Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports

Top Internet domains, inflation at the consumer level and college football bowl games

In today’s newsletter, I discuss top Internet domains, inflation at the consumer level and college football bowl games.

MEDIA: Top Internet Domains

TikTok.com ranks as the most popular Internet domain in the world so far in 2021, according to Cloudfare, a global cloud platform for website security, performance and more.

TikTok.com dethroned Google.com from the top spot in 2020 — Google.com ranked second this year.

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Facebook.com, Microsoft.com and Apple.com ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, according to Cloudfare.

As such, the top ten list, which also includes Amazon.com, Netflix.com, YouTube.com and Twitter.com, is dominated by domains from big tech and digital media, not those from traditional big media companies.

MONEY: Inflation at the Consumer Level

There’s another piece of evidence today that shows prices are soaring at the consumer level.

According to a government report released earlier today, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index jumped 5.7% in November compared to a year ago.

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That increase is roughly in line with the Consumer Price Index from two weeks ago that showed an increase of 6.8% in November compared to a year ago.

If inflation persists at the consumer level, consumers might spend more cautiously, which could hamper the overall economy as consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of all economic activity in the country.

SPORTS: College Football Bowl Games

In college football, Rutgers, which finished with a 5-7 record this season, will face Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl next week.

Rutgers today was named as a replacement for Texas A&M in that bowl as Texas A&M withdrew from the game largely due to coronavirus eligibility reasons.

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While the bowl appearance certainly is exciting news for Rutgers, it is unusual for a bowl game to have a team with a losing record play in it — plus, it underscores the unusual nature of non-College Football Playoff (CFP) bowl games in general.

For example, many top players for teams in these non-CFP bowl games have opted out of playing due to potential injury or to focus on their preparation for the NFL Draft.

As a result, most non-CFP college bowl games simply aren’t generating much fan interest though they are still generating plenty of revenue for the schools that participate in them.

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Jeremy Pink is currently an advisor to media and fintech companies around the world. He is the former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he helped lead the company to a successful sale and exit during his tenure there. He is also a former CNBC television executive in New York, London and Singapore.

The information contained in this communication is strictly for general informational and entertainment purposes and is not meant to be construed as financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. This communication is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. I am not a financial advisor or offering professional advice of any kind. Users should not act upon the content or information found within this communication without first seeking professional advice appropriate for their individual situation. Decisions based on information contained in this communication are the sole responsibility of the user, and use of this communication and its contents constitutes an explicit understanding and acceptance of the foregoing disclaimers.

(Newsletter Editor: Karina Pink)