Mike Chiappetta of MMAFighting.com discusses the latest news regarding a possible UFC on Spike event for April 17th, designed to counter-program the Strikeforce on CBS card on the same day.
The UFC is in the process of laying the groundwork for an April 17 show to counter the Strikeforce on CBS offering, MMA Fighting has learned.
Though the company has not officially announced the event and it should not be considered a done deal, two separate sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the promotion has begun to ramp up its efforts over the last several hours and that Spike TV — the likely broadcast outlet for the show — has been informed of the decision.
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Strikeforce’s show is planned for the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and will feature three title bouts, including a middleweight championship main event pitting current titleholder Jake Shields against former UFC star Dan Henderson. The show could reportedly be moved back a week to April 24 — which would result in a head-to-head battle with WEC’s first pay-per-view offering — but tickets sales for the Strikeforce event have already begun, and a change would also require a shift in the CBS programming schedule.
Payout Perspective:
Event scheduling in the month of April is quickly becoming a chess match of epic proportions as the UFC looks to make life difficult for Strikeforce on CBS, while Strikeforce considers the possibility of switching dates to avoid going head-to-head with Kimbo Slice (and do some counter-programming of its own; nixing the WEC’s debut PPV a week later).
I can kind of understand the desire of the UFC to crush its competition: monopolies can be beneficial in certain contexts. Moreover, the production quality and matchmaking at Strikeforce has been suspect at times, which might leave the UFC in the position of feeling like it has to be the sole flag bearer for the sport.
However, I’m also inclined to think that it’s currently to the UFC’s advantage to have MMA on network television – regardless of whom is producing it – because it generates interest and awareness for the sport. The Strikeforce production isn’t so awful that it’s a detriment to MMA; especially with match-ups like Henderson-Shields, Mousasi-Lawal, and Melendez-Aoki.
If I were the UFC, I’d develop a sneaky little ambush marketing campaign, and buy up $1,000,000 worth of ad space on CBS to promote the UFC brand. The UFC could advertise the WEC 48 PPV scheduled for April 24th and UFC 113 on May 8th; both of which would help confound the Strikeforce branding message on that night.
Sound crazy? It’s becoming a popular trend in the sports world; especially during the latest Winter Olympics. Further consider the fact that Mauro Renallo and Gus Johnson mention the UFC name on CBS more than they do Strikeforce. The UFC could really position itself to steal a number of those impressions on April 17th. The only roadblock to this plan might be CBS’s outright refusal to sell the ad space, but even at that, I have to think they’d sell if they knew they weren’t being counter-programmed.
Besides, the idea of counter-programming seems so inefficient. The cynic in me is inclined to believe that Fedor and M-1 may very well tear down Strikeforce regardless of what the UFC does. If not, big events that only garner $8,000 in merchandise sales or $350,000 in gate revenues, while paying out that much in fighter salaries (not to mention production costs), likely will.
Why spend all this time and money to counter-programming something that hasn’t proven to be sustainable in its newest form?
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The current speculation is that the UFC has lined up Kimbo Slice to headline this April 17th card, possibly against Matt Mitrione of TUF 10.
The short-term benefit of a Kimbo headline is obvious, but I wonder how much damage it might do to the UFC’s long-term credibility. Kimbo sells for reasons other than his fighting ability; in fact, we saw over the course of TUF 10 and its finale that interest had declined somewhat – the cat was out of the bag regarding his skills. So, what does it say that the UFC would put him in a headlining position?
The UFC has worked very hard to cultivate its existing credibility with the mainstream media and fan base – of which, admittedly, there still isn’t as much as we’d all like. Why jeopardize that? Why put non-MMA fighters in a headlining position on an MMA card?
If Strikeforce wanted to promote Herschel Walker vs. James Toney, the UFC should have let them. No successful, long-term mixed martial arts endeavor will ever be built upon the backs of non-MMA fighters – this is a guarantee.
Now the UFC has been sucked into this high risk, high reward game that might end up backfiring on them and the entire industry.
I think the UFC has it’s own problems with declining PPV trends, we have yet to see numbers for the last 2 events and I suspect because they are both sub part and Dana has personally asked Dave Meltzer to keep the cat in the bag until after the March 27th show which would see an uptick.
