In early December, break dancing was added to the program of the 2020 Olympic Games. Last year, the owners of the UFC earned more than $4 billion. The owner of the legendary triathlon company Ironman plans to sell it for $1 billion. Such news shows that the sport is changing rapidly. One such example we have in Ukraine — the Battle Mile competition. Yuri Pidnebesny, the founder of Battle Mile, told 
how to come up with a new kind of sport competition and make money on it.
- The idea of a new competition
The idea for Battle Mile came from running. My son is involved in track and field athletics, runs middle distances. In Battle Mile, we combined classic running with modern technologies. One of the technological chips is a timing system, which allows calculating each participant time in one race and showing the difference between two teams’ results on the scoreboard. We will also use a new augmented reality technology, which will allow people with disabilities to join the sport. We want to add an emotional component to those people who do not have the opportunity to do sports.
- Augmented reality in sports
This will work with Google Glasses. Athletes will run in glasses, which have a camera that will transmit the image to external media, various gadgets. The fan will be part of the athlete with glasses and will be able to connect directly to the athlete he or she is cheering for during the competition. This emotional component will be transmitted in real time to augmented reality glasses. It is very interesting how it can support an athlete on an emotional level, if an athlete understands that thousands of people are looking through his eyes now, and then his motivation to win grows. In fact, our athletes will become stars. In addition, the main goal is to make athletes earn the same as boxers, football or tennis players.
- How running can be similar to chess
There are five people in one team: four main athletes who take part in the race, and the fifth one is an additional athlete – Joker, who changes one of the athletes of his team during the run. This adds intrigue to the tactical and strategic format of the race. Battle Mile is the chess of the future. Therefore, today we teach our athletes, who specialize in middle distance running, to play chess.
- Running prospects
Running is the most popular sport, most people on the planet run. Running is the cheapest and easiest sport, but it can also be unique. We plan to hold a world league in 4-5 years. These will be battles among the teams of megacities. We have already patented this idea. I really hope that it will flood the world and we will see many interesting athletes and teams from different parts of the world. We will create associations in different countries. The winners of these countries will gather at world competitions. For example, I would like to see the battles Kyiv — New York and Dubai — Tokyo. It will be fantastic.
- How to implement a sports project
Today we see successful sports projects: Iron Man, UFC and CrossFit, they are the property of the whole world. People who do these sports have a lot of energy. The State is more concerned about its affairs. I would very much like the Battle Mile project in Ukraine to be implemented in a public-private partnership. We should be proud that we are a nation of unique people. I believe that through sports we will be able to achieve unity of spirit. If the State joins this project, it will be very good. There are certain people and certain industries that are known around the world. However, today the world does not yet know Ukraine as a country that has given this world some wonderful emotion. And I would like Battle Mile to be such an emotion.
- What the sport of the future will be like
I think more conservative, regulated sports ideas will fade. They will be replaced by some interesting ideas that will ignite the hearts of millions of people. There are many such examples in the world. Let's take football. Who would have thought 100 years ago that it would become a serious industry that would overwhelm the world? Similarly, businesses are looking for opportunities to realize and make a profit. We have examples like the UFC. Two years ago, the UFC was sold for $4.7 billion, and now it is worth $8 billion. In my opinion, business in sports will play a key role. We are open to investors, partners, patrons, sponsors, so that in the future this sport also becomes a multibillion-dollar project.
- Sports franchise
We are currently working on a franchise project, which we will then implement in other countries. Already the Battle Mile competition has attracted interest in Europe. And also in the USA, China. There are many people in Asia who will like this idea. I am already negotiating with some businesspersons from Asia in order to develop a model for the release of this sport. And this is just a startup. We want to work out this idea in Ukraine and move on in other countries. In 2021, we plan to hold the first international competitions. Moreover, we want to do it in Ukraine at the Olympic Stadium, where we can invite teams from other countries.
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