SuperDebate
The world loves to argue.We're turning it into a sport.
John Thomas Connor, Founder & CEO · superdebate.org
02 / 16 — THE PROBLEM
Debate is culturally everywhere.Structurally, it disappears after school.
Millions argue every day, on podcasts, on stages, in group chats, in boardrooms.
01
No clubs.
02
No rankings.
03
No championships.
04
No path to compete.
Debate has the attention. It has never had the league.
03 / 16 — THE BIG IDEA
Every sport began as a raw human contest.
Then someone built the league: rules, rankings, rivalries, stars.
Debate is the oldest contest on earth. It is still waiting.
Fighting
UFC
Poker
WSOP
Chess
FIDE · Chess.com
Debate
SuperDebate
SuperDebate is the league.
04 / 16 — THE SOLUTION
We give debate what every sport has.
Clubs
Train.
Weekly rooms where people practice, compete, and belong.
Formats
Compete.
Clear rules, timed rounds, visible judging. The same game every time.
Championships
Earn status.
Stakes, progression, and titles worth chasing.
Platform
Scale.
Every club, ranking, and replay on the same engine.
A game you can join, follow, and get better at.
05 / 16 — WHY NOW
Three forces make this the moment.
Attention
Debate already pulls crowds.
Clips, podcasts, and public clashes rack up billions of views. The appetite is proven.
Community
People pay to compete together.
Pickleball, run clubs, chess, poker: structured social competition is how adults meet now.
AI
AI makes live reasoning precious.
When anything can be generated, thinking on your feet in front of a crowd is the skill that still signals.
The behavior is mainstream. The league is missing. The window is now.
06 / 16 — THE EXPERIENCE
Every debate night is a fight night.
A resolution drops Monday. Two teams prep all week. By Friday the room is packed.
Timed rounds. Live judging. A crowd that picks a side and feels every swing.
Somebody wins. The argument spills into the bar. The clips travel all week.
“Advanced AI poses a real existential threat.”
Pro
28.5
Con
27.0
People come for the fight. They stay for the people.
07 / 16 — THE PLATFORM
The whole league runs on one platform.
Discovery, scheduling, judging, rankings, profiles, live video, replays. A new city launches with the full system on day one.
Competitors
Compete & climb.
Organizers
Launch & run.
Spectators
Follow & watch.
Live today at superdebate.org.
Launching a city is a playbook, not a heroic effort.
08 / 16 — THE MARKET
Bigger than debate alumni.
Debate alumni
The wedge
Former debaters, coaches, and judges. They speak the language and show up first.
Rec-league competitors
Then
Rec leagues of every kind. Millions already pay to compete on a schedule.
Professional persuaders
Then
Lawyers, founders, educators, creators. People who win or lose on argument.
The audience
Then
The crowd already watching debate clips, podcasts, and public clashes.
The precedent · Toastmasters
265,000 people already pay to practice speaking.
13,833 clubs, built on professional development alone. No competition, no crowd, no show.
SuperDebate is what comes next: the same habit, with stakes, status, and an audience.
The wedge is debate alumni. The market is everyone who argues.
09 / 16 — TRACTION
What's live today
The circuit is already running.
12+
Live events
4
Cities
250+
Competitors & members
The flagship
In February 2026, debaters from seven countries competed at the Infinita Championship in Roatán, Honduras, with a real prize pool on the line.
The machine
Recurring nights across Chicago, Portland, Bali, and Roatán, all on the platform, with eight more cities in active outreach.
Live in four cities across two continents. The playbook travels.
10 / 16 — BUSINESS MODEL
Leagues monetize for decades.
Recurring
Membership dues
Monthly dues from club members. The predictable base the whole league compounds on.
Events
Tickets & sponsors
Ticketed championships, with local-to-national brands sponsoring the rooms where status is on the line.
Expansion
Training & media
Corporate and school training, subscriptions, and media rights once the audience and archive are built.
Recurring
Membership dues
Monthly dues from club members. The predictable base the whole league compounds on.
