MMAterial Facts (03/10/10): WEC 47 Ratings

• WEC 47 ratings dip to 373,000 viewers, second-smallest audience in two years
• WEC’s poor ratings show that Strikeforce should not waste their time going after them
• UFC press conference today in Japan
• TV Deals Help Mixed Martial Arts Maintain Growth Curve
• Mixed Martial Arts Supporters Rally For Round 2

WEC 47 ratings dip to 373,000 viewers, second-smallest audience in two years

This past weekend’s WEC 47 event on Versus scored a 0.46 household rating and 373,000 viewers, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed.

The ratings were down sharply – 42 percent in all – compared to World Extreme Cagefighting’s prior show, WEC 46 (640,000 viewers), which took place in January and benefited from proven draw Urijah Faber and a main-event title-unification bout between Benson Henderson and Jamie Varner.

WEC 45, which took place this past December, drew 330,000 viewers.

WEC 47 took place March 6 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and featured a bantamweight title fight between ex-champ Brian Bowles and new title-holder Dominick Cruz. Joseph Benavidez beat former champ Miguel Torres in the co-headliner, and Jens Pulver likely fought for the final time with his submission loss to Javier Vazquez.

It was a solid night of fights to mark the WEC’s Ohio debut, and the WEC 47 attendance (8,345) was the fifth-largest in WEC history.   (MMAJunkie) … (MMA Payout Perspective)

WEC’s poor ratings show that Strikeforce should not waste their time going after them

The news coming out regarding WEC 47 drawing a 0.46 cable rating on Versus is bad news for Zuffa and informational news for CBS & Strikeforce.

First, the piss-poor rating should be cause for concern with UFC’s upcoming March 21st rally with Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones. America is all about branding and despite years and years of Comcast trying to push Versus as a major network, American viewers simply aren’t buying into it. ESPN and its family of networks continue its dominance and Spike TV had long track records and programming that built those brands over many years. Versus has tried desperately with WEC and the NHL to try to boost ratings, but it simply hasn’t worked. UFC is a strong brand but it’s unlikely that they are going to build up Versus long-term like WWE helped build up Spike TV in the late 90s and early 00’s.

Second, WEC’s poor ratings not only indicate that the company is in a slide, but it also shows that Strikeforce has won a small battle amongst the hardcore fans. When Strikeforce on Showtime, a pay channel, is outdrawing Zuffa’s child on a semi-non-premium cable channel. So, the idea that Strikeforce should move their 4/17 Nashville event to 4/24 to try to screw with the buyrate for the WEC debut PPV would be a reactionary one and one that wouldn’t be productive for Scott Coker. Strikeforce needs to worry about expanding their base instead of fighting with Zuffa’s Jr. company over hardcore fans. Running on 4/17 instead of 4/24 also avoids competition against the Super Six boxing series on Showtime.   (Fight Opinion)

UFC press conference today in Japan

The promotion held a presser today in Tokyo with Jamie Pollack (photo), counsel for Zuffa, leading the announcement of the fight card for their 3/31 event at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pollack’s last time in Japan wasn’t so great — he was sent by Zuffa to try to head-up the shinsei (newborn) PRIDE resurrection attempt after the asset sale with Nobuyuki Sakakibara.

At today’s press conference at Wald 9 in Shinjuku (Tokyo), it was announced that the UFC Charlotte event would air on TV Tokyo, the smallest of the free-to-air broadcast networks in Japan. In other words, UFC will not make much of a dent in the Japanese marketplace. TV Tokyo is a pay-for-play station. You bring the sponsors and pay for the time, you get it. The 3/31 show will air on TV Tokyo on 4/8 in a one-hour slot from 10 PM to 10:54 PM JST.

Pollack at today’s presser (photo) said that UFC was aiming to expand into Japan and that signing “big names” like Gomi, Okami, and Uno were part of the marketing plan. OK. In usual grandstanding bluster, the TV Tokyo sports executive at the presser said he hopes the UFC show will draw a double-digit rating. (A realistic rating would be in the 4-to-6 % range.)

A taped video by Dana White was played at the press conference, saying that the three Japanese fighters (Gomi, Okami, and Uno) are “Japanese legend fighters.”  (Fight Opinion)

TV Deals Help Mixed Martial Arts Maintain Growth Curve

Someone within the ranks of Zuffa LLC, parent outfit for the UFC and sister company WEC really paid attention in their Marketing 101 class.

