FIFA Draws Backlash for “Selling Soul of Football” & Apple Wants You to Lease Your iPhone

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0:32Austin Rief:Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, Apple wants you to lease your next iPhone. Then the controversial way FIFA is trying to cash in on its biggest World Cup ever. It's Wednesday, July 29th. Let's ride.

0:55Austin Rief:You know those frustrating people in your life who cause your blood to boil and your teeth to clench every time you talk to them, they could actually be bad for your health. A study from March is making the rounds online that looked at the impact of so-called hasslers defined as people who create problems or make life more difficult on health. And they found that for every additional hassler people interacted with, their pace of aging increased by 1.5%. The hasslers with the biggest negative impact were family members who aren't your spouse. There's no cause and effect discovered, so hasslers aren't necessarily causing you to die earlier, but there is a correlation between having difficult people in your life and the rate of aging.

1:34As someone who is about to get married, it was actually comforting to see that it was non-spouse family hasslers that showed the strongest detrimental impact, while spouse hasslers do not. So when you are getting bugged by your significant other, it's not taking years off your life. But yes, this was going very viral online and a lot of quote tweets were saying, oh, I've had at least three bosses that have literally taken years off my life. It's not complaining. It's a real health risk. I wonder what it says about coworkers. Non, I don't even want to go down that route. You're not a hassler, Neil.

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3:10It then wants to sell stakes in FFE to private investors valuing the company at around$20 billion with Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital taking the lead. Now anytime FIFA and money are mentioned together, the hackles of soccer fans around the world go up. The global soccer governing body just generated at least$12 billion in revenue from the World Cup, by far the most lucrative in tournament history. UEFA, Europe's governing body, immediately rebuked FIFA's latest plan, which they perceive as a money grab. It's not FIFA's to sell, UEFA said in a statement. None of us are the owners of football. It went on to accuse FIFA of attempting to sell the soul of football, treating it as a financial asset, and providing zero transparency over who ultimately benefits.

3:54They also threatened to boycott future tournaments. FIFA, in its head Gianni Infantino, sees its plans differently. His argument is that a rising tide floats all boats. If more money flows into the FFE, then more money can flow back out into the game. FIFA says distributions to each of its 211 member associations would increase from$8 million a year to a potential$20 million. The crux of the argument is whether a non-profit governing body should keep control of the biggest tournaments in the world, or if financial partners can come in and own parts of the commercial operation. And if they do, are their incentives aligned with what's best for the game?

4:31Austin Rief:This proposal drew reactions not just from the soccer world, but from the highest corridors of power. The new UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who is a big Everton fan, said the World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone's to sell. Dress up the deal however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out. And then in the United States, which I guess we care about soccer now, there was a congressman, Jamie Raskin, who's the highest ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He actually wants Infantino to come to the United States and testify before this committee.

5:03Austin Rief:He said soccer fans were already priced out of the World Cup by FIFA's corrupt price gouging before. More oligarch corruption just means more corporate tarnishing of the beautiful game. As far as Infantino is concerned, he's on one right now because they just made$12 billion in this World Cup. That's double the previous World Cup. He got 50 million people in the United States to watch a soccer game. So he's thinking it's time to cash in. Why are people and why is UEFA so concerned about this? The concern is that once you invite outside investors, foxes, into the henhouse of the beautiful game, the decisions are not necessarily going to always maximize what's best for the game.

5:43Instead, they'll start maximizing returns. And what critics are pointing out is that maybe it sounds sacrilegious, but more frequent World Cups, why wait every four years when you can do this billion-dollar boondoggle every two years? expand the tournaments even more. That was a big controversy about this latest one. Maybe you just invite 128 teams to the tournament to make more money. They're also concerned about player welfare. Players are already stretched to the absolute maximum in terms of games that they are playing. If you add more to their schedule to make more money, their bodies start to break down even further.

