TeeJay Tech Bro

  Before the Chiefs and Ravens kick off another season of Heisman House commercials, the NFL is finishing up some business. The league is expected to vote today to allow private equity ownership of franchises, marking a significant change to its ultra-exclusive ownership club and paving the way for nicer stadiums with comfy seats. The vote, all but guaranteed to pass, is a historic softening by the NFL, which will be the last of the major sports leagues in North America to permit private equity ownership. The NBA, MLB, and NHL currently allow PE to own up to 30% of a team, while the NFL’s expected cap is 10%. Why this is happening: NFL teams have gotten too expensive . It’s nearly impossible to buy a team if you’re not a multi -billionaire, and even then, you probably need some reinforcements to meet liquidity requirements. (See: Josh Harris and 15 of his friends buying the Washington Commanders for $6 billion.) This is a problem for the NFL because: It severely limits the number ...

  Like a ref after reviewing the VAR, FIFA President Gianni Infantino changed his mind mid-game yesterday, officially recalling his proposal to sell a 20% stake in future World Cup profits to private equity after resounding condemnation of it from inside and outside the sport. After delivering a highly successful and lucrative North American World Cup, Infantino seemed poised to coast into a fourth consecutive term as FIFA’s president. Now, he’s hoping to hang onto his job after unveiling a plan on Tuesday that would have: Spun off the money-making parts of FIFA —including proceeds from tournaments like the World Cup, broadcasting deals, and hospitality—into a new subsidiary distinct from FIFA’s nonprofit mission. Valued that subsidiary at $20 billion to sell a 20% stake to a private equity group led by Joshua Kushner (brother of President Trump’s son-in-law) for $4.2 billion. Forced to play defense The backlash came fierce and fast once Infantino revealed the proposal to FIFA’s ...

  As most of you spent your last working day of the year debating whether or not to polish off the three remaining semi-stale sugar cookies airing out on top of the file cabinets, the delayed Q3 economy data finally arrived and things looked...good? According to the Commerce Department, the US GDP smashed economists’ expectations, growing at a 4.3% annual rate last quarter—the fastest pace in two years. The numbers further complicate the current picture of the economy, which also shows cratering consumer sentiment and a higher unemployment rate . Hey, big spender Economists expected GDP growth from July to September to come in around 3.2%. The economy seems to be growing at a more modest 2.5% annually since Trump took office in January, just slightly higher than the 2.4% in 2024 under the Biden administration. Experts said that last quarter’s GDP benefited from President Trump’s most intense tariffs disappearing. The biggest gains, meanwhile, were led by increased military spendin...

  The phrase “In this economy?” might only get more timely, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Yesterday, it released a report stating that, despite the global economy taking a smaller initial hit from President Trump’s tariffs than it previously predicted, growth will continue to slow , with the full effects yet to be felt. The organization projects that, as American companies deplete their stockpiles of foreign products, economic lethargy will set in: The organization expects US growth to be higher than it predicted in June, but still not as strong as last year. It projects it to reach 1.8% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024. And in 2026, it expects growth to slow further to 1.5%. Meanwhile, instead of global GDP expanding by 2.9% as it predicted in June, the OECD now projects 3.2% growth in 2025 and 2026 (it was 3.3% in 2024). The OECD noted that the US economy was recently buoyed by tech companies investing heavily in AI. But the group p...

  The US economy is growing at a slower pace, but it’s not letting anything knock it down. GDP growth sank to 1.5% last quarter, the government estimated yesterday, down from 2.1% in the previous quarter and below the 1.8% that economists expected. But, after stripping out volatile government spending and trade numbers, the US economy still grew a relatively healthy 3.9% despite jitters from the Iran war—largely because Americans kept shopping: Growth in consumer spending, aka the mighty fuel of the US economy, accelerated to 3.2%, from 0.5% in Q1. Analysts say that household budgets were aided by bigger-than-usual tax refunds this spring and gas price declines in June stemming from a ceasefire in the Iran war, which has since unraveled. A separate government report showed that cheaper gas contributed to overall consumer prices falling in June by 0.1% for the first time in six years, though the annual inflation number of 3.7% was still above the Fed’s goal of 2%. Analysts warn th...

  The Fed keeps acting like a teacher who refuses to answer any questions about what’s going to be on the test. While announcing yesterday that interest rates are staying unchanged , Fed Chair Kevin Warsh continued with his tight-lipped approach to communicating future rate expectations. But… if one were to guess from the few clues out there, it looks like rate hikes could be on the horizon: Yesterday’s decision to keep rates stable wasn’t unanimous. Three regional Fed presidents—out of 12 total members on the committee that sets borrowing costs—voted to hike rates. Investors largely expect the Fed to hike rates at its next meeting in September, with some analysts saying surging oil prices reaccelerating inflation will necessitate the move. For now, though, the Fed held its benchmark rate steady in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Vague king Still, anyone looking to predict the future isn’t getting big hints from Warsh. The central bank released a concise statement that was almost identic...

  Look, up in the sky! It’s not a bird or a plane…it’s a drone carrying your burrito. The company that lets you order takeout with just a few clicks because calling a restaurant is too much effort is now refining even more sophisticated tech for its new drone delivery business, DoorDash Air. The US’ largest delivery company said yesterday that it received a certification from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a commercial drone delivery service. However, DoorDash doesn’t expect to launch these deliveries until the fall. If you want futuristic food delivery before then, you’ll need to be in one of the locales where DoorDash currently partners with Alphabet’s Wing or Flytrex—partnerships the company said it will keep even as it becomes a competitor. DoorDash plans to pull off an act of coordination even more complicated than getting your whole family to agree on which restaurant to order from. It aims to use its software edge and build “the full stack” to facilitate d...