If the UFC believe that counter programming Strikeforce with the likes of Kimbo Slice is a good idea, they are going to shoot themselves in the foot as MMA fans will switch back and forth and start to think that maybe Strikeforce does have good talent and better matchups.
This is a lose lose proposition for the UFC, not the other way around and I would be very surprised if they decide to go this route. Pushing Strikeforce to April 24th would kill any chance of success for the WEC on PPV and that would mean 3 PPV events out of 4 in a row failing.
That’s my two cents, but I’m a bit biased anyway LOL
It’s mostly speculation at this point.
But if the UFC can counter-program SF, the goal is to pull away a sizable chunk of the key young male demo. Even if the UFC gets fewer eyeballs, they still win. I say go for it.
The only problem is if SF moves its date. If that happens, it’s all for nothing. The UFC wouldn’t go up against the WEC on ppv.
“The short-term benefit of a Kimbo headline is obvious, but I wonder how much damage it might do to the UFC’s long-term credibility. Kimbo sells for reasons other than his fighting ability; in fact, we saw over the course of TUF 10 and its finale that interest had declined somewhat – the cat was out of the bag regarding his skills. So, what does it say that the UFC would put him in a headlining position?
The UFC has worked very hard to cultivate its existing credibility with the mainstream media and fan base – of which, admittedly, there still isn’t as much as we’d all like. Why jeopardize that? Why put non-MMA fighters in a headlining position on an MMA card?
If Strikeforce wanted to promote Herschel Walker vs. James Toney, the UFC should have let them. No successful, long-term mixed martial arts endeavor will ever be built upon the backs of non-MMA fighters – this is a guarantee.
Now the UFC has been sucked into this high risk, high reward game that might end up backfiring on them and the entire industry.”
Last I saw Kimbo not only won his last fight but also showed improvement in his mma game and while he’ll never be great he proved that he deserved another shot in the octagon. Also this has a big assumption, it assumes Kimbo will actually be the headliner over a guy like Serra which I don’t buy for a second if anything Kimbo will co-headline this show.
Also another thing, the UFC doesn’t do high risk, high reward they’ve proven more than anyone that they know what they are doing and any risks that they take they can afford. It’s why they never signed bad network tv deals and didn’t overpay for fighters and let the competition sink themselves. Even with Kimbo they showed how good they are and what seperates them from everybody else this will just be another example of that.
Kelly
“Why spend all this time and money to counter-programming something that hasn’t proven to be sustainable in its newest form?”
Is the UFC really spending that much money? Gate, ad revenue,and their Spike TV contract for MMA content should be more than enough to cover expenses of a UFN. Even on short notcie with mediocre fighters they get over 1 million viewers a large portion sure would have watching a rival MMA if the UFC wasnt on.
Agree the effect on the rival is unknown. But keeping as many UFC fans away from Strike Forces propaganda machine trying to make guys like Scott Smith in to the baddest man on the planet is a good thing.
The only real risk the UFC takes is over satuarating the market with MMA in a short period of time and it effecting their other higher quality events.
this is a los-lose for strikeforce. moving the date of there show would be counter productive for a number of reasons; 1. they’ve already begun advertising and selling tickets for a 4/17 show. they new date may alienate ppl who’ve already made plans for the original date or the media that had already made plans for that same date as well as the 24th and the wec event. 2. its a ufc presents: wec 48 event. so zuffa could counter any move by throwing a kimbo slice on the ppv |(highly unlikely but so is a move to the 24th by strikeforce and heres why) 3. strikeforce uses the showtime production crew which is already doing the super 6 boxing event on the same date (4/24) and even though its possible the logistics of producing big events on the same night would be nightmarish as the staff would be cut in half and they already have problems when they have a full staff.
