The Best One Yet - 🏟️ “Football = Housing” — Stadiums’ apartment strategy. Nutella’s Americanization. Hotels’ junk fee ban.

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsWashington DC’s football stadium is a new “Arena-Hood”... because football can fix the housing crisis.Nutella is pivoting to peanut butter in America… because nothing divides economies like nuts.Hidden Junk Fees are officially illegal… so we’ll tell ya what to do when the hotel drops a “Resort Fee.”Plus, the 10 fastest-growing baby names in America… are made-for-LinkedIn.$MAR $LVY $SPYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Google Maps Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Soviche Wednesday, May 14th. And today's party's the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Well, Yetis, it's official. Stocks are now up in 2025. Thanks to the Trade War cooldown. The S&P 500 is now down just 4% from its all-time high. Not too shabby and great timing too, because we've got three fantastic stories for you. Jack, what's on today's for our first story, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia are all getting new multi-billion-dollar stadiums with apartments. True story. We call them arena hoods. Arena hoods, because the solution to America's housing crisis may actually be American football. For our second story, Nutella has a wild new plan to expand in the United States, Nutella peanut butter. Because the greatest economic divide between Europe and America is nuts. Literally, actually, it's nuts.

And our third and final story. As of this week, hidden junk fees are now illegal. So Jack and I will tell you what to do when that hotel surprises you with a $50 a night resort fee. Well, it's illegal now. Destination fee. Yeah. I would like to speak to a manager, please. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

Fantastic mix of stories. Love the mix, Jack. We just got the most anticipated list of the year. This is a fun one. Ding, ding, ding. Yetis, we just got the most popular baby names in America. Straight from the Social Security Administration. Which name are you naming your new kids these days? Here it is. Moms and dads across America chose the same top two names for the sixth straight year.

Congratulations, Liam for boys and Olivia for girls. You are the most popular. That's right. Since 2019, Olivia and Liam have been the top baby names in America, followed by Noah, Oliver, Theodore, and Jane. for boys. And followed by Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, and Mia for girls. I mean, Jack and I are looking at the numbers. At this rate, odds are, statistically speaking, there will be a President Olivia and Vice President Liam in the year 263. Ancestry DNA says, you're 30% Western European, you're 3% Olivia. The entire world is Olivia or Liam. But Bessies, there is a different stat that Jack and I find more interesting. Not the most common name for babies in America, but the fastest growing baby names in America. Because for boys, the fastest growing name in America is...

Truce. Truce. Is that trade war inspired? Of the moment. Dejure. Followed by Colson, Breyer, Halo, and Isaiah with a Z. Okay, Breyer and Halo are both ice cream brands. Just pointing that out. Delicious names, delicious names. But for girls, the fastest growing name is actually... Alani. Alani, followed by Aalani, Marjorie, Scotty, and Analia. Scotty for girls. I haven't met a girl Scotty yet. Max, he's friends with the Scotty. She's fantastic. Very cool. Now, each of those names we just mentioned jumped 1,000 spots on the baby name rankings for 2024. Can I buy a vowel? Because I can't spell Eleni. Man, do I respect that

name now? They really squeezed the eye in there, don't that? I love how they did it. Honestly, Eleni, that's going to win LinkedIn in like 15 years. So, besties, if your baby is named Colson or Scotty, then congrats, you're trending. Liam and Olivia? Yeah, they make be the most popular, but Truce and Eleni, they're the most trendy. I think it's Alani, right? Is the most trendy? We're still workshopping this one. Although we should point out, Nick and Jack, they aren't even on the list. Not even on the list. Top 700. Jack, let's in our three stories, baby. Fifteen 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, a new real estate class is booming right now, and Jack and I call them arena hoods.

With billion-dollar stadiums at the core, hotels, office buildings, and new housing are saving America's cities. could end the housing crisis. We'll explain. But Jack, just over a year ago, we covered that fascinating story about the city of Detroit, baby. Detroit turned a doom loop into a boom loop, and it's a big success star. And how did they pull this off, man? With sports stadiums. Actually, not just sports stadiums, sports stadiums with housing. That's right, yeah, he's Detroit. They have a new NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB stadiums that are all within walking distance of each other. But it's not just Detroit. Last month, the Washington Commanders announced a $4 billion new stadium in Washington, D.C.

Oh, and then, Jack, yesterday Atlanta announced a new 5,300-person concert venue is coming to a $5 billion stadium district. Now, when Nick and I read those price tags, we were shocked. We were shocked. We remember when world-class stadiums were just a billion dollars to build. But Atlanta and D.C. are spending four or five times that? I mean, for that price, they could buy Lyft, Jack. Even the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, their new stadium cost $2.2 billion, which is double what the Dallas Cowboys Stadium cost. Sebastian's Jack and I saw this. We got curious. We jumped in T-boy style, Jack. What's the reason for the huge price tax? Is it inflation? What's going on? The reason is that these aren't just stadiums. These are entire arena hoods. Arena hoods. Arena neighborhoods. Yettys, the housing crisis. It's the most consistent issue across America's cities. The number one reason people leave a city is that they can't afford to live there.

