CEOs Cut Workforces & World's Biggest Illegal Sports Streaming Site Shut Down

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Morning Brew Daily

Episode: CEOs Cut Workforces & World's Biggest Illegal Sports Streaming Site Shut Down
Date: September 4, 2025
Hosts: Neal Freyman & Kyle Haggie

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Episode Overview

This episode explores two significant business news themes:

1. The new era of CEOs openly bragging about job cuts, largely enabled by AI and changing market incentives, and its ripple effects on workers and workplace culture.
2. The shutdown of StreamEast, the behemoth of illegal sports streaming, and what it reveals about the economics (and frustrations) of modern sports viewing.

The hosts also cover Amazon's tightening on Prime sharing, changing consumer sentiment about the American Dream and movie theaters, the Powerball lottery surge, and public transport chaos in Philadelphia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tech in Everyday Life: Avocado Scanners

• Tesco, the UK supermarket, is rolling out avocado infrared scanners at select stores.
• The hosts debate the necessity and silliness of this tech:
  • Kyle: "We all wanted flying cars and we just got avocado scanners. Like, where is technology going?" (02:05)
  • Both hosts ultimately side with tradition (team squeeze) over technology for avocados, though Neal concedes there's a place for precision tools in cooking.

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2. CEOs Bragging About Layoffs & AI’s Role in Corporate America

Main news:

• Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff publicly boasts about laying off 4,000 staff, emphasizing, "I need less heads" (04:00), attributing it to AI advances.
• Other examples:
  • Amazon's Andy Jassy: Forecasts further job reductions due to Gen AI (04:50).
  • Wells Fargo’s CEO: Highlights continuous headcount reductions for 20 consecutive quarters.
  • Google: Announced slashing a third of its small-team managers.
• The language has shifted from euphemisms (“right-sizing”) to blunt celebration of leaner organizations.

Notable Quotes:

• Neal: "For nearly the entirety of the history of capitalism, hiring and growing your headcount was seen as a sign of strength, and now it's seen as a sign of bloat and inefficiency... Maybe you could call it the GLP1-ification of corporate America." (05:00)
• Kyle: "There's this vision that every employee is going to become this super employee that doesn't need a manager and is super powered with AI. And you know, we'll see if that comes true. But right now we're still stuck with avocado scanners." (07:38)

Insights:

• CEOs are both responding to, and marketing, the efficiency gains of AI as shareholder-friendly moves.
• The rhetoric dehumanizes laid-off staff ("heads" not people), indicating a new, colder corporate culture.
• Middle managers are especially vulnerable, as companies flatten hierarchies in the name of efficiency.

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3. Illegal Sports Streaming Crackdown: StreamEast Shut Down

• StreamEast, the world's largest illegal sports streaming platform, with 1.6 billion visits in a year, was taken down in a global sting led by ACE (Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment) and Egyptian police (07:52).
  • Authorities seized assets and arrested suspects outside Cairo.

Impact:

• Millions of sports fans—global and US—lose access to free/illegal streams as the NFL and Premier League seasons start.
• Stats: 43% of surveyed international respondents would consider unofficial sports streams; 11% of US adults pirated content in 2023 (09:02).

Commentary:

• Kyle: "RIP to the goat... if LeBron [James], who has more money in the world, is still using streaming, it's like maybe something's broken on the streaming side as well." (09:02)
• Hosts note the extreme expense and inconvenience of legal sports streaming (as much as $1,500/year for all NFL games), fueling piracy demand (10:03).

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4. The War on Account Sharing: Amazon Follows Netflix’s Lead

• Amazon is ending its "Prime Invitee" program, a relic from 2009-2015 that allowed users to share free shipping with someone outside their household (11:01).
• Move follows Netflix’s successful crackdown on shared accounts.

Business Motivation:

• Amazon needs higher Prime sign-ups as growth slows and competitors (e.g., Walmart Plus) undercut on price and add perks (13:02).
• Prime members are far more valuable, spending $1,200/year vs. $570 for non-members (14:23).

