The Best One Yet - 🏀 “FBI, NBA, & The Mafia” — Basketball’s insider trading. Netflix’s Stranger Things strategy. Ty Haney of OV. +Water Sommeliers

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

Basketball. Mafia Bosses. The FBI… 30+ people were arrested for NBA insider trading and illegal poker.Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 5 is taking over the holidays… and movie theaters.Ty Haney, Founder of Outdoor Voices, joins the pod… and shares her “4 Step Secret to Building Community.”Plus, the cool new restaurant trend is luxury bottled water menus… and “Water Sommeliers.”Check out the full interview with Ty Haney on our Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod $NFLX $NKE $DKNGNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday the real Friday, October 24th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Wow, Jack. I waited all week.

Is it your quarter birthday? Like two days ago. It was my three-quarter birthday. Two days ago, my Q4 birthday, man. So you want a happy belated three-quarters birthday? I just think it's interesting. You didn't remember it after we brought it up last month. Fractional presents send him my way, Jack.

Three quarters of a gift is good. But three stories for today's pod, Jack, what do we got on the team boy? For our first story, the NBA, the FBI, and the mafia. That mafia. Yesterday, more than 30 people were indicted for illegal sports gambling and rigged poker games. Besties, this wild story is now the insider trading moment of sports. For our second story, Netflix's Stranger Things just announced the release date for the final season. The final episode is actually in movie theaters.

And this reveals Netflix's new strategy. Jack and I call it eventizing. And our third and final story is Ty Haney. The athleisure icon who founded Outdoor Voices joined us for an interview. Now, Besties, that interview will publish on this podcast tomorrow. But in the meantime, Jack and I grabbed a preview of it for today's pod. Because Ty shares her four-step secret to building community. Oh, it is good, and we're going to share with you later today.

But yet is, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Whoa, what a mix of stories for the cute. for birthday, Jack. Love the mix. Maybe I'll order you a call-ahead cocktail to celebrate your three-quarters birthday. That would be nice, Jack. Everybody should go out and celebrate the wins this week. And if you do, Yetis, you may order some pinos,

some chardonnay, maybe even a nice bottle of bubbly. But before you ask for the wine expert Somalia, you may have to clarify, because they may send over the water. Somelier. Because the cool new thing at restaurants is serving water that is, so fancy. This water needs guidance from an expert, true story. Excuse me, waiter, is that Bobby Boucher

serving somebody water over at table nine? Oh, Yeti's, you're going to need an H2 Oracle over at Table 12. Yeti's 10 restaurants in America have special menus just for the water, like a dinner menu, a dessert menu, and a water menu. We repeat 10 dining spots where water may cost more than the wine. You're getting the salad? You're going to want to start with a bottle of Saratoga. The truffled pasta? It pairs well with the avion. What water can hold up with my steak, cook medium rare? Well, sir, we do offer a $15 bottle of water from Armenia. Here in America, the biggest water menu exists at Gwen Restaurant in Los Angeles.

That's right. Gwen offers a six-course food tasting menu paired with different bottles of water. And the wildest part, that restaurant makes $100,000 a year just in water sales. Sit down, stand up, and drown on that number again. Jack, what is the world? you just say? A hundred grand. Selling the thing the Earth offers us for free, most abundantly of all. Absolutely a profit, puffy. Pro tip, order the water from a glacier, Yeti's.

Yeah, it stays cold forever. Bobby Bouchet told us that. But besties, Jack and I saved the best water stat for last, didn't we, man? Guess what water offers the most minerals? What is it, Jack? Tap water from Los Angeles. And it's free. Yiddies, enjoy the water this weekend.

