August 24 (2016-08-24) – October 12, 2016 (2016-10-12)
Cleveland Hustles is an hour-long Americanreality TV series created byLeBron James andMaverick Carter, which aired for an 8-episode season between August 24 and October 12, 2016, onCNBC. In it, aspiring entrepreneurs competed to open one of four physical stores in theGordon Square Arts District under the mentorship of a Cleveland investor.[1]
The show was produced by SpringHill Entertainment and Magical Elves, withLeBron James andMaverick Carter as executive producers. It was hosted byBonin Bough, with Kumar Arora, Alan Glazen, Kathy Futey, and Jonathan Sawyer as its panel of investors,[2] and LeBron James making several cameos.[3]
The show was based in theGordon Square Arts District, a commercial hub in Cleveland'sDetroit-Shoreway neighbourhood nearLake Erie.[4] Cleveland had been second on the Distressed Community Index, and fourth on the list of dying cities.[5] CNBC announced that it would "help a neighborhood that desperately needs investment",[6] and may have assisted Gordon Square's revitalization.[4] One business owner, however, suggested that "To create good TV, you have to create a villain. That villain was vacancies", and investor Sawyer confirmed that "the neighborhood was going to be there with or without the show... It was going in that direction, is going in that direction and buildings are still affordable".[4]
In each of the first four episodes, two businesses presented competing pitches and ran apop-up shop, with one of the businesses being selected for mentoring and financing.[7][8][9][10] The remaining four episodes focussed on stages in the setup and opening of the selected stores.[11][12][13]
Bonin Bough: former executive VP for PR firmsWeber Shandwick andRuder Finn who then joinedPepsiCo in 2008. Serving as its senior global director for digital and social media, his work resulted inFast Company naming him one of its "100 Most Creative People In Business" in 2011.[14] Between 2012 and 2016, he worked for multinational food companyMondelez International, where he became its chief media and e-commerce officer.[15] He is a member of the Board of Directors of Philip Morris International, the multinational tobacco company.[16]
Kumar Arora: CEO of investment firm Aroridex,[17] founder of designer sunglasses company Rogue Eyewear,[18] and investor in iLTHY, a streetwear apparel company.[19]
