1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,560
Speaker 1: This is the business of sports where in the situation

2
00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,400
Speaker 1: that we haven't dealt with in modern times, pandemic here

3
00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,479
Speaker 1: has really accelerated the investments that you've been advocating for

4
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,880
Speaker 1: for years. From a macro standpoint, I think our sport

5
00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,360
Speaker 1: industry is really forced to look at the business a

6
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,639
Speaker 1: little bit differently. In depth conversations with the leaders in

7
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,759
Speaker 1: the sports industry. Who wants to be the sacrificial lambs

8
00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,599
Speaker 1: that shows up at the first big major sporting event,

9
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,640
Speaker 1: were part of something much bigger than the sport right

10
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,080
Speaker 1: now and the health and raptry of our stakeholders that

11
00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,839
Speaker 1: works much important every moment. I think we're all from

12
00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,560
Speaker 1: the business respective thinking about the impact that the virus

13
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,960
Speaker 1: is having across the country against Bloomberg Business of Sports

14
00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio. I'm one, I'm Jason Kelly, and I'm

15
00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,800
Speaker 1: Mike Lynch, and I'm Michael Barr And this is the

16
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,160
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast where we explore the big

17
00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,440
Speaker 1: money issues in the world of sports. And today we're

18
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,120
Speaker 1: really excited to have with us yet another Mike. I

19
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,200
Speaker 1: feel very left out. Mike Webber, he is the CEO

20
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,480
Speaker 1: of Fight. He joins us from Akron Ohio to tell

21
00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,240
Speaker 1: us all about what's going on. This is really at

22
00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,560
Speaker 1: the nexus Mike Webber of how we're consuming sports, how

23
00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,360
Speaker 1: we think about sports, tell us exactly what fight does,

24
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,000
Speaker 1: where it fits into this new ecosystem of media and sports.

25
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: So Fight is UH still bring us fifth anniversary in

26
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:26,399
Speaker 1: about two weeks we launched focusing on Combat Sports as

27
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,319
Speaker 1: the vertical that works on digital sports, and we offer

28
00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,840
Speaker 1: a pay per view model and doing quite well. It's

29
00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,600
Speaker 1: gone from zero to four million graduating users in five

30
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,040
Speaker 1: years UM and we figured now from the largest events ever,

31
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,760
Speaker 1: it's really the future. I think you guys are all

32
00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,199
Speaker 1: very familiar to the core cutting uh situation out there.

33
00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,720
Speaker 1: Even since we've launched, UM, it's going up to almost

34
00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,480
Speaker 1: thirty of US TV households do not have cable or satellite.

35
00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,120
Speaker 1: As you guys know what the big boxing and m

36
00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,880
Speaker 1: m A and wrestling events you know there are always

37
00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:01,920
Speaker 1: available on cable and stadelite. A lot of people don't

38
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,360
Speaker 1: have cable satellite anymore. They still want to see the

39
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,560
Speaker 1: event and so we've sort of filled that need now

40
00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,720
Speaker 1: and that's our niche that's working out, and unfortunately for us,

41
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,160
Speaker 1: it's growing in many ways. Um, and it's it's it's

42
00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,679
Speaker 1: been a great um right so far, and we have

43
00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,240
Speaker 1: some big plans and we're now starting to branch out

44
00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,959
Speaker 1: beyond combat sports with motor sports and soccer and music.

45
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,920
Speaker 1: A matter of fact, we're doing a gospel music event

46
00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,600
Speaker 1: phone in honor of the inauguration today later today, which

47
00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,959
Speaker 1: is exactly related to combat sports, but we try to

48
00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:36,880
Speaker 1: do a little bit of that. And a matter of fact,

49
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,800
Speaker 1: we did a kiss concert Kiss twenty Goodbye on New

50
00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 1: Year's Eve. So we're branching out in other areas now too.

51
00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,600
Speaker 1: Because one it's all said and done. You mentioned I'm

52
00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:48,760
Speaker 1: based in acron Ohio, But I think you guys all

53
00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: know the world today is it's a virtual world. Um.

