Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at the Showtime event headlined by Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz, as he made his first title defense and avenged his only loss in the past 3 years against challenger KJ Noons.
The event took place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and featured 4 fights (2 title fights): Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons [WW Title] Sarah Kaufman vs Marloes Coenen [Women’s 135 lbs Title], Josh Thomson vs “JZ” Cavalcante, and Tyron Woodley vs Andre Galvao.
Fighter Disclosed Payouts
MMAJunkie reports that Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II had a disclosed fighter payroll of $211,500.
Nick Diaz: $50,000
def. K.J. Noons: $10,000
Josh Thomson: $50,000
def. Gesias Cavalcante: $40,000
Marloes Coenen: $3,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
def. Sarah Kaufman: $20,000
Tyron Woodley: $15,000 ($7,500 win bonus)
def. Andre Galvao: $10,000
James Terry: $3,000 ($1,500 win bonus)
David Marshall: $1,500
Josh McDonald: $3,000 ($1,500 win bonus)
def. Ron Keslar: $1,500
Jess Bouscal: $3,000 ($1,500 win bonus)
def. Luis Mendoza: $1,500
DISCLAMER: These are the base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect the total amount earned by each fighter.
Attendance and Gate
MMAJunkie reports that Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II achieved an attendance of 7,559 which places it near the bottom of their “Arena Series” events (a disappointing number) and a gate of $528,446.50 (which is on par with other similar Strikeforce events). The attendance number stands as the 5th most attended event for Strikeforce this year.
– 11,757 spectators, “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum” (June)
– 8,635 spectators, “Strikeforce: Houston” (August)
– 8,196 spectators, “Strikeforce: Nashville (April)
– 8,136 spectators, “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” (May)
– 7,559 spectators, “Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II (October)
– 7,010 spectators, “Strikeforce: Miami” (January)
– 5,259 spectators, “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” (June)
Ratings
MMAJunkie reports that Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II averaged 350,000 viewers for a 1.16 rating on Showtime this past Saturday night, but peaked at half a million viewers (509,000) for a 1.64 rating for the main event between Nick Diaz and KJ Noons. The average number is the third lowest rating for a major show this year but the peak number is very good for an event that didn’t feature any big names like Fedor, Gina Carano or Herschel Walker. A key number to observe here is the peak number, which means more for Showtime because of the correlation between how many current and new subscribers are watching Strikeforce, which differs from the UFC, WEC, Bellator, and other promotions with TV deals (non-subscription channels) which are ad and rating dependent.
The average viewer numbers stands as the 4th most watched event for Strikeforce this year but the peak number is a good indicator that fans tuned in to see the main event between Nick Diaz and KJ Noons.
– 517,000 viewers (peak not available), “Strikeforce: Miami” (January)
– 412,000 viewers (700,000 peak), “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum” (June)
– 367,000 viewers (470,000 peak), “Strikeforce: Houston” (August)
– 350,000 viewers (509,000 peak), “Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II (October)
– 308,000 viewers (448,000 peak), “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” (May)
– 164,000 viewers (197,000 peak), “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” (June) [Special Wednesday Show]
Storylines Coming Out of Event
There were 6 major story lines coming out of the event this past weekend.
1) Heyman Hustle Signs with EA Sports to Promote Strikeforce Fighters for MMA Video Game Release
Note: Scott Coker recently told Fight Magazine in an interview that he is looking forward to working with Paul Heyman in the future. MMAPayout has learned that due to some existing projects that Heyman is working on, he has to wait until those are completed before he could sign with Strikeforce. He is currently working with EA Sports and is very possible he may join Strikeforce in 2011.
2) Strikeforce Officially Unveils New Logo, Product Line, and Online Store
World championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE will pre-launch its forthcoming online apparel store, StrikeforceStore.com, tomorrow/Saturday, Oct. 9, the day of its the world championship doubleheader STRIKEFORCE: Diaz vs. Noons II event live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) from HP Pavilion in San Jose.