And Jack, what's in our three stories? 15 years before this song. Two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, 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, the NBA. the FBI, the freaking Italian mafia. Besties, the sports industry just had its biggest gambling drama in decades. 30 plus people were arrested yesterday for insider trading in basketball and an underground

rigged poker game. Yeah, with crazy X-ray machines. But Besties, earlier this week, Jack and I did two stories that kind of unintentionally related to this huge story, right, Jack? First, we did a story on the NBA's love affair with wine, and then we did a story on sports betting. Okay, but now check, this story that we're about to tell our audience, it's like a freaky combination of both, right, man? And it starts with an FBI press conference yesterday in Brooklyn. Yeti's director, Cash Patel of the FBI,

announced that more than 30 people have been arrested, from NBA players all the way to the legit mafia. Members of the Gambino and Genevizi families, classic Italian mafia families were under arrest yesterday. Okay, and also the suspects include Chauncey Billups, the NBA Hall of Famer and current coach of the Portland Trailblazers. Plus another former NBA player and a current one too. They're all under arrest. I'm sorry, Jack, the Los Angeles Lakers and La Cosa Nostra. If this doesn't get a Hulu downfall movie, then we don't know what does. Now, there were two separate charges pressed by the FBI yesterday. The first was insider trail.

The second was rigged poker games, but basketball touched both of them. So, Jack, let's jump in T-Boy style. What was the first of these accusations exactly? That NBA players were making insider trades with secret information, like the Miami Heights Terry Rozier. Allegedly, Rozier would tell a buddy before the game that he would leave that game early with an injury, and then that buddy should bet the under on his points total for the game.

The FBI cited five specific cases of players leaking. seeking private locker room information about the team so that their buddies outside could make unfair sports bets about the games. And the victim here, Jack, who is it? According to the FBI, it's the integrity of American sports and legitimate sports books. Wink, wink, I'm going out with an ankle pull in the third quarter. Exactly. Players were basically flopping on purpose, ruining the integrity of the game, making their

buddies money. Which leads to the wild second accusation in this insider basketball trading craziness. that Chauncey Billups, a Hall of Famer and a current coach in the NBA, lured rich poker players to an underground poker game run by the mafia. And not only was the mob running the poker games, they were rigged poker games too. The indictment cited illegal poker technology, liked rigged shuffling machines, and x-ray glasses and contact lenses that can see through the back of the card to see that that's a jack of clubs under there.

The kind of stuff that Inspector Gadget invented back, in the day. It sounds like the plot of Godfather 4. It does, Jack. Take the fish, leave the canolies, and put $100 on the Celtics, because I just got a text from the locker room. Yeah, as long as the Corleone family gets a suite in the Madison Square Garden. Now, we should point out, illegal and rigged poker games happening in smoky-filled basement rooms, those have been happening for a long time. Yeah, I can think of the plots of like, I don't know, like five movies that have that as well, Jack. I mean, Matt Damon and Vince Vaughner in like three of them. But illegal sports betting where players leak their injury info or flop to win the bets. That's a recent thing.

And it's definitely coming with the rise of legalized sports gambling. Gaba goal. So Jackal, what's the takeaway for all our buddies following this wild basketball sports betting story? With sports betting, come some insider trading and some addiction. It's a side effect. Yeties, in 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the nationwide ban on sports gambling. Ever since then, we've awkwardly slid back to legalized gambling, with citizens wanting to bet for fun, businesses wanting betting profits, and politicians wanting tax revenue.

Besties, it's almost like we forgot why sports betting was banned in the first place. Nick and I opened up the history books. Joe Jackson and seven other Chicago White Sox players fixed a World Series game 106 years ago. What happened then is very similar to what this whole story is about in the NBA. And maybe even Wilder, Jack,

these NBA players, they've made over $100 million playing basketball in their NBA careers legitimately. And yet they made a fraction as much cheating and risking their whole careers to cheat in this insider poker betting scandal. Maybe because for some sports betting is addictive and they simply can't control it. The way we see it, once we started legalizing sports betting again, this kind of a story was only a matter of time. Because unfortunately, one reliable side effect to sports betting, it's some insider trading, and a little bit of addiction. For our second story, Netflix just announced the release dates for the final season of Stranger Things. And the last episode, it's going to movie theaters. Hey, Trey, can you play that scary

sound that Demigorgans make? Perfect. Ah, there we go, there we go. Because Yeti's, Netflix has invented a new marketing word, eventizing. Make every big splurge a huge event. If we're going to talk Netflix, I should tell you, I've been getting a lot lately. I look like a young, hot Adam Brady. I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding. And it's not just Molly.