Men – and some women – ages 18-35 can’t get enough of mixed martial arts, the sport that’s continued rise in popularity stems from the cash being thrown around to keep it in your face.

Specifically, for the UFC and WEC whose multi-year partnerships with cable networks Spike TV and Versus, MMA captivates thousands because the fights are quality, the personalities become addicting – but the best part is that it’s free.

“When we took over the UFC [in 2001] our vision was to expand this sport into as many markets as possible, said UFC president Dana White, talking about his partners in Zuffa owners and Vegas honchos Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. We’re worldwide man, fans can’t get enough of this (bleep); we can’t crank out good fights fast enough.”

…

“I love it and now she loves it,” said Jim Cooper of Berwyn, Pa. who noted the obsession with all things UFC amongst him and his wife Lauren. “It’s great because it’s always on and we really get hooked on following some of these guys’ careers.”  (All Headline News)

Mixed Martial Arts Supporters Rally For Round 2

A law to allow mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting in West Virginia was knocked out in this legislative session, but supporters are getting ready for round two.

The author of that bill is Geoff Varney, a student at West Virginia University’s Law School, and while the bill didn’t make it out of committee, he and other supporters want to spread the word about MMA and what they think the sport can do for the state.

The state’s Athletic Commission raised concerns about the sport’s safety and the economic impact it will have on boxing, a legal contact sport.

A medical expert on the panel said the mixed martial arts are actually safer than boxing, because it uses lighter gloves, causing fewer traumatic head injuries.

MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, and West Virginia is one of only two states where it’s illegal to hold a match, meaning that money goes elsewhere.

“Studies show that it has less a risk of brain injury (than boxing),” said Varney, “and that it could bring millions of dollars into the economy of West Virginia. And with a 10 percent unemployment rate, we need the money, and restaurants and hotels around here would benefit from mixed martial arts in the end.”  (WTRF, Channel 7)

IMAGE OF THE DAY

QUICK HITS

• 9 Fights Greenlit for UFC 113 (Sherdog)
• Dana White: UFC 111 in New Jersey a sellout (MMAJunkie)
• Coker “honored” by Walker’s fight, plans meeting to discuss second Strikeforce scrap (MMAJunkie)
• “UFC Primetime” returns to Spike TV tonight, UFC 111’s St-Pierre and Hardy featured (MMAJunkie)
• UFC 111’s Dan Hardy says “visual stimulus” to blame for poster’s tattoo removal (MMAJunkie)
• Britt Eyeing Strikeforce Bout vs. Feijao (MMAFighting)
• Strikeforce Adds Holscher-Trevino to March 26 ‘Challengers’ (Sherdog)
• WEC Ratings Are Weak Without Faber (MMAFighting)
• Leah Returns as Octagon Girl for UFC 111 (MMAFighting)
• EA SPORTS MMA GAMEPLAY DETAILS REVEALED (MMAWeekly)
• THE NEXT BIG THING: VERA VS. JONES VS. THE HYPE (MMAWeekly)
• The world according to Hardy hits U.S. shores (Cage Writer)
• Stephan Bonnar loses UFC 110 appeal (FiveOuncesOfPain)

TV LISTINGS

• UFC Prime Time GSP vs Hardy at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (03/10/10)
• HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (2008 K-1 Max) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (03/12/10)
• InsideMMA (James Toney, Ray Mercer, KJ Noons) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (03/12/10)
• HDNet Fights: Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/12/10)
• Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (03/12/10)
  

UPCOMING EVENTS

• HDNet Fights: Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/12/10)
• HDNet Fights: XFC X-Night of Champions at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/19/10)
• UFC on Versus: Vera vs Jones at 10 PM ET on Versus (3/21/10)
• HDNet Fights: King of the Cage – Legacy at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/26/10)
• Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs Mahe at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (03/26/10)
• UFC 111: GSP vs Hardy at 10 PM ET on PPV (03/27/10)
• UFN 21 : Florian vs Gomi at 10 PM ET on Spike (03/31/10)
• The Ultimate Fighter 11 Debut after UFN 21 on Spike (03/31/10)