54
00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,240
Speaker 1: Our founders are engineerings are actually a Bulgaria. We have

55
00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,520
Speaker 1: staff in the UK, have staff in Atlanta, New York,

56
00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,440
Speaker 1: Las Vegas, so we're pretty global and that you know,

57
00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:04,240
Speaker 1: we didn't miss a step with the COVID when it

58
00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:09,600
Speaker 1: came to our working environment. You were in a situation

59
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,920
Speaker 1: like many other businesses out there, when COVID really started

60
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,519
Speaker 1: going in March. You went uh from hey, we're doing

61
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,440
Speaker 1: okay to an old lordy no moment you you had

62
00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,120
Speaker 1: it dropped to zero events last March, and you built

63
00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,000
Speaker 1: it back up to nearly one in December. Uh, and

64
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,160
Speaker 1: that was through some of your partnerships. I think what

65
00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,320
Speaker 1: the pandemic pivot was is one of the things involved. Well, yeah,

66
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,480
Speaker 1: we're started calling the pandemic pivots, so you know, the

67
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,160
Speaker 1: pandemic hit um. It was scary as hack just watching

68
00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,320
Speaker 1: all the communication of all our partners events being canceled

69
00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,120
Speaker 1: by the hour when you know they're in mid March,

70
00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,120
Speaker 1: and like our else we didn't really know what to

71
00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,040
Speaker 1: expect to go, oh my gosh, is this is gonna

72
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 1: be no events? And we did go for probably a

73
00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,320
Speaker 1: good six week period with really no events, and so

74
00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,600
Speaker 1: a couple of things that we did dry out there.

75
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,600
Speaker 1: We Sally took himself off the backburn. So we we

76
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,440
Speaker 1: did something called fight uh seven so, which is a

77
00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:11,640
Speaker 1: free uh linear version of our platform. So I'm sure

78
00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,000
Speaker 1: you use the term. It's for people who don't want

79
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,400
Speaker 1: to spend all the extra time in searching our platform

80
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,719
Speaker 1: for programming. We actually give it to you and you

81
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,080
Speaker 1: watch what's on. So that's one element we added. We

82
00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,560
Speaker 1: also add something called Fight Plus, which is Essentially, as

83
00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,560
Speaker 1: you guys probably know the pay per view business, once

84
00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,560
Speaker 1: that's happens, you really don't get that many more buys

85
00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,080
Speaker 1: uh in the thirty days after the events over. So

86
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,080
Speaker 1: this is a way to essentially um UH drive some

87
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,720
Speaker 1: additional revenue for four ninety nine a month. You could

88
00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,520
Speaker 1: watch older pay per view events which are originally thirty

89
00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,160
Speaker 1: or forty dollars. Now you can watch it on your subscription,

90
00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,920
Speaker 1: but no Nobson's Live because there wasn't nothing live and

91
00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,000
Speaker 1: UM and that seems to take it off, and it's

92
00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:53,680
Speaker 1: actually doing quite well now and a lot of our

93
00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,200
Speaker 1: partners are actually making some unexpected revenue off of it

94
00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,240
Speaker 1: now since you know, the shelf, like the pay per

95
00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,599
Speaker 1: view events are pretty much over UM and then we've

96
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,160
Speaker 1: also started that's when we started again. Another project we

97
00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,520
Speaker 1: took off the back burner was getting our our fingers

98
00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,200
Speaker 1: into the motor sports world a little bit um Unfortunately,

99
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,599
Speaker 1: in addition to combat sports, I actually have a motor

100
00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,440
Speaker 1: sports background as well, and we took um Essentially we

101
00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,920
Speaker 1: did like an all star event and if you guys

102
00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,520
Speaker 1: are familiar to Ohio, we did and from Youngstown, Ohio,

103
00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,440
Speaker 1: where Steel Mill used to be so right in the

104
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,520
Speaker 1: middle of the city, and we're able to build a

105
00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,680
Speaker 1: little motocross track and we had top state names like

106
00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:38,520
Speaker 1: Travis Pastrana who transcends motorsports and uh stunts and so

107
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,760
Speaker 1: forth as uh you know, competing in it. And we

108
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,599
Speaker 1: had about we have about ten top riders from a

109
00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,440
Speaker 1: couple of different eras, and essentially we did something called

110
00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,159
Speaker 1: match racing, where's two bikes at a time on the track,

111
00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:52,560
Speaker 1: so nobody's really getting hurt, but he still get a

