Scott Coker: Strikeforce Business Model 'Can Be Recreated'
by Nick Thomas on Apr 12, 2011 9:01 AM EDT
in Strikeforce News
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Strikeforce boss Scott Coker has achieved the American Dream -- he built Strikeforce from a small regional kickboxing promotion into the country's second largest MMA promoter in less than five years and sold it to the industry leader for what's presumed to be a nice chunk of change. Many pundits have opined that Coker was the last man to make it big promoting MMA, but Scott says he didn't pull the ladder up after him and there's plenty of opportunity left: (via HeavyMMA.com)
"Strikeforce was a regional show. I promoted the Frank Shamrock and Cung Le fight in 2007, but it took us awhile to get our TV contract. But from 2009, when we got our Showtime fights, it took us two years to this point."
"It took a lot of hard work, but it can be recreated. Somebody out there has to step up and put the money behind it, and they can create the business just like I did and move from a regional promotion to a national promotion."
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Seems like EVERYONE is pushing for this as of late.
No matter how much you complain… it will take prob around 2 years for even the first matchup to happen (if it happens). I bet we will see coaches on TUF from Strikeforce before any match happens.
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I don't know, man.
Didn’t several of the SF fighters on last weekend’s card sign new contracts?
http://www.headkicklegend.com/
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Apr 13, 2011 2:52 AM EDT up reply actions
SF’s signing of Fedor really placed them in the big leagues. Without a huge non Zuffa Star to sign, I highly doubt any other organization can have the same success as Strikeforce’s.
I am. I think. I will. - Ayn Rand
But I won’t pick against Jon Jones again until I see him lose. - Kwisatz Haderach
Was thinking the same… if we look at the MMA landscape right now, is there a non-Zuffa star that an org could sign to vault them into the clear #2 position? I can’t think of anyone…
The inevitable death of Japanese MMA doesnt help as well. Bellator is the next best thing we can get right now or will ever have.
To reach SF’s level – here is what you have to have: a megastar (Fedor); exciting fighters and fights (Nick Diaz); legitimate top 10 fighters (Jacare, Melendez, Shields) and help another promotion to create a perception of superfights.
Thats is a tall order given the current landscape of the sport.
I am. I think. I will. - Ayn Rand
But I won’t pick against Jon Jones again until I see him lose. - Kwisatz Haderach
by vivero on Apr 12, 2011 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
SF didn’t have all of that stuff in the beginning. If someone tries to get all that stuff, they will fail because they will never get started.
Someone needs to start as a regional promotion and then be ready to pick up those big pieces if and when they become available.
by Phildo on Apr 12, 2011 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
maybe carano?
… if zuffa sticks to their guns and doesn’t integrate women’s mma after they fold strikeforce.
tho by then, gina’s probably more likely to have transitioned into action or whatever.
The world doesnt give a shit about women playing sports.
I am. I think. I will. - Ayn Rand
But I won’t pick against Jon Jones again until I see him lose. - Kwisatz Haderach
which would be a relevant response, if we were talking about a promotion that only focused on women. that’s not what i was saying. if say… an organization like MFC, got a legitimate tv deal, and added a proven ratings draw (in Carano), and and a few more “can’t quite make it in the ufc anymore” type guys, i think they could reach a decent sized audience, if they were patient.
You simply can’t build an organization based on a freak show, which Carano is. EliteXC’s adventures with Kimbo have proven this.
Carano is a highly trained/skilled athlete
Andre's Posse
by Anr on Apr 12, 2011 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Which is irrelevant to the context, but thanks for sharing your thoughts:)
Andre's Posse
by Anr on Apr 12, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
She’s not drawing eye balls because she’s highly trained/skilled athlete… If that was the case, Cyborg would draw twice as much, as would other women fighters. She’s a female Kimbo, IMO.
She draws ratings because she is attractive, has a likeable personality, and has extremely high skills in mixed martial arts and kickboxing.
If she was just as hot and wasn’t highly skilled she wouldn’t draw any ratings. (Example playboy boxing wasn’t much of a hit)
Saying she’s the female KImbo is nonsense. Her only loss is to Cyborg with many high quality wins.
Andre's Posse
by Anr on Apr 12, 2011 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Is she really that highly trained/skilled though? We all saw how she did against Cyborg… and both Finney and Coenen did better than she did against Cyborg.
Yes she is. you’re showing your ignorance by only talking about one match. Rosi Sexton, Julie Kedzie, Kelly Kobold are all also highly trained/skilled mixed martial artists.
Andre's Posse
by Anr on Apr 12, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
So, Gina’s won against someone who hasn’t fought since their fight (Kobold), against a 135lbs fighter on a 5 loss streak (Young), against someone who was recently destroyed in a 125lbs Bellator tournament (Sexton), and against a 135lbs Kedzie that was coming off a loss at the time. Hardly a murderers row. The only time Carano’s fought someone her own size (Cyborg), we all saw what happened.
