Viewers attending the TrillerVerz III event this weekend at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center will not only get a preview of Triller Fight Club’s future, but also of co-owner Ryan Kavanaugh’s vision for the future of entertainment aimed at younger audiences.
Triller Fight Club is a combat sports league run by Ryan Kavanaugh and Bobby Sarnevesht, co-founders of Triller, a music-based video-sharing social network. Triller Fight Club combines two likes of the 17-to-27 demographic, which Kavanaugh and Sarnevesht refer to as the “culture-graphic,” music and combat sports. Snoop Dogg is credited as a co-founder.
Millions Of Views
Triller Fight Club’s debut match, between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, drew a million viewers after being packaged together and sold on pay-per-view on cable television. It included a battle between former NBA slam dunk champion Nate Robinson and YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul, in addition to bringing together the two boxing icons. Lil Wayne, a five-time Grammy Award winner, Wiz Khalifa, and French Montana performed musical performances in between fights.
Another component of the TrillerVerz multi-day events is the rap battle. TrillerVerz III will be a two-day event that will include a fight card including up-and-coming New York boxers, a musical performance by DJ Super Cat & Friends, and a grand finale rap duel involving hip-hop veterans Big Daddy Kane and KRS-ONE.
Increasing Demographics
Triller has statistics suggesting that 17- to 27-year-olds are interested in boxing and speak about it online, but they aren’t watching it since the sport hasn’t altered – or changed the way it looks – in decades, according to Kavanaugh in a recent interview.
The TrillerVerz event this weekend will signal a shift away from the early battles between big-name but older competitors, which provided Triller Fight Club with unrivaled starting exposure, and toward highly competitive, title-worthy contests. These are the types of fights that will be the main attraction at future Triller Fight Club events. Triller understands what the market wants – competitive bouts with intriguing boxers paired with top-notch musical performances and eye-popping spectacle – and he feels there is a better route ahead. Triller feels that the fighters on the bill this weekend will be among tomorrow’s contenders.
Big Plans For The Future
Ryan Kavanaugh and Triller Fight Club seek to bring fresh vitality to the boxing world, drawing on his expertise as a well-known producer in the film business who is known for his ability to create a visually appealing product.
“We’re attempting to build a new platform. We’re attempting to develop a new show that will reinvigorate boxing’s entertainment value. To begin with, boxing is, in my honest view, entertainment. We are striving to combine boxing with musical acts to generate not just a new platform but also a new audience. The sport of boxing could use a little more adrenaline. That is precisely why I have come.”