112
00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,440
Speaker 1: showcase these guys writing skills, and it was very well received,

113
00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,800
Speaker 1: and so we started building off that and done a

114
00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:01,800
Speaker 1: few more motorsports the beams. Of course, then people are

115
00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,440
Speaker 1: starting to figure out how to do Pro wrestling is

116
00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,080
Speaker 1: one of things that really never really stopped too much

117
00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,039
Speaker 1: because they're started doing them from studios and stuff like

118
00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,640
Speaker 1: that and weren't relying on the audiences. So we're able

119
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,160
Speaker 1: to keep programing going and we just kept building from

120
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,680
Speaker 1: there and um and of course thanks to Florida and Texas,

121
00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,200
Speaker 1: there's more and more events coming from those cities the

122
00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:23,840
Speaker 1: states because of the the rules are one more lax

123
00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,960
Speaker 1: on tenants, you know, Mike. That leads me to my

124
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:32,440
Speaker 1: next question. This is another mic up in Boston. UM

125
00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,680
Speaker 1: every state it has different protocols, different guidelines, and I

126
00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,960
Speaker 1: assume the same is true for different countries for which

127
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,200
Speaker 1: you stage a broadcast as well. Tell me about some

128
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,360
Speaker 1: of those challenges. Yeah, well it's been a yogo, it's

129
00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,719
Speaker 1: going up and now we had uh, you know, UK

130
00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,160
Speaker 1: for is a good example. It's some things were you know,

131
00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:52,800
Speaker 1: they closed down pretty tightly, but then they opened up.

132
00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:54,480
Speaker 1: We start doing a few more events from them, and

133
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,800
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I think it was January third day,

134
00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:03,040
Speaker 1: completely shut down everything. We had a um a bear

135
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,400
Speaker 1: knovel event last weekend schedule from the UK and now

136
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:07,960
Speaker 1: they were trying to make it happen up to the

137
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,240
Speaker 1: last moment, and finally helped the burdens of no, you

138
00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 1: cannot do this. They're trying to do like a almost

139
00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:19,160
Speaker 1: like a UM outlaw event under the radar and midnight

140
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 1: and undisclosed location. It's what they're trying to do it,

141
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,200
Speaker 1: and it just didn't work out for them because they

142
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,640
Speaker 1: some you know, somebody's got publicized and every starting these

143
00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,200
Speaker 1: guys can't be doing that. So it's been a challenge

144
00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,720
Speaker 1: working on that. But on our hand, Uh, we have

145
00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,120
Speaker 1: a big bear knockle event called Knucklemania coming from Lakeland, Florida,

146
00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,160
Speaker 1: on February five, Um, sort of coinciding with the super

147
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,640
Speaker 1: Bowl weekend in Tampa, which we all know in sports

148
00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,600
Speaker 1: and super Bowls will be different than anything we've ever

149
00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,239
Speaker 1: seen in the past. And I think you guys probably

150
00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,560
Speaker 1: have worked around super Bowls. You know what the ancillary

151
00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,440
Speaker 1: events are around that. Um, it's I really don't know

152
00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:56,760
Speaker 1: how it's going to be this year. It's gonna be

153
00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,000
Speaker 1: quite different than we've seen before. So um. Yeah, it's

154
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,120
Speaker 1: been interesting and we learned what the rules are in

155
00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:04,960
Speaker 1: every country. You know, we have done a lot of

156
00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,680
Speaker 1: events of Spain and now that's first shutdown a little bit.

157
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,280
Speaker 1: A lot of people just tell us be patient, come back,

158
00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,680
Speaker 1: and you know, fortunately against some of our our January

159
00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,760
Speaker 1: has been a little quiet, but typically believe well not

160
00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,880
Speaker 1: January is a quiet event for lease Talk events anyway. Yeah. So, um,

161
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,120
Speaker 1: but our February and March schedules are just exploding right now.

162
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,520
Speaker 1: So Mike, when when you think about kind of the

163
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,200
Speaker 1: landscape that's out there, you know, and I say this

164
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:36,040
Speaker 1: as someone who in in amid all the tumult and turmoil. Uh,

165
00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: my family actually did cut the cord, and I have

166
00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,080
Speaker 1: to say I feel sort of stupid for not doing

167
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,360
Speaker 1: it sooner because I feel like we have all the

168
00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:47,040
Speaker 1: access we need to everything and live sports and sports

169
00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,800
Speaker 1: where the thing that kept holding us back in many ways.