Remarks:

• Kyle: "I wouldn't be surprised in a year or two if this password crackdown continues from Amazon's pov." (13:57)
• Neal: "The hits keep coming here. This show, I mean, first we have StreamEast going down and now we have this prime sharing debacle... Amazon is just looking at [Netflix] saying, let's run this playbook back." (13:02)

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5. Neil’s Numbers: Stats from This Week’s News (16:27 – 22:41)

a. The Death of the American Dream (16:27)

• 70% of Americans now say working hard won't necessarily get you ahead (WSJ/NORC poll).
• Just 25% believe they can improve their standard of living.
• 75% don't think their children will be better off.

Kyle: "Feels like we lost optimism, we lost a sense of American exceptionalism." (17:32)

b. Lottery Mania (18:38)

• Powerball hits $1.7 billion jackpot.
• Americans spent $103 billion on lottery tickets in 2023—more than movies, books, concerts, and sports tickets combined.
• Massachusetts: fifth-highest revenue despite being 16th in population due to cross-border buyers and high incomes.

Odds:

• Powerball: 1 in 292 million chance to win, much less likely than other rare events.

c. Movie Theaters’ Brutal Summer (21:05)

• Worst US/Canada box office summer since 1981 (excluding pandemic years).

• Only two summer weeks broke $300M at the box office, vs. nine in 2019.

• Franchise fatigue: 20 of 26 top summer films were sequels/reboots/remakes/video game adaptations.

• Studios lean on nostalgia with cinematic rereleases (Jaws, Toy Story, Twilight).

• Kyle: "I think movies will always have a place in American society... but there's just so many opportunities to do things outside of the movies now that I don't think they're ever coming back." (22:17)

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6. Final Headlines (22:41 – 25:31)

• Florida proposes ending all vaccine mandates for kids, defying long-standing public health policies. Strong bipartisan criticism, even among Republicans:

  • Sen. Bill Cassidy: "[Florida's plan is a] terrible thing for public health." (24:01)

• Philadelphia Eagles season opener transit chaos:

  • SEPTA (Philly transit) slashes service due to funding shortfall, risking gridlock at Eagles games.
  • FanDuel (sports betting company) steps in with $80k to provide crucial train service post-game.
  • Kyle: "It does feel a little dystopian that a sports betting company is keeping our regional transit alive." (25:17)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Marc Benioff (Salesforce CEO): “I need less heads.” (04:20)
• Neal: “Middle managers are getting absolutely walloped in this greater, you know, head force, headcount reduction environment.” (06:51)
• Kyle (on streaming): “If LeBron... is still using stream east, it's like maybe something's broken on the streaming side as well.” (09:02)
• Neal (on sports streaming costs): “...you would have to pay $651 to watch every NFL game for this season... Other estimates have it at near $1,500.” (10:03)
• Kyle (re: Amazon, Netflix, Hulu): “Amazon joins streaming giants who are cracking down on password sharing and continuously tapping the sign that says one account per person.” (12:46)
• Neal (on the American dream): “Pretty much everyone thinks the economy sucks.” (16:27)
• Kyle (on movies): “It's not just other movies that are your competition. It's anything you can be doing.” (22:17)
• Kyle (on Philadelphia transport): “One telling Philadelphia Eagles fans to be reasonable and consolidate a tailgate, that's not going to work out.” (25:17)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:15 – Avocado scanners at Tesco: Tech vs. tradition in everyday life
• 03:21 – CEOs openly celebrate layoffs; Salesforce, Amazon, and Google as examples
• 06:51 – The decline of middle managers; organizational flattening in tech
• 07:52 – Illegal sports streaming site StreamEast shut down
• 10:03 – The true expense and logistics of legally streaming the NFL season
• 11:01 – Amazon tightens Prime sharing; context on the account/password crackdown trend
• 16:27 – Neil’s Numbers: American dream pessimism, lottery fever, and movie theater decline
• 22:41 – Final headlines: Florida vaccine mandate debate; Philly’s transit drama at Eagles opener

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Tone & Style

The episode is witty, fast-paced, and conversational, mixing skepticism, humor, and critical insight. Hosts are skeptical of corporate rhetoric, darkly amused by the dystopian edges of the business news, and pragmatic about consumer behavior.

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Recommended For:
Listeners interested in the intersection of business, technology, culture, and society—especially those seeking a quick, sharp read on how workplace, entertainment, and economic trends are shifting under the surface.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Brew Daily Show I'm Neal Freyman.

