Why Ludwig has canceled Mogul Chessboxing 2023

Internet personality, Ludwig, has put a stop to all plans for his chessboxing competition and Mogul Chessboxing will not be returning in 2023. The news was revealed on Twitter/X on September 28. This left fans in bewilderment as the event was a huge success last year and remains Ludwig's most popular and notorious live show event.

As it turns out the reasoning is down to the fight sanctioning and legality of the event, something no one expected.

Ludwig first posted on X that he is "bummed" to make the announcement and said that this is "definitely the biggest failure in my career." He then went live on YouTube to explain the reasoning behind Mogul Chessboxing's cancelation in 2023.

In his video, he talks about how producing content that can be repeated is generally a successful formula in providing stability in the content creation world. This in turn attracts more sponsors. In most cases, we always see content creators sticking to the products they know best and well-accepted by sponsors.

Ludwig, however, does not like to repeat what he's doing. "I've always resented the idea that I would be known for one thing. I want to do multiple things."

On chess boxing, he explains how the event is still not at its peak and there is still room to grow. "I'm down to do an event again if there's a way to iterate on it and make it better than before. I don't like it if it's just the same thing."

Ludwig went on to explain his vision of how he planned make the event better. First, he wanted to get bigger names and better fighters to compete in the tournament. Second, he planned get some of the best chess players in the world. And lastly, he would bring the event to Las Vegas, the fighting capital of the world.

Everything sounded good on paper but this is when bureaucracy will put an end to Ludwig's grand plan.

In the United States, there's a law called the Amateur Sports Act of 1978. This law's basis is to unify the fragmented sports organizations under one body for each Olympic sport. Through this act, any Olympic-style sport, such as boxing, will need to be overseen by a federally run organization.

Last year, Mogul Chessboxing was overseen by the World Chessboxing Organisation. The event ran smoothly with no serious cases of injuries and a lot of safety precautions. Unfortunately, the WCO isn't sanctioned under the Amateur Sports Act. This made Mogul Chessboxing an unsanctioned event.

Any sports events that are organized in the US usually have oversight from the federally run committee or state-elected committees. The events need to be sanctioned by these bodies to protect the well-being of athletes as well as the organizers.

If anything happens during an unsanctioned event, the event promoter can be sued or face jail time. Ludwig stated his plan to do the chessboxing event properly this year by getting Mogul Chess Boxing to be sanctioned by one of the sports committees.

He first contacted USA Boxing, the American national governing body for Olympic-style boxing. His request was unfortunately rejected as the body does not recognize chessboxing as the same as Olympic-style boxing.

With this, Ludwig tried to apply to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a sanction. The committee put Ludwig in a loop where they asked him to refer to USA Boxing, as according to them, chess boxing is in line with Olympic-style boxing. As a result, Ludwig was unable to get Mogul Chessboxing sanctioned.

Unfortunately, throughout this whole ordeal, Ludwig still has to proceed with his plan. This is because oftentimes, the sports committee will give the event promoter a license only when they see some progress in the planning.

They have already booked an arena at The Orleans, Las Vegas for the event. The Ticketmaster page for the event ticket is ready to go live. Unfortunately, they still don't have a sanction.

In mid-September, Ludwig was given the option to turn the event into a kickboxing event. This will result in the event being categorized as mixed martial arts (MMA) instead. He was reluctant to choose this option as the fighters had already started their boxing training and it would be irresponsible for him to change sports.

At last, Ludwig said he was presented with four options. He can either continue running the event without a sanction, turn the boxing event into a kickboxing event, move the event to a new state, or cancel the event completely.

He had to weigh his options and question whether he should go all out for this event. "But I reached a point where I was like, why am I trying to run this at all cost right now? What is the main goal? Is this my selfish ego trying to run the event that I am the most known for, that has the highest amount of success, or is it me trying to do something for other people?"

He realized that the last option was the best option for him: "Because if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it f***ing correctly. I'm not just going to do an event that people sign up for risking their own safety and health just to get it across the finish line."

Ludwig has leaked the incomplete lineup of fighters who are supposed to join the Mogul Chessboxing in 2023. Among the invited personalities were ExtraEmily, Tubbo, and Slime. Known chess players like Anna-Maja Kazarian and Lara Armas were also part of the team.

He shared that one of the hardest parts of his decision was telling the fighters about the failed plan. "I'm deeply humbled and flattered if I ask people... to fight and get punched and train their a** off for months and they say yes. That's insane to me", he said. "So to go back to them and say hey we have to cancel it, that was tough."

With the plan being scrapped for 2023, Ludwig expressed how this experience motivates him further to be a better content creator.

"When I found out that chessboxing was canceled, that was very motivating. for me. I'm not done, I'm not sunsetting, I have 2024. I have, I think, the best f***ing team in the world at creating live content, I believe that. I have the motivation to make the best f***ing show I can do in 2024, I believe that. And I think I also have a viewer base who if I'm honest with, and who I speak to and talk about this thing, are down for the ride if I'm able to provide sh*t that is worth their time."

Ludwig also reflected on how his streaming career is not doing well in 2023. He is planning to work on a balance of creating content and organizing events.

"So 2023, it's a wash. But I promise, and I mean this, that I will do everything I can do to make sure that (in) 2024, I do sh*t that is worth your time."

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