If you thought we as a society had long ago written off the professional bitch-slapping league helmed by UFC CEO Dana White, apparently not everyone has gotten the memo.
In speaking at a sports innovation panel hosted by Sports Business Journal, Marc Lasry, the co-founder of private equity firm Avenue Capital Group, told attendees that he regretted not investing in Power Slap because it has proven to be massively popular.
“I thought it was the dumbest thing in the world.”
Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group discusses how #PowerSlap has taken the country by storm, proving that sports can surprise us in exciting ways š#SBJDM #PowerSlap #SportsInnovation pic.twitter.com/dlqs58Znza
ā Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) October 30, 2024
“I’ll give you one more league that we did not invest in because I thought it was the dumbest thing in the world. And that league has caught this country by surprise. Has anybody watched on TV this slapping league,” Lasry prompted the audience. “Power Slap. That all you have to do is stand there and somebody just slaps you. That’s the league, alright. People love it. Now, if you came to me and said, ‘Look, all you gotta do is stand there and I’m gonna slap you,’ I would’ve said to you, ‘That’s insane. Nobody is going to watch that,’ I was wrong.”
Lasry’s lust for Power Slap may be just a tad misguided. In 2023, TBS rather infamously aired an eight-episode run of the promotion to rather limited audiences. The league had a peak audience of 413,000 viewers and a low of 220,000. Not exactly world beating numbers. TBS rightfully canceled the show after one season. Now fans (or sadists) that wish to watch the so-called sport can find it on the alt-right video platform Rumble.
Power Slap itself got off to a shaky start when TBS was forced to push its debut back one week after video surfaced of Dana White slapping his wife. Of course, the controversial UFC head echoed his support for Lasry in a social media response to his remarks.
šš»šš»
ā danawhite (@danawhite) October 30, 2024
Now, White has previously insisted that Power Slap is one of the most popular sports in the world based off social media engagement. That claim is obviously dubious (the NFL exists). but Power Slap does seemingly have some audience, or else it would’ve already folded.
Power Slap 10 is scheduled for December 6th in Las Vegas, but it’s hard to imagine that such a niche league with a limited audience is actually keeping private equity executives up at night.
[Sports Business Journal on X]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.