[C]

And I'm Kyle Haggie.

[B]

Today why CEOs are cutting employees and openly bragging about it.

[C]

And why watching football this year just got a little bit harder. It's Thursday, September 4th. Let's ride.

[B]

Kyle There is nothing more frustrating than buying some avocados from the store to make guac for a party, only to realize they're either too ripe or not soft enough for perfect split smashing. Well, avocado guesswork may be a thing of the past, thanks to technology. Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket chain, is introducing avocado infrared scanners to five of its stores to help customers gauge the ripeness of the fruit. Simply hold the avocado up to the scanner and it'll return one of two ripeness readings whether it's ready for smashing or better for slicing. Now, this has divided a lot of people. One Tesco avocado buyer said the scanner would help people make better shopping decisions and cut down on waste. Others said it is a gimmick and that giving the avocado a quick squeeze works perfectly fine. Kyle Are you Team Scanner or Team Squeeze?

[C]

Look, I'm Team Squeeze. We all wanted flying cars and we just got avocado scanners. Like, where is technology going? I can't imagine texting someone like, oh, sorry baby, I'm running late. I'm in line at the avocado scanner. I'm Team Squeeze.

[B]

Neal all right, well, I also am team squeezed because after, you know, a little experience and interactions with avocados, you can kind of tell whether they're ripe enough. I mean, it's not exactly rocket science, but I do to go to bat for technology and precision in cooking. We shouldn't, shouldn't. I mean, I have a meat thermometer. When I'm making a medium rare steak, I put a meat thermometer in there so I can take it out at exactly 135 so I know I'm not, you know, touching it like I would an avocado. So I think there is a place for technology in cooking. This might be a road too far.

[C]

There's a fine line between meat thermometer and avocado scanner. I think you're spot on. Now, a word from our sponsor. Indeed. Neil, what do you envision for the future?

[B]

Robots, flying cars and space pirates.

[C]

Very cool. But if you'd let me finish, I was going to say the future of hiring.

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[C]

Learn more at indeed futureworks.com/brew that's indeed deed futureworks.com Brew Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce, who frequently uses the term ohana, a Hawaiian word for family, to describe his company, did something you wouldn't normally do to your family brag about laying 4,000 of them off. Yes. Benioff, on a recent episode of the Logan Bartlett show, cheered on the fact he was able to cut 4,000 of Salesforce customer support roles, saying, quote, I've reduced it from 9,000 heads to 5,000 heads because I need less heads, end quote. This was in reference to AI's impact on this particular function. Now, Benioff isn't the only CEO letting the world know that their companies are leaner and meaner. In June, Andy Jassy, chief chief executive of Amazon, released a memo saying the company's corporate workforce will shrink in coming years because of Gen AI. In July, Wells Fargo CEO bragged about being able to cut headcount for for 20 consecutive quarters. And just last week, Google announced it had gotten rid of a third of its managers overseeing small teams. So what gives? Well, gone are the days of coded language like reduction in force or right sizing that were meant to downplay a company getting rid of employees and buffer the organization against negative market perception. And in are the days of the market embracing companies that are using technology to replace human employees or or allow them to not backfill roles once employees leave in the Words of Hewlett Packard's finance chief, Mary Myers, quote, flatter is faster. Neal, asking for a friend here. Has I figured out how to host podcasts yet?

[B]

Yes, they have, and I just hope they don't get too good while I'm still my prime here. But it is a remarkable shift. For nearly the entirety of the history of capitalism, hiring and growing, your headcount was seen as a sign of strength, and now it's seen as a sign of bloat and inefficiency. It's all about getting lean. Maybe you could call it the GLP1 ification of corporate America. And the language these CEOs are using is quite interesting to dive into. I mean, what did Marc Benioff say? He said, I need less heads. He's not even referring to these people.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

As people. He's saying. He's just calling them heads. Verizon CEO last week said they had been, quote, very, very good on headcount. Typically, that would mean, yeah, we're growing, we're adding to our headcount. But he later clarified that to mean it's going down all the time. Just a huge reversal from what we've seen for centuries.

