The Best One Yet - 🎙️ “Chicago LIVE Show” — Uno’s casino strategy. Amazon’s AI eavesdropper. Tour de France’s $150M surprise.

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

Live… from Chicago… it’s The Best One Yet!We performed our show in front of a live studio audience of Besties & Yetis at Chicago’s famous Vic Theater. Some extra razzle dazzle & sprinkle dinkle — but our usual daily Takeaways you know & love.#1: Michael Jordan’s mansion is now on Airbnb ($17K/night)… but can it boost the stock?#2: Mattel’s Uno card game is expanding into movies & theme parks… by borrowing a strategy from Duolingo.#3: Amazon just acquired an AI listening device to be your personal assistant… can it make the iPhone a dumb phone?#4: The Tour de France ends this weekend… and the $150M event is the wildest outlier in the business of sports.Want to see the LIVE show in action? Watch it on YouTube or check out the highlights on Instagram @tboypod.$ABNB $AMZN $MAT—————————————Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Pokemon 🐲Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us for tonight's very special taping of the best one yet live in Chicago. Please join me in welcoming your host, Nick and Jay! 15 years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, the best tips. 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. This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, July 24th. And today's live show from Chicago is the best one yet. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, stocks are up.

We got a trade deal with. Japan, but we've got three fantastic stories for today's show. What do we got on the pod, Jack? For our first story, Uno is taking over. Not pizzeria, Uno, the card game. How is Mattel turning Uno into a movie and a theme park and a casino? We'll explain. For our second story, Amazon just acquired an AI device that listens to your conversations so it can become your personal assistant. AI listening is going to turn your iPhone into your dumb phone. And our third and final story, the Tour to France ends this weekend. But this $150 million event is the most unique in all of sports. Because we discovered the winner of the Tour to France can actually be a loser.

But yet is, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, I love the mix, Jack. Fantastic mix. Have you ever wanted to live like a goat? Like on a farm? No, like the goat. Because the biggest deal in Chicago real estate history just happened. Michael Jordan's house sold. Look. Is that a good applause or a bad applause? I can't tell you. Look, Michael Jordan's mansion was on the market for 13 years and finally sold this past December. But the bigger news, Jack and I discovered, MJ's mansion is available to book on Airbnb.

That's Air Jordan B&B. Michael Jordan's mansion is now a rentable party estate up in lovely Highland Park just outside Chicago. According to the page, it sleeps 12 guests or six basketball players. Or 18 Mugsy Boggs by my calculations. Now, we tried to stay there, but it was booked,

so we're crashing at Scotty Pippin's condo instead. Scotty, by the way, the chocolates on the bed? Lovely touch. Lovely touch. We should warn you, though, if you're lucky enough to stay at Michael Jordan's, Airbnb, the checkout list? It's aggressive. Yeah, you're going to have to do a few chores before you check out.

Number one, leave the basketball court as you found it. Dennis Rodman's not there to pick up after you. Number two, fill the Gatorade fridge right back up. Just do it. Number three, reset the thermostat to 23 degrees. 23 degrees. Is that Celsius? Stupid question, Nick. Now, the price to stay at Champions Point, as it's called, $17,000 a night.

But the owner does donate that money to the Utah Jazz Fan Recovery Fund. Basically to charity. Yeah, yeah, it's charity. Make sure if you stay there not to figure out your shoes unless they're size 13s. Oh, by the way, if you're showing lack of hustle and it's caught on video camera, you will get a bad guest rating. Either way, send your complaints to Phil Jackson. He's listed as the property manager. Now, full disclosure, Yeties, Jack and I own Airbnb stock. We've been following the shares and honestly, they've been flat for the last couple of years. Or as Michael Jordan would call it,

pathetic. But here's the deal. Airbnb needs this. Like pizza needs deep dish. Like the Pope needs a white socks hat. Like Ferris Bueller needs a sick note. Chicago, you look fantastic. Let's hit our three stories. Let's hit them. To everyone listening at home, we're recording in the Vic theater before the record largest T-boy audience of all time. I was going to say we were going to ask you to scream to prove you are an AI bot. Not necessary.

