You're about to witness the birth of a new sports league for the first real sport, wrestling.
In the past few days, you may have seen references to PROWL in social media. There have been photos of top amateur wrestlers, online polls asking fans to cast votes for cities within states that are wrestling hotbeds ... with no real explanation.
This writer first came across PROWL at Xander Schultz's Twitter account.
Xander is considered to be a key member of the wrestling community. Only son of beloved Olympic gold medalist Dave Schultz and Nancy Schultz who has maintained her late husband's memory by continuing with the wrestling club that bears his name. Nephew of Mark Schultz, Olympian champ and author of the "Foxcatcher" book which inspired the Oscar-nominated film of the same name.
Xander Schultz is an entrepreneur who has launched multiple ventures in Silicon Valley. Now he's putting that entrepreneurial experience to work for the sport that is very much a part of his family. A couple months ago, Schultz has joined Mike Novogratz, a major figure in USA Wrestling, and his brother Matt who have been working the past nine months to create a venture which Xander described as "unique in wrestling, and unique in all sports."
That venture is PROWL.
"Our mission is two-fold," Schultz told InterMat. "First of all, PROWL will allow wrestlers to be true professional athletes that can solely focus on being the absolute best they can be. Secondly, PROWL is going to make it a ton more exciting and fun to be a wrestling fan."
"What we are developing is a bigger, grander vision than might have ever been attempted in the past, both in terms of production, and in its structure."
As Schultz sketched out the framework of PROWL, this writer immediately thought of past attempts to grow wrestling and provide wrestlers with an opportunity to continue in the sport and make a living at it ... specifically asking about some of those ventures from recent times as well as those from a decade or more ago.
"If you're thinking Real Pro Wrestling or other more recent ventures, you're not thinking big enough," Schultz replied. "Nothing against those ventures, but we are taking a different approach than what's been tried in the past."
"We want to bring matches that matter to the people in wrestling hotbeds. There's something amazing about the shared experience of taking in a sporting event in person with fellow fans."
"We want to make wrestling awesome for fans. We want wrestling fans to have a great experience for their sport, with the same kind of excitement and production elements that fans of other sports already enjoy."
"Our focus is on individual wrestlers -- who are modern-day samurais -- rather than on teams or leagues," Schultz continued. "We love how the NBA has taken an athlete-first approach. We have some of the best athletes and role models in the world, and want to put them front and center in our promotion."
While Schultz and the Novogratz brothers seek to incorporate elements from other sports that have proven successful with fans, they are working to make PROWL uniquely appropriate to wrestling.
"Authenticity is key to wrestling," Schultz said to InterMat. "What we're creating is truer to the ethos of wrestling."
"We're putting together something that wrestlers, fans and the entire wrestling community can get behind. Something that will ultimately generate more exposure and interest for the sport, and help grow participation and interest in wrestling at all levels, especially high school and college."
"It matters to me that we create something that helps the sport succeed and sustain itself over time."
Specifics of PROWL will be revealed over the next few months. However, Xander Schultz is confident that wrestling fans will like what he and Mike and Matt Novogratz are working on.
"If you're an authentic wrestling fan, you'll love the product we're developing."
For the latest information, readers interested in PROWL can enter their email at www.prowl.tv and follow PROWL on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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