Attendance at most sporting events has dropped in the last decade — and continues to fall. Sports teams have put most of their efforts into getting to fans to watch games on screens. But now they are faced with empty seats they are trying to fill. Today on the show, how sports teams are trying new plays like lower food costs, subscription tickets, and flexible seating to bring back the crowds. #Sports #Consumers #Economy #Trends

Niche sports, such as cornhole, axe throwing and even professional arm wrestling, are beginning to attract interest and money. These less traditional sports are gaining sponsors. #Sports #Economy #Trends

Games that may have been played at a party with a beer cup in hand, or before that big college football game — like cornhole, darts or beer pong---are now trying to monetize themselves, just like the major league sports that they've been opening for. Investors are looking to cash in, too. Small businesses and broadcast companies, like ESPN, are increasingly looking to capitalize on sports that were once considered just backyard fun. Today on The Indicator, we try our hands (a

How did Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken take over Christmas in Japan? PLUS: Household Name Uncut covers some Christmas decorating gone horribly wrong and the curse of the colonel. #Culture #Japan #Marketing #Trends #Food

The Japanese are eating less rice. Blame TV, the internet, burgers, Italian food, a growing economy. Blame the lunch ladies! Rice consumption in Japan is about half what it was in the 1960s. But guess what? Demand for Japanese rice may be way down, but prices are going up. In fact, prices are now so high that Japanese people are buying imported rice, rather than the home-grown stuff. On the face of it, Japanese rice appears to be defying one the basic laws of economics, suppl

Sally Herships: I’m about to play a joke on someone. Benjamin Clymer. Here’s what you need to know -- he’s editor of an upscale watch blog Hodinkee.com. This guy is all about watches. He’s wearing a vintage Rolex. Herships: Hey, do you know what time it is? Clymer: It is 1:37 on the dot. Herships: And how did you tell me? Clymer: On my iPhone. Here’s what makes Clymer’s answer even more ironic, we’re at Audemars Piguet, a Swiss luxury watchmaker, in midtown Manhattan, surroun