You Won Powerball, Now What?

You Won Powerball, Now What?

The Powerball goes off tonight. How would you help wrestling with a billion dollars?

Jan 14, 2016 by Willie Saylor
You Won Powerball, Now What?
Now's your chance!

I don't think there's another sport where its fans say 'You know what (insert sport)​ needs to do; we need to...'.

The Powerball drawing pops off tonight at 10:59 PM for a record $1.5 billion (with a 'b'). And the great thing about America is, when you have the money, you get to make some rules. Ok, maybe that's not always a great thing. But I promise you can have some influence with that kind of cheddar.

Being in the sport for most of my life, I've had no shortage of brainstorms, ideas, and designs to improve wrestling. Although they've changed dramatically over the decades. I'm confident that leaders of the major governing bodies are headed in the right direction. Years ago my money would have went to getting better leadership and structure in these organizations. Now, I'd confidently pump money into those administrations - USA Wrestling, United World Wrestling, and FloWrestling. But, after splurging on the Playboy Mansion for $200 million, I'd put my money in wrestling in these other ways:

- Senior Level Funding
My chief concern would be creating a system where Senior level athletes could earn a livable wage while training. I'm not sure how to make that a reality, but it must involve a revenue stream. Current models are based on 'giving,' which isn't sustainable; right now it's a treadmill of charity and the well eventually runs dry. There must be some sort of revenue generated where proceeds go to the top athletes so that they can train to get better without worrying about paying their electric bill.

- Endow New Programs at Major Colleges
USC, Texas, Florida, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Alabama, Syracuse, etc. I'd be inclined to target almost all of the SEC. Having wrestling at traditional sports universities raises the profile of wrestling. There is so much money in college athletics. Growing wrestling fan bases in new markets (that are already sports-crazed) would have a massive impact in raising the visibility and financial opportunities for the sport as a whole. The great thing about endowing wrestling programs is that you don't have to actually spend money. Just put enough in the account so that the program can operate off the interest.

- The 7th Weight Class
Just because I'm super rich, I'm using this last one to satisfy a selfish desire. I'm paying off anyone I have to (United World Wrestling and/or The International Olympic Committee) to have at least a seventh weight in each style in the Olympic Games. Namely, I want 80 freaking kilograms in men's freestyle. The jump between 74 and 86 is patently stupid.

I reached out to a couple friends and colleagues to get their wrestling game-changers. Jason Bryant of mattalkonline.com had a couple similar ideas as I did, but he'd start the places near and dear to his heart.

"I'd first start with my local school. I'd endow every sport at Old Dominion University, I'd build a new wrestling room at my high school for the program and my local wrestling club, the PWA. Then I'd call Mike Novogratz. I'd get his expertise in how to keep a lot of money being a lot of money. Once that was figured out, I'd re-start wrestling at William & Mary, which was 20 minutes from where I grew up. I'd donate some money to the Apprentice School to get them new facilities. Once my local area was taken care of, I'd go to every SEC school and drop a check to start a wrestling program. Now they have no more excuses."

T.R. Foley, who runs media operations for United World Wrestling had a creative idea to get wrestling in front of more eyeballs.

"I'd like to have a show produced a la American Ninja Warrior. It would put celebrities, athletes, and regular Joe's in a takedown only wrestling tournament for television. Let's call it: "The Great American Takedown".

Here is what the rest of the staff at FloWrestling would do if they woke up as billionaires on Thursday morning.

Joe Flo - "Open a wrestling club like to one has ever seen before."

Brock - "I would start a professional wrestling league. With the funding available it would be world championship caliber teams competing over a two-month season."

​Nick - "I'd really love to make international supermatches happen. And make an international league in which you can bet on the matches."

Ryan - "Increase the salaries of our Pro's and invest in Jordan Burroughs."

Bader - "I'd make Austin the wrestling capital of the country with clubs from youth to senior level that supported the best coaches and athletes. We'd also have some of the biggest events here." 

CP - "I'd buy Ben Askren a clue, though I still might have to take out a loan."