So here's what's happening. If you want a city government to approve your new sports stadium, well, it better include some new housing. Here's the key. At the same time that America has a nationwide housing crisis, our love and demand for live sports, especially football, extra football, has never been bigger. I mean, so cities are telling NFL owners, you can build a new stadium if you build new housing as well. That's why the Commander Stadium in Washington, D.C. will include five to six thousand brand new housing units, including at least 30% affordable housing.

And Jack, what about that Atlanta Stadium we just mentioned? They're building 1,000 new housing units. And in Tennessee, they're building 1,550 new housing units around the new Titans football stadium. Now, we should point out, you're still going to see the occasional suburb stadium that, you know, we've all seen before. The arena that's just an island, surrounded by a sea of, a vast sea of parking lots. We can do better. We can do better. But more often these days, we're building entire victory villages, right downtown in the city center. We're talking a stadium plus hotels, plus apartments, plus casinos, plus a shopping mall, all built in. That's why they cost $5 billion. It's way more than just a stadium. And financially, it works for the stadium revenues too, because instead of a stadium being used twice a week for one concert in one game, what do you get, Jack? You get 24-7 living, playing, showing, shopping and working in these arena hoods. We're calling it right now.

Atlanta is probably going to add a kindergarten to that arena hood. Right, Jack? Definitely. Absolutely. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies seeing all these arena hoods pop up? Real estate developers love one word. Permanent. Now, Yeties, there's this story that Jack told me when he was in public policy school

about the difference between bus stops and train stations when it comes to real estate development. Jack, why don't you share with the Yeties? Nick, if they see a city. city adds a subway station or a train stop, that is a permanent move. Okay. And real estate developers will build housing around those stations. But if a city adds just a bus stop, that does not spur investment because bus stops can be changed any time.

A bus stop is just a sign next to a road. It could switch. Like what you're saying, Jack, is there's a huge difference between train rails and bus lanes because train rails are permanent. And around permanent things like train rails, you get huge development from real estate. The same thing with stadiums, right? Stadiums are permanent. Real estate developers love permanent.

So cities are using sports stadiums to attract real estate developers to make long-term investments in new housing. Or like another way to put this is, it is wild, but America's love for football is the key ingredient to solving the housing crisis. Because real estate developers love permanence. And a $5 billion football stadium is very, very permanent. For our second story, Nutella is adding peanuts to cater to American taste its first flavor change in 61 years.

But this brings up a question from kindergarten. Yeah, it does. Should you change who you are just to make friends? Ah, the Nutella story. It brings us back to the year 1800. Jack, can you take us back in time, please? Napoleon Bonaparte caused a chocolate shortage across Europe because of all the wars he was raging. Wait, wait.

So, the Italians said, hey, we got plenty of hazelnut. Can I make candy out of this? The answer is yes, Jack. Necessity is the mother of invention, and Italians got invented. They added hazelnut to chocolate, and voila, Nutella. Nutella is owned by Ferreiro today, and Ferreiro buys 25% of the world's hazelnuts just for their Nutella. That's right. One out of four hazelnuts ends up in a jar of Nutella.

Nutella, Europeans spread chocolate butter on their bread every morning, and they're still somehow in better shape than we are. I don't know how they do it, but it works. Yeti's Nutella. It actually arrived in the United States, well, actually a few years ago, we should point out. In fact, U.S. sales of Nutella have doubled since the year 2020. But here's the update. This Italian treat is now attempting an historic American invasion. Here's the news. Instead of forcing Americans to adapt to this European spread, Nutella is creating a version made specifically for Uncle Sam. Nutella is pivoting to the peanut. It's a new product called Nutella Peanut.

It hits shelves next spring and warning, yes, Jack? This product contains nuts. Also, full disclosure, Jack's son Wilder consumes enough Nutella to be its own food group at this point, I think. Dude, I've actually weaned him off at Nutella. We haven't had it in the house for like six months, and he still asks for it. I think that's bad parenting, but we'll save that for another pod, Jack. Yeties, this is a big deal because it is Nutella's first flavor in 61 years, and it is also highly controversial. The Europeans are basically trying to suck Reese's. Peanut butter plus chocolate is our flavor.

