Teton Ridge Runs Counter to Logic, Buys Cable Channel to Control Own Destiny

Teton Ridge Runs Counter to Logic, Buys Cable Channel to Control Own Destiny

Teton Ridge bought the Cowboy Channel, along with the Cowgirl Channel and Cowboy Channel+ (a DTC streaming platform), from Rural Media Group back in November. The Western sports and entertainment rollup assumed the cable channels’ existing distribution agreements and its exclusive licensing agreement with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) as part of the transaction.

Purchasing a pair of linear TV networks at a time when others are divesting non-core cable entertainment assets seemingly runs counter to common logic. The thinking is that the present may be the last time established media companies will have a chance to unload these channels and still get any sort of meaningful value for them.

But Teton Ridge isn’t a mass media company. It owns and operates a portfolio of sports IP and entertainment assets, and several other businesses endemic to Western culture (think: premium quarter horse breeding). The American Rodeo is its trophy property. 

And the belief is that owning the cable channels will help to ensure their carriage (which is important to the remainder of the portfolio). Remember, a lot of rodeo fans live in rural America and get television via satellite.

“That is one of the reasons why it’s so important for us to own the networks,” Deirdre Lester (CEO, Teton Ridge) said. “Control of our own destiny and [the] ability to build on that [existing] audience [and our brand].”

Teton Ridge is owned by TWG Global, the holding company founded by Thomas Tull, Mark Walter, and Guggenheim. 

If the name sounds familiar it may be because TWG recently announced a partnership with GM. Together they will place a Cadillac branded team on the F1 grid.

It's hard to suggest America’s oldest sport –the rodeo– is ‘emerging’. 

Events literally consist of “the games the cowboys played,” Lester said. However, it still has plenty of room for growth “because it’s been stuck in time from a business perspective.”

For context, the Cowboy Channel is the only broadcast platform that regularly airs rodeo programming save Teton Ridge’s partnership with Fox.

And that is despite there being a massive audience for it. 80mm people attended competitive equestrian events last year.

“That is not a niche [sport],” Lester said.

For context, just 22.5mm fans walked through gates at NBA arenas last season.

Sure, not all 80mm of those rodeo fans are U.S. based. But the number in America is believed to be in the tens of millions.

The landscape “is so fragmented that no one can really even get [an accurate picture],” Lester said. 

There are ~600 PRCA sanctioned rodeos in North America each year. That includes large scale ones, like the Calgary Stampede and Houston Rodeo, that go on for weeks at a time. And dozens of mom-and-pop western sports showcases, some of which may only have a single event (think: calf roping or barrel racing).

Most domestic rodeo events take place in flyover states–places the mainstream media tends to ignore (think: North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas).

“But there’s a lot of people there,” Lester said, “…and the rodeo is something they care deeply about.”

Rodeo events often aren’t just athletic competitions. In many cases, they become de facto ‘festivals’ that fans will spend days at.

It “is a whole lifestyle play,” Lester said.

Cowboy Christmas, a Western-themed convention at the Wrangler National Finals presented by Teton Ridge, will draw 350,000 fans over 10 days each year. 

While there is a general lack of awareness and appreciation for how big the Western sports audience is–there are reasons to believe it can still grow meaningfully from here.

There remains “a massive opportunity to serve the endemic audience, as well as the persuadable audience,” Lester said. “The [latter are the] people who are on the fringe, [who are] kind of interested; maybe watch Yellowstone [or went] to a ranch for a family vacation.”

To execute on the former Teton Ridge must continue to deliver rodeo programming to the 25mm cable homes in rural America (beyond the 10 American Rodeo series events that air on FS1 or FS2). That is why it acquired the Cowboy Channel!

“One of the things I want to do with the [network] is make it available in all homes in America,” Lester said. “While everybody [else is] divesting [cable channels, we are] calling up Comcast and saying, ‘hey, why am I only reaching a fraction of your universe? Put Cowboy Channel in the entire universe because [Western-themed content is] of interest right now’.”

She cited the success of Yellowstone as evidence an audience for it exists.

Fox broadcast carries the American Rodeo championship, the culmination of the eight-month series.

But Teton Ridge also plans to take its cable networks and IP “over the top, and to digital, and all the places where [next gen] fans are consuming content today,” Lester said. 

That list includes Twitch.

“We've been streaming some of our rodeo events with creator streamers [on the platform] to see what kind of conversation and engagement we can drive there,” Lester said.

And YouTube. Teton Ridge and the Cowboy Channel now have their own YT channels.

Reaching a next-gen audience is often “one of the hardest things for rising or niche sports properties to do because they’re [typically] hoping to get a [linear] rights deal done,” Lester said. “We want a [lucrative] rights deal too. But we’re not going to wait for it. We [now own] the network so we can have our own [linear] media and ladder up to big media when it makes sense.”

In the interim, Teton Ridge will simultaneously work to grow new Gen Z and Gen Alpha rodeo fans in streams.

While the bulk of company revenues are currently derived from live events (think: ticket sales, sponsorships) and its media business (see: three-year Fox pact), entertainment figures to play a larger role on the P&L in the years ahead. Teton Ridge is in active development on several film and TV projects.

It is convinced the way to keep its newest fans engaged is by treating the rodeo like any other professional sport from a production, storytelling, and narrative standpoint. Remember, Tull was the CEO of Legendary Entertainment.

Teton will increasingly look to monetize its pro-Western audience through the sale of products and merchandise too. The company has made meaningful strategic investments in several endemic brands, including Hyer Boots (originator of the Cowboy boot). 

“We like to take majority stakes in things and [then] be the primary driver [of growth],” Lester said.

Expect to see Hyer boots promoted heavily across Cowboy Channel programming. Teton Ridge is projecting that company’s sales volume to double YoY.

Lester also plans to grow Teton Ridge’s partnerships business in the years ahead.

“There’s a lot of categories where we can move the needle for brands,” she said. 

There’s simply far less competition in the Western space than there is in more ‘traditional’ sports, particularly amongst non-endemic brands (PBR has done a good job of starting to change that). 

That is despite the rodeo having an affluent audience.

And there may be opportunities to introduce the American Rodeo to fans abroad too. In fact, Teton Ridge is already exploring several potential destinations abroad.

The U.K. and Middle East are said to be on the short list.

“Equine is very much part of the culture there,” Lester said.

The American Rodeo isn’t the only Western sports property. TKO operates PBR.

But the two are not direct competitors or cannibalistic to one another. Their respective audience demographics are a bit different. The rodeo tends to be a bit more family oriented or multi-generational and has a larger female presence at events.

“We’re [partners] with them. We’re the owners of [PBR’s] Arizona Ridge Riders,” Lester said. “We think a rising tide lifts all boats in Western sports.”

And the seas seem to be rising. With its acquisition of the two cable channels, Teton Ridge is positioning itself to capitalize accordingly.

Correction: Previous editions of this column referred to Thomas Tull as the CEO of Legendary. He exited the business in 2017.

It also suggested TWG is invested in the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the PWHL. It would be more accurate to say Walter is an investor in the Dodgers and PWHL, while Tull is an investor in the Steelers and New York Yankees.

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