The Best One Yet - 🚛 “Sloppy Soundtracks” — Spotify’s AI purge. NFL’s 3 huge sales. Starbucks’ McDonald moment. + Anthropologie’s $1K rock.

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

Starbucks is decaffeinating itself, closing 400 stores… but there’s hope for Starbs at McDonald’s.3 NFL teams just sold at record prices... They sold to Private Equity, but what about fan shares?Spotify deleted 75M AI songs, while AI slop is slowing your work day… Welcome to the AI Garbage Truck Era.Plus, Anthropologie is selling a rock?… For $1,000?$SBUX $SPOT $URBNWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Saturday Night Live 📺Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ to listen.NEWSLETTER: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. September 26th. And today's pod. Today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. Nick and I are whipping up the top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

Now, yeah, he's last week. I told you how Jack called ahead on Molly's and my first date night after our baby and had a drink waiting for us when we got to the restaurant. Champagne. Not Prosecco. Oh, yes. Champagne. Uh-huh.

We-wee. But Jack, I came up with a term for this. We're going to call it the cocktail call ahead. Nice. The cocktail call ahead. So Bessie, if you are celebrating to win this weekend and you want to make a buddy feel fantastic on Saturday, do the cocktail call ahead. And then Venmo Nick and me, because I'm talking to my lawyer right now.

We're trademarking cocktail call ahead. We'll get you a shout out on the pod. But Jack, three stories for today's tea boy. It's so good. What do we got on the pod? For our first story, this month, three NFL teams are being sold at record high prices. The Giants, the Patriots, and the Bears. Oh my. Oh my. But instead of the private equity patriots, Jack and I want to see the people's patriots will explain.

For our second story, Starbucks just announced their biggest store closure ever. Sadly, you may actually lose your local starbs. But Jack and I think Starbucks turnaround is going to work out, and it begins at McDonald's. And our third and final story is the biggest surprise problem at work these days. Yep. AI slop. In fact, Spotify just announced they deleted 7.5. 75 million AI tracks. Wow. So Jack and I think every company is about to have a new job. We call it AI garbage truck. But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories for the end of the week, Jack. How much would you pay, Nick, for a rock? A rock, like a

regular old rock. I'm thinking a dollar, less than a dollar. Honestly, I'm probably not paying for a rock, Jack. I mean, full disclosure, I had a rock collection and a nice tiger's eye. All right, so noted, I'm going to get you a rock tumbler for Christmas. I'll make it, make it, make an hour. But get this, Yetis. Over at Anthropology, a store owned by urban outfitters, they're selling rocks for $1,000 each. A thousand bucks for a rock, not a tiger's eye, not a quartz crystal, just a big old ordinary heavy rock.

Why is anthropology selling rocks? And why are they charging a grand for a stone? Well, we jumped in T-boy style, and it all began with a TikTok video this month that got 12 million views. Phoebe Adams was playing a prank on her boyfriend. She pretended to understand. pretended to unbox a rock that she bought from anthropology for only $150. Now, her boyfriend Dan, he freaked out.

Phoebe defends herself and says, this is a one-of-a-kind rock. Anthropology had to go into the ground to find it. Which caused your boyfriend Dan to just freak out even more. Boyfriend Dan goes in the backyard and said, here, I got you this rock for free. But then she said it didn't have the feng shui of the anthropology rock. Great prank. That video went viral for making fun of anthropology. and Anthro Girlies.

But here's the business twist. Anthropology didn't let the sticks and stones break their corporate bones. No, they got in on the joke and actually began selling rocks. Anthro started putting up rock displays at stores so people can take picks with them. And buy them. So Yeties, you can actually buy a rock, a plain old regular rock at Anthropology for way more than it's worth. Well, we'll check in on the next earnings report from Urban Outfitters to see if you actually bought any. And if you did, it's probably a cell signal for our style of cars.

