The Best One Yet - ⚽ “Ryan Reynolds FC” – Wrexham’s soccer contentification. Tesla’s MegaBatteries. National Parks’ small fees.

Episode Date: April 12, 2023

Actor Ryan Reynolds acquired a Welsh soccer club that’s now winning — The story’s worthy of a documentary (oh wait, there already is one). Tesla’s craziest product yet isn’t cars, cybertrucks, or robots — it’s building sized batteries. And US National Park visits just hit an all-time high, but there’s one single publicly-traded company making millions off all the camping. $TSLA $BAHWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, April 12th, and today's pod is just the best one yet. It's a T-Boy, baby. But first, are you in India, Guatemala, or Mexico? But second, are you in Hong Kong, Brazil, or Idaho? That as of today, we are now shipping T-Boy product to you. Boom, T-Boy City on your Atlas.

The merch store give it. The merch store keep giving it. Stamp that passport. Jack, what's our first store for the pot? Ryan Rennel. The actor acquired a Welsh soccer team that just won a big match. But Yeti's, this story isn't about football. No, this story is about contentification.

For our second story, Tesla just unveiled its coolest product. It's not a car, not a cyber truck, not a robot either. Tesla's coolest product is a battery as big as a building. And our third and final story, America's National Parks just hit a record number of visitors. But we noticed there is one company that's making millions of dollars on all your camping. And Smokey the Bear is not. seeing a scent of it. Not a single dime. But Yeties, before we hit that fantastic mix. A wonderful mix of stories, Jack. Fantastic mix. How much would you pay for that perfect license plate?

Besties, how much would you pay for a tin on the back of your car? You pay 20 bucks if you could put your name on it? Would you pay 30 bucks if you could put your face on it? Would you pay $100 if your plate could say cookie crisp? Jack, our buddy Timmy would pay $200 if we could fit mattress, mattress, mattress on a license plate. Well, get this. A vanity license plate in Dubai just sold for a record $15 million. We repeat a $15 million single license plate on a single car. So we got to ask.

Yes. What was on the license plate? For $15 million, what was on that plate? I got to know, we got to know. Seven. That's it. Just seven. Like seven.

Just the number seven. That's it. That was what was on the plate. The number seven. George Costanza would be proud. Not three, not five. not 100, just, Mickey Mantle, 7.

Now, Yeti's, this all went down at a license plate auction in the UAE. It's kind of a nice Dubai tradition. All that money goes to charity, not too shabby. For $15 million, though, this plate, it's worth more than the car. It's more than a condo. It's more than a yacht.

Jack, this is like a Rolex for your Rolls-Royce. So you could drive a $15,000 Kia Sorrento. But you'd have a $15 million license plate on the back. Geico, I'm going to need some. plate insurance. You do not want to bender that fender, man. No, you don't. So yet, he's, if you've seen a license plate better than simply

the number seven... If you've got a vanity plate that is worth a double date? Hit us up. Let us know at T-boy Pot. They ain't no junk in that trunk. Jack, let's hit our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn.

They had an idea that caused a cultural tits. 50%. That's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at. 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. For our first story, actor Ryan Reynolds bought a soccer team that just had a very, very important win.

This acquisition story shows the power of the pre-documentary. All right, Jack, we're going to do this story. Should we kick it off with like a little bit of trivia, some good Wednesday trivia? You know what I'm always down for Wednesday trivia? Okay, here's the question, Eddie. Here's the question you're going to ask today. What is the third oldest soccer team in the history of the world? Full disclosure, we don't know number one and two.

No, we don't. But we do know number three. And what is it, Jack? Rexum AFC. Rexum AFC, this team was established in 1864. We were fighting the Civil War, and in Wales, they were inventing soccer. You want to see a photo with the first team? Sorry, cameras like didn't exist back then.

But yet he's over the past century and a half, this football club in Wales and the city it belongs to fell on some hard times. Yeah, this football club was relegated from the major leagues to the minor, minor, minor, minor, minor, minor leagues, kind of like the Jets. But that's when Rob McElhaney and Ryan Reynolds stepped into this story. Rob McElhaney, an actor from Always Sunny in Philadelphia,

he's now a millionaire. Ryan Reynolds, an actor from Deadpool, he's a multi, multi, multi, multi-millionaire. Last time we covered Ryan Reynolds check, I think we said he's the Ben Horowitz of Hollywood. He's the Sequoia Capital of Celebrity. We had one more about Warren Buffett, but I don't remember what it was. I think he's the Buffett of the Blockbusters, Jack.