[C]

Yeah. And, you know, the CEO's job is to make stock price go up, essentially. And so the market is now responding well. When companies say they're getting more efficient because of technology, you know, it's also, Benioff is talking his own bag up here because Salesforce has agent force, which allows companies to deploy AI for customer support in other roles. And so by him saying, wow, it's helping Salesforce internally. It's also marketing for their own product. We should be a little weary here. Klarna made a big deal of replacing employees with AI. Think it was last year. Sometime they actually had to walk that back and say, yeah, it was more efficient, but quality went down, and they ended up rehiring a lot of these people. So with a lot of companies selling AI solutions, it's critical to look between the lines here. There was a recent Stanford paper, though, that showed the effect of this on recent grads that I thought was really interesting. It showed that there's a 16% drop in relative employment for recent college graduates, because a lot of these companies, you know, there's attrition, they're not rehiring and looking to fill those roles with technology.

[B]

Let's talk about managers specifically, because the old middle manager is getting absolutely walloped in this greater, you know, head force, headcount reduction environment. Google, you mentioned has eliminated more than one third of its managers overseeing small teams. There was this Korn Ferry pullback in the spring. Of 15,000 global professionals, more than 40% said their companies has slashed management rakes. Mark Zuckerberg came out in 2003 with a year of 2023 with a year of efficiency. He sort of was the vanguard of getting flatter as an organization not having so many direct reports or so many levels where you are constantly reporting to someone else. We'll see how that works out. But it's clearly pervaded corporate America, this idea that the middle manager is just a superfluous role.

[C]

Yeah, I think the GLP1 ification was spot on, Neal. And I think there's this vision that every employee is going to become this super employee that doesn't need a manager and is super powered with AI. And you know, we'll see if that comes true. But right now we're still stuck with avocado scanners.

[B]

It's devastating news for people who think they're money saving geniuses by illegally streaming sports. Stream east, the largest illegal sports streaming platform, has been shut down. And they would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling coalition of media companies and Egyptian authorities. The sting was announced by ACE, or Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a group of 50 media companies including Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Paramount that tackles piracy. ACE announced that in a raid last month, Egyptian law enforcement officials arrested two men on suspicion of copyright infringement outside of Cairo and seized laptops and smartphones. They found over $6 million being laundered, an additional $200,000 in cryptocurrency. It's a huge win for the anti piracy movement because Stream east is the king of illegal streams. Its network of 80 unauthorized domains received 1.6 billion visits in the past year from viewers sidestepping paid channels to watch the NFL, Premier League Soccer, Champions League, NBA, mlb, UFC and more. Which makes it a tough pill to swallow for fans who came to rely on Streamys for their football or football fix. Usage spikes in the fall when the Premier League and NFL seasons get going. Kyle, rip Streamys.

[C]

I mean rip to the goat. And I've heard from friends, from friends that this was a very powerful service that allowed you to watch a lot of sports and that they'll miss having to click exit on those pop up ads every six seconds, you know. Interesting. Some research from Brand Finance, which is a global brand valuation consultancy, they found that 43% of 14,000 respondents in 13 countries considered using unofficial livestream websites rather than paying full price to watch a Sport. And a 2023 study found that 11% of U.S. adults pirated content in the previous year. So it's a decent size of people that are going to these illegal streaming services, whether because it's free or it's just easier than navigating the 10 options you have to find football. For example. I want to say one thing. There was a LeBron meme that went pretty viral a couple of years ago where LeBron James courtside was watching Stream east, the Timberwolves versus the Mavericks. If LeBron, who has more money in the world, is still using streaming, it's like maybe something's broken on the streaming side as well.

[B]

Well, we've seen the Balkanization of sports rights as streaming companies have started to buy them up to buffet their services. And it has become extremely expensive to watch NFL. I mean, we were about to begin the season tonight and there are some calculations that you would have to pay $651 to watch every NFL game for this season. You need at least a half dozen streaming services and YouTube TV if you don't have traditional cable. That 650 is also a very conservative estimate. That's if you find all the streaming discounts, you set up an antenna, etc. Other estimates have it at near 1500 dollars to watch every NFL game, whereas previously, you know, you would just watch it on cable or broadcast. So this is the environment in which Stream east was a very go to channel for people to, to. To get their sports fixed without paying these absurd prices.

