Origins of the Lucky Group
Dude Perfect was started by 5 roommates and best friends living at Texas A&M University in 2009 when they posted a video of themselves making trick basketball shots.
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The guys were amateur athletes and fans of sports, so they took to the internet to post their trick shots and hilarious antics.
Quick Success With Hard Work
After gaining success through views and increasingly interesting tricks, they rang up an impressive 60 million subscribers to their channel.
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The team, Coby and Cory Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, and Garrett Hilbert made the fun project their full-time job, bringing in an income from views and sponsorships.
Huge Partnerships for Five Roommates
In the years following their initial success, the team partnered with the likes of Walmart, Nike, the U.S. Olympic Team, and Southwest Airlines to sponsor their content.
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Like many other popular creators on YouTube, they turned their success with viewers into a media juggernaut.
The Creator Economy Brings in Billions
A new sector of the economy was born in the past decade and has expanded exponentially due to its rising success; the creator economy.
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Investment firm Highmount Capital notes that the creator economy is worth close to $250 billion. More than that, it’s expected to double that value in the next three years according to Goldman Sachs.
Big Influence From Creators
A study by Oxford Economics showed that YouTube’s creative purchasing system added more than $45 billion to the U.S. GDP and has created roughly 400,000 jobs in the U.S.
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Nearly one-third of all adults have allowed their purchasing decisions to be influenced by a creator online.
$100M Investment To Capitalize on Opportunities
With the massive influx of cash, Highmount Capital and the Dude Perfect team hopes to form a world-class management team and capitalize on the current creator economy and the growing platforms available.
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In 2022, the Dudes pulled in roughly $25 million on their own. Much of the revenue comes from their YouTube channel, merch, and live performances.
Theme Park in the Works
One of the biggest plans for the $100 million investment is a theme park based around the team’s popular YouTube channel.
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The expansion allegedly takes a page out of Walt Disney’s playbook who gained financial success through his movies before moving onto a park themed around the films and characters.
Dude Perfect World
The theme park has plans for a 100 pin bowling lane, rage rooms, mini golf, and customized trick shots for guests to participate in.
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They plan on bringing some of their most successful videos and trick shots to real life experiences. The theme park plans to be a combination of rides and immersive experiences.
Family Friendly Opportunity for the Team
Knowing that the dudes skew towards a more wholesome family friendly audience, they knew that the park needs to be a place for people of all ages to come and live out their own dreams.
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Coby Cotton stated that he wants to let guests feel like they can partake in the same experiences that the Dudes have created over the past 15 years.
The Group Credits Their Christian Values
In a time when anything seems to go online, the Dudes remain authentic to their Christian roots
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Through growing a business based on skill and work-ethic, the team credits their Christian values for guiding their smart decisions.
Work With Make-A-Wish Expected To Continue
In 2016 the dudes took part in the Make-A-Wish foundation by creating a video for one of their biggest fans.
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The family-friendly ethos is expected to continue at their theme park with hopes of working alongside the Make-A-Wish foundation for some real-life experiences for kids in need.