He Took a Tailgate Game on Shark Tank — Here's What Really Happened | Mike Silva, QB54

He pitched QB54 on Shark Tank. He's in over 200 Dick's Sporting Goods stores. Michael Strahan has played it. And it took him eight years to become an overnight success — all while running the business out of his house in New Jersey with his family.

Mike Silva, creator of QB54, joins Luke to tell the full story behind the game that turns two tailgate chairs into a full football experience — completions, touchdowns, interceptions, and all. He goes behind the scenes of the Shark Tank experience, talks about what it took to get from idea to national retail, and shares exactly why Tom Brady would lose to him in a game of QB54.

What we cover: What QB54 is and how it turns tailgate chairs into a football game · The Shark Tank experience and what really happened behind the scenes · 8 years to get to Dick's Sporting Goods and Steve Harvey's Thunderdome · Michael Strahan playing the game · The Jets/Bills parking lot incident that became video gold · Why an overnight success takes 8-9 years · Dream retail placement: Costco · Dream opponent: Tom Brady (Mike wins, no question)

Transcript

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Intro

Luke 0:00

All right, welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast. Tonight, we're gonna have someone from Shark Tank that has a tailgating product, QB54, that you're gonna want to tune into. We're gonna talk about what happened behind the scenes, the overall experience, and how QB54 is doing after their Shark Tank premiere. Stay tuned.

Music 0:38

Across the states from college to NFL. Tailgate Connect.

Meet Mike — QB54 and the Luke Lorick connection since 2017

Luke 0:49

All right, here we go. The Tailgate Connect podcast is back. And we have, I will say, Shark Tank Royalty. I don't know if that's too forward or not, but we got Mike Silva with QB54, who was just recently on Shark Tank, one of my favorite shows.

Mike has been following Luke since he started the business

Mike 1:05

Mike, how are you doing this evening, sir? I'm doing fantastic. And Luke, thanks so much for having me. I've been following you probably since I started my business. So this is an honor for me to be here.

Met around 2017-2018, Luke did a product review in Texas

Luke 1:15

No, I feel like if we if we talk about that for a second, I I think somewhere around 2017, 2018 is when we first might have met somewhere in there. And I got to play QB54 with the first ad.

Mike 1:27

Yeah, I uh we started the business in 2016, and but we really started to really, you know, put content out there the next year and have have uh some product in 2017. So yeah, I mean, I was doing whatever still uh to this day. I try to find any angle I can, any audience out there, and I you know searched tailgating. You were one of the first people that I I've met and seen and sent you a game. And I remember you guys did a product review next to a lake, I think, somewhere. I can't remember when Texas.

Luke 1:57

That was early on in my tailgating, uh, I guess professional career as well.

Mike 2:02

That's funny. Yeah, I do remember it was Texas. I don't remember what's what town was that in?

Luke lived in Waxahachie Texas

Mike 2:06

What city?

Luke 2:06

I I lived in a town called Waxahie, Texas for about six years before I moved to uh Colorado now. But uh yeah, no, that was I still vividly remember going out there. That was early on when I was just starting to get into like how the heck do I do videos? Yeah, and it's on YouTube. I could probably do better now. I could probably do better. Just a little bit, just a little bit. Good stuff, good stuff. All right. Well, my I get I guess let's rewind for a second because we went right into it. But tell for the people that don't know, what is QB54 and why is it relevant to a tailgating podcast?

What is QB54? Football in two folding chairs

Mike 2:43

Sure. So QB54 is a game that I invented. Um, it's an entire game of football that we built out of two folding chairs, those same chairs that you bring to every tailgate to sit down. So we turn that traditional chair into an intense, competitive, fun football game with no injuries. It's got completions, touchdowns, interceptions, even kicking the extra point. And when you're done destroying your opponent, form it back into a chair, sit back, and relish your team's victory.

No injuries reported — but there are videos

Luke 3:16

All right. Well, Mike, I feel I feel like you said no injuries. I feel I've seen some of your videos. I've seen some people like really kind of laying their body on the line to catch it on the bounce. Like, has it never been a single injury?

The Jets/Bills parking lot diving catch interception story

Mike 3:27

Nobody has reported to us, and we don't take any responsibility for anything. But I remember going to a Jet game. This was video gold. It was uh, I think it was Jets Bills. Guy uh throws a throws the ball. And in the game, if you uh catch the uh rebound off the chair, you can return it in pro rules. And they might have been drinking a couple of adult beverages and got a little carried away. But one of the guys caught the interception, starts running it back, and his buddy laid him out in the parking lot, section E4 at MetLife Stadium. It was fantastic. I'm like, I was with my son, and he had the cat, he had the iPhone. I'm like, dude, did you catch that? That's gold. And it was.

It's in the chair — the taglines and the game philosophy

Luke 4:11

And it was. And it was good stuff, good stuff. All right. Uh so again, I and I think do you call this game, is it the ultimate tailgating game? Am I saying that correctly with one of your punch lines? So I got a couple of things.

Only football-themed game on the market

Mike 4:23

So you know, hey, sports, it's in the game. So we say QB54, it's in the chair. We also call it the game before the game, and it's also the ultimate tailgating game, and it's the only football themed game that's on the market today.

Howard Stern comparison — king of all media

Luke 4:40

Wow, I don't think I knew the last part. And I guess maybe as I think about it, I can't I can't really think of anything else like that. I'm sure there's some type of little like tabletop flick a little football thing. Yeah. So okay, now now I'm gonna be on lookout. All right, look forward.

Mike 4:57

Hey, look, it's just like Howard Stern that says he's the king of all media, right? He's the one who coined that. So, yes, we're the only football game that's on the

Does QB54 take Mike to tailgates? Yes — central NJ

Mike 5:04

market.