Members · monthly
Events
Tickets & sponsors
Ticketed championships, with local-to-national brands sponsoring the rooms where status is on the line.
Fans & brands · per event
Expansion
Training & media
Corporate and school training, subscriptions, and media rights once the audience and archive are built.
Partners · annual
Dues fund the base. Status sells tickets. Media scales the upside.
11 / 16 — UNIT ECONOMICS
The math of one city.
One city, per year
Membership
50 members × $30/mo, recurring
$18K
Events
entry fees + local sponsors
$12K
Per city / year
$30K
Recurring
It renews.
Members pay monthly and renew, so the club compounds as it fills.
Partner-launched
Partners fill the room.
Cities open through partners: coworking spaces, venues, and established communities like local AI groups that already bring hundreds of attendees.
A recurring engine, launched on audiences our partners already have.
12 / 16 — GROWTH
From clubs to a global circuit.
Year 1
20 active cities
City leads. Recurring events. Flagship debates. The launch engine in place.
Year 2
150+ active clubs
Ambassadors. Partner venues. Regional tournaments. National championships.
Year 3
Global circuit
International cities. Global championships. Major sponsors. Personalities.
Year 1
20 active cities
City leads. Recurring events. Flagship debates. The launch engine in place.
Year 2
150+ active clubs
Ambassadors. Partner venues. Regional tournaments. National championships.
Year 3
Global circuit
International cities. Global championships. Major sponsors. Personalities.
Local rooms feed national stages. Champions become the draw.
13 / 16 — DEFENSIBILITY
Content gets watched. Leagues get joined.
The content play
Watched, then forgotten.
Munk, Intelligence Squared, podcast debates: great episodes, no retention. The audience leaves when the video ends, and nothing compounds.
The league play
Joined, and kept.
Every member has a record, a ranking, a club, and a rival. Walking away means abandoning an identity. No content library has that hold.
Audiences churn. Members compound.
14 / 16 — TEAM & ADVISORS
Champions, operators, brand builders.
Founder & CEO
John Thomas Connor
- Debate champion. Coached the first Urban Debate League team to win a national championship.
- Founder of Sparkblox, $1M+ raised. Product lead at Upland during 15x growth and 300K+ MAU.
- Built SuperDebate’s platform, brand, format, and operating model.
Chief Strategy Officer
Brian J. Esposito
- Founder & CEO of Esposito Intellectual Enterprises: 110+ entities across 25+ industries.
- Leads capital strategy, partnerships, sponsor architecture, and expansion relationships.
Advisors
Brand & culture
Stephen "Stix" Nilsen
VP of Cult Indoctrination at Liquid Death through its run from canned-water joke to billion-dollar cult brand. 20+ years building movements at Red Bull and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Partnerships & sponsorship
Matthew Rolnick
SVP Partnerships at Real American Beer; former partnership lead at Yaymaker and Groupon. Attaches national consumer brands to live experiences at scale.
Competition design
Dr. Iain Lampert
National champion debater, elite coach, founder of Authentalk, COO at ModernBrain. Designs the formats and judging that make rounds fair and skill compound.
AI & pedagogy
John Hines
Championship debate coach and co-founder of DebaterHub. Builds AI-supported debate training used by students, coaches, and institutions.
15 / 16 — INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
Raising $500K.
Standard SAFE · 24-month runway
What this round delivers
Year 1
20 cities
Year 2
150+ clubs
Outcome
A national league, ready to go global
Use of funds
60% Growth
City expansion, ambassadors, partnerships, sponsorship, launch marketing.
20% Competitions
Flagship debates, regional tournaments, city championships, production.
10% Product
Reliability, scalability, security, analytics, user experience.
10% Operations
Legal, accounting, creative, contractors, core overhead.
20 cities at $30K each: this round builds a $600K-a-year engine.
The invitation
Build the league for live debate with us.
Put debate back at the center of public life, and build something that outlasts us all.