Why Ari Emanuel Is Betting Big on UFC and WWE | The Circuit with Emily Chang

Ari Emanuel's Rise in Entertainment and Combat Sports

• Ari Emanuel is the CEO of Endeavor, a multi-billion dollar entertainment empire, and has recently become a major player in combat sports with the acquisition of the UFC and WWE through his company TKO, making a significant bet on the future of live combat sports (2m9s).
• Emanuel has a reputation for being a straight-talking dealmaker and has built an impressive roster of A-list clients, including some of the most recognizable names in show business (1m8s).
• He was the real-life inspiration for the character Ari Gold in the cult series Entourage, and has been known to be aggressive in business, not putting up with unfair treatment even when his company was the smallest player (1m50s).
• Emanuel has worked tirelessly to transform Endeavor into a multi-billion dollar company that straddles the worlds of entertainment, live events, sports, and the arts (2m1s).

Emanuel's Background and Early Career

• He has been in the industry for four decades and has a reputation for getting what he wants and saying exactly what he thinks (48s).
• Emanuel's upbringing and parents played a significant role in shaping him into the person he is today, teaching him the importance of hard work, curiosity, and emotional endurance (3m31s).
• Representing big-name clients prepared Emanuel for the high-stakes game of running Endeavor, and he has stated that he is not a wallflower and acts the way he wants to act (4m5s).
• Emanuel was first singled out as one to watch by The Hollywood Reporter in 1994, and he started his agency Endeavor above a burger joint in Beverly Hills with a few colleagues (3m18s).
• He has been open about his past and has shared stories about his upbringing and experiences in the industry, including a time when he got into a fight with someone during an interview (58s).
• Ari Emanuel is a forceful and upfront person who uses his skills as an agent to break things up and create new businesses, which is necessary when putting projects together for clients or trying to sign clients (4m14s).

The UFC and WWE Acquisition

• When Emanuel bought the UFC, people thought he was crazy, but the value has since tripled, proving his vision that live sports and television would have more distribution and content would be more valuable (4m37s).
• Emanuel has brought the UFC and WWE together in a massive $21 billion deal, with the vision of creating a massive live sports and entertainment company (5m1s).
• The company will be split into two businesses: TKO, which is live sports, and Endeavor, which is the representation business (5m10s).

Endeavor's IPO and Going Private

• Emanuel's company Endeavor faced some serious whiplash on Wall Street in 2019 when he pulled the plug on the company's IPO the day before its debut, but it finally went public two years later (5m42s).
• Endeavor is now going back to being a private company, and Emanuel believes that it didn't work as a public company because he didn't do a good job of explaining the story of what Endeavor was and how it touched all aspects of entertainment (6m8s).
• As part of the go-private deal, Endeavor will have to sell some assets, and Emanuel is unsure of what the company will look like in the end, but he believes that all the businesses are great and will play themselves out over the next couple of years (6m35s).

Emanuel's Philosophy and Approach to Business

• Emanuel emphasizes the importance of endurance in running a public company and starting a business, and he tries to teach his kids and employees that it's not about how many punches you can throw, but how many punches you can take (7m13s).
• The UFC's Performance Institute is a facility that provides rehab, food preparation, and training programs for fighters, with the goal of giving back to the fighters and helping them perform at their best (7m52s).
• The psychology of the Performance Institute is focused on helping fighters stay present and focused, both physically and mentally, and Emanuel believes that it's as mental as it is physical (8m33s).
• Anxiety is a natural and normal response that can be harnessed as fuel, rather than letting it become fear, and controlling it is key to success (8m42s).

The UFC Performance Institute and Mental Fitness

• The UFC's Performance Institute is a facility that provides rehab, food preparation, and training programs for fighters, with the goal of giving back to the fighters and helping them perform at their best (7m52s).
• The psychology of the Performance Institute is focused on helping fighters stay present and focused, both physically and mentally, and Emanuel believes that it's as mental as it is physical (8m33s).
• Anxiety is a natural and normal response that can be harnessed as fuel, rather than letting it become fear, and controlling it is key to success (8m42s).
• A metabolic conditioning circuit can be used to prepare for elite fighting, with a focus on pushing oneself to the limit and respecting the physical demands of the sport (9m3s).
• The individual has a high level of respect for fighters and the physical toll that the sport takes on their bodies, having experienced it firsthand through training (9m18s).
• The individual is always looking for new ways to stay healthy and has discovered a chair called the ShiftWve, which they find to be incredible, but always consults with their doctor brother Zeke before trying new things (9m41s).
• Mental fitness is crucial in combat sports, and the individual prepares themselves through a combination of working out, meditation, and other activities such as using the ShiftWve and ice baths (10m8s).