Luke 5:04

Excellent. All right, well, well, riddle be this. So, again, with a tailgating style game, does this take you out to a lot of different tailgates? I know I I think Giants, right? Is that one of the main like kind of homesteads you have?

New Jersey — three NFL teams within an hour

Mike 5:18

I live in central New Jersey. I'm an hour from MetLife, I'm an hour from Lincoln Financial Field, Philly. And um that being that close to three major football teams makes it easy for me to market, demo, and sell. So we obviously I go to those very uh you know frequently, but I like to branch out, been to Cleveland, been to Ohio State, been to West Virginia, been to Buffalo, been to Gillette, uh all over, down to Georgia uh for the SEC. Um we've been to play, we've even been to the old San Diego Charger Stadium back in California, back in the day when we got on Steve Harvey's Thunderdome back in 2017, which only lasted a year. It was kind of a cool show. I wish it was still on, but we were only in our business for a month, and we wind up getting a call from a producer on the show. He's like, Do you want to come out? We're doing a show. Of course. So they paid for it, and I'm like, I'm always with my you know, my brother. We we went on the show. I'm like, dude, let's go down to the Chargers. They're playing in Denver. Let's go tailgate and demo the game. That's exactly what we

What fanbase plays QB54 best? Cleveland Browns

Mike 6:19

did.

Luke 6:19

All right, so so here's the part that might divide some of the fan bases. What fan base, in your opinion, plays QB54 the best? The best?

Cleveland fans — team is challenged but they cheer like Super Bowl

Mike 6:32

Oh wow. So the most exciting footage consistently that I got Cleveland Browns.

Luke 6:45

Okay. Like, and is there anything about like the Cleveland Browns tailgators and make it more exciting?

Mike 6:50

Dude, the the team, the Browns are challenged, right, from year to year, but the fans they cheer as if they're the Super Bowl champs every year. When they go out and tailgate, it's like a military operation. They get there two and a half hours before the parking lot even opens, the Muni Lot, which is across the street from uh uh from the stadium. And I don't know if you've ever been out to Cleveland, but the Muni Lot is where you want to go to Tailgate. It's got everything there. The fans are awesome, and uh yeah, they're saving spots, you know, two hours ahead of time with all these different, you know, cones and whatnot, chairs, tables. And if you take their spot, watch out because then there's gonna be a fight. So you respect, you respect the people that are there, and I gotta tell you, super nice people. They they welcome us with open arms and they love QB54 there. They absolutely do. It's insane.

Shoutout to Browns fans — passionate despite results

Luke 7:44

Excellent. Well, hey, shout out to the Browns fans. Sounds like I need to get up there for a tailgate myself. I have not been, but it sounds exciting.

Giants, Jets, Eagles also very supportive

Mike 7:51

Well, look, and there's also I I the Giants, Jets, and Eagles. I mean, they've been super supportive of us as well. Obviously, they're in my backyard. And also Buffalo. I mean, Buffalo, so there's this guy. So we we we uh tailgate at the Hammerlot, okay? And I think the guy's name is Ron. And do you know the ketchup mustard guy in Buffalo? Okay, so I met him, right? Had no idea what this was. 11:30 rolls around, and the guy says, Oh, you want to be over here? I'm like, okay, what am I what am I watching? So this guy comes out, he's got a hot dog, and he says, Hey, does anybody have any ketchup or mustard? And this whole everybody in the crowd has ketchup and mustard, and they start pouring it on this guy's face all over his clothes, and I'm like, this is awesome. I mean, it's just a whole another breed of tailgating up there. They just take it to another level. It's crazy.

Has a Bills fan done the table jump with the QB54 chair?

Luke 8:44

Now, I feel like I have to ask with uh with Bill's mafia, did anyone mistake the chair for a table and jump into it and just bust the game up? Dude, I got footage, I got footage.

Cleveland/Buffalo game — diving catch interception caught on film

Mike 8:56

It was it was Cleveland, Buffalo in Cleveland, and I have footage of a Buffalo fan playing, diving for an interception, goes into the chair, and the shit goes everywhere. And it's just like, of course, of course that's gonna happen. Of course it's definitely gonna happen.

Shark Tank episode context

Luke 9:13

Good stuff. Crazy. All right, let's let's shift over now. Like Shark Tank. Shark Tank, like whenever this airs, it'll be a little over a week ago whenever it came out. Yes. Like, I'm just gonna keep it real open. Tell us about the experience in general for you, because uh to me, it sounds amazing.

