FRISCO, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
Andrew Yaffe gave up what many people would consider a dream job when he left the NBA in October.
During his eight-plus years working for the National Basketball Association, Yaffe led the department responsible for all video, editorial and documentary content produced and distributed by the league. He oversaw the NBA's social media platforms, including its YouTube channel with more than 20 million subscribers. The NBA has the largest YouTube following of any pro sports league in the U.S., including the NFL.
"I didn't expect to go anywhere," Yaffe said.
But Yaffe found an opportunity he couldn't pass up: the chance to lead Frisco-based Dude Perfect LLC as the sports and entertainment content company's first-ever CEO. Dude Perfect started in 2009 as a group of five friends at Texas A&M University who made videos of trick shots, such as scoring a basketball from the third deck of Kyle Field.
Despite its humble beginnings, Dude Perfect has triple the NBA's following on YouTube with more than 60 million subscribers and its videos have amassed in excess of 17 billion views. It has morphed into a wide-ranging business with other ventures such as live tours, toys and books and even television.
Yaffe, in an Oct. 30 interview with Dallas Business Journal, said he decided to join Dude Perfect to be part of something he believes could be bigger than anyone currently imagines due to the growth of YouTube and sports.
People spend more time watching YouTube than Netflix, Disney Plus, Max and other streaming services combined, Yaffe said. At the same time, the sports world is also booming. Yaffe pointed to the valuations of NBA teams: the Golden State Warriors were purchased for $450 million in 2010 and currently rank as the most valuable NBA franchise with an $8.8 billion valuation, according to Forbes. Yaffe said the team would probably not sell for anything less than $10 billion.
Dude Perfect shares many of the same revenue streams as an NBA team such as media rights, sponsorships, ticket sales for its live tour, merchandise and apparel, Yaffe said. And it does so with an even bigger social media following.
"The thing that really made this so compelling for me personally is how much room for growth there is," Yaffe said.
Yaffe, who is in the process of moving from New York to the Dallas area, said he met Coby Cotton, one of the founding "Dudes," last year when they were both speakers at an event alongside tennis legend Venus Williams. They got to know each other in the green room and stayed in touch. Then, Dude Perfect got a $100 million investment from investors this past April and announced plans to create a formalized C-suite.
"It's been a lot of conversation and discussion and bouncing back and forth over the summer, but once I got down here and saw what they were building and how committed to building it they were, it was an easy decision for me to make the switch," Yaffe said.
In just his first few weeks, Yaffe has hit the ground running. He said he plans to continue building out the C-suite, including hiring a chief financial officer and individuals to oversee brand partnerships, marketing, content development, human resources and more.
Dude Perfect also announced on Oct. 30 that it will continue to grow in Frisco with a new 80,000-square-foot video production studio. The facility will be used for both pre-recorded and live video. Dude Perfect will produce its own content at the studio, but the space will also be available for "other brands and partners" as Dude Perfect looks to scale its business. For Yaffe, it's all part of Dude Perfect's ongoing evolution into becoming a "full-scale global media company."
Yaffe said Dude Perfect will open its new headquarters in Frisco by the end of the year and plans to open the studio in 2025.
Dude Perfect also continues to grow beyond content. In the past, Dude Perfect sold a co-branded product line in partnership with the Nerf toy brand. Now, Dude Perfect plans to launch its own toy line in time for Black Friday. Yaffe didn't say what the first toy will be, but hinted it is "big and not a football," and will be available at Walmart.
He also said fans of Dude Perfect can expect products in the food space. The Dudes themselves will also continue doing live shows with a 26-city tour in 2025 that will even make its way to Dublin, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Yaffe also discussed Dude Perfect's previously disclosed plan to eventually build a new corporate HQ and entertainment destination that could include a 330-foot tower that can be used for trick shots. Yaffe described the theme park as an "aspiration" but said it signals how Dude Perfect wants to create new ways for people to experience its content in a live format.
"Maybe that's a theme park, but it might also be something smaller scale," he said. "It might be something that travels. We want to make sure that we can bring it to all of our audience. We're exploring the model but it's with the philosophy of we have a pretty unique and specific brand around competition, fun and sports and the intersection of those things. We think that tens of millions of people across the country want to experience that and we want to make sure we find the right way to reach them."
