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Will Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce retire after this football season? Kelce has not yet delivered a public answer to this question, and theres widespread speculation. But his choice of words when speaking about this decision may tell us which way hes leaning. Its a lesson for every communicator. Your choice of words carries meaning, whether you realize it or not. Sometimes that word choice can reveal more than you intended. The Chiefs just finished a dispiriting season, the first in Kelces pro career in which the team did not make the playoffs. Kelces current contract with the team ends in March. As many have pointed out, hes a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, having broken so many records its hard to count them all. He truly has nothing left to prove. On top of that, hes engaged to Taylor Swift, with a rumored wedding date of June 13. His looks, charisma, and his incredibly famous fiancée mean there are many opportunities for him in the world of entertainment and sportscasting, beyond the wildly successful New Heights podcast he cohosts with his older brother, former Philadelphia Eagle Jason Kelce. So there are several good reasons for the younger Kelce to retire this year. On the other hand, many people suspected he would retire a year ago, after the Chiefs failed in their quest for three in a row Super Bowl wins in a humiliating loss to the Eagles. Despite those rumors, he returned to play another season. Kelce will never lose his love of the game In January, Kelce shared some of his thoughts on retirement during an episode of New Heights. Ive talked to a few people in the facility already, you know, having the exit meetings and everything, and they know where I stand, at least right now, he said. And I think theres a lot of love for the game thats still there, and I dont think Ill ever lose that. And, I dont know, its a tough thing to navigate. Then he described the conditions under which hed continue to play. If I think my body can heal up and rest up, and I can feel confident that I can go out there and give it another 18-, 20-, 21-week run, I think I would do it in a heartbeat. Pay close attention to the word he used in that sentence. I would do it in a heartbeat, not I will do it in a heartbeat. The word would in this sentence indicates that at least some of the requirements he described have not been met. It may seem like a subtle distinction, but consider the two sentences, I will go to the store and I would go to the store. That second statement implies that there is some reason not to go and therefore the speaker will not go shopping. We all notice word choices Kelce isnt a grammar expert. In fact, his entire sentence is ungrammatical. I doubt hes ever considered will versus would. But whether we think about them consciously or not, native English speakers are aware of distinctions like this one. Because of that, what he said is so revealing. Kelces retirement may not be a certainty. He says he hasnt decided yet, and that may be true. But I would do it in a heartbeat suggests that, at least right now, he thinks hell go. Either way, if youre a speaker, entrepreneur, or business leader, pay close attention to your choice of words whenever you speak on any important topic. Otherwise, you could wind up telling careful listeners more than you intended. This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister website, Inc.com. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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For decades, tuning into a sporting event at home involved watching a traditional broadcast on your TV. These days, however, many viewers arent just watching on their TVtheyve got the game streaming right to their phones. After more than two decades, NBC and the NBA have revived their partnership just in time to face this new challenge. In a media landscape where fans consume sports across traditional broadcasts, streaming platforms, and mobile devices, the question is no longer about how to televise the game, but how to design an experience that cultivates the leagues next generation of stars, its culture, and fandom while honoring the nostalgia that once defined the NBA on NBC.[Image: courtesy NBCUniversal]Our job is to document and cover the game and really celebrate the game, says Pierre Moosa, coordinating producer for NBC Sports. That was what we used to do back in the time when we had the NBA on NBC.Celebrating the game has become more complex as sports fans viewing habits are increasingly fragmented. The consumption of sports is always evolving, Moosa says. Whether its social media, digital, social, streaming, we need to meet the viewer [where they are]. To solve this, the NBA and NBCin concert with Peacock, NBCs streaming platformare launching a new mobile-first feature called Courtside Live. Its designed to function alongside traditional broadcast and gives Peacock viewers an unprecedented degree of production control by allowing them to swipe between multiple camera angles in real time, creating a more intimate experience of games.The Design Challenge In recent years mobile has become increasingly important to the fan experience. I always held my phone horizontally, Moosa says. People now hold their phone vertically to watch videos.This behavioral change started influencing Peacocks overall strategy back in 2024, when it launched its Cant Miss Highlights feature, which brought vertical video to the Peacock app for the first time. Vertical video laid the foundation and helped inform us as we were coming up with Courtside Live, says Jim Denney, NBCUs chief product officer, describing a process of experimentation in the lead-up to launching the product.According to Denney, after NBC confirmed its new partnership agreement with the NBA, a cross-functional team got to work brainstorming ideas for a next-gen fan viewing experience. Its really sitting down and starting from the fan and working backwards, he says. [Image: courtesy NBCUniversal]One of the ideas that came up was what if we could actually create the experience of being courtsidewhat would that feel like? says John Jelley, SVP of product and user experience for Peacock and global streaming at NBCUniversal. When you go to a game, you are looking around, you are seeing the coaches, heres the athletes coming on, heres the teams lined up. What if we could actually create the experience a fan [has] live but as part of the Peacock product experience? The product team presented the idea of a feature that allowed fans to flip through different camera views during a live matchup, both on their phone and TV. Denney says viewers who use multiple devices to watch NBA content tend to be more engaged, noting, We wanted a cross-section of things that we would do [well] both on TV and on mobile devices.A major learning that came from the 2024 Paris Olympics broadcast is that there are two types of fans: casual and avid. In