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A British nonrecreational wrestler is successful talks with imaginable backers to unafraid millions of pounds successful backing for a revamped European bid that volition purpose to capitalise connected the sport’s British instrumentality base.
Sky News has learnt that Ben Webb, who participated successful the WWE franchise nether the sanction Trent Seven, is moving with advisers to rise astir £5m to assistance physique Project Fight into "Europe's fig 1 televised wrestling brand".
Mr Webb has enlisted Oakwell, the sports advisory steadfast which is besides moving connected efforts to pull backstage superior into British cycling, to counsel connected the fundraising and the improvement of the caller product.
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The Project Fight squad is said to person held discussions with Sunset+Vine, the accumulation institution and Paramount, the proprietor of Channel 5 successful the UK, astir collaborating connected the caller venture.
Talks with prospective investors are understood to person been underway for weeks.
If successfully secured, the caller backing would beryllium raised astatine a pre-money valuation of astir £10m.
The superior would let Project Fight to interruption adjacent successful its 3rd year, according to its architects.
Mr Webb said the project's ambition was to "transform the UK and European nonrecreational wrestling scenery and make a concern valued astatine implicit £100m implicit the adjacent 5 years".
It comes amid burgeoning involvement successful wrestling among planetary audiences, with Netflix drafting astir 5 cardinal planetary views for the debut of its RAW wrestling lawsuit successful January.
Meanwhile, All Elite Wrestling, founded successful 2019, has a US broadcast woody with Warner Bros Discovery said to beryllium worthy astatine slightest $150m annually.
Research suggests that up to six cardinal radical successful Britain unsocial see themselves to beryllium wrestling enthusiasts, with Project Fight aiming to pat into that basal and span the spread betwixt die-hard and casual fans, portion besides aiming to enactment the autarkic wrestling scene.
"I built a institution from a disused scout hut with 40 friends and household successful the assemblage and grew it organically to thousands astatine the NEC, each implicit the UK, Japan, Mexico, USA and the world, and it helped changed the scenery of British wrestling," Mr Webb told Sky News.
"There is simply a huge, passionate nonrecreational wrestling fanbase successful the UK that lacks a home promotion to travel and is underserved by existing promotions."
Mr Webb is simply a erstwhile two-times Tag Team Champion successful WWE with 16 years' acquisition wrestling crossed the satellite for WWE, AEW, TNA, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and different backers.
He besides owns the Fight Club Pro brand, which has staged shows astatine the Birmingham NEC, arsenic good arsenic successful Tokyo, Mexico and the US.
Project Fight's advisory committee includes Roger Draper, erstwhile main enforcement of Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association, and Peter Angell, the CEO of Sunset+Vine.
The task is besides formulating a broader contented organisation strategy aimed astatine utilising wrestlers' existing societal media followers, and content-sharing partnerships with large wrestling-adjacent influencers.
Mr Webb said Project Fight would person a gender-balanced roster, including pistillate wrestlers from the UK, US, China, Japan, Australia, France, India, and Canada.
The roster of wrestlers being lined up is said to person a combined societal media pursuing of much than 12 million.
A premium aviator lawsuit is expected to instrumentality spot adjacent year, depending upon the palmy completion of the fundraising.
English (US) ·