Looking to make some $$. Here’s the ABC on Promoting XYZ

Interview by Pattee Mak | March 22, 2014

Who doesn’t love a great read where the pages are filled with information where you can actually make some MONEY in the fight game.  I was intrigued. We have all known someone from time to time who has actually lost money along the way.  Tony Shultz, the author of “The Official Fight Promoter Playbook” has been involved in the fight game for quite some time.   Although, Shultz isn’t a promoter himself, the book details ways to promote your fight whether it’s a boxing match, mma or wrestling event, he goes into details, start to finish.  This is one of those books where once you pick it up, you’ll want to know more.

Pattee Mak:   Thanks so much for sharing your 2nd book out of five with me. Tell me the differences between each of your five books and why someone should purchase all five books.

Shultz:  Thanks for having me, I’d love to share! So I wrote all five books with a specific purpose for each. The first book [FightTown Millionaires] is really about getting promoters, or those wanting to become a promoter, excited about the “lifestyle” of a fight promoter. In the fight game, cash is King. The second book [The Official Fight Promoter Playbook] is really the “heart & soul” of my book series. It contains all the guides, instructions, contracts, checklists, and forms needed to actually promote a fight. Book 3, 4 and 5 are written specifically to help guide you on your path to becoming a celebrity promoter, in essence. So whether you are local promoter, just getting into the game, or just want to learn how fights are made and promoted, my book series provides all the vital details to guide you.

Pattee Mak:  You aren’t a promoter but you are showing the multitude how to make money in the fight game.   Tell me a little bit about your background.

Shultz: I have grown around the fight game my entire life. My Grandfather boxed, and started training me at 8 years old. I trained in the local boxing gyms in Dayton, Ohio when I was in middle and High School. Since then I’ve been to Gleason’s in Brooklyn, and became friends with Bruce Silverglade [Gleason’s Owner] and he acted like a mentor to me while I was there. I also trained at Freddie Roach’s ‘Wild Card’ gym in Hollywood, back when it was Freddie, Mac and Justin running the gym. I used to spar with a lot of guys out of these gyms, hoping to find a way to make a living off of boxing. But the reality is that if you get “called up” out of the gym, you’re usually fighting at a small venue, VFW, Banquet Hall, Back Room, etc. for a promoter who is paying you $300.00 and asking YOU to sell tickets to all your family and friends so he can “Sell Out” the fight. They basically just use local boxers who have a small following to end up selling out their event. The problem for the fighters is that these promoters aren’t really “promoting” the fight, nor the fighters on the card. There isn’t really any name recognition to it, nor are you making any great connections to further your career. The promoters aren’t making out as well as they could either, because they’re not creating a “Brand” to sell out larger and larger venues based on growing demand for their fights. So that’s when I started really studying the business aspect of the fight game.

Pattee Mak: Since you aren’t a promoter do you think some people will look down on you since you never walked in their shoes and some might say it’s easier said than done?

Shultz: Honestly, the feedback I’ve gotten on the books so far has been completely positive. And it’s not like I’m new to “selling” fights, and that’s all being a promoter is, it’s knowing how to sell tickets. But again, I’ve gotten some great emails from some fairly prominent people in boxing the past week with great complements stating they love the books. So I’m happy with that.

Pattee Mak:  Why did you end up writing these books?

Shultz: Because I think the fight game, and boxing in particular, needs more salesmen. The fighters need promoters, who can actually promote a fight, and fight fans need to know where the fight is. Most importantly however, promoters need to know how to put together and sell a fight. I’ve heard time after time after time over the past 10 years; one horror story after another of a fighter getting to the event, and the promoter not knowing what they are doing. They overbook, or mess up the tickets, or don’t sell enough seats, and it just messes everyone up. I got an email today from a Fight M.C. in the UK who works a lot of fights. I think he said it best, so I will quote him:

Pattee Mak:  Are all five books completed?

Shultz: Yes, well as complete as they can be. I’ll update them as I come up with fresh tactics, and find new ways to do things more efficiently. So they will always be a work in progress. But they are complete, current, and full of details right now.

Pattee Mak:  Now that all five are completed, what is the next step for the books?

Shultz: Ready to be purchased. And I’m also just a tweet or email away if someone ever has a question or would like some help. I stand behind my books 100% and want to help the purchaser with their own fight in any way that I can.

Pattee Mak: What prompted you to write this book?

Shultz: I wrote it because I wanted it myself. I wanted to know how to promote a fight.  How to build a boxing career.  How to build a promotion’s company. But there is nothing out there about it. I mean, I looked everywhere, and I would get some suggestions from Athletic Commission websites, and tips from blogs, and some info here and there, but it wasn’t linear, and it certainly wasn’t complete. I wanted this book, and I couldn’t find it. So I decided to write it myself.

Pattee Mak:  I’m sure there will be a ton of people out there that will be extremely grateful for you for that.