In the meantime, Jack, let's hit 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 a 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 rare to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story. The biggest action of the NFL season so far, it's not the actual football games, is in the balance sheets. We'll tell you why three legendary NFL teams have sold at record high prices this month, and why they should have sold to fans instead of finance.

Now, Jack, since you are a legendary D3 backup starting quarterback. Yes. Who also happens to be an economics major? I feel like the story was made for you to tell. So why don't you take it from here, Jack? Talk to us first about the Chicago Bears. All right, the Chicago Bears, the Bears, the Bears are selling 2.35% of the team

at an $8.9 billion valuation. Okay, that's the Bears. Jack, what about the New York Giants? They're selling 10% of the team to the widow of the billionaire David Koch at a $10 billion valuation. And finally, Jack, the New England Patriots, what have they been up to?

They're selling 8% of the Patriots at a $9 billion valuation to a private equity firm. And as a Giants fan, I'm glad the Giants are worth more than the Pats. It's pretty cool that it's less than the Giants, I got to say, Jack. Although we should point out, Robert Kraft is doing just fine. Yeah, Robert Kraft owns the Patriots. He bought them for $172 million in 1994. So what's his return been, Jack? At a $9 billion valuation today, that's a 5,000% return in 30 years.

Although that's only two times better than the stock market, the S&P 500 over the same period, we should point out. Still, this deal is making Jerry McGuire tell us. To quote Rod Tidwell, show me the money. Now, why are three legendary historic NFL teams all selling stakes in themselves in the same month? Well, it's because the NFL made a rule change one year ago that turned teams into banks. Yeties, historically, NFL teams have been like privately owned mansions. Yeah, they've been like mansions. Big family-owned assets filled with the family.

For example, Jerry Jones, he runs the Dallas Cowboys like it's his own house and his own family. He reportedly shows up to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium at 6 a.m. sometimes just to like check on the place. In fact, the NFL owners wrote up the rules of the NFL to make it that way. Rules that are written basically to keep the ownership like royalty, right, Jack? Each NFL franchise must have a controlling owner who owns at least 30% of the team and acts as the face of the franchise. Okay, but here's the plot twist. One year ago, those owners agreed to allow the sale of up to 10% of an NFL team to private equity.

The reason why? Like the Royals, actually. Many NFL owners are rich on paper. They got a gorgeous palace, but they're broke when it comes to cash in their bank account. That's the key. So this new rule change lets the owner sell 10% of the team to big finance, keep the ownership, and get some liquidity. but you can only sell to an approved list of private equity firms. Yeah, you got to be a private equity firm that has earned the right to buy part of an NFL team, right?

And a private equity firm where all the analysts can run a 40-yard dash in less than five seconds. If your managing director can bench press 135 pounds, only then are you allowed to buy part of an NFL team? So that rule change is why the top story of the NFL season so far isn't Saquan Barkley or Travis Kelsey. It's historic team selling stakes in themselves. for the first time in decades. It's the team sales, a new rule change that lets the owners

sell a slice of their NFL mansions like royalty for cash. It was time to use the button jack. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the NFL? Why just big finance? The NFL should let owners

sell to fans. Yet he's, the NFL, it's like a country club. 32 members who don't want any more than that. That's why they banned public ownership, like an IPO. way back in 1960. Now, I know what you're thinking.

What about the Green Bay Packers? Yes, they do have stock in their team, but they got grandfathered in. And Green Bay Packers' stock isn't really stock, you know? It can't go up in value. But, Nick, it doesn't have to be this way. True. Over in the UK, the British soccer team, Manchester United,

IPO, fans can buy stock and man you. It's the same with the Atlanta Braves. The baseball team, you can buy that on the stock market. Here in the States, NFL owners don't want the obligations of being a publicly traded company. Earning supports, SEC regulations, stuff. But they could stay private and still allow sales of stakes to fans

and offer them maybe to die-hard fans only. That'd be epic. Even if there are no dividends, Fens would love the emotional value of being a part owner. And fan ownership, that'd be a PR win. Huge marketing opportunity. I mean, just look at what happens at the end of Ted Lassow, Jack. Spoiler, spoiler, but yeah. The Carolina Panthers, they could become the people's panthers.