170
00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:54,280
Speaker 1: What happens next in this landscape in terms of distribution,

171
00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,600
Speaker 1: deals changing, the league's changing, Like, what what's the next

172
00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,760
Speaker 1: big step here in terms of how we consume sports

173
00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,720
Speaker 1: or maybe more to the point, how sports and especially

174
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:10,319
Speaker 1: live sports are distributed. Well, I mean for us, we

175
00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,440
Speaker 1: work on a pay per view model, okay, um, and

176
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,600
Speaker 1: you may have heard rumors that pay per view is dead.

177
00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,600
Speaker 1: Well it's far for dead from us from our standpoint.

178
00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,800
Speaker 1: I also think, you know, people don't want too many

179
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,840
Speaker 1: subscriptions because you know, you got you got in that place,

180
00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,160
Speaker 1: you got a prime, you got Hulu and all of

181
00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,679
Speaker 1: a sudden, why that cut the corn in my costs

182
00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,760
Speaker 1: or board then when I had cable you know. So, Um,

183
00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,840
Speaker 1: what we're trying to do is you know, uh, we

184
00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,680
Speaker 1: have small programming it's for real niche from and then

185
00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:40,080
Speaker 1: we have the big events. We know we are the

186
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,480
Speaker 1: Tyson Jones, uh fight from on November, and you know, uh,

187
00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:47,160
Speaker 1: if people want to see it, they're going to pay

188
00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,880
Speaker 1: to see the event. And this way they got their

189
00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,400
Speaker 1: choices and you can really you know, make decisions on

190
00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,960
Speaker 1: what events they want to see. UM in boxing, um

191
00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,520
Speaker 1: m m A and wrestling for sure. UM. Hard thing

192
00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,439
Speaker 1: in sports is you know, is NFL um going to

193
00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:08,160
Speaker 1: go to a pay per view for that will be

194
00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,800
Speaker 1: a difficult sale for a long time. You know, there's

195
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,320
Speaker 1: very established sports baseball and basketball and so forth. You know,

196
00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,560
Speaker 1: combat sports, as you guys probably know, it has long

197
00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,680
Speaker 1: history during pre pay per view even to uh closed

198
00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,800
Speaker 1: circuit was always uh the way these type of events

199
00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,400
Speaker 1: were always viewed, you know, back in the day now,

200
00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,880
Speaker 1: back in the fifties, sixties and seventies, and so it

201
00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,520
Speaker 1: was always predestined that that's the way these types of

202
00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:35,880
Speaker 1: combat sports worked as a way to view it. So

203
00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,600
Speaker 1: that's worked out very well for us. We hope to

204
00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:42,840
Speaker 1: keep continue expanding that area. UM. But we're also like

205
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,160
Speaker 1: we're doing South American World Cup qualifiers. So that's something

206
00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:51,120
Speaker 1: that probably ESPN wouldn't be that interested in carry, but

207
00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,040
Speaker 1: we are, and it's a very niche and there's a

208
00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,120
Speaker 1: lot of South Americans who live in the United States

209
00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,360
Speaker 1: who are very interested in seeing this. And we also

210
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,400
Speaker 1: have the ability for our partners to use our technology

211
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:08,000
Speaker 1: to make our programming available in sports bars too. And

212
00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,440
Speaker 1: as you guys may have experienced, you know there's Peruvian

213
00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 1: sports bars, there's Columbian sports bars. You know, I didn't

214
00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:16,720
Speaker 1: know this all existed before. About worrying, I mean, we

215
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:20,120
Speaker 1: just did a deal this week for Ecuadorian UH ticker UM.

216
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,600
Speaker 1: In about two three weeks UM that will be available

217
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:27,920
Speaker 1: and we expect some UM strong UM viewership for those

218
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,600
Speaker 1: events from that community. Mike Lynchy, I have to admire

219
00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,200
Speaker 1: Jason because he just said, Hey, I'm cutting the court. Now,

220
00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:41,440
Speaker 1: I'm that dude that you know, Hey, I've got to

221
00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,600
Speaker 1: see my farm report. Man, I can't, you know, just

222
00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:49,079
Speaker 1: cut the cable. But I am falling way behind the

223
00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,960
Speaker 1: times I see. So I guess my question is why

224
00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,320
Speaker 1: am I a geezer when it comes the cable? Why

225
00:11:57,440 --> 00:11:59,720
Speaker 1: why can't I just cut the court and watch fight?

