Transcript 0:00 Still waiting in line, again? That's time you will never get back. Save time and money with Stamps.com. Over four million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com. 0:11 Join them to save up to 90% off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, registered mail, and packages in seconds. 0:21 Get $20 in free postage when you sign up for the pro plan at stamps.com/blackfriday2026. Terms and conditions apply. [gentle music] Hi, everyone. My name is Boye Kolade, co-founder and president of The Future Party. 0:37 And I'm Chris Sawtelle, CEO and co-founder of Crosstrek Studios. And welcome to the Future Forecast, a podcast where we explore the intersection between business, technology, and entertainment. 0:47 We've done the research so you don't have to. We're here to give our responses, opinions about news topics, and have a thoughtful discussion on the shifting landscape of our culture. Boom. 1:00 Today we are talking about a bunch of fun things, everything from this new 30-second micro sport, uh, f- extravaganza. 1:11 Uh, we're talking about no influencer signs and HBO's new TikTok-like feature. But before we dive into that, how are you doing, Chris? I'm good. Nice. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm stationary. 1:28 [laughs] Present. I am, I am with you in this moment, Boye. I love it. Uh, life... Uh, but al- also, you know what? I- I'm on cloud nine. Yeah? N- I... And you know what's so funny about it? 1:42 Yes, I am on cloud nine, and I don't want to... And, and unfortunate... For better or worse, for better or for worse, it's that rollercoaster that is business. 1:53 Like, how horrible is it that, that, you know, th- business, it doesn't, it doesn't always just go like this. Mm-hmm. Right? 2:00 You think, you think the more you w- I guess it's this way for, for our audience members that are watching via video. 2:05 You think it's gonna go, uh, on an upward plane, but it's ups and downs and the horrible metaphor of a rollercoaster and all around, and all arounds. 2:13 And I should not, and I'm work- You know, I am gonna do a better job of not allowing the wins to dictate- Yep... my mood or to... Listen, I'm not a robot. None of us are, yet. [laughs] But 2:30 I, I am not and I cannot allow for my achievements to dictate my value. And my achievements, I mean work achievements. Yeah. I think that I'm on a high. 2:47 I'm enjoying some of the wins. We just announced our season two and three pickup by Fox- That's right... which you're all aware of. Congrats again. 2:54 The date is now in, uh, as if you're not familiar with Read the Room, sketch comedy show by way of my, my business partner, Josh Richards, who is starring. And, and, and, and, uh, 3:07 we announced that that's coming out August 25th, so tune in on, on all socials, both Read the Room handles and Josh's socials as well. 3:15 And we just found out literally three hours ago that the movie he was in just got into TIFF- Sick... which is as a centerpiece, uh, as one of the centerpiece collection, which is very cool. What's the movie? You know? 3:27 Tell, give, give us the details. And- Congrats... details are it's called, it's called Back in Black. Okay. It is starring Christopher Walken. Ooh. It's a dark comedy. Takes place in a small town. 3:43 Christopher Walken is the, not caretaker, what do you call it? The funeral home... Uh, he's a funeral home owner. And 3:57 for, for better, for better or worse, or unfortunately for him, but fortunately for, for the town- Yep... no one's dying. So business is bad. [laughs] Spoiler alert, his, his granddaughter and he 4:16 find themselves accidentally, accidentally finding themselves with people dying around them, and business gets better. Business gets booming. That's really cool. Uh, do you know what day it's, it's gonna premiere? 4:34 I, I'm literally in real time finding out all the details. Okay. So looks like your boy is going to TIFF. Well, let me know. 4:41 Coincidentally, uh, my, my buddy is getting married in Toronto on the 20th, the last day of TIFF. Oh, whoa. So if- Oh, whoa... if t- if timing allows and the screening makes sense, I'll be there. 4:57 Have your people call my people. Okay. Will do. Uh, well, that's awesome. Congrats. And I hear you, man. It's like, it's so easy. Like, there have been moments where I'm not having a... 5:07 Like, I'm not having the best of moods. I'm waiting for an answer on something, but I'll be with other people, and I, like, similar to you, like, in the moment I get that answer and all of a sudden my mood changes. 5:18 And, you know, it's, it's definitely... I agree, though. It's like we shouldn't be beholden to sort of only the wins. I think we have to rejoice in the, the ride, you know, the, the ups- Yeah... and downs, so. 5:34 Because then how often are you robbing those around you of your time if all you're focused on is win after win? Again, don't get me wrong, the wins feel great or the, the, quote-unquote win or the 5:48 validation that, that, that elicits both financially and, you know, ego wise. Yep. But I think that I find myself constantly, regardless of wins, people would say, like, "Look at your life, Chris. 6:00 It's n- it's not, it's not, not too shabby. Like, chill the fuck out." Yep. Excuse my language. Yep. 6:05 And I, I You know, I'm not comparing myself with others, but I'm comparing myself to what I expect of myself or what- of myself to accomplish. Yeah. 6:14 It's never good enough, and I'm robbing everyone else of that time by way of only looking at what the next win is. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. I, I, I think it's great introspection. 6:25 Ashley, my wife, and I were actually literally just talking about that last night, um, 'cause we're, um- Really? 6:31 Yeah, long story short, we are, uh, we, we discovered some mold in our, our, our new home that we just bought, uh, a year ago. Congrats. Congrats. 6:39 [laughs] Congrats on home ownership, and congrats on the f- one of many soon to be issues- [laughs]... that is that journey. Yeah. Uh, so fro- from what I'm told- Yeah... you know, as, as a non-homeowner. Yeah. 6:52 And it, there's a chance where it may actually be affecting me, kind of part of our past conversations. And, um- Whoa... and so we were just like, "This is such a bummer." 