Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🏈 Inside the NFL’s push for world domination
• 🏛️ President-elect Trump continues to fill out his new Cabinet
• 🥇 How to steal 3+ tons of gold

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.62-minute read (1,229 words).

P.S. We’re always working to improve this newsletter. We’ve recently heard some feedback regarding its length, so for the rest of the week we’ll be testing the removal of our “Overheard” section.

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free.

"Silent and listen is the same word, just misspelled."

–CyHi the Prynce (b.1984)

The Carolina Panthers beat the New York Giants in overtime Sunday morning in the NFL's fifth and final international game of the season, which was held in Munich, Germany.

And while this year’s slate of international NFL games is now in the books, the league is just getting started on a master plan to spread its fandom across the globe.

• Hours ahead of Sunday’s contest in Munich, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell revealed the league is aiming for a record-high eight international games next year, including potentially the first-ever regular season game in Ireland.
• And, like a perpetual-motion desk toy, the NFL isn’t stopping there. Goodell says league owners will likely soon vote to double the number of international games to 16 – creating a scenario where all 32 teams could play one such contest per year.
• Additionally, the commissioner last month said there’s a possibility the Super Bowl will be hosted outside the US at some point in the future.

Divide and conquer

Much like territorial maps of yore, the NFL has divided up the globe among different teams through its Global Markets Program. Within the program, all 32 clubs have the option to apply for marketing rights to a specific territory on an annual basis, with no limits currently set on how many teams can target a certain market.

• This season, 25 franchises are participating in the program across 19 international markets (shown above☝️).

📝 Bottom line: Professional football has never been stronger financially. The NFL earned a record $13 billion in revenue last year – $1+ billion more than in 2022 – while the average team is now worth ~$6.5 billion, or 4x higher than a decade ago. But as the league tries to sustain these growth trends, there’s less and less room for expansion within the US – making international markets a top priority.

+Note: For more stories like this, subscribe to our sister newsletter, Press Sports. It’s free, delivered 1x/week, and designed to ensure you’re the smartest sports fan in the room. Subscribe here.

Whether it's finishing year-end reports or gearing up for finals, the end-of-year rush can be overwhelming. Niphtio helps you stay on top of it all, keeping your browser organized and making it easy to find exactly what you need, fast.

• 🖱️ Save articles, videos, and more with just one click
• 🔍 Easily retrieve past bookmarks – Niphtio searches content, not just titles
• 💾 Quickly save multiple tabs for later reading
• 📝 Attach notes for key takeaways and prioritization
• 📲 Accessible from any browser on any device

Stay productive, stay focused, and give yourself the gift of a stress-free holiday.

Get Niphtio FREE for any browser on any device here.

🏛️ President-elect Trump continues to fill out his new Cabinet. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a controversial congressional figure, was selected as Attorney General. Tulsi Gabbard, a former congressional Democrat who later joined the GOP, was tapped as Director of National Intelligence. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was officially nominated to serve as Secretary of State. John Ratcliffe, Trump’s former director of national intelligence, was chosen for CIA Director. Trump also tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will work outside the government to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” per Trump.

📈 Annual US inflation stood at 2.6% last month, per the October CPI. That’s in line with analysts' expectations but up from 2.4% in September, with roughly half of the increase attributed to rising shelter prices. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2% in October. Core inflation, which excludes often-volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% for the month and 3.3% annually. Despite the monthly uptick in prices, the Fed is still widely expected to cut US interest rates for a third straight time following its next meeting in December.

📝 NCAA eligibility rules could soon change. Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia has sued the NCAA, alleging the organization's bylaws that reduce the number of seasons junior college players can compete at D1 schools are unlawful and restrict players' ability to earn money off their name, image, and likeness. The lawsuit also takes issue with the NCAA's redshirt rule and four-year eligibility limit. The goal? Pavia is seeking an injunction that will grant him two more years of eligibility, effectively replacing his time at junior college. Moving forward, the ruling could impact how athletes approach NCAA athletics – and potentially open the door for the King of JUCO to make a comeback.

Retail therapy is getting a rebrand. In recent years, younger Americans have increasingly started “doom spending,” or swiping their credit cards to cope with political, economic, and personal stress, according to a new Intuit Credit Karma report.

• The company found more than a quarter (27%) of Americans say they “doom spend” to cope with stress – a figure which rises to 37% for members of Gen Z, and 39% for millennials.
• Additionally, 36% of respondents say they can’t rationalize saving money due to feelings of uncertainty about the world and economy. That jumps to 47% for Gen Z, and 43% for millennials.

The online doom loop

Per the report, doom spending can largely be attributed to the fact that many Americans are chronically online, where seeing an endless stream of bad news tends to make them stressed.

• More than half (53%) of Americans say they feel like they’re constantly receiving bad news online. But 44% also admit to being chronically online, including 70% of Gen Z and 52% of millennials.

🤔 Bottom line: Per Axios, recent data has left analysts with one main question: Are these patterns simply a reflection of younger generations' tendency to be less financially secure – or are they part of a cultural shift in which overspending now, with hopes of saving later, is becoming more common?

Switzerland offers a seamless blend of relaxation, natural beauty, and adventure. It lets you escape the pressures of modern life, unwind, and reconnect with yourself.

🏞️🌳🛤️ Ready to experience it for yourself? Subscribe free to Switzerland Tourism’s newsletter and confirm your email for a chance to win two flight tickets with Edelweiss in Economy class, as well as the all-in-one Swiss Travel Pass train ticket for two people in first class – aka everything you need for the full Swiss experience. Contest is exclusive to DONUT readers.

