Affliction: Donald Trump Jr. and Larry King
by rainmaker6 on Jan 23, 2009 6:31 AM EST
31 comments
Looks like the Trump partnership, after a lot of hype, might slowly be paying off for Affliction. Larry King did a web only interview with Donald Trump Jr. discussing the Affliction Day of Reckoning Event.
Although it's a web only thing it does help raise the profile of MMA among the mainstream public (Larry King is about as mainstream as you can get).
Larry did mention it on his show earlier today.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/01/21/lkl.trump.jr.web.exclusive.cnn
Embedded video from CNN Video
Trump Sr. is a marketing genius and knew that by doing the Apprentice on NBC he would launch his 'Trump' brand into the stratosphere. Well maybe Tom Atencio also know's what he is doing by partnering with Trump. Hopefully Trump Jr. knows what he's doing.
Interestingly Larry refers to Affliction as 'Trump's Affliction Entertainment Company'. Now Larry could have his facts wrong or Trump could have a much more significant stake in the company then we might be aware of. Should that be the case it bodes well for Affliction having a 3rd and 4th show at least.
If Trump Jr. has a real financial stake in Affliction Entertainment we would really need to start taking them more seriously. Trump Sr., who has a personal networth of 3 billion plus (as of Forbes 2008), could easily afford to spend 3 or 4 million here and there on an MMA show. Of course, he would plan for it to be successful in the long run, but a 40 million dollar investment is something that he could easily afford.
For a bit of perspective check out how much Laksmi Mittal spent on his daughter's wedding:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3830009.stm
Perhaps that is why Affliction only aims to host 4 events a year rather than 8 or 10. Trump wants to build the brand slowly and is prepared to spend a little money to do so. Alternatively he's letting his son to build a big business play thing with the 'cool kids' from 'Affliction'.
Either way, Affliction could well be here to stay.
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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ok not sure why the video didn’t embed. O well
by rainmaker6 on Jan 23, 2009 6:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Trump was gifted equity for use of his name and gets an hourly fee whenever he does pr for them.
His son is also paid a salary….
A multi million dollar building is being built in dubai (on a man made island) with Trumps name on it…
Guess how much trump invested?
ZERO.
He’s getting consulting fees, licensing fees and a stake in the building (the building is worth way more than 40m)
Do you honestly believe he is even putting a dime into this thing when he is getting fucking buildings built for him (things that are actually worth something)???
Affliction made absolutely stupid deals with fighters and somehow you think they made good deals with these very sharp businessmen?
Let me tell you something…
Goldenboy and trump are riding this homo so hard he’s gonna walk funny for the rest of his life.
Trump aint investing shit.
Golden Boy aint investing shit (they got loads of dough from affliction and their getting paid to do the production)
and showtime aint investing shit (their getting a good chunk of the ppv for distribution)
In Conclusion:
You have a T-shirt guy who not only has to pay through the nose to get fighters to fight for him but also pay for successful business people to say they are his “partners”….
End result:
You have an Affcliction, M1, goldenboy, trump, hdnet, mark cuban, tito ortiz production.
Translation: One big fucking mess that is sinking faster than you can say “what an ugly t-shirt”.
by mmalogic on Jan 23, 2009 7:48 AM EST reply actions 6 recs
You're angry :(
Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.
by P Brady on Jan 23, 2009 12:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Who Knows?
Donald Trump has purchased a "significant" equity stake in Affliction Entertainment and inked former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski, Trump executive vice president and special counsel Michael D. Cohen told SI.com on Wednesday.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 23, 2009 6:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
We have witnessed many instances of when Trump allows others to use his name and puts down ZERO investment. No doubt.
About 2 weeks ago I was with you. I thought Affliction was dying for sure. But right now i’m not so sure. I’m leaning more and more to the possibility that Affliction will survive due to a larger than expected bankroll.
Losing 3 million on 1 show is understandable. It was their first shot at the business and they didn’t know what was going on. However losing the same amount of money is just retarded unless it’s all part of the plan.
Look at the coverage that Fedor has got for this fight. CNN, CNBC, NY Times!!
Although for all of us ‘hardcore’ fans the fanfare around DoR might not seem much more than Banned – I have a feeling the casual fan is getting there slowly.
by rainmaker6 on Jan 23, 2009 9:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Licensing his name to other companies is one of Trump’s main enterprises now, he has turned himself into a brand that you can pay a licensing fee to attach to a product. Donald Trump jr. is executive vice president of the Trump Organization which does all the licensing and marketing of the Trump name. What people are saying is Trump’s actual involvement in Affliction fits right in with the way the Trump Organization does business, I doubt he has any more actual money invested in Affliction than he does in Trump watches, Trump steaks or the Trump University.
Trump has succeeded in marketing the Trump name on a large number of products. These products include Trump Financial (a mortgage firm), Trump Sales and Leasing (residential sales), Trump University (a business education company)4, Trump Restaurants (Located in Trump Tower and consisting of Trump Buffet, Trump Catering, Trump Ice Cream Parlor, and Trump Bar), GoTrump5 (an online travel website), Donald J. Trump Signature Collection (a line of menswear, men’s accessories, and watches), Donald Trump The Fragrance (2004), Trump Ice bottled water, Trump Magazine, Trump Golf, Trump Institute, Trump The Game (1989 Board Game), Trump Vodka, and Trump Steaks.
by who me on Jan 23, 2009 10:04 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
There is a famous line about poker, something to the effect of: if you are sitting at a table and you don’t know who the sucker is, then it’s you.
