- Strikeforce, UFC draw big TV numbers
- UFC 2009 Undisputed Reaches “Platinum Hits” Status
- Countdown to UFC 109: 881,000 Viewers
- Ratings Soar For Ring Sports, Despite Steroids, Violence, Unknowns
- Flock Is Now a Fight Team in Some Ministries
- Next Fight Promoter University Session Announced
Strikeforce, UFC draw big TV numbers
The television head-to-head battle on Saturday night between UFC and Strikeforce turned out to be a win on both sides.
Strikeforce’s live event on Saturday night from Sunrise, Fla., largely built around the mixed martial arts debut of football legend Herschel Walker, drew 517,000 viewers. It is the second-most viewers for an MMA event on Showtime, trailing only the 571,000 viewers on Aug. 15 for the Gina Carano vs. Cris “Cyborg” Santos fight.
As is usually the case when Strikeforce has a major event, UFC countered on Spike TV with the cable debut of a taped major event, in this case airing the Dec. 12 UFC 107 show, headlined by B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez and Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo.
That show had a 1.64 rating and 2.2 million viewers. It would be the second-highest rated for a replay of a UFC PPV event in history. Most UFC PPV replays put against a Showtime event are in the 1.2 rating range. (Yahoo! Sports)
UFC 2009 Undisputed Reaches “Platinum Hits” Status
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and Zuffa, LLC today announced that UFC® 2009 Undisputed™, the critically and commercially acclaimed debut videogame based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship®, has achieved “Platinum Hits” status in North America for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, as well as joined Sony’s “Greatest Hits” collection in North America for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Having shipped more than 3.5 million units worldwide to date, both versions of the videogame originally launched on May 19, 2009 and are now available for the suggested retail price of $29.99.
“Reaching ‘Platinum Hits’ and ‘Greatest Hits’ status is an honor that speaks to the strength of our software and the power of the UFC brand,” said Vice President of Global Brand Management Brian Coleman. “With a reduced price point, more players can now step into the Octagon™ and take part in the ultimate virtual UFC experience.” (MMA Payout’s Perspective)
Countdown to UFC 109: 881,000 Viewers
MMAPayout.com has learned that Countdown to UFC 109 enjoyed a tremendous lead-in from the Brock Lesnar: UFC Unleased and UFC 107 replay to draw 881,000 viewers with its debut on Saturday night. That’s the highest Countdown to UFC program debut since UFC 100, which garnered 1.1 million viewers. (MMA Payout’s Perspective)
Ratings Soar For Ring Sports, Despite Steroids, Violence, Unknowns
These days, the ring sports aren’t just pinning down record viewership numbers. For some networks, they’re helping to identify and build brand recognition among viewers. In 2009, USA Network’s WWE Monday Night Raw franchise averaged 5.8 million viewers, its best showing since 2001. It performed better than two of the network’s popular original series, Psych and In Plain Sight.
Spike TV’s Ultimate Fighter reality competition series has become the face of the men’s-targeted network and its most-popular show, averaging a series record 3.4 million viewers in its 10th season.
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Mixed martial arts is also throwing punches on several networks. The genre’s leader, Ultimate Fighting Championship, is airing three to four live events on Spike TV in 2010 while producing the 11th season of its popular Ultimate Fighter reality series. Versus will also air two live UFC shows as well as content from UFC-owned MMA franchise World Extreme Cagefighting.
On the premium side, Showtime will offer as many as eight events this year from StrikeForce, an upstart mixed-martial-arts franchise.
For these cable networks, ring-sports programming delivers strong ratings, particularly within the hard-to-reach demographic of men 18 to 49. “Young guys love what goes on in those two rings, whether it’s the octagon or the wrestling ring — that’s our bread and butter and it’s a place where we’ve been really successful,” said Spike TV president Kevin Kay.
Indeed, The Ultimate Fighter averaged 3.4 million viewers in its 10th season on Spike last year — nearly double the reality competition show’s average of 2 million for its previous nine seasons. The series finale, which featured YouTube MMA sensation Kimbo Slice, peaked at 6 million viewers, according to the network. (Multi Channel)
Flock Is Now a Fight Team in Some Ministries
Mr. Renken’s ministry is one of a small but growing number of evangelical churches that have embraced mixed martial arts — a sport with a reputation for violence and blood that combines kickboxing, wrestling and other fighting styles — to reach and convert young men, whose church attendance has been persistently low. Mixed martial arts events have drawn millions of television viewers, and one was the top pay-per-view event in 2009.
