The Best One Yet - 📺 “$4.7B for NFL fans” — NFL Ticket’s lawsuit loss. Grindr’s AI wingman. The Return of the Billboard.

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

The NFL just lost an antitrust lawsuit over how you watch the NFL… so fans are getting paid.Every dating app stock is down except for Grindr… because Grindr’s got an AI wingman.And Billboards are back, baby… we’ll tell you how in an age of digital ads, Billboards are big.Plus, if you’re looking for a man in finance, blue eyes, trust fund, 6’5”, we’ve found them… And there are only 215 of them in the entire country.$GRND $MTCH $BMBLSubscribe to our Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Watch us on YouTube Submit Facts & Shoutouts Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (Nick) & LinkedIn (Jack)About Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.00:00 - intro01:18 - Song of the Summer04:02 - Grindr’s AI wingman08:25 - NFL Ticket’s lawsuit loss12:59 - The Return of the Billboard18:23 - Takeaways19:01 - OTHER NEWS20:33 - Best Fact Yet22:21 - Shout outs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, July 1st. And today's pod. Today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. June is for boom, baby. What do we got, Jack? The stock market rose 3% last month, which is a very strong monthly growth rate. Not too shabby yet. His stocks are now at all-time highs to end the month of June. We like what we're seeing.

To all the cancers and all the Gemini's out there, thank you for that Wall Street rally. We appreciate you going into retrograde, but three stories for today's show, Jack, what a show, what's on the pod. For our first story, every dating app stock is down right now, except for one of them, and that one is Grindr. Grindr, Wall Street has already fallen in love with Grindr's AI wingman. For our second story, the NFL was just ordered by a jury to pay fans $4.7 billion. Flag on the play, and we'll tell you all about the penalty. And our third and final story is Billboard. Billboards.

The giant sides on the sign of the highway, they're back, baby. In an age of digital ads, billboards are now big, and Jack and I will tell you exactly how to use them. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories for a holiday week, Jack. Love the mix today. Nick, the song in the summer. What is it?

Oh, it's got to be a man in finance. I think that's what it is. You know the beat. We're playing the clap. Let's drop it. I'm looking for a man in finance. Trust fun. Six, five.

So I'm looking for a man. Yet he's Megan Boney dropped those words on TikTok and got viewed 52 million times. But there's one question that Nick and I have been wondering ever since we saw it the first time. And what is that, Jack? How many of these men are there actually? Well, funny thing, Jack and I just found the number. We just calculated how many guys are in finance have Blue Eyes, own trust funds, and are 6'5. Jack and I jumped into the U.S. Census T-boy style.

And went full Scooby-Doo on this one. Get this besties. What do we got you? According to the Labor Department, 5% of U.S. men work in finance. And according to the Academy of Ophthalmology, 27% of Americans have blue eyes. And according to the Wall Street Journal, 2% of America has a trust fund. And according to the National Center of Health, only 0.15% of America is 6'5. So, by the laws of math, 5% times 27% times 2% times 0.15% of 166 million American men is 672.

That's it. There are only 672 men in finance with Blue Eyes and a trust fund in our 65. But we're not done yet, are we, Jack? Because there's one variable left. According to the U.S. Census, 68% of men are already married. Therefore, of the 672 men in finance with Blue Eyes trust funds in 65, only 215 of them are actually single. Only 215 of them are even available right now. Where are they? Who are you?

So, if you're looking for that man, good luck. Yeah, we'd say you should start your search on Nantucketton. So, Yetis, this long weekend, if you're looking for a man in finance with Blue Eyes Trust Fund in 6'5, there are only 215 of them out there. And again, about half of them are on Nantucketucket right now. Yeties happy Fourth of July week, Jack. Let's hit our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm.

It's the best one yet. But the best is an norm. That's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more.

So just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, there's only one dating app surging right now, and that dating app is Grindr. Grindr. The gay and bisexual dating app is the perfect case study on how we're all going to use AI. And how's that, Jack? We'll have an artificial wingman.