Pattee Mak: Why do you believe so many people fail in the industry?

Shultz:  In my personal opinion, I would say lack of any support system. This isn’t the NFL, where there is an owner meeting to discuss the state of the business, nor any revenue sharing for larger market vs. smaller market promoters. There just isn’t enough readily available information to make good, solid business decisions off of out there, until I wrote my books that is.

Pattee Mak: Life is about trial and error, you gave insightful information in the pages of your book.  Was there ever a time where you or someone made a mistake promoting and in turn,  there was a learning curve from it?

Shultz: Oh yeah, every fight you promote you learn something. From working with the Athletic Commission, to learning how to draw interest to the weigh-ins, to putting an official after party together. You’re always learning what your customers want, and more importantly, you’re learning what makes them bring their friends the next time. The curve never ends in my opinion, because there is always another seat to fill, or another PPV TV buy you can sell.

Pattee Mak: How many events have you been involved with over the years?

Shultz: Unofficially, a lot. I don’t know the exact number. I have been to a lot of fights. From the Metros at Gleason’s, to fights at Staples Center, and L.A. Live, to Vegas. I’ve been to plenty of smaller fights in Dayton, Ohio and used to drive up to Cleveland to try and catch some of the larger regional fights as well. Again, I didn’t work on any of these fights in any “official capacity”, but I observed a lot. And the best thing about fights is that there are always people from the press and the production to talk to. So you get a different perspective each time you attend one.

Pattee Mak:  Have you ever thought of promoting a boxing/mma/wrestling event yourself?

Shultz: Yes and no. I mean, I love fights, and I love going. However, I think I’m more useful as a salesman for the game as a whole vs. promoting individual fights. I would ultimately prefer to get a chance to work with various promoter and up-and-coming fighters, giving them TV exposure and helping them tell their own stories, and build up the fight game in that capacity myself. I love the “selling” of a fight. I would prefer to “sell” multiple promoters fights with a show on ESPN, HBO, or Showtime.

Pattee Mak:  Have you gotten any feedback from other readers either positive or negative?

Shultz: Yes, lots of positive feedback. I even had a referee email me saying he loved the book and offered me some additional advice from his perspective to add into the book (which I’m doing today). No negative feedback at all, I’m getting a lot of positive responses and in many cases, outright gratitude for the book.

Pattee Mak:  I loved the part where you wrote about picking a day for your event that would suit the majority of your specific crowd. Weekend events and/or Sunday afternoon events are the most sought after. During the week people have to focus on their day to day lives.  Promoters have to consider people driving in to the event, usually people have to work the following day, kids for school etc etc.  I personally wish fights would only be on the weekend.

Shultz: True, and the big fights are on Saturday nights. However, for some promoters, based on their location, Saturday afternoon may be a better option. I remember that one of the ways Mike Tyson became know was he used to fight on ABC’s Wide World of Sports Saturday Afternoon boxing program. It would come in the early afternoon on Saturday’s for years. TV plays a role in scheduling too, based on if you have TV coverage. Also, if you live in a place where Friday Night Football rules the town, it may be just as easy to convince people to come out the next afternoon with their ticket from the football game in hand to get $5.00 off the fight event ticket. Remember that the NFL has also launched the NFL network off the back of “Thursday Night Football”, and Monday Night Football has been a staple for more than two decades now. I think the best thing a promoter can do is get to know their particular customers, and reach out to them to get them into the seats at a time they can do it, but also with some hype to excite them to come out.

Pattee Mak: You stated “Your energies should be redirected not to increase your average attendance, but to increase the number of SOLD OUT fight events! By increasing the number of SOLD OUT fight events, you will increase your average attendance.”  Would you say this is a long process? Some venues are smaller than others, where one high school gymnasium/small theater could pack a few 1,000 vs. a civic center that would pack a larger crowd.  Could this give some people a high expectation where in the end they could fail?

Shultz: Not if the promoter focuses on their core customers. You see, if you sell out a 500 seat event, and you make it an “EVENT”, meaning people are talking about it around the water cooler the next day, you have a pretty good chance at selling out 750 seats the next event. When you “Sell Out” and event, it shows you care about the quality of the event, not how many extra seats you can add. That starts word of mouth (viral) marketing, which is the greatest advertisement you will ever have. SO if you have to focus your energies someplace, I wouldn’t focus on getting a 3,000 seat arena when you only have 500 core fans. You worry too much about the other 2,500 seats being empty, instead of making sure those 500 core customers are packed shoulder to shoulder in a standing room only environment.

Pattee Mak: I learned a long time ago that mouth (viral) marketing is a win-win situation.

Pattee Mak:  When I read the book, I thought your book captured the physiological aspect of creating the emotion of excitement. It’s a win win situation for you. Is this what you tried to capture?