226
00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:01,480
Speaker 1: And by the way, I want to make sure people

227
00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,680
Speaker 1: know it's fight spelled f I T E. So in

228
00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,600
Speaker 1: case people are looking for So, why am I the

229
00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:12,480
Speaker 1: geaser here? What? Why? Why am I afraid it's a

230
00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:20,400
Speaker 1: different podcast. Bar Sorry, go on, go on, Mike. Well, well,

231
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,120
Speaker 1: one thing with Fight is, you know, we really did

232
00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:27,120
Speaker 1: start out just as a mobile Apple on iPhones and androids, okay,

233
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:31,079
Speaker 1: but we're really Intellivision Network now. Um. Our programming is

234
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,160
Speaker 1: ava ailable through roccup, Apple, Amazon, which is probably the

235
00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,679
Speaker 1: way most people watch their Netflix and Who Lose and

236
00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,480
Speaker 1: so forth. So we're pretty much shoulder shoulder with a

237
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,880
Speaker 1: very mainstream program ESPN plus Disney plus um. But we

238
00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,040
Speaker 1: also now take another step where we're made of apps.

239
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,040
Speaker 1: So when you take the TV out of the box,

240
00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,720
Speaker 1: we're part of it. And that's on the Busio, TVs, Samstung, LG, TV, Billups,

241
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,240
Speaker 1: high Sins pretty much the major brands around the world,

242
00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,280
Speaker 1: and so you know, um, and then we've got to

243
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,199
Speaker 1: add it little. We actually have a patent on this

244
00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,560
Speaker 1: in effects how the company actually started with a bunch

245
00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,840
Speaker 1: of engineers debetting each other. You know what, I think

246
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,360
Speaker 1: I can make that video from my mobile phone going

247
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:18,040
Speaker 1: too content connected TV using cloud technology. Okay, trust me,

248
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,240
Speaker 1: I'm not engineers, so I won't get too deep on

249
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,480
Speaker 1: how it works. I don't know, but uh, but it's

250
00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,160
Speaker 1: a cool feature that you can actually cast from your

251
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,439
Speaker 1: mobile to your connected TV and all you gotta do

252
00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,160
Speaker 1: is beyond WiFi on the same WiFi between the two.

253
00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,560
Speaker 1: So we're ruin a television network and so it's it's

254
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,240
Speaker 1: a love. It's also getting pastive stigma of digital because

255
00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,400
Speaker 1: it was failures of delivering the program and the viewing experience.

256
00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,520
Speaker 1: And fortunately we're actually a technology company first out ball

257
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,280
Speaker 1: Area and the engineers have been together ten, fifteen and

258
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:54,240
Speaker 1: twenty years all working together and built this I feel

259
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:59,120
Speaker 1: best in class technology to view um digital programming from

260
00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,600
Speaker 1: around the world. Mike oh, I thought it was interesting

261
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,960
Speaker 1: that you've expanded into soccer, horse racing, concerts, gospel music events.

262
00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:12,679
Speaker 1: What's the most valuable content property right now? Well, I

263
00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,160
Speaker 1: mean it goes out saying the Tyson fight UM that

264
00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,120
Speaker 1: we did was unbelievable, you know, and there will be

265
00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:23,120
Speaker 1: more fights like that. Um uh. You know, Jake Paul

266
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:25,760
Speaker 1: was on that and for people are from Jake Paul.

267
00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,240
Speaker 1: He's on the top of YouTuber, so I think he's

268
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,640
Speaker 1: got between million subscribers as YouTube channel him his brother

269
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,120
Speaker 1: Logan Paul, which I'm proud to state are Ohio natives. UM.