Watched every season before applying

Mike 9:30

So I've watched a show from season one up until my season, season 17, which you consider watching now. And I've never taken a business class in my life, never got an MBA. Uh, I think the the the only class I got in business might have been microeconomics in high school. So I have zero expense uh experience with business. Watching that show, I've learned a tremendous amount, right? From patents to uh cost of customer acquisition to ROAS, like all these different things. And it's really a good teacher if you pay attention to the message that they're trying to send you. So put that in the back of your mind. Now, you watch this show for 16 years, you get on set, you see the walkway where the wood floor is, you see the circle of light, there's a spotlight above that, and you see the concentric circles that everybody walks out to. The door, wait, before the doors, you see the fake fish tanks on the wall. You're like, oh my god, the doors open up, and you see the seats where the sharks are gonna sit. This is the day before they walk you through, and you're like, oh my god, this just got real. And then you go to the next day and it's your day to pitch, and you've been practicing this pitch for days, a thousand times. And uh, they wanted me to actually take if you guys know my game, it's two chairs that are folded up inside a carrying bag, and it's got all the field goal posts and stuff like that in there. They wanted me to not only do my pitch, but to open the bag and to form the the chairs into the game while I'm doing the pitch. And when I first started, I'm like, this is gonna be impossible. And then so I practice, practice, practice, practice, and I got it down to know how to pack the game perfectly, have the post perfectly. So when I pull it out, there's no hiccups, and I had this pitched memorized in my head two minutes until showtime, my mind goes blank. It's stressful. I have my house, my family, my business, everything on the line. So imagine having everything on the line, and you're gonna go out in two minutes in the most highly stressful situation in your entire life. Are we allowed to curse in this or not? Uh yeah, don't go for it. And don't fuck it up. That's what's going in my head right now. So two minutes. So you have these producers that are your handlers in a sense, right? They help you throughout the process. And I am constantly pacing back and forth. They're like, where's Mike? Where's Mike? I was like behind a curtain or something like that, just going over my pitch. And then it's go time. I have a cameraman behind me, and I did the first, this is the first time this ever happened in Shark Tank history. Now, when you watch the show, the doors open up, and the entrepreneurs walk out to their mark on the carpet, they stand there for about 15 seconds, and the sharks size them up and they go boom into your pitch. Okay. I had an idea. So when you when you think about high school football teams and college teams, when they storm the field and the opening, you know, like they're announcing the team or whatever, there's a banner. There's smoke going and you run right through, and you know, the crowd goes nuts. So I'm like, what if we did something like that? They're like, it's a great idea. So um I got a breakaway banner, and you'll see at the beginning of the episode. And I told the camera guy, I said, Listen, when I get to that third circle of light on the floor, I'm gonna run. And that's exactly what I did. I ran through, boom, through the uh through the banner, and I go right into my pitch, and you see every shark's face go, Jesus, what is that? Because they weren't expecting it. And when you watch the episode back, you're gonna be like, wow. And then I go right into my pitch right away, memorized everything. It all came back to me. I thought I nailed the the pitch pretty well, and my training took over, and that that was it. So once I got through that, I felt comfortable. I threw the football to Michael Strahan, invited him on to play, and I just went into tailgate mode, Mike, and then explained the game, and and that was it.

Nerves before going on — 30,000 applicants, 100 get on air

Luke 13:53

It was all developed. I mean, A, I can understand why there would be some nerves before, you know. A pretty big opportunity in your life, especially with all that you told us tonight and what I heard on the show of what was kind of riding on that. But again, I I think you pitched it extremely well. Not just saying that because you're in front of me talking right now. I was like, he pitched us about as well as he could with everything. He had good energy. I did like that because I was like, I haven't seen anybody bust through a banner before going on there. And you could tell they were a little kind of like taken aback because they weren't ready for that, which is kind of cool.

One in 300 companies gets on TV

Mike 14:25

There's 30,000 companies that apply for this show every year, and only a hundred get on air. That's one in 300 get on TV. So you can go out there, they could film you, and there's a chance you won't get aired. And that would be to me, that would be the biggest disaster. I mean, look, I wish I would have gotten a deal. I didn't get a deal, and they gave me some great advice, which um, you know, acting on and it's already starting to bear some fruit. And look, these guys are in business, they they're worth millions, sometimes billions of dollars. So they know what they're doing. And, you know, I'd be an idiot not to listen to them and you know, the advice they're giving. So I'm taking it to heart. I'm using it as a uh a learning experience, and the exposure's been fantastic. So I'm super pumped.

Michael Strahan already had the game — helped tell the story

Luke 15:17

Yeah, I mean, again, just just to know you're one of the companies that was selected to be on TV, because at the time you don't know, right? No clue.

Used ChatGPT to analyze the offer — smart move

Mike 15:26

And and look, I I so go into my head for a second, right? I have Michael Strahan, I have sales, I have all this going for me, and I'm thinking there is no way I'm not gonna get a deal.

Reasonable offer comparatively

Luke 15:40

And it's a pretty reasonable offer, I feel like you made comparatively speaking.

Mike 15:44

Yes, and and dude, listen, I I use ChatGPT. Listen, so everybody's like, you use ChatGPT? So I poured all this into Chat GPT and I said, what should I value my company at? And it was genius. They they went through all these things. Why it should be worth this? You know, here's the range. You got into dick, so maybe you could push it to the higher. And I didn't even go to the higher. I was like kind of in the middle. And then afterwards, it says, Do you want a role play? I could be Mr. Wonderful or uh Mark Cuban. So they started acting like those sharks to me, and I would speak the answers back into it. And I was role-playing as if I was on the show, and it prepared me tremendously to get on there. So I don't get the deal. I feel like I got punched in the gut. I'm walking off, and I got the guy, the camera guy in my face. You can see the look on my face. I'm like, get that thing out of my face. I don't want to talk to anybody. And then they interview you afterwards, and you have to have the mindset of, all right, it's a TV show. You got to give them something so you it gives you the best chance to get on air. So I'm thinking in sound bites, right? What do they want to hear? What's my best chance of getting on air? Then you know, then I leave, and it's just me out there. I'm in California. I'm from New Jersey. I'm out there on my own and I'm walking up and down the beach, which was right at they film in Culver City. I go to Manhattan Beach, I got my tail between my legs, and I'm walking from Manhattan Beach to the next one. I forgot what it was, and I'm just thinking constantly, what could I have done better? What can I? And I was just beating myself up. But I think it's a natural response. And then time went on, and I was like, you know what? I got to sit back and relax and appreciate what I just did, knowing that thousands of other companies didn't get to that point. So you got to take the positive out of it. You know, it was a huge positive experience.