7:04 But in it, it's like, well, we have so much to be grateful for, right? Like, there's so many things, and everything has a silver lining. 7:12 And so, um, it's, it's just a good reminder to, to, to think of the positive even in the, the valleys, so. There's a great, there's a great study done, uh, and I'm blanking on who, who did it. 7:27 But I'm gonna share this nonetheless. Mm-hmm. It's a great study that was conducted on those that find themselves to be lucky and those that find themselves to be unlucky. Hmm. 7:40 And, you know, the, the same, the same ideology, that is seeing the glass half empty versus the glass half full. Yep. More often than not, the individuals that found themselves to be lucky 7:54 were more successful by way of the nature of how they were... You know, the theory was that by way of believing yourself, just like manifesting yourself into being in a situation- Mm-hmm... you're going to find... 8:09 You're only going to look at the moments in which that luck that you obtain- Yep... uh, you're only looking at the, the positive. Yep. 8:21 Whereas the more you call yourself unlucky, the more you're driving negative energy and negative attention towards you. You're only focusing on- Yeah... said negative energy. Mm-hmm. And then literally manifesting- Yeah. 8:35 I believe it, man... your own downfall. I believe it. I've said for a while that I believe if you give way to your anxious thoughts too much, you will actually create the scenarios your anxiety is worried about. Yeah. 8:52 Like, if that makes sense, right? You're worried that- The miss goes next... this is gonna happen, and, and the behavior that you actually exhibit causes [laughs] that thing to happen. 9:01 So, you know, yeah, I'm a big, I'm a, I'm a big proponent on, on positive thinking, prayer if that's what you align with, too. Um, but, um- One could say that prayer is just another man's manifestation, you know? Hmm. 9:16 Everyone has their own... Everyone has their... You talking to yourself or talking to your god or talking to, you know, a higher power, like, that is in and of itself a version, right? 9:26 You're, you're, you're connecting with, um, with the higher source, higher power. Um, well, we've, we've gone really introspective here. 9:38 [laughs] And, uh, we were, we were supposed to talk about Spider-Man's: Brand New Day and Underdog, who the people behind those things actually have, you know, a good, uh, reason to celebrate themselves and be happy. 9:53 Uh, but, um- But it's a great segue. Think about- [laughs]... the level of introspection I, that, that, that, that Spider-Man or Peter Parker himself had to have by way of everyone literally forgetting about him. 10:07 [laughs] Huh? Huh? Eh, yes. I didn't see it, but I heard you saw it, so maybe that's why we're in that environment. Maybe that's why we're in that, that, that mode of thought. Yes. Right? Yes. 10:16 I did see it, and it's interesting. So, um, for those who have been living under a rock, uh, it's br- uh, Brand New Day, Spider-Man: Brand New Day starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, uh, it's breaking box office records. 10:30 Uh, domestically, $360 million opening, a $932 million global opening. Wow. And- Wow... um, it's been insane. Uh, it's- That's the new record at this point? 10:47 Uh, the- That's me asking, not telling. Uh, so I don't know who they, which, which record they broke, but I do know, um... Oh wait, actually, so, uh, Endgame was the prior winner- Yeah... at 11:03 357.1 million, but I'm not sure who had the, um, international best. Right now- Understood. Understood... 11:10 right now, Brand New Day's 932 million is the second-best ever, and 36% of audiences were 18 to 24, which is interesting, 'cause I went, and I actually... 11:22 If you've never done this, this is something I, I di- I started doing several years ago, but it's going to a movie by yourself. And so I actually went by myself. Okay. And, and, uh, it's, uh, it's kinda cool. 11:35 I enjoyed it. Uh, but I remember- Do you have a theater of choice? Does it matter, or you just go to what's available? Uh, I'll just go to, like, what I'm feeling. I'll, like, I'll ask a bunch of buds- Okay... 11:46 if they're around, and if they're not, I, I'm s- I'm not like, "Oh, I can't go just because my friend couldn't go." Like, I'm just gonna go- Right... see it, you know? I meant theater of choice. 11:54 Oh, theater- Like Alamo, IPIC- Um [laughs]... Pacific Theatres. I think Alamo is my favorite when I can access one. Cool. Otherwise- Yeah... AMC I like. You know, I, I'll do any theater. 12:07 Um, uh- And, uh, basically I got to the theater, this one so happened to be a Regal Theater and if I recall correctly... Actually, I don't know, maybe it was AMC. Uh, okay, anyways, regardless, 12:22 it was the most packed I'd ever seen, ever seen a theater in a long time. Like, the concession stands, like multiple concession stands, lines out the wazoo. I mean, everyone was there for Spider-Man, and I didn't... 12:33 I had forgot it was coming out this, this weekend till, like, someone texted me or mentioned it, like, a couple of days ago. So it's d- there's definitely Spider-Man f- fever. 12:43 And I remember seeing a meme actually, and it was like, you know those memes where it's the, um, it's almost like the starter pack, right? 12:50 Where it's just like a, a white page of like what someone would wear, you know, being someone. Yes. Yes. So- Yes... 12:59 it was a st- it was a starter pack and it was, um, Spider-Man in whe- when we were young and Spider-Man when we were old, and it was like all the same things except just, uh, like different Spider-Mans. 13:14 So it was more so sort of a play on- That's funny... like you could be a dude and like 18 back in the day and you're still going to see Spider-Man. You just, you know, uh, have different things going on. 13:25 But, um- Spider-Man, Spider-Man unites all. It does. It does. And it was good. It was good. 13:32 Uh, it's crazy though that Tom Holland has like, uh, The Odyssey and Spider-Man, and he's just basically the box office king right now. Um, and Zendaya, actually. Both of them. Yeah, but you can give Tom his flowers. 