The Business of Combat Sports and Entertainment

• Having an elite fitness routine can be beneficial for dealing with the high stakes of combat sports, and both the UFC and WWE are at the top of their game in delivering prime-time entertainment (10m39s).
• The individual disagrees with the notion that they are running a "Fight Club," instead seeing the UFC as a global sport that has been built over 30 years, and the WWE as a family-friendly entertainment brand (10m58s).
• The UFC has become a mainstream part of global sports culture, with a core audience of young men and a niche in the zeitgeist, while the WWE has a broad appeal and is inclusive for people of all backgrounds (11m51s).
• The WWE's influence on pop culture has given its biggest stars access to the worlds of Hollywood, music, and politics, and the individual appreciates the inclusivity and family-friendly nature of the brand (12m31s).
• The sports industry, including the UFC and WWE, has faced criticism and allegations of promoting a hyper-masculine culture and having athletes with questionable reputations (12m45s).
• Despite these challenges, many fighters are good people who want to support their families and have chosen their profession (13m31s).
• Working with colorful and controversial characters requires understanding their skills and talents, as well as supporting them with the necessary resources (13m40s).
• The UFC's president, Dana White, had to deal with the fallout of Conor McGregor pulling out of a fight due to injury, which is a common occurrence in the business (14m24s).
• When human beings are the product, many things can happen, including personal problems and injuries, which can be expensive and time-consuming to deal with (14m51s).

The Future of Television and Streaming

• The next 25 years of the business will likely involve changes in the television landscape, with streaming becoming a reality and potentially leading to a global platform with multiple major players (15m14s).
• The ceiling for the UFC's growth is estimated to be 8 billion people, with the potential to stack cards that appeal to different markets around the world (15m51s).
• Former US President Donald Trump, a longtime fight fan, made a public appearance at a UFC fight after his criminal conviction and is likely to continue attending events (16m6s).
• Trump has a history with the UFC, having hosted UFC 33 at the Trump Taj Mahal when the organization was not allowed to hold events in many places (16m25s).
• Ari Emanuel's success may seem sudden to outsiders, but it has been a long and hard grind to get to where he is today, with a turning point coming when he put everything on his back and went to Abu Dhabi with partners to put together a fight that ended up being a huge success, with fights that should have been doing 300,000 buys instead doing a million, and the UFC's fan base growing by 68% during the COVID-19 pandemic (16m59s).
• The UFC has a tried and true playbook, but the WWE is constantly evolving, giving rise to different eras defined by their performers and storytelling approaches, and is now in its Renaissance Era featuring series star power like Cody Rhodes and the return of wrestling legends like Roman Reigns and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (17m54s).
• The WWE has landed a blockbuster deal to air WWE Raw on Netflix, which could be a huge win for both the WWE and Netflix, as there is a large chunk of the audience that are WWE fans who are not currently Netflix subscribers (18m26s).
• Big tech companies like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube are coming for sports, but it's likely that there will be a mix of traditional networks and streaming services in the future, rather than a permanent shift away from cable and traditional networks (19m7s).
• The UFC's deal with ESPN is coming up, but it's unlikely to move to Netflix, as ESPN has been an incredible partner and the UFC would love to be back with them (19m36s).
• Having Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN Chief Jimmy Pitaro on speed dial can be helpful when negotiating sports rights deals (20m2s).

The Evolving Entertainment Landscape

• In the new world of entertainment, it's going to take a combination of traditional endorsements and sponsorships, as well as stars owning and creating their own content, to be a real player, with social awareness and influence playing a key role (20m21s).
• The impact of AI on the entertainment industry is significant, with Tyler Perry putting an $800 million expansion of his studio on hold due to AI, indicating a dramatic reshaping of the industry (20m45s).
• Despite the rise of AI, there will still be a need for creative people, actors, and physical energy to produce high-quality movies and TV shows, which may lead to dislocation in certain services and jobs (21m2s).
• The movie business is expected to make a comeback, with the UFC's debut at the Las Vegas sphere offering a glimpse into a potential future of cinematic experiences (21m38s).

Emanuel's Personal Drive and Future Plans

• Ari Emanuel's career is focused on looking forward and studying the next big thing, rather than reflecting on past accomplishments or worrying about mistakes (22m9s).
• Emanuel's motivation for continuing to work is his enjoyment of his life, curiosity, and energy, and he will stop working when he no longer feels these things (22m48s).
• Emanuel credits the people working with him as making his life easier and allowing him to do the things he likes to do, which is a key factor in his decision to continue working (23m18s).