The Staff at MMAJunkie.com are reporting that Strikeforce: Los Angeles drew a paid attendance of 5,529 for a gate of $418, 061 last night for an event featuring Renato Sobral vs. Robby Lawler.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced the figure at the post-event press conference while reporting a live gate of $418,061.
The available seats appeared nearly full during the event, though Coker said the event was not a sellout, though the Strikeforce exec estimated the building was “about 90 percent” full in its scaled-down configuration.
Payout Perspective:
The gate is lower than previous Strikeforce on Showtime cards, but if you look at the per ticket averages, it seems to have drawn fairly well.
As a whole, the event was excellent and Strikeforce likely won itself some new fans. However, we’ll have to wait and see how well-viewed the broadcast was (which is one of Strikeforce’s problems). It doesn’t get a ton of exposure on Showtime; so, even if the fights are great, the broadcast doesn’t benefit from the same increase potential that a more widely viewed cable network like Spike or Versus might afford.
This problem is then compounded by the infrequency in Strikeforce’s communication with the media and fans. It doesn’t do enough to generate interest in the majority of the MMA fanbase, let alone casuals. Plus, the company will nearly be top-of-mind after a great event like last night’s, but then seemingly vanish off of the face of the earth for a few weeks (…or six).
Hopefully, this card and the Fedor-Werdum fight can help them generate some sustained momentum moving into this summer.
I havent seen the event yet. But i was curious as to why they would run an even with only like 6 fights. They may have got by with it now but if the main event wasnt a 3 round decision they might have a lot of pissed off ticket buyers. Not to mention possible problems like fighters not making weight or getting cleared and have even less fights. This is a very poor decision by SF. The cost of a live card is already paid for. a few more fights on the bottom of a card will not cost much. But it gives fans their moneys worth, Makes up for canciled fights if it happens, gives you more chances to create talent, and gives you more fights that can be used later like the UFC has done with Unleashed, DVDs, etc.
Sounds good for them, I think that EA footed a lot of the bill for it too since it was in conjunction with E3
Good numbers for a Wednesday night event with average fighters on the card. Very respectable.
Latest is that Coker has stated that over 10K tickets have already sold for next week’s fight. This after Dana was on the record as saying it has barely sold 4K.
I’m impressed with what Strikeforce have been able to achieve in the last year. These guys seem to know what they are doing and have made a smart move by aligning themselves with EA.
Guru, so basically if Coker says something about ticket sales etc, you will just believe him on his face but if Dana says something about UFC business you automatically doubt him? If you go on ticketmaster as of Saturday morning you can still get at least 20 tickets together in the cheapest price range.
and you’re impressed that on their second card of a major network TV deal with advertising during the NCAA tournament and headed by a major FA signing their ratings were bad?
EA is the reason that card drew will, it was a smart business move.
Again, I dislike some of my posts in response to you because it makes me come off as a Zuffa-lover and SF hater, neither of which I am, I am an MMA fan, SF has done many positive things, but to paint them as some sort of uber success in the last year and UFC as falling off is just wrong to me.
Hi Stan,
Yes, I would tend to believe Coker when he says something. It’s all based on reputation, and so far Coker has never went on record and made up numbers, unlike Dana. I’m a big fan of both the UFC and Strikeforce, any league for that matter. I’m just calling a spade a spade. Coker claims 10K sales, Dana claims 4K. Let’s see next Saturday who was telling the truth and then you can come back and apologize LOL.
and you’re impressed that on their second card of a major network TV deal with advertising during the NCAA tournament and headed by a major FA signing their ratings were bad?
EA is the reason that card drew will, it was a smart business move.
Again, I dislike some of my posts in response to you because it makes me come off as a Zuffa-lover and SF hater, neither of which I am, I am an MMA fan, SF has done many positive things, but to paint them as some sort of uber success in the last year and UFC as falling off is just wrong to me.
guru,
again, I don’t believe everything Dana says either, just like I don’t believe Coker in this instance.
Again, as of right now you can buy 10 tickets together for every 100 level except the $200 area and a minimum of 20 tickets together for both $35 and $50 upper level, so I just cannot see how they have sold 10k in tickets at this point, this isn’t a 40,000 seat arena, it’s about 20k. Don’t expect an apology if the disclosed number comes in over 10k, at this point with the tickets available, I would argue they bought the tickets up and distributed them, it happens in boxing, mma and WWE. (and yes, I believe the UFC has done this in the past too).
Stan,
If SF give away the tickets it will be reported as such – unless you’re suggesting that they will buy the tickets from Ticketmaster and then give them away. Let’s see if they indeed have over 10k paid attendance. I also tend to trust Coker more than I do Dana, if only because Dana’s relationship with the truth is tenuous. He’ll say whatever he needs to say at the moment without regard for accuracy. We’ll see what happens when the numbers come in.
I did enjoy the SF card even though it was not a blockbuster. Good fights overall and the commentating was pretty good as far as Steven and Pat were concerned – Mauro seemed to be a step behind the analysis.
Overall, well done for SF, and if they made money on the card, then they are on the right track. That’s the kind of product they need to keep putting out while making a profit, or at least breaking even.