You're going to have a wingman. But yeah, it is, let's be real for a second. It's just us. Nick and Jack, we want to chat with you. 2024, it was the end of a relationship. You probably broke up with your dating app this year. Yeah, it's gotten so rough out there. You've been finding love on LinkedIn.

We hear you. It's the rise of the alt dating apps. People are finding love in the DMs of LinkedIn, Strava, even Yelp. And that's why Jack and I said this a few months ago. Dating apps, they need a long-term relationship with a new. business model. The stock of Match and Bumble, they are both at all time lows. Financially, they're given the ick. It's not pretty. But this is why Jack and I wanted to cover this story. There is one dating app that is doing the opposite of every other dating app. Grindr. Grindr.

Grindr. They drop the E. It's just D.R. At the end there. Grindr, the hookup dating app for gay, buy, trans, and queer people. Grindr stock is up 42% this year because they just raised their revenue projections. Get this. Grindr. expects to grow their revenue by at least 20% every single year through 2027. What? A Grindr, it's gone Queer Eye for the stock buy. Yes, it has. How is Grindr so bullish?

That's the question Nick and I were asking at the beginning of this story. So we jumped in T-Boy style, and this is what we discovered. Grindr has found a use case for AI that's actually pretty practical. They think AI can be your wingman within their dating app. They're going full Tom Cruise on this. thing yet he's the top challenge in the dating app experience isn't the swiping it's the flirting so grinder is launching an AI wingman this year to support you in your DMing in the app not in the discovery of who to date but really like how you engage with who to date here's how you're going to use it

let's say you need a good conversation starting message grinder's wingman is going to drop a fun kickoff line okay let's say you need a witty response to his response Ah, Grinders Wingman is going to drop a non-offensive lawyer joke to really get the conversation going, Jack. Now, let's say things are going well in the DMs, and you need an impressive first date location to propose. Then Grinders Wingman is going to suggest a trendy spot in the West Village where you can get a reservation for two this Friday to get that relationship IRL. Grinders AI Wingman will review that cute guy's profile. They'll review the interests and the picks of that cute guy and offer thoughtful message advice throughout the whole interaction. And now Jack and I should point out, Grinders AI Wingman hasn't launched yet.

They're testing it through the end of this year. Clearly, Wall Street's already into it. Oh, they're so into it. In fact, it's not just Wall Street and it's not just Grindr. Tinder and Bumble are both working on their own wingman and wing women too. Artificial wingman, natural chemistry. They're real and they're fantastic. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in dating apps?

Actually, for all of us. Today, AI is talking to humans. In a year, AI will be talking to AI. Yet he's the future of AI. Isn't humans engaging with AI. It's AI engaging with each other. First, Nick and I want to point out an issue we see with this grinder AI wingman. It is good.

This is true. It could result in just a bunch of fake conversations. All, here's what we're thinking. If both sides are using their AI wingman, when they finally meet the person, it's kind of going to be disappointing, right, Jack? We're going to be like, oh, wow. Oh, yeah. This dinner conversation was super.

lame. Are neither of us witty? Where are the fun lawyer jokes he used to DM me? I thought those were great. Oh, it was all just the AI we were both using. But besties, in other instances, AI talking to other AI will actually be hugely efficient. Airlines are already using AI to handle their customer support phone calls. So wouldn't it be nice if your AI assistant could talk to Delta instead of you? Your AI and Delta's AI could work out the problem together. Together. So your personal AI will be having a conversation with United's AI. AI to AI, boom, problem solved, and no human being was involved. That's a pretty near future that we expect, and we think it'll scale across industries.

Because the future of AI is AI to AI. For our second story, the NFL was just told by a federal jury that their profit puppy NFL ticket is illegal. The jury ruled that Bills fan should be able to pay for just the bills and not have to pay for all 32 teams. I'm sorry, Jack, we've got an interruption. Something's happening. I don't know what's happening. Oh, challenge flag.

Flag on the field. What is going on, Jack? This month, the NFL commissioner has been defending the league in federal court out in California. And Jack, what's the charge? I mean, penalty. I mean charge? An antitrust violation. The NFL has been acting like a monopoly with NFL ticket.

