Overview
Decried as āhuman cockfightingā by Senator John McCain and dismissed by the New York Times as a āpay-per-view prismā onto the decline of Western civilization, the UFC seemed by 2000 to be bleeding out. The cage fighting promotion had been banned in thirty-six states and was struggling to cover production costs for its next event.
But three buddies in Las Vegasāan ambitious personal trainer and two young casino heirsāsaw something else in the UFC: a vision of the future. Over the next two decades, the trio would transform the company into one of the most valuable sports properties in the world, worth more than the Beatles catalog or the New York Yankees. And along the way, they would also transform the lives of some of the sportās biggest stars, both for better and worse.
A ācaptivatingā (Christopher Leonard, author of The Lords of Easy Money) behind-the-scenes account of a once-reviled subcultureās strange path to pop legitimacy, Cage Kings embeds you in a world of desperate fighters, audacious promoters, fanboy bloggers, fatherly trainers, philosophical announcers, hustling sponsors, and three improbable twentysomething corporate titans on a darkly comic odyssey to normalize a new level of brutality in American pop cultureāand make a fortune doing so. For in an era of generational poverty, eroding labor rights, radical media transformations, simmering political grievances, and an obsession with winning at any cost, the spectacle of two people fighting in a cage for another few monthsā wages suddenly seemed to make sense.
Stylishly written and poignantly observed, this āmust-read for fans and the simply curious alikeā (Matthew Polly, author of American Shaolin) offers a provocative look at how the hollowing out of the American dream and the violence of modern capitalism left us ready to embrace a sport like cage fighting.
This book title, Cage Kings (How an Unlikely Group of Moguls, Champions & Hustlers Transformed the UFC into a $10 Billion Industry), ISBN: 9781501197710, by Michael Thomsen, published by Simon & Schuster (June 11, 2024) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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