[C]

Yeah, and you mentioned NFL. Also, Red Zone announced that it's going to have commercials this year. And you know, in defense of the sports leagues and these streaming services, this is how they make money. We're seeing players make more and more money contract wise, we're seeing franchise valuations skyrocket. A big part of that is deals with streaming services and deals with cable companies that pay for the whole thing. So I understand why these companies are trying to crack down on sites like Stream East. If you're still recovering from getting kicked out of your former roommate's ex girlfriend's Netflix login during the great Netflix password crackdown of 2023, you might want to cover your ears for this segment because now Amazon is attempting to do something similar. Now, don't worry too much. The move is more limited in scope. Amazon is winding down prime invitee, which, which was a perk that allowed prime members to gift one person who did not live with them free shipping. Essentially a bare bones Amazon Prime. The program ran from 2009 to 2015, and anyone who received it during that time has had fast free shipping ever since. Now this move comes amidst a backdrop of renewed focus on Amazon Prime. During the lead up to Prime Day, a four day sales event in July, the company registered 5.4 million US signups, which fell short of their internal goal by over 100,000 signups. Prime memberships and other subscription fees account for about 7% of Amazon sales, which generate over $10 billion a quarter. But the growth rate of prime subscriptions has tapered off and Amazon is looking to find more customers who will sign up and pay for their own accounts, even if they have to apply a little pressure like this. Now Amazon joins the ranks of Netflix, Disney plus and Hulu Max and other streaming giants who are cracking down on password sharing and continuously tapping the sign that says one account per person. On the bright side, if you were part of this Amazon invitee program, maybe you gave free shipping to a boyfriend or girlfriend who didn't live in live with you. Yet Amazon is promoting Amazon Family, which allows you to share all the perks of a full prime account with one adult in the same household. So even Amazon thinks you should move in together. Neil, be honest. How much password sharing are you doing over there?

[B]

I'm doing a lot of password sharing. When I go into a streaming service, I literally have no idea what account I'm on. But the hits keep coming here. This show, I mean, first we have Stream east going down and now we have this prime sharing debacle. It's not quite a debacle, but it is an indication that Amazon is perhaps getting a little nervous about its Amazon prime numbers. As you mentioned, they had a pretty rough prime day signup period. They have Walmart plus, which is a rival subscription service that is rolling out a bunch of new things. Walmart plus just announced this week that they're adding Peacock to their offering. So you get free Peacock. They already offered free paramount. That costs $98, which undercuts Amazon prime on price. So they need to squeeze more juice. They saw it work really well with Netflix. Netflix stock went crazy after they did this password sharing crackdown because so many new people signed up. So Amazon is just looking at that, saying, let's run this playbook back.

[C]

That's right. And Amazon is again not going as far as Netflix did with like, you know, kicking people out of prime accounts or like forcing validation. You could still share one with your family because you can use free shipping, send a package anywhere. I know many people that do something like that, but if they need to apply the pressure, there is ways exactly like Netflix did for Amazon too. So I wouldn't be surprised in a year or two if this password crackdown continues from Amazon's pov.

[B]

And the stakes couldn't be higher because Amazon prime shoppers are so much better customers for Amazon than non Prime. They spent an average People with Prime memberships spend an average of nearly $1200 with Amazon in 2024, compared with just $570 for nonmembers. So getting everyone signed up to prime is just a huge deal for Amazon. We'll see whether this makes a dent.

[C]

We're taking a quick break, but when we get back it's Neil's Numbers not.

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[B]

Welcome to Neil's Numbers, the segment where I share three stats from the week's news that will turn you into your trivia team's MVP for my first number. The American Dream is cooked, according to the majority of Americans. In a new Wall Street Journal NORC poll, nearly 70% of respondents said they believe that the principle of the American dream if you work hard, you'll get ahead, no longer holds true or never did. That is the highest level in nearly 15 years of this survey. Yes, everyone's really emo about the economy right now. The share of people who said they have a good chance of improving their standard of living dipped to 25%, a record low. And looking forward, more than 75% said they don't have the confidence that the next generation will be better than their own. There were no clear demographic differences either. Pretty much everyone thinks the economy sucks. Men and women, younger and older adults, people with and without college degrees, and those making more or less than 100 hundred thousand dollars. Kyle one of America's greatest assets has been this unbridled optimism, the conviction that things will get better for me and my family if I put in the work. Seems we have lost that spot on.