The 32 NFL teams are effectively 32 companies, and apparently they've been colluding on price. And that, my friend, is illegal. 15-yard penalty, repeat first down. Yeah, it is. If you grew up in America, chances are your TV was tuned in to CBS, Fox, or NBC every Sunday. Because the local NFL team is on one of those three channels every single Sunday. But if you're a fan of another team, not the local team, then you can only watch your team if you buy NFL ticket. And that's the issue in this football court case. Instead of letting a chiefs, fan pay for and watch just Chiefs games. The NFL requires that Chiefs fan to buy NFL ticket, which is paying for all 32 teams,

31 of which you're not going to watch because you're a Chiefs fan. And that NFL ticket, it's pretty expensive, isn't it, Jack? It's $350 a year. You want to watch just one team. Yeah, but the only choice you have is to pay for all 32. Roger Goodell, what's happening here? It feels like you're spanking us. Sorry, what did you just say about Roger Goodell?

I said Roger Goodell. It feels like you're trying to spank us. Spike us? I said spank, but I might have meant spike. Yet is, this whole story really begins back in 2015, doesn't it, check? That's the year that a bar in San Francisco called the Mucky Duck Bar sued the National Football League for this NFL ticket issue. Now, here's the interesting thing. That one bar in San Francisco wanted a one-team football watching package. Because the bar was a Buffalo Bills fans bar. So all they cared about was serving the Bills Mafia with Bills games on the TV.

They were in San Francisco, but they were Buffalo Bills fans. They wanted to watch their hometown team. The only option they had was a really expensive NFL ticket package for all 32 teams. So, this lawsuit became a class action lawsuit, with millions of bars, restaurants, and subscribers joining the lawsuit. Because NFL is so popular, so many customers wish they could have just paid for their one team. And in a stunning decision last week, the jury ruled not only is the NFL guilty, it must pay fans for the overpayment. The jury ordered that the NFL pay out $4.7 billion in damages, which is 12 years' worth of overpayments for NFL ticket. So if you're one of those bars, restaurants, or subscribers, like Jack and me to NFL Sunday ticket, you could be getting a nice little paycheck.

Naturally, the league is going to appeal the call on the field, and this actually could end up at the Supreme Court. But if this call is upheld by the referees, every NFL ticket watching fan is going to get that nice little. check. Nick and I, when we were roommates from 2011 to 2014, we had the NFL ticket. We would get a check in the mail. And I hope the third Kelsey brother delivers it to us, Jack. Actually, I think the check goes to our buddy, Timmy, who we're going to have to hunt down for our share. And I also hope there's a third Kelsey brother. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the NFL? There's no eye in team, but the eyes are winning right now. Yeah, it is, it seems like big money billionaire owners control American sports. But in

In recent years, the courts have ruled in favor of the players and the fans, not the big money owners. In college, the Supreme Court ruled that college players can get paid, and now they get paid. Freshman student athletes won, the NCAA and the big universities lost. In the NFL, the court just ruled that 32 companies can't collude, so neither can 32 teams. Football fans won and the NFL owners lost. In fact, the way Jack and I see it, in the economy in general, labor unions show the power of individuals against big owners. And we're seeing it in sports too. The court rulings are doing the same thing, having individuals beat the big sports owners. Yeah, it is, there's no eye in team, but right now,

the eyes are winning. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, America is experiencing a billboard bump. Billboard ad revenue just hit a record high in 2023. So we're going to ask the question we know you're probably wondering. We're all wandering it. Is paying for a random highway billboard really worth it? What's the ROI on the double-b billboard? But Jack, can we kick off this story with this fantastic hero stat we discovered? The city of Salpalo Brazil has 21 million people. It's the fourth biggest city in the world, but it has zero. Count them zero billboards. Zero billboards because billboards are illegal. In fact, billboards are actually banned in four different U.S. states. Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, and Vermont.

