Bloody Elbow from the inside: Kid Nate’s 2023 Year End report

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Kid Nate talks behind-the-scenes at Bloody Elbow

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve had a Bunker episode, so we decided to do something a little different. Nate pulled the blinds, put the shotgun by the door and the attack dog patrolled the perimeter as he welcomed me into his hallowed grounds for a bit of a role reversal. This week, I put Nate in the hot seat to provide a detailed update on what’s going on with Bloody Elbow.

He discussed how Bloody Elbow came to be independent, what the future looks like, what he hopes for 2024 and more. It’s a very honest accounting and even includes why you may be seeing malicious adware on the site and the steps we’re taking to fix it. But that’s not all.

Zach Arnold stops by to talk UFC/WWE Biz

We also have a Q&A with Zach Arnold who has a stellar long form article up on our Substack. The article breaks down the UBS conference call Mark Shapiro was a part of, so we decided Zach needed to come back to the Bunker to do a companion explainer that our listeners can check out if they don’t have time to take in the long form piece. Here’s the topics we discussed:

• Who is Mark Shapiro?
• What was the reason/purpose of the call?
• Rights fees and WWE RAW
• Sponsorship from 5x to 25x growth expectancy / $1B the magic number
• Why PFL/Bellator merger + ESPN broadcast deal is potentially good for TKO
• Is TKO recession-proof ?
• What about the antitrust case? Shouldn’t they be worried?
• Raytheon/Pfizer govt. Contractor model explainer
• Bundling events
• Power Slap’s politicking
• Endeavor AI
• WWE Deplorables

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Bloody Elbow merch available

Bloody Elbow is pleased to announce our partnership with Revgear. They have been a pioneer in the MMA gear industry and have grown into a formidable brand and true leader in the market. Revgear now have Bloody Elbow t-shirts, hoodies and hats so you can show your support for independent MMA journalism.

Stephie Haynes

Stephie Haynes has been covering MMA since 2005. She has also worked for MMA promotion Proelite and apparel brand TapouT. She hosted TapouT’s official radio show for four years before joining Bloody Elbow in 2012. She has interviewed everyone there is to interview in the fight game from from Dana White to Conor McGregor to Kimbo Slice, as well as mainstream TV, film and music stars including Norman Reedus, RZA and Anthony Bourdain. She has been producing the BE podcast network since 2017 and hosts four of its current shows.

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