188bet mobile, which has been established for 36 years, has encountered its biggest crisis，Recently announced 95% layoffs，Only the core support team remains。It has "Canadian National Treasure"、Reputation of "the show that never ends"，It is temporarily “ended” due to the global epidemic outbreak。

188bet mobile once redefined circus performance (performing arts)，Established higher barriers to competition in the same industry，But when resisting external shocks such as the black swan of the epidemic，The barriers it builds are relatively weak，Basically no hedging ability，In crisis，What is the reason for commonality and individuality？

Even if there is no epidemic，The barriers built by 188bet mobile，We are all facing more internal and external shocks，Why again？What kind of changes are taking place in the entertainment industry？

Move forward with a heavy load

188bet mobile CEO Daniel Lamarre said recently，188bet mobile’s turning point is March 14th，The company closed six resident shows in Las Vegas that day，Includes O Show at Bellagio Hotel、Ka Show at MGM Grand Hotel, etc.。

A show performer in Las Vegas told local media，“I can say things like I feel angry and sad，But this is business，I can understand 188bet mobile too。They did something good for the company，I may not agree with this approach，But I also understand that 188bet mobile is impossible to gather everyone at the show at this time。”

Daniel Lamar said，From an employee’s perspective，This may be a better choice。Because employees can not only receive unemployment insurance benefits，You may 188bet mobile receive assistance from the unemployment support program，This is why we do this。

According to local media reports in Las Vegas，188bet mobile will cover travel costs for employees touring around the world back to their respective cities，A US.6 million rescue plan will also be launched，Provide ,000 each to 1,300 employees who are non-U.S. or Canadian residents and do not receive government unemployment compensation。

Li Fei (pseudonym), a well-known company executive in the domestic cultural performance field, told Zhihui，Strictly speaking, 188bet mobile does not count as layoffs of 95%，For example, many actors are under contract，Performances canceled due to the epidemic，Of course the contract is terminated。He said，The performance industry has three "key points": preliminary creation、Equipment rental and actors。

In fact，“Doing it hard” is a key for 188bet mobile to maintain its competitive advantage，It is also an important factor that leads it to fall into crisis when facing external crises，There are common features in the entertainment industry，Also has the personality of 188bet mobile。

Let’s look at 188bet mobile in detail from several dimensions.

Content products。Continuously maintaining program innovation is the key to 188bet mobile’s long-term competitiveness。Public information mentioned，Circus Industry，The average circus show attracts audiences for about 3-5 years。To maintain continued attraction，Continuously launching new programs is inevitable。Its founder Guy Laliberte once revealed，The company uses 70% of its annual profits for new program creation。

Some people in the industry mentioned it，188bet mobile has an independent artistic creation committee，The committee enjoys high decision-making power。This means，It does not need to be bound by financial rights，There is no hassle in reporting expenses，You can create freely。This can also be understood from another perspective，Created for the show，The cost can be ignored for the time being。

here，Continuously re-roll，188bet mobile programs—Maintain attraction and foot traffic—Maintain (more) revenue and profits—Invest in 188bet mobile programs—Maintain attraction and foot traffic—Maintain (more) revenue and profits—Invest in 188bet mobile programs…Maintain a cycle。

The program is more than creative，There are also technical applications implemented。To achieve a better experience，188bet mobile’s stages and scenery have invested a lot of technology，Many of them are internally developed patents。This means a lot of investment，New technology that also matches the project creativity，Limited scope of application，In terms of obtaining additional income from output，Not necessarily easy，Weaken the marginal effect。

Re-investing is not scary，The key lies 188bet mobile return on investment of the new program?