Reframe the positive from Shark Tank appearance

Luke 17:39

No, that that's really good perspective because I feel like in life sometimes we get too focused on the negative part and be like, actually, there's a lot of blessings and positives, even in a moment that might not feel quite as warm and fuzzy. I've been there, you've been there, probably a lot of people listening have been there in some in some respect for it. So that's good uh knowledge for everybody to remember out there as well, too. So okay.

What happened after the show — the waiting period

Mike 18:01

So so afterwards, afterwards, I was like, you know, I found out that I was getting on air. They give you an email or whatever, and I go to my wife, should should we throw, you know, a watch party? And she's like, yeah. I'm like, but I'm not gonna get a deal. And it's gonna be a little awkward afterwards, right? So I talked to one of the producers, he I talked to one of the producers, I was like, Yeah, I was thinking about having he's like, dude, have a watch party, celebrate this, blah, blah, blah. Right. So from the rooftops, I'm screaming to everybody, I'm doing all this PR, we're having a watch. Everybody thinks I'm getting a deal. And I can't say anything.

Luke 18:42

So I thought you were

Can't tell anyone — everyone said you're getting a deal

Luke 18:44

right, right.

Mike 18:44

So, so I can't say anything to anybody. Everybody I talked to is you're getting a deal, you're getting a deal. I was like, well, maybe I will, maybe I won't. And then it comes time, you know. I'm at the rest. We had 150 people there. I mean, so many people showed up to support me, the my family, the dream, the journey. And uh at the end, I gave the speech and I just posted it on social media. I didn't know somebody was recording me, and I'm glad they did because I just poured my heart out to everybody that was there. And the the positive or the thing that I take from this is take a deep breath, step back, look at how many people showed up for you to support you and what you're doing. And that to me was way better than any deal that I could ever get from any human being on this planet.

Fellow creator empathy — the journey matters

Luke 19:36

Oh, a hundred percent. I I appreciate you saying that too, because as a as a fellow creator, entrepreneur, whatever you want to call that, like there's days where it feels lonely. And I'm I'm sure you felt those as well, too. It's like, does anybody see me? Is anybody supporting me? I feel like I'm putting everything I have into this. And it's like two views. Yeah, it's like I got 32 views on that video, though. So 32 people saw it, right? So no, I I think that's awesome of how and again, like I you should celebrate this. Again, be be awesome.

Mentor advice: preparation meets opportunity

Mike 20:06

I got some awesome I got I got some off awesome advice for you. A mentor of mine said to me, he goes, Mike, he goes, You're gonna have awesome days and you're gonna have really shitty days. Never get too high, never get too low, stay right in the middle, as even keel as you possibly can, point the ship in the direction you want to go, and just go for it. And that's that's what I try to I tell myself on the on the good days and the bad

A version of that advice works for employees too

Mike 20:31

days.

Luke 20:31

Sure. Now I I think that's a very wise man. I tell for my day job, I tell my employees that a lot of the times too. It's like, hey, we can celebrate. Let's not get too high, let's not get too arrogant if we have success. But also if we have a bad day, that's not gonna define us. It's not good stuff. All right, so what so I I've watched the episode a couple of times now, but I feel like there, and you've given us a little bit of the appealing back to the onion a little bit. Like, was there more that wasn't shown that's kind of like either was it outtakes, conversation, anything else that would be kind of cool to share right now with everyone?

45 minutes on the floor — they show you 8 minutes

Mike 21:05

I was on there for about 45 minutes on the on the floor, on the carpet for 45 minutes. They show you that's longer than I thought it would be. They show you about eight minutes of it. You know, we talked about you know us being in dicks. We're in over 200 dicks sporting goods across the country. And uh, you know, for whatever reason, you know, it didn't make the uh the tape, but everybody's asking me, didn't you talk about dick? Of course I did. Um, so and then, you know, I really got into the story about my kids and my wife and them being an integral part of the business because you know, my kids, especially, well, my wife is obviously she's been a rock since the beginning. If you if anybody out there is an entrepreneur and they're married, it'd be very difficult to uh to be successful in your business if you don't have buy in from your spouse, right? And um she's been, you know, supportive of me and the dream, um, you know, since day one. Uh Again, good days and bad days, she's always there. And my kids, I would take um on these journeys to the different uh uh stadiums like Cleveland, Ohio State, all over. And those are some of the best times because I got, you know, alone time with them and had a chance to bond with them. And uh my dad taught my parents taught me a lesson back when I was younger saying basically, I'm not gonna buy you a car when you're 17. If you want a car, you got to figure it out. So, and that was the best lesson that anybody has ever taught me because it taught me to hustle, it taught me to earn, and it taught me to save. And I did the same lesson for my kids. I said, not buying your car, figure it out. If you want to make some money, come with me to these tailgates. I'll pay you $10 for every game that we sell. They came every time and they loved it. And they each bought their own car and hopefully uh, you know, put a little uh lesson in there that they're gonna take when they get older. So we'll see. One's 19, one's 17, so I think it's working.

Kids seeing dad on TV — the family impact

Luke 22:57

Excellent, excellent. Tailgating chairs are helping make better future entrepreneurs and children of America. Love it. Love it. Absolutely.

Son at the Cleveland/Buffalo game — a great memory

Mike 23:08

And listen, so my kids are seeing, like, you know, people that are like my I brought my son to the Cleveland Buffalo game, and there's people jumping on the tables, smashing them, hammered out of their minds. And you see, I remember I remember this. Three girls. There was a girl on either side, and there was a girl in the middle, and she was dragging her legs. She was completely passed out, and her friends were like basically dragging her. I had to have that conversation with my son, who's 12, in the car on the way home, and it was a good teaching learning experience. Like, hey, you're gonna go to college one day and you're gonna potentially be in this situation. Make smart choices, and that's what we talked about.

