ABOUT BBQ UNITED

Where BBQ Competition, Culture, and Community Come Together

What Is BBQ United?

BBQ United is the digital home for everyone who loves BBQ—whether you're competing for championships, perfecting your backyard brisket, planning BBQ road trips, or watching competition shows and dreaming about getting started.

We're building the platform that connects it all: competition coverage, championship techniques, restaurant discoveries, and a community where every BBQ lover belongs.

Think of us as ESPN meets Yelp for BBQ—with the $1M BBQ World Cup as our championship stage.

Who This Is For ?

The CompetitorTrack your standings, find qualifiers, follow the path to Vegas and $1M.

The EnthusiastLearn championship techniques, discover new spots, level up your game.

The ExplorerFind legendary BBQ joints, hidden gems, and plan your next food adventure.

The LearnerNever touched a smoker? We'll walk you through it. No judgment, just guidance.

The GathererYou bring the sides, plan the parties, create the memories around BBQ.

The FanYou watch every BBQ show, follow pitmasters, and want to be part of the culture.

However you love BBQ—you belong here!

What We Built

The FeedWhat's happening in BBQ and Live Fire right now. Competition results across all sanctioning bodies (KCBS, IBCA, SCA), championship techniques from top pitmasters, new restaurant openings, gear reviews, and BBQ culture stories. Updated daily.

The Pit (Q2 2026)Your BBQ and Live Fire discovery and community hub. Share your cooks, review restaurants, post your favorite spots, ask questions, connect locally, and build your BBQ story. This is where you discover great BBQ and share what you love.

Compete/BBQ World Cup & ExpoFollow the competition world. Live scoring, unified rankings across circuits, competitor profiles, and clear paths from local cook-offs, Live Fire meet ups to championship level. We cover what's already great—KCBS, IBCA, regional events—and amplify it.

The Ember ClubFree weekly newsletter. Championship recipes, restaurant picks before they blow up, technique tips, competition coverage, and early access to World Cup qualifiers. Join 1,000+ members.

The BBQ World Cup & ExpoOur flagship championship. $1M prize pool (largest in BBQ history). 100 competitors. 20 qualifiers across the US. Las Vegas finals, March 2027. Where competition, culture, and community come together in one massive celebration.

The Main Event

The BBQ World Cup & Expo

We're launching with the global event BBQ deserves.

$1MPrize Pool

100Top Competitors

2027Las Vegas, March

The Competition

Open qualification through 20+ regional events. Top pitmasters competing in brisket, ribs, pork, and chicken. $500K first place. Professional judging. Live coverage.

The Expo

Live demos, pitmaster meet-and-greets, equipment showcases, restaurant tastings, educational seminars, and full BBQ and Live Fire culture celebration.

The Partnership

We're working with KCBS, competition organizers, sanctioning bodies, and BBQ associations to create something that elevates the entire sport. Not replacing what exists—building the championship stage on top of it.

Why It Matters

BBQ has the skill, the passion, the fans, and the culture of a major sport. It just needs the platform and the prize pool. This is BBQ's moment.

Explore the World Cup

Why We're Building This

The BBQ world is thriving. Competitions are growing. Creators have massive followings. Restaurants draw hour-long lines. The community is generous and passionate.

But it's scattered—YouTube for videos, Instagram for photos, Reddit for discussions, sanctioning body sites for results, Yelp for restaurants, Facebook groups for community.

We're not fixing anything.
We're connecting everything.

One platform where KCBS results sit alongside Memphis BBQ techniques and Austin restaurant reviews. Where championship competitors and backyard beginners share space. Where the World Cup brings us all together annually, and the daily platform serves us year-round.

Our Commitment

To Competition Orgs & Sanctioning Bodies

We're here to amplify what you've built, not compete with it. Media coverage, competitor visibility, sport elevation—we're your platform partner.

To Competitors

We showcase your craft across all circuits. Build your profile, track achievements, connect with fans. Your journey matters.

To Event Promoters

We'll drive awareness and attendance for your competitions. Your events are the heart of this community.

To Restaurants

The Pit helps BBQ lovers discover you—from legends to hidden gems getting started.

To Creators

Keep your platforms—we drive traffic to you. Plus new monetization through product features and partnerships.

To Brands & Everyone

Reach engaged BBQ enthusiasts at every level. This is your platform. Your feedback guides it. Your community makes it real.