I think we're covered here, Jack. So, we have a wonderful show prepared for you tonight. If you're listening at home, you're going to hear your daily T-boy pod that you love with three fantastic stories and three great takeaways. And if you're listening at home on Friday, we will drop the full special

interview with a surprise guest. We're doing on this today's show. But those here in Chicago at the Vic Theater are going to get some sprinkled dinkle and some razzle. Because Jack and I will also share parts of our 14-year entrepreneurial journey stories we've never shared before. And we are doing our first ever T-boy corporate earnings report with a Q&A from our analysts, which is you. We're doing an interview with the busiest company in the busiest industry, Slate Auto electric vehicle. But we're also going to need your help to get across the finish line. We'll be looking for some volunteers to whip up the takeaways.

By the way, anybody here have the best fact yet. Please raise your hands. Okay. We got a few. All right, our teammates may come and approach you shortly. And do not, do not forget Sheffield's after the show. But Jack, we did promise three fantastic stories. Do you think we should hit him?

I'm ready, man. Should we warn them about the kiss cam? Oh! Oh! Love the one you're with. Jack, let's hit our first story. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story.

50 years after launching, Uno is more popular than ever. Uno, the card game, is now expanding into casinos and movies. Because Mattel's only card game is borrowing the bar. All right, Jack, as I'm thinking about this, like the entire trade war basically could have been handled with Uno. Yeah. Yeah, Trump's like, draw two, reverse. Skip, draw two.

Uno! Japan's out! Japan's out! Now last year, Jack and I told you about the transformation of Las Vegas, from Sin City to family friendly. And the biggest sign yet of that transformation happened last weekend, when the Las Vegas Palms Casino added a table game that your 10-year-old can play. A 50-year-old card game, Uno.

Uno. It's invented by a family in Ohio that was selling Uno cards out of their local barber shop. In 1992, Uno was acquired by what is now the $6 billion toy giant known as Mattel. Mattel. And for years, for years, it was just a card game for kids. But now, they're playing Uno next to the blackjack table? Well, not exactly. We'll sprinkle on some context.

Mattel is building social clubs within hotel. and casinos with Uno games at the center. Or as their corporate press people call it, luxury immersive experiences with drinks, music, and draw four cards. You see, Uno actually debuted at the Palms Casino last weekend, and they're starting a nationwide tour starting next month. Watch out Chicago. There's a new Uno in town. True.

Uno Social Club arrives August 13th. Now, the way Jack and I see it, Uno probably should become a bona fide casino game right next to the poker and the craps because Uno is the only card game whose market is everybody. Everybody knows how to play this game. Yeah, they do. Although we don't know which card is nine, which card is six. We're all just pretending we know.

Yeah, that's true, it's true. You see, Mattel is applying the Barbie strategy to Uno. Even though these are just cards, that is some intergenerational IP right there. Last year, Uno launched a new version of the game known as No Mercer. which became the number two best-selling card game in all of the United States. Jack, what's the number one best-selling card game? The original version of Uno. Right.

And the Uno app? It's been downloaded 180 million times. Uno is the opposite of its definition, one, because Uno is everywhere. BMW partnered with Mattel to let kids in the backseat play Uno digitally on their screens. And I'm sorry, we had to triple fact-check this. But Jack, Uno is launching a movie. Here's the tagline. With the game Uno at the center of it all, it's an action-heist comedy set in the underground

hip-hop world of Atlanta. It sounds... That does deserve laughter. It sounds like a screenplay that was hallucinated by Chat GPT. But we're not done. Uno is getting a theme park ride. They are. They are. Mattel's Adventure Park theme parks in Arizona and Kansas both have what's known as Uno's

Wild Climb. No reversal here. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Mattel's Uno? In the attention economy, physical products need push notifications. Now, yeddies. You may remember, Jack and I interviewed the CEO of Duo Lingo in the spring. And he said he uses the same tricks for his translation app as TikTok. Why? Because we're all competing in the attention economy. And guess what? TikTok and Instagram are winning. I'm sorry, Jack. Uno is competing with TikTok? Yes, Uno competes for free time against TikTok. And that is why Mattel is pushing this card game into every single corner of pop culture.

And it's working. Mattel does not break out sales for Uno, but the category that includes Uno grew 12% last quarter, which was by far the fastest growing division at the company. You see, besties, TikTok sucks up our time spent with the endless scroll and insanely relevant videos. To compete in the attention economy, every product needs its version of a push notification. Even Uno. Great. For our second story, breaking news before this show, Amazon just acquired B, a Fitbit-like bracelet that never stops listening.