Tailgating is uniquely American

Luke 23:54

Good stuff, good stuff. Again, another reason why I love tailgating because there could be so many different positives and just conversations because people can engage authentically versus sometimes where we're just all trapped on our phones or mobile devices and not having hard conversations.

The tailgate and connect wordplay — shameless plug moment

Mike 24:11

It's such a unique thing to the United States. Um, you know, I mean, maybe they do it a little bit in Canada, but over in Europe, I don't believe they tailgate. They just go to pubs or whatever before games. So I think tailgating is is a an American, you know, tradition, and it's such an awesome way to meet people, to connect, hang out, put your differences aside, and just have a good time.

Luke 24:35

I mean, that's you I heard the word tailgate and connect. Haha. Shameless plug for the tailgate connect podcast right there. Got it. See what I did there? I did. I love it. I love it. All right. So you said you walked away with some was with some knowledge and some different things you've already started to apply. Can you speak to any of that right now?

Shark Tank hangup — ad spend and evaluation

Mike 24:54

Yeah, so one of their hang ups was um I spent a lot of money on ad spend. And um I did. I spent, I think I said 700 grand, and we grossed 1.6, 1.62. So we were growing the top line, and but the amount of profit that I was getting was not enough for them to be investable. And you know, I've been doing this business for nine years, and I haven't paid myself a dime. You know, every all the money that I I bring in, I put it back into the business. And I think that's why that was happening is because my ad bill was so high, I had to keep paying it off. So uh I'm changing strategy and and and uh companies that I'm using for social media that were focusing on more profit. You know, I don't care. I mean, yeah, I want to sell, you know, it's nice to have that attractive number one point c. But if I sell half of that and I'm making three times the amount of profit, at the end of the day, when you're a business, it's the amount of money that you hold on to. For sure. That's the med stick. You know what I mean? I understand. I want to bring more money into the business and pay myself and then grow the business maybe a little bit more healthy. Uh and that's what we're trying to do now.

What's the most passionate tailgate fanbase for QB54?

Luke 26:10

Excellent. Excellent. All right. Um, we're gonna come back with some final thoughts with Shark Tank, but I want to shift gears and let people get to know you a little bit better. I feel like you've you've you've already shared, obviously, you're a good dad, you're putting out the good principles for your kiddos, which I which I love to hear. You're getting around the country doing different tailgates. So I asked you a question earlier in regards to the best or the most exciting QB54 players out there. Where would you say, would you also let me where's the best tailgating that you've seen?

Tie — Buffalo and Cleveland

Mike 26:42

I I think it's a tie. I think it's a tie between Buffalo and Cleveland. I I think those fan bases are the most passionate that I have ever met. Um I haven't been to I haven't been to uh Kansas City, haven't been down the Cowboys or anything like that. Other places I went to, definitely Buffalo and Cleveland for sure. The nicest people, not to say the other areas aren't nice, but these people were so nice, uh open arms, and it was just great. And you know, coming from Jersey, when you go to other other um stadiums and whatnot, it's amazing the difference on how people treat each other. I'll tell I'll tell you, this has nothing to do with QB, but I'm a Rutgers grad and I went to Nebraska to see Rutgers, Nebraska last year with my buddy Kevin, and we're wearing our Rutgers gear, and everybody's coming up to us saying, Hey, thanks for coming. Thanks for making the trip. I'm like, what? I'm like, what we're the enemy. They were so nice to us. I was like blown away. This would never happen at Ruckers. We'd be cursing at him, throwing shit at him, and it's just it's it's not necessary. You should be nice to people, right? Oh man, it was awesome. It was such a great experience. But getting back to your question, Cleveland and Buffalo, hands down, the two best tailgates I've been to.

Bucket list tailgates — Lambeau and Arrowhead

Luke 28:04

Excellent. Tell me, tell me this. Where is a bucket list tailgate that you want to get to so?

Arrowhead — massive parking lot, they'd love the game

Mike 28:13

Um, there's two. Uh Lambo, okay, Arrowhead.

Luke 28:18

Okay.

Mike 28:19

I want to go to Arrowhead because I know that it's just like a massive parking lot. I know they would love our game down there, and I know we would crush it. It's just gonna take me 27 and a half hours to drive there. That's the nonsense.

Luke 28:33

Because you gotta bring all the QB 54 games with you, right?

Hustle level — took a rental car to the Chargers for a demo

Mike 28:36

Listen, I'm gonna tell you the level of hustle, right? I got invited to go see the Notre Date, the Notre Dame football team uh and and coach. It was uh a spring game, so the game was at, I don't know, noon. And this guy said, Hey, I got the connection. If you want, we can go out there. We left Friday night or Friday afternoon, like 4 30. It's about 14 hours, drove straight through, didn't let him drive because I don't trust anybody except myself driving. We crashed for about three hours. We go, we meet the team, we go to the spring game, we stay till halftime, and we drive all the way home right after that. We were literally there for six hours. That's how much caffeine. How much caffeine did you have that day, Mike? Just Coke, just Coca Coca-Cola. Um so, but but listen, this is the level of of drive, passion, and everything that you need to have for the business. But listen, would I do that for my real job? Hell no. Would I do this for me? Yes. I could work 80 hours a week on this and it feels like I'm working 10 minutes. And that's when you know you love something.

This is still a side hustle

Luke 29:46

So so first, A, I I agree and appreciate that, but I I guess I didn't realize that. So this is still a side hustle. If I am I hearing that correctly, that you're correct, sir. Okay.