Why just big finance? The NFL should change the rules again, and let the owners sell to fans. For our second story, Starbucks announced its closing 430 North American stores plus 900 layoffs. The company is decaffeinating itself. But the night is always darkest just before the dawn. Don't look at Harvey Dent. Look at McDonald's and Walmart as proof.

Yeties, you remember in Austin Powers, Jack, when Dr. Evil becomes CEO of Starbucks? Not the product placement that Starbucks was expecting. That was super random, wasn't it? The headquarters was the space needle, and it said Starbucks on all the windows. They were doing the Belgian dip. I hope they paid for it, but I'm also like, did you guys pay for this? Well, Starbucks just had their worst day since Austin Powers. And they may need Austin Powers to help come in and rescue the company.

The CEO, Brian Nickel, announced yesterday that the poorest performing 400 North American locations of Starbucks would close. That's 2% of all Starbucks locations, including reportedly the iconic Capitol Hill Starbucks in Seattle. Plus, 900 non-briesta jobs like the desk jobs at corporate, those are going to be terminated too. In fact, the CEO asked everyone today to work from home as the layoffs become clear and the dust sadly settles over at Starbucks. Now, I got to be honest. Yeah. Nick and I saw this coming. We did do a story on this related topic like two weeks ago. Starbucks over-indexed on digital orders in their app, and they missed the big.

big trends in caffeine. Protein maxing in Broeistas. The result? Starbucks stock has been down this year. It's been in its decaffeinated era. Dutch Bros. is now a Starbucks rival, and they've gone viral for their 15 gram protein coffee. And the Dutch Bros. Coffee's like a beef jerky of cold brews, basically. Meanwhile, Black Rock coffee, they just IPOed. They're small, but they have twice as many loyalty members per store as Starbucks does. Add up all that protein, and they're both targeting guys and fitness gals with giant cups of caffeine, grab and go at leisure lattes, if you will. Meanwhile, Starbucks is still pushing pumpkin spice latte, and they want you to sit and sip in the coffee house like it was 1990. Now, yes, we know what you're thinking. By the way, Starbucks did just

launch protein foam, but it may be too little to latte for Starbucks on that one. Which has allowed another rival to enter the market. Seven brew. They were early on the protein trend, Jack. They probably put like two straws in each of their cups to get you energized ASAP over there. They're the opposite of Starbucks. Oh, and this week, Chick-fil-A said they're launching a coffee chain. Chick-fil-A is probably going to put white meat in the chicken cappuccino's for you, so you really leave with a protein high. Now, we said recently that Starbucks's customer love isn't being disrupted. It's just being eroded. But Jack and I are actually bullish on these Starbucks beans, and we think Bruce Wayne would approve. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Starbucks?

Starbucks will have what McDonald's and Walmart are having. Now, yeah, you have. Jack and I have been covering business news for over a decade, and we've seen a range of iconic companies look like they're getting disrupted, but come back stronger. Ten years ago, McDonald's looked McDed as fast casual was a big negative for the McNugget industry. But McDonald's increased its minimum wage, switched to all white meat chicken, and brought back grimace, baby. Ten years ago, Walmart's eulogy was being written,

as Amazon was absolutely hyperscale. But then Walmart increased their minimum wage, modernize their stores. They learned e-commerce. Ten years ago, the same negative vibes were facing McDonald's and Walmart as Starbucks is facing today. But now both of them are seeing stocks at all-time highs. Jack, what kind of numbers we're looking at? McDonald's has tripled in the last 10 years, and Walmart stock has five-xed in the last 10 years. Besties, these disrupted brands, we thought, focused on their core businesses, improved, adapted, and thrived again once those fads faded. So don't count Starbucks out. brands do not fall easy. The coffee is always darkest before the dawn.