It's not just Molly. Like a cab driver told me that the other day. Okay. Now you're taking it too far. You should have taken the compliment and moved on. Because yeties, if you want to see Adam Brody, the older version of me playing a hot rabbi falling in love with Kristen Bell,

well, season two of nobody wants this, dropped last night on Netflix. And Jack, on November 7th, Frankenstein, the movie, that's coming to Netflix as well. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, I am terrified by the trailer. Yeah, he went full freaky on it. Oh, plus, there's another Knives Out movie with Daniel Craig coming on December 12th as well. It's now officially a trilogy.

Oh, and there's Emily in Paris, season five hitting Netflix on December 18th. Actually, she's hitting Italy. They traded up patisserie for pasta for season five. Not possible. In fact, besties, add it all up. and for every $1 that Netflix spends on content, they make $2.5 dollars back in revenue. Business is good. And that's why Netflix is worth more than the rest of the media industry.

Combine. But besties, what everything that Jack and I just said is just the beginning of Netflix's fall lineup. Because Netflix just announced plans to own Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Year's. That's right. Stranger Things. It's one of Netflix's OG hits, isn't it, Jack? It's a genre-bending series. It's like comedy meets sci-fi meets horror plus some Indiana nostalgia.

Yes, it does. But here's what Jack and I find fascinating, Yetis. For the final season of Stranger Things, Netflix has a new strategy. They're strategically dropping their episodes across the Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, Bermuda Triangle of holidays. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so here's what we mean. The first four episodes of the final Stranger Things,

that drops on November 26th, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So after you hit the bars to see your high school friends, like you do every Wednesday before Thanksgiving, you can come home and binge the four episodes of Stranger Things. Okay, but Jack, the next three episodes of the series, that drops on Christmas Eve. So you have something to do before Santa arrives. Okay, but then, Jack, the finale of the series, that drops on New Year's Eve. Because every millennial doesn't stay up until midnight anymore. You can watch Stranger Things instead.

And retire 9pm. Besties, Netflix, they pioneered the binge model, dropping all the episodes at once. That was theirs. But now they're capitalizing on the calendar. Oh, and we're not done yet, Yeties. Because remember last week, AMC reached a deal with Netflix to show their content in movie theaters?

Well, this is that deal. Netflix is putting the Stranger Things Season 5 final episode in movie theaters on Netflix. New Year's Eve. So Jack, on behalf of all the other Adam Brody's out there, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Netflix? If you're going to splurge, splurge on something you won't forget. Yeties, Netflix disrupted Hollywood by crossbreeding it with technology. It usually doesn't do things the way Hollywood does things. But if they do, they make an event out of it. For example, instead of spending billions on an NFL football deal, Netflix just bought one game and they

made it on Christmas Day. They don't pay billions of dollars for the ML. B package either, but they're reportedly going to buy just one thing, the home run derby. You see, Netflix doesn't splurge on a full sports season. They buy a one-night cultural event that drives buzz. Lower cost, more relevance. It reminds us of some great shopping advice. If you have a $300 budget to spend at the mall, don't buy 10 crappy things. Buy one thing that's amazing that you can't wait to wear.

And you're going to own it forever. You see, Yeti's Netflix, they're now turning their finale of their best series into an in-theater event on New Year's Eve. It's Netflix's fewer, better strategy that enjoys higher ROI than the rest of the industry. Netflix don't splurge, but when they do, they eventize it into one huge date on your calendar. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Yetis, Jack and I got to interview Ty Haney. She is the founder of Outdoor Voices, the hottest Athleisure brand of the 20 teens. We interviewed her about her company, her getting pushed out of her company by investors and her return to the brand this year. It's a wild story,

and she is incredible to listen to. So here is a four-minute sample of that interview about community. Really what makes you take off in New York as the coolest athlete's your brand and then nationwide is your super skill community. It becomes your differentiator. Walking clubs, running clubs, dog clubs, everyone is trying to make community, including our podcast. It's all about community. It is the word of the last decade. No brand did it better than Acto Voices. True. So we got to ask you, what is the playbook for creating a community as a brand?