24 hours in a day — 8 for the job, 16 to build

Mike 29:59

I mean, I always say 24 hours in a day. There's 24 hours in a day. You spend eight hours at your nine to five, that leaves 16 hours. Well, that leaves you two-thirds of a day,

Caffeine helps extend productive hours

Mike 30:12

right?

Luke 30:12

If you drink enough Coca-Cola, you can have a lot more hours in the day. There's shameless plug for coke. There you go.

Yes it's a side hustle — 29 years at the day job

Mike 30:20

So, yes, it is my side hustle. I have another job I've been at for like 29 years that puts food on the table, right? If I'm not paying myself a dime from the business, I gotta support my family somehow, right?

Wishing his wife was independently wealthy

Luke 30:31

So I mean that's assume that, or either your wife is just a really, really good woman taking care of all of that.

Mike 30:37

I wish she was independently wealthy, but no, that's not the case.

The overnight success myth

Luke 30:41

It would make things a hell of a lot easier. Oh, for sure. No, but I I appreciate that story because I feel like a lot of times people see people on a shark tank or if they're in digs, whatever the case may be, like, oh, like this is a big corporation. They got a lot of employees working for them. But like, there's sometimes it's like it's like Mr. Mike like hustling in his house in his garage, driving 14 hours to do stuff, working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and still going strong. Like, I feel like you're going as strong as ever right now, like since 2016.

Staying young through interaction with fans

Mike 31:10

Yeah, I mean, look, I'm I'm not getting younger. Um, I want to say it's keeping me young. You know why? Because I interact with a lot of different people. I, you know, I'm interacting with college kids, younger kids, at all ages. But I think, you know, I'm getting good, decent at making content and just trying to learn what the trends are, what works, what doesn't work, using Cap Cut. You know, how I don't know how many people my age even know what Cap Cut is. You know what I mean? It's it's all about making it. Right? Cap Cut's an editing tool on your iPhone that makes awesome videos for you. And it's super if I can do it, you can do it. It's that

If Mike can do it, anyone can

Mike 31:47

easy.

Luke 31:47

So coming from the guy that just did a really good job on Shark Tank. Oh, if I can do it, anybody can do it. It's fine, it's fine. You could if you wanted to. All right, Mike. This is gonna be this might be the hardest question I'm gonna ask you all day. Are you prepared for it? Sure. You're at the tail, you're at this tailgate right now. And there's no QB54. What is your favorite tailgating game aside from QB54? I play corn hall. Okay, maybe it wasn't that hard. I know sometimes I think you're so dedicated, you'd be like, I will not play any other games.

Cornhole is the 800-pound gorilla

Mike 32:22

Yeah, but here's the thing. Everybody knows cornhole's the 800-pound gorilla in the room, right? I mean, they're the biggest game, blah, blah. That's why I make ads making fun of Cornhole and you know, promoting my game. And everybody gets so pissed off. Oh my god, this game's never gonna be as big as Cornhole. Of course, but you know what? I got that reaction out of you, and now we're interacting. It helps the algorithm and just keep spewing the troll stuff that you want. I'm gonna eat it up, okay? But uh yeah, cornhole's fun, it gets boring because it's the same motion every time, and there's really no strategy involved. And is there really skill if you're throwing underhand to it? Maybe not so much.

Going to the cornhole world championships — perspective

Mike 33:02

I'm gonna go to the body.

Luke 33:02

That's why you have that after going to the world championships with the Cornhole Association. Like, I feel like I could argue that with some of the pros that I met out there. Again, I'm not a pro. I don't claim to be a pro, but they're just like it's like bowling. I'm just kidding, all the bowls. You can stack the bags and put them in front of the hole with so again, not not to get too far off topic here, but again, I know what you're saying. And I'm a believer. I just love creating the debate. Yeah, see, we just had one. We just did it here on the on the podcast with it. Again, I'm not married to Cornel or anything. I love playing a variety of different games. Like, that's that's the fun part of the game. All right, let me have let me take it, let me take it back. What is your favorite game? Uh the one I've played. The one I'm playing now. Ha ha. How's that for a uh a fun one? But but no, like I I love like like frisbee games, tossing games. Like, there's so many different games out there that I've that I've gotten to play that like, and I enjoy so many of them, I never actually get good at any of them because I keep switching them up and I'd be just like, hey, we're doing a tailgate, so we're gonna bring out ramps, we're gonna bring out rollers, we're gonna bring out foosball, we're gonna bring out something, right? To something different to keep having keep having fun.

Tailgating game companies sharing the rising tide

Mike 34:12

Look, this is the way I look at it, right? And there's there's other companies, other uh tailgating games that come to me sometimes and say, hey Mike, what do you think about this? What do you think? Look, we're all in this together, right? No matter like a rising tide, I say this all the time, a rising tide raises all boats, right? If if my game is good and your game is good, we're we're going after the same customer, and the customer's gonna play more than one game, right? So, I mean, so the guy from Rollers, I mean he's got an amazing game, right? It's a great game. Rampshot, those guys are from Long Island, I believe. They have a great game. Like all these guys, can jam. I mean, look, people are spike ball, they're all good games, right? If you want to play football, you play QB54. You want to play a volleyball, you play spike ball. You just change it up a little bit. And if there's no games there and you have cornall, you play cornall. Yeah, that's it.

One game leads to buying multiple games

Luke 35:03

Again, most people that own one tailgate game buy multiple games because they enjoy the variety and stuff like that, too. So you're spot on with it then. Like it's why not get a game the turns in the chairs? Why not get a game the turns in the chairs, right? I mean, come on, dual purpose. Dual purpose, dual purpose. Gosh, okay. Let me, I want to hit a couple more of these questions to get to know you on there with it because I thought I could talk to you all night um because it's so easy to talk to you. All right, so you're at the same tailgate. You're playing cornhole now, right? Or QB54.