Li Fei thinks，If 188bet mobile is a tour project，188bet mobile is estimated that the capital will be recovered in about two years，This is normal in the performance industry，With a 5-year cycle，The amortized profit rate is around ten percent，"(Profit) is actually average，This is an estimate、Industry with small profits but quick turnover，There is not much room for imagination in the capital market。”

Also，New programs also have risks of failure。Public information display，R, which opened in Las Vegas last October.U.The production cost of N show is as high as 62 million US dollars，But the reviews after the performance were not good，As early as early January this year, there was an internal plan to stop performances in April。In February this year，In view of the huge production costs and the unemployment pressure that an immediate stop may bring to the performers，188bet mobile brought in a new director to fix it，But ultimately unsuccessful，Suspended in the near future。

Let’s talk about talents，Creative talents are expensive，Actors are not cheap either。188bet mobile pays attention to global casting，Integrate the best performing arts resources，Its database contains allegedly 30,000 actor resources，At the same time, there is a training system and mechanism for some actors。The core is the best idea，Plus the most powerful actors、The best show，Only then can we complement each other。

Li Fei said，Due to performance needs，Many 188bet mobile performers sign "life and death contracts"，Purchasing high-cost insurance is necessary，The labor cost is very high。“As long as you are a content provider，You will definitely spend a lot of money。”He said。

As a content provider，188bet mobile versus creativity、Technology、Talent emphasis and high dependence，Making the integration or modularization of programs less feasible，The supply chain it builds includes talents、Technology、Content products, etc.，Efficient essential improvement，High investment、Low return、Inefficient operation has become the main tone of 188bet mobile。

Debt expansion

High cost investment，Making the ticket prices for 188bet mobile shows relatively high，The target customer group is also relatively niche，This may bring about two hidden dangers: First, once the economic environment is depressed，Consumption decline，Their program revenue will be directly affected，Increase the risk of cost recovery and profitability of high-investment projects；Second, the ticket price is higher，There is limited room to increase revenue by increasing ticket prices in the mid-to-late period。

According to other public data，Its revenue model is single，Mainly rely on tickets，As much as 85% (another said 80%)。These result in 188bet mobile’s weak ability to resist risks，Similar to the impact of this epidemic，There is basically no hedging method，Closing business and layoffs are inevitable。

To weaken the risk，188bet mobile mainly has two levels of action，First, the marginal effect of making big programs，Develop derivative products to achieve new revenue streams。Incomplete statistics，188bet mobile has developed more than 2,000 derivative products，Including clothing、Artwork、Handicrafts and tour project DVDs, etc.。

The second is to expand the industrial chain and diversify 188bet mobile development.

IP cooperation is one aspect。188bet mobile once rehearsed the circus "Pandora" based on the famous director James Cameron's movie "Avatar"，Started global tour in 2015。On the other hand is，Content and technical capability output，For example, it built an experience center for the National Football League，Here，Video、Audio、Removable seats and even scent integration，Let visitors feel like they are in the middle of the game。

Another aspect is mergers and acquisitions expansion。July 2017，188bet mobile acquires music and comedy group Blue Man Group；February last year，188bet mobile acquires The Works Entertainment, the production company of magic shows such as "Now You See Me" for US million。

The number of subsidiaries has increased, which has increased the ability of internalization and external export.

188bet mobile’s core models are mainly three: tour、Resident show、Self-built venue performance。The cost of touring is not low，Marketing、Manpower、Transportation and venue are all costs，If there is a partner to share the cost，Profits must also be divided；Build your own venue such as a theme park，Big profits，The risk is also high；Compare，Residence shows are the most profitable model，That is, light asset output，188bet mobile is responsible for creating output programs、Technology, etc.，Basically a guaranteed profit without loss。188bet mobile has six or seven resident shows in Las Vegas，Formation of monopoly，But there is also the risk of getting together。

Resident shows and self-built venues，They all consider realizing the brand value and making it bigger，Judging from the current 188bet mobile resident show，It is still relatively restricted in terms of regional expansion。

And these business extensions，In fact, the increase in revenue of 188bet mobile is not obvious。Public data not directly derived from 188bet mobile’s financial report，Its revenue in 2010 reached 8.USD 500 million，later reached 1 billion US dollars, the highest peak in recent years，2014、2015、Revenue in 2017 and 2018 was 8.USD 4.5 billion、7.US.6 billion、7..1 billion and 8.US.9 billion。

What’s worse，188bet mobile is also facing a big debt problem。June 2018，Standard & Poor's，188bet mobile acquired family entertainment company Vstar Entertainment with an estimated million in loans。The acquisition of The Work Entertainment was funded by shareholders the Caisse and FTQ Investment Fund 1.USD 200 million financing loan。

December 2018，Increase in borrowing costs due to poor performance of key businesses，Moody’s announced a downgrade of the credit rating of 188bet mobile Entertainment Group。The agency stated，The expansion strategy at the expense of increasing debt will increase the financial burden on the core business，In case of operational problems，Very little flexibility in dealing with problems。

The weight-bearing posture is obvious.