13:47 He deserves them. I mean, Zendaya's had them for a while. Yeah. And Tom, Tom's had a couple misses, you know? And by... Uh, and so he, he deserves his flowers. Give him where he can get them. 13:56 You know, Chalamet had, had the, had the, had, had enough reign- [laughs]... for, for a while, so, so- Yeah... Holland can get it, you know? No, I think it's, um... It's, it's awesome. 14:08 But, uh, you should go see it just to see it. Um, and- Did you see the Steve Lacy spoiler moment? No, no. What's that? He spoiled... Uh, so, uh, Steve Lacy, the singer. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. Uh, spoiled the... 14:24 I, I won't spoil it for anyone here that has not seen it, but spoiled Sadie Sink's character reveal. Oh. Literally on the carpet during the premiere. [laughs] Like, we're done. Everyone's about to go, and, and he... 14:40 And, and the question was something to, something to the effect of, "What was one of your favorite moments or what was, like, what was one of the moments that you..." It, it wasn't asking about him to talk about- Yeah... 14:55 the moment. It was, like, asking about a moment in the film that you- [laughs]... loved filming or shooting or you loved experiencing. I love when this big reveal secret character happens. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 15:03 [laughs] Literally just goes, "Yeah." Literally said that. That is wild. And he just goes... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, all right, so Underdog, what's going on there? Underdog, the sports betting app? Yeah. Oh my God. 15:17 You see, it, uh, if I'm not mistaken, it j- uh, it just sold. Yeah. It just sold, boyé. 15:24 For the, for, for our listeners, for individuals that do not listen or, or are not on the up and up as it pertains to, uh, the sports betting universe, there's, there's several... 15:37 I don't wanna call them books, but several apps that, that have been waging war for the last, I don't know, uh, since, you know, pre-COVID. And, and a lot... For, for, 15:49 for a long time it was always FanDuel and DraftKings. Mm-hmm. Those were the two spots- Yep... that were most formidable. And I'm, I'm a little hazy with the record, but Underdog and PricePicks popped up 16:06 around the 2020, aro- around 2020. Mm. Or in that, in that, in that, in that, in that realm. Yeah. And, and they were, I would say, I would identify, like it was Sleeper, Underdog, and PricePicks. PricePicks is now... 16:22 I mean, n- now the war is it's PricePicks, Under- uh, PricePicks, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Uh, tho- those are the three. Yep. Those are un- unquestionably the three. 16:32 But Underdog very smartly targeted or we- went after this idea that they were going to market to the Gen Z or to the younger par- uh, betting participant. Got it. 16:49 Or sports, sports betting- Mm-hmm... uh, fan. Whereas DraftKings and FanDuel have been most notably in, in, in, in, uh, uh, you know, I would say 30 and up. Got it. 17:02 And so yeah, they just got q- acquired by the parent company of FanDuel. That's, that's wild. I'm looking at it now. For essentially... How much was it for? I think, I believe it was for $1.3 billion. Yeah. Wow. 17:18 Someone's making money. $1.3 billion. Yeah. That- Which is a huge... Which I don't know... Not to say I don't know why they sold. 17:27 I don't know the, the inner workings or the, or the, the, the reasons for why they decided to- Well, the... So the, the rumor-... they targeted... is that just the pressure from prediction markets. Really? Yeah. 17:38 At the end of the day. Oh, the pr- uh, the pressure meaning that they're not receiving the monies is what you're saying? Yeah. 17:42 The, the- Or you're saying that FanDuel, the, the, the, the parent company came out after Underdog to further bolster Uh, just that, like, Kalshi and Polymarket are so competitive and growing- Yeah... and basically, 17:56 you know, taking on sports betting head-on. Yeah. You know? So, um- Well, the way in which the mechanism or, or, or how you can... 18:06 The, the, the prediction markets are, not to say are all the rage, but, like, they are heavily if you see the amount of Marketing that goes in, I mean, I see it on TikTok now. Yeah. 18:14 Like, every, every other second I'm getting a, specifically a Calshi- Yep... uh, ad. I don't receive Polymarket. I've seen some here and there, but Calshi- Do you? Calshi does... 18:26 I mean, they both are like, they both have money to market. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but I think Calshi's won the... I, I mean, it's tough, man. 18:35 Calshi, I believe Timothée Chalamet's ad, Super Bowl ad or, or World Cup ad, the one where he's on the dentist chair, um, has been so popular. He did a, he did a Calshi ad? Yeah. Yeah. He did a Calshi ad. He did a... 18:50 Hold on. He did a Super- He did a... I didn't even realize. You're telling me that he also did a... 'Cause I know he did the Adidas- Yes. Yes... World Cup ad, but he also did a Calshi Super Bowl ad? 19:03 He did- Or sorry, a, a World Cup ad? Yes. Uh, let me see when it originated. Calshi Timothée. So- That's crazy... um, so the commercial... 19:14 So I guess he has a multi-year partnership, uh, to star in surreal viral, uh, advertising with Calshi. Damn. And this particular ad- Damn. Damn... 19:27 um, it, it's him in a dentist chair getting worked on, and the dent- He- It basically has, like, laughing gas or whatever, and the dent- and he's like, "Calshi." 19:36 And you can't, you can't hear him, and so the dentist is like, "Huh?" And he's like, "Calshi." [laughs] And then like, literally it's just, like, so odd and weird and, um, it's, uh, it's crushed. Um, 19:49 uh, but I'm- Good for them. Good for them. Yeah. 'Cause he had a... He, if I'm not mistaken, he also had a Cash App deal at one point. I don't remember. Look at that. No, I, I, I know that he did. Yeah. Yeah. 20:01 Uh, I remember that was... They, 'cause Cash App went after, like, Kendrick Lamar. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and Chalamet. That's so interesting. So- We're getting so off topic... yeah. So I stand corrected. 20:12 But- It, it looks like it wasn't s- it looks like it was, it, it started airing early June and there were a ton of World Clup- Cup placements, so I don't think this was, um- Understood. 