Why the Future of Creator Businesses Is Offline

0:00As 2025 comes to a close, something really interesting is happening across the creator landscape. right now. Creators are obviously turning into big media companies, but those companies are not just focused on videos or not just focused on physical products or digital brands, but actually starting to build physical worlds that the audience can step into. Tours, pop-ups, live shows, one-day summits like what we did with Press Publish NYC in September, even as far as a 45-day theme park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And yes, I'm talking about Mr. Beast and Beastland, and we get into that in this episode.

0:32So I've been kicking around this term that we're entering the experience economy for creators. And whether it's completely intentional or not, the biggest creators are following a roadmap that we've seen once before in the history of media. And that's Disney. Disney proved that if you can build stories and characters that people care about and love on a screen, you can extend that relationship into the real world. You can turn online IP into offline destinations, and you can turn viewers into visitors of those destinations. And that shift really changes a lot in a creative business. When creativity is your product, it can be pretty up and down and pretty volatile.

1:07And in a moment when digital attention is more competitive and honestly more volatile than ever, this move towards offline experiences isn't just a creative choice. It's not just a strategic choice. It might be the necessary choice for the longevity of creator brands. So in this episode, we talk about why exactly creators are moving into real world experiences and what that looks like. We talk about how this trend of experiences mirrors the early moves of legacy entertainment companies. And we talk about this concept of Disneyfication, what that actually means in the context of creators. Now, before we get into this episode, if you do want to come to one of our experiences, we really enjoyed putting on Press Publish NYC in September and plan on doubling down on events for 2026.

1:50So if you want to make sure you know about our events, when they're happening, all that, subscribe to our newsletter, The Publish Press. Just go to thepublishedpress.com. All right, let's get into the episode.

2:06All right, I'm in New York this week, Colin. I just drove through a wintry mix. Wintry mix, that is part of my childhood. That's kind of the only weather we get in central New Jersey. I had never really experienced it, but it was actually not very easy to drive from upstate to the city in a wintry mix. I'll tell you that. No, it's actually pretty dangerous. I think you would rather legit snow than a wintry mix. Well, I made it here to New York, and I'm actually here for a couple of different events, one being the New York Times Dealbook Summit. And I bring that up because that's kind of the theme of our episode, is the experiential part of a media company.

2:44This concept of Disney. Disney has brought up so much in our world. Obviously, by us, we bring it up all the time. We talk about Disney synergy maps. We talk about how different creators could become Disney. And we've seen headlines this year, like when Stephen Bartlett raised his capital in the last round at a$425 million valuation, the headline was, in order to become the Disney of the creator economy. So I think it's important first to start with this concept of experiences, events, theme parks, to take a step back and understand some of the secret of what makes Disney, Disney. Disney's fiscal year just ended on November 13th.

3:27And I'm bringing that up because when their fiscal year ends, they reported their revenue. And that was a lot of the research for this episode was done around this point of Disney and how Disney makes money. And I actually was totally surprised by this. But Disney has a few different areas they make money, most notably in entertainment and then experiences. Experiences include their cruises and their theme parks, obviously Disneyland. and entertainment made$42 billion in revenue and$4.6 billion in operating income. Theme parks made$36 billion in revenue and just about$10 billion in operating income.

4:05Experiences for Disney are more profitable than their entertainment. I found that to be one of the more interesting things that Disney is essentially an experienced company that also has a media arm. Yeah, kind of not what you would expect considering everyone has a screen for the most part, but not everyone can get themselves to Disneyland or Disney World. And it made me start thinking about, you know, this world of creators. And in the past couple of months, we've seen a lot of headlines that say, you know, X is building the Disney for creators, most notably Stephen Bartlett, Mr. Beast, Dude Perfect.

4:38We've seen these headlines around building Disney and exploring what that actually means to build Disney and more specifically, how Disney came upon this model. One thing that we talk about a lot is the Disney Synergy Map. And it's this amazing map that Walt Disney drew with film and television at the center that went out to all these different places. And this recognition that he had that if you could build IP, you could leverage that in a lot of different ways. If you could build connection with these characters and these stories out in the world that people would engage with them in different ways, whether that be through merchandise, through music, or again, most notably through theme parks.

