Fans want to meet and hear stories from athletes directly

Athletes have countless inspiring stories to tell. Sophisticated fans want to meet them and hear their first-hand accounts of the greatest moments in their professional careers. Live games often don't provide the right environment for cultivating key business relationships. 

Thuzio: live sports events that inspire

We are an event and media company providing unrivaled access to sports icons and their stories. Our national event series features live interviews with professional athletes, focusing on the shared values of sports, life and business. Our event series is accessible exclusively to a business membership community that leverages our events for client engagement and networking. 

Events, media, and custom experiences for our members

Thuzio members have access to a national event series that will offer 100+ events across 12 US cities in 2020, including activations at the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Weekend, the NCAA Final Four, and the NFL Draft. Thuzio events feature a professionally moderated interview with an iconic athlete, are hosted at upscale and business-friendly venues in major cities, and are wrapped in a premium hospitality experience. 

Members and our growing digital audience of subscribers enjoy access to exclusive video and audio content from Thuzio events, as well as custom private athlete-powered events and experiences. 

Membership is tiered and can be purchased by individual professionals, small teams, or the enterprise.

$2.5M in revenue, 1.5 years after launch

• 25K+ digital subscribers
• 200+ corporate member accounts
• 5,000+ event attendees in 2019
• 100+ events planned across 12 US cities for 2020 
• "Caters to the elite" - ESPN's Undefeated

Where sports meet business

Thuzio events and content serve the "Growth Professional" - someone who constantly aims to improve and achieve in life and business. We are often found by top producers, small business owners, and/or executive leaders. Our membership base boasts seven of the top ten U.S. banks, six of the top ten U.S. consulting firms, and four of the top ten B2B SaaS companies.

The business model of professional sports teams

Thuzio makes money the same way as professional teams. Revenue comes from tickets (membership), and sponsorship against events and media. Expenses come from venue, catering, talent, and production costs.

Membership has tiered pricing, starting as low as $2,000 per year for the individual professional, up to $20,000 per year for the enterprise. Membership provides a block of tickets for access to events, priced generally around $200 per ticket. 

Sponsorship is custom built for brands, providing a range of assets, including event branding and activations, digital acquisition marketing via email and social, sponsored video and audio content, and hospitality. Sponsorship can be purchased for individual events, or as part of an annual program. Investments range from $3,000 per event for product sponsors, to six-figure annual deals. 

In 2019, we kept our events and revenue flat, while focusing on gross margin improvement. We're thrilled to say we grew gross margins by 2x YoY.

Now armed with healthy gross margins, we look to double our event count and revenue in 2020, while pursuing increased revenue and margins per event in our 3 year plan. We believe each event can represent $100K in revenue and $50K in gross profit, as we grow our membership base for ticket redemptions and enhance sponsor value through exposure to a larger member community and digital audience. 

$70B U.S. sports market

Thuzio events specifically target the buyer of premium sports tickets and hospitality (making up $19B of the $70B total market). Thuzio media, serving as the go-to destination for inspirational sports content, will serve the same brands currently spending across the sports media landscape. 

A unique edge to the sports event experience

There is no competing membership organization providing access to athletes and sports content. That said, we do compete with the traditional teams and leagues for spend against premium sports hospitality and sponsorship products.

Our members tell us that our event product provides a more comfortable and consistent environment for client engagement. We never have an off night.

The go-to destination for inspirational sports content and events

2020 marks an important year of growth for Thuzio. We will double our event count (100), open 4 new markets (Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and San Francisco), bringing us to 12 total. We'll also launch our content platform, providing access to our video library and podcast.

By 2022, we aim to be producing 300 events, across 30 U.S. and international markets, serving millions of digital subscribers and thousands of corporate members. This plan would generate $25M+ of revenue and $5M+ of EBITDA.

We raised $1M this past summer (2019) to expand events and the sales and marketing organization. Now we're raising up to an additional $600,960 to invest in our content platform. 

We're just getting started... 

Raised $3.2M to date from angel investors including Gary V and David Falk

• Thuzio events and media, as it exists today, is nearly 3 years old, and has raised $3.2M, starting with a $1.8M note in 2017, when the company became independent. We subsequently raised $400K in an equity round in December 2017, priced at $2.5M post. Most recently, we raised $1M in equity financing this past summer at a $5M pre-money valuation.
• Thuzio, Inc. was founded in 2012 by Tiki Barber (NY Giants), Mark Gerson (GLG) and Jared Augustine (Seamless/GrubHub), aiming to solve a problem recognized by Tiki; it was difficult if not impossible for most people to access professional athletes for engagements.
• We built an online database of sports influencers, making them accessible for live appearances and social media activations. We raised $20M+ of venture funding into the business and overtime grew the database to include influencers from all genres. Today, we’re thrilled to say the original database business exists under the brand, “Julius”,  a leading influencer marketing software company.
• Along the journey, we started hosting events with our business and athlete networks, to show the power of these interactions first-hand. The feedback was overwhelming positive from all parties. We asked the question – what if you could buy a version of season tickets to access events with professional athletes all year round? We decided this could be a very special and valuable concept, and in July of 2017, we spun-out the the event business as a stand-alone company, carrying the original brand of “Thuzio”.

Jared Augustine

Mark Gerson

Tiki Barber