negotiations over a major prisoner swap faltered after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018. From the following year on, a series of attacks and ship seizures attributed to Iran have raised tensions.

    Meanwhile, Iran’s nuclear program now enriches closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. While the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to produce “several” bombs, months more would likely be needed to build a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put it on a missile — if Iran decided to pursue one.

    Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. intelligence community has kept its assessment that Iran is not pursuing an atomic bomb.

    Iran has taken steps in recent months to settle some issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the advances in its program have led to fears of a wider regional conflagration as Israel, itself a nuclear power, has said it would not allow Tehran to develop the bomb. Israel bombed both Iraq and Syria to stop their nuclear programs, giving the threat more weight. It also is suspected in carrying out a series of killings targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists.

    Iran also supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine in its war on Kyiv, which remains another major dispute between Tehran and Washington.

    MarketWatch contributed.

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