Yetis, if you're driving from Burlington to Bangor, you're not seeing a 20-foot billboard for Fred's car dealership off the side of the road. Except for that little wedge of New Hampshire, you have to drive there where there's definitely firework billboards everywhere. Live free or die, baby. Yeti's billboards, they actually could be in trouble in the other 46 states, too. Like, Jack, the Sitco one outside of Fenway? I don't know. How long is that going to last? First of all, it's a safety issue.

These people are driving. Are we really trying to distract them with some witty catchphrase? Yeah, like they eat more chicken, the Chick-fil-A one. It gets me every time I take my eyes off the road. But the bigger issue is financial. In a trackable world of digital ads, what marketer wants to pay for a physical sign? That is why the largest ad companies aren't billboard companies.

They're meta and Google and Amazon tech companies. Billboard can't target a 20-year-old female who likes to wear jeans like Facebook cab. You can't swipe or double-click on a billboard, can you jack? So are you going to drop $50,000 on a 50-foot billboard that people drive past at 50 miles an hour? Or are you going to spend $50,000? on an Instagram ad were only the exact people you're targeting will see it. Oh, and then it went viral, not too shabby. I'd probably go with the Instagram ad. But this is what fascinated Jack and me about this story. Despite our digital addiction, Billboard ads are experiencing a renaissance.

Billboards are the fastest growing type of out-of-home advertising. In other words, ads that happen outside the house on physical things. Out-of-home ads, their revenue dipped during the pandemic because you were stuck at home, so like literally no one even saw the billboards out there. But they've all recovered, and they're back to an all-time high as of last year. But here's the wildest part. Ironically, some of the biggest billboard demand is in the heart of the tech industry. Silicon Valley loves this old school form of advertising. Jack, can we head out over to Highway 101 in lovely San Francisco? What do we got, man? Yeties, for about two years, Nick and I would leave our apartments at 6.20 a.m. in order to

beat the rush hour traffic on Highway 101, going from San Francisco down to Palo Alto. Highway 101, it is the heart of Silicon Valley. And every tech company has a headquarter near 101, and they all have billboards on 101. If you drive 101 between San Francisco and San Jose, you'll see ads for Brex, for Google, for meta, for every tech company in the valley. But here's the interesting thing. The surprise and subtle reason for those ads, what is it, Jack? Recruiting. Recruiting. Billboards are not there to reach customer. they're there to reach job applicants. Get this, that 50-foot Cisco software billboard off exit 18

on 101 is actually a signal of being legit. It's there to attract talent. Because if you can spend on a billboard, that means you have cash in the bank, you have confidence, and you're a growing company. In fact, those Silicon Valley software billboards, they have inside jokes that are like only meant for engineers to get. Mixed driven by a Vanta compliance software billboard, a bunch of times? So many times. There's some coding joke that's still, we have no idea. Every time I see that coding joke, I'm like, I should be laughing, but I don't know how to code. So I am not laughing. I don't even get it. I have no idea what's going on. So if you slept in and left for work at 720, when you're stuck in traffic on 101, you may chuckle at that billboard and then submit a resume. Because you've

been staring at it for 20 minutes while you're in traffic. But recruiting isn't the only reason that billboards are seeing more demand in this economy. No, billboards actually have a different an ROI, and it's in our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies in the marketing industry? Marketing is a courtship, and billboards can be a great first move. So yet, he's Jack and I get this newsletter. It's called Lenny's newsletter, and they had an interesting case study about a software startup called Stitch.

In San Francisco, Stitch bought 80 ads on buses, 130 ads at train stations, and eight big billboards. And Jack, what was the results for those Billboard and outs? They enjoyed a 25% jump in Google searches and a 70% increase in branded search clicks. In fact, there's even the 10% rise in sales that specifically cited those billboards as the reason for buying the product. This case study highlights how the real value of billboards aren't in selling, they're in introducing. The value of billboards ads is to introduce you to the brand, not convert you to buy from the brand.

A billboard ad on the highway is only intended to make the consumer aware of you. But the one-click ad on YouTube? that's what's intended to seal the deal with a sale at the end of the day. Because marketing is a courtship, and each medium of an ad represents a different step in the relationship. Billboards, they surprisingly can be a great first move. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Grindr is launching an AI wingman to help daters keep their DM spicy. You think it's about humans talking to AI, but in one year, AI will be talking to AI.