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story before the weekend, Spotify just deleted 75 million fake spammy music tracks as AI invades the music world. AI slop has arrived everywhere on our digital shores, including at your work. So the next phase of AI is the garbage truck phase. Yes, it is. Cleanup time, baby. Now, Yeties, Jack and I happen to be shareholders of Spotify, so we pay attention to their PR announcements. And Jack, what do we notice they post on their site yesterday in all capital letters? A blog post that said this, fighting AI impersonation, spam, and deception. Now, Spotify opened this announcement by praising how advancements in technology have improved music over the years. And we were waiting the whole time for the butt. Yeah, the butt. And here's the butt, Jack. But AI is different. Spotify said that AI has been confusing listeners and unsettling for creatives.

Jack, why don't you read us exactly what Spotify said? At its worst, AI can be used by bad actors and content farms to deceive listeners, push slop into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists who are working to build their careers. So Spotify announced new policies to stop AI bad guys and eliminate music AI slop from their airwaves. But how pervasive is this AI? Slop that Spotify's trying to delete. Okay, these numbers are like so wild, they're going platinum. You see, Spotify has deleted 75 million music tracks already. And that's just the beginning. Jack, could you sprinkle on some context, please? How big is 75 million AI slop songs? Well, it's more

than there are ABA tracks, Jack. But yeah, yeah, how many is it? Well, according to Spotify's website, Spotify has over 100 million tracks that you can listen to. Okay, so a number is 75% as big. is that have been fake tracks. Let me say this another way. For every four real songs on Spotify, three fake songs have been published by a bad actor and deleted by Spotify. Okay, for every four real songs, there are three fake songs. I'm sorry, Jack, but to quote the poet Bruno Mars, give me something I can feel. Dude, I can feel that. I mean, like, I want music I can feel. You know what I mean? But yet it's, it's not just music where AI slop is everywhere. There's a story we almost covered about a new podcast startup that is, as they put it,

flooding the zone with AI podcasts right now. This startup is generating 3,000 AI-generated podcast episodes every week. And one day, we may get a knock-off Nick and Jack. It's going to be called Jack and Nick. Here's another industry, videos. The most viral video of the summer was Rabbits on a Trampoline. Did you see that? It was a delightful watch.

I thought it was lovely until... It was fake. We all got duped. We all got dup. But Bessie's, it's not just music. It's not. just podcasts and it's not just videos either with AI slop. It's your cubicle at work. Every industry is dealing with work slop these days as well. We're receiving emails twice as long as they used to be

that aren't actually written by our co-workers. Let us know if you've had this scenario before. Carol in accounting prompted Chat Chepti to lengthen her idea into one long comprehensive email. And then you received that email from Carol and use ChatGPT to shorten the email to something much shorter. I think Carol should have just come to you directly. Cut out the two AI bots. Classic Carol. But according to HBO, Harvard Business Review, 40% of us are getting that kind of work slop right now in our cubicles. AI was supposed to save us time, but this kind of nonsense does the opposite. It's nonsense. That's a good word, Jack. Your dad would use that word. So Jack wants to takeaway for our buddies dealing with AI slop. We are entering the garbage truck era of artificial intelligence. Yeties, Spotify also interestingly announced a filter to catch slop and spam as it's uploaded. But as AI proliferates, they'll have to up their efforts to delete the stuff that gets through the filters. So Spotify also has to rewrite the rules for labeling, something more nuanced than simply AI and not AI.

And we think this will happen across all content platforms. Yes. They're going to have to come up with filters, labels, and rules for how AI can be on the platform or not. And, Jack, one thing we know about bad actors. on the internet, they move faster than the rules do. So every platform is also going to need a garbage truck, a way to get the AI trash off the platform or people won't want to be there. Besties, AI slop has already arrived in our shores, so it's time to hire the digital cleanup cruise. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday?

Ownership stakes in NFL teams are changing hands like never before, but it's only with PE firms. So the NFL should change the rules. rules again. We're throwing a flag. Let fans become the owners, not just finance. For our second story, Starbucks is sadly closing 400 North American stores, about 2% of the total number, and laying off 900 people. But Starbucks will have what McDonald's and Walmart are having. And our third and final story is Spotify. They announced they've deleted 75 million spammy AI tracks from their music platform. And you just got a 75 million word email from Frank and Finance.

