Mark Shapiro's Slop Synergy system for TKO
No one can be just a UFC or WWE fan. Now everyone must be a UFCWWEPBRIMGOnLocation mark.
Did UFC fans imagine their sacred Octagon would stay free of the sports entertainment specter that is WWE?
Did UFC fans think they could simply remain UFC fans and leave the Power Slap and Professional Bullriding for others?
Nobody wants to ever hear a scold say we told you so, but…
What did fans think Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, the leaders of the $30 billion TKO triple monopoly, meant when they kept saying phrases like “cost savings,” “value extraction” and “synergies”?
Some may have thought it was just corporate buzzword fellatio to justify their high-finance paper hustling of assets into TKO Holdings with ventures like Professional Bull Riding, OnLocation, and IMG.
We, at The MMA Draw newsletter on Substack, saw the oncoming onslaught heading at the fans with a giant government cartel shop masquerading as some innocent, benevolent multinational fight promoter, just a sucker-punching sugar daddy.
Monopoly money: UFC & WWE is morphing TKO into a government cartel
In just 12 hours during Royal Rumble 2025 weekend in Indianapolis, Ari Emanuel’s multi-billionaire fight empire TKO generated at least $40 million in revenue with two big fights on two separate continents.
Hollywood is going to Hollywood and that means mass in-your-face content exploitation until fans get completely sick of seeing it.
TKO is an all-encompassing entertainment monopoly dictating what fans consume and how much they pay for it. Imagine what will happen when TKO gets into boxing.
This no-holds-barred financial strategy is why we reoriented our editorial focus of The MMA Draw newsletter on Substack to focus on TKO as a monstrous monopoly ready to take over the world. No one in fight sports wants to talk about what Egon Durban, Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, and their global government partners have in store for combat sports fans.
The fight business is a commodity to the powers-that-be. They will treat fans the same way people on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange trade futures on soybeans, corn, or oil.
Monopolies marrying other monopolies means fans get the full corporate package whether we like it or not. It will take a while for the general public to figure out what is happening.
Fans are no longer watching UFC. They’re watching UFCWWEIMGPBR OnLocation Fight Week powered by Endeavor.
When TKO says they want to bring the circus to town, they mean the whole circus. And each part of that circus act is going to be paid for by taxpayers through government contracts. Tourism boards. Leftover COVID funds. Tax & film credits. Every alphabet state and Federal government agency is dishing out the welfare payments.
Which means you’re going to get a heaping helping of synergy.
Want to watch UFC only and avoid WWE? Tough luck.
Fan loyalty to one particular brand, like UFC, is going to be exploited to push fans towards other TKO brands. They want to make fans of one brand paying customers for all their brands. Endeavor wants to position fans as customers who buy into all of their various brands just to stay in the loop. A combination of dopamine hits plus parasocialism.
Fans who want to watch Wrestlemania in Las Vegas should get ready to pay five-figures for a VIP experience with OnLocation.
Real fans are willing to shell out big bucks for the full experience.