Tito, Trump, Arlovski, Fedor, M1, Golden Boy, and Affliction – after next Saturday all of them are going to be richer, except one who is going to be poorer.
Also,
Affliction : EliteXC
Trump Jr. : $kala
by Jahbulon on Jan 23, 2009 10:27 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
No way Trump is investing any money into Affliction. He knows he can make more money risking none of his money in far to many other areas to be throwing it away on a sport that he knows virtually nothing about. Listening to Trump do any interview for 2 minutes about MMA and it’s evident he knows nothing about it.
by mattman73 on Jan 23, 2009 12:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
i think one thing we’ve overlooked is trump’s competitive nature. basically he hates mark cuban and will do anything he can to upstage him. as long as cuban stays in mma, there’s a good chance trump will too.
i’ve heard him in an interview stating he was putting his own money into it.
and yes, i agree he doesnt actually know mma, he makes all kinds of silly statements
by Headkick on Jan 23, 2009 12:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Mark Cuban’s remaining involvement with MMA is broadcasting it on HDNet, of course “Donald Trump’s Affliction” undercard will be televised on “Mark Cuban’s HDNet” so that sort of blowns the whole “he’s in it for the hate” theory.
by who me on Jan 23, 2009 1:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Affliction Commercials Showing During NBA games and SpikeTV This Week...
I was pretty surprised, since I don’t recall the last time I saw an MMA commercial during an NBA game.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 23, 2009 1:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
- Affliction Day Of Reckoning commercials that is…
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 23, 2009 1:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
How many buys do you think these commercials will net?
For a bit I thought they were being smart and not spending any dumb money because if you think about it:
95% of the people that will buy this thing come to these blogs so all they have to do is provide free content to these blogs and they will get 95% plus of the buys that they were gonna get anyway.
You cant sell an MMA ppv with 30 second spots…
It would be like selling you a car.
You need to test drive the product, get familiar with the brand, etc…
Affliction has no showroom and no salespeople to close the sale.
There best bet would have been to save the money…
set up a showroom to display your wares (get a free tv deal) get some good sales people (good tv programming) and then sell the ppv.
by mmalogic on Jan 23, 2009 1:27 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
That is why they have a 2 week major push advertising strategy, same thing they did for Banned.
This is done so that they DONT spend tons of money on advertising for a long period of time, since they believe it is not affective and a waste of money to do it months ahead.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 23, 2009 2:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
So, wait, when is this 2 week push going to start?
Did you know we are in high demand, Laura?
by Eugene Schelfaut on Jan 23, 2009 2:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
the 2 week strategy useless…
to spend a mil and a half to 2m to get 5,000 “impulse” buys is a waste of money.
by mmalogic on Jan 23, 2009 2:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
1 day strategy, 2 day strategy, 60 day strategy…
at the end of the day 30 second spots – and the like – DONT SELL MMA PPV’s.
by mmalogic on Jan 23, 2009 2:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
The 2-week push (and from what I’ve seen, it looks much more like a 1-week push) is junk. Not that any of the alternatives are better for such a damned flawed business plan.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 23, 2009 3:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Beats the alternative of spending tons of money and not getting any returns for them in marketing and it definitely beats no marketing. Its as good as an alternative as any other.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 23, 2009 3:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I suppose having a press conference every day is better than hyping a card you later cancel.
Did you know we are in high demand, Laura?
by Eugene Schelfaut on Jan 23, 2009 4:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Its as good as an alternative as any other
Whether I get killed by a stray bullet severing my carotid artery, or by a pack of angry wolves that chases me for three days then takes me down, ripping out my entrails while I scream in horror and agony until finally the queen bitch takes my skull in her jaws and crushes it like a grape. . .
Dead is dead. I’d prefer to be alive, thank you very much.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 23, 2009 6:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
No One Really Knows To What Depth Trump Is Affiliated with Affliction
Affliction Entertainment is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company.1 Affliction Clothing created the company in 2008 after its clothing was banned from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events. The UFC prohibited its fighters from wearing Affliction clothing after learning Affliction was considering also becoming an MMA fight promotion. Donald Trump owns a significant equity stake in Affliction Entertainment. Although the promotion bears the Affliction name, it is not run by Affliction Clothing, but is an independent branch of the company.
Then along came Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul. He helped launch Affliction Entertainment, an offshoot of the popular Affliction Clothing line.
Donald Trump has purchased a “significant” equity stake in Affliction Entertainment and inked former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski, Trump executive vice president and special counsel Michael D. Cohen told SI.com on Wednesday.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 23, 2009 1:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Agree
I don’t think anyone really does know to what depth Trump is involved with Affliction.
It could be much more than we all anticipated.
by rainmaker6 on Jan 23, 2009 9:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
It could be but I find it hard to believe that a guy who is so picky about investing his own money in his core business of real estate anymore would invest a lot of money in a extremely risky MMA start up company that has nothing at all to do with his core business. Particularly when his company makes such a significant portion of it’s income licensing Trump’s name and likeness to companies for a fee so they can attach it to their products and attaching his name to endeavors for a percentage of the project instead of actually investing his own money in them.
by who me on Jan 23, 2009 11:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Just a reminder:
Attacking someone for how they format their comments is not an argument.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Jan 23, 2009 2:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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