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DETROIT, MI – SEPTEMBER 29: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) runs with the ball during a regular season game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions on September 29, 2019 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

On any given Sunday, there will be more National Football League games available on streaming services than ever before — some even exclusively.

The NFL season kicks off Thursday with the Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions. Since the season opener is considered a “Sunday Night Football” game on the schedule, NBCUniversal will air the game on both its broadcast network and streaming app, Peacock.

This more aggressive shift toward streaming comes after several seasons of companies such as Paramount Global, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Disney‘s ESPN showing games simultaneously on streaming services and traditional TV. Now, media companies are bulking up their streaming platforms with more exclusive content in hopes of not only signing up more subscribers, but also locking them in as long-term customers.

Later in the season, Peacock, along with Disney’s ESPN+ and Amazon, will have games that will be streamed only. Google’s YouTube TV and the NFL’s streaming service will also become bigger players in the streaming game.

Streaming may also play a bigger role in NFL viewership as Disney’s networks have gone dark for customers of cable-TV provider Charter Communications, which could coax football fans to opt for internet TV bundles such as Fubo.

When media giants signed NFL media rights deals in 2021, valued at more than $100 billion, more of those deals included the rights to streaming games. Plus, in this past year, the NFL sold the media rights to its “Sunday Ticket” to Google‘s YouTube TV for about $2 billion annually, shifting access to the package of out-of-market games to a streaming-only audience.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had pushed for a streaming-only home for “Sunday Ticket,” saying in the months ahead of closing the deal that he thought it was “best for consumers at this stage.”

Who’s streaming the NFL?

More and more NFL games are being offered through streaming services in addition to their broadcast and pay-TV homes, but this season will see more games exclusively available outside the traditional TV ecosystem.

“I don’t think simulcasts had a material impact on streaming services, which is why they’re pushing so much more exclusively to these platforms,” said Daniel Cohen, executive vice president of global media rights consulting at Octagon.

Two exclusive games will air on NBCUniversal’s Peacock this season. NBCUniversal earlier started simultaneously airing “Sunday Night Football” on NBC and Peacock. Its first-ever regular season game on Peacock happens late in the season in December when the Buffalo Bills take on the Los Angeles Chargers.

The first-ever NFL wild card playoff game to be solely streamed occurs shortly after that on Jan. 13 on Peacock.

“Expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while maintaining wide reach for our games continues to be a key priority for the league, and bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock’s streaming platform is the next step in that strategy,” Hans Schroeder, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media, said in a release earlier this year.

The NFL has been a vehicle for attracting more Peacock subscribers, Comcast executives have said on recent investor calls. Peacock had 24 million subscribers as of June 30.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Skyy Moore celebrates scoring a touchdown, Feb. 12, 2023.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

“Sunday Night Football,” the top-rated prime-time show on TV, averaged nearly 20 million viewers last year, and its Peacock audience has been slowly growing in the single-digit percentage range.

Paramount+ also airs games on both broadcast network CBS and its Paramount+ platform, although it doesn’t have any exclusive offerings. Fox Corp., which also owns the rights to Sunday NFL games, doesn’t stream games other than through its authenticated app, which requires a pay-TV subscription.

Disney, which holds the rights to “Monday Night Football,” will air an international NFL game exclusively on its ESPN+ platform for the second time since last season.

Other than this, games that exclusively air on Disney’s broadcast network ABC will also be on ESPN+, as well as some “Monday Night Football” games that air on ESPN. ESPN+ had 25.2 million subscribers as of July 1.

More people may opt into streaming services to watch “Monday Night Football” this season depending on how long the carriage blackout between cable company Charter and Disney drags on. Disney alerted Charter customers they can subscribe to internet TV bundles such as its Hulu + Live TV.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s Prime Video, which enters its second season as the home of “Thursday Night Football,” will exclusively stream the first-ever Black Friday game after Thanksgiving this year, which will see the New York Jets host the Miami Dolphins.

Amazon’s inaugural “Thursday Night Football” game last season attracted more than 13 million viewers, the most streamed game ever, according to Nielsen. During that same game, Amazon saw a record amount of Prime signups during a three hour period during its debut game.

On top of this, those who want to watch out-of-market games on “Sunday Ticket” will have to subscribe to YouTube TV, shifting the package away from satellite-TV provider DirecTV for the first time ever.

The league’s own NFL+ will also become a beefed up offering this year, offering access to the NFL Network and NFL RedZone channels.

But will these exclusive games be enough to move the needle? It depends, Cohen said.

“One of three things will happen,” Cohen said. “Fans will not care enough to dig into their wallet for a subscription, or they will sign up for a free trial subscription and cancel after the games, or they will pirate the game.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

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Uber beats on revenue, announces $20 billion stock buyback

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Uber beats on revenue, announces  billion stock buyback

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Uber reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat on revenue and announced the authorization of a $20 billion stock buyback.

Here’s how the company did versus analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 63 cents vs. 63 cents expected.
  • Revenue: $12.65 billion vs. $12.46 billion expected.

Here are the key segment numbers:

  • Mobility (gross bookings): $23.76 billion, up 18% year over year
  • Delivery (gross bookings): $21.73 billion, up 20% year over year

Uber’s revenue increased 18% from $10.7 billion a year earlier. For the quarter ending June 30, net income rose to $1.36 billion, or 63 cents per share, from $1.02 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.

