CBS Covered Expenses for EliteXC "Heat"
by Cannon Jacques on Oct 13, 2008 11:10 AM EDT
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PrintFronted by Luke Thomas.
From a recent Form 8-K SEC filing for ProElite:
Previously, CBS ordered an additional event under the Agreement from the Company scheduled to be presented on October 4, 2008, at The BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida (the "Sunrise Event"). The Company advised CBS that it was unable to deliver the Sunrise Event ordered by CBS for October 2008 under the current terms of the Agreement.
Accordingly, the Company and CBS agreed to amend the Agreement whereby CBS would assume all expenses for the event and receive all revenue from the event. CBS advanced the estimated event costs according to an agreed upon budget in order for the Company to pay expenses related to the event. Additionally, the Company and CBS waived mutual exclusivity under the Agreement for the Sunrise Event.
First off, this confirms the prevailing thought that ProElite is dangerously close to running out of funding. The "Heat" event didn't directly provide them with any kind of needed cash since CBS received all revenue under the amended agreement. In essence, ProElite is at the mercy of CBS, and they're getting nothing in return monetarily. This deal just looks worse and worse as the promotion continues to flounder, and CBS enables EliteXC to continue producing relatively inexpensive Saturday night programming through minimal financial support.
Another item to note from the above excerpt is the waiving of the mutual exclusivity agreement. The way I read it, CBS and ProElite will be able to enter into agreements with other entities. According to reports, CBS has recently talked with the UFC about providing them with future MMA programming. It will be interesting to see where CBS goes with this. Who knows what they'll ultimately do with Saturday Night Fights, but their final decision will likely determine what becomes of ProElite and their EliteXC brand.
HT: Fightlinker
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I wonder if Showtime is picking up the tab for the next EliteXC show? For CBS it probably benefits them in turning Saturday Night Fights into a non-exclusive show even if ProElite doesn’t go under.
The next EliteXC show is on Showtime November 8th. If EliteXC couldn’t pay for the “Heat” on CBS then how are they going to pay for “Night of Champions” on Showtime unless Showtime picks up the bill?
CBS and Showtime are both under the CBS corporation umbrella but they are run separately. It should also be noted that SpikeTV is under the Viacom umbrella and that National Amusement(Sumner Redstone’s company) has controlling interest in both Viacom and CBS corp. Sort of odd that Sumner Redstone doesn’t like MMA but National Amusement broadcast more MMA in the US than anyone else.
Well, that was awful nice of them
CBS, at this point, I think realizes that the brand EliteXC is dead.
by Derek Suboticki on Oct 13, 2008 2:13 PM EDT reply actions
Either that, or...
(crosses fingers) they realize that the people in charge are mega-screw-ups, and have plans to replace them with others whose heads aren’t up their own arses.
UFC will not be on CBS. Period. UFC wants a really really nice contract, and that is something CBS doesn’t want to do. More like Affliction/EliteXC fits the bill.
Zuffa wants content control and that may be something that CBS will come off of if they think they can get ratings off of it. Even if a full blown UFC card may be more expense than CBS wants to bite off(even though Spike has done that in the past) CBS could also be interested in picking up a WEC show at a bargain price (Faber vs Torres or Faber vs Pulver 2 on CBS could do decent numbers and would definatly be a must see show for hardcore fans).
It’s not just content control.
Elite had to pay cbs 3 or 4 hundred thousand to produce the first show on CBS. Why pay someone to produce your show, when you can do it yourself and get it exactly the way you want it?
CBS might be willing to work with Zuffa under new terms, because despite what they say, this isn’t working out for them. Why waste money and time on Elite shows when they get better ratings by showing reruns?
Elite’s attempts on CBS only strengthen Zuffa’s position that they shouldn’t let someone else run their show.
CBS can’t really expect another company to accept the same deal that has helped lead Elite further into debt.
Nice disclosure
I read SEC filings all the time and have to say that the disclosre is clear and concise. At least their finance and accounting people are doing a good job.