270
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,800
Speaker 1: The Rocky River, Ohio. Um. We actually, before the Tyson fight,

271
00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:41,920
Speaker 1: had done events with both Logan Paul and Jake Paul

272
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,560
Speaker 1: and we've been amazed by their following. Um. So those

273
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,640
Speaker 1: type of events um are here this day. UM. I

274
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,360
Speaker 1: think they're They've actually set new rules of how to

275
00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,800
Speaker 1: broadcast boxing in my opinion. UM. And so boxing has

276
00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:58,840
Speaker 1: had a rural resurgence here. We like to think we're

277
00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,680
Speaker 1: a part of that and being exciting about what we

278
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,440
Speaker 1: can do there. UM. But so we're never going to

279
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,200
Speaker 1: beer away from what got us here, and that's combat sports,

280
00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,440
Speaker 1: and that's a boxing and pro wrestling and m m

281
00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:15,520
Speaker 1: a um. But frankly anything beyond the traditional sports of

282
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,080
Speaker 1: the baseball and basketball and football. We feel that there's

283
00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,520
Speaker 1: a great opportunities for us moving forward. And so, Mike,

284
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:30,120
Speaker 1: how does this sort of new evolving AH pay per

285
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:39,200
Speaker 1: view landscape, how does it grow consolidate going forward? Given this,

286
00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: you know, Michael barred, notwithstanding Pard cutting world, but um,

287
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,880
Speaker 1: that we are moving towards. You know, we have all

288
00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:52,520
Speaker 1: these new content creators in some ways who are and

289
00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,000
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm intrigued by what you said earlier in

290
00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,200
Speaker 1: the conversation about some of the non sports stuff that

291
00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,800
Speaker 1: that you guys are doing. Is that just a toe

292
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,760
Speaker 1: in the water. It does that portend different sorts of

293
00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,520
Speaker 1: relationships going forward beyond sports and look around the corner

294
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,840
Speaker 1: for us, Well a little bit is you know, first

295
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,280
Speaker 1: she identify what's underserved, Okay, and well, music is definitely

296
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,920
Speaker 1: underserved right now because you know, Live Nation is telling

297
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:20,960
Speaker 1: people they're not going to do another concert too maybe

298
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 1: this fall, you know, in front of any audiences. So uh, gosh,

299
00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,200
Speaker 1: they probably took the biggest hit of them all in

300
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:33,680
Speaker 1: the live venue event business. Okay, and they gotta be

301
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,920
Speaker 1: looking for other ways. Um, they're a little stubborn of

302
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:39,600
Speaker 1: going there. But we're starting to work with more and

303
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,680
Speaker 1: more people in the music business who understand that they

304
00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:44,920
Speaker 1: got to reinvent the wheel. Now. It's sort of like

305
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,240
Speaker 1: how they ignored iTunes initially and thought, oh, we'll must

306
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,440
Speaker 1: keep you know, selling CDs and records. Well you don't

307
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,280
Speaker 1: see too many CDs around anymore, you know, and so

308
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,360
Speaker 1: um uh, it's sort of weird of music. I'm not

309
00:16:58,480 --> 00:16:59,800
Speaker 1: trying to rip them, but it seems to be a

310
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:04,119
Speaker 1: litt slower adapters to ways to monetize their their industry,

311
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,520
Speaker 1: and we think what we're doing is a is a

312
00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,480
Speaker 1: good way to look into the future to make it

313
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,600
Speaker 1: because even if concerts start going back full bore in

314
00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:16,760
Speaker 1: the fall, they're still not going to have sell out

315
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,520
Speaker 1: audiences yet. I think there's gonna be a lot of

316
00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,159
Speaker 1: people are coming cautious for a long time, you know,

317
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,800
Speaker 1: going into big crowds. UM. So we think that this

318
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,879
Speaker 1: is a good alternative way for music to be exposed.

319
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:30,840
Speaker 1: It's one of the same thing that we've looked at

320
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,920
Speaker 1: mother sports. Um mot sports has actually underserved, you know,

321
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:35,600
Speaker 1: I think most of you guys probably remember there was

322
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,000
Speaker 1: a network called Speech you know, which was dedicated in

323
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,400
Speaker 1: other sports, and there's really nothing out there. But most

324
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,360
Speaker 1: reports hasn't gone away, and most sports fans still love

325
00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,119
Speaker 1: their supercross, they love their dirt track car racing and

326
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:53,080
Speaker 1: stuff like this, and um those events are um looking

327
00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,240
Speaker 1: for a location that people can find them and have

328
00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:59,879
Speaker 1: a good viewing experience, and that's what we're trying to

329
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,400
Speaker 1: offer them, is the good viewing experience. Getting the rights

330
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,159
Speaker 1: to a lot of this, it seems to me that

331
00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:11,080
Speaker 1: that would be an expensive part of your business, isn't

332
00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,159
Speaker 1: that true? Well, you know, it's funny should bring that up.