AI Slop has arrived on our shores. It's time to hire the digital cleanup crew. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, TikTok, I can't believe we're giving another update, but President Trump signed an executive order approving the sale from the U.S. side, but it is still not done yet.

We did not get all the details. Trump did not give details Monday on who from the U.S. side is going to buy TikTok. He only said that Larry Allison, Michael Dell, and Rupert Murdoch are involved. Now, Jack and I have done a few deals before, and here's the key. We don't have the other side of the deal. China has not approved this yet. So the TikTok deal is not done until President Xi says so. It's like me posting on Instagram that I bought a house, but the seller of the house has not agreed to sell the house today. So I probably should hold off on making that post. And second, Amazon's antitrust lawsuit, the huge one that started this

week, it's already over. They settled. Amazon will pay a two and a half billion dollar fine for allegedly tricking us customers into our prime subscriptions. The government said that Amazon used dark tactics to get signups and then made you click like 17 times if you wanted to unsubscribe from Prime. Now, some of the $2.5 billion, it's going to go to victims who signed up by accident. You get a payday, which would probably end up spending on Amazon. And finally, Nike skims, the collab of the year goes on sale today. It's the biggest new Nike brand since Air Jordan.

Literally. Watch out Jim Rats. A new fashion is coming to the squat rack near you. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me, because Jack's got, this one's personal. This one's personal, Jack. All right. So today, the Rider Cup begins. Yes. It's the best golfers from America versus the best golfers from Europe. And it's going down on Long Island over at the Bethpage Black famous golf course. Now, one reason Bethpage Black is awesome. It's a public course. It's owned by the state of New York. So anyone can go play. You don't need some fancy shamanry club to get in. Yes, technically everyone can play. But first time golfers at Bethpage Black basically have like

a hazing ritual. Okay. You have to camp out the night before and wait in line to golf there the first time. It's a right of passage. Something tells me these words are being spoken right now from a man traumatized from such an experience. No, I wasn't traumatized. It was awesome. My brother, tuck and I, we camped out in the car. We got a tea time finally at 7 a.m. went to McDonald's, got some egg McMuffins, teed off. Nick, everyone was watching my first drive. Best drive I ever hit in my life. And your final score on that match, Jack?

I don't want to talk about it. Story for another pod. Story for another pod. Yeties, you look fantastic going into the weekend. Jack, I got to say, you look like... Cash money? Yeah, you look like cash money today. Besties, if you got some wins to celebrate,

hit us up. We love reading them when you hit us. in the DMs. Dude, we should put one of those machines on our T-boy store. I think what you're saying, Jack, is if we started selling this thing, you and I'd be making. Tell them buddy, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I this weekend, and Jack and I will see you Monday. And before we go, a happy first birthday to legendary Yeti,

Ava Vaya Real, celebrating up in Napa with, get this Jack, a silly goose theme party. And Israel Martinez in Dos Palos, California. Happy birthday over there. Happy birthday to Josh Hatfield. Albuquerque, New Mexico. And Marin Edsman is celebrating the best birthday yet on legendary Hawaii. And Joe Bader the 2nd from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Happy birthday. And Jacqueline Traeger in New Canaan, Connecticut has a new job and a birthday. Happy birthday to Miles Clark in Salt Lake City, Utah. And Alex

Chong celebrated in Sugar Land, Texas. Happy sixth anniversary to Jason Geiger and his wifey Dada in Buffalo, New York. And congratulations to Jing Wong, whose pet funeral service over in Toronto, is opening up their second location. And congratulations to Crystal Kennedy over at Duke University, who is a PhD graduate of genetics and genomics. She was born to do it, Jack. She was born to do it. This is Jack.

I own stock of Amazon, Nick own stock and Nike, and we both own stock of Spotify.