39 years ago, the US officially raised its drinking age from 18 to 21 in a triumph for Moms Against Drunk Driving and a blow to the "Draft Beer Not Students" crowd. The move made the US a global outlier: Most of the world has a minimum drinking age of 18, while some like Denmark and Germany have one of 16.

Only a few countries — including Iraq and Kazakhstan — join the US at 21. That being said, today, the Monday after Roca’s first office party of the year, we wish it were 60.

In today's edition:

• Surprise box office hit

• Wimbledon’s new champion

• Cricket night in America

 🔑 Key Stories

Carlson Launching New Company?

Tucker Carlson is seeking funding to launch a new media company, the Wall Street Journal reports

• Fox News fired Carlson in April. Carlson has since launched “Tucker on Twitter,” a Twitter-based show which records tens of millions of views per episode

• The WSJ reported on Friday that Carlson is now seeking to launch a new company with former college roommate and business partner Neil Patel. Carlson and Patel had formerly co-founded conservative news outlet The Daily Caller in 2010

• The new company will reportedly use Twitter as a “backbone” but have its own app and website

Dig Deeper

• In June, Fox News sent Carlson – who is still bound by a contract with Fox that regulates aspects of his career – a cease-and-desist letter ordering him to stop posting videos on Twitter. Carlson’s team has vowed to fight that and threatened to reveal where Fox’s “bodies are hidden”

• Fox hasn’t commented on this most recent development

Microsoft 🤝 Sony

Microsoft and Sony reached a deal to keep “Call of Duty” (COD) on Sony’s Playstation for at least 10 years

• Last year, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Activision, which makes COD, for $75B. US regulators sued, arguing Microsoft could deny rivals access to COD

• In response, Microsoft signed a deal with Nintendo to ensure its consoles’ access to COD. Microsoft offered a similar deal to Sony; it rejected that. Since then, judges have ruled in favor of Microsoft’s deal going through

• On Sunday, Microsoft and Sony announced a deal to ensure Sony’s access to COD games for 10 years

Dig Deeper

• Analysts say the Sony deal likely clears Microsoft’s final major hurdle to secure approval for the merger

Sound of Sales

“Sound of Freedom” – a movie about child sex trafficking – hit second at the box office this weekend

• “Based on a true story,” it follows the story of Tim Ballard, a real former US government agent who founded anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad and served on then-President Trump’s federal human trafficking advisory panel

• It cost $14.5M to make and crowdfunded its $5M marketing budget. It has since become a smash-hit – especially among conservatives – and made $85M

• It has a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Some critics have called it Q-Anon fodder

Dig Deeper

• Some mainstream critics have also endorsed it, including one from Hollywood staple Variety, who wrote, “It's been sold as a ‘conservative’ thriller, but you don't need that mindset to find it compelling”

• A critic writing for the Guardian called it “The QAnon-adjacent thriller seducing America”; a Rolling Stone writer called it a “recruitment tool”

• Some fans of the movie claim theaters are repressing the film by evacuating theaters, canceling showings, and more. AMC – the US’ largest theater chain – denied that, saying it has shown the movie to more than 1M people. The studio behind the movie said AMC has been “an outstanding partner”

Long Island Murder Suspects

Authorities charged an NYC architect for killing sex workers in the late 2000s

• In 2010/2011, police found the remains of 8 women, a man, and a toddler near a Long Island beach. Police launched an investigation and said they believed a single person was responsible for the murders

• Despite some initial leads, the investigation went cold and nobody was arrested in connection to it

• On Thursday, police arrested a 59-year-old NYC architect and charged for murder in connection to 3 of the women found. Police said they identified him through phone records, DNA, emails, and more

Dig Deeper

• A judge ruled he be held without bail due to the “extreme depravity” of the allegations. Heuermann’s lawyer said, “We’re looking forward to fighting this case in a court of law, not the court of public opinion”

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Heat chasers: Tourists flocked to Death Valley hoping to experience a world-record temperature of 131ºF (55ºC) on Sunday, but the temperatures fell short

