and we feel strongly about putting our builders
first, because we’d be nowhere without them.
That’s part of why we’re exploring sponsorship
as the avenue to monetize the tournaments right
now —because the cost to compete with us is $0.
Robot fighting is an expensive sport, so we make
a point to limit the cost that we pass on to our
competitors, and instead find ways to support our
league, and eventually our builders, with the help
of like-minded brands.
WHERE WE’RE GOING
As of March 2022, we have five cages in operation
at each of our seven annual tournaments, and
we rotate fights between them as quickly as we
can. Because so much of this is geared around
the livestream, and I’m a nerd, we have over 70
cameras to follow the action from every angle.
We’ve expanded our team to include replay
operators, a professional TV graphics developer,
and a pit reporter. Our March 2022 event was
our largest event ever, with 112 robots, over 400
spectators, and more than 25,000 views of
our livestream on YouTube. For spectators
in person, there are bleachers surrounding
the cages and there are television screens
everywhere so no matter where you are in the
arena, you have a great view.
After events, we publish and package individual
fight videos, which are a more accessible way for
new fans to discover the sport than a 12-hour
livestream. What we’re really working on now
is figuring out how we attract those adjacent
audiences who are maybe fans of BattleBots,
or similar things like esports and gaming, and
bring them into the fold by just showing really
cool videos of robots blowing up and destroying
bulletproof glass.
This sport has serious competitors in the same
way that mainstream and esports do, and now
it’s really about growing the following. I expect
to find that some of our robot fighters end up
being meaningful influencers in their own right,
and we’re eager to support that. Builders have
ROBOT RUMBLE! Norwalk Havoc Robot League
38 makezine.com
Jon C R Bennett / JCRBPhoto
Match announcers.
Match sparks a-flyin’.
Small robots lining up.
M81_034-39_SS_NorwalkHavoc_F1.indd 38M81_034-39_SS_NorwalkHavoc_F1.indd 38 4/12/22 1:50 PM4/12/22 1:50 PM
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