Meet The Man Behind Conor McGregor’s +$650M Empire (#487)

TL;DR

Audie Attar built Paradigm Sports Management into a platform that moves beyond transactional athlete representation by co-creating IP and business ventures with clients. The crown jewel is Proper Twelve whiskey, which generated a ~$600M exit in three years after Attar and McGregor chose to build their own brand instead of taking sponsorship money.

Key insights

• The UFC originally paid Spike TV for airtime before the Fox deal; the Fox rights deal was a monumental milestone that changed the sport’s economics.
• Attar’s business plan from 2009 (building clients’ media/IP to increase sponsorship value and lead to ventures) was initially laughed at but differentiated him from transactional agents.
• McGregor and Floyd Mayweather’s trash-talk was instinctive, not scripted; Attar used engagement data to prove the fight’s viability to the UFC.