For our second story, the NFL was just ordered by a jury to, NFL ticket customers, $4.7 billion in overpayments. There's no eye and team, but the eyes, they're doing a lot of winning lately, Jack. And our third and final story, in this digital economy, billboards are still doing better than ever. Because marketing is a courtship, and billboards can be a great first move. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, home prices may finally be peaking according to the data from Redfin, not too shabby. For the first time since the pandemic hit in early 2020, homes are selling for less than asking price on average in this country. All right, this feels like a funnily small

number to celebrate, but you want to share the number with the besties, Jack? The typical house in the four weeks ending June 23rd sold for 0.3% below asking price. Zero point three percent. Tiny good news if you're trying to buy a home. And second, Amazon is reportedly launching a Timu-like direct from China e-commerce platform. Because T-Mu is undercutting Amazon on price. Something we thought was impossible to do. So Amazon will start shipping directly from Chinese factories to your home. The T-Mu-Way takes longer to ship,

9 to 11 days actually. But Amazon's doing it anyway. And you'll start to see that new section on Amazon.com. And finally, the legendary Arizona iced tea has famously been the same price for 32 years, 99 cents for that big, Big old can. Jack and I called a sacred cow product. That price is sacred. 99 cents, it hasn't changed in 32 years. And the CEO just told NBC, he is so committed to the price, he pledged to never change it.

He actually did a great quote. He said he owns the business. He is full control, doesn't have debt, and 99 cents is his way of given back. So this company is kind of like UNICEF. It is. It's the UNICEF of Arnold Palmer's. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Lorenzo Schwerder. It's Vader in Hamburg, Germany, and this is actually a correction for the pod. Last month, we misstated the lyrics from the German national anthem. Now, he should sprinkle on context here. My co-host, Jack, was a German major and studied abroad in Berlin. I visited him there so I can prove it.

Yeah, in other words, Nick's like, I should sprinkle on some context. This is Jack's fault. Yeah, this was kind of on Jack to double check. In the meantime, Jack also worked in Germany, I should point out, too. So we knew that the German national anthem was Dostliader Deutsche, or the song of the Germans. But we forgot that they eliminated the first two stanzas of that song after World War II. So we incorrectly stated the more nationalistic opening line was Germany above all. But it's not that anymore.

Today, Germans don't say that line. Germans have actually been quite introspective in confronting their past, including by changing the lyrics of their national anthem. So Jack got basically straight A's in German. I just want to point that out. But sometimes you get the B. You know, German was actually my toughest grades, because it basically was just a lot. literature class in another language, and I wasn't particularly good at literature. But that's a story for another pod.

Actually, that was the whole story. Yet is, you look fantastic today. And remember, if you happen to be looking for a man in finance, blue eyes, trust fund, 6'5, there are only 215 of them out there by our count. So grab a ticket on the ferry, ASAP. And to those 215-15 blue-eyed trust fund 6'5 financiers, you know who you are. You're looking at yourself in the mirror right now, aren't you? Yeah, you know you are.

You got to spend double on the wedding gift. We're talking to you, cousin Greg. Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a congratulations to Julian Verdié in Lisbon, Portugal. It's got a new baby, Ava, and it's getting a whole lot of family love. And to Rachel Wilson in Clarksville, Tennessee. Your partner says, happy nine-year anniversary. And congratulations to Joel Halstuck from Bogota, Colombia,

who's starting a master's at Baruch College in New York. City. And congratulations to Austin Villabos in Baltimore, Maryland, who just got promoted to principal at his firm. Oh, and Diego Torres in Rome, Georgia also just got a new job, not too shabby. Happy birthday to Jonathan Magana in Northridge, California. And Eduardo Montez in Los Angeles, California just completed that MBA at UCLA Anderson and is on the way to Asia. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack Islandstock of Bumble and Amazon. Wait, how is Tom Cruise a wingman?

I was thinking... Oh, Top Gun? Is that what you're thinking?