Fact
The UFC paid Spike TV to air its own programming
Before the landmark Fox deal, the UFC was paying Spike for airtime to broadcast The Ultimate Fighter and its events, funding its own production. TV rights are the main economic driver of any pro sports league, and the Fox deal was the UFC's first paid rights deal.
“You know, the UFC was paying to be on Spike prior to the Fox deal. And as you know, most people know, that's the main economic driver of any professional sports organization.”
Framework
Build clients, media, and IP — not just transactional deals
Attar's differentiator pitching Conor: while every other agent pitched transactional deals, his 2009 Paradigm business plan was to build brand equity for clients through media and IP, which yields higher sponsorship revenue, raises athletic contract value, and seeds business ventures. He was laughed at for it being 'too busy.'
“I had a broader vision of creating IP, you know, and creating media and content, but also creating business ventures, right? And I really was bullish on that idea. And I remember even when I first launched Paradigm in 2009, my business plan was not only to be the best in class from a management perspective, but build clients, media, and IP.”
Steal thisManage talent by building owned media, IP, and ventures around them, not just chasing the next transactional sponsorship deal.
Framework
Own the brand, don't cash the sponsorship check
Audie Attar's core playbook with Conor McGregor: instead of taking a sponsorship check to promote someone else's product, put up your own capital, find an operating partner and supply chain, and build the brand you own. Proper Twelve came from refusing a whiskey sponsorship to launch their own whiskey.
“could have easily taken a check from a sponsorship perspective and been so short-sighted as opposed to putting up our own capital initially, finding the right operating partner, finding the right strategic capital supply chain route to market, going out and creating our own, working without getting the sponsorship check for X amount of posts or Y amount of appearances, if you will. For an ultimate windfall that changes life and is generational wealth.”
Steal thisWhen offered a sponsorship to shill a category, study the TAM and consider launching your own competing brand you keep equity in instead.
Number
Proper Twelve launched on only a few hundred thousand of own capital
Attar says they put up only a few hundred thousand dollars of their own capital initially to launch Proper Twelve, most of which went to lawyers before they even got started.
$200K
Initial founder capital into Proper Twelve · USD
“I can tell you that we put up probably a few hundred thousand of our own capital initially. I can say that, right? And that's, you know, I mean, that most of that went to lawyers, if you will, just before you even got started.”
Tactic
Bring on a 'black belt' operator who knows what you don't
Attar credits spirits-industry veteran Ken Austin (Avion, Terramana) as the operating genius behind Proper Twelve. His point: no matter the cap table, you must bring in the right operational expertise to execute, because you know what you don't know.
“you bring on a black belt that knows what they're doing. Because at the end of the day, that's part of operating a business and being successful. It's like, you know what you don't know, but essentially no matter what the cap table looks like, you got to make sure you bring on that, the right expertise, right?”
Steal thisWhen entering a new category, give equity to a proven operator who's a 'black belt' in that industry rather than learning the operations yourself.
Story
How the Mayweather fight got made: banter as market research
Attar credits the back-and-forth social media banter between Floyd and Conor for making the fight real. Once the engagement and consumer interest were undeniable in the data, the UFC could no longer deny a win-win event everyone wanted.
“And I think that the banter is really what allowed it to happen, because once they started going back and forth and you could actually see the level of engagement and interest, from a market perspective and from a consumer perspective, it was hard to deny it, right?”
Steal thisUse public banter and the engagement it generates as live market validation to push a deal skeptics say is impossible.
Story
How the Mayweather fight got made: banter as market research
Attar credits the back-and-forth social media banter between Floyd and Conor for making the fight real. Once the engagement and consumer interest were undeniable in the data, the UFC could no longer deny a win-win event everyone wanted.
“And I think that the banter is really what allowed it to happen, because once they started going back and forth and you could actually see the level of engagement and interest, from a market perspective and from a consumer perspective, it was hard to deny it, right?”
Steal thisUse public banter and the engagement it generates as live market validation to push a deal skeptics say is impossible.
Number
Conor made just under $100M from the Mayweather fight
Attar confirms Conor McGregor's take from the Mayweather fight was just under $100 million when all said and done, though that figure was split with a UFC partner.
$100M
Conor McGregor earnings from Mayweather fight · USD
“Conor was on, you know, I'd say just under $100, right? When it's all said and done. So that's his part. So again, he has a part, we had a partner in the UFC.”
Story
7 years, no paycheck: founder paid the team before himself
For the first 7 years of Paradigm, Attar took no paycheck while maxing out credit cards with his then-girlfriend (now wife), paying staff and team members before himself. His lesson: entrepreneurship is a war of attrition where you eat shit sandwiches daily.
“like my wife now, she was my girlfriend and she had a job and we were literally maxing out credit cards. And for the first 7 years of Paradigm, I didn't take a paycheck. I was paying team members and staff. Before I was paying myself.”
Take
More money, more problems is real: people think they deserve your success
On the emotional side of a windfall, Attar bought his mom a house and a car and tried to stay grounded, but warns that wealth surfaces unintended problems: ungrateful people with self-inflated views who think they deserve a piece, no matter what you give them.
“I think people want— people want shit. People think that they deserve shit. Unappreciative people, no matter what you give them, you know, they just unfortunately have a self-inflated view.”
Tactic
Build a team more experienced than you
Attar's biggest regret advising the next McGregor-style manager: hire people more experienced than yourself. It accelerates your plan, versus bringing on lesser people who create new problems and may turn on you.
“one of the things I wish I would have done, build a team around you that's more experienced than you, right? Because ultimately, I think that that's what's going to allow you to accelerate your plan as opposed to bringing people and then having to deal with other things like those people turning on you for one reason or another.”
Steal thisHire people more experienced than you to accelerate the plan instead of staffing up with people you have to manage and worry about.
Framework
Only launch ventures that align organically with the talent
Attar's criteria for which categories to enter around a star: it has to align organically and the talent must have genuine interest, because you can't sell something fake. Proper Twelve worked because they built a substantive, quality product rather than slapping Conor's face on it.
“it has to align organically, right? And they have to have a genuine interest because you can't sell something that's fake. I mean, everybody thought— and it's another thing— everybody thought Proper Twelve was going to be a gimmick until they tried it.”
Steal thisBefore launching a celebrity venture, demand it aligns organically with the talent's real passion and is a substantive product, not a face-slap gimmick.