333
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:22,480
Speaker 1: Uh So we have a pretty interesting company. UM. I

334
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:25,399
Speaker 1: have a CEO named Kosa jordan Off, who is the

335
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,560
Speaker 1: founder of this company, who has heavy engineering background, but

336
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:32,159
Speaker 1: also this really knows how to work with finances and

337
00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:34,920
Speaker 1: is a lot of his is a mutual decision to

338
00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:38,159
Speaker 1: get into the combat sports and this is why we

339
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,280
Speaker 1: were able to launch with We did have investors, but

340
00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,919
Speaker 1: you know, not those hundreds of hundreds of millions dollars

341
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,840
Speaker 1: which you're used to seeing and hearing about some companies. Okay,

342
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,240
Speaker 1: and what we did. One of the reasons we chose

343
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,600
Speaker 1: pay per view is because the business model is all

344
00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,000
Speaker 1: about sharing the revenue. You make money, we make money,

345
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,959
Speaker 1: and vice versa. So you're not paying big upfront right

346
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,840
Speaker 1: speech for these events. Now. One of the reasons that

347
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,720
Speaker 1: also worked is because I've personally have been in the

348
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,800
Speaker 1: wrestling industry and motor sports industry for thirty five years.

349
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,560
Speaker 1: We had a gentleman who's consulting with us had worked

350
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,720
Speaker 1: in the boxing industry for forty years. We've got another

351
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,040
Speaker 1: gentleman who worked in the m m A industry for

352
00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:18,400
Speaker 1: twenty years, so we all know relationships go a long way.

353
00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,359
Speaker 1: And our words are bond to you know, if people

354
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,240
Speaker 1: take chances. So we're able to bring a lot of

355
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:26,240
Speaker 1: events in and did not have to risk all that

356
00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,440
Speaker 1: money up front to put up on there um and

357
00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,119
Speaker 1: and we we position itself is not exclusive. So if

358
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,160
Speaker 1: you're playing on cable and we're gonna put on Track

359
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,040
Speaker 1: TV and Dish Network, we'll put on a digital platform

360
00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,359
Speaker 1: called Fight also and we're able to make that work.

361
00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:46,120
Speaker 1: So the risk were relatively low getting started and keep

362
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,879
Speaker 1: building and building up, then getting the credibility and then

363
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,040
Speaker 1: you know, when you're starting writing multimillion dollar checks to partners,

364
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,120
Speaker 1: the credibility gets stronger pretty quick, you know. And um,

365
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,200
Speaker 1: we proved that we had a model that didn't break down.

366
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,320
Speaker 1: We also prove that we pay in um an appropriate

367
00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:05,720
Speaker 1: amount of time, so nobody's chasing anything for money. So

368
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 1: a lot of these things are what we built as

369
00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,800
Speaker 1: our corner stones and had to success our our event.

370
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,119
Speaker 1: But you know, a lot of it is having a

371
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:14,080
Speaker 1: lot of people who have a lot of partnerships and

372
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,639
Speaker 1: experience to grow there. So um, we we have not

373
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,480
Speaker 1: had to put out large amounts of money. You know,

374
00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,200
Speaker 1: one thing in the subscription industry, you know, we have

375
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,840
Speaker 1: no choice but making big guarantees to people and then

376
00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:31,680
Speaker 1: hoping that helps drive your subscribers. Okay, um, you know,

377
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,760
Speaker 1: you know the hardest thing is, I'm working on a

378
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,320
Speaker 1: promoter right now, Well, how many buyers going am I

379
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,440
Speaker 1: going to have? And I said, I still don't own

380
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 1: that crystal ball that tells me that yet. However, we're

381
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,000
Speaker 1: now building up more and more events, so we actually

382
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:50,560
Speaker 1: have strong prediction models. Again, the prediction machine. I'm not

