Dave's Blog

The Bud Light Effect: A Warning to the Next CEO of Brown-Forman

August 25, 2026
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Welcome to your new job. What a challenge. What an opportunity. You are the steward of some of the world’s greatest liquor brands: Jack Daniel’s, Old Forester, and Chambord, to name just three. But your appointment comes at a moment of serious peril for the company. Brown-Forman’s stock is down 60% in the last five […]

August 24, 2026
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On September 9, 2025, the Australian Football League announced 1,363,437 members. 14 AFL clubs broke membership records. The Melbourne Demons…not one of them. Four years after winning the 2021 premiership, the Demons were 15th in membership with 58,500 members. Collingwood: 112,491. Carlton: 100,743. Richmond: 92,531. Geelong: 92,379. Hawthorn: 87,204. Same stadium. 58,500 is nearly 7,000 fewer members […]

August 20, 2026
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A recent UCLA football game announced an attendance of 27,143. The turnstile scan was 12,383. That’s a huge gap. A peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Applied Sport Management looked at 48 Division I men’s basketball programs over three seasons. Almost a thousand games. The average no-show rate was 37 percent. In my experience, that’s […]

August 18, 2026
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In Australia, lab-grown diamonds represent 50 to 60 percent of the market. There are predictions that the number could be 70 percent by the end of 2026. One carat. Mined. $7,000 to $8,000. Lab-grown. Under $500. Two carats? Mined. $20,000 or more. Lab-grown? $750. The product has become a commodity. That’s not a threat. That’s […]

August 14, 2026
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The miracle promised by direct-to-consumer is dead. D-E-D. Dead. A 2026 research report looked at 50 prominent DTC brand failures between 2022 and 2026. Celebrated brands like SmileDirectClub and Allbirds were included. SmileDirectClub went from a $4.1 billion valuation to a $39 million sale in 53 months. 99% down. Allbirds, once worth billions, and on the feet of so […]

August 12, 2026
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In the joy of completing my math project, I forgot to mention two important things…to me, at least. First, in July, Pearl Jam made a grant in my honor to support youth soccer in the DC area. Pretty sweet. Another cool thing. Friend of the newsletter, podcast, and all of my assorted adventures, Tim Chambers, […]

August 11, 2026
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The secondary market has been in the news a lot lately…a lot. The D.C. RESALE ACT just passed. StubHub is facing a lawsuit over illegal practices. The Savannah Bananas kept resale in-house. They saved their fans $13.69M. No fraud. No black-market boogie man. Just real relationships with fans…sustained and deepened. StubHub’s CEO is under investigation […]

The Bud Light Effect: A Warning to the Next CEO of Brown-Forman

14 Clubs Grew. Melbourne Didn’t.

Real Attendance: The Only Attendance Number That Doesn’t Lie

Rocks or Relationships: The Strategic Choice Every Jeweler Faces

The DTC Graveyard: Why Businesses Threw Away Billions on a Bad Bet

RE: $414 Million Saved is Only Half the Story

$414 Million Saved Is Only Half the Story: Why the Free Market Era in Tickets Is Ending

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