A North Texas entertainment group, made popular by its YouTube videos featuring trick shots and other antics, has secured a large capital investment to help advance the company’s growth plans.
“The mission of Dude Perfect is to serve families with the most trusted entertainment on Earth,” Dude Perfect’s Coby Cotton said in a news release. “By partnering with Highmount Capital, we hope to pour gas on the fire and take the Dude Perfect fun that families have witnessed on screens these past 15 years and turn it into real-life products and memory-making experiences they can actually touch and feel for themselves.”
Last year, after considering leaving Frisco, Dude Perfect decided to stay home, moving its headquarters from All Stars Avenue to Gateway Boulevard — a 20,000-square-foot building in North Frisco, reported The Dallas Express. That project has an estimated construction cost of $3 million.
In a video, Dude Perfect announced its plans for a theme park. The “family-friendly” trick shot destination will give fans a chance to attempt their own real-life trick shots and play wacky games, such as throwing a baseball through the window of a moving car, all-sport golf, glass-pane golf, free-throw frenzy, and much more. The venue will include restaurants, a Dude Perfect museum, and a two-acre outdoor space for large events, according to Variety.
But the defining centerpiece will be a 300-foot tower, from which visitors can attempt to “shoot the impossible shot” into a basketball goal. According to Dude Perfect, “A make wins you a huge prize.” The team is currently scouting locations for the theme park, noting that several cities have expressed interest.
Dude Perfect is comprised of twins Coby and Cory Cotton, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, and Tyler Toney. The former Texas A&M University roommates rose to fame in 2009 after producing a trick-shot video and amassing more than 100 million followers.
“The Dudes have truly captured the hearts and minds of the next generation, pioneering the new creator-led media space and expanding far beyond video and traditional channels,” said Jason Illian, co-founder and general partner at Highmount Capital. “In addition to creating content that garners billions of views every year, which is an impressive feat on its own, the Dudes have built something even more valuable and that is trust – trust with families, brands, and consumers of all ages and backgrounds.”
Dude Perfect did not disclose the amount of the Highmount commitment, except to say it is a “nine-figure growth capital investment, which Dude Perfect will use to pursue bold new opportunities and projects, add to their slate of creative partnerships, and build a robust management team to lead the group to new heights.”
ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series is also producing an episode dedicated to the dudes, “Dude Perfect: A Very Long Shot,” which will be featured at the Dallas International Film Festival in April.