Unfortunately for strikeforce they’re gonna have to bite the bullet on this one and square up! The 100 ft tall, 5000 lb gorila is coming wether they like it or not and running will only prolong the inebidible for a short period. Its sink or swim time either you’ll drown or you wont
In my opinion this counter programming attempt by the UFC is by design to kill Strikeforce on CBS. The ratings for the last CBS/Strikeforce show were not exactly stellar. The main event did peak with over 5 million viewers but for the whole show it only averaged barely over 4 million. Now that is a lot of prime demographic advertisers want but compared to what CBS usually runs there the overall viewership was down quite a bit. Not to mention the normal programming on CBS Saturday night is cheap re-run fare.
If the UFC goes head to head with Strikeforce and steals half the viewers that leaves CBS only getting around 2 million viewers those 2 hours. That should really leave CBS wondering if airing anymore Strikeforce MMA is worth it.
Now if Strikeforce has to beg CBS to move dates then they are admitting they don’t have a product good enough to compete and the UFC has sent the message we will be looking to counter program. Again probably leaving CBS wondering if airing anymore Strikeforce MMA is worth it.
Zuffa postponed UFC 113 from 5/1 to 5/8. Does that mean their product is weak, or does it mean that they chose not to wage a battle they couldn’t win, costing them millions of dolloars of revenue? It’s the same with Strikeforce on CBS. Everyone undestands, CBS included, that the Strikeforce brand is simply not strong enough to go head-to-head against the UFC’s big guns. If the UFC put on a Nate Diaz Fight Night on 4/17, there would be no talk of moving the Strikeforce card. There’s no shame in not wanting to go head-to-head against Kimbo, Liddell, or Griffin (some of the fighters mentioned as possible/probable for the 4/17 show).
There will be ample opportunity for Strikeforce to be on CBS in the future without having to face strong UFC counter-programming. They can go against weak UFC PPV’s, or WEC cards on Versus. They just have to commit to that strategy, rather than choosing open dates and hoping that Zuffa will play nice, like they did this time.
“The only problem is if SF moves its date. If that happens, it’s all for nothing. The UFC wouldn’t go up against the WEC on ppv”
I wouldn’t be so sure. Zuffa knows that the WEC show isn’t going to do great numbers. If Strike Force moves to the 24th and kills the WEC PPV then the WEC is going to have a riot on their hands as they have been promising their fighters a fountain of gold once they moved to PPV. They get on PPV and their own company kills it? Zuffa is going to end up paying the fighters some compensation if the Strike Force fight moves. Once that has happened they might as well move the UFC event.
At this point it is far more important to the UFC to kill off the free MMA programming that threatens their cash cow PPVs than it is for the WEC to succeed. The WEC has always been a toy for Zuffa and they can either let it fail or roll it into the UFC if they need to. The key is to make sure people can’t switch from spending $45 a pop to getting their MMA for free.
I think Strike Force better be careful how they handle this. If they go up to CBS and request to move the date of the show they may as well just fold up. CBS is already having doubts due to the nature of live events ending on time. You they have to change the date of an event because a company counter programmed you as they always will. CBS will realize this is always going to happen and they cant be bothered moving events around every time. The entire CBS network cant be waiting in limbo everytime Strike Force announces a date for an event.
If people would rather pay $45 to watch the UFC then to watch Strikeforce for free and cant compete with Spike TV while on one of the biggest networks on TV then they dont deserve to be on CBS. Hell, Arm wrestling could draw ratings in Primetime if everything else in the free world was canciled. If Strikeforces brand and product cant stand on its own then they need to move on.
ED,
THe UFC moved the event to maximize their profits. If thats what SF was doing that would be fine. They are doing it to survive. They are in a timeslot and network they are not big enough to keep. SO they need everything to be purfect with no competition in hope to use UFC fanbase to keep them on CBS. SF product isnt strong enough. Everyone is allowed to counter program the UFC anytime they want. They dont because the UFC product cant stand on its own and theirs cant.
Reading some of the posts, it’s obvious that the facts are just not being understood. The deal with CBS is more of a partnership, both decide which date makes the most sense for the event. It was someone at CBS who first announced the possibility of moving dates, not Scott Coker. Those who are proponents of MMA working in CBS want to see success, maybe CBS as a whole does not care but these people do.
