Strikeforce Challengers VI Not Happening in January
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 23, 2009 11:00 AM EST
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It looks like there is no plan to have Strikeforce Challengers VI on January 22. From MMA Junkie:
Despite recent rumors of a Jan. 22 date – and an official mention of the card on this past Saturday's "Evolution" broadcast – Strikeforce will not be hosting a "Challengers Series" event prior to its Jan. 30 "Strikeforce: Miami" event.
MMAjunkie.com today confirmed with Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz that despite mention of the show on Saturday's broadcast, the Jan. 22 date was simply "under consideration" and was "never set in stone."
These are the bumps in the road that promotions have to learn to avoid. Yes, the Challengers show isn't a huge deal that is going to make or break the promotion; but over time things like talking about shows on-air that are not actually taking place will add up. There are plenty of potential complications in running a company that creating additional problems on your own is a really bad idea.
Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying the Strikeforce product and they are doing a lot of the right things. But the stage is much bigger now, everyone needs to be on the same page. A date can't be "under consideration" and then talked about as official on a broadcast only to be confirmed as not happening a few days later.
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first signs of trouble
are usually not good. besides the lack of production (music, aura, etc) I’ve really enjoyed strikeforce. unfortunately, their collapse seems to be inevitable…
by cagefightonacid on Dec 23, 2009 11:35 AM EST via mobile reply actions
this doesn’t strike me as a sign of trouble. just a sign of being disorganized.
could they go bust? sure. is it inevitable? no, not at all.
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Yeah...
I don’t think it’s a sign they’re done or anything.
Just points to things they still need to address now that the game has changed for them.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 23, 2009 12:06 PM EST up reply actions
sorry
I’m bad with words…. I didn’t mean this had anything to do with it’s collapse. just that being unorganized isn’t comforting.
by cagefightonacid on Dec 23, 2009 2:44 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
no no
you’re right! it’s not inevitable… I just feeeeel like it’s eventual, like I’m just waiting for it. but isn’t being disorganized a problem?
by cagefightonacid on Dec 23, 2009 2:41 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
i just dont see how they make money
does airing a single show on cbs, and having everything else on showtime really pay enough to take on fedors, hendos, mousasi, cung les and their other big name fighters salaries? this expansion is gonna be the end of strikeforce
Maybe CBS, Showtime, or even M-1 (as far as paying Fedor and Mousasi) is helping to foot the bill.
by chrisbboy82 on Dec 23, 2009 11:57 AM EST up reply actions
Showtime is definitely chipping in, M-1 isn’t paying shit, they just take.
by ufc4 on Dec 23, 2009 12:02 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Well all their Showtime cards payrolls seem to have been less than the gate. So add in the Showtime license fee, which I believe is 500k a show minus production costs, and they look to be making a healthy profit. Not UFC ppv profits, but they are making money.
On the CBS cards, minus Fedor, the payroll was probably less than a million. Fedor supposedly gets 500K – 7000K plus an extra 500 k that cbs pays. So if they are getting a $2-3 million dollar license fee, and a 500k show sponsor, they are probably pretty close to breaking even. Of course, right now, the CBS shows with Fedor should be looks at as loss leaders to introduce fans to Strikeforce and Fedor.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/7/30/969510/details-emerging-on-strikeforce
Even Cung Le isn’t making a big salary by tv show standards, to be fair (now Fedor OTOH…). I’m pretty sure StrikeForce is making a profit right now. They wouldn’t be expanding the number of dates they’re running if this weren’t true.
or they could be taking a hit now hoping they make future profits if the CBS shows are a huge success, unfortunately Hendos not a bankable star and a fight with sheilds really wont draw many viewers
and the fedor werdum matchup sucks for marketability with werdum being a borderline top 10 heavyweight and they’re 2 foreigners who dont speak english
hopefully it still draws viewers cause i love getting free mma but if this CBS card tanks i see it being the end of SF
StrikeForce cannot afford to operate in the red for very long the way the UFC could when it had Station Casinos backing it (and now it’s the other way around… go figure). Coker is a very smart and experienced promoter who has a very good track record of being fiscally responsible. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t at least break even this year, even with Fedor.
UGH!!! Some MMA fans are going to read this and predict the end of Strikeforce
Okay, this card isn’t happening, but it is just a Challengers Series, and there is already a big Strikeforce card a week later. Even Brent stated, “The Challengers show isn’t a huge deal that is going to make or break the promotion.” Yes, over time doing this consistently will be a huge issue, but not having this show that had no lineup or venue to begin with is hardly an indication that Strikeforce is going under. I feel that many MMA fans don’t realize that Strikeforce has only just started being a major player in the MMA world (they were just a regional player that every MMA fan loved), and they are going to encounter growing pains. I can’t expect them to have everything together RIGHT NOW especially since they are still trying to fill out their roster.
Right...
It’s just a sign of the growing pains that the promotion is going to go through and they’re going to have to mature as a promotion very quickly BECAUSE of their exposure. But this isn’t a sign that they’re dead, dying, sick, have a runny nose..etc
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 23, 2009 12:21 PM EST up reply actions
It’s a little disappointing though, because mentioning the dates for future shows is something that they don’t really do enough, and when they finally get around to doing it, the show doesn’t happen.
One of the best things the UFC does is that every time they do anything it is a commercial for the next 2 or 3 shows (at least). It’s understandable that they have growing pains, but being able ot shore up dates for fights and promote them on other shows is a relatively easy step, and something that should have a priority.
I know what you mean
I am also vehemently against Strikeforce not filming their prelims which is something that they could easily fix. There are issues like this (cancelling an event) that are easily fixable and should be fixed now.
by chrisbboy82 on Dec 24, 2009 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
It bugs me because it shows some real confusion in the Strikeforce head office. We are talking about January 22nd here, if you are still just in the “considering” stage a month out from a event (even a minor one) then there are some issues behind the scenes. Fighters need to know they are fighting and who they are fighting months out not a couple of weeks then you have to get an arena and promote the event and prepare for the production. If your a month out and haven’t even figured out if your going to do the card or not then there is something wrong(or your putting on a show in Japan). Strikeforce should be trying to figure out cards for March and April by now not what they are doing in mid-January. The fact that it was mentioned on the broadcast makes it even worse.
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