Who We Are

We're BBQ people with platform experience.

🔥We compete.
🔥We burn briskets.
🔥We drive hours for the right sandwich.
🔥We watch every BBQ show.

We're part of this community—not observers trying to capitalize on it.

We also bring experience building platforms that connect communities and elevate categories without displacing what exists.

We've worked with sports organizations, sanctioning bodies, and brands to create infrastructure that serves ecosystems.

To Connect, Not Compete.We're here to contribute, not control.

Meet The Founders

Scott Erdmann

Founder & CEO BBQ United and BBQ World Cup & Expo

Scott Erdmann is a sports and entertainment entrepreneur and the founder of BBQ United and the BBQ World Cup, a global barbecue competition and media platform built around a $1 million prize, live events, and digital membership. With a background in launching and scaling sports properties, Scott focuses on owning IP, aggregating media, and building scalable fan ecosystems. He blends competition, content, commerce, and sponsorship to modernize barbecue into a global sport and lifestyle brand.

Shannon Pruitt

Co-Founder & President, BBQ United and BBQ World Cup & Expo

Shannon Pruitt is the Co-Founder and President of BBQ United and BBQ World Cup & Expo, a global, fan-driven barbecue league and digital platform redefining competitive food as sport and entertainment. She is a seasoned platform executive with more than 20 years of experience building and scaling sports and entertainment franchises through connected fan experiences, content ecosystems, and technology-enabled communities. Shannon has helped grow global IP across FIFA, Formula 1, the NFL, MLB, American Idol, and the Walt Disney network portfolio, overseeing and driving more than $1B in global IP revenue and marketing. Formerly Global CMO of Stagwell and founder of Dentsu’s $23M Story Lab, she now focuses on building scalable leagues, creator economies, and fandom-powered platforms through BBQ United.

Chris Brown

CTO

Chris is a veteran technologist with 15+ years engineering league infrastructure and high-scale sports technology systems. Former lead engineer for the Alliance of American Football and current CTO of Infinite Athlete, he oversees scoring, CRM, payments, compliance, and AI tools that fuel the Smoke Signal and BBQ World Cup digital experience.

Advisors

Charlie Ebersol

Charlie Ebersol is an award-winning television and film producer, turned sports and technology entrepreneur. As a seven-time founder with five exits, he has raised over $400 million across media, sports, and technology. Most recently, Ebersol served as the CEO and co-founder of Infinite Athlete, an AI sports technology startup with partnerships across the NFL and Chelsea Football Club. In late 2025, Ebersol sold Infinite Athlete and its subsidiary Biocore to the global human performance company, Exos. Ebersol has always been rooted in storytelling. He is an award-winning producer with credits that include Netflix's "The Recruit," CNBC's "The Profit," and ESPN's acclaimed documentary, "This Was the XFL." In 2019, he co-founded the Alliance of American Football and currently serves on the board of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports (TGL), where he was one of the original investors. Ebersol is a graduate of Notre Dame and currently resides in Atlanta with his family.

Reed Bergman

Reed Bergman is President and Managing Partner of VaynerTalent and a senior business development leader across VaynerX. One of the most influential connectors in sports and entertainment, he brings more than thirty five years of experience bridging elite athletes, leagues, team ownership, Fortune 500 brands, and Hollywood talent.

Mark Neifeld

Mark Neifeld serves as a trusted advisor, bringing deep expertise in launching and scaling sports properties. As the founder and CEO of the Sport Fishing Championship, he built the first-ever national tournament series for offshore fishing, combining high-stakes competition with premium media storytelling.

Steve Ziff

C-suite executive with over 20 years of experience leading brand, revenue, and marketing strategy across some of the biggest names in professional sports. He has held senior leadership roles with five major teams in the NFL, NHL, and MLB.

Chad Ward

Founder of Whiskey Bent BBQ and a hospitality‑driven culinary entrepreneur known for building food brands through culture, community, and real‑world cooking experiences. With over a decade of experience in barbecue media, events, and brand development, Chad now serves as an Advisor to BBQ World Cup, helping shape the next era of global competitive barbecue.

This is where BBQ comes together.

Where competitions get championship visibility.

Where you discover your next favorite spot.

Where you learn from the best.

Where the World Cup crowns the champion.

Where the community connects daily.

Where you belong.

UNITED BY FIRE.

The BBQ United TeamScott Erdmann & Shannon Pruitt