I’ve suggested from the start that Coker take on a weak WEC event versus getting tagged by a UFC event or counter program, but they decided to play nice. There is nothing to gain from this for the MMA community so this is all about business. Maybe next time, if there is one, Coker will not make the same mistake. I personally think it’s way to late to be changing dates seeing how ticket sales have already begun.
http://www.watchkalibrun.com/2010/1/14/1251952/ufc-108s-ppv-buy-rate
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/1/14/1251868/meltzer-ufc-108-ratings-the-lowest
Guru,
Did you even google “meltzer ufc buy rates”? because if you did you would see he HAS reported on, at least, 108… it did terrible, but basically everyone expected that. Dave Meltzer has been around a LONG time and he is very reliable, in no way shape or form is he in Zuffa’s pocket. If you think Dana/Zuffa are hard to work with, that guy has dealt, and been successful, in an industry lead by Vince McMahon for many year.
Thanks for the links Stan, I usually just look here for buy rates. Kelsey is slacking LOL.
I’ve followed Meltzer for quite a few years going back to the late 90’s. I was even a subscriber many moons ago. I just find that ever since he joined up with Yahoo and has become good with the UFC his journalism has become suspect and besides I’m on a negative UFC rant over the last week, the counter programming and signing of James has revved me up.
I got burned on the last PPV report by taking a Meltzer trend number for a Meltzer confirmed; saying UFC 108 was 270k when it actually turned out to be 300k.
I guess we can post the trending numbers if you guys want to hear them, but I just prefer to post the final reported numbers instead (which haven’t come in yet).
Kelsey
Hey Kelsey,
I was just kidding and I apologize if I was one of the ones complaining about the trending numbers :).
Oh no worries. I didn’t take it like that at all.
I just like to get things right without having to post on them three separate times.
Strikeforce will not move their card to the 24th because they will not want to go up against the Super 6 on Showtime. Not because they can not beat them but because they would not want to hurt that event due to the relationship with Showtime. I think this is a bluff from the UFC. I do not see how they can put together a quality card on the 17th on this short of notice. Plus, wasnt it just confirmed that Slice/Mitrione was on the UFC 113 card? If the counterprogramming were to occur I am sure Kimbo would be part of it and he is already tied up.
Tyler, although it might be a bluff the odds are that in the future this will happen. Zuffa have built cards in short periods of time if I remember correctly – the one where they fought for the troops seemed to be pretty rushed. If Zuffa does decide to counter with a live event, all bets are off for the next CBS card. Expect it to go head to head with one of the lackluster Zuffa PPV. Coker and Co. decided to play nice this time around by not going up against WEC which to me would have been the best date. I don’t think MMA fans cross over to boxing as much as people think. If you look at the surge of fans, most probably came over from the wrestling fan base.
YO Kelsey…hope you report on the alliance of boxing and NFL with Jerry jones leading the way…since you report a lot of boxing news in your site….its mainstream news and everybody’s reading it…40,000 tickets were sold
yo kelsey…just read Dana is promoting the pacman vs clottey fight on his tweeter…whats up with that? do they want to deal with jerry jones and get a fight in the stadium as well or are they selling the ufc….ppv numbers are down… and station casinos is is bankrupt…i am a business person and its an absolute no no to go and tell your clients to buy from your competitor….maybe this move is a sign of dana dosent want to compete with boxing anymore and not consider them as competition..instead they would be working on cross promotion..
Bob Arum even thanked the 2 fertita and dana for helping them in promoting the boxing ppv….i dont think coke would tell theyre customers to buy pepsi anytime soon
as im typing this bunch of mma websites have bunch of fans commenting..why the hell is Dana now promoting boxing? it would certainly make him look silly that all this years he is saying that boxing is dead…and now that there is a huge event in a mainstream stadium he wants to be in it…it would confuse all his danamaniacs!!!
Maybe Dana is giving a little promotion to boxing because they will give some back? At this point in time with the signin gof James Toney it would be great to get the UFC and their product out there infront of boxing fans to draw in revenue for Toneys fights.
This is win win for the UFC because MMA fans are not going to buy boxing if they werent already just because Dana says so. They have no reason to. But Boxing fans who dont normally buy MMA have a reason to. The UFC has a Boxer fighting. There is no UFC fighter boxing.
Great deal for the UFC.