Who is Building the Next Billion Dollar Sports Empire?
I’ve learnt it’s a good idea to listen to Victor Cui. And he gave me a great insight this week.
As CEO / Owner of ONE Championship, Victor has built an empire in just over 5 years, with a now anticipated $1 BILLION dollar valuation. The Mixed Martial arts organisation is regarded as Asia’s largest sports media company, with 90% share of the market and lucrative blue-chip partners (Disney, Marvel, et al), ONE is held in sold-out stadiums, with each event broadcast to 1 billion viewers across 118 countries, and rising.
I remember hearing Victor speak of his vision just 5 years ago, and thinking ‘great idea’, but ‘good luck’ with that.
He has since navigated all that comes with bringing together all Asian nations, several massive martial arts communities, building on 5,000 years of tradition, respecting the variety of cultures, and characters, all to achieve something that could only have been a dream back in 2011.
So what did Victor tell us this week? He spoke at the ‘Mass Participation Asia Conference’ of how he we should draw on analogies from the rise (and fall) of the Video Rental Store industry that became obsolete as technology and entertainment habits evolved in the 2000’s. ‘Mom and Pop’ independant stores were overtaken by chains, then Blockbuster died as Netflix rose. Video stores disappeared as our entertainment options evolved.
Of course it is de rigueur to cite Netflix, Uber, Air BnB or poor old Kodak as the business model stories of today. But there is good reason for that. It’s factual recent history that most industries have been disrupted, and we know a similar evolution has now come to us, the ‘Mass Participation Sports Events’ (MPSE) industry. We know our audiences behaviour has changed, as has the industry dynamics. And we know the best predictor of future behaviour is (relevant) past behaviour. We know the same factors that changed the ‘home entertainment’ industry are just as relevant to us.
And in our MPSE world view we have already seen major new players come into the industry. China’s richest man bought IRONMAN via Wanda for a reported $650M, and one of the world’s biggest brands in Virgin has come along to join the fun. It’s exciting and evolving. Fast. And we all need to move.
So the question we need to ask is where are we going? What industry are we in? Mass Participation? Sport? Entertainment? Do we even need to draw a limit on what industry we are?
We know Mass Participation Sports Events are global, growing, and diverse, with many formats and market segments. A world of opportunity for those who can seize it.
Speaking for ourselves and our team at Limelight Sports, we constantly spend time considering where we play and what value we offer. We’ve asked ourselves ‘are we the ‘Netflix of the (active) entertainment industry?’, or ‘is the aspiration the ‘Uber of mass participation?’
Where we have landed is ‘the Agency of the Active World’.
Not just events, not just sport. It is mass participation and beyond. It is the Active World.
As an agency we see this Active World as a huge opportunity in a connected world. To engage brands with audiences through real life active experiences. To give brands a human voice and create authentic experiences.
It is an exciting time.
And this time Victor not only am I listening, but we are taking action.
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I’d welcome your thoughts on the future. And if you are keen to build the dream with the agency of the Active World lets talk some more.