And how do you do it today? Yeah, of course. I thought a lot about this. It starts from the top, so articulating the clear mission, vision, purpose, reason for being. And so with Outer Voices, it's get the world moving. And then how are we standing up rituals for activation, both IRL and then digitally? And so, as you mentioned, like, one of the formats for us was, local activations, activities that got people moving, that then would be amplified through

social and essentially drive awareness for us. What kind of activities, Ty? I mean, it started with us, like literally as a team on Canal Street when we were probably a 15-person team. And I think our first New York Times like feature was the team coming back from playing lunchtime basketball at the Canal Street basketball court. So like you would take your office to go and play pickup in the middle of the day, pick up basketball? One of our, one of our, one of our, one of our of operating principles was it starts with us. Like if we're going to, if we're going to expect it from the consumer, like let's start with it ourselves. And so that tenant like felt very small and local and then got really big over time as like local events like that were happening in concert

with one another kind of everywhere. But but we'd lean into anything activity-wise that felt own-able within this recreation world. So jogging, I think we hosted the first like dog walking event. I wouldn't say like ever in, you know, the history of the world. But and so we definitely like with those types of activities like leaned into things that weren't going to be like, you know, on ESPN that night in terms of activities. And then I'll kind of like complete the thought in terms of building community. The third thing is through these rituals, having a place for people who are obsessed with or potentially potential to become obsessed with the brand to convene and spark bonds with one another. And so in my experience, like when you have formats, through kind of various channels.

For super fans to meet other super fans, that's when the flywheel really starts to happen. They start telling their friends. And it becomes a movement or a mission bigger than myself, bigger than the team, bigger than the brand. The fourth piece in this playbook is about reward. And so there's ways to do that kind of today, but really it's just recognition within the community

that you're a super fan, that you have status, that you've been here longest, almost in a bragging right kind of proof of fan type way. So those four things are really how you built community. Jack, I don't want to put pressure on you, but I noticed you were taking notes while I was talking. Can you repeat the four-part playbook for us there? First, it starts from the top.

Have a clear mission. Which for Outer Voices was get the world moving. Second is have rituals for activation, locally, IRL, ideally. Third, let super fans meet other super fans because that's what creates the flywheel effect. And fourth is reward those super fans. I do have a question about step three. How does letting super fans meet other super fans,

how does that cause them to get more vocal about supporting the brand? How does that build the community more? One thing that we saw as a very specific example, the moment that we'd take someone from our ambassador group or our community and make them a host, let's say it, UCLA of an event, they became an owner in a sense. and then they'd bring whatever their 40 friends and really feel kind of like authorship in how that event came to life. And they'd bring it to life in a unique way, like different than how us the

brand directly would bring it to life. And so that empowerment as kind of a co-owner of the experience ultimately came through in how they connected with others. And then it made that connection and ultimately that first interaction with the brand for those 40 attendees, all that more powerful. I mean referral at the end of the day, but like happening live and in a format that connects to our vision and mission. Okay. So you got to kind of let go as a brand a little bit and be like, okay, I'm not like let our audience and fans run with this instead. That's where the magic happens. Yeah, exactly. Now, Ty, Jack and I in preparation for this interview because we want this to be the best interview yet. We listen to every interview you've done, full disclosure, going back a decade. Now, there is one product you have never talked about on other podcasts that Jack and I happen to think maybe, your most powerful product. Jack, do you want to say what that product is? The tote. Yeah. The doing

things tote. Absolutely. You turned packaging into a walking billboard, and Nick and I have a few of them ourselves. Yeah. How did you come up with that brilliant marketing move of turning your tote bag into a billboard? Yeties, Nick and Jack back with you at the T-Boy Studio. I want to hear her answer to the question about the Outdoor Voices tote bag and learn more about the rise and fall and resurrection of Outdoor Voices, then check out tomorrow's full interview episode. Hey, you'll also hear why, ironically, there is one word that Ty really, really, really, really doesn't like, and what is it, Jack? It's the category of her product.

Athleisure. Yeah, she doesn't like Athleisure. It's a great story. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to hit the weekend? Our first story was a bad day for sports betting. The FBI indicted more than 30 people on insider trading and rigged poker schemes. It's an unfortunate historic reality of the industry. A side effect of sports gambling is some insider trading and a risk of addiction.