She draws ratings because she is attractive, has a likeable personality, and has extremely high skills
Gina is the Anna Kournikova of women’s MMA. Anna was talented and had good skills, but her fame was WAY out of proportion with her talent. Anna was a legit pro tennis player, but she was famous because she was hot, not because of anything she accomplished on the tennis court.
Sharapova
Is another good example of this, especially in the tennis world.
http://www.headkicklegend.com/
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Apr 14, 2011 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions
exactly
honestly, she’s the kind of fighter that would be perfect for a format like bellator. if she held the belt there, she could still do her side projects, and defend it once a year (without the risk of doing the “superfights” guys like lombard and alvarez do). plus, her opponents would have an added degree of legitimacy having made it through the necessary tournament.
eh, yes and no
The business landscape in 2007 is not the business landscape that exists today.
The barrier to entry that Zuffa represents is much more significant now. Moving forward it will be less about a competing company making the right moves and more about Zuffa making the wrong moves, and competitors taking advantage of them.
That being said, of course it isn’t impossible.
by ruckus on Apr 12, 2011 9:32 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
And what’s bad about Zuffa only making the right moves? That’s the best case scenario in my mind. Assuming making the right moves includes being fair to the fighters – which if they don’t that’s when they open themselves to be taken advantage of. So they have motivation to do so.
"Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?"
"I'm a locksmith... and i'm a locksmith."
I wasn't making a judgement on the situation
Just commenting on it; if the barrier to entry is the competence of the market leader, I have no problem with that.
Fair Enough
My point was just as much of a open statement to many of the people here who view this whole thing as a negative anyway.
"Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?"
"I'm a locksmith... and i'm a locksmith."
The only way I see a major organization being able to build up as much steam as strikeforce did in this new landscape would be if something like WCW happens. Someone with deep pocket like Ted Turner (without having to rely on a financial backer like Coker did and White did) would have to pay some top guys like Brock and GSP to head an organization. The same way Ted paid Hogan and Savage.
Andre's Posse
Buying fighters would be a tough strategy to follow, I think.
Since this is a competitive, one on one sport, you won’t only be competing on price.
For example, you can offer GSP money… but can you offer him relevant competition? Can you offer him the right number of eyeballs to make his sponsors happy? Can you offer him the prestige of being the world champion? Can you say to him… listen, if you fight with us we can promise that you will be fighting in front of record breaking crowds in your home town/country?
Tall order.
the costs would be astronomical
The risk would be insane… there are thousands of investment opportunities all over the world; it wouldn’t make sense.
I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I am giving the only way I foresee another organization building as much steam as strikeforce.
For someone with the money like Trump or Turner the costs and risks wouldn’t be “insane”.
Andre's Posse
The risk is actually about as high as it can be… you could lose your entire investment, very easily. As Phildo mentioned below, it has already happened.
Risk isn’t calculated based on the personal net worth of individual investors.
“Risk isn’t calculated based on the personal net worth of individual investors.”
Obviously, but when the person risking an amount of money that is a small ratio to their net worth its not too much of a risk to them.
Andre's Posse
An investor who has the money of a Trump or Turner (just using these two as examples) who is a fan of the sport won’t worry about the risk as much if they want to be a part of the sport.
Once again I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I am giving the only way I foresee another organization building as much steam as strikeforce.
Andre's Posse
Cuban perhaps?
"Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." -Mark Twain
"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid." -John Wayne
by The American Ronin on Apr 13, 2011 8:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Look at HDNet fights. It’s impossible to become the next pride overnight. too many rich people have tried and failed, you need to start small, and slowly get bigger, then wait for a lucky break, and pounce.
Look at how SF grew. Coker put on K1 fights, then he moved to local mma, then the arrangement with Elite happened, and then he was in perfect position to pick up the pieces when Affliction and Elite died.
If someone wants to be the next pride, they shouldn’t go looking for someone with big pockets, they need to get the infrastructure in place to be there if/when someone gets good/popular gets on Dana’s bad side.
This is almost exactly what i’ve always thought and said, and why Zuffa domination isn’t bad for the sport or the fighters.
If Zuffa isn’t fair to the fighters, there always room and opportunity for an alternative. this becomes even truer as Zuffa, boosted by the complete consolidation of the talent pool, makes MMA a more viable product.
"Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?"
"I'm a locksmith... and i'm a locksmith."
Besides Bellator, if you look at North American MMA promotions, they are working on the first step of the Strikeforce model — running a series successful regional shows. Examples include Shark Fights, Titan FC, and MFC in Canada. I think it could still work if you can provide a show people want to see, with name fighters (the UFC can’t have everybody), broadcast on cable or PPV, with good local attendance numbers.
by jalami on Apr 12, 2011 1:52 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
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