But here's what Jack and I found fascinating. When you look at the numbers behind the nuts used in these chocolates, nut choice is the biggest cultural divide between Americans and Europeans. Peanut butter has major household penetration in America. Everyone eats it. Get this. 90% of American families have a jar of peanut butter somewhere in their pantry. But in Europe, just 10% of people eat peanut butter. Americans eat eight pounds of peanuts per person per year. Europe has a quarter as much. But here's the wild part about these numbers. For hazelnuts, it's the identical reverse situation. Europeans eat four times more hazelnuts than Americans do. Just like we eat four times more peanuts than Europeans do. So Bruce Springsteen is pounding peanut butter. Andrea Bocelli only eats

hazelnut butter. They're doing a full American makeover. They're changing their famous Ferreiro-Rosher chocolates from sphere-shaped to square-shaped for some reason. Didn't like an old girlfriend give you one of those, Jack? Yeah, yeah, girl, I had a crush on in high school. It gave me them. But now these are not going to be spheres. They'll just be squares for Americans. This brand is also going to start attending U.S. boarding events.

That's right. If you go to Yankee Stadium soon, you might be getting Nutella on your hot dog. And that's not innuendo. No, it's not. But here's the question, Jack and I want to know with this Nutella invasion. How far should a brand go to enter a new market? How much should a brand change? How much should a brand change to adapt to local tastes?

Interesante. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our spreadable buddies over at Nutella? Beware of the Walmart smiles. Yeties, entering a new country is complex. You got to make some changes for the local culture. Netflix and McDonald's have done this really well. They have. They've adapted a portion of their content,

and they've adapted part of the menu for the local tastes. Or Jack, the Duolingo CEO, told us last month that Japanese people don't. don't like their owl's sense of humor, so they changed the owl mascot just for Japan. But there's a famous failure for international expansion, and the culprit is Walmart. Yeah, like remember those Walmart greeters? They used to hand out smiley face stickers at the door when you walked in. Yeah, so when Walmart entered Germany, management told the greeters to smile to the German customers as they entered the Walmart. But get this, Germans hated

it. They thought the Walmart smiles were creepy, fake. Like they were like, why are you smiling? at me at this new Walmart store. Now, eventually Walmart failed in Germany. They pulled out in 2006, and the New York Times blamed it on the smiles. So the big question for Nutella is finding the right balance as they push into America. Maybe peanut butter flavor really does cater to Americans. Or maybe they should maintain the foreign feel of Nutella, that unique hazelnut flavor. Either way, expanding to a new country requires adapting, but not too much adapting. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, this week begins a brand new era for hotels and ticketing sites.

No more sneaky fees. Hotel resort fees, Airbnb cleaning fees, and ticket master service fees. Fee fees. You now must legally reveal thyself. Revee thyself. Yet he is back in October of 2023, regulators gave an official term to something universally hated. Junk fees. What are junk fees, Nick?

Well, junk fees, Jack, will be mandatory fees that make you furious because you don't see him until the very end. You hate your checked bag fee that United Airlines charges, but at least that's an optional fee, you know? Yeah, and I know to expect it up front, Jack. It's annoying, but it is fair, technically. There's a special place in hell for mandatory fees. Yeah, junk fees or fee fees. We're talking like ticket master fees, right, Jack? The $40 service fee for just processing my payment?

Or, Jack, how about delivery fees? when the tickets are digital and they just got delivered to the screen of your computer. Or Airbnb and VRBO, they have cleaning fees that are sometimes called junk fees because they're not shown in the upfront pricing. But Jack, I got to say, pause the pod, the worst, I mean worst of all the fee fees is the hotel fee. Have you encountered a resort fee at a hotel yeties? Yeah, yeah, Marriott's $50 a night resort fee purportedly for Wi-Fi, gym, and complimentary bottle service?

Not complimentary. It can me pay for it. I didn't use the gym. I didn't use the hotspot. Honestly, Jack, I fight this fee every time. This is my Everest, to be honest. Do you succeed? And if so, how?

I honestly just keep talking to them until they eventually get rid of the destination fee, the resort fee, or the hospitality fee that makes absolutely no sense. Ah, the public seeing approach. Always works. I'm not proud of it, but I don't like paying $50 extra at night. So yet is you, like us, right now,

might be seeing a whole bunch of headlines about the ban on junk fees. Unfortunately, that's not what's actually happening. Junk fees are still here, but as of this Monday, they cannot be hidden anymore. That's the new rule change from the FTC that you should be aware of. Now, Airbnb made the move first. Last year, they started giving us the option of seeing all-in-pricing up front.

But now, Airbnb shows all-pricing upfront standard with the mandatory fees included. Same with Ticketmaster, same with hotels, and same with other ticketing sites. No more surprise resort fee dropping on you when you check out of the room. So get ready for sticker price shock to be up front because the mandatory fees you'll see right at the beginning. What we're saying is that the hotel down in Cabo is still going to charge you that annoying destination fee, but they'll just show it to you when you're booking the place three months in advance. And if you're willing to stand there for 20 minutes and say I won't pay, like Nick, they might waive the fee. I would like to speak to a manager.