5:20We talked to the Dude Perfect guys about their Dude Perfect world. And I found it interesting that for them, media and the YouTube channel is a way to build trust. And that's kind of what Disney was too. It's like, this is family friendly and you're building that trust that it's allowed to be in the household. So then when you do open up at Disneyland, that trust kind of transfers. And it's like, oh, you know, I didn't think of Disney as a vacation destination, but I trust what's on my screen in my living room. So I'll trust them too. I always thought about experiences, events, you know, like, of course, a lot of creators make money through touring.

5:54Touring is a main thing in the podcast world. We've seen it with Alex Cooper and Call Her Daddy. We've seen it with the acquired guys who sold out the JPMorgan Chase Center. We've seen it, you know, happen even with ourselves. We threw an event in September that's our version of the Colin and Samir experience with Press Publish NYC. And it's really hard to put on. And to make a profitable event or experience is also extremely challenging. So the first part of this in exploring and researching this was my assumption was that Disneyland was more of a place to build a deeper connection with IP, to test IP, right?

6:36You can actually explore and experiment with new IP at Disneyland. See how people react to it. You can revitalize old IP. You can look at Harry Potter and Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean, which is a great example of testing IP. It's actually a ride before it was a movie. So my assumption was that the experiences in the parks were there to build connection and depth with audience, not to be a profit setter for the company. But I think the more that I look into it, the more I recognize the ups and downs of the media business, the experiences are actually really stable in comparison. In October of 2025, that was a terrible month for movie theaters.

7:21So in the US and Canada, theaters made$445 million across all titles in October. And that's the lowest since 1997. And just to contrast it, right before the pandemic in 2019, October ticket sales were about a billion dollars, according to Comscore, so double. And I bring that up to just recognize the instability and the volatility of media right now comparatively to the stability of an experience or a vacation place or a theme park, which I would not have expected that. And yet think about the difference in competition for video of all types and the competition for a theme park style experience or just even experiences in general.

8:08Like I feel like the landscape for competition for video in the last five to 10 years and through COVID specifically with the, you know, rise of TikTok and short form video is insane. like the competition for my attention and my eyeballs at home is at rates that we've like never seen before but in anaheim where disneyland is like competition is probably somewhat stable you're competing for vacation right i mean you know like the reality is like disney is not looking for viewers there they're looking for families who are looking to vacation and the the price point for a family is very high for them to come stay in the Disneyland hotel, get a ticket, buy food, buy souvenirs, buy gifts.

9:00You're spending in the thousands of dollars probably, if not the high hundreds of dollars when you go to Disneyland as a family. So that was the first point that was really interesting to me. And obviously all of this is rooted in the concept that we just saw for the first time, and it's going on right now, is a 45-day activation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Beast, who obviously was going to be the first one to do something like this and try and take a stab at becoming the Disney of the creator economy, put together Beastland, which is his theme park. And it has a variety of things. It's got rides, but more importantly, it's got games that are more akin to actually what it's like to be in a Mr.

9:42Beast video. And I wanted to read this quote after Jimmy opened Beastland. He gave a quote to routers where he said, one of the top requests I get is I want to be in a Mr. Beast video. So now we're creating that opportunity in real life. So did you see the videos from Beastland? Did you check out? Yeah, I actually, I watched the video on his second channel on Mr. Beast 2, where he brings you through the experience. And super impressive. Like, what a huge undertaking and really cool that it does match and pair specifically with Beast Games. That you can take part in rides and activations and challenges that are super similar to Beast Games.

10:25And they match that size and scope of the game show. Which is really cool. And I noticed at the very end of the video, he's on the phone and he says, can I open up a theme park in the US next year? So he's sort of like alluding to the fact that maybe there's one coming to the US. So the way that they delivered on this concept of it feeling like you're in a Mr. Beast video is they actually gamified the way the park works. So basically there's three different tiers. You can pay$7 to get in and that just gives you an entry-level ticket. You can just get into the park and walk around. It does not include rides, games, or activations, but you can just walk around.