Your Swiss adventure awaits – enter FREE to win here.

• ☝️ You’re looking at some of the winners and honorees from the 2024 Nature’s Best Photography International Awards, which fielded 25,000+ entries from 62 countries.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• 💰 US markets rose slightly (S&P: +0.02%; Dow: +0.1%; Nasdaq: +0.3%). | ⚒️🏘️ M&A activity in the single-family homebuilder space is having a record year in terms of dollar volume, and is close to a record in the number of deals, per CNBC. | ✈️ Spirit Airlines shares fell 59% yesterday; the company is reportedly prepping a bankruptcy filing.
• 📝 BNPL provider Klarna filed for US IPO; analysts recently valued the company at ~$15 billion. | 🍕 Grubhub is being purchased by the Wonder Group for $650 million; Grubhub was valued at $7.3 billion in 2020.
• 🤖💼 AMD is laying off 4% of its workforce, or ~1,000 employees.

*From our partners: 😴 The perfect place to rest your head… The Original Foam Pillow from Tuft & Needle stays cool and conforms to your head and neck for a better night’s sleep. Soft and squishy, yet supportive and breathable. Save 20% on The Original Foam Pillow here.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺 Freevee, Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming service, will be shut down over the following weeks; Freevee’s content has already been migrated onto Prime Video, where it will remain. | 📺 Diamond Sports reached a deal with Amazon’s Prime Video that will see its 16 regional sports networks offered on the streaming platform.
• 📖 The 2024 Booker Prize – considered the most prestigious literary award for English fiction published in the UK and Ireland – was awarded to Samantha Harvey for her sci-fi novel Orbital.
• 🏆 John Krasinski was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2024.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with The Commons

• 🐦🧠 A newly discovered fossil provides the most complete glimpse to date of the brains of ancient birds who lived alongside the dinosaurs.
• 🌕 The last supermoon of 2024 will grace the night sky tomorrow evening.
• 💡🏄 Attaching LED lights to the bottom of surfboards could help deter great white shark attacks, per a new study.

*From our partners: 🌎 The Commons’ Community Exchange starts tomorrow!. Join a global weekend of community events with yard sales, swaps, and buy-nothings on November 15, 16, and 17. Lean on friends and community to find second-hand treasures. Find an event near you or sign up to host here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚫🏫 Lunchables will no longer be in school lunches nationwide, with Kraft Heinz attributing the move to weak demand.
• 🏛️ Republicans have won a majority in the House after winning their 218th seat, per the AP, clinching their hold on both chambers of Congress and the presidency. | 🏛️ Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was elected Senate majority leader for the next term; he’ll replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at the head of Senate GOP leadership.
• ⚖️📝 Jack Teixeira, the former Massachusetts Air National Guard member who was arrested last year for leaking classified US military documents via Discord, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. | ⚖️ A US jury ordered American defense contractor CACI Premier Technology to pay $42 million to three former Iraqi detainees for the company’s role in torture at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. | 📲 President-elect Trump is expected to stop a potential TikTok ban before it goes into effect next year, per a Washington Post report.

CLICKBAIT

• ☝️💰 Nasdaq CEO: Here’s the No. 1 piece of investing advice I’ve given my own son.

🪙⛏️ Stat of the Day: A drug trafficking gang in Colombia is taking the phrase “going for gold” to a whole new level. In recent years, the Gulf Clan armed militia has seized dozens of Colombian gold mine tunnels from Chinese state-owned firm Zijin Mining Group, and handed them to illegal miners in exchange for a cut of their profits. Zijin lost an estimated 3.2 tons of gold – worth $200 million – due to illegal mining last year, equivalent to 38% of the mine’s total production. The company has filed a $430 million lawsuit with the World Bank accusing Colombian authorities of failing to do their job. The recent surge in illegal gold mining has been driven by record-high prices, per government officials (+30% in 2024, to ~$2,600/ounce).

🤔 Did You Know? Studying venom from the Gila monster helped lead to the creation of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. It may have other uses, too.

📰 Worth a Read: The university trying to bring AI to every industry → (The Hustle)

Yesterday, we covered several major Cabinet members and senior advisors who were recently nominated by President-elect Trump for his new administration.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how do you feel about President-elect Trump’s picks for his administration thus far?

• 👍 I support most or all of Trump’s picks: 39%
• 👎 Trump could have chosen better in most or all areas: 42%
• ↔️ It’s a mixed bag – some good, some bad: 19%

Click here to read more of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,076 votes and 295 longform responses.

At the end of their first date, Charles Phillips and Holly Walker stopped by an Aldi to look for a candle. The store became a staple in their relationship, so when they got engaged, they posted the news on a Facebook page for Aldi fans. 

Before they knew it, Aldi had personally invited Charles and Holly to celebrate their engagement "where it all started – the ALDI Finds aisle." 

The couple enjoyed a four-course meal in the store after-hours to celebrate their big day. “It was kinda comical, sitting amongst the salt and pepper shakers and stuffed animals," Holly told Today. "[B]ut it was so good!”

Which sea, pictured above, is the only one in the world without a coast?

As you may have noticed, we’re no strangers to bargains around these parts.

If there’s one that caught your eye but you let it slip by, it’s probably on our DONUT Dealz page. And we’re updating it all the time with new deals and partners, partner.

Shop DONUT Dealz by clicking below.👇

The Sargasso Sea, which is entirely surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.