By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The following press release was issued to announce that FITE TV has been acquired by TrillerNet.
LOS ANGELES (April 14, 2021) –– TrillerNet (aka Triller Hold Co LLC), parent company of the global AI-driven short video social app Triller, today announced it has acquired FITE, the premier global live-event and Pay-Per-View, SVOD and AVOD and streaming platform for sports and entertainment.
The deal gives Triller a major foothold in the live-event PPV and streaming space, greatly expanding the reach of Triller’s fast-growing AI-powered content and distribution ecosystem and allowing the company to continue to invest in new lifestyle and entertainment programming.
“FITE has been a fantastic partner, and the synergy between the two businesses and teams was clear from day one,” said Bobby Sarnevesht, Chairman and Co-owner of Triller, and Ryan Kavanaugh, Co-owner of Triller, jointly. “With our acquisition of FITE, we bring into TrillerNET their stellar technology, valuable customer and content partner base, and one of the most experienced executive teams in this space. The deal represents our ambitions to not only expand Triller Fight Club and grow FITE’s distribution relationships, but also to reimagine what, how and when premium music, sports and entertainment is delivered to today’s audiences.”
“Triller has an exceptionally visionary executive team that is revolutionizing the world of sports and entertainment. We are very excited to be a part of and play a role in this process,” said Kosta Jordanov, FITE Co-Founder and CEO. “As part of the TrillerNet, FITE will become the exclusive global digital distributor of all Triller Fight Club events going forward, and this content relationship is planned to expand in exciting new ways. We will continue to work with and serve all our content partners, and we look forward to bringing Triller’s significant user base and promotional clout to all the major events we carry on the FITE platform.”
Triller is used by musicians, athletes, digital talent and other culture-setters and serves hundreds of millions of fans worldwide while also providing specialized opportunities for major brands across music, sports, entertainment, fashion and pop culture. The addition of FITE is a key strategic addition as Triller seeks to capture the burgeoning ‘culture graph,’ the next generation of creators and users leading the move to Internet 3.0.
“With over 10 million users, FITE is the perfect long-form platform for Triller to continue releasing its cultural content spanning fighting, sports, fashion, music and pop culture,” added Ryan Kavanaugh. “We have officially completed our 360-degree content engine with this acquisition.”
The FITE acquisition is the latest major move for TrillerNet, which on March 9 acquired leading live-music streaming platform Verzuz, the popular live streaming music platform founded by music stars Swizz Beats and Timbaland. TrillerNet also owns Triller Flight Club, a live-event platform in partnership with Snoop Dogg that reimagines boxing as four-quadrant entertainment, and TrillerTV, a long-form content streaming platform with more than 65 original half-hour digital series from trendsetters such as Jennifer Lopez, The D’Amelio Family, 2 Chainz, Jake Paul, Perez Hilton and others.
With over 10 million users and 4 million registered sports and entertainment fans, FITE has streamed over 5,000 live events over the past 5 years. FITE’s partners include the most elite combat sports brands including Top Rank, AEW, PBC, ONE Championship, WWE, Impact, Golden Boy Promotions, and Matchroom Boxing. FITE has one of the industry’s most scalable and reliable live digital streaming capabilities, a large loyal audience for premium events, and content relationships with over 300 sports rights holders across 5 continents. In collaboration with its partners, FITE has already streamed the biggest names in combat sports, including Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Roy Jones Jr., Deontay Wilder, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr., Teofimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko among hundreds of others as well as the boxing matches of YouTube celebrities KSI, Logan Paul, and Jake Paul. The investors in FITE include Earlybird Digital East, LAUNCHub Ventures, Tim Draper, and BrightCap who have now joined the list of investors in Triller.
Alantra acted as a financial adviser to FITE for the transaction.
Next up for Triller and FITE is the highly anticipated 2021 debut of Triller Fight Club, featuring the headline fight Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren in Atlanta on April 17 th , and live performances by some of the music industry’s top talent, including Justin Bieber and hip hop supergroup Mt. Westmore (Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Too $hort and E-40), as well as The Black Keys, Doja Cat, Saweetie, Diplo and Major Lazer. The two companies will announce next month several more four-quadrant events of this magnitude, including the highly-anticipated, post-retirement return of Oscar De La Hoya to the boxing ring at Triller Fight Club’s upcoming July 3 event.
ABOUT TRILLERNET
TrillerNet is a first of its kind company consolidating technology and content platforms to lead the move to Internet 3.0. TrillerNet pairs the culture of music with sports, fashion, entertainment and influencers through a 360-degree view of content and technology. TrillerNet—which owns the globally popular Triller app used by musicians, celebrities, athletes, and overall culture setters—has more than 300 million users worldwide.
The Triller app—unlike other popular short-video apps it is often compared to, encourages its users to post the content created on the app across other social media platforms and websites. The app uses proprietary AI and Machine Learning technology, which is uniquely tied to the content rather than the user. By tracking the content, Triller empowers its tastemakers and users to push their content virally to affiliated and non- affiliated sites and networks reaching hundreds of millions of additional users. Data and insights gleaned from the Triller network, its creators, artists and users (from the app and off network) are used to program longer-form content, connect users across the web with the content, and provide unprecedented opportunities for engagement and monetization.
TrillerNet has developed highly successful campaigns that begin with the app and continue throughout the entire content and technology ecosystem with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Pepsi, McDonalds, Weedmaps, DraftKings, L’Oreal, and many others. TrillerNet offers brands a unique content and technology solution, including direct deals with the influencers and celebrities. This branded content journey starts with short-form video and can easily expand into valuable long-form content distributed through the Triller Network, such as live-event boxing and music PPVs, fashion shows, and episodic reality content on TrillerTV. Some of the more than 65 original half-hour TrillerTV shows include The D’Amelios Family’s “Ask a DAM Question,” Jennifer Lopez In The Morning, Jake Paul: Staying On Top, 2 Chainz Let’s Do It, DJ Khaled’s Spreading Love, Hype House’s Thomas Petrou’s Coffee Talks, Josh Richards’ Josh Pong, Ur Lov’d: the Noah Beck Show, Fat Joe’s Masterclass, The Perez Hilton Show, and Violet Benson’s Too Tired To Be Crazy, among others. TrillerNet additionally owns Verzuz, the massive live-stream music platform launched by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, and Triller Fight Club (www.TrillerFightClub.com) which launched last year with the highly successful Tyson-Jones Fight which shattered digital PPV records.
Powell’s POV: This is a very interesting story to follow given that FITE is the home for so many pro wrestling pay-per-view and free streaming pro wrestling events. I am a big fan of the FITE app and hopefully the new ownership will be able to make it even better for the users and its various partners in the pro wrestling world.
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