Yeah. Now, we wish junk fees had a broader definition, actually, because banks, car rental companies, internet providers, wireless companies, they're notorious for charging us mandatory fees. Killing the fee fee could apply to a whole bunch of industries out there. But the FTC's new rule applies only to short-term rental and live-event ticketing companies. This isn't just a junk fee. We call it a fake fee. Because, again, I'm already staying at the resort. I don't understand why I'm also paying a resort. I don't want the water bottles. I didn't even ask for it. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies with the fee fees and the junk fees in this economy? To separate or not to separate? That is now the question. Yeties, the interesting reason why hidden junk fees actually exist? It's consumer psychology. In our minds, we are anchored to see the first price and remember that first price,

even if later we learn there are more fees. So we're more likely to buy something because we remember that first lower price. We remember it's $200 bucks. night, not $300 $300 a night after you add in all the fees. But only certain industries use these junk fees. Like, can you imagine if your shoe companies charged a shoelays fee on you? Or if a car company charged you a seatbelt

fee at the last second during the checkout? But here's what Jack and I find curious. Now that fees must be shown up front, why have a fee in the first place if it's mandatory? Just include it in the price. And maybe, just maybe, bundling in the fee is better

because the concept of a fee is such a turnoff. So now that junk fees can't be hidden, fee-loving companies face a new question. Ah, to separate or not to separate, that is the question. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? New sports stadiums are $5 billion these days, but they include shopping, offices, and housing, too. They're arena hoods, because to get real estate developers to invest in housing, you got to show them permanence. For our second story, Natala is adding peanuts. It's their first new flavor in 61 years, and it's just for Americans.

Nothing divides Americans and Europeans like nuts. Not politics, nuts. International adaptation. It is a balancing act. Don't overdo it like Walmart smiles. And finally, starting this week, it is illegal for hotels, short-term rentals, or ticketing sites to hide mandatory fees. To separate the fees or not to separate. That is the new question.

But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, we got two IPO updates for you. Get this, Hinge Health is planning to IPO this week. That's a digital physical therapy company. And Shime, a fintech company, also filed to IPO this week. Now, Stubb, Hub, the ticketing service, their IPO was still in pause because it got delayed because of the whole trade war.

But with stocks up again, we could be popping IPO champagne for all of Q2. Not too shabby. And second, for the first time ever, sports fans can subscribe to just ESPN. Just ESPN. Because the newest streamer is called simply ESPN. ESPN Plus already exists, but they don't get the best live sports, so this new version is just called ESPN. It's a lot pricier, though.

30 bucks a month for the best live sports on TV. And finally, United Airlines just made a strategic move for super premium travelers. Get this. Caviar and jammies. Luxury pajamas. They will give you luxury PJs to sleep in if you're the highest class on the United flight. United, they know that business class is a profit puppy in the airline industry, so they're trying to make it feel a little bit like a private jet. If you're flying to Europe, you don't want

the first day and the last day to be all about travel. You want that to feel like a vacation too. So now they will give you a bump of caviar on your hand while you relax in a pair of silk pajamas. Now time for the best fact yet, which is the answer to the trivia question Jack and I whipped up this week. We asked you what app made Steve Jobs declare, and I quote, thermonuclear war on the company that launched it. Yeah, what tech product caused Steve Jobs to get so angry and upset that he zucked it? The answer is Google Maps. That's right.

When Google unveiled maps, they reserved the turn-by-turn directions only for Android phones, so iPhones got a worse experience. Steve was so furious, he declared tech war on Google and told his team to start making a map app. And Jack, why are we telling all the Yetis out there about Google Maps? Because Google Maps is our latest episode of the best idea yet. That's right. Our weekly show where we go deep on the most viral products of all time, this week we'll tell you all about Google Maps, which you had no idea about it.

Do you think Copernicus was innovative? Give Google Maps a try. Google Maps, like, literally walked every road on Earth. So check out the best idea yet. Later today, Yeties, you're going to love it. It's fantastic. We've got a link in the episode description. Can't wait.

And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Carolina Tiki Korkera, turning seven years old down in Roswell, Georgia. Celebrate that huge birthday today with all those Axeletus. They're adorable. And Caitlin Lottompson over in Chicago, Illinois, loves their dog Finney and their new fiancé, Andre, and hopefully coming to our live show. Hope to see you there, Caitlin.

And happy birthday to Jennifer Dew. Also in Chicago. Also attending our live show? Yeah, either way, you better be doing logistics. Oh, and a shout out to legendary bestie, Helene Zelby, A Yeti founder of the company Tofu met her over the weekend, Jack. She and her family are fantastic.

And a big shout out to M. Corey 88, over in the Middle East, who says we're definitely not pronouncing Qatar or Qatar or Qatar. We're going to go with the former. So thanks for jumping in T-boy style. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack I on stock of Netflix. Nick and I both own stock of Airbnb.

and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500.