6:15So those are some of the potential roads that UEFA sees this leading, and they don't like where that's heading. And we have to talk about the Kushner angle as well because that drew a lot of controversy. Josh Kushner is a big investor in his own right, but he's also the brother of the son-in-law, Jared Kushner, of President Trump. And President Trump is getting cozy with Infantino. He won the first ever FIFA Peace Prize and then invited a lot of hackles this past World Cup over calling Infantino about one of the American players who got a controversial red card. And then the next few days, that player actually played in the game, which drew a lot of criticism from Europe and Europe, UEFA.

6:58These are the same folks that are leading the charge against FIFA, and they are a powerful bunch, UEFA. So just to be clear, FIFA is the world governing body, and UEFA is the European one. They've stopped a lot of Infantino's plans before because they have 55 members. We saw how powerful European clubs or European countries were at this World Cup. So if they threatened to boycott FIFA competitions, they're holding an emergency meeting this week, then that could stop Infantino in his tracks. I mean, UEFA is not some, you know, great and moral governing body either. They have a stake in the game as well.

7:34They put on the Champions League, which is outside the World Cup, the other biggest, you know, money driver and eyeball grabbing at tournaments. So they often compete commercially with FIFA as well. So don't think that they're getting through unscathed. And then finally, this is not just out of the ordinary. This is not unprecedented in the world of sports. There are lots of private equity structures that already exist in the game of soccer. The French League, Spanish League, Italian League, German League have all invited outside investors into them. The PGA Tour recently did something similar.

8:08So this is not completely out of left field. Again, it's FIFA and anytime FIFA and money are mentioned together, people get mad. But in the grand scheme of things, this is not something that came completely out of the blue.

8:21Austin Rief:Moving on, Europe's richest man is waging a PR battle with France's leading newspaper over accusation his children are vying for his throne in a family drama ripped straight out of succession. You're going to want to grab some popcorn for this. The spat began when Le Monde, a Paris-based news outlet, published a six-part investigation into Bernard Arnault, the founder and CEO of fashion giant LVMH, a larger-than-life figure consistently ranked among the richest people in the world. The articles raised questions about Arnaud's political influence, media ownership, and fierce business rivalries, but it was their reporting on the knives-out succession battle between his five children that apparently hit too close to home.

8:57Austin Rief:On Monday, Arnaud went on X for the first time ever to publish his response to Le Monde, and it was biting. In a three-page response laced with humor, Arnaud ripped the paper for their investigation, defending his family as a wholesome, hard-working bunch and not the backstabbing clan portrayed in the articles. He wrote sarcastically, among the Arnault's, apparently, one does not discuss, one plots. One does not deliberate, one competes. What in an ordinary family is called a Sunday is called in ours an intrigue. Tobias' letter went absolutely nuclear online with many leading business figures, especially on the right, applauding his clapback.

9:31Austin Rief:And it's also notable for marking a shift in Arnault's comm strategy. For decades, he's limited his media availability, projecting quiet power over public appearances. However, these allegations of a succession battle seem to set him off. Yeah, he has been opening up a lot recently. He went on an hour and 41 minute podcast where he discussed his daily life. He joined X for the first time. And I do think that this is indicative of a bigger trend we're seeing in CEOs right now who just joined X right before Arno. It was Jensen Huang, NVIDIA's CEO. He posted a letter defending, you know, open source AI.

10:07So we are seeing a growing, you know, train of CEOs bypassing traditional media, going direct to their fans or direct to, you know, people who want to consume their content instead of routing it through a CNN or a CNBC like that. So that is why we saw kind of this rallying, especially from Elon Musk, especially from Bill Ackman, who love posting online directly to people rather than, you know, being gatekept by traditional media organizations. And they were really applauding Arnaud here. And I think what makes his post stand out is the humor and the sarcasm of it all. When asked about this, Lamont's journalist, there were two of them that actually sat down with Arnaud and he thought that was pretty generous of him to spend his time with.

10:51And I think that's what would also set him off. He's like, I invited you into my house and this is how you repay me. Lamont said that, you know what, Arnaud, actually, this is funny, but he doesn't deny anything. And that's the most important thing for us. And when we're talking about succession, that is a sensitive topic for Arnaud. So he's 77. He leads Europe's most valuable company in LVMH. So thank the parent company of Louis Vuitton and Dior and basically any huge luxury company. They are the owner of. And he's 77. And he is pushing back on all these succession questions. He said, well, look, the board just said that I could be CEO till 85 and all of his five children work in LVMH.