With AI that has all the context on your life, tech goes from reactive to proactive. Now, yet he's, there's a roster of startups acquired by Amazon. That is impressive. It is an all-star cast of brands. Zappos, Whole Foods, Ring Security Camera, One Medical, Wondery, MGM Studios, James Bond. But add one to the list who you've never heard of. It's called B, a small startup that's raised only $7 million. B produces a Fitbit-like wrist device that costs $50,000.

and has a built-in AI assistant. Or as B calls it, the wearable AI that understands you. But you could also call it the wearable AI that eavesdrops all the time on everyone around you. Yeah, because the key feature is end-of-day summaries and a searchable archive of every conversation you had that day from the barista to your boss. It listens and records everything and transcribes it. But here's a funny detail. You got to share this. Early reviews.

of the B AI device. It confuses real-life conversations you're actually having with TV shows you're watching or Instagram Reels you're watching. So like the device will ping you and say, I'm so sorry she broke up with you. And it's like, no, I'm just watching Love Island.

Yeah, yeah, that wasn't my girlfriend, it was Huda. I'm sorry, that. But now this startup B is part of Amazon, and Amazon is pursuing the same strategy as OpenAI. This is what we find fascinating. We told you this spring that Sam Altman and the iPhone designer Johnny Ive are working on a mysterious physical product. We've learned some details. It's not going to replace the iPhone, or at least it's not intended to.

It's a device that will simply listen to everything. Now, this new device, B, it is wearable, which Amazon may rebrand to Echo, and it listens, and it summarizes your whole day. And if you give it permission, it'll also access your email, your calendar, your context, your text messages. So Jack, why is this a huge deal? If it has all that context, it'll be a better assistant. An effective one. Like, remember Gary from Veep? The bag man. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The reason Gary is such a great assistant to Selena Minor is that he knows everything about her life. So this device could be the same after you give it access to everything. Basically, the more your AI agent knows about you, the more effective a real assistant it will be.

That's why both OpenAI and now Amazon are developing passive listening devices. This is the booming new industry. Honestly, the way Jack and I see it, in 2030, when we all have these listening devices in our pockets, your iPhone is going to look like a dumb phone. Siri will sound like sorry. So Jack and Alexa, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon? With this device, tech could go from reactive to proactive. Yeties, until today, we're used to tech just executing.

Like, you tell it what to do and it does it. That is reacting. But if consumer tech becomes all-knowing, then it can become proactive. And that would be a powerful pivot. Like, it'll think, oh, you got invited to a party last week. Are you going? It's sounding exciting. But, like, you got to cancel that meeting with Carol from accounting first.

There's a conflict. It knows all of that because it was listening. Or it might say, I noticed you have the eye. seat for an upcoming flight. Yeah. I know you prefer the window seat. One just became available, so I snagged it. Yetis. Those are examples of proactive suggestions only possible if AI has context on your life. Now look, inviting AI to know everything about you and listen to everything that you do. Yeah, kind of scary. Borderline, really scary. But if we get past those privacy concerns, it would also be powerful.

That's why Jack and I think the next phase of tech is going to be pivoting from reactive to proactive. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the Tour de France. The world's most grueling physical competition ends this Sunday. But the business of the Tour de France

is actually bigger, stranger, and more contradictory than any of us ever. realized. Now yet is anyone here bike to work? Raise your hand if that's the case. Okay. Shout it out. How many calories you think you burn on that bike to work? A lot.

Numbers. Any numbers? 120? Okay. 50? 300. Okay. Well, so funny we just heard 120. Because a cyclist on the Tour de France burns 120,000. One hundred twenty thousand calories. Or to sprinkle on more context

That's 400 quescence burned over the course of the Tour de France. Now, Thursday, the riders do their biggest climbing day of the whole tour. 17,000 feet in one day. Nick, that is Vermont's tallest mountain four times. It is a mountain of an exercise and a mountain of a business. Because the Tour de France is estimated to reach 1 billion viewers on TV and 10 million humans in person. Based on that viewership, the Tour de France is the third biggest sporting event on Earth.

