Ari Emanuel’s Fight to Dominate Live Sports and Entertainment

I know you've said you never paintballed The Office, but what was the closest thing?

I know you're not going to believe this, but I really didn't watch a lot of them, only because it gave me such anxiety.

I was trying to build a business.

We were the smallest player.

When people didn't play fairly with us in the sandbox, I didn't put up with that that much, even though we weren't the biggest player.

So I was aggressive.

That's all I'll say.

Super agent and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is one of Hollywood's biggest power brokers and has built a reputation for saying what he thinks and getting what he wants.

Over the past four decades, the straight-talking dealmaker has built a multi-billion dollar empire with its tentacles in every corner of the entertainment industry, including fashion, TV, live events, sports, and the arts.

Full disclosure, I've been a client of Endeavor's for 15 years.

This unique business model has placed Endeavor at all sides of the negotiating table, re-envisioning what it means to be a leading player in the entertainment industry.

I always thought that live sports and television, that there was going to be more distribution and content was going to be more valuable and brands were going to become more valuable.

It's proven to be true.

Emmanuel's career is a series of big, risky bets on the future of content and distribution.

And more recently, he made what may be the biggest bet yet.

In 2023, he snapped up WWE and merged it with the UFC to form a combat sports juggernaut, TKO.

I talked to the media mogul about his gamble on fight entertainment, the shifting landscape of TV in Hollywood, and what's next for his company as it prepares to go private.

Joining me on this edition of The Circuit, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.

Ari, thank you so much for joining us.

It's great to have you.

Nice to be here.

I know you've said you never paintballed The Office, but what was the closest thing?

I know you're not going to believe this, but I really didn't watch a lot of them, only because it gave me such anxiety.

I was trying to build a business.

We were the smallest player.

When people didn't play fairly with us in the sandbox, I didn't put up with that that much, even though we weren't the biggest player.

So I was aggressive.

That's all I'll say.

Super agent and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is one of Hollywood's biggest power brokers and has built a reputation for saying what he thinks and getting what he wants.

Over the past four decades, the straight-talking dealmaker has built a multi-billion dollar empire with its tentacles in every corner of the entertainment industry, including fashion, TV, live events, sports, and the arts.

Full disclosure, I've been a client of Endeavor's for 15 years.

This unique business model has placed Endeavor at all sides of the negotiating table, re-envisioning what it means to be a leading player in the entertainment industry.

I always thought that live sports and television, that there was going to be more distribution and content was going to be more valuable and brands were going to become more valuable.

It's proven to be true.

Emmanuel's career is a series of big, risky bets on the future of content and distribution.

And more recently, he made what may be the biggest bet yet.

In 2023, he snapped up WWE and merged it with the UFC to form a combat sports juggernaut, TKO.

I talked to the media mogul about his gamble on fight entertainment, the shifting landscape of TV in Hollywood, and what's next for his company as it prepares to go private.

Joining me on this edition of The Circuit, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel.

Ari, thank you so much for joining us.

It's great to have you.

Nice to be here.