Get your jersey on and grab your favorite snacks—the NFL is back. Sports business reporter Randall Williams is here today to talk about the unusual platform for watching tonight’s game, which is being played in Brazil. Plus: The Ironman CEO is getting the racing brand into shape, what to expect from Apple’s next product launch event, and Elon gets a massive offer.

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There’s truly no time like the fall. We in New York are entering that period of breezy, temperate weather, subsisting on Dunkin’ pumpkin spice muffins, while, of course, many sports leagues are either closing in on the end of their season or kicking off a new one. The 106th NFL season began last night in Philadelphia with the reigning champion Eagles literally spitting in the face of the Dallas Cowboys and then defeating them, 24-20.

Tonight’s Game 2 will feature the Kansas City Chiefs/Swifties and the Los Angeles Chargers, but it won’t be played in either of their home markets. Instead it’s in São Paulo, marking the second time the league has held a game in Brazil. And there’s another twist: You can’t watch it on the platform of any of the NFL’s traditional media partners, such as CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN or Amazon.

The game will be free on YouTube. I can hear some of you with streaming-password fatigue asking, “What’s the catch?” But there isn’t one, at least not yet. You don’t need a subscription to YouTube TV or YouTube Premium—the game will stream from the good ol’ classic YouTube site.

The Neo Química Arena in São Paulo, where the Chiefs will take on the Chargers. Photographer: Miguel Schincariol/Getty Images

YouTube is already a league partner, paying $2 billion annually for NFL Sunday Ticket, a package starting at $276 that allows fans to watch every game, no matter the market. So why would YouTube stream this game for free when it could probably boost subscriptions by putting it behind that paywall? For an answer, I spoke with Christian Oestlien, the company’s vice president for product management. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Randall Williams: What was YouTube’s strategy early, versus what it is now?

Christian Oestlien: Funny enough, this week is my 10th year back at YouTube. I had left the company for a few years to work at Twitter, but [former YouTube Chief Executive Officer] Susan Wojcicki actually reached out to me back in the 2014-15 time frame, and she was very interested in figuring out how we could better partner with media companies and sports leagues. Two things came out of that: We really leaned into this idea that YouTube should be the home of highlights, and we really thought we could bring the best of YouTube to sports. And so that was the genesis of the idea of YouTube TV.

RW: Why did you decide to make this game as accessible as you did?

CO: This is the first time in streaming where an NFL game isn’t behind a paywall and is available free for everyone globally. For us that’s a bit of a test to see if we can bring in a lot of people to YouTube and expose them to how great the experience can be. It’s also a bit of a thank-you back to the YouTube community and the people that have been on YouTube watching sports for so long.

RW: Are you hoping when people watch this game that they’ll essentially be like, why not subscribe to YouTube TV or YouTube Premium, or maybe even NFL Sunday Ticket?

CO: You can almost think of it as a bit of a free trial for all those experiences. If you think about the late adopters in technology, they have all these reservations about if streamers will be able to deliver the experience they’re familiar with along with high quality and low latency. We’ve invested tremendously in not just YouTube TV but also on the main app and the living room experience to make sure that, when those people come to YouTube for the first time to watch the NFL, it’ll give them a lot of confidence.

RW: Earlier this year, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he’d like to eventually add 16 international games and sell them as a broadcast package. People around sports think there are only two companies in position to capitalize on that: Netflix and YouTube. What are your thoughts?

CO: The internet opens up the opportunity for all these major American sports to really become global properties in a way that wasn’t possible a few years ago. And I think that’s because of platforms like YouTube and the fandom that the NFL is able to generate in a country like Brazil, or in Europe, or in Australia. I’m really excited about this idea that a sport like the NFL can become a truly global property and really build consistent fandom, games and experiences across the world. I think we’re uniquely situated to superserve. No one can predict the future, but I think this game is a great example. It’s going to be available for free everywhere in the world.

Sign up for Bloomberg’s Business of Sports newsletter for the context you need on the collision of power, money and sports, from the latest deals to the newest stakeholders.

And check out another recent Q&A with Williams and fellow Bloomberg reporters here: Navigating the New Big Money Era of College Sports.

In Brief

• A rate cut by the Federal Reserve appears on the horizon after Friday’s weak jobs report.
• President Donald Trump said two candidates should drop out of the race for New York City mayor to improve the chances of ending Zohran Mamdani’s bid for the job.
• Apple Inc.’s biggest product launch event of the year takes place on Tuesday. Here’s what to expect.

What Comes After the Finish Line

Scott DeRue, CEO of Ironman Group, in his element near Park City, Utah. Photographer: Nikki Smith for Bloomberg Businessweek

Scott DeRue is one of only 500 or so people ever to summit the highest peak on each continent. He has also finished the Gobi March, a punishing 155-mile footrace in Mongolia. But despite his athletic accomplishments, he hasn’t yet completed a consecutive 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run—an Ironman triathlon, the namesake race of the company DeRue leads. He’s been “more focused on the mountains,” he explains, a bit sheepishly. Next year, he promises, he’ll pull it off.

Since its first 15-person event in Waikiki, in Honolulu, in 1978, Ironman has grown into a globally recognized brand. Last year, 200,000-plus brave souls registered to compete in an Ironman race—either the full Ironman or half Ironman—with double-digit growth recorded in several participant groups, including among under-30-year-olds and women. The US had the most athletes racing, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Australia. Ironman triathletes are intense, with the brand’s “M-dot” rumored to be among the world’s most tattooed logos.

In our minds we’re not just putting on events,” DeRue says during a recent hike outside Park City, Utah, where he keeps a home with his wife, two cats and two dogs, in addition to his main residence in Tampa, Florida, where the company is headquartered. “We’re creating experiences for people that espouse a certain set of values.” Chiefly, that of self-betterment.

As part of our series A Walk With, Brent Crane talks with DeRue about his next goals: The Ironman CEO Wants to Turn the Race Organizer Into a Lifestyle Brand

On the Everybody’s Business Podcast

On this week’s Everybody’s Business podcast, hosts Stacey Vanek Smith and Max Chafkin talk about a Hollywood under siege by a formidable K-pop girl group, the markets’ true feelings about Trump’s tariffs and the threat against pumpkin spice. You can listen and subscribe to the Bloomberg Businessweek podcast on Apple, Spotify, iHeart and the Bloomberg Terminal.

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