20:23 So w- it was just a, it was just the commercial in and of itself. It happened to get placement around the World Cup. Yeah. It was not a World Cup specific ad. 20:30 No, I think, I think it was also in the World Cup, like, but it, it didn't just, like, exclusively premiere for World Cup ads, if that makes sense. Right. Whereas, like, Adidas specifically was, this is a soccer ad. 20:42 It is a- Exactly... uh, Calshi could still bring that commercial up later on if they wanted to during- Yeah. Yep. Uh, anyways, you're right. We should probably get into our actual topics even. We have a lot to say today. 20:58 Business is booming. Is your fulfillment ready for peak season? Switch to ShipStation now and handle more volume with confidence when it counts. 21:05 ShipStation connects Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and over 200 more integrations with one platform that does it all. You can manage orders, sync inventory, track returns, all automatically. 21:15 Everything your operation needs, all in one place. Right now, qualified shippers get a real dedicated person to get you set up and switched over for free, so when peak season hits, you're ready to go. 21:25 Switch today at shipstation.com, code AUDIO. First topic, we're talking about the sports industry. So traditionally, sports has been built around TV, right? Linear. 21:41 Um, it's the juggernauts of ESPN and, um, NFL and NBA. And so, uh, there's a new development arising. There's a company called World One. Uh, they are a new sports entertainment company. The CEO's name is Brett Morris. 21:57 Uh, there's a couple other guys involved. Um, in fact, 10 Olympic medalists are, uh, considered, um, uh, part of the founding pool of, of people here, and they are, they're coining a new thing called microsports. 22:14 And they are original sports where world titles are decided in 30 seconds. 22:22 So the, the fastest top sprint speed through a t- a 10-yard speed chamber or, um, you know, uh, your s- the strongest could be a combined bench pr- press plus squat. 22:35 And, um, champions defend, uh, their belt at every event, and these are, these are meant to be, like, filmed for vertical video. 22:46 Uh, just to, to, to dive in a little deeper, um, there are no subscr- subscriptions or micro transactions right now for the app, um, but we've got, uh, uh, big investor, Mark Cuban's investor, um, Abu Dhabi's got their money in there, uh, Dan, um, M- M- McCo- McClory? 23:08 Have you f- have you ever heard of Dan McClory? Dan McClory. And, um, yeah, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's interesting. Really at the end of the day, this is meant to appeal to a generation focused on TikTok. 23:23 I don't know if I'm fully tracking how they handle the competition element of this. Pardon my ignorance. Like, when you say that a champion is going to be anointed or they're going to dub a champion. So when 23:36 competition, uh, uh, uh, occurs- Mm-hmm... what's the turnaround time on this? Like, how are they deciding the, the competition? So let's- Or do you know? Pardon, uh, uh, pardon, not to put you on the spot. 23:50 You know, uh, we're gonna, we're gonna get into this right now. We're gonna, we're gonna dive in and, and figure, figure this out. 23:56 What I, what I do know is that it's meant to be TikTokified, but, like, maybe rephrase your question a little bit. Like, you're just wondering- I understand the way in which they're gonna... I understand how... 24:10 I, I'm following and tracking how they're going to convey the content- Mm-hmm... meaning short bites, short form variation. We'll recei- we'll be able to watch beginning, middle, and end within- Mm-hmm... 24:21 30 to a minute 30. Yep. Whatever their time length is. What I'm confused by, when you, when I heard you talking about their- Their selection, their, their winner selection Yeah How are we-- 24:38 how are they choosing categories of competition, and then how are they choosing the c-- how are they choosing these-- how are they developing these games- Yeah... essentially? 24:49 Well, I think, you know, again, they've got Mark Cuban being a sports guy. They've got Olympic people involved. Um, really what they're, they're trying to do is make the highlight the sport, right? 25:04 So this is a quote, and, um, basically the idea is, um, fans won't have to wonder if what they're watching matters. It's high stakes, and it's meant to be decided in 30 seconds. 25:21 So you ha- you have them focusing on, like, what's the epitome of, of the competition? Like, wh- again, who's the fastest? Who's the strongest? So those are the- Right... the examples that we have from a 25:35 PR and, like, what they've, they've shared. Um, but what- They're still figuring it out. They're still figuring it out. Yeah, I mean, it, it definitely s- feels like a, like a PR release. 25:47 Doesn't seem, like, completely defined. Um, but- Right... but there is-- there's enough there where we can speculate. You know, one thing this reminds me of, of Peter Thiel's Enhanced Games, right? So- Oh, yeah... 26:04 so- Yeah... 26:05 you know, it's a different approach, but, um, what he's doing is he's giving million-dollar bounties for, for world, world records, and you can, you can take, in fact, it seems encouraged to take performance-enhancing drugs and, uh, uh, for competition. 26:24 And so I, I think for me, [sighs] people have been creating new, new leagues in sports for a while now, but I-- this feels like the Olympics itself is being challenged, right? 26:41 Like the epitome of, the epitome of sports, of, of, of human, um, human... What's the word I'm looking for? Um, success, right? Has traditionally been the Olympics, right? 26:59 That's where world records are broken, Olympic records are broken, this idea of natural Olympians, right? And now- Human, human, I would say human, human excellence- Yes... 27:13 or human, human physical performance exceeding- Yes... uh, or, or, or ex- exceeding the norm. Yes. I love it. So, you know, with MicroSports, they're just trying to, think almost like Guinness World Records. 27:28 They're just, they just, they're intentionally doing competitions. But is it-- is that, is that what it's challenging? Is that, is that what they're after? I guess that's why the Olympians are involved. 