Shultz: Yes! Promoting is about Promoting! Yes, you have to find the venue, and sign the contracts, and put your fight cards together, and run the business end. But many promoters get so caught up in the day-to-day business of a fight event, they forget to go out and get people excited about the fight event. And that’s what people buy, the excitement! I mean, how many fight promoters do you know? And if you met one at a party, how many of those people at that party can the promoter get to buy tickets to his next fight event? If he does it right, and actually “promotes” every last one of them should buy a ticket!

Pattee Mak: I couldn’t agree with you more.

Pattee Mak: Google I’ve heard of, but what is sparks (page 15)?

Shultz:  Sparks on Google+. It’s how you follow various topics in summary. So you set up a Google alert and a Sparks to see what’s being said about you and your brand, and your competitors. It’s like Complete.com for yourself.

Pattee Mak:  I agree with you on message branding. It could make or break a company.

Shultz: Yes, you are your brand. You are the way you walk, and talk, and look, and sell. You are the excitement or lack thereof that you bring to your fight events. I know it’s easy to get lost in the paperwork, but your brand is what moves tickets. Period!

Pattee Mak:  You included some downloadable forms on your website. Are these forms general in nature and should someone looking to begin promoting have an Attorney in their own state review the documents?

Shultz: Yes, they are general in nature. They are meant to act as a reference for the promoter to know. A. What to ask for. B. How to ask for it. C. Why you are asking for it?  It’s always smart to read the agreement, and make changes based on your particular event. So the forms are there to use as a workable reference, and can be modified however they need to be to match an individual promoters needs.

Pattee Mak: I have found being in the business of contacting sponsors or TV stations, people in general just don’t return telephone calls and it becomes a full time job searching out sponsors.  What advice can you give? Should a person keep calling?

 Shultz: General Patton once said “Only 3 things in life matter 1. What you know.  2. Who you know.  3. Who knows you.  The fact is, if you want TV deals and sponsorships, you need a network. You need friends. You need to build up your contact list so that when you need an introduction, you can reach out to someone in your network and get one. TV producers and Sponsors have so many things going on, they just don’t always have the time for returning cold calls. But if one of their good friends is also a friend of yours, and that friend tells them about you, magical things start to happen. I think LinkedIn and Twitter are great for this reason.

Pattee Mak: You mentioned fundraising in the book, who came up with most of your fundraising ideas?

Shultz: I’ve gotten them from multiple sources. The idea of fundraising is to bring in funds based on a local (or in the case of the Red Cross, National) need. So the ideas in the book are really just basic concepts to help out local community needs, while also tying it to your next fight event. The idea is to help out your community first, and in doing so; your event will be exposed to people who wouldn’t normally have thought about buying a ticket before they were offered one in the fundraising campaign.

Pattee Mak:  How do you feel your book relates in comparison to other promotional books?

Shultz: Honestly. I haven’t found any other promotional books for becoming a fight promoter. I think my book is unique in that respect.

Pattee Mak:  One problem I have heard over time and time again are fighters with injuries at the last minute or fighters that don’t make weight and then there isn’t enough of rounds to cover the card and your entire event could be in jeopardy.  This could cause stress right before the event. What suggestions do you have?

Shultz: Well you have a minimum number of rounds required from the athletic commission. Let’s call that number, say, 25 rounds. Well if your main event is 8 rounds, and you have 2 co-main events that are both 6 rounds, you have 20 rounds right there. This is where having all the contracts and weigh-ins complete the day before becomes critical. Also, a quality Matchmaker who knows the local gyms and can grab a licensed fighter on short notice. Because what will happen is you can put 6 guys on standby in case any injuries come up. But it’s important to get to know your Athletic Commission and be able to work with them. They have the power to update contracts and requirements based on any problems you run into. The nicer you are to them, the safer you will be if any injuries come up.

Pattee Mak: What is one piece of information you can give to anyone who is looking to promote?

Shultz: Give it a try! There are thousands of great fighters in gyms all of this Country, and they need promoters. They need fights to build up their skills, records, and careers. Anytime you promote a fight, you are keeping a fighter employed, and that’s a very good thing!

Pattee Mak:   Tell me about where it can be purchased along with the price and if there is any sort of discount for purchasing the 5 books all at once.

Shultz: You can purchase them on Amazon.com, or through my website www.HowToPromoteFights.com.  I don’t have any specific discount program for the books, as you can purchase all 5 together for less than $21.00. I feel like that’s that a great value for having all 5 books, and also access to me when you need me.

Pattee Mak:  My last thought…. Once I started reading the first few pages. Did it capture my interest, YES it captured my attention but I love information so it intrigued me more. I must say your book was a very interesting read and while I was reading it, I wanted to continue reading more.  You covered a lot of the abc’s of what is needed for the start thru to the finish.

Shultz:  Thank you, I appreciate that. I tried to write the book like I think a fight should be promoted. With quality content, but also fun to read and leaves you asking questions that are answered as you continue reading. I hope I have succeeded in that endeavor.

 



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