For our second story, Netflix is eventizing the final season of Stranger Things with drops on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Because, Basties, if you're going to splurge, splurge on something, no one will forget. And our third and final story is our interview with Ty Haney of Outdoor Voices. Yeah, she shared her four-step secret recipe to drive a brand's community. and Jack, you whipped them up so well. Why don't you whip them up for us here? It starts at the top. It requires in-person activations,

let fans meet fans, and reward those fans for doing things that help the brand. Those are the four keys. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, yesterday showed how close President Trump and the tech industry

have really gotten over the last couple years. First, President Trump pardoned the founder of Binance who was convicted of money laundering. And in doing so, he declared that the war crypto was now over. Then, the president canceled plans to send National Guard troops to San Francisco. And he said he only did so after talking on the phone with tech giants Mark Benioff and Jensen Wang. Second, oil prices are up 10% this week on news of new Russian oil sanctions. Now, as context, President Biden had not sanctioned Russia's biggest oil companies on worries

they could raise global prices of oil. But now Trump is doing it to put pressure on Putin to end the Ukraine war. And that is why the price of oil spiked this week. week, Russian oil officially off the market. And finally, an update on your dating life. Tinder now requires your selfie before you can start swiping. Tinder is going to make sure they get a pick of you to prove that you are actually who you say you are in your profile. Makes a lot of sense. Also, the controversial dating app, T, has been kicked out of the app store. Yeah, remember Tee let you dish the T on guys or gals who you dated, but the app suffered another breach this year and it had some privacy violations. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Alice Martel, also known as

my mom, because she and my dad just got back from vacation in Uzbekistan, and they had a, they actually had a bunch of facts to share with us, Jack. Here's the best fact yet about Uzbekistan. 80% of all cars there are Chevroles. That's right. In fact, Uzbekistan is Chevy's second biggest market outside of the United States. Why the heck is that the case? It's thanks to a store deal that General Motors made with the Uzbekistan government. After the fall of the Soviet Union, GM took over a car plant there and got a heavy subsidy from the government. Most of the other 20% by the way, the Russian-made cars. And all of the cars, by the way, they're pretty much all white. So that they heat up less in the summer. The Uzbeks, they're thinking ahead.

Yeties, you look fantastic today. Oh, oh, one sec. Oh, man, Jack, I almost forgot. I've got the Adam Brody look-a-like competition is going on, like, right now. So we're going to have to wrap up the pod, dude. I'm late for this thing. Who's my look-alike? I told you my wedding jack. Yeah, you did, actually. The poor man's Ryan Gosling over here.

That's who I get the pod with every day. Besties, you look fantastic as well. Remember to celebrate the wins this weekend. We got a bunch to celebrate and check out our special episode dropping tomorrow. Kind of a back-handed compliment is that. Ryan Gosling, I'll take that. Poor man's. story for another pod jack. Besties, the interview with Ty Haney, it drops tomorrow. You're

going to love it. We can't wait to see you there. Nick and I'll say you there. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Laura Welty, turning 40 years old and celebrating with an epic trip across Japan. Happy 13th birthday to Sylvie Ram Sundar in Toronto, Ontario. And Richard Blyth has got the best birthday yet as the best bro yet in DePoo, Oklahoma. Happy birthday to Jay Giamalva in McHenry, Illinois, who's also a legendary, brother. And Mark Andre Hernandez is turning 15 years old and celebrating in Europa Valley, California. Happy birthday to Trenton, Cycle in Boca, Rotone, Florida, who got his daughters hooked on T-boy, too. H-Y-H-H-TB-O-I and Bailey's turning 29 years old down the street in San Francisco.

Happy birthday Bailey. Happy 15th birthday to Callaway Scott in Henderson, Tennessee. And a shout out to Kathy Buckley, down in Dallas. Your daughter's proud of you for how hard you are working right now. Great to have you with us. And congratulations to Sahithi and Krishna Gandhi-Coda in Seattle, Washington, who is celebrating their first anniversary. And Jaden Enfield in Tucson, Arizona has got the ballroom showcase tonight, and you got this, Jad, you got this. Big shout out to Johnny Moskin, who just passed the CFA Level 3 just outside Philadelphia. And a happy birthday to Kayla Fernandez in San Jose, California, the CFP.

This is Jack. I own stock at Netflix.