What's in the tailgating cup?

Mike 35:36

Right.

Luke 35:36

What is gonna be in your cup? What is your tailgating drink of choice? Wow. Like right now? All right. So right now. I'll tell you what I

Going to the Giants game — what's in the cup story

Luke 35:48

had.

Mike 35:48

The last the last game I went to the Giants uh Giant game. Uh, who do they play? They're who are they playing? They're Rams? Uh no, no, no. Chargers. They played the Charger. I went to the uh Giant Charger game. And um this summer I went on vacation to an island called Madeira. It's off the coast of Morocco, which is owned by Portugal. It is the most beautiful place on this planet, okay? And I don't have money, like I said, how I got able to go there, all this ad dollars that I spend, uh, this is a shout out to Amex, for the first $150,000 you spend on advertising, you get four points. So I spent over $700,000 on advertising. So when you exceed that $150, what do you do? You open up another credit card so you can get another $150. And then when you exhaust that, then you go to another. So I had like, I don't know, 1.5 million points. And I'm like, you know what? If I can't pay myself, I'm gonna pay myself in vacations and take my family so we can enjoy this. It's better than buying shit that you're never gonna remember. You're gonna have these experiences for life. I know this is a long way of answering the question, but it hits right here. Went there, had a beer called Coral, C-O-R-A-L. Fantastic. So I went to my local liquor store and I had, because that's what we have here in Jersey, I said, Do you guys carry coral? He's like, No. He's like, what is it? So told him the story. He goes, All right, let me put an order in. And before, I went to the liquor store before the game, they had it, and I brought it. I'm like, oh my God, this is amazing. So to answer your question, coral beer. Coral. What what's what style beer is that? Kind of like a pilsner. It's like, you know, you know, when you go on vacation, you get the local beer. Uh, have you ever been to um like the Bahamas or whatever there's or you know, the Caribbean? Maybe not since you're in Colorado, but they always have like the it's the lighter type of beer. It's not like a they do have a stout, but it's not like a stout. It's nice. It's kind of like, I don't know, like I don't know, I want to say Miller Light, but it's better than that. Maybe like a long board. Have you ever had that one? Yeah, it's good. It's good. For your listeners out there, check it out. It's good. And if you can't get that, get superbac, which is the other beer in Portugal, which is phenomenal as well.

Craft beer and what's in the cup breakdown

Luke 38:08

Okay. I'm a big craft beer guy, so I I could talk about beer along with the colour. What's in your cup? What's in my cup? Uh, usually whatever is the cold beer in the cooler. But honestly, when I bring stuff, I bring a variety, right? I I know I'm I'm skirting around all the questions, but I'm an IPA guy primarily. I gave you an answer. Give me an answer. What? All right. Uh but oh, right now, hey, uh let me let me pull it out. I'll pull it out. Uh the beer fridge right here. Yeah, why not? This is the one I've been drinking. I've been drinking little vibes, and it actually is the tailgating challenge beer. So I've been drinking a lot of that this year right here. So West Coast Civil. Yeah. So it's a tailgating beer. So that's what we should be drinking. There you go. They made it there in Pennsylvania. Voodoo Brewing Company. Where? Where in Pennsylvania? Uh where are they located? I could go over there and get some. Where is where is Voodoo? I should probably know this. Uh, Meat, Meadville, Pennsylvania. Does that ring any bells? It does not, but I can always look it up on uh Google Maps. Okay. Hey, we there might be some getting shipped to your area soon as they they distribute some of it around the country, so you never know. There it is. I will try it. I'll take a picture and I'll send it to you. Boom. I love it. I love it. Okay, we got it. We got the drink in the cup, we got the game we're playing. Last question any food. You don't have to make it, you don't have to worry about the price. It's gonna show up on your plate. What would be your ideal tailgating food menu for you?

Favorite tailgate food — the Ruckers prime rib story

Mike 39:35

So shout out to Ruckers. Went to a basketball game, and they had this prime rib with uh greens on it and like a horseradish sauce. So it was the most intense, insane, delicious sandwich I ever had. And the guy that made it was behind the counter, and I was like, dude, what is in this? Fascinated. I asked him a million questions. He goes, bro, it's so easy. He takes this uh prime rib, slathers it in mustard, and then just douses it with Montreal steak rub, puts it in the fridge 24 hours before, cooks it at 200, and then for how like 15 minutes for every pound. It was so good. He gave me a second sandwich for free, and I made it on Christmas at our house. Boom, it was the best thing I've ever had. There's you're right. That doesn't matter. No, absolutely. Let me tell you one more thing. So, so when I took my kids across country to these tailgates, my son was huge into dry uh triple D, uh diners, drive-ins, and dives on the food network, right? So his goal or his job was to find us places to eat. And he would go on the website or we would watch it together. We went to every place that we ate was on that show, and it just made that experience phenomenal. He's diehard about food now, so am I. So food's a big thing.

What's on the plate — he can grill

Luke 41:03

Excellent. No, I'm so what's on your plate? What's on my plate? Uh again, like I'm the guy, like I can grill and cook out, but like I don't, when I tailgate, I'm so focused on like the culture and getting around and shooting content and doing that. Like I appreciate whatever people give me. But again, uh this sounds simple, but like a good hamburger, like you I can't you cannot go wrong with that. It's it's easy, it's digestible. Like, I feel like that's it, might not be the fancy answer that people are looking for, but like if you have that with the right contempense on it and the right beer in your cup, like, hey, like I am totally happy with that.

Will never turn down a burger

Mike 41:42

Absolutely. I I'll never turn down a burger. If you see me in person, you'll see you'll understand.