The pre-launch will provide fans with the opportunity to purchase apparel sporting STRIKEFORCE’s new, revamped logo. The complete, new online store is expected to officially launch at the beginning of December, just in time for the holidays.
3) Strikeforce MMA DVD Released
A hard-hitting collection of brutal battles and thrilling knockouts featuring some of the greatest fighters of the world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) league, STRIKEFORCE MMA slams its way onto DVD October 12 from Showtime Networks, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment. This two-disc set is a must-have for MMA fans and includes the hottest fights of 2010—previously seen only on SHOWTIME®—along with rare bonus features including never-before-broadcast fights and exclusive interviews. (Strikeforce Press Release)
4) Strikeforce, Sherdog, and EA Announce “MMA Fighter Exchange” Project
Watch worlds collide as Strikeforce MMA giants Gegard Mousasi, Jacare Souza, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Luke Rockhold take four up and coming fighters under their wing. See these fighters grow as they fly across the globe to train in new fighting arts in foreign countries. Follow each fighter’s page as they post daily blogs, photos, video and live twitter feeds about what it’s like to push their bodies and minds, learning from top fighters and famous trainers in unfamiliar lands, striving towards their dream shot at fighting in an upcoming Strikeforce Event!! (Sherdog)
5) Backstage Altercation Between Nick Diaz and Jason “Mayhem” Miller
– There was a backstage altercation between Nick Diaz and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who were the main participants in the Nashville CBS brawl back in March. There was a war of words between the two and Nick Diaz threw a water bottle at Miller, who was with his manager Ryan Parsons. Allegedly, security had to step in and pull the two apart, escorting Miller out of the arena. MiddleEasy.com was said to have video of the altercation but nothing has surfaced yet.
6) A New Beginning for Strikeforce
– The Strikeforce regional promotion era, which began in 2006 and continued on even after signing their deal with Showtime/CBS, is now gone. The regional promotion that once set the North American record for the most attended event and who hosted the first sanctioned event in California is all but gone. For the past 18 months, it has been in the middle of making their transition from regional to a worldwide sporting event promotion, and it made it very clear this weekend by officially unveiling their new logo and brand. There are a number of ventures Strikeforce is currently working on to grow and expand its brand even further, but at the same time, the huge regional support Strikeforce once received from San Jose appears to be diminishing. Bay Area superstars such as Cung Le (movies), Frank Shamrock (retired), and Cesar Gracie (retired) helped build Strikeforce and their local fanbase from the ground up, but as those fighters come towards the twilight of their MMA careers, the fans will now demand new regional stars to support. Look for Strikeforce to move on to markets such as St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Southern States, and eventually the East Coast (New Jersey) by the end of next year and apply the same formula to build fanbases in new markets.
– This wekeend show felt and looked like any other show outside of San Jose. The average attendance number can not only be attributed to the lack of big stars on this card, but Bay Area fans had plenty of other sporting alternatives that weekend (Stanford vs UCLA, Cal vs USC, Raiders vs Chargers, 49ers vs Eagles, SF Giants Playoff fever, etc). Simply put, Strikeforce scheduled this event on one of the biggest sporting weekends in the area without any regional stars on the event. It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers their next San Jose event draws and what the makeup of the card will look like.
Sponsor, Promotion and Marketing Watch
– As the norm, we always want more marketing and promotion from most every Strikeforce event, and its a topic that they juggle everyday regarding their budget, resources, and strategic planning for each event, but this time they hired AllElbows to produce the “Diaz vs Noons II -Collision Course” three-part documentary series. This is something that fans were very receptive of, and hopefully something that Strikeforce, Showtime, and AllElbows will continue to support.
– All the usual sponsors where there for this event: FullTilt Poker, Rockstar, GoDaddy, ClinchGear, etc. As we like to point out here on MMAPayout, we always like to see more synergy between big sponsors and the promotions. GoDaddy.com once again hosted their Strikeforce ticket