27:37 I, I'm more s- using that as a reference to say they are engineering excellence. They're, they're- Got it... and, and they're doing it in the quickest moment possible, right? Right. Right, right, right. 27:50 And I, I look at Peter Thiel and the Enhanced Games, and it's similar. Engineering excellence, right? It's just- Yeah... w- like- Yeah... 27:59 uh, uh, with the Olympics, you c- you h- it, it was all about natural excellence, and Peter Thiel w- and the Enhanced Games is all about, you know, what's, like, what can you push your body to, right? 28:11 You know what's, you know what's, what's interesting about it is it's, it scratches the same idea, the same notion of, remember, rem- I guess this is still around, trampoline basketball. [laughs] Yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. 28:27 The thesis of trampoline basketball is not a matter of saying, "Hey, let's get trampolines and basketballs and play." Mm-hmm. It's specifically, what do people love? What is exciting when you watch a basketball game? 28:38 Yep. The dunks. So how do you wa- you know, the beauty of, of, of... At, at a period of time during, like, the 2000s or whenever dunking became, like, a real true- Yep... phenom, right? 28:52 And so someone invented trampoline dunking, thinking, like, that would be a great way to showcase the most ridiculous, cool dunks possible. Yep. But ironically enough, I would argue that 29:04 with trampoline dunking, if everyone has the ability to dunk, then you lose the special nature- Nature... of the fact that one of, that, that it's a surprise, or you're waiting for that moment- Yeah... to happen. 29:16 And anyway, it's a, it... TLDR is me mentioning, I'm mentioning trampoline dunking more to say that it seems like they're cosmetically trying to- Yeah. It-... face it down to the most exciting bit- Yeah... 29:30 or the most exciting moment possible. Yeah. The, really the most exciting clip- Yeah... uh, achievable because sadly the, the general person's attention span- Yep... is diminishing- Yeah... 29:48 more, more, moreover. Yeah. It's a good comp, and I- So they're competing with that. It's a good comp. I'm even thinking of, like, dunking competitions, right? 29:55 Like All-Star Weekend, right, is similar, or three-point shooting competitions, right? And so imagine MicroSports, like, making that the sport. Who's the best player? 30:05 Shaq just opened-- Shaq just launched a, a dunk league. I don't know if you saw that. No. It's getting... There was, there was an announcement about that. 30:11 You know, the, this is-- everyone is trying to create leagues 'cause the amount of money that you can make by way of these leagues- Yeah... if you f- if you franchise it. Es- essentially the model is you build a league. 30:21 You get it going. You can get brand partnership, brands to buy in. Then you get enough people to buy in or, you know, pay for their own team. Yep. Yeah. Then you don't have to do anything. You are the- 30:33 Essentially, if you're the commissioner of said league, you're just collecting, collecting checks- Yeah... on everyone else's, uh, uh, arrangements. Yep. 30:44 Well, so, so here's where I think this is v- this gets more interesting. So for, for micro sports, it's not just like who's the fastest or strongest. It's intentionally creating for Gen Z. And so to me- Yeah... 31:01 and the, you know, you'll, you'll s- hear, for those who are listening, a recurring sort of theme from the some of the stories we're talking about today, which is the creator ecosystem. 31:13 And, you know, I know we've talked about it in the past, and I'd be curious your thoughts. I just think 31:19 everything is moving in that direction, for example, with, with Red Bull, you know, and creating the streamer games and, you know, diving into that, you know? 31:27 And you know, you know more than me about that, but I think to me it's all just really fascinating. I... This is my unsolicited advice as I listen to this. If, uh, 31:40 I'm su- I'm surprised that s- uh, IShowSpeed- Mm... is not involved in this. And, and- And perhaps he was, and perhaps he was asked. Mm. 31:51 But in my mind, when we're talking about these games, we're talking about short form clipping. Yep. To me, s- an individual who really has been on the, who has been the, not the arbiter, but the... What is it? 32:07 If this is the Wild West of non-sanctioned sports- Mm-hmm... S- IShowSpeed has been at the forefront. He's been the front runner- Mm... in terms of creating the best clipped fun versions of sprint challenges. Yep. Right? 32:26 You know, IShowSpeed has now challenged how many people to competition? Mm-hmm. And it starts out as one big, it starts out as one big giant YouTube video, but really all we wanna watch- Is the sprint. [laughs]... 32:38 is who, who's gonna beat who in the sprint. Yep. Yeah. Right? And to me, that, that's kind of what this is going after. Mm-hmm. Similar to that of, like, Power Slap. Have you seen the Power Slap competitions? Yeah. Yep. 32:52 Right? You just want in 30 seconds, someone's gonna get slapped. Mm-hmm. Who is it? Who's gonna fall? You wanna watch the knockouts. Yeah. They shouldn't be doing that. The... I can't imagine the CT issues- Yeah... 33:03 that are happening- I know. I know... by that. But yeah. Anyway, uh, that's cool. Yeah. That's cool. I think o- one more thing I'm thinking of is how can the idea of micro sports, like 33:19 pending its success, be applied to other aspects? And what I hear is just attention span, right? Like, c- can, can other people take from this and create similar content in a similar vein, right? 33:36 Um, whether that's audio or visual or editorial, I think the idea is that this is what audiences are wanting. Not that 33:47 a World Cup game or the Olympics won't exist, it's just an opportunity for something fresh, um, and something that will garner a lot of attention quickly. 33:57 So we should, we should probably get into the next, next conversation topic. Um, we're, we're talking about creators, and recently it... creators, AKA influencers, had a moment of drama, uh, in, uh, um, Nantucket. 34:14 You wanna break it down for us? Yes. Yes. I, I could break it down for you. Uh, especially because somehow, somehow Miss, uh, Miss Chickenfry also found herself taking a stray on this one, which is so not warranted. 