In this episode, we speak with Jonathan Snyder, Founder & CEO of Contenders, the leading lifestyle fight brand. Jonathan spoke about the grassroots origins of Contenders, how the brand continued to grow during COVID which enabled them to give back to the fighting community. Jonathan also touched on the Contenders licensing business, which has opened up a really cool opportunity with Cobra Kai and Netflix.
References
Contenders Clothing Collection
Podcast Highlights
4:25 – Contenders in the middle of the fight vertical: “The combination of accessibility across the media platforms that you would normally watch sports on as well as social media is driving a ton of interest and where we sit is smack dab in the middle of the fight vertical.”
7:48 – Tyson Fury wearing Contenders: “His comeback fight was against Deontay Wilder and in LA in front of the Staples Center he weighs in wearing our Apollo Creed boxer briefs. Huge moment for us.”
9:31 – 200+ fighters wearing Contenders: “We’ve had close to 200 fighters weigh in on Contenders, and now we have our own official sponsorship program called Contenders fight club.”
10:52 – Building a brand: We’re making more strides, but you know, being a brand and building a brand, and building a following, all that takes a ton of time.”
12:08 – Being a licensee of Muhammad Ali: “If you told me, when I started the business, that we would be a licensee of Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest, if not the greatest athlete of all time, that would have been a dream.”
15:48 – Contenders Cobra Kai collection: “We just think that the opportunity for eyeballs on the series and as a consequence, our brand and what we can do on a marketing perspective and really, you know, draft behind what Sony is going to do and what Netflix is going to do to promote the series will be a huge benefit to Contenders.”
19:40 – Engaging Contenders to the casual fans: “All of our product crosses over so you can wear it when you go out to dinner or you can wear it at a fight. It doesn’t really matter. So it’s just kind of a lifestyle brand.”
21:08 – COVID distribution strategy: “Our focus is definitely direct to consumer. When COVID hit and, you know, businesses and offices were shut down it didn’t impact us. We have a remote workforce first and we’re direct to consumer e-commerce second.”
23:40 – Contenders giving back: “COVID helped our business, but it also put us in a position where we wanted to do something and give back. And part of our brand DNA is to always try to give back.”