addition to providing a quality main broadcast, NBC and Peacock want to appeal to both audience segments by offering new ways to experience the action. They also found that fans who choose to watch events in multiple views simultaneously prefer to stay in that view. Courtside Live builds on that insight by re-creating the multi-view experience for mobile devices.If you think about your mobile experience, you are swiping up and down through vertical videos, and moving between different apps, Jelley says. What we see in that behavior is that fans want the option to [say] Oh, Im watching the game, theres something great happening, I wonder if I could understand a bit more about that player or maybe catch up on some moment that happened earlier or see how the celebrities in the stands are reacting. He says making the right videos easily accessible to viewers created a net-new experience.We thought there was a real opportunity to do something completely new with Courtside, which was to bring that to everyones phones and everyones TVs through multi-view in a way that really hadnt ever been done before, Jelley explains. Designing Courtside LiveThe team began testing Courtside Live during NBA Summer League games at Golden State in July 2025 and quickly realized a big hurdle to clear involved translating horizontally captured video into a vertical format that could live on mobile phones. One of the things you have to do with Courtside Live and any vertical video is often you are shooting a scene with a TV camera, which is a 16-by-9 horizontal feed, Denney says. One of the concepts that we had was following [an individual] player [on the court], my understanding is the production team actually had a camera taped off [at] two edges so that the cameraman could actually keep somebody in view.In that instance, the production team initially used a robo-camera that wasnt fit to capture the necessary angles. They revisited discussions with the vendor and explored options with more padding to identify the most suitable camera.Through that partnership with production, we found ways to make sure the users see exactly the right element, Jelley says. We employed some Japanese technology that allows the operators to make sure theyre delivering these live feeds [and] they can make sure theyre focused on the elements that are most interesting. . . . Were using a variety of technologies to make sure that the user is getting the best possible experience in that vertical format.Another UX pain point was navigation. When Peacock users watch live sporting events on their mobile phones, theyre initially presented with the main traditional broadcast in landscape view. Below that main broadcast view, Jelley explains, users will now find a medley of game views. The team designed the interface with one-handed use in mind, making standard interactions, like swiping through camera angles onmobile devices, intuitive. If you think about your phone and how you hold your phone, you have to be able to very easily navigate around this experience using just your thumb, Jelley says. We really thought about how we could make it easy to switch between these different angles very intuitively, and then use the picture-in-picture functionality that we know users love using on their phone.Jelley recognizes the paradox Peacock is balancing: While users want more choice, they dont want to feel overwhelmed. His teams testing focused predominantly on usability. To simplify navigation, the team used AI to design iconography that clearly communicates to viewers the different camera angles available. And to help viewers transition seamlessly between the main broadcast and alternative views without losing their place, the product team tweaked the styling of the main icon to guide viewers back to their original point of view. The big design constraint really was doing that on a small screen [because] you dont have a lot of real estate, Jelley admits. You dont want things to get in the way of the video, but you want to make it very easy to navigate. And I think the design we came up with really lands that well. Scalability and Repurposing Courtside Live is launching in earnest during the 75th NBA All-Star Game hosted at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. In preparation, the teams spent five days rehearsing for the three-day slate of All-Star events, including the Celebrity Game, Rising Stars, All-Star Saturdays three-point and dunk contests, and Sundays new U.S.-vs.-World format.According to Paul Benedict, the NBAs SVP of broadcasting and content management, the action will be captured by 50-plus cameras, more than 20 super-slow-motion cameras, and a flying cable camera. To achieve crisp, cinematic storytelling, Benedict says the production centers on providing unique access typically reserved for All-Star week.What makes Courtside Live so special is those cameras are literally on the scores table, giving you that experience, Moosa says. I may never be able to sit courtside, but I can grab my phone and be able to see what that camera angle looks like.While these angles will be available via Peacock on mobile devices, Moosa notes that the traditional broadcast will also benefit from the Courtside Live feature. So the ISO camera and the courtside cameras are going [to be] intertwined into the normal, traditional broadcast, he says. Learning through Experimentation The NBC and Peacock teams are enthusiastic about what theyll learn from their collaboration on this feature and its debut this weekend. Well be tracking each one of these [angles] and seeing how much people watch, how long in one view, how often do they come back, Jelley says. A lot of the goal of the experiences we built in mobile is about frequency, because we know that with your phone, you have it all the time. Seeing how frequently [users] come back to [the] experience is a great sign of how compelling it is and how much it becomes a part of peoples habits of watching. In addition to tracking each camera angle, Jelley and his team plan to track the percentage of mobile users who engage with Courtside Live, aiming to achieve a similar level of success as they did with the Cant Miss Highlights feature.NBC and Peacock already have an early signal of the features potential because the technology is being employed for its current Winter Olympics coverage. While initially designed for the NBA, their Olympics partner applied it to hockey and figure skating, giving fans unique access to moments like the kiss and cry area, where skaters wait with their coaches for scores. This suggests the feature can scale beyond basketball to other live event experiences.You can imagine how this could apply to other events, whether thats some of our entertainment events like the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade [or] anywhere where we have lots of different angles or even some of our other other shows, Jelley says. This will be a conversation. If this works well, how can we extend it?
