A controversial new sporting event that allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs while competing will host its first event this weekend in Las Vegas. With more than $15 million in prize money on the line, several athletes are expected to break world records across swimming, sprinting, and weightlifting.
Founded by German billionaire biotech entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, the Enhanced Games are based on the idea that athletes should be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision to maximize human performance and push the boundaries of what the human body can achieve.
Peter Thiel, Balaji Srinivasan, the Winklevoss twins, Saudi prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, and Donald Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital have all invested in the business. In addition to spending $625,000 per month on stipends for the event’s 40+ athletes, the Enhanced Games spent about $20 million building a 2,500-seat arena for its inaugural event this weekend. That includes $6.6 million to build a 50-meter temporary pool and another $2 million for a six-lane track around it.
What you’ll read online is that this is a dangerous event that is also guaranteed to lose money. Regulatory bodies like WADA, USADA, and the IOC have called it everything from a “clown show” to “dangerous” and “irresponsible.” And given that the organization is projected to lose tens of millions of dollars on this weekend’s event alone — the media rights and all 2,500 tickets were given out for free — many industry insiders and sports fans are already calling it a disaster.
But this is the wrong way to look at it. The Enhanced Games didn’t go public at a billion-dollar valuation before the first event because investors thought it would be the next Olympics. The Enhanced Games achieved that valuation because investors are betting it can be a DTC peptide/telehealth business that uses a steroid-friendly, Olympics-style event as its top-of-funnel marketing engine.
This is easily one of the most interesting stories in sports business this year, and something that all of your friends will be talking about once the weekend is over.
So for today’s newsletter, we’re going to dive deep into the business behind the Enhanced Games. We’ll start by discussing the details of this weekend’s event, including how much the athletes are being paid and what substances they are taking. But then I want to get into the good stuff, including how the Enhanced Group secured a billion-dollar valuation before hosting a single event, and why the organization doesn’t care about making money off tickets and media rights.
Let’s get into it.