11:06Then there's Beast Mode, which is$25. That's a middle tier option that allows you to actually experience challenges games and you can go on three different rides. And then there's Beast Mode Plus, which is$66. And that's a premium pass that includes unlimited access to all ride games and attractions. Now, here's the part that actually makes it like a Mr. Beast video. It's gamified in that you can win money. So every day there's a cash prize winner if you get the most points. So you're playing games in the park and you're actually getting points. And if you have the most points that day, you can win around 1800 bucks.

11:47But one of the craziest things is that if you keep coming back over the 45 day period, there is a grand prize of$260 ,000 if you are the overall leader in points for Beastland over the 45 day period. Not only that, there's a second place and a third place. You win$80 ,000 if you're in second place and$50 ,000 if you're in third place. that's a lot of money that's like real mr beast money okay here's an idea samir okay bump yeah the prize to five million right start filming start filming the park reality tv show style right so you buy a ticket and you sign the waiver to be a part of the show and then start following the characters who are performing the best, gaining the most points, wrap it up, now we've got a show.

12:44We've got another show.

12:48It's the set for the show. It's Beast Games. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it probably doesn't have the drama of Beast Games because you're just choosing to come and go as you wish. But I hear what you're saying. There's something there. I don't know. There could be something. There could be something. Who knows? I actually think theme parks are a much better fit for his brand and his content than maybe Beast Burger was. Like, when I watch a Mr. Beast video, I'm excited to take part in some sort of challenge and potentially win a prize or win money. I'm not necessarily thinking about getting a burger. Right.

13:25I think like theme parks, although a much bigger undertaking, you can sell the Beast Burger at Beastland and it feels right. But I think it's a less exciting opportunity to go to a restaurant. I actually don't know that this works as a stable place. I think it has to be a pop-up. And I think it's actually probably really lucrative as a pop-up. But when I look at the staying power of Disneyland and truly trying to compare this to Disney, this feels like a high operational cost if it's just part of the Mr. Beast business and not deals with tourism boards or deals with cities to pop this up for a short period.

14:07And I think that continues to beg the question of like, the modernization of Disney might not be a like, always on thing. I think potentially the only way it could be an always on thing would be if a bunch of creators came together and banded together for some sort of stable environment. Otherwise, I don't think the scale is there, nor should it be necessarily for these creators. Like, again, like the amount of IP that Disney has and the infrastructure that they have to cater to these families is immense. I love the touring model, actually. And I think if it's not the touring model, maybe it's stable.

14:48if it's like Mark Rober, Mr. Beast, Dude Perfect, the heaviest hitters of the creator world come together. But I'm putting that at like a maybe, right? Like I still think the touring model is better. I think Dude Perfect is the obvious other comp here that's like clearly has the best path of putting together experiences, largely because they've been touring for a really long time. They're very successful tour. They have a new CEO, Andrew Yaffe, who's been on the show. But he talked about how Dude Perfect's hero tour, which started July 2nd, 2025. It's sponsored by major sponsors, Samsung Galaxy and Google Gemini.

15:23It was 21 appearances in six weeks, and it took place in NBA and NHL size arenas. So we're talking about 15 to 20 ,000 capacity. That's a lot of people. Yeah, that's a lot of people. To go to a creator show, 15 of the 21 shows were sold out. This tour sold more than 200 ,000 tickets, and the average price was between 65 and$70. So just for people who are doing fast math at home, that's$13 million on the tour. Of course, there's major costs involved and whatnot, but between sponsorship and that, this is a pretty significant amount of money for Dude Perfect to generate on their tour. The tour was announced October, 2024.

16:09And by Christmas, it was 70 % sold through. And their VIP tickets were almost 100 % sold through. That's Disneyland in a way. I'm sure Dude Perfect can bring their IP like overtime onto the stage. They can bring their IP like these challenges into the arenas that they're actually hosting these events at. And they can test new IP on stage. They can see if people like new shows or new formats and then bring those to short form or to long form content. And put up some cameras, film it reality TV show style, and maybe you have a show. I'm just saying. It could happen. Well, it's interesting you say that because one more thing, people who couldn't go to the Dude Perfect Tour saw Dude Perfect, the hero tour, a film version that was released in Regal Cinemas from September 26th to October 7th.

