But across the baseline, you need to already be one of the best and then get enhanced to break a world record. Fred, I think, can do that when he's enhanced. He was not, but these nuances, I think honestly, I'm a fairly honest person. Would I have hoped to break some more world records? Yes, and there was bad luck. Bod has it in him, Thor has it in him, and two others were injured. But we broke one, and second, these personal bests. I want to get that across because that is the true challenge: the race against yourself, time, and aging. But again, it is what it is. There's next year. Now we up the prize money, and then I tell myself, maybe we get a lot of attention and mind share, and that's good for a consumer entertainment business.
I think maybe just because it's on my feed and I've been posting about it and talking online, I've been getting so much information and critique. I think this will be the worst year you guys ever have because it's still misunderstood. As this sport starts to grow and you gain more interest, I think it'll level itself out.
We also live in a world where I see that very positively in the signup numbers for our telehealth business, which are going through the roof. We see that in sponsorship interest now post the games for next year. We get so much inbound. The silent majority loves it. We're navigating the vocal 5% on each fringe: the ones who wanted a freak show and 20 world records, and the ones who say we shouldn't exist at all. They are loud, like the IOC saying we shouldn't be allowed, and the ones who wanted a freak show. But the 80 to 90% in the middle get it. Every more people get it, and that's why they're enhancing. The 5% on both sides drive more attention, which is not bad.
Well, I think there's what I was trying to understand: what's the bigger play here? I thought about the telehealth medicine and understanding you guys will be at the forefront of helping people figure out their longevity protocol. Everybody involved — Peter Thiel, yourself — there are a lot of smart guys who understand how to make money and make things work. I also saw that Zuppe company.
Um, what are some other bigger plays that you guys have going on here that most people don't see right away?
First of all, creating a sport franchise. Once you make it, it's a very profitable enterprise. You create a sport franchise by attention and building a fan base. The critique on both sides is great because it drives free attention. My benchmark here is LIV Golf. They had to spend money. Do you know LIV Golf? No? You're the perfect example: you should know it. LIV Golf is the new golf league the Saudis created to compete with the PGA. They do not immediately... and by the way, so did most people. We did a survey in November and we're doing it again. In November, 61% in America had heard about Enhanced Games, while only 42% had heard about LIV Golf. That proves my point. They had to spend $5 million for less attention. We're going to do the survey again and we'll be higher than 61%. On the marketing side, we made the event for about $50 million total, but $25 million of that is reusable because it's the arena, which is ours. So for $25 million, we created a globally recognized sports brand overnight. These brands are worth billions. That's one game. Then how you make money: sponsorships. We had record sponsorships in the first year: $32 million. No other young media sports event does that. Next year it'll be more because all the sponsors have seen the event. We're also going to sell media rights. This year we didn't want to because we wanted to give every streamer the opportunity. The sports business itself, from cash flow and value, can quickly be a multi-billion-dollar business. Then the second is the telehealth business, where we use all the attention to drive traffic. Other companies have to pay a lot for that. HIMS, another telehealth company, spent over $600 million on marketing in 2024 and has customer acquisition costs of about $1,000. We have practically zero because our brand drives demand.
Yeah, and they have customer acquisition costs of like $1,000, but you hopefully have practically zero because you have this brand driving demand. So take me through the hard numbers: how much money did you guys raise?
We raised around $75 million in total from start till now when we went public. We raised $45 million when going public and $30 million before.
So, what did the arena cost you to build?
About $25 million, but it's reusable. It's a semi-permanent structure. We take it off and store it. We can set it up at Resorts World again or we've been contacted by many hotels and venues around the world. I want to stay in the US for the main event, but I can go wherever someone wants to pay me. This arena is completely movable, like a circus. That was a $25 million investment. Then about another $25 million for the prize money, entertainment, catering, etc.
So that was my next question. When I was out there, another thing I want to commend you guys for is that you had the best streamers, the best people in health, wellness, and lifestyle of all ages and demographics. How much was it to fly in all these people, put everybody up, rent out the hotel? This is a huge undertaking.
Some millions in total of the $25 million. So $25 million for the arena, $25 million for costs including travel, athletes, food, etc.
So $25 million all in for the one-off cost?
That's not a lot. It's very little for the marketing effect we got for both the sports business and the consumer business.
Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good deal.
People have not understood the power and financial upside of our business model. Now, moving forward, we're public. For those who don't know, we've been public for about three or four weeks now, trading on the New York Stock Exchange. I'm very proud of that. I want to be transparent. The IOC and other sports leagues are opaque Swiss structures that breed corruption. We believe in transparency for our athletes, health, data, and ourselves. We're a listed company with quarterly reporting. I believe we're building something amazing, and I want our fans who believe in that to be part of the journey as shareholders. I told my financial guy to buy me some stock because I think it's going to blow up. If I were an athlete, I'd see this as an opportunity. Athletes are reaching out for the next games already. We announced $10 million and it's blowing up on Twitter. They see we paid out and how happy the athletes are. But it's not only about the money. Every athlete is genuinely happy with how they feel and how we treat them. An example: Mario, the German swimmer, was amazed he got his own room, unlike the Olympics where they were treated like [__]. Last night, Kirsty Coventry said she doesn't believe athletes should be paid at all. What's the mindset behind that? It's crazy. I don't want to be provocative, but there were people in America who owned others and thought it was fine. It's a lack of self-reflection. She took $100,000 from a dictator when she was an athlete, so she should believe they should be paid. It's like Animal Farm: some pigs are more equal than others. Back to our stock: we're public, and for a media spectacle like us, the stock reflects minute-to-minute sentiment. People were disappointed by the world record situation, and the stock went down. But I believe at the current price — around $3 — it's insanely low. I put money in at $10 per share, and I still believe that was a cheap deal. The sports business and telehealth business can quickly be worth multiple billions. This stock will be volatile, but for long-term investors, now is a great opportunity.
Because I'm in the strength world, I understand a bit more than the average person. Most powerlifters and strongmen are already enhanced — Thor, Mitchell Hooper, etc. Were those guys on their own protocols or did you give them a new protocol? How did that work? Also, what are the regulations around equipment like bodysuits and straps?
On the protocol side, even those who already enhanced would say we helped them excel. We worked with Mitchell and Thor to make them even better. We have the best medical team in the industry because we hired top scientists and doctors who are passionate. Yes, it's harder to enhance someone who's already doing something, but it's all about the baseline. If someone is clinically obese, you'll make them fitter. The question is always where you start. Christian started very high. So we helped them as well. As for equipment, we allowed suits, but not a propeller. It's equipment they use in a standardized way outside to compete. It's subjective where we draw the line.
As far as equipment, they could use whatever they want.
