World Axe and World Knife Throwing Leagues host U.S. Open tournament in Minneapolis

INTERVIEWER: I'm betting you've heard about the latest craze, where folks can get a beer or two, pick up axes, and throw them at targets. It's become such a popular thing. And there are people who are so good at catapulting axes toward targets, it's become its own sport. There are now more than 6,000 throwers in 28 countries, which has led to the World Axe and World Knife Throwing leagues. Tournaments are broadcast on ESPN. And in fact, the US Open Axe Throwing Tournament is this weekend, in the Twin Cities.

Mario Zelaya is the CEO of Bad Axe Throwing in Toronto, Canada. He's the commissioner and CEO of the World Axe Throwing League, and the founder and CEO of the World Knife Throwing League. He's on the line. Mario, welcome.

MARIO ZELAYA: Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.

INTERVIEWER: I'll admit, Mario, I've not watched nor participated in axe throwing. So you're going to be schooling me and some of our listeners. What other sports might axe throwing be comparable to?

MARIO ZELAYA: I would say it's very similar to bowling and very similar to throwing a soccer ball over your head.

INTERVIEWER: So help me out, you take axe in hand, you step up, you ready yourself to throw it. What are you thinking about? What does it feel like?

MARIO ZELAYA: There are certain athletes that are part of the World Axe Throwing League that see sports psychologists, to help them cope with nerves, high pressure scenarios. Especially when you're on TV, a lot of the stuff is on the line. The lights are shining on you. You're on ESPN. You're on national TV. And you're competing against what may be the finals or the semifinals, to be the best axe thrower in the world.

INTERVIEWER: Baseball players, as you know, are picky about the weight of their bats. They put pine tar on them. Hockey players carefully sculpt and prepare their sticks. What do axe throwers do?

MARIO ZELAYA: It's funny because you look at an axe, and you think it's very basic. There's a handle and there's an axe head. But a lot of the higher end axe throwers, they will care about how smooth maybe the finish is on, om the wooden handle. So some of them might care about the material. Some of them like to maybe create a little notch for their pinky. So that lets them know that they're holding their axe at the exact same place, every single time.

Others, which we're moving towards manufacturing in the World Axe Throwing League axis, is creating square handles. They also look at the axe heads. Axes for throwing are specially manufactured not to chop wood. You just want it to stick. And in order to get that axe to stick on the board, they have to be very, very thin. The axes are very, very, very different.

INTERVIEWER: I understand that you put together the safety standards, the formalization of the rules, the rules of the game. Really now, honest, did you just make these up to begin with?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes, we really did. And there's so many elements to the rules and the creation of the rules, the modification and the enhancements of the rules. It's a very tough mental exercise. You can't really do a great job of creating a great set of rules without being a great thrower yourself, or having a great understanding of the game. And so early on, we created a very basic version of our rules.

And I mean, while I say they were basic, there still was a lot of thought, how many throws each thrower would have. We had the foresight to know that maybe the left target has a bit softer wood than the right one. Because there's differences in wood. And so how do you make it even? You do five throws on each side. You tap axes, and you switch. And so, it's really difficult to think of all the scenarios. And that's why the rules have basically evolved. Because the sport itself is actually quite young.

Bad Axe Throwing was founded in 2014. The World Axe Throwing League was founded in 2017. And so there were earlier versions of the rules that we used within Bad Axe Throwing. But for the World Axe Throwing League itself, WATL, I mean, it's really only five years old.

INTERVIEWER: Wow. Now, how in the world did you get involved in axe throwing? You're in Canada. Is there something to being a Canadian?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yeah, I mean, I think that's got a part of it, a part to do with it. Axe throwing, similar to knife throwing, both of them have been around for a very, very long time. No one really commercialized it. And no one really took the concept of doing this backyard activity into an indoor organized activity event. And that's what we were really great at doing.

INTERVIEWER: There's something I have to be honest with you, Mario, of throwing axes indoors. And there's alcohol involved. I just, I have trouble with that, looking at how that scenario might play out. No, I'm presuming you have rules on that.

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes, we do. And so, there's two things that actually help with safety. One is, we're not a place where people come to get intoxicated. The drinking is more of a secondary add-on. And the other thing that helps too is, we have a zero tolerance rule for intoxication. And so all of our staff has the state level training and the designation to serve. Since the existence of axe throwing from 2014, in North America, there hasn't been a single major insurance claim. And the type of injuries that have happened are really more paper cuts. But yeah, overall, it's extremely safe. And it's extremely fun.

INTERVIEWER: Now, you mentioned this will be broadcast on ESPN, the tournament will be. Any Minnesota or Upper Midwest people we need to watch?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes, so there is David Lewis and Austin Lewicki. They're both local from the Minneapolis area. They both have done a phenomenal job of growing the sport in the Minneapolis area. They actually threw at our Bad Axe Minneapolis. And so those are the two that I would say, locally, I think will do very well.

INTERVIEWER: We'll have to watch for them. Now, because it is on ESPN, which is a big thing, obviously. Do you have a goal to hold the tournaments, say, in stadiums in the future?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes, so because we have two Bad Axe Throwing facilities that are quite large, in the Minneapolis area, we're able to sustain this for one last time, to be hosted at a venue level. But I don't think we'll ever be able to-- the sport is growing too fast. We have way too many competitors.

I think there's going to be over 400 competitors alone. And there's likely going to be more like 5, 6, 700-plus people, with family, friends, and other venue owners that will be attending the event. We want to basically only look at conference centers or stadiums. It's growing at such a rapid, phenomenal rate that there's no single city, no single venue that exists right now that can hold the capacity. And I think we're reaching our limits, right now, with this weekend's US Open in Minneapolis.

INTERVIEWER: All right, we look forward to watching. And thank you for the conversation. Best of luck.

MARIO ZELAYA: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.

INTERVIEWER: That was Mario Zelaya. He is the CEO of Bad Axe Throwing, based in Toronto, Canada. He's also the commissioner and CEO of the World Axe Throwing League, and the founder and CEO of the World Knife Throwing League. The US Open Axe and Knife Throwing competition happens this weekend, in Minneapolis. If you are listening, and if you're a competitor, best of luck. Best of luck to you.