RJ Phillips of Former Fans Ends Controversy with Zoop’s Sports Deal

RJ Phillips, the founder of OnlyFans, is back in contention as he refines his latest venture: a “socially important app” called Zoop. The platform is the official social media partner of the first Enhanced Games, a multi-sport competition in Las Vegas on May 24 that openly promotes the use of performance-enhancing drugs to test the limits of human potential.

About 40 athletes will compete, including American swimmers and Olympic gold medalists Cody Miller and Hunter Armstrong; Colombian weightlifter and Olympic silver medalist Leidy Solis; and Australian swimmer and former world champion James Magnussen, who is coming out of retirement for the event. Nearly a million users have already signed up for Zoop or joined its waiting list, with athletes sharing training routines and life snippets inside the event’s Abu Dhabi training camp.

Advanced Games will feature a $1 million prize pool for world record-breaking play, as well as additional payouts to the winners of each event. There will be no drug testing, and the competition will not comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency rules that govern the Olympics.

Despite the controversy surrounding the Games, Phillips insists it is not something he actively seeks. “We agree that there is controversy around games. There are always new things emerging,” he told the Observer. He puts Zoop in general terms: just as OnlyFans is primarily a paid subscription platform rather than a porn site, Zoop is first and foremost a community center that returns most of its revenue to creators. As he puts it, “If you don’t want to watch cartoons, you don’t watch Cartoon Network.”

A platform with creators at heart

Founded in 2020 by Phillips and OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely, Zoop initially launched as a platform for fan interaction through digital avatars, with additional NFT trading capabilities. That model showed up this time, but like most metaverse and NFT ventures—including Meta’s metaverse, which was reportedly worth $80 billion before shutting down in March—it eventually needed a pivot.

“We stepped back and said, ‘What are we trying to achieve here?’ We are trying to achieve better and more equitable payments and setups for everyone involved in this ecosystem,” said Phillips.

He points to the inequality in how content platforms distribute revenue. “If someone is gone and shot a knockout punch, and that is no longer online, the platforms make more money from that than Fury, than the organizers of the event or anyone else,” he said. In his opinion, “you pay for a table in a restaurant by holding your food while you eat.

Zoop aims to differentiate itself by sharing more than 80 percent of its creators, including Advanced Sports athletes across swimming, weightlifting and track and field. Phillips says the model is sustainable, as big platforms like Instagram and TikTok often contribute 50 percent.

The platform also includes what Phillips calls an “AI kill switch,” which allows users to opt out of viewing AI-generated content and prioritize human-generated posts.

A broad economy of creators underscores Zoop’s superiority. Of the more than 200 million content creators worldwide, only about two million earn six figures a year. Most influencers rely heavily on brand relationships, with companies now devoting a quarter of their digital marketing budget to influencer campaigns. The real-world impact is evident at events like Coachella, often referred to as the “Influencer Olympics” due to the influx of creatives sponsored by brands.

Zoop positions itself as an alternative. With a larger share of revenue coming from ads and user engagement, creators can enter what Phillips describes as a “new world,” where they can earn money “without selling a product that they might believe in.”

Advanced Games has received a lot of criticism. Norwegian sports scientists Øyvind Sandbakk and Sigmund Loland describe the event as “a very dangerous social experiment. [that] it rejects the principles that govern high-level sports: respect for the independence and health of athletes, fair competition and the fight for sports and human dignity.”

Phillips says Zoop is taking sides in the debate, even though he “likes what they’re trying to achieve there.”

Beyond Advanced Games, Zoop is building partnerships with other global events to expand its reach. This includes the first ever Eurovision Song Contest Asia, which will be held in Bangkok in November. Phillips said the company is also in “advanced discussions” to launch in China later this year – an ambitious move given the country’s strict internet controls.

However, Zoop draws a clear line when it comes to moderating controversial content. The forum, Phillips said, will not act as a regulatory authority on all controversial topics.

“Our responsibility is to operate safely, comply with applicable laws and regulations and provide an enabling infrastructure [creators] to reach their audience responsibly,” he said. “In cases like this, channel owners are also responsible for their content, while we ensure that platform standards and government requirements are met.”