CarJitsu is exactly what it sounds like: Brazilian jiu-jitsu in a car. In practice, it resembles a less titillating version of the bizarrely erotic David Cronenberg film Crash (not to be confused with the Oscar-winning ensemble piece of the same name).
“It almost looked like we were watching a crime,” the announcer of a bout between Q Davidson and Ray Felton said after the latter competitor tapped out while getting choked by a seat belt. “That, right there, is what a murder looks like, friends.”
To be sure, Felton lived to see another day, and the sport – part of Pro League Network's eclectic collection of athletic curiosities – has now been approved for wagering in New Jersey.
“New Jersey has had the most time to develop its regulatory regimen,” said PLN co-founder Mike Salvaris. “It’s a very well-developed process in terms of what they look at and how they look at it. In terms of other states, we’re certainly going to take it as far and wide as we can. Some are more cautious than others, some might take a little bit longer to get there. They want to see it live in the market for a little bit.”
Just as they've done with some of their other sports – such as mini-golf and slap fighting – Salvaris and fellow co-founder Bill Yucatonis are content to wait until CarJitsu is approved in a few more states before the operators PLN typically works with (DraftKings and bet365, to name two) start taking bets on the claustrophobic combat sport.
“It’s not interesting for any of our current partners until we get a crux of states interested,” said Salvaris.
Made-for-Wagering Products
In addition to New Jersey, PLN has gained approval for wagering on some of its sports in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wyoming.
Sign Up For The Sports Handle Newsletter!
In terms of betting handle, Salvaris said, “It’s met our expectations. It’s been growing mid-double digits every event. The thing for us is just to establish that period of frequency. We’re working toward establishing a much more frequent series of events. The feedback from the [sports]books is the handle’s great, but it gets people into the book at times they otherwise wouldn’t be there.”
“We’ve been around the industry for over a decade and it’s more about gaps in general,” added Yucatonis when asked if PLN drew any inspiration from the pandemic-era success of ping-pong betting in Colorado. “Table tennis played a purpose, but what we’re focused on is not just the passive product and volume, but a very engaged, intentionally made-for-wagering product.”
Here, Salvaris said PLN “drew more of our inspiration from horse racing than table tennis, just in terms of the availability of the product and the different times of days when it’s offered.”
However, Salvaris opined that the sporting brands PLN owns – a group that now includes Ultimate Tire Wrestling – are “much more approachable to a casual fan” in that they don't require a horseplayer's intimate understanding of past performances, speed figures, and the like.
“I think there’s an interesting macro-trend about what it means to be a sport,” said Salvaris. “At the end of the day, it’s really about storytelling. Changing media consumption, short attention spans, speed of production are throwing up different ways in which you can tell stories. It doesn’t need to be a six-month season with a definite end.”