[C]

Yeah, it feels like we lost optimism. We lost a sense of American exceptionalism. The survey, 17% found that the U.S. economy stands above all others in the world. Nearly 40% said other nations have better economies, which was a 15 point rise from 2021. Some Stanford economists also found that there is these economic metrics of gdp, other metrics that they are looking at, and then economic sentiment. Typically those move together. They found that in 2005, until the pandemic, those went in line. After that they diverge. So even as the economy does get better on some metrics, there is a vibe session, as Kyla Scanlon would call it, where the vibes are. Often people's sentiment is lower. It also might just be catching up to the fact that, like the upward mobility in America is not as good as a lot of people think. The World economic forum had us ranked 27th in the social Mobility Index, I think behind a lot of other countries that we thought weren't as socially mobile as us. So people might just be maybe wising up to the fact that, yeah, you know, America isn't perfect and there's some real struggles, particularly around housing affordability, which was mentioned in the survey time and time again.

[B]

For my next number, Americans may be sour about the economy, but they sure do love playing the lottery. Last night, the $1.4 billion Powerball drawing produced no winner, sending the jackpot soaring to $1.7 billion, the third largest in history. For the next drawing on Saturday, your local Gas station is going to be busy. In 2023, the most recent year data is available, Americans spent approximately $103 billion on lottery tickets, more than they spent on movies, books, concerts, and sports tickets combined. Surveys show that about half of Americans buy a lottery ticket at least once a year, and the majority play only infrequently, like when jackpots rise to over $1 billion, as they do now, so the spending is heavily concentrated in a small group of power players. The most lottery loving state is my own Massachusetts. Despite being the 16th most populous state, Massachusetts had the fifth highest lottery revenue of $6.1 billion. Analysts think that's because people living in neighboring states come to Massachusetts to buy lottery tickets for bigger payouts at the same prices. Also, Massachusetts residents have one of the highest median household incomes in the nation, giving them more disposable income to throw away. And that's pretty much what you do when you play the lottery. Of the $103 billion Americans spent on lotteries in 2023, they earned a total prize payout of $69 billion, leaving many billions going to states. On average, lottery proceeds make up 2.3% of state revenue. Not an insignificant amount. Kyle. $1.7 billion jackpot. I'm already daydreaming about what I do.

[C]

I know we need to, we need to get a ticket together. I lottery proceeds, you mentioned 2.3% of state tax revenue. On average, the highest states, about 7% of state tax revenue in Rhode Island, West Virginia and South Dakota. So those states definitely love the lottery when it comes to keeping their state afloat.

[B]

Let's talk about whether you're going to win or not. And the answer is no, because the odds of winning this Powerball jackpot coming up is 1 in 292 million. That is by orders of magnitude less likely than going to the ER with a pogo stick related injury, which is 1 in 115,000. You're also far more likely to birth conjoined twins than when the when the Powerball jackpot that the odds of birthing conjoined Twins is about 1 in 201 in 200,000. So, yeah, 1 in 292 million is almost unfathomably unlikely. But of course we're going to go buy a ticket.

[C]

Yeah. You're saying there's a chance deal.

[B]

For my final number, it's been hate. For my final number, it's been a historically bad summer for movie theaters in the US And Canada. The box office just had its worst summer since 1981, adjusting for inflation and not including the COVID years when theaters were closed. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Back in May, AMC CEO Adam Arone told investors, we believe that a dramatic reawakening of the industry wide domestic box office has begun, adding that the summer slate would be, quote, barn burners one after another. Yeah, that didn't happen. According to the New York Times, There were only two weeks when North American theaters collected more than $300 million, compared to nine weeks when that happened in the summer of 2019. Franchise fatigue could be one factor. This summer, 20 of the 26 movies that collected at least 20 million in North America were either a sequel, remake, spin off, reboot, or video game adaptation. But people are simply tired of them. Half of those franchises from this summer, such as Superman, did worse than the version that came before Kyle. A lot of people predicted the pandemic would kill off movie theaters once and for all. Theaters survived Covid, but it's clear that outside of a phenomenon like Barb and Heimer, this is a leisure activity that's never going to be as popular as it once was.