Must be a slow MMA news day. I wrote this thing so long ago that I almost forgot I wrote it at all. Actually, it was Saturday. I think.
Yeah.
I had a fit of sarcastic exaggeration.
by Cannon Jacques on Oct 13, 2008 8:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Has there been a report that well known fighter agents are VERIFYING that ProElite DOES offer KO, Finish, and Submission bonuses. The reason why not all fighters know is that your agent has to negotiate one for you.
Rosa’s manager, Monte Cox, is one of three veteran MMA negotiators who confirmed to SI.com that ProElite regularly offers knockout, finish and submission bonuses. The others — Ed Soares and Cesar Gracie — suggested guaranteed bonuses are standard fare, though the figure Petruzelli said he earned was significantly more than what the company tends to shell out. Meanwhile, MMA Agents boss Ken Pavia said he hadn’t negotiated similar bonuses for his fighters, including one for Slice’s first opponent on CBS, James Thompson.
“I’m now aware that ProElite has a willingness for finishing bonuses and submission bonuses, which I’m encouraged to hear,” Pavia said gleefully.
That doesn’t change the fact that this is a complete disaster from Elite XC.
Lappen is on record saying about 7 different things.
If they occasionally offer those bonuses to certain fighters, that’s fine, they should have said that from the beginning. The fact that the story has changed 4 times in 1 week leads me to believe something inappropriate is going on.
They DID say that in the beginning. The problem is that so much has been said afterwards that no one remembers and everyone just remembers the inconsistencies now.
I agree, they did a bad PR job handling it, but, that is no proof they did something wrong.
Just proves their PR incompetence.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 13, 2008 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions
They probably wouldn’t need to worry so much about their PR if they stopped fixing fights.
by mythbuster on Oct 13, 2008 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
LOL!
No one has proved that they fixed fights. Even Josh Gross said it himself after interviewing Lappen and agents that work with ProElite.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 13, 2008 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions
You lose
http://www.sportsline.com/mma/story/11014132/2
While there is nothing in Petruzelli’s comment to indicate that he was told to lose, it would still be considered foul play if he were offered extra money to alter his fight style to cater to his opponent.
http://mma.fanhouse.com/2008/10/10/elitexc-official-rips-media-says-kimbo-slice-seth-petruzelli-c/
Lappen said. “We have given submission bonuses in the past but they’re not as common as knockout bonuses. If the question is, ‘Have we ever given submission bonuses?’ The answer is yes. But we give knockout bonuses more often. We gave Seth a knockout bonus before the fight started. That was part of the deal.”
—
Look, I know you’re just trying to give them their moneys worth – but really, they are their own worst enemy.
It’s not their PR, it’s the fact that they lied at some point.
It’s not a mistake. You don’t have to remember what you said in the past if they would have just told the truth from the beginning. Lappen has lied, at least once, that’s a fact.
That leads me to believe something is up. If he would have just told the truth from the beginning, he wouldn’t be contradicting himself, and this wouldn’t be an issue.
Exactly.
If they had been honest from the beginning there would be no need for any sort of concerted public relations effort.
by Richard Wade on Oct 13, 2008 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Also from that article
Lappen said. “So it’s not something everybody gets. A lot of times there’s people who don’t ask for it, don’t get it. It’s something Gary Shaw started when he came in, and we’ve always kept doing it. I guess, all things being considered, the spectacular knockout is something fans really like.”
So the knock out bonuses were something that Gary Shaw started, the same Gary Shaw who made the most damning public statement to come out of the mess yet. He saw no problem with telling fighters the company wanted a stand up fight, which is pretty close to admitting that he did exactly that when he was running the company. The whole knock out bonus scheme was put together by Shaw and it’s pretty hard to question what his motiviations were being as he’s flat out stated what he was after.
I also found Cox statement that EliteXC regularly offered submission bonuses odd being as Lappen said they are rare(and that they don’t offer them at all). The other two guys basically just said there were bonuses but Cox and Lappen’s statements are directly at odds with each other(something very common in this mess). None of that changes that Petruzelli got only a KO bonus, and a much larger one than normal at that.
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