Recruitment efforts at the churches, which are predominantly white, involve fight night television viewing parties and lecture series that use ultimate fighting to explain how Christ fought for what he believed in. Other ministers go further, hosting or participating in live events.
The goal, these pastors say, is to inject some machismo into their ministries — and into the image of Jesus — in the hope of making Christianity more appealing. “Compassion and love — we agree with all that stuff, too,” said Brandon Beals, 37, the lead pastor at Canyon Creek Church outside of Seattle. “But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a fighter.”
The outreach is part of a larger and more longstanding effort on the part of some ministers who fear that their churches have become too feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and responsibility. (NY Times)
Next Fight Promoter University Session Announced
With the next Fight Promoter University less than two months away, FPU founder Roy Englebrecht announced the date for FPU VII. It is set to begin Tuesday, March 30th and run thru Friday, April 2nd at the Irvine Marriott Hotel in Irvine, California. Englebrecht also announced that the entire four day FPU VII session will be made available live on the internet with the first ever FPU Netcast. FPU VII will be held in conjunction with the April 1st Battle In The Ballroom boxing and mixed martial arts show, now in its 26th year at the Irvine Marriott.
“We have a great line up of guest speakers for FPU VII headlined by Bruce Trampler of Top Rank, Scott Coker of Strikeforce, Richard Schafer of Golden Boy Promotions, and Loretta Hunt of Sherdog.com,” said Englebrecht. “And now to be able to make all FPU sessions available to anyone in the world thru our live streaming netcast, will open up a future as a fight promoter to an unlimited audience. We are partnering with Pathfinder Digital TV to insure the most state-of-the-art production and quality netcast possible. (Fight Promoter University)
QUICK HITS
- “Strikeforce: Miami” ratings: 517,000 Showtime viewers deliver 52 percent ratings increase (MMAJunkie)
- Mailbag: Talking Herschel (Yahoo! Sports)
- Herschel Walker’s MMA Debut (Sports Illustrated)
- Miletich: If Shamrock won’t sign, bring me someone willing to fight (MMAJunkie)
- Heavyweights Todd Duffee and Mike Russow agree to meet at UFC 114 in May (MMAJunkie)
- New York Jets fine coach Rex Ryan $50K for Strikeforce middle-finger fiasco (MMAJunkie)
- Canseco Issues Challenge to Herschel Walker (MMAFighting)
- ‘Ninja’ Rua Targeting DREAM, Shine Fights (MMAFighting)
- Bellator Fighters Hector Lombard, Jorge Masvidal Set for G-Force Fights 3 (MMAFighting)
- Sanchez-Hathaway On Deck for UFC 114 (Sherdog)
- Beltran Replaces Al-Turk at UFC 109 (Sherdog)
- Strikeforce Lands Broadcast Deals in UK, Latin America (Sherdog)
- ROY NELSON DRAWS STEFAN STRUVE FOR MARCH 31 (MMAWeekly)
- TYSON GRIFFIN VS. EVAN DUNHAM AT UFC 115 (MMAWeekly)
- Evans Has Answers (ESPN)
VIDEO OF THE DAY
IMAGE OF THE DAY
TV LISTINGS
- HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (2005 World GP Finals) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (02/05/10)
- InsideMMA (Brendan Schaub, Matt Mitrione, & Dermontti Dawson) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (02/05/10)
- HDNet Fights Presents “Furious Finishes III” at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/05/10)
- Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (02/05/10)
- UFC 109 at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/06/10)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- UFC 109: Couture vs Coleman at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/06/10)
- HDNet Fights: King of the Cage – Vengeance at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/12/10)
- UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velazquez at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/20/10)
- Strikeforce Challengers: Prangley vs Amoussou at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (02/26/10)
- WEC 47: Bowles vs Cruz on at 10 PM ET on Versus (03/06/10)
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