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UpFront

Dana White, tuning out critics, bullish on social potential of Power Slap

Power Slap will have an event in Las Vegas this week.Courtesy of Power Slap

Before wrapping up his announcements of upcoming UFC fights on social media last week, Dana White slipped in a mention for another venture he’s been spending considerable time on: Power Slap League.

In doing so, White leveraged the global audience he’s built around UFC to promote a property that he founded just last year, one which will hold its latest event in Las Vegas this week, airing on the streaming platform Rumble.

White is convinced he can grow the controversial property without traditional television by streaming on sites such Rumble — a conservative-leaning platform with backing from Peter Thiel that recently added Nitro Rallycross and Street League Skateboarding — and by harnessing the power of social media. The rationale is that the shrinking attention span of consumers globally will play well with an event like slap fighting, with competitions that can last from a few seconds to a few minutes.

It’s a project that has come with its fair share of detractors, many of whom believe that slap fighting is too violent, while others simply feel it has siphoned White’s attention from the UFC. White is unconcerned and doesn’t mind the critics. He compares them to those who doubted UFC in its early days, and says his actions clearly show he’s still working tirelessly on UFC.

“Three things make sense on this: social media, betting and bars — it works well in all three of those places,” White said of Power Slap.

Only one state, Nevada, has licensed and sanctioned Power Slap to date, but White told Sports Business Journal he is working to have five states sanction it by the end of the year. He’s also working to get Power Slap accepted as a sport that can be bet on in states that have legalized gambling.

Slap fighting is perhaps most popular in Eastern Europe and Russia. White saw viral clips from an event in Poland and figured he could build his own version and make it more popular globally — including in the United States — just as he’s done with UFC. “Strikers” stand across from each other and slap the other one at a time to see who can first produce a knockout; the opponent can not duck or block the blow. CBS News reported that the strikers earn between $2,000 and $10,000 per match.

“Strikers” slap opponents who cannot duck or defend themselves.Courtesy of Power Slap

The first season of Power Slap League aired on TBS, and it averaged 294,000 viewers over eight episodes. TBS did not renew after the first season, which was initially delayed by a week when video emerged of White slapping his wife on New Year’s Eve at a club in Mexico. In addition to the blowback from critics, White told SBJ he “didn’t do myself any favors” with the New Year’s Eve incident but that the TBS executives who initially signed off on the deal also left before the first season ended. TBS did not respond to a request for comment.

White and his fellow investors in the property say their experiences in the first season crystallized that they can grow the property without being on traditional TV, pointing first to Power Slap’s social media following on TikTok. While its following is smaller on other platforms (it has 22,000 followers on Twitter), Power Slap already has 3.2 million followers on TikTok, more than leagues such as MLS (1.3 million), NASCAR (1.9 million) and the NHL (2.4 million). UFC has 13.4 million followers on that platform.

White and analytics executives from UFC-owner Endeavor also cited data from Tubular Labs that said Power Slap was the No. 1-ranked sports league on TikTok during a 90-day window from January to April in terms of total views and average views per video.

“I believe Power Slap was a social media phenomenon … the Nielsen ratings weren’t representative of our social media presence,” said “The Ultimate Fighter” producer Craig Piligian, who is an investor in Power Slap. Piligian was an original executive producer of “Survivor” on CBS, and he compared the linear TV success of that show with what Power Slap is seeing on social media.

“[Power Slap] is the first time I’ve ever built a TV show off of social media and not Nielsen [ratings],” Pilligian said. “The way ‘Survivor’ changed reality TV and unscripted TV  . . . this sport is going to change how other sports interact with their fans.”

White would not disclose revenue specifics. Many of those involved with Power Slap so far have backgrounds with UFC. Investors include Lorenzo Fertitta — who bought UFC in 2001 and named White president — and current UFC COO Lawrence Epstein, as well as Piligian. Frank Lamicella, who has been with UFC since 2019, is league president. The biggest sponsor so far has been Monster Energy, which also has a major deal with UFC.

“We were impressed with the traction it got,” Mitch Covington, Monster Energy’s vice president of sports marketing, told SBJ in a text message. “You know Dana and the team there really do a great job when they start a new venture like this. I know they will continue to grow it.”

It’s only one of many ventures for White, who has also become an investor in Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, which owns action sports properties. White says the plan is to build out a more formal structure around Power Slap in the coming years but that it will operate “lean and mean” in terms of staffing like UFC did when it first started up.

He added: “The media loves to murder this thing, and I don’t care — I don’t need the media. I need social media.”

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