• No Escape from Alcaraz: 20-year-old Spanish phenom Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic to win his first Wimbledon. Many consider the 36-year-old Djokovic the tennis GOAT but see Alcaraz’s victory as signifying a changing of the guard

• Environmental blast: Climate change activists spray painted Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie’s $300M superyacht on the Spanish island of Ibiza

Wildcard

• Finnished with tech: Finland introduced the world’s first phone-free tourist island, Ulko-Tammio. The island offers hiking trails, a national park, and abundant wildlife

• Rescuing Russell: An Alabama woman returned home after a report that she was missing sparked a two-day search. The 25-year-old Carlee Russell went missing after calling 911

• Tour de crash: A selfie-taking spectator caused a crash of ~20 riders during stage 15 of the Tour de France. All affected riders managed to continue and complete the stage

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Have you learned any life lessons from a sport?

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

Last Thursday night, a sell-out crowd packed into an arena outside Dallas, Texas.

They were there to watch the opening night of Major League Cricket (MLC) after years of work and millions of dollars of investment.

Cricket originated in 16th-century England before spreading through the British Empire. Today, it’s the world’s second-most popular sport, after soccer, with millions of fans in the Caribbean, Australia, parts of Asia and Africa, and elsewhere.

In India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – three of the world’s eight most populous countries – it’s the most popular sport.

Cricket is played on an oval field by two 11-person teams.The teams take turns hitting a ball (batting) and defending. To score a run, the batter hits the ball and runs to the other end of the “pitch,” while a “batting partner” runs in the opposite direction. Each time those “batsmen” cross the opposite ends of the pitch, they score.

Cricket matches have traditionally been day- or days-long affairs, limiting their commercial appeal. But in the early 2000s, a new type of cricket – “T20” – reduced the games to two-to-four hours.

Unlike traditional cricket, T20 lent itself to mass marketing, live events, and broadcasting. Its matches helped commercial cricket’s popularity grow.

In 2008, India launched the T20 Indian Premier League (IPL), which introduced city-based franchises, like the NFL or MLB, for the first time. The season, which lasts ~7 weeks each year, exploded in popularity. An estimated 426M people watched it this year, making it one of the world’s most popular sports leagues and worth billions of dollars.

A group of Indian and Indian-American businessmen and companies are trying to bring a similar league to the US. In 2019, they agreed to invest $1B to develop an American cricket league, which is now Major League Cricket (MLC). The money dwarfed past US cricket efforts.

MLC launched a 27-team development league in 2021. The following year, it received $120M in funding. In March, MLC held its inaugural draft. The season kicked off on Thursday and runs until July 30.

MLC has 6 teams: The Seattle Orcas, San Francisco Unicorns, Washington Freedom, Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, and Texas Super Kings (near Dallas). The players include former cricket stars from India, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and other cricket-loving countries.

MLC has drawn on India’s increasing wealth and the US’ growing Indian community — the second-largest foreign-born group in the US — and MLC is banking on attracting that group’s viewership. Microsoft’s India-born CEO is a part-owner of Seattle’s team, while Adobe’s is an investor. Shah Rukh Khan – known as the “King of Bollywood” – is an owner of Los Angeles’ team and is investing in building a cricket stadium there.

The inaugural MLC season is taking place in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where 220,000 Indian Americans live. At the opening match on Thursday night, 7,000 people packed the crowd to watch the Texas Super Kings defeat the Los Angeles Knight Riders.

The final score of 181/6 (20) to 112 (14) means little to most Americans now, but could MLC change that?

If you have thoughts on the MLC, let us know at [email protected]!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Better post-night-out breakfast:
Toasted bagel and cream cheese: 30%
Eggs and bacon: 70%

Yesterday's Question:

Just 20 Qs!

🧠 Final Thoughts

We hope you had a wonderful weekend. Today, one Max is writing to you from Lake George, NY, while the other is writing from a Manhattan shoebox studio. We won’t say which one has the more peaceful backdrop.

Have a great Monday!

—Max and Max