''Cleveland Hustles'' is an hour-long American reality TV series created by

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

and Maverick Carter, which aired for an 8-episode season between August 24 and October 12, 2016, on

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

. In it, aspiring entrepreneurs competed to open one of four physical stores in the Gordon Square Arts District under the mentorship of a Cleveland investor.

About

The show was produced by SpringHill Entertainment and Magical Elves, with

and Maverick Carter as executive producers. It was hosted by Bonin Bough, with Kumar Arora, Alan Glazen, Kathy Futey, and Jonathan Sawyer as its panel of investors, and LeBron James making several cameos. The show was based in the Gordon Square Arts District, a commercial hub in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighbourhood near

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. Cleveland had been second on the Distressed Community Index, and fourth on the list of dying cities. CNBC announced that it would "help a neighborhood that desperately needs investment", and may have assisted Gordon Square's revitalization. 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". In each of the first four episodes, two businesses presented competing pitches and ran a pop-up shop, with one of the businesses being selected for mentoring and financing. The remaining four episodes focussed on stages in the setup and opening of the selected stores.

Cast

Bonin Bough: former executive VP for PR firms

Weber Shandwick Weber Shandwick is a marketing communications firm formed in 2001 by merging the Weber Group, Shandwick International and BSMG. The company is part of global agency network Interpublic Group The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is a ...

and Ruder Finn who then joined

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

in 2008. Serving as its senior global director for digital and social media, his work resulted in ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

'' naming him one of its "100 Most Creative People In Business" in 2011. Between 2012 and 2016, he worked for multinational food company

Mondelez International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...

, where he became its chief media and e-commerce officer. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Philip Morris International, the multinational tobacco company. Kumar Arora: CEO of investment firm Aroridex, founder of designer sunglasses company Rogue Eyewear, and investor in , a streetwear apparel company. Kathy Futey: A wealth management advisor who previously worked at

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

. She serves on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) and the Cuyahoga Valley

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. Alan Glazen: A neighborhood developer, and retired advertising executive. He co-founded the Cleveland International Film Festival, and was once mayor of the village of Bentleyville, Ohio Jonathon Sawyer: Chef and owner of three Cleveland restaurants, including the Greenhouse Tavern for which he won a

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

in 2015 as ''Best Chef: Great Lakes''. He was a finalist on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

's 2016 Chopped Grill Masters series.

Episodes

References

{{CNBC primetime programming 2016 American television series debuts 2010s American reality television series CNBC original programming Television shows set in Cleveland 2016 American television series endings