As regular Shark Tank viewers know, pitchers on the show have to get all the money they ask for, or the deal doesn’t happen. That means that some pitches inevitably fail just because the entrepreneurs have hedged their bets and gone for the big bucks. That doesn’t mean real money doesn’t come into play, however; and on tonight’s episode, viewers are set to witness the biggest deal in Shark Tank history.
The deal made tonight will be bigger than last year’s $2 million dollar handshake between Mark Cuban and Melissa Carbone of Ten Thirty One Productions. It was one of the deals that not only ended with smiles on-air, but after the cameras went dark. In March 2014, D Magazine quoted Cuban on how many of his Shark Tank transactions don’t get inked .
“Of the deals I make on the air, maybe 30 percent don’t happen. I’d say 90 percent of the time, the entrepreneur changed the deal. It was not us backing out.”
The deal with Ten Thirty One did indeed happen, as Fortune reported in June that Live Nation had also signed on to partner with the horror-attraction company.
In a sneak peek provided to TV Guide , tonight’s record-breaking deal might be for $2.5 million. A clip on the site shows an entrepreneur with a business called Zipz that provides single-use wineglasses. The business owner is shown asking for that amount in exchange for 10 percent of his company. The teaser has an intrigued Kevin O’Leary saying he’ll give an offer, although it’s not shown on what terms, or if O’Leary eventually gets the handshake.
It will not be the first time Shark Tank has featured a business that sells single-use wineglasses. Copa di Vino founder James Martin appeared twice on the program and twice left without a deal. In April 2014 Martin told ABC News that his company had done $500,000 in revenue before his first appearance. Now, the company does $25 million in revenue. Martin said he had been so confident in his product, he was sure he would land the biggest Shark Tank deal ever.
Barbara Corcoran explained why the sharks were put off by Martin, despite liking his business.
“He was arrogant, he didn’t listen. Everyone was giving him good suggestions. He just dismissed it as though he was talking to no one. He made every shark hate him within minutes.”
Whether it’s the wine in the Zipz glasses that gets the big deal out of the sharks has yet to be seen, until the program airs tonight on ABC.
[ Shark Tank Image: ABC]