That's what we said. Well, these two actors put together $2.5 million and acquired this historic Welsh soccer club. Just to sprinkle on a little more context here, Jack, what's the average valuation of the average American National Football League team? That's $5 billion. Okay, ipso facto, the average NFL team is worth 2,000 times more than this British soccer club. Now, Ryan Reynolds, you might think this Mimbo, he had no plan on what to do when he bought this club. You might be thinking, hey, this guy, he's got a great chin and some deep pockets. That's it.

You'd be wrong. Because Rob McElhaney and Ryan Reynolds, they treated this soccer club like script writers. There was actually a strategy here. They basically turned the team into Ted Lassow in real life. First, these two guys brought good PR to the team. Yeah, the club became relevant because it was associated with Ryan and Rob. Then they brought sponsors to Rexham. TikTok became the first sponsor in a while.

TikTok's logo is on the Wrexham jerseys. But finally, they recently brought back a former star to play on the pitch. This was wild. Can you share this story, Jack? A former goalie for Manchester United, the top team in the UK. True story. Came out of retirement because he wanted to participate in this Cinderella story of a team. Sit down, stand up, and sit back down again.

This leads to the climax of the Rexum Football Club announcement. Thanks to a huge save by that goalie, Rexham just won a huge victory and is headed to be promoted back into the major leagues once again. That's the news. This team was acquired by two American actors and is now doing really well. This story could just be a story about an awesome impact acquisition by two U.S. celebrities. Jack and I could have just done a financial story here. The ROI on a two and a half million dollar investment in a sports club. The ROI is largely impact, by the way, because the city of Rexum is more alive than ever. They haven't been this happy since the Magna Carta.

But yet, is this M&A deal actually became a TV series because these two guys had the cameras rolling? So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies in the media industry? The next great genre of media is the pre-documentary. Yetis, this Rexham football club story is so good, it could be a documentary. That's what we're thinking. But we already have a documentary about Rexum. That's the wild thing. It's called Welcome to Rexum, and it was filmed before it happened.

Yet he's, as McElheny and Ryan Reynolds bought the club, they filmed everything. It's a thing we call contentification. In fact, they pre-sold the entire store to Disney, so they had the cameras constantly rolling, even during the negotiation. They already sold this to Disney before the season even kicked off. We call it the pre-documentary, and it's a powerful form of content. It's like you were there. Why learn about history in a documentary when you can live history with a pre-documentary?

So here's the deal, besties. Look out for more pre-documentary. pre-documentaries to be produced because people are contentifying their experiences. The next great genre of media is the pre-documentary. For our second story, Tesla just announced not a new gigafactory, but a new thing they call the megafactory. Because Tesla's craziest product, isn't a car, a cyber truck, or even a robot? It is a giant megabattery.

Yeah, it is back on March 1st, Jack and I covered the big Tesla news. It was Tesla's master plan, part three. Tesla's secret plan that Elon shared with the world. Part one of the Tesla master plan was to make the world's first cool electric car. Part two of the master plan was to make the world's first affordable mainstream electric car. And part three of Tesla's big master plan was an ambitious end game that they recently announced. We were shocked to see it. On March 1st, they announced a plan to completely eliminate fossil fuels.

Well, over the past weekend, Tesla took a major step toward that with a new thing that they call the mega factory. The mega factory. The mega factory. It sounds like a Jerry Bruckheimer film. This is a factory in Shanghai that's pretty mega because they build batteries, but not just any batteries. Batteries, the size of a humpback whale.

Like, we're talking batteries larger than the world's largest mammal. Nettis, when this story broke, Nick and I noticed everyone was talking about China. Like, wow, Tesla's built. another factory in China right now. Jack and I were talking about the store. We're like, is everyone missing what we just described? Like, Jack, what did you just describe? Can you repeat the megafactory thing again?

Yeah, did you miss this detail? Tesla's making batteries the size of a humpback whale. The size of a whale. Like, not a dinky little duracel, not a life-sized little energizer bunny. What are we talking here? A battery the size of a whole building. The battery is bigger than wherever you are right now.

