1. SILICON VALLEY CELEBS ARE SKIPPING SAUDI ARABIA CONFERENCE: Many Silicon Valley C.E.O.s and investors are skipping this year’s Future Investment Initiative, an investment conference in Saudi Arabia known as “Davos in the Desert.” Last year, many high-profile tech figures dropped out of the conference abruptly, after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Vox: “Tech’s elite may have decided not to jet into Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative at the end of this month, but they have also made a more fundamental decision to keep taking Saudi money. … An early copy of the speaker list for the Saudi conference, dated in mid-July and obtained by Recode, shows almost no U.S. tech names among the 70 people who are confirmed to speak at the conference. While the speaker list shows that major players from Wall Street and investors from other parts of the world are indeed planning to be showcased at the Saudi retreat, the Silicon Valley titans that highlighted the agenda just one year ago are nowhere to be found.”
2. FEDERAL REGULATORS SAY CBD MARKETERS CAN’T MAKE FALSE HEALTH CLAIMS: CBD has steadily made its way into the event industry, but federal regulators are now being more stringent regarding agencies and brands that make false health claims about the cannabis extract. While CBD is federally legal, the F.D.A. has only approved it for use in treating certain types of epilepsy. Advertising Age: “Both the F.D.A. and the F.T.C. have issued warning letters to CBD companies in the past six months for making unsupported health claims. The F.D.A.’s warning letter to industry leader Curaleaf in July, which asked the company to stop making claims that its CBD vape pen, tinctures, lotions, and pain-relief patch can be used ‘for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners,’ drew attention from CBD retailers.”
3. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TO OPEN FIRST FLAGSHIP STORE IN NEW YORK: Major League Baseball will open its first flagship store in the U.S. in summer 2020. The 17,000-square-foot store in New York will be run in partnership with marketing and hospitality group Legends. Crain’s New York Business: “The store will sell merchandise from all 30 teams as well as game-used items. … M.L.B. joins the N.B.A. Store at 545 Fifth Ave. and the N.H.L. Store at 1185 Sixth Ave. in Manhattan. The N.F.L. briefly operated a Times Square attraction called N.F.L. Experience before closing it in September 2018 after 10 months.”