34:28 [laughs] Uh, uh, basically, TLDR is Paige Lorenze, a shop in Nantucket, essentially was dis- was discovered f- to have, uh, 34:43 posted up a "No influencers" sign in, in its, in its store. Paige Lorenze, a, a consistent goer of said shop, claimed that... 35:01 and be- and believes that the discrimination or the sign posted of "No influencers" was discrimina- was discrimina- was discrimination against women. 35:20 Yeah. And it caught more and more heat specifically because Dave Portnoy picked up the conversation. Mm-hmm. 35:27 And as, as an individual that now lives or spends a significant amount of time on Nantucket, he added more fuel to the fire to suggest that he doesn't want any influencers on Nantucket- [laughs]... whatsoever. 35:46 And he specifically- Dave Portnoy, an influencer himself? [laughs] Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's... But by the way, that's part of the whole ruse- That's wild... 35:53 and part of some of the debate and the conversation when this was all going around is that he specifically called out, ironically enough, like, he, he, he actually continued to fuel, stoke the fire as it pertained to what, what it was to be an influencer. 36:07 He was like, "Well, there's..." He also said he wasn't an influencer, but he said there's a specific type of influencer. He's like- I don't want-... top 50 in the world of influence- Yeah... to be honest. 36:16 [laughs] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I, I, I know exactly what you mean. It is crazy. 36:19 But, uh, he was trying to single out the idea, like he specifically called out the, the, the Bachelors if you're familiar with who they are. There was like a s- uh, a, uh, there was a specific type of- Mm... of... 36:33 He, he specifically said, "I don't want... We don't want..." We, he included himself, the royal we- Yeah... of Nantucket. 36:39 He said, "We don't want the influencers that are going on the influencer roadshow of like you go to F1 and then you're going to- Uh- Yeah... this event, and then you're going to the- Passed that. Yeah... 36:52 it was like the, the, the, the, the influencer trip- Yeah... type influencer- Mm-hmm... whose job it is, in his mind, to go to all these events for content. They don't want them there. Mm. 37:08 And that drove quite a bit of back and forth, and actually is something that I, I, I have a pain point with, more so around the principle of the self, the, the, the inner self-loathing and commentary around that. 37:22 Like, it's funny, it's great for content. Yeah. But I actually, I, I, I have no qualm with the storefront. I think the storefront is allowed to, in my mind anyway, like 37:33 if you're a privately owned business, you have the right to decide who you do and do not want to serve your business to. Yeah. Right? 37:40 Now, you should n- now, you shouldn't be discriminating against, you know, men, women, color, wh- whatever basis, you know? That I don't fuck with whatsoever. But if, if, if in pure 37:53 surface level that sign is saying, "No influencers," I take that more m- more to mean that we don't want to have people, specifically not an influencer, but we don't want to have individuals 38:09 h- currently making content. W- what they should have said is, "No filming." Yeah. Do not record themselves. No filming, exactly. Right? Right? But to say, "No influencers," there's a, there's a level of stigma to that. 38:19 Yeah. I think it's offensive to be like, "We don't want your kind here." It's a little bit highbrow-y commentary. Well- Uh, and putting your nose up to a certain type of person that is making money. 38:32 It's like saying, "No reporters here," and, you know, d- when, when they've also helped fuel the business. This is all about- Yeah... 38:39 for, for those that are not, are not aware, there's a specific woven basket from the storefront that has now become quite the coveted- Yeah... 38:48 uh, piece that individuals purchase that is now been like anointed as like a status symbol if you're able to purchase them. And so that's what this is all kind of driving itself around. So I will say, uh, the, 39:04 the store is called Four Winds Craft Guild. It is a family-run- Yeah, give them more publicity. [laughs] What, what, what is the storefront? What, what is it called again? What was the name of the store? 39:17 Four Winds Craft Guild. If you're- Great name. Are you- If you're an influencer, head over Well, it's really catchy. I'm just kidding. [laughs] Yeah. 39:23 [laughs] Um, it's a family-run Nantucket artisan antique shop run by, uh... Or wait, no. It's been ar- uh, uh, it's, it's around 80 years old. So it's an old- Wow... 39:36 you know, place, and the owner, I, I won't say his name, uh, he hung a gold embossed quarter board reading, "No influencers." So he went, he went all out. 39:47 This wasn't just a like no filming sign that he could've just wrote on paper. It's just like- Yeah... you know, making a statement. And I think for me, I'm reminded by this idea, like, 40:00 track with me here, but you know, like a Luddite? A Luddite being someone who stays away from technology. It just feels like there is a, a, a movement, albeit small, of people who are 40:15 Luddites for creators and, and, and influencers in a way. And the, the only reason I'm- Yeah... ma- thinking about this is similar to how Chris Nolan was like, "We're not gonna..." Or Universal. 40:26 "We're not gonna do influencer screenings for The Odyssey," even though they did. But this idea of saying, "No influencers" seems to be a little bit more pervasive. And to me- Yeah... it's just got me thinking, like, 40:43 why? You know what I mean? And what are the implications, and can people, will people capitalize on, on that, you know? I think there's a heavy amount of pride, ego involved. 