And yet he's, the city of Angleton, Texas, bought 81 of these well-sized batteries in 2021. And why did this city buy 81 of these batteries back in February 2021? Because in February 2021, Texas was without power for three whole days because of an ice storm. Yeah, so the city bought 81 Tesla Mega Pack, so if the power goes out, they have a legit backup. The 81 megapack batteries that it bought could power 4,000 homes with electricity. That's an entire town. For three entire days.

Yeti's the next time an ice storm hits Texas, the city of Angleton is going to be powered by Tesla. Wow, that we bought those mega batteries. Yeah, they definitely will. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Tesla? Yetis, you're not going to believe it, but the key to sustainable energy, it's storage. So Jack and I jumped in Devois style to this Tesla master plan. And Jack, what was the most popular word mentioned? The most mentioned word was storage.

Storage was mentioned 109 times. Storage was mentioned in Tesla's master plan, more than renewable, more than sustainable, more than the word Tesla. Storage. Elon was just talking about storage. Because the key to clean energy is that it has to be stored.

When the sun's a shining, you fill up storage with juice. When the sun's not shining, you use that stored up juice. And it's not just cars. Everything that will use electricity is going to need batteries. And that's why Tesla is building a plant.

that will produce 10,000 well-sized batteries every year. Because yeties, if anyone asks you about sustainable energy, just tell them there's only one word that matters. Storage. Storage. Now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. Jack and I can count a dozen movies about time travel. That one with the time-traveling hot tub, or the one with the crazy hair guy in the car.

Well, all those are all fictional films, aren't they, Jack? There's one real-life move that might make you okay with not having a time machine. Yeah, saving for your retirement. Around 60% of Americans wish they had socked away more for retirement, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. That's why Robin Hood created the only IRA with a 1% match for eligible contributions every year. So maybe you don't need a time machine. Limitations apply. To get started, go to robin hood.com slash tiboy and get your first stock for free. Conditions apply. That's robin hood.com slash tbohi. All investments involve risk contributions to and withdrawals from IRA's main tail tax consequences. Robin Hood does not provide

tax advice. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. For our third and final story, visits to America's national parks have hit an all-time high. But there's one publicly traded company that's making millions. A lot of millions off of your camping trips. Okay, before we kick out this story, Jack, favorite national park on three. Here we go. Three, two, one. Central... National Park. Okay. I like what you did there. That's good.

This is a national park. I love Central Park. It's got the heart of a national park, Jack. The heart of a national park. Got its own zoo. You hear they have a new pickleball field? I do. Near the zoo.

During the pandemic, Eddies, you weren't going to the club. You were going to the canyon. National Park visits hit an all-time high. Last year, 311 million people visited our national parks most in the history of America. Oh, you want to go to Acadia? on Saturday night, you can't get in. Oh, you want to go to the Grand Canyon? Get out of here.

Yosemite? Yeah, right. Denali, don't even think about it. So, Yetis, to avoid the humiliation of showing up at a national park only to be denied entry, people started booking reservations. And you got those reservations at recreation.gov. And the number of reservations booked on that website tripled in 2020 from the year before. The funny thing, Jack, when I hear recreation.gov, I think that's, that's a government website. It sounds like a government website, right? It's got to be a government website.

Or is it? Get this, Yeties. It is actually a website run by a company called Booz Allen. Booz Allen, a publicly traded $12 billion consulting company. So, Yates, this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. What is Booz Allen exactly, Jack? Why is Booz Allen running the government's website for National Park? Yeties, here's how you can think about it. Booz Allen is basically the government's IT guy. It's the tech department for the Rocky Men. Mountains. Yes, Booz Allen runs the recreation.gov website and app, and it charges fees for each reservation book. Yeah, like, if you want to get a reservation to go to Yellowstone, that is going to be free. Fantastic. Because it's a national park. But there is a $2 reservation fee. And according to

the Wall Street Journal, a big chunk of that $2 fee goes to Booz Allen. Okay, you're not going to believe this. Booz Allen has brought in $140 million in those ticket fees since 2018 to go to our national parks. Now, remember, Yetis, the national parks are our parks. Taxpayers own these parks. And yet, Booz Allen made $140 million charging fees for us to enter our parks. It'd be like if there was a turnstile to enter your backyard and you had to swipe your credit card to get back there. We're talking to Ticketmaster style, Taylor Swift, fee on us here, people. Now, surprisingly, the government defends this relationship and says it's a good thing for us taxpayers. They say it's an online reservation system that is so much better than the

government's pen and paper system. And Booz Allen, of course, says it's good too. Yeah, they're like, hey, we'll handle the coding, park rangers, you guys focus on the rattlesnakes. But park enthusiasts hate this arrangement. They say that one company has a feocry and is profiting on America's parks. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone in America? A small number times a big number can equal a really big number. Okay, yet is Jackson, my favorite quote from this story, came from one Booz Allen executive.