16:55And it grossed a little less than I actually would have anticipated, but around$370 ,000 in opening weekend for people who couldn't go. I think that is a thing that what you're talking about that is a thing that they could do and i wonder if it wasn't in theaters and or if it was in more theater i don't know what it could be but um it is an interesting thing to think about like it's essentially what taylor swift did with her concert filming it and releasing in theaters she obviously made a ton of money doing that but uh yeah you you're right on there i think we're being like very specific about beastland and that like the connection of Beastland to Disneyland.

17:34I think we're also in the creator economy and in our world, like very quick to make assumptions and make proclamations where it's like people are just kind of doing things and trying things and we're in a natural evolutionary process where we are definitely at the moment where live experiences matter a lot in the creator space. I think they actually matter more than they've ever mattered. And from a consumer perspective, A, anecdotally, we're just seeing that people want to come to events. We were way oversubscribed for applicants to press publish NYC. I've noticed that I'm going to a lot more events this year and invited to a lot more events.

18:09But there was a study from Deloitte, and I don't know who they survey when they get these numbers. So just take that with a grain of salt. But it said 61 % of people said they went to at least one live event, a concert, a comedy show, or a live experience in the last six months and the average person surveyed went to seven live events in the last six months again i didn't get surveyed i don't know who gets surveyed for this stuff but that's a lot of live events but that's a lot of events that live events and live entertainment are the original entertainment right right like you know like we're talking about like entertainment that has just lost ground to the screen but it is the original form of entertainment right and the place where we live the majority of our lives outside of the screen.

18:56Right. So another note here is that fans are less cost conscious about live event prices than non-fans. To look at the fact that Disney is a experiences business, when we start to suggest that Disney is the roadmap for a lot of media companies and the understanding of how to leverage IP, that kind of suggests that all of us are starting to explore. And the goal, if we're going to build and scale, is actually to become live experience companies and live event companies in places and spaces that can live beyond us. And Beastland is the biggest and the loudest, but I want to talk through a couple other ways that we are seeing this happen in the creator space.

19:40Because it's not just limited to Beastland or the suggestion of Dude Perfect World. But it's actually, it's happening. And I think there's important places for everyone to look at where this is happening. For me, this one is top of mind because I'm close to this mall, but the Century City Mall has a brick and mortar Chamberlain coffee. Right. And it is amazing how packed it is. Like whenever I'm at the mall, I'm like, oh, let me just get a coffee and then I'll go up to the Chamberlain Coffee. And I'm like, oh no, that's insane. It's impossible. It is impossible. And it is her version of a Disneyland that in a way you don't have to care about Emma Chamberlain though to get that coffee.

20:29That is one of the most interesting ones that we hadn't really heard much about Chamberlain Coffee. Obviously Emma launched a coffee brand when she was vlogging a lot. and it was interesting to see where, okay, it's a DTC brand, it's in Target, it's in Erewhon, it's starting to grow. It felt like a real flag in the ground when they launched the brick and mortar at Century City, where it's driving a ton of traffic to Century City Mall. It's always packed and it's her world. You get to go live inside of Emma Chamberlain's world. She's not there. it's it's it's it's it's a pretty amazing case study where is that location profitable maybe it's probably profitable there's a huge line outside all like all the time but if i'm like a person who owns something similar to the century city mall in another part of town or another state i'm like how do i get a chamberlain coffee it's driving a ton of traffic and so i think that's actually a really interesting signal of like how we can build our versions of disneyland inside of other things that need us.

21:35You know what I mean? As creators. So, you know, like there's a lot of licensing deals that happen in the context of Universal Studios. So Universal Studios also has theme parks, right? I mean, or Universal also has theme parks. I grew up going to Universal Studios. You ever been to Universal Studios? I have not. No. That's crazy. The Universal Studios tram ride is like one of the greatest attractions in Los Angeles. But I bring up Universal Studios because they actually license IP for their rides. And so the question around where could creators step into this, like, do you need to throw your own beast land?