Bigger than the Super Bowl, it only trails the World Cup and the Olympics. We're talking a 2,000-mile race. We are talking 21 days. That is 76 marathons. But few know that the Tour de France actually began as a marketing stunt in France to sell newspapers. Yeah, this journalist had an idea that if you held a race and got attention, then people could only get updates if they bought your newspaper. Now, the biker who's leading the Tour de France where is a yellow penny, which helps the fans and the viewers

identify who's leading. And why a yellow penny? Because the newspaper that sponsored the race printed on yellow newsprint. So it was like a subtle ad. Well, a century later, this Tour de France competition is still run by a private family. And it's the opposite of any other sports business we've ever covered.

It is a playing field of paradox. Let's talk. Numbers here, Jack. $150 million in revenue for the tour. And yet the Tour de France doesn't charge for tickets. It's free to attend. And despite generating $150 million, riders don't get paid by the Tour de France.

Another paradox. Only the winner gets paid by the race organizer. And it's just $500,000. They have to split it with their teams. So the racers and their teams depend on sponsorships to get paid. Now, Last year's winner, is that what you're thinking? Last year's winner this year is riding with a $250,000 watch sponsorship.

Now, yeah, Chabby. Back to that $150 million in cycling revenue. Well, if they don't have ticket sales, how are they making that money? They're making that money because the Tour de France is a 21-day rolling billboard. Half the revenues is TV deals to broadcast on TV across the world because the whole world bikes. 30% of the revenue are sponsorships like that very fancy watch. The last 20% is wild. French villages pay the Tour de France to host one of the stages.

Yeah, cute little towns throughout France will pay the tour to go through them so that they get a little boost in economic revenue. So the Tour de France adjust their route each year depending on what village was the highest bidder. And if you're not paying enough, then it is not possible. The only constant each year is, that the race finishes in Paris on the Champs-A-Lizze. That was pretty good.

That was pretty good. It's a profit puppy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies, cycling the Tour de France? You can end up winning even if you lose. Yeties. The final winner of this race, it's whoever has the lowest overall time.

Which means you can win overall without being first in any single of the 21 stages. And Jack and I were talking about it, And we're like, you know what, that's a nice metaphor for life, business, and your career. Success comes from showing up consistently, performing your best, and outlasting everyone else. It doesn't necessarily come from finishing first the first time. So maybe you've never been the number one salesperson in your division or identified as the top performer, but you can still eventually become CEO someday.

Jack, it's kind of like how Roger Federer only won 54% of his points. And yet he's the greatest tennis. player of all time. Great example of this. 1990, the Tour de France winner. His name is Greg Lamont. An American. He won the event

without winning a single stage within the event. He won the event without winning any individual stage. The Tour de France proves that you could win even by losing. I'm pretty sure we're at the part of the show, Jack,

where we got to whip up the takeaways on the takeaways, right? Dude, I'm exhausted. I know, no. We're going to tap out. Anyone want to replace us? Right here. Come on out. And anyone else want to replace us? Yeah, you came from pretty par, right?

You came from Dallas, right? Come on up. Hi, I'm Megan. I live in Chicago. Name in hometown? Yes. I'm Caleb from Dallas. Nice. So since it is Thursday, the new Friday,

by the way, Yetis, we speak in podcast standard time. This is tomorrow's show, hence the Thursday. Since it is Thursday, the new Friday, what do you say? What were the takeaways from today's show? Thank you, Nick. For our first story, the 50-year-old card game, Uno, is more popular than ever. It's even entering casinos. How has Mattel achieved this?

In the attention economy, it's created physical push-notiff. Our second story was Amazon. It acquired a Fitbit-like listening device to become your... AI assistant. With AI, tech will go from reactive to proactive. Finally, the Tour de France ends this Sunday. It's a $150 million per year business model is unlike any in sports. And this race proves that you can win in the long run without ever coming in first place. That is not easy. Not easy. But we also have to have the best fact yet.

And I think we have a submission. Amanda? Whittam? Get on up here. We have poured through best facts yet from everyone. A round of applause for Amanda's. Okay, okay, okay. Amanda, Whittam, who's not just from Boston,

she's from just outside Boston, literally. Amanda, we've got the fact right here. Can you please share with the Yetis? I would be honored to. Chicago! with a deep dish at Home to Bears, but there's a little bit of history that everyone should know. And it's about chewing gum. That's right.

