To reach new heights, Major League Wrestling has partnered with Range Sports.
A division of Range Media Partners, best known for its success in film, television and music, Range Sports is the latest addition to the powerful management company. Led by Will Funk, president of Range Sports, who has extensive professional sports background as well as wrestling experience.
MLW CEO Court Bauer is keenly aware of the value of his content and is optimistic about new partnerships.
“Live sports are becoming more and more valuable because there is so much disruption in the content space,” says Bauer. “Range has the resources to take Major League Wrestling to new heights by creating strategic partnerships that enrich and ensure our continued momentum.”
Courtesy of MLW
Funk makes partnerships with unique backgrounds. He is best known for his work over the last 20 years at WarnerMedia, where he reached a high position as Executive Vice His President. Funk oversaw his NBA with the TNT partnership, and in 2011 he led his joint venture with CBS to help March buy his Madness, and for Warner he’ll be on board until 2035. It was a breakthrough contract that was extended. Match: Tiger vs. Philevolved into match 2the highest rated golf event of all time.
Now, with Range’s extensive resources, Funk is looking to develop content opportunities around MLW’s high-growth properties.
“One of the pillars of Range is identifying properties that will grow across the sport, and we see great opportunities for distribution partners and possibly equity partners who want to build properties,” said Funk. increase. “Court has the experience and knowledge, and the number of hours of programming he has already produced is amazing. What really excites me is the diversity of MLW. There’s a tremendous advantage there, I’m not sure other promotions have done a better job with diversity.MLW is a great product.”
Another key moment during Funk’s tenure was bringing All Elite Wrestling to Warner-owned Turner Sports. AEW currently airs on TBS and first debuted on his TNT in October 2019.
“Our biggest argument was whether it was actual sports content or entertainment,” says Funk. “Ultimately, at that point, I decided to live on the entertainment side. I didn’t know exactly how it would work. I didn’t have a lot of meaningful lead-ins. , it was kind of on its own island.I put it on and it worked very well from the start.
“The proof of that is always in the numbers and it continues to gain momentum and become one of the highest rated non-sports shows on TNT. You did a great job creating the product.”
Our partnership with MLW provides a new opportunity for Funk to thrive once again with professional wrestling organizations. Range is a management production company, so it is different from a traditional agency. It gives MLW tremendous flexibility, providing the ability to develop TV and film products in-house and focus on production that agencies cannot.
“We have unlimited bandwidth and a lot of potential delivery properties,” says Funk. “We look at the music department and see if there are people who are very passionate about professional wrestling who could be brand ambassadors. We can help you build sophisticated brands.In terms of brand partnerships, we have a number of relationships with Fortune 500 companies, especially those looking to integrate into the real estate structure in a seamless and organic way. On the network/streaming side, we have relationships with broadcast cable stations and streaming services, so we have an opportunity to bring MLW to the right people.”
Led by men’s champion Alexander Hammerstone and women’s champion Taya Valkyrie, the MLW roster is filled with talent waiting for their breakout moment. One next month in Philadelphia) will feature talented artists such as Bandido, Myron Reed, EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman.
With WWE and AEW largely dominating the North American wrestling space, Bauer believes partnering with Range adds a whole new dimension to his brand.
“Range has created a true dream team in entertainment and sports, so this is a great opportunity for MLW,” says Bauer. “Currently airing in over 60 countries. Our goal is to extract maximum value across television, sponsorship sales, event tours and our entire portfolio. It is promoted.”
For Range, taking MLW to new heights of success requires a step-by-step process. The first step involves finding a distribution partner, the right brand partner, and the right people to weave into his MLW to increase exposure.
“Getting MLW to as many people as possible is a priority,” says Funk. “Then you can start monetizing.
“We do a lot of our own data and analysis and what that tells us is that there is something here. We believe that we can really scale the
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @Justin Barrasso.
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