What's next for QB54

Luke 41:49

All right, Mike, tell us as we as we wrap up here, what's next for QB54?

Expand the game — add sports variations

Mike 41:56

So, what I'd like to do, um, if if we you know, if we have a successful year for the rest of the year, and maybe an uh uh and I'm able to bring some capital in, I'd love to add some add-ons to the uh to the family and introduce golf, uh, basketball, um, what else was I think? Soccer. Uh, just you could turn this chair, it's not just football. I mean, what makes it football is the field goal post. Now, what if I swap that out for a goal and made it, you know, a soccer net? Or I put the back of that chair back up and have a mini basketball. Now you have a basketball hoop. Or you can chip golf balls into the bucket, into the uh beverage holder for the automatic win. So there's all these different things that you can do that make this game uh versatile and it could reach a lot of different people, and I could get more customers coming back. So I'd like to add on to the existing um, you know, game that we have to span to more sports.

QB54 as 8 games in one

Luke 42:56

No doubt. No, that's like instead of just one game, this is now an eight in one game with QB54. So I feel like a lot of games are starting to do that too, of trying to diversify, right? To bring in different different audiences or keep people engaged with their game, where it's like, okay, just swap it out for the basketball, swap it out for the golf. I was gonna say swap it out for the bowling. I don't know if a bowling one's gonna work, but that but that's we've prompted by it.

Frisbee golf and Polish horseshoes variations

Mike 43:21

Well, look, Frisbee golf. I could put a net there with a frisbee, boom. I could put bottles on top. I could put double bottles on that, and you got Polish horseshoes.

That's a fun game too

Luke 43:29

You know what I mean? Oh, that that's now that's a really fun game, too. I enjoy that game. So that that could be an easy one, but you should have you already have one there pretty much. All right, Mike, tell people where they can find you.

Where to buy QB54 — playqb54.com, Amazon, Dick's

Mike 43:42

Sure. So you can get it at three different places right now. You can get it on our website, you can get QB54 on our website, um, playq54.com. You can get it on Amazon, and we're in over 200 Dix sporting goods stores across the country. Um, if you want to get it at Dicks, awesome, you can get it in. Instantly at the store, or they can deliver it to a store that's near you. Um, to me, you can get it. I don't care where you get it, just get it. And all roads lead back to me. And every set comes with two chairs, two sets of goalposts, a football carrying bag, a ball pump with a steel needle and a kicking tee. It's everything you need to uh to it comes with everything you need to play the game. Throw it over your shoulder, take it to the beach, take it to your backyard, or more importantly, take it to your favorite tailgate, and you're gonna have a ton of fun.

Dream retailer — Costco (manifesting)

Luke 44:31

I love that. Go ahead and let's speak it into existence. What retailer would you love to have QB54 in that it's not in currently? Next? Yeah. Costco. Call it out, speak it out. Costco? Costco. Give me a call. Costco. If you're listening to it, let's get QB54 in the store. In the store. Oh, here we go. Oh, one more question. Let's speak one more thing in there because you know, with uh Mr. Michael Strahan playing the game, who would you want as a as an athlete to play the game that hasn't played the game that you would love to see play it?

Dream opponent — Tom Brady

Mike 45:05

Former or Tom

Or Joe Burrow

Mike 45:07

Brady.

Luke 45:07

Tom Brady? Tom Brady. Let me ask you this. Or Joe Burrow. I love Joe Burrow too. Joe Burrow's the man. Go ahead. Do you think you could beat Tom Brady in a game of QB 54? 100%. Without a question.

Mike wins — no question

Mike 45:21

He can't. He's the goat. He's the goat at the real game. He's not a goat at the real, real game. I am.

Tom Brady challenge officially laid down

Luke 45:29

Tom Brady, the tailgating challenge has been laid down. Just saying. Just saying. Let's go. Come on. Don't be scared. Hey, Mike. Thank you so much for being on the show this evening. This has been just really easy to talk to you. It's been fun. It's been informative for me, especially as a tailgating connoisseur and Shark Tank aficionado. Like I loved catching up. And I'm so glad that like you're bringing a positive message with this and like you're showing the hustle. Because I think sometimes, again, we talked about people sometimes just see a brand and they think like, oh, they have 48 people helping do this. But it's like, nah, it's it's Mike. And I know, like, you know, kids and your wife, and there's people that support you doing it, but like, oh yeah, this ain't a giant.

Overnight success takes 8-9 years

Mike 46:12

And just remember, an overnight success takes about eight to nine years.

The Rutgers Tailgate Connect host — Friends of Frank

Luke 46:19

I understand. And appreciate that story as well, too. So, all right. Oh, and one more thing, Mike, before you go. So we'll plug. So again, this was the Tailgate Connect podcast. We have easy button tailgating all across America with college football NFL host. And for Mike, if you didn't know, we have a Rutgers host. We have a Rutgers host with Tailgate Connect. The name of the Tailgate is called Friends of Frank. And so I'm going to need to connect you with him so that you can go check out his tailgate. Great. He does amazing tailgates, themed tailgates. I haven't been there yet, but I need to get up there. Maybe we could all have a tailgate together at Friends of Frank with Tailgate Connect. If you're up here, you better you better uh drop me a line. I'd love to see you in person. You know, I will do that, sir. All right. Well, thanks everybody that listened through the whole episode. We appreciate you. We appreciate Mike being on here. Go follow him on social media as well, too. Go support his journey with all the cool stuff he's got going on. We hope to connect you at a tailgate very soon and hope you have a good night. See you next time.

Outro

Music 47:19

Tailgate connect. It's all here for you. Food drinking friends under sky soul blue.