41:01 Mm-hmm. Not in this necessarily, in this circumstance, but generally speaking. The, the, people don't like change, and so if people of a, of another... In this circumstance very clearly, 41:16 people that were not necessarily from these parts, I, I, I think by way of saying, "No influencer," it's kinda like saying, "No tourists," which is ridiculous- Yeah, mm-hmm... 41:24 'cause it's like tourism is what fuels your business, so what are you really saying here? Yeah. 41:27 It's like you don't get to pick and choose who your cust- you can pick and choose who your customer is, but also let's not forget, like, your customer base and the, the individuals that actually pay for your services, like 41:38 if there's no one else around and they're the ones doing it, then you're really just self-loathing and you're hating on the people- Yeah... that are specifically actually the ones giving you the means to supply- Yeah... 41:48 your livelihood. Also- That I also take issue with. That's like, it's like don't, don't judge a book by its cover. 41:54 Also, it's like doesn't that, do- doesn't like people learning about your store help your store and help your business? It's l- I don't know. It's an interesting move. Absolutely. Absolutely. 42:05 Though, you know, they're unfortunately, it's, it's a, it, I'm gonna get, n- I'm gonna go so on a... Go with me here, but this is- Yep... this is we're getting a little political. 42:17 It's that same commentary around like there's good cops and bad cops, right? Mm-hmm. 42:21 Like, there are people that abuse their powers and there's individuals that, that, that are actually like on the beat doing the thing, that are really actually like just trying to make a, the, make society better. Yep. 42:33 There are good influencers and there's bad influencers. Mm-hmm. And I, I, I would not be surprised if there's a significant amount of times where this store owner- Yeah... 42:41 has had people come to their storefront who really honestly are not... They might at surface level be perceived as an influencer, but have not actually, they haven't like made it, so they're not actually capable of like 42:56 s- Supporting themselves financially- Yeah... day in and day out as a running business. Mm-hmm. 43:02 And so they're trying to leverage this company, this storefront for content to justify getting other people to view them- Mm-hmm... or, or for views, right? Mm-hmm. So maybe they're not even buying things. 43:15 Maybe a lot of people come by 'cause they know it's a very popular space- Mm-hmm... 43:18 and they want to do a review of it, and they're trying to use that storefront or use that space as a, a way to provide value to listeners or viewers. Mm-hmm. And that's, you know, they're like, "We don't want any..." 43:32 s- at that point just put a sign that says, "No soliciting," right? Mm-hmm. But that's again, what, what I think, uh, that's all about. Yeah. Well, um, m- I think, uh, I think it's an interesting moment. 43:49 I think it's maybe the beginning of something. I, I genuinely, I, I, I th- Yeah... I think we're gonna see more of this. And, uh, I think it'll create more conversation. And I think I, I don't know. I, 44:01 I, I look at things like this, and I, I don't wanna be, like, opportunistic, but in a way I th- I do think for the right person there's opportuni- opportunity here in understanding this cultural dynamic, whether they want to lean into the sort of, uh, pro creator influencer or the antithesis. 44:22 Um, you know, it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna be interesting. It's that notion, you know, I, I don't... Controversial thought or controversial con- con- controversial take here. 44:37 I can get behind and I fuck with an artist that says, "I make art for myself," or, "I make art for art's sake, and I make my art for me and no one else." 44:47 And I, if, if you're making a piece of art or you make a painting and that is your therapy, if that is your cathartic release, and by proxy the art that you happened to put out into the world 45:02 is then received and garners you financial means, fantastic. You know, awesome. 45:13 But if you're not seeking to ascertain finance and you're solely putting your art out there for the sake of putting it out, respect. I, I get that. What's controversial is if you're someone who is, 45:29 is making a true business out of what you're doing, meaning I make a movie, I ma- I made this piece of art and I'm going to sell it. I'm gonna auction it off to high- the highest bidder. 45:44 I made this music and I expect people and want people to pay for my music to listen to me. There's a call and response. There is supply and demand, and your art is only going to be purchased by the amount of demand 46:03 that is warranted for the supply that you are, are supplying. Mm-hmm. So don't get too fucking cute. If you want money, if you're looking to reap the rewards, 46:18 don't start slapping the wrist of the individuals buying your work if, uh, if you don't, if you don't want the money. Mm-hmm. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. 46:33 [laughs] All right, so we've talked a lot about creators. We're not done yet. Uh, next we have HBO Max, arguably one of the, if not the best streaming platform with some of the best shows. 46:51 They are, they just launched HBO Max Shorts, which is what it sounds like. It's a vertical scrollable feed of iconic scenes, trailers, and bonus content personalized to your watch history. You can find it in the app. 47:09 Uh, I don't think I wanna use this moment to tell you how to do it, but just know that it's there. Um- You say arguably the best app. 47:18 Are, is, are you, do you subscribe to HBO Max being the best app out there from, like, a- Content?... content- Um- Let, let's, let's, let's omit social media, but if we're talking, like, Netflix- Yeah... 47:32 Peacock, Hulu, et cetera. So I feel like all of them have their own brands and flavors. I feel like HBO is still today the premium cultural hit maker, uh, not to say you can't find hits on other platforms. 47:49 So, so for clarity, though, for clarity, though, w- for clar- just to, just to clarify- Yep... what you're talking about is the actual producing of- The content... the content itself. Yes. The, the- N- we're not, not... 48:01 We're talking about them being a hits maker, not, "When I'm scrolling through, it's the best interface." Oh, no, no, no. "I've experienced this." Yeah. I just wanted to get that clarity- Yeah... 48:09 from my understanding of what you, what you mean. Yeah. More, more so from a content POV. Um, from a content POV, arguably they are the best. Um, although when it comes to sci-fi, I prefer Apple. Um, 48:24 but, uh, that's another conversation for another day. Uh, but basically, you know, to me, this is an interesting play, right? This is, uh, another streamer because Disney launched Verts. 