It’s not everyday bro

Sotheby’s believes it can auction off a banana taped to a wall for at least $1M. It last sold for $120K. The highest bidder will win a roll of duct tape, a banana, and instructions for how to tape it to the wall. Womp.

Major US indexes finished mixed yesterday as traders took stock of cabinet-position announcements by President-elect Trump. Meantime, Nvidia shares slipped after the chipmaker reportedly pushed for a redesign of its new AI chips.

8 rounds, no KO… Jake Paul may’ve technically beaten Mike Tyson in Friday’s big boxing match, but the real winner was Netflix. The streamer said 65M viewers tuned in to the live event, which is expected to help juice subscriptions this quarter. The catch: Netflix couldn’t handle the crowd. At least 100K people reported they were experiencing issues streaming the fight, and disgruntled fans complained on social media about buffering and disconnecting. Glitches haven’t slowed Netflix’s push into live programming: it’s set to exclusively stream two NFL Christmas Day games, and it just announced that Beyoncé will headline a halftime show.

Stuck at 99% loaded… Netflix isn’t a stranger to technical difficulties during live broadcasts. Its “Love Is Blind” reunion show was such a disaster that Netflix scrapped the livestream, posting a prerecorded version instead. Netflix said it’s been testing its tech using smaller live shows, like a cooking show with David Chang, as preparation for airing larger events like WWE matches that’ll start in January (it paid $5B for the rights to hit shows like “Raw”). As streamers come for cable’s lifeline (sports), Netflix isn’t the only one struggling to go live: 

The lights are harsh in the arena… and the stakes are high with live events. Friday’s fight had some questioning whether Netflix could pull off its NFL game featuring Beyoncé, which could draw 30M+ viewers. But live programming could be worth the risk: it introduces ads that even premium subs can’t skip. On that note: Netflix said it sold out of its Christmas Day NFL ad slots.

Low spirits… Spirit Airlines, known for budget fares and bare-bones service, became the first major US carrier to file for bankruptcy in over a decade. Despite all the extra fees it charges for bags, seat selection, and even water, Spirit hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2019. It’s lost $2.2B since early 2020 as its costs surged and fares fell in an oversupplied US market. Its problems got worse this year when a federal judge blocked its plan to get acquired by JetBlue.

Melting ice to get free water…. Customers have stomached Spirit’s no-frills service in exchange for low fares. Spirit’s model pressured other major airlines to lower their fares and offer more budget-friendly tickets (think: basic economy). But since the pandemic, Spirit and other discount carriers like Ryanair have struggled to capitalize on booming revenge travel. This summer was the busiest ever for airlines, but Spirit couldn’t turn the demand into financial gain. Though its passengers grew in the first half of the year, sales fell because fares were down 20%. Meantime, labor costs ballooned as pricing competition heated up. 

Flexibility is power… Larger airlines like Delta and United offer everything from basic economy to first class, allowing them to attract both budget flyers and big spenders. Since premium and international fares are the biggest moneymakers, larger carriers capitalized on the travel boom and offset rising costs (unlike Spirit). In July, Spirit expanded its tiers and introduced a perk-filled package to compete with premium airlines, but it may’ve been too late.

A discussion with author and crypto jack-of-all-trades Nat Eliason. Read more.