Man Buys Racetrack, Ends Up Launching the Netflix of Grassroots Motorsports
- Reference: 0177094063
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/04/22/1844233/man-buys-racetrack-ends-up-launching-the-netflix-of-grassroots-motorsports
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> In 2019, Garrett Mitchell was already an Internet success. His YouTube channel, Cleetus McFarland, had [1]over a million followers . If you perused the channel at that time, you would've found a range of grassroots motorsports videos with the type of vehicular shenanigans that earn truckloads of views. Some of those older videos include " [2]BLEW BY A COP AT 120+mph! OOPS! ," " [3]THERE'S A T-REX ON THE TRACK! ," and " [4]Manual Transmission With Paddle Shifters!?! ." Those videos made Mitchell, aka [5]Cleetus McFarland , a known personality among automotive enthusiasts. But the YouTuber wanted more financial independence beyond the Google platform and firms willing to sponsor his channel. " after my YouTube was growing and some of my antics [were] getting videos de-monetized, I realized I needed a playground," Mitchell told Ars Technica in an email.
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> Mitchell found a road toward new monetization opportunities through the DeSoto Super Speedway. The Bradenton, Florida, track had [6]changed ownership multiple times since opening in the 1970s. The oval-shaped racetrack is three-eighths of a mile long with 12-degree banking angles. By 2018, the track had [7]closed its doors and was going unused. DeSoto happened to be next to Mitchell's favorite drag strip, giving the YouTuber the idea of turning it into a stadium where people could watch burnouts and other "massive, rowdy" ticketed events. Mitchell added: "So I sold everything I could, borrowed some money from my business manager, and went all in for [$]2.2 million." But like the rest of the world, Mitchell hit the brakes on his 2020 plans during COVID-19 lockdowns. Soon after his purchase, Mitchell couldn't use the track, renamed Freedom Factory, for large gatherings, forcing him to reconsider his plans. "We had no other option but to entertain the people somehow. And with no other racing goin' on anywhere, we bet big on making something happen. And it worked," Mitchell said. That "something" was a [8]pay-per-view (PPV) event hosted from the Freedom Factory in April 2020.
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> The event led to others and, eventually, Mitchell running his own subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, [9]FRDM+ , which originally launched as Cleetervision in 2022. Today, a FRDM+ subscription costs $20 per month or $120 per year. A subscription provides access to an impressive library of automotive videos. Some are archived from Mitchell's YouTube channel. Other, exclusive videos feature content such as interviews with motorsports influencers and members of Mitchell's staff and crew, and outrageous motorsports stunts. You can watch videos from other influencers on FRDM+, and the business can also white-label its platform into other influencers' websites, too.
"Today, bandwidth isn't a problem for FRDM+, and navigating the streaming service doesn't feel much different from something like Netflix," writes Ars Technica's Scharon Harding. "There are different 'channels' (grouped together by related content or ongoing series) on top and new releases and upcoming content highlighted below. There are horizontal scrolling rows, and many titles have content summaries and/or trailers. The platform also has a support section with instructions for canceling subscriptions."
"Due to wildly differing audiences, markets, costs, and scales, comparing FRDM+'s financials to the likes of Netflix and other mainstream streaming services is like comparing apples to oranges. But it's interesting to consider that FRDM+ has achieved profitability faster than some of those services, like Peacock, which also launched in 2020, and Apple TV+, which debuted in 2019."
[1] http://www.bradenton.com/latest-news/article239893983.html
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtM-igv4_EQ
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy_PN4BCVms
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr5JcHQTV48
[5] https://www.youtube.com/@CleetusM
[6] https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2014/03/13/manatee-countys-racetrack-sold-again/29234781007/
[7] https://www.performanceracing.com/magazine/industry-news/02-11-2020/new-owner-desoto-speedway-fl
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yab6d19puc
[9] https://www.frdmplus.com/page/01G80EPQD3HMYARFP70PWZ09GM
Marginal News for Nerds (Score:2)
I guess there is some relevance in that a YouTuber has launched his own streaming service. This may be a sign that the era of niche-audience "micro-streaming" has begun as the technology becomes easier and cheaper to work with. Perhaps the pattern will become, build your audience on YouTube, then when you get enough followers, split to a private streaming service where the lions share of the cash is going directly into your own pocket. I followed the Cleetus McFarland channel on YT more for his aviation e
I watch him on YT occasionally (Score:2)
Glad he has done well with his venture, and I hope more people move to alternatives from YT/IG/FB/TT. It is an area where fragmentation is desperately needed.
Re: (Score:2)
Except when its fragmentation to behind a paywall, I wouldn't necessarily call that an improvement. Take Howard Stern for example, he's basically been irrelevant ever since he moved to a paid service. Sure, every once in awhile someone mentions that he's still alive, but he's no longer the controversial shock jock testing the limits of the FCC's patience.
If the future of the internet is every content creator going OnlyFans (maybe sometimes even literally) the moment their following is big enough to monetiz
Re: I watch him on YT occasionally (Score:2)
Seriously. Creators who want to make a living should go work for a traditional media company. Or Starbucks. You know a real job with a boss. None of this be-my-own-boss crap. This bullshit of doing their own thing for money is just a rent seeking money grabs.
I Don't Know What To Say (Score:1)
This is one of the more pointless and irrelevant articles to splash the pages of Slashdot for a good while.
Re: (Score:2)
I guess the takeaway here is that if you fall on that tiny sliver of the Venn diagram between "redneck" and "affluent", you have moar free peach ?
Or maybe they're pointing out that if that's the height of the bar to get around Google's demonetization policies, perhaps some scrutiny of YouTube's market position is warranted?
Or perhaps, in recreating Hollywood, but on a computer , we're simply rediscovering why Hollywood ended up the way it did in the first place. Whether it's on a silver screen, television, c
Re: (Score:2)
> perhaps some scrutiny of YouTube's market position is warranted?
Or it could be used as the opposite, that this guy started his own streaming platform based on the success YouTube provided them and YouTube didn't even try and stop them in any way, I don't think YouTube even makes folks enter into some sort of exclusive contract (they tried that when they were going after Twitch on livestreams and it failed pretty badly)
If they were to make that case it cut's against the argument plenty of video is still posted and monetized on YouTube, I can pay them $5 a month on YouTub