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E-Commerce
Since I was old enough to vote in presidential elections, Ive heard plenty of grumbling across the political spectrum about moving to Canada if one candidate or another wins. And since I have been a full-time worker, I have also been party to a number of pie-in-the-sky conversations about the expat potential of retiring to Barcelona; Buenos Aires, Argentina; or Bangkok. But conversations about leaving the United States have felt a little different over the last couple of years. It started when several of my parents contemporaries actually retired abroad, rather than just thinking about it. Then multiple friends picked up stakeswhich included selling houses and cars and uprooting high-school aged kidssimply to relocate away from America. Its not just my circle of friends and acquaintances, either. CS Global Partners found a 102.4% jump in U.S. expatriation in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the last quarter of 2024although that jump only represents an estimated 1,285 individuals in real numbers. As easy as it is to say youd like to become an American expat living it up in another country, the reality isnt necessarily that simple. I spoke to two people who have moved away from the U.S. about the hidden costs of emigration. Infrastructure matters Valerie Roseborough retired to Panama when she exited her career in sales and marketing. She first got the expat itch during COVID-19. In my early career, I had done a lot of solo international traveling, she says. Seeing so much of the world go through the same thing at one time reminded me of how connected I had once felt to the rest of the world. That convinced Roseborough to start traveling morewith retirement in the back of her mind. She spent six months in Mexico and realized it was not her place. The infrastructure wasnt going to work for me, Roseborough says. It’s a large country and sort of challenging to move about from state to state and place to place. Once Panama presented itself as an option, with its large international airport and direct flights to North America, as well as generous discounts to retirees, Roseborough realized it was an ideal spot for her second act, as an expat. Travel to and from her home in the Washington, D.C. area makes it possible to stay closely connected with her children. But she also recognizes that her location in the States as she was planning the move also helped make the process easier. I was fortunate in that I was relocating from Washington, D.C, which has a Panamanian consulate and embassy, she says. I just had to make an appointment and show up with the necessary documents. If you dont live in an area with a nearby embassy or consulate for the country you want to emigrate to, you may have to work through the State Department and handle everything via mail. Prepare for taxes Rian Chandler-Dovis and her husband decided to immigrate to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, from Virginia several years ago. We got down here, and we were like, we love this place, she says. What is it going to take to immigrate here? Mexico has a relatively flexible immigration policy, in part because the government has instituted a 16% sales tax across the board, Chandler-Dovis explains. This means immigrants to Mexico dont necessarily have onerous income requirements, because even if youre not paying income tax in Mexico, the 16% sales tax contributes massively to the economy. But if you are living abroad and maintaining an American residency, that can complicate your income tax situation. Chandler-Doviss husband now earns income in Mexico, while she owns a business that is registered in the United States. They pay income tax in Mexico, but found that maintaining their residence in Virginia would change their tax status in ways that would complicate matters too much. For tax purposes. Virginia is what you call a sticky state, Chandler-Dovis says. There are four other so-called sticky states: California, New Mexico, New York, and South Carolina. Each of these states consider individuals to still be tax residents even after moving abroad, and expects them to keep filing state tax returns and paying state taxes. These states have also been known to levy penalties for noncompliance to any émigré foolish enough to think that moving to another country would cut any necessary tax ties to their former home. Not all costs are financial Unfortunately, giving up their Virginia residency has a serious cost for Chandler-Dovis and her husband. Without an address in America, they cant vote in U.S. elections. In order to stay registered to vote, you have to have a U.S. address, Chandler-Dovis says. And the law says that if you move out of the country, your voter registration must reflect your last U.S. address. This can be a serious catch-22 for Americans living abroad, especially those who are considering a move for political reasons. You may be stuck deciding between a nightmare of a tax scenario if you live in a sticky state or the ability to vote in American elections. New opportunities, new problems Living abroad can be a dream, an adventure, or an escape. But it will never be exactly what you expect, and it will always have hidden costs that you cant possibly anticipate. Specifically, its important to take the infrastructure of both your destination and your current situation into account. Taking a trial run in your potential home, as Valerie Roseborough did in Mexico, can help a prospective expat determine if it will work. Her six months in Mexico made it clear that the Mexican infrastructure wasnt a good fit and led her to Panama, which is perfect for her retirement. She also recognized that living in Washington, D.C. made applying for her visa much easier because of her proximity to the Panamanian consulate and embassy. If you arent as fortunate, expect the process to take longer. Taxes will continue to be a headache no matter where in the world you live. While income may be less important to some countries, that does not necessarily mean you wont need to worry about how your tax situation will affect your finances, immigration status, and residency. Additionally, taxes may affect an expat’s ability to maintain residencyand the ability to votein America. Make sure you consider all those kinds of nonfinancial costs before you make any decisions about moving.
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E-Commerce
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