What to do after the epidemic?

Compared to foreign epidemics，The epidemic in China has been basically controlled，The resident show project "X Fantasy", a collaboration between 188bet mobile and Xintiandi Group, is expected to open in April。

"X Fantasy" is 188bet mobile's first resident show in Asia (if not counting the failed Macau project)，This can be understood as 188bet mobile has finally made an important move in the Chinese market，It can also be considered that entering the Chinese market is not easy。

Back in 2015，International private equity investment company TPG (hereinafter referred to as "TPG") and Fosun International jointly acquired 80% of 188bet mobile's equity，The intention to open up the situation in China has become more obvious，Including synergy or even complementation with Fosun’s cultural tourism business。

Li Fei thinks，188bet mobile is not optimistic enough to open more markets in China，One factor is offline performances，Except the brand，The leader or soul figure is also very critical。Guy Laliberte, the founder of 188bet mobile, is this person，But it has left the market after selling most of its shares in 2015。For the influence logic, please refer to Sanxiang Impression Acquisition Guan Impression Post，Zhang Yimou will leave after the Iron Triangle contract expires。

Guy Laliberte once passed his idea、Program innovation and creation，Built the unique 188bet mobile，Although his departure also created other innovation space，But as far as the core of 188bet mobile is maintained and continued，Nature is also affected。

“I was really excited to see 188bet mobile perform 20 years ago，That’s awesome，"Li Fei said，But now he personally feels that he has not seen any particularly influential works released in recent years。

You can also say，What if 188bet mobile was “reborn”，That’s not it，Lost the essence or core，And the risk is also very high；If you continue the existing model，Or more innovation in technology，But this requires soul-like creativity。

In addition, the external environment is 188bet mobile changing.

Li Fei said，188bet mobile has also suffered some impacts in recent years，From emerging and more innovative immersive performances，The business development is not as strong as before。The market is more diversified，Product Diversification、Diversified needs。

188bet mobile opens up the Chinese market，One of the major partners is a real estate company (paying the bill)，But the competition faced by 188bet mobile will become increasingly fierce，Because there are more choices for partners。

The excitement of dopamine secretion brought by 188bet mobile shows，There are more satisfying alternatives，Especially for young people。Li Fei mentioned it，188bet mobile and Harry Potter Project，My own children are even more obsessed with the latter，More exciting than the former，And the latter is experienced in amusement rides，Compared to sitting in a theater，The experience is also different。

In a younger market，How well does 188bet mobile fit the needs of young people，is one of the key issues。

Li Fei said，The core question is if 188bet mobile continues its existing model，The stickiness between it and young audiences may gradually disappear。The current model of young people establishing their liking for content products，is game mode，The core of it is to generate stickiness，Or "circling fans"。

Judging from the current online penetration rate of young people，Whether it is marketing or "fans" of the program，The marginal effect of expanding 188bet mobile’s existing business online，Offline programs online，Or develop online projects，Online and offline business collaboration, etc.，Try online extension，It can be a consideration。

But there is another problem here，What are the advantages of being online，What is the logic of building online brands and products？Channel、Traffic and conversion，Content creation and monetization，Construction of online mode, etc.，188bet mobile all requires a lot of thinking。Give a reference example，Songcheng Performing Arts once acquired six rooms，Try to explore the Internet performing arts business，But then the six rooms were stripped out，There are many factors involved，But 188bet mobile also shows that online exploration is not easy。

It is not easy for the performing arts market to recover after the epidemic，188bet mobile’s dilemma is not easy to solve either。