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- Thrill One’s properties include Nitro Circus, SLS and Nitro Rallycross
- Dana White, Craig Piligian and Dyrdek Machine join as co-investors
- Thrill One to pursue organic growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions
Action sports entertainment company Thrill One Sports & Entertainment has been acquired by US private equity firms Fiume Capital and Juggernaut Capital Partners.
The deal, which The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports is worth US$300 million, sees the pair take control of the company from investment firms The Raine Group and Causeway Media Partners.
Las Vegas-based Fiume and Washington DC-headquartered Juggernaut have been joined by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White and television producer Craig Piligian as co-investors. Dyrdek Machine, the venture creation business of entrepreneur and former skateboarder Rob Dyrdek, has also invested. Acquisition financing was provided by Prudential Private Capital.
Formed in 2020 after uniting various properties, Thrill One’s brands now include Nitro Circus, Street League Skateboarding (SLS), Nitro Rallycross and Thrill One Media. The company is looking to expand its global presence, having added stops in Australia, New Zealand and Canada as part of a 40-date world tour in 2022. Its world championship of action sports, Nitro World Games, will also be hosted this October in Brisbane, Australia.
This year, Thrill One’s collective portfolio is set to host more than 70 live events, deliver roughly 100 hours of live sports content and produce over 300 episodes of linear television. Thrill One also has a social media audience of more than 40 million followers across its various channels. In January, the company unveiled an eight-figure, multi-year deal with energy drink brand A Shoc, describing it as the largest partnership in action sports history.
Fiume and Juggernaut have already worked together on the 3 Step Sports youth project, which spans more than 40 US states and serves more than 3.2 million athletes across nine sports. In February, Juggernaut sold lifestyle brand Mitchell & Ness to digital sports platform Fanatics in a reported US$250 million deal.
The new ownership group plans to use its resources and capital to allow Thrill One to pursue organic growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions.
“Our investment approach is predicated on supporting excellent management teams as they build premier businesses in their respective industries,” said David Hirschfeld, Fiume’s chief investment officer.
“Thrill One is the leader in action sports and we are excited to help the company and its management team at this inflection point.”
John Shulman, founder and managing partner of Juggernaut, added: “Thrill One has exploded onto the scene in the last two years. Our considerable investment demonstrates our belief that there is much more to come in this category, and we are eager to support Thrill One in its meteoric rise.”