383
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,680
Speaker 1: the engineer to figured this out, but we essentially take

384
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,920
Speaker 1: about twelve different points of data and can do pretty

385
00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,440
Speaker 1: good predictions. And we had a progress think about this

386
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,360
Speaker 1: past weekend from Impact Wrestling, which is a good product

387
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,000
Speaker 1: out there, and they asked me that morning what our

388
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,920
Speaker 1: predictions were. I looked at a prediction model and I said,

389
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,600
Speaker 1: five thousand buys or something along those lines are gonna

390
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 1: be in and we have five thousand one you know. So, uh,

391
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 1: the model works, you know, and and so it's pretty cool,

392
00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:24,359
Speaker 1: um uh tool to use to figure out how events

393
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,000
Speaker 1: going to do in the future using that model. Mike,

394
00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 1: do do you really feel like you've you've positioned yourself

395
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,000
Speaker 1: to survive during these times and thrive compared to some

396
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:39,400
Speaker 1: of your competitors. Yeah, LAVA is because UM again, since

397
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,000
Speaker 1: we're talking finances here with Bloomberg is you know we're

398
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,600
Speaker 1: we only have twenty eight employees, okay, running pretty much

399
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: a global company. UM. Also on the majority of those

400
00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:53,879
Speaker 1: employees are actually in Bulgaria. There's only seven employee the

401
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,399
Speaker 1: United States. So if you know a little bit about Bulgaria,

402
00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 1: there is the cost of living there is their actually

403
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,840
Speaker 1: different than the US. So uh using an example, if

404
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,400
Speaker 1: there's an engineering you'd be paying a hundred thousand two

405
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,239
Speaker 1: in l a, UM, we can we can be very

406
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:12,639
Speaker 1: compla paying that person about twenty and twenty five thousand

407
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,440
Speaker 1: a year in in UM in Bulgaria. So it really

408
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,040
Speaker 1: helps us keep down our business costs. I mean we

409
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: we've talked to other companies in our tell us what

410
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 1: they're they're monthly burn rate was, and then we talked

411
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,199
Speaker 1: about ours where and they said, no, no, that's not right,

412
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 1: I can't make it. Well, some of us, like myself,

413
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,760
Speaker 1: we took very uh reasonable wages. But with a piece

414
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 1: of the company and having so many of our employees

415
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,040
Speaker 1: in Bulgaria where this the cost of doing business is

416
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 1: much lower. UM We're able to survive through some tough

417
00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:48,040
Speaker 1: times there, especially here last spring. Um, and it's it's

418
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,520
Speaker 1: just a very efficient business here the way we run

419
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: it right now and get I want do the credit

420
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,760
Speaker 1: not to me but the coast and Jordan because he

421
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:57,520
Speaker 1: knows how to make it work with the financials. Well,

422
00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,520
Speaker 1: Mike Weber, it's been a real treat catching up with you.

423
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 1: Best of luck. You are certainly at the center of

424
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,840
Speaker 1: everything that's going on when it comes to how sports

425
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,400
Speaker 1: are produced and how we consume them. So look forward

426
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,000
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on where it goes from here.

427
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,720
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time. Thank Youre. I'm glad

428
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:17,879
Speaker 1: to be on here and make sure everybody download the

429
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 1: fight Apple, which is spelled f I T is Michael mentioned.

430
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I'm glad you could join us.

431
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,199
Speaker 1: This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. Michael Bar

432
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,400
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Big Bar Sports

433
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 1: and I'm Mike Lynch. You can follow me at Lynch

434
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,800
Speaker 1: e w CVB and I'm Jason Kelly. Find me on

435
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,360
Speaker 1: Twitter at Jason Kelly News. We're here with you each

436
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 1: and every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday talking about the world

437
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,240
Speaker 1: of money and Sports Join us again. At the end

438
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,480
Speaker 1: of the week, we're gonna catch up with none other

439
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,680
Speaker 1: than Gary Bettman. He, of course, is the commissioner of

440
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,160
Speaker 1: the National Hockey League that season underway, and like everything else, guys,

441
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,119
Speaker 1: it's a little bit different. You're listening to Bloomberg Business

442
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,199
Speaker 1: of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world and online

443
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast.