# Live events can endure because human experience matters Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/live-events-can-endure-because-human-experience-matters/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy. - Speaker: [Alexis Ohanian](https://realalpha.app/people/alexis-ohanian/) · Co-founder, Reddit - Host: [John Coogan](https://realalpha.app/people/john-coogan/) · Co-host, TBPN · Co-founded Soylent and Lucy; OpenAI bought his show TBPN in April 2026. - Host: [Jordi Hays](https://realalpha.app/people/jordi-hays/) · Co-host, TBPN · Founded Branded Native; co-founded fintech Capital, which Rho bought. - Show: TBPN - Episode: [Apple vs OpenAI, Mustard Controversy, Mark Gurman, Alexis Ohanian, & Morgan Housel Join](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/), Jul 13, 2026 - Moment: 51:15 to 55:14 of the episode (4 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/live-events-can-endure-because-human-experience-matters/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3075 ## Quote > “**Human experience is the reason** why it's valuable.” > — [Alexis Ohanian](https://realalpha.app/people/alexis-ohanian/) at [53:23](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3203) · TBPN ## Takeaways 1. A convincing AI-generated highlight still didn’t happen in real life. 2. Sports organizations have major opportunities to improve their tech stack. 3. Ohanian invests in both accelerating technology and durable physical experiences. ## About this segment Alexis Ohanian argues that AI-generated entertainment can’t replace the meaning of a real event. He also sees room to modernize sports organizations with better software and operations. From “Apple vs OpenAI, Mustard Controversy, Mark Gurman, Alexis Ohanian, & Morgan Housel Join”, Jul 13, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/) ## Transcript From the transcript TBPN publishes with the episode. [51:22](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3082) Here you go. We'll see how it goes. Yeah. I want your current thesis on premier in real life events, maybe in the age of AI, maybe there's some other boom happening, but I have some stats here that are crazy that were on the timeline from Adam Miller. UFC, it sold for $4,000,000,000 in 2016, worth $15,000,000,000 today. F one revenue is up a 115% since 2017. Team values are up Mhmm. Two seventy six. FIFA World Cup viewership is on track to to pass twenty twenty two's 5,000,000,000. Revenue is up 56%. [51:56](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3116) NBA media rights tripled in a decade. NFL, 110,000,000,000 in media rights through 2033. You know what? Broadway is up. Live comedy VC, more. What do call them? Rocks. 600,000,000. High Rocks went from 650 athletes in 2017 to 1,500,000. World music tours, top 100 tours grossed 8,900,000,000. How are you thinking about this? Is this an opportunity as a as a fan or as an investor or as a businessman? Like, what what what's your overall thinking on live events in the future? [52:26](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3146) Look. Like, last time I was on here, I think I was gassing up my track and field league That's right. With the Olympics there, Athlos, every year, not just every four years. I've been obviously very early in in sparking the women's sports movement, starting Angel City and the investment there. But I you can roll the tape. There is footage from, I think, two and a half years ago at Cannes Lion where I call sports the ultimate anti AI bet. Wow. [52:49](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3169) And I think just two weeks ago, JPMorgan Chase is on stage saying the same thing. So what we mapped out at seven seven six three years ago, right after ChatGPT Yeah. Was basically, we know it's gonna get really good at writing, and then it's gonna get really good at writing code. And then, you know, once actually it was after Dali, I was like, okay. Even this first version's janky Yeah. But moving pictures are just one step away from static pictures. Yeah. So in the world of entertainment, right, the pillars of entertainment, you have music industry, you have movie, Hollywood, and you have sports. What will remain unchanged and durable in the age of AI even when you can have a pixel perfect highlight Mhmm. [53:25](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3205) Of Mbappe scoring a goal, it will do nothing for the soul Yeah. Because it never actually happened. Yeah. Human experience is the reason why it's valuable. And I you know, Josh Kushner, who's a friend and obviously an incredibly successful investor, his first investment from Thrive Eternal, great name by the way, was San Francisco baseball giants. Yep. Like like, we're now seeing a moment where the smartest folks in venture capital realizing this is not just a trophy asset. And what what we've been privileged to see now for three, four, five, six years is under the hood of these organizations, guys, these the best sports teams in the world, the best sports leagues in the world are run like a tech company in, the mid aughts. They are devoid of modern technology. They're Yeah. [54:07](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3247) I've asked every time an athlete comes on here, I'm expecting them to have some like, you know, basically performance super intelligent Yeah. Like, oh, I have [54:16](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3256) a database with every lift I've done. It tells me exactly what to lift and what where to ice and it's like, no, I just have a guy that, you know, tells me if it hurts, I walk it off or something. [54:26](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3266) And and it's also on the business side of the house. Right? And so it's it's even if you even asking a question like, what CRM do you use? Like, again, you're gonna get some weird looks and, like, maybe it's Salesforce or, oh, we've been trying this new thing called Hub HubSpot. Yeah. And and so all across the stack, there is tremendous opportunity for efficiency for software. And so the smart money we're we're we're investing, and they're also figuring out how to invest in the tools that'll make these even more profitable enterprises. [54:53](https://realalpha.app/v/pOjrLPEMPSg/?t=3293) Yeah. And I'm fired up because I also I get I I spend all of my time at seven seven six either investing in the technology of the future that is gonna accelerate. So we all had Philip on here, our guy from Starcloud. Right? Data centers in space. Crazy ambitious infrastructure play.