DREAM Not Deferred...Yet

by Luke Thomas on Sep 30, 2008 11:10 AM EDT in MMA News

While ominous clouds gather, there might - might - be some life left for at least one last hurrah:

As reported in Part 1, the average viewership was 9.0% with a peak of 13.4% during the Akiyama-Minowa match.

Sasahara stated, "These are not numbers we can be optimistic about. The end of the year is when MMA attracts the most attention and we should be able to pull good numbers on that day. I want to think of an event that will bring us good numbers for NYE."

In other news, Japanese media is reporting the live attendance as 20,929. Compared with DREAM.5, with an attendance of 11,986, it showed reasonable growth.

However, a number of reasons could be behind this - the fact that 6 was held near Tokyo while 5 was held in Osaka, the holiday Tuesday on which DREAM.6 was held, it being the finals of the tournament, a stronger collection of matches made for Japanese fans, the end of summer, etc.

Sasahara's comments, and the fact that a number of matches are being talked about (Sakuraba vs. Tamura, Akiyama vs. Yoshida, Fedor vs. Ishii or Kharitonov, etc.), do hint that DREAM should at least survive through NYE, and there is speculation that the contract with TBS ends at year-end, so the numbers from one more televised event may convince TBS to continue with DREAM.

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DREAM is done

the Godfather will be reconfiguring and possibly bringing WVR into the fold for Japan MMA 2009.

by Kid Nate on Sep 30, 2008 1:25 PM EDT reply actions

I love Dream and I probably would love WVR if I could see it on my TV (not my computer).

However, I think to get even close to the popularity of Pride, they need to come together and form one promotion. Not a co-promotion, but one single company.

Someone suggested that Dream come to the US, and i couldn;t disagree more with that. However, if Strikeforce, WEC and UFC continue to give Asian fighters exposure, there may come a day where that foray could be more successful than Pride’s or Heroes’ attempts.

I don’t want them to use a cage or change their differences with that of American shows, because, imo, that is part of what sets them apart.

Damn, there has been so much GREAT mma, that few have seen this year. WVR, Dream, IFL, ShoXC, and so on. People need to wake up and see there is more out there than UFC. I’m not saying UFC isn’t the best and they should stop watching it, just try other promotions in addition to it.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Sep 30, 2008 2:11 PM EDT reply actions