ORLANDO — Two of Florida’s hot growth trends – a rising roster of professional athletes who call the state home, and the booming franchise field – are merging with the upcoming launch of a new Orlando-based TV-video production.
Metro Orlando has always been a hotbed of franchising, everything from pizza parlors to auto-supply chains. Many athletes find success with that turn-key style of business once they hang up their jerseys.
Veteran Orlando entrepreneur Joe Hursh is working on the first of what he hopes will be a dozen or more 30-minute TV style shows featuring the positive side of franchising as practiced baseball players, basketball pros, soccer stars and more.
His new venture, called Franchise Players, is a show that will feature current and former pro athletes enjoying second careers in some of the hundreds of different types of franchise businesses.
“It’s going to be fun and informative,” Hursh says, and anyone interested in possibly investing in a franchise on their own will get the inside scoop on what it takes to make it work.
Filming will be done on site at the various franchises, with behind the scenes insight into how a restaurant, after-school tutoring business, fitness center and others are launched, maintained and fine tuned to return maximum profits.
Experts will also be featured providing tips and professional advice. While start-up businesses typically have a high failure rate in the early years, franchises consistently outperform. They have brand support, training and professional standards built into the process from the start.
“A lot of athletes gravitate to that. A ton of them,” Hursh says.
Hursh has launched a number of successful ventures on his own through the years, from marketing to real estate. But he is best known for his voice, which has been heard by countless millions. Walt Disney World featured his smooth radio-style delivery for many years, on everything from the monorails to the buses and hotels. Before that, he was a radio announcer and advertising pitch man for numerous commercials that were seen or heard nationwide.
About a decade ago Hursh was also in real estate part-time selling homes in the Windermere area. Many of the buyers turned out to be players for the Orlando Magic basketball team, professional PGA-tour golfers, baseball players and other athletes. Pros often have fairly short playing careers and turn to franchise investing as second careers. That’s how Hursh says he first got the idea of a TV show that would highlight the trend. With decades of experience in media, advertising, entertainment and promotion, he has the tools for a successful launch of the unique concept.
For now Hursh is financing the Franchise Players startup on his own and is lining up sponsors, investors and prospective advertising clients. Finding successful athletes in franchising is the easy part, he says, because, “a lot of them live right here.”
The first Franchise Players episode could air by the end of this year or early 2019, and a promo trailer can be viewed online at www.franchiseplayersshow.com.
The show is set to be produced by Hursh executive producer of Rolls Creative Services, Inc. with a staff of initially 10-15 including writers, producers, camera, road camera crew, Teleprompter tech, social media tech, makeup, plus a talent search for a former athlete to be show host. Those aspiring to be the host can send a video sample to info@franchiseplayerswho.com.
The production studio with sound stage and edit is GRP Studios, 165 W. Main Ave. inLongwood, Fla.
“This may be my best concept yet,” says Hursh. “I think it will generate a lot of interest.”
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