48:39 Uh, Netflix is, is working on this. Um, Bravo, uh, I think even Paramount. Like, very soon all of these places are gonna have vertical viewing TikTok-esque feeds for you- Yeah... to buy in. 48:57 So it's like everything is becoming TikTok. And in a way I'm not necessarily concerned 49:07 I just think it's a profound thing to think about, and the opportunity I see, and to me, this is a signal, because a lot of these platforms, HBO included, are starting with their own content. 49:20 But I think it opens the door for native original content to appear on these platforms, if that makes sense. So like vertical video to me is the next step. A vertical original- Yeah... 49:37 developed, produced video. So we could actually get, like Read the Room, for example, you, you, you have your deal with Fox, which is awesome. You know, I think that type of content could, could have a window now. 49:52 It could have- Yeah... a licensing, um, syndication purchased by these platforms. Well, we're gonna see ReelShorts, all these other apps- Yep... 50:03 as they start, you know, the race to, to developing and building that all out, building those apps out- Mm-hmm... we're gonna see consolidation occur where- Yeah, yeah... 50:12 as, as Max, et cetera, are trying to build out, we're gonna start seeing some of these- 1,000%... apps get purchased. It's a good point, right? 50:18 So this, this also can pave the way for DramaBox to be acquired, ReelShorts, ex- e- everything you're saying. 50:26 Um, and, uh, all I know is Katzenberg must be kicking his feet back right now being like, "Told you so," you know? Um- But, but are you kicking your feet back or are you banging your head against the wall being like, 50:41 like- Um-... "Damn it." I think at his level, I think you're kicking your feet back because he's already made his money. 50:50 It was-- I don't think his reputation is ruined and he's, he's invested in, I think, two other micro-drama apps. Uh- Got it... one for sure, maybe two. And so he's participating in this wave now as well. 51:07 I get what you're saying. Yeah. Um, and he-- and, and- Understood... should this become a thing, he can forever say, "I was, I was the first. Maybe it was the wrong place, wrong time, but like you can't tell me- Right... 51:17 my instincts are off. My instincts are a million percent correct." Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? And that's, that is future money, whether I, I made the t- the wrong timing decision. I get that. Yeah. Damn. Damn. 51:34 Yeah, so I think my biggest question though, and, um, uh, seems like we, we might have the answer is are people consuming... 'cause, 'cause content in this way? 51:48 Because if I'm all these executives, I'm thinking, "Oh, TikTok vertical viewing, Instagram vertical viewing is so good. Let's make our own apps that." 51:56 But then we have to assume that, 'cause I'm not gonna w- watch vertical video on my TV, we have to assume that so many people are watching House of Cards, y- or sorry, House of, um, Dragon, Game of Thrones, um, White Lotus on my phone. 52:15 Like that's, that's really the bet. And, you know, apparently, this is by a UCLA survey of people ages 10 to 24, nearly half say they rarely or never watch movies and shows on an actual TV. 52:33 20% always watch on other screens, 23% most of the time, and 9% said never. So it does seem that a lot of the younger generation does watch 52:48 movies on these big streamers on their phones w- in, in which this is a brilliant move by all the streamers, including HBO. 52:58 Netflix, when I go on and I scroll through, you know, you hear a lot of people say there's never anything good on Netflix. Yep. And it's not me coming after Netflix. Mm-hmm. 53:10 It's just me saying that I find that the interflace, the interface when scrolling through is very heavily, like it's overstimulating. It's very confusing. 53:21 There's, there's 50 different, "Continue watching this," recommendation. Like, there's just, just too many things. Mm-hmm. And just the way in which you commented on HBO, HBO Max, 53:38 though I know it wasn't about the, the actual user face- Yep... it's just making me think about how that's gonna come into play now more than ever. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 53:51 It might be actually the most important to the success of their vertical viewing, you know? Um, but yeah, you bring up interesting points. 54:01 I- what I will say though that Netflix has mastered is the algorithm surfacing to you other content that you may want to see based on your, your habits and behavior, and, you know, I, I think that's brilliant. 54:19 They were the first to, to really do it to the extent that they are. So, um, great conversation all around. Uh, I'm, I'm, I'm genuinely like excited for the future of, 54:37 of, of, of content, of creators. I think it's a once in a generation type moment in my opinion, and I think those who understand what's going on can, can find a lot of success in it. 54:52 So, uh, think on that as you go through your week, and thank you for tuning in. Uh, you can find the Future Forecast, uh, everywhere you might listen to, uh, podcasts. We're on YouTube. 55:06 Check us out, and, uh, we'll catch you next week. Peace. Peace. [gentle music] Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. 55:18 You're managing all the things, so why waste time sending important documents the old-fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with stamps.com. 55:27 Print postage on demand and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90% with automated rate shopping. Over one million small businesses trust stamps.com. 55:37 Get $20 in free postage when you sign up for the pro plan at stamps.com/blackfriday2026. Terms and conditions apply. [gentle music] This show is brought to you by The Future Party and Crosstalk Studios. 55:50 Produced by Chris Sattel, Polya Holiday, and Paul York. Special shout-out to our production team, Araceli Rubalcava, Max Goolen, Shannon Klein, and Eli Tafur. [upbeat music]
