For one, it will feature commercials for the first time. CNN, which is hosting, is selling two tiers of advertising, with the more premium version reportedly costing at least $1.5 million.

But in a unique twist, CNN might not come away making the most from the debate. Rival networks can air the broadcast and sell commercials. And with Fox News and MSNBC often outpacing CNN in viewership, they might be able to sell ads for more money, writes BI’s Alice Tecotzky.

Debates are also typically easy fodder for social media, specifically X, as viral moments are bound to occur. And this marks the first presidential debate the platform navigates under the Elon Musk regime.

Meanwhile, it’ll be interesting to see how things go on Instagram’s Threads, which has largely avoided political discourse.

However, one group won’t be able to benefit from the debate despite being perfectly positioned for the action: US sportsbooks. So-called prediction markets do exist for political betting, but regulators want to ban them.

US sportsbooks have avoided the entire political sphere — sorry, no same-debate parlays — despite it being big business for UK bookmakers.