11:32And I think that, you know, he is trying to push off this question using humor, but investors are getting a little antsy because we've seen succession battles like this one, maybe not even as convoluted as this one, with five children from two different wives start battling for what would be a very valuable position. So some investors are starting to actually question, look, it's pretty funny you said this, but we need to actually know who's going to take over for you when you step down. Still, you mentioned the humor and we do have to say how he ended the letter. Even though he criticized LeMond in the newspaper, the journalist, he admitted that the crossword puzzles are excellent.

12:08So he still likes it for that. Moving on, Apple is offering the option to rent your next iPhone. It introduced a new leasing program called Apple Upgrade, which lets customers divide up their payments into small monthly installments, which helps mitigate some of the sticker shock that comes with buying a new device. Apple is partnering with Klarna to offer the program and serving up one to two year leases for iPhones and up to three for Macs and iPads. The play here is affordability, or at least the perception of affordability. Monthly prices start at just$17.99 and max out at$45 for a one year lease for the most advanced iPhone 17.

12:46Apple hopes that those numbers are a lot easier to stomach than paying over$1 ,000 for a phone in one fell swoop. As any lunch packing parent knows, slicing an apple into bite-sized chunks makes it more digestible. It also hopes that as the average replacement cycle stretches to nearly four years, the leasing program will spur customers to upgrade more frequently instead of holding onto their iPhone 8s that still have Flappy Bird downloaded on them. The program arrives as the price for consumer electronics explodes with memory and storage chip costs quadrupling over the past year and an expensive foldable phone in the pipeline.

13:20It won't be long until we see a$2 ,000 iPhone. Neil, you can lease a car and lease a house and now your phone and computer.

13:28Austin Rief:Yeah. What sounds more palatable to you? A$2 ,000 MacBook Pro or a monthly payment of$39 over 36 months. And the auto industry has known this for a long time, and now Apple is getting in on the game. This is a preview of what's going to happen this fall. So Apple raised prices on tablets, and they raised prices on laptops a few months ago, and they're going to have to do it on iPhones in the coming months when they do this new big release. So when they raise prices on iPhones, and Morgan Stanley estimates that it's going to be up by$200 for the iPhone 18 Pro, and there is going to be this foldable phone that could come out at$2 ,500.

14:11They want to have this leasing program in place. They want customers to be used to it by the time they go on in the fall and say, hey, we got these new iPhones. They're going to be really expensive, but look, we have this way to make it more affordable for you. And it is more affordable. It's not just more affordable because it appears in bite-sized chunks. Someone on X kind of calculated this. If you're going to use the device for 24 months, which is two years, and you pay$31.99 per month. The total comes out to$767 for the iPhone 17 versus$1 ,099 if you bought it outright. Now, of course, you don't own the phone at the end of that period.

14:48I mean, I guess you could pay it off and buy it. But at that point, you're two years into owning your iPhone, you can swap it to a newer model. And that's actually good for everyone. Apple wants that. They've been seeing people clutch onto their iPhones, even if it's broken, even if it's cracked, because they don't want to pay the fee to get the latest model. So if they can get people cycling to newer iPhones, especially as they push into AI and they want people to have AI equipped devices, it kind of is a win for everyone involved because you're just rotating iPhones and you're paying less money.

15:22So the math checks out and it's exactly what the behavior that Apple wants to spur as well. Maybe the only companies that aren't liking this are the telecoms, like AT &T, Verizon, T-Mobile. They're probably having some board meetings right now saying, all right, well, how are we gonna respond to this? Because this is a direct threat to their installment plans. Usually if you want an installment plan to buy an iPhone, you would go through them. Apple is taking it in-house. A couple more notes on Apple. We'll probably hear more about this leasing plan on Thursday when Tim Cook, the CEO, hosts his final earnings call.

15:54And it comes as Apple touched$5 trillion in market cap yesterday. Earlier this week, they leapfrog NVIDIA to be the world's most valuable company again. And yesterday, they became the second company after NVIDIA to reach a$5 trillion market cap. Apple is doing all right. Let's take a quick break and come back with a story about jersey patches right after this. Every day, shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can easily make your voice heard too. Vanguard Investor Choice makes it easy to set your proxy voting preference for your eligible Vanguard index funds.

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18:23Austin Rief:Worth almost$17 million a year, it was the largest deal of its kind in college and even more valuable than some NBA jersey patch deals. I say was because the record lasted about the length of a college football halftime show. Just hours later, Notre Dame announced an even bigger jersey deal with SoFi, reportedly worth up to$20 million. Throughout the summer, powerhouse college sports programs have been linking up with companies for jersey sponsorships, another big step in the rapid commercialization of the NCAA. Back in January, the organization approved patches for uniforms, with D1 teams allowed to slap two patches of no more than four square inches on jerseys for regular season games.

19:00Austin Rief:Then it'll be up to the rules committees for tournaments like March Madness and the college football playoff to decide what they want to do for the postseason. What this does is unlock a new revenue stream for college programs at a time when they need to pay players to keep up with rival schools. Hyping up its deal with Chase, Ohio State said the funds would support athletics through name, image, and likeness, or NIL, as well as enhance the Buckeyes' overall competitive success. Toby, just know Michigan is getting on the phone with Goldman Sachs. They absolutely are because this is just the state of the game at this point.

19:30Industry sources estimate that Notre Dame's football roster cost more than$40 million to assemble last year. So, of course, if you can get half of that back, essentially, in one jersey patch deal, others are going to be looking at that same thing because they want to compete. They want to stay competitive with Ohio State, with Notre Dame. Notre Dame's deal is especially interesting to me because they have famously minimalist jerseys. They don't even write the names of their players on the back of their jerseys, and yet here they are putting SoFi on the front of it. So that's probably why they could charge an even bigger premium than even Ohio State.

20:08I thought that was interesting. But jersey patches in sports are becoming bigger and bigger. I was going through some of the best jersey patch deals In the NBA, the Warriors have an insane deal. Their agreement is worth more than$50 million per year with an AI cloud provider, IREN. It's the richest sponsorship deal in the history of North American team sports, just for a little patch on the front of your jersey. Then on the college side, we saw some of the worst deals ever, too. The worst deal is the Big 12 struck one with Monster. It is a conference-wide jersey patch agreement. That means all the teams in there have to wear monster energy.

20:48And that deal spreads$20 million across the entire conference. So each team gets about$1 million per year. Compare that to Notre Dame, which is getting$20 million for one school. Yeah, they did this earlier in the summer. And I think as more teams struck jersey deals and they got richer and richer, the Big 12 was like, what the heck are we doing? Probably my favorite one is Wisconsin linked up with Culver's. And I think that's just a great match. And J.P. Morgan, Ohio State, you're thinking, what do they have in common? Well, J.P. Morgan has a big office in Columbus. It's one of the biggest employers in Columbus.

21:22You mentioned that the Warriors one was the biggest in the history of North American sports. But I just, based on all the soccer hoopla this summer, I just wanted to see how much those sponsors play to be on like a Real Madrid jersey. And it's a lot more than they get here. So Fly Emirates is paying$114 million annually to be the front of Real Madrid jersey.

21:45Austin Rief:And HP, HP pays$80 million a year just to be on their sleeve. Oh my God. This is just$80 million a year. I didn't even know they were on their sleeve. Exactly, me neither. But just to be on their sleeve, there's so many people who wear Real Madrid jerseys or who watch their games that they think it's worth it to pay$80 million just to be on their sleeve. It's going to be very interesting, too, to see how many individual teams strike jersey patch deals and how many go the conference route as well, because maybe Ball State isn't going to be able to get HP to sponsor their jersey. But their conference is going to say we can monetize the eyeballs that we bring in as a whole.