who kind of like let this slip during a meeting. He said that one thing you learned in business school is that a small number multiplied by a big number is a big number. No, like at a glance, everything Jack and I just described, it's like a boring business, right? Like, that sounded like a boring business.

Who wants to work with the government to run a website and charge measly $2 fees to visit parks? It sounds brutal. Like, how many companies would just ignore that and be like, I don't want to do that? That's not sexy. That's not profitable.

I'm not into that. I'll find a more lucrative business. But here's the thing. That $2 fee was like, oh, faithful, and it became a multi-hundred million dollar profit puppy. And why is that, Mac? Because a small number times a big number can equal a really big number. A really big number. A really big number.

Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there? Ryan Reynolds' Welsh football club is much more than just an acquisition. It's a powerful new genre of media, the pre-documentary. For our second story, Tesla's new factory in Shanghai. will build batteries the size of buildings. Because the key to sustainable energy, it's storage. And our third and final story. Visits to America's national parks are at record highs,

which means the $2 fees are at highs too. Never forget, a small number, times a big number, can be a really big number. Yeah. You almost cookie-crissed that one, didn't you? I almost did. Yeah, you almost did. Now, time for the best fact yet.

This one sent in by a couple that T-boys together, Yvonne and Darry's. from lovely Santa Clara, California. Last week, we warned you that you can't carry on peanut butter onto a plane anymore. Yeah, TSA will confiscate your $5 skippies all day. Now, after that best fact yet, we got stuffed with follow-up facts. We got so many peanut butter facts, but this was a great one. We had to do this one.

Do you know how much peanut butter the average American is eaten? Well, according to the National Peanut Butter Board, real thing, the average American eats 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches. before they graduate high school. No word on jelly. But if you continue that pace, the average American eats nearly 7,000 peanut butter sandwiches

in their lifetime. And if that's crunchy peanut butter, then it's like even more peanut butter in each one of those sandwiches, isn't it, Jack? And if it's smooth peanut butter, then you need a lot of milk. That's the preferred peanut butter. I think the milk industry

actually sponsors the peanut butter industry. It's the milk industry behind the national peanut butter board. Yeties, you look fantastic. today. And if you haven't yet, follow us on Instagram at T-Boy Pod, because we're posting some good stuff right now. There's quite a bit of activity over there. There is a lot going on

on the T-Boy Pod account. It's actually our favorite of all the national parks. Jack and I, we'll see ya at T-Boy Pod. How's that for rounding up, Nick? Really big. And before we go, congratulations to Yeti Satchin-Prince, who just ran their first half marathon in Chicago.

That is some serious logistics. And happy birthday to D. Raj Medini in Dublin, California. And Emmanuel Darimola, enjoy that birthday down in Dallas. And happy birthday to Indira Venkat in Potomac Maryland. And Max Bossert is turning 24 over a few enchiladas in Oakland, California. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Nick and I both on Stock of Robin Hood.

And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. They say cash is king. But most cash doesn't live like a king. It lives like a pawn. Most cash does nothing. It's just sit in there, earning no or hardly any interest. So how do you make your cash more royal? Well, Robin Hood offers 4.4% APY on your uninvested cash with Robin Hood Gold.

You can earn 4.4% APY with Robin Hood's $5 a month membership. That's how you make cash feel like royalty. To get started, go to robin hood.com slash T-boy and get your first stock for free. That's Robinhood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations and terms apply. Rate is subject to change and all investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Robinhood is not a bank.

But there's one publicly traded company that's making billions. Billions. If you're camping, well, actually, billions. Although I like that. You double down on it. And you're like, no, no, no, no, it's billions. I saw you doing something over there. I thought you were going to jump in and emphasize.

is a farmer. No, my bad. It was way off.