Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg A Huge Success With 576K Viewers Peaking at 856K...Plus Salaries, Gate, and Attendance Numbers
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 1:58 PM EDT
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MMAJunkie has the scoop on the Showtime ratings for the Strikeforce: Gina vs Cyborg event in San Jose.
"Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" drew an average audience of 576,000 viewers. The UFC replay drew nearly four times that with two million total viewers, Spike TV officials today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Strikeforce's Aug. 15 event was one of the biggest shows in the promotion's history and featured the long-awaited Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Gina Carano title fight. As with other competitors, the UFC and Spike TV ultimately decided to counter-program the broadcast.
Strikeforce's event averaged 576,000 viewers (and peaked with 856,000 for the night's main event at midnight). UFC 100 averaged two million viewers, and it's 1.8 rating (513,000 viewers) was the highest-rated program in the male-18-34 demographic during its timeslot.
Anything over 400K-500K would be considered a success for showtime, and it certainly did not dissapoint. It would be the ideal situation for both Strikeforce and Showtime to build Gina back up and schedule a re-match on CBS. Showtime, CBS, and Strikeforce will be discussing their CBS appearance within the next few weeks, and the odds of a CBS show just got a lot better based on the success of this event.
More after the jump...
For comparisons (MMAPayout), here are the top rated MMA shows on Showtime before Saturday's big event:
1) Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott: 511,000 viewers
2) Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni: 365,000 viewers
3) Shamrock vs Diaz: 364,000 viewers
4) EliteXC Return of the King: 350,000 viewers
5) Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le: less than 300,000.
The payroll for the event via MMAWeekly:
MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS
– Cristiane Santos $25,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Gina Carano $125,000
MAIN CARD FIGHTERS
– Gegard Mousasi $2,000 def. Renato Sobral $75,000
– Gilbert Melendez $50,000 def. Mitsuhiro Ishida $30,000
– Fabricio Werdum $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle $14,000
– Jay Hieron $55,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Jesse Taylor $12,000
PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS
– Scott Lighty $4,000 def. Mike Cook $2,500
– Justin Wilcox $5,000 (includes $2,500 win bonus) def. David Douglas $5,500
– James Terry $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia $2,000
– Alex Trevino $3,500 (includes $1,500 win bonus) def. Isaiah Hill $2,000
STRIKEFORCE “CARANO VS. CYBORG” DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $468,500
Official attendance and gate numbers via MMAFanhouse:
Quick Hits: 13,976 was the official attendance at the HP Pavilion for a gross and net gate of $735,710 and $692,159.74, respectively.
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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From the front page of bloodelbow:
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" drew an average audience of 576,000 viewers. The UFC replay drew nearly four times that with two million total viewers
by TheConcreteKid on Aug 18, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Doesn’t matter. Spike is on cable TV and Showtime is a premium pay channel, which means it is not comparable. This was a huge success for Strikeforce.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
His point as that Strikeforce on Showtime is to some degree vulnerable to counter programming on Spike.
But if they still met their goals and had a successful event, then, its not that big of an issue. There also won’t be anymore UFC 100’s that could be used again as well.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree, UFC 100 was the pinnacle of MMA and never will be equaled again, it is not like the UFC will stage far more events than Strikeforce will in the same time period…oh wait.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Aug 18, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
LOL, not disagreeing with that, but, there will only be one UFC 100.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Most thought they would save that replay for a CBS show. Doing Fight Nights as counter programming tactics is a very difficult task to pull off, considering the short notice of setting that up.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Just because they had a successful event doesn’t mean its a non-issue. Suppose the UFC decides to air a live fight night against the next Showtime card. Do you really think that won’t negatively impact viewership?
A live fight night and a replay of an event are two completely different monsters.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
His point as that Strikeforce on Showtime is to some degree vulnerable to counter programming on Spike.
That may be, but there’s no evidence that Carano-Cyborg would have scored higher in the absence of counter-programming. Strikeforce’s last event was counterprogrammed by UFC 94, and drew a 1.4, with 1.9 million viewers, so it seems more likely that counterprogramming hurt UFC’s ratings more than it hurt Strikeforce’s.
Exactly. Incredibly tough to quantify how this has done for them. A good amount of fans were flipping back and forth between the events, so there are a lot of gray areas when you are comparing apples to oranges.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
If you are not a US citizen, promotions pay you a minimum so you don’t get taxed, then, pay you the rest as a bonus. This happens all the time.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions
When Misaki fought for Strikeforce at the Playboy mansion last year, he only got paid 1K.
They get paid a ton more non-officially, of course.
=)
MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS
– Kazuo Misaki ($1,400/win bonus was undisclosed) def. Joe Riggs ($20,000)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions
This is his pay for the last time he fought at SF
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=7177&zoneid=2
– Mitsuhiro Ishida ($1,400/win bonus was undisclosed) def. Justin Wilcox ($5,000)
It all depends what deals they make, and Ishida probably got a paid a lot more since he was a lost minute stand-in.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
Why pay Uncle Sam’s taxes?
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Aug 18, 2009 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Gina Carano lost, therefore no matter how many viewers they had it was not “a huge success”.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 18, 2009 4:48 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Ah, but it was, and a future show on CBS will be the proof.
=)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s ridiculous, of course this show was gonna draw good, now instead of having Carano to co-headline their CBS show they have what? Nobody that is any sort of draw.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 18, 2009 8:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
This isn’t EliteXC and Kimbo, like everyone wants it to be. Plus, who said they couldn’t keep showing Carano on her path to redemption?
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Those are good numbers for both Showtime and Spike, but it will be interesting to see if they can duplicate those numbers again or if it’s a one time bump like the Faber vs. Pulver fight gave Versus. But for the UFC to draw 2 million with only a handfull of days notice to promote the fight it just continues to show the strenght of the Zuffa machine and their loyal fanbase to put up those great numbers.
No doubt Zuffa has a loyal fanbase and Spike TV is benefiting greatly from it. The thing is that Strikeforce and the UFC have such different models still, that it is tough to counter-program them, so they can both continue to be successful.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 18, 2009 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
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