[C]

I agree. I don't think it's ever coming back. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings famously said that, quote, sleep is their competition. I think it's the same for movies. Like, it's not just other movies that are your competition. It's anything you can be doing. There's way more entertainment options, particularly at home. So I think movies will always have a place in American society. I mean, that, that buttered popcorn does slap, but there's just so many opportunities to do things outside of the movies now that I don't think they're ever coming back.

[B]

What, what studios are doing is they're dipping into their bag of tricks by doing a lot of rereleases to generate more revenue. So what was the number two grossing movie last weekend after Weapons? It was Jaws, which came out in 1975. Universal has 12 rereleases on its 2025 slate. Disney just announced that Toy Story is coming back to theaters on September 12th to celebrate the 30th anniversary. Twilight is going back to theaters this fall to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Stephanie Meyer's original book that came out 20 years ago, two decades ago. We've already seen Black Swan, Tim Burton's Batman movies, Clue. All these movies have come out this year that have already come out many years ago. And there's actually, they're actually making a decent amount of money from this. So this is going to be a tool that these theaters use to get more people going, just playing up nostalgia and releasing all these movies from decades ago to celebrate various anniversaries. All right, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. Florida is aiming to become the first state to end all vaccine mandates, including for kids, which would scrap a decades long tradition in American public health to stop the spread of infectious diseases. In an announcement near Tampa yesterday, Florida's Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo said, who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body saying of vax mandates, every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery Right now. Florida law requires that children get vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella and other infectious diseases to attend school. And any effort to end the mandates would have to get legislative approval. The move came under swift criticism from health experts, Democrats and even some Republicans. GOP Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who heads up the Senate's health committee, called Florida's plan a quote, terrible thing for public health. And finally, the NFL season kicks off tonight in Philadelphia with the Eagles hosting the Cowboys. But the only thing that'll be running smoothly is Saquon Barkley. Septa, the regional transit authority for Philadelphia, implemented steep service cuts last week after state legislators failed to increase its funding. Those 20% cuts included ending express train service to the South Philly sports complex. And chaos was expected at the season opener. The Eagles even issued a statement telling fans not going to the game to avoid coming down to the stadium and and urge people to consolidate tailgates to make more parking spaces available. But yesterday, a white knight the Sports betting company FanDuel is forking over $80,000 to provide express train service for fans leaving the stadium, which should lead to less mayhem after the Eagles stomp on the Cowboys. Thank you, FanDuel. But also Pennsylvania, get your act together.

[C]

Yeah. One telling Philadelphia Eagles fans to be reasonable and consolidate a tailgate. That's not going to work out. So I'm glad fanduel saved them. But. But it does feel a little dystopian that a sports betting company is keeping our regional transit alive.

[B]

Very. I mean, this is a disaster. If you listen to anybody in Philadelphia, I mean, they're very scared about what's happening. They already cut 20% of service. They eliminated 32 bus routes. And then this is only the first phase. There's a second phase that begins in January where they're going to just scrap 50 bus routes entirely, not have 66 stations working, going to eliminate five regional rail lines so like besides the sporting events, the people are just commuting around Southeastern Pennsylvania are just facing an absolute firestorm right now. The state legislator needs to figure it out and restore service because, you know, forget the Eagles game though. We won't forget the Eagles game, but just in general, your daily movements will be a huge headache down there. That is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us. Have a wonderful Thursday. Kyle, this is your last show with us this week. Appreciate you filling in. You give this podcast that much needed Midwestern energy. But this doesn't have to be goodbye forever. Remind people where they can find you.

[C]

Yeah, my three day residency of the show is over. I'm very sad, but you can find me on another show we have at Morning Brew per my last email, Work Life and Career podcast. We'll link to it in the description. And Neil, it's always a pleasure doing the show with you.

[B]

Same here. All right, if you have any thoughts or feedback on today's show, send a note to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our Executive producer. Raymond Luke is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake. Hair and Makeup is buying a Powerball ticket or 20. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[C]

See y' all tomorrow.

[D]

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