22:18Or is Mark Rober, who is now a top 10 show on Netflix, which we should talk about at some point, because that's completely insane. But Crunch Live is a top 10 show on Netflix. Does Mark Rober get licensed by Universal to create an experience or by Disney to create an experience? And inside of these theme parks, we now have creator activations and creator events. And the suggestion of Dude Perfect World, right? The mockups of Dude Perfect World. Does that make sense? Or does it make more sense for Dude Perfect World to be inside of Universal or Disney? I think always to start, I mean, even Chamberlain Coffee started as pop-ups in other existing sort of coffee shops and grocery stores and then moved to brick and mortar.

23:07I think that's always how the creator will take on less risk and probably be valued more for their audience and for the access to the audience. that in its way is like in a way is almost similar to like a brand deal in that like a brand pays to access your audience on YouTube. And in a way, licensing is somewhat similar that like, you know, you would prefer a Chamberlain coffee instead of a blue bottle because it comes with audience. Like it's a coffee shop where people show up and they want to take photos and share the experience. I think there's actually just natural limitations to creator IP.

23:44And so what I mean by that is like Like Disney has a hundred years of IP across dozens of universes, right? There's a lot of, you go to Disneyland, there's so many different ecosystems and universes and characters and all of this. It's like, it's a real, you know, a real house of a lot of different IP. When you come to Mr. Beast, it's one universe. It's one set of characters. When you come to Do Perfect, it's the same thing. It's one universe, one concept, one set of characters. Now, for us, I would say I took to heart a lot of what Dude Perfect said when we sat with them and they broke down their business into three categories.

24:31We pushed them to try and draw a Disney map, but they actually simplified it quite a bit to three things, stadium, show, shelf. And I think that is actually the modern creator Disney map, which is, if we start with show, that's at the center. Everyone has to have a show. Everyone has to be building IP. Everyone has to be building some sort of audience through their show and their content. Stadium means you have to go out and actually see your audience. I think that is 100 % a requirement now. You have to go and have some offer of an experience for your audience to take part in. And then shelf, what's on the shelf?

25:11What are you selling? What can people buy? Whether it's in a major retailer or if it's in your e-commerce store, you have to be able to actually participate in the shelf. And so I think there's energy towards what is happening here of like, oh, this brand is the next Disney. But I think we're making a really big, bold statement that is not actually what's happening. Maybe, but yeah, I think it's more so just what Disney did is inspiration for independent content creators that have found an audience. And getting back to what we were talking about at the beginning of the episode, are finding viewership volatility, revenue volatility by just having their business be media.

25:59Right. And the physical events, the physical merch, the stadium and the shelf offer these opportunities for more stable revenue and even sometimes more stable connection to audience. The last thing I'll say is there's a quote that was posted in our Slack that kind of shook me to my core that I think kind of relates to this, but just relates to this moment in media. it's from Derek Thompson he said success in American life right now is increasingly tied to one's capacity to be a high quality short form video performer yeah and what's interesting about that is like a short form video performer I don't think he's necessarily just talking about quote-unquote creators like people who are just making entertainment for you I think he's talking about at least i internalize it as like you want to start like a new plumbing company you want to start like a new lawn mowing company like all these different businesses that people are starting they are being promoted with short form content but like that short form video is the new i don't know years ago maybe it was like you start a business and you think you need an instagram and you have to post photos or something like right like it is the new it's or like when you even years before that, it's like, oh, I have a business.

27:18I need a website because people are going to come check out my website. But it's like, no, all of that has actually just turned into, can you make short form video for this feed? I bring it up because I think it is at odds with the opportunity to create experiences. I think that maybe it's possible. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe short form show is just the show. That's the future of what a show is. A show is not longer than that. And that is where you can build real depth and connection. And it's another form of content. But I do think that when we look at another thing that Disney did well is immerse you into stories and characters that you actually intimately got to know.