Zuma Beach Entertainment Goes to WAR, Launches World Arena Rugby
by Christian Chensvold
June 2008
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Every February millions of sports fans, couch potatoes and Monday morning quarterbacks fall into a collective state of withdrawal. This usually happens on the day after the Super Bowl when these football crazies wake up from their hangovers and realize the NFL season is over. To football fans, this is the worst day of the year.
Zuma Beach Entertainment (OTC: ZMBC) of Los Angeles, California seeks to relieve the insatiable cravings of fans by launching WAR, the World Arena Rugby league during 2008. With the rise of Mixed Marshall Arts (MMA) leagues like EliteXC, WEC, and the mother of all new and independent contact sport leagues, the UFC, WAR has a strong bid at capturing a dedicated fan base within the United States where rugby is still an untapped sports opportunity.
But do we really need another sports league? Ask that question to a die-hard rugby fan and you might need a couple of new front teeth. Rugby isn’t just a sport to players and fans. It’s religion. If you have ever watched a rugby game in person or on ESPN you know these people take there sport seriously. Billed as “The Toughest Sport On Earth”, WAR will start with 6 U.S. franchises with 7 expansion teams coming online prior to the second season. Eventually individual teams will be sold as franchises to investment and private equity groups.
Launched in 2003 and restructured in 2006, Zuma Beach Entertainment is focused on creating and acquiring innovative sports and entertainment properties like WAR. The stock is sold on the pink sheets, where it swings between $0.02 and $0.05 per share. (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ZMBC.PK)
"Over the last few years we've traded 10 million shares," says Chief Operating Officer Jason Spasaro. "It's not a dormant stock, that's for sure. Now I think people are going to recognize that we have a portfolio of products. Based on the direction we're going, I think it will benefit shareholders."
Zuma Beach Entertainment is primarily focused on sports and entertainment properties the whole family will love. Although it presently earns no revenue or income, it is a debt-free business with several projects in development and preproduction, WAR included.
The company recently announced an agreement to purchase ownership interest in Westlake Productions, a film production company with six to eight films currently in preproduction. The movies are not low-budget, with some having budgets in the $20 million range, says Spasaro, and which are targeted for theatrical release.
Zuma Beach Entertainment also has acquired the exclusive distribution and licensing rights to an animation property called "Angel Babies." Aimed at children seven and under, Angel Babies is described as "Rugrats" meets "Touched By an Angel." And with “angel” and “baby” being two of the most searched words in the search engines, Angel Babies is another viable business for Zuma Beach. The project, which will either develop quickly into merchandising products for kids, television or DVD series, will have interactive features that help children learn.
Spasaro is confident in the potential of these properties. "We're only acquiring products that will definitely have positive cash flow," he says.
World Arena Rugby is Zuma Beach Entertainment's most exciting property. It was acquired in an all-stock deal and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zuma Beach Entertainment, which owns the league outright, the licensing and broadcasting rights as well.
Over the past couple of years, Zuma Beach has conducted research test games in Dallas, Texas where per-capita concession sales were higher than for any other sport. "We learned that rugby spectators are pretty affluent," says Spasaro, "which has been deemed conducive not only to licensing and merchandising, but for an attractive broadcasting package as well as a regular event like Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC)."
Zuma Beach is currently in discussions with consultants, television networks and interested investors. The current plan is to have a rollout game in Las Vegas this summer as a means of promoting the sport, followed by a short summer season that will not compete with the major sports leagues --- MLB, NFL, NBA or NHL.
"What seems attractive to everyone is we've looked at the appreciation of sports franchises such as Triple A baseball," says Spasaro. "They started in the '80s at $500,000 a team, and now they're going for $25 million. So not only can we generate revenues from ticket sales, licensing and merchandising, and broadcast revenue, but the appreciation of the teams themselves. We think putting all that together will be a home run."
Player interest in the league has been so strong that the company is also considering a reality TV show about rugby players fighting for a spot on the team.
For more information about Zuma Beach Entertainment, contact the company directly:
Jason Spasaro
Chief Operating Officer
Zuma Beach Entertainment
jason@zumabeachentertainment.com
www.zumabeachentertainment.com