Before there was the cubs, there was Wrigley's Spearmid chewing gum. And a little known fact is that actually William Wrigley started with just pocket change, just $32. And get this, in 1915, he actually disrupted the space and opened up the, you guys remember this old, Yellow Page phone books. He whipped that bad boy open and sent every single address for sticks of gum. Now that's a PR package if I ever heard one. Every single person in the phone book? Every single one. The whole phone book. The whole phone book. Listen, Chicago, it's logistics. He knew what he was doing. That is a free sample that puts Costco to shame. I'm telling you. And the namesake himself, Wrigley Field. How about that? Wow.

Amanda. A round a pause for Amanda. The best fact yet. You nailed it. Give it up for Amanda from just outside Boston. But it feels like there's some birthdays in the crowd tonight. Maybe some bar mitzvahs, maybe some anniversaries. Does anyone have a shout out for the show? We would love to get it on tomorrow's episode.

She got a job offer. She got a job offer. Dan and Emily are pregnant. Whoa! Hey! Dan, I hope you do. Congrats! She just accepted a new job at Salesforce. Hell yeah, she did. Congratulations. Today is my first-sixth birthday. We got a one-sixth birthday here. And a happy 39th birthday to David.

David, looking fantastic. Jack, I got one up here. It's his birthday today. And who's he? Sebastian. Sebastian, happy birthday. Rock and Crystal from Chicago, we have been the best one yet. Wow, a boy? Incredible. Congratulations.

Jack, I got one? My aunt and uncle are having a baby. Congratulations. Huge. Amazing. I'd like to shout out myself, Peter, and Caleb, we're from Dallas. We both forgot our wallets on the flight here. and our fiancés delivered our passport and ID at five in the morning to the airport.

So Carly, Laurel, y'all are the best, and we're so glad we're able to come because y'all. It did it happen. Unreal. This is all going to be on the pod tomorrow. I'm Charity Terrio from Fort Collins, Colorado. Shout out to Eric and Cicely, our employees, so they're actually managers for us, who just got engaged today. They're visiting us in Fort Collins, and we dished them to come here to come to the show. But congratulations, nonetheless. It's our 10-year dating anniversary on Saturday. We wake up every morning and listen to Teaboy, and we have for the last five years,

and it has been the intersection of life and business for the both of us. So we appreciate you guys for that. Absolutely. Love very much. Thank you so much. All right, Jack, I got one right here. Hi, my name is Kalia. I'm originally from Portage, or Kalamazoo, Michigan. I just wanted to give a shout out to my boyfriend, Gio, and his best friend, Stephen.

They're opening up Trino in Fulton Market in a couple weeks, and I'm so excited for them. And hey, you guys, this is Jay and Kate from Deerfield, Illinois, and we are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. We're the oldies of the group. Hi, I'm Sophia, and my sister Emma just started a new job at a group. Great and barrel. Nice. What's that discount code again?

Nicholas, I got one more. Hi, my name's Charlie. I'm from Connecticut. I live here in Chicago now. I'm giving a shout out to Claire out in San Francisco for her two ninth birthday today. Someone very special to me.

She's more of a bestie. I'm more of a Yeti. But I think we can get past her differences. Fractional birthdays. Always round up. Nick, one more in the front. Last one, here we go. I got you.

I'm Rashab from Chicago. I just wanted to give a shout to my friend Grace. Full disclosure, I've never watched this podcast before today. She said that we have tickets, and I was like, all right, and now I'm a fan. There we go. Next up, you just got to choose if you're a Yeti or a Bestie, but Grace will explain it to you on the ride home. This has been a phenomenal show. You are a terrific audience.

Chicago, you look fantastic. Thank you all for listening to the show. Thank you to the Vic and the staff for putting this place together. Thank you to our team who's been running around for weeks preparing from UTA to the T-Boy team to everyone at Wondery. It's amazing to get to work with these people. They make it happen. There are literally dozens of people behind the scenes right now. Thank you to Chris for taking a risk and launching that truck.

and coming to tell us about it. Now, when the show ends, we're gonna stick around until they kick us out, free hugs. All you can hug buffet. I mean, now you gotta. God. Oh, Karens. Who says retail's dead?

We are so lucky that we get to do this. This is just, we were pinching ourselves downstairs about how cool this is and it's because of you guys. So thank you so much for being a part of the show. Now, we love celebrating on this show. So to anybody else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. We got to take a picture with you guys. Good night, everybody.

Thank you all so much. Good night, thank you.