Gross bookings rose 17% to $46.8 billion, and the company reported adjusted earnings of $2.12 billion.

Uber’s “monthly active platform consumers” increased 15% to 180 million in the second quarter. The company said users booked around 3.3 billion trips during the period, up 18% from a year earlier.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in prepared remarks that Uber sees “enormous potential in better serving families across all stages of life.”

Read more CNBC tech news

In the second quarter, Uber launched Senior Accounts, including an “app experience” that features larger text and icons, and other features that allow family organizers to book and manage rides for others.

The company also recently started testing a new feature in the U.S. that allows women riders or drivers to avoid being paired with men in their ride when possible.

In some international markets, Uber Eats’ food delivery service is more popular than ride hailing, and the company is working to increase “cross-platform activity” to drive sales growth, Khosrowshahi said.

Uber shares are up 48% this year as of Tuesday’s close, while the Nasdaq has gained about 8% over that stretch.

Executives will go over results and the company’s outlook on a call with analysts at 8 a.m. ET.

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Uber YTD stock chart.

Lyft and Baidu look like perfect partners for the robotaxi business: Analyst

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Musk says Tesla is training an upgraded Full Self-Driving model which could be released next month

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Musk says Tesla is training an upgraded Full Self-Driving model which could be released next month

The Tesla Motors Inc. logo.

Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Tesla is now training a new Full Self-Driving model boasting “big” video improvements and size upgrades, CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday on social media.

“Tesla is training a new FSD model with ~10X params and a big improvement to video compression loss. Probably ready for public release end of next month if testing goes well,” the tech billionaire said in an update on the X social media platform.

FSD is a partially automated driving system that seeks to enable Tesla vehicles to navigate and maneuver in driving situations with minimal driver assistance. Owners must keep their hands on the wheel, and remain ready to take over steering or braking at any time. It also serves as an upgrade to the company’s Autopilot driver assistant, which is already available in Europe and China.

The system is based on an artificial intelligence model that helps the car’s cameras and sensors perceive the world around it. Musk’s comment on “10X params” refers to a larger parameter size. In the case of AI models, that usually means it is a bigger model that is trained on more data and is more capable.

FSD has been a central pillar of Musk’s strategy for Tesla’s revenue growth and tech advancement in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle market, where Chinese automakers have stepped up to the plate.

Tesla bulls expect the company’s future will be in autonomy as Musk’s automaker focuses on ramping up its offering of self-driving features.

Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, this year.

But right now, the market is focused on how Tesla’s core business of selling cars is doing. And it has been challenging. Tesla most recently reported a 16% decline in automotive revenue in the second quarter and has also been notching steep declines in its European sales.

The company’s stock has taken a bruising this year that has been exacerbated by reputational damage from Musk’s now-severed relationship with the White House administration. Tesla shares were down 23.55% this year as of Wednesday morning.

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U.S. charges two Chinese nationals for illegally shipping Nvidia AI chips to China

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U.S. charges two Chinese nationals for illegally shipping Nvidia AI chips to China

China is one of Nvidia’s largest markets, particularly for data centers, gaming and artificial intelligence applications.

Avishek Das | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Two Chinese nationals in California have been arrested and charged with the illegal shipment of tens of millions of dollars worth of AI chips, including from Nvidia, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. 

Chuan Geng, 28, and Shiwei Yang, 28, exported the sensitive chips and other technology to China from October 2022 through July 2025 without obtaining the required licenses, the DOJ said.

The illicit shipments included Nvidia’s H100 general processing units, according to a criminal complaint provided to CNBC. The H100 is amongst the U.S. chipmaker’s most cutting-edge chips used in artificial intelligence applications. 

The Department of Commerce has placed such chips under export controls since 2022 as part of broader efforts by the U.S. to restrict China’s access to the most advanced semiconductor technology. 

This case demonstrates that smuggling is a “nonstarter,” Nvidia told CNBC. “We primarily sell our products to well-known partners, including OEMs, who help us ensure that all sales comply with U.S. export control rules.”

“Even relatively small exporters and shipments are subject to thorough review and scrutiny, and any diverted products would have no service, support, or updates,” the chipmaker added.

Geng and Yang’s California-based company, ALX Solutions, had been founded shortly after the U.S. chip controls first came into place. 

According to the DOJ, law enforcement searched ALX Solutions’ office and seized phones belonging to Geng and Yang, which revealed incriminating communications between the defendants, including those about evading U.S. export laws by shipping sensitive chips to China through Malaysia.

The review also showed that in December 2024, ALX Solutions made over 20 shipments from the U.S. to shipping and freight-forwarding companies in Singapore and Malaysia, which the DOJ said are commonly used as transshipment points to conceal illicit shipments to China.

ALX Solutions did not appear to have been paid by entities they purportedly exported goods to, instead receiving numerous payments from companies based in Hong Kong and China.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and the FBI are continuing to investigate the matter.

The smuggling of advanced microchips has become a growing concern in Washington. According to a report from the Financial Times last month, at least $1 billion worth of Nvidia’s chips entered China after Donald Trump tightened chip export controls earlier this year. 

In response to the report, Nvidia had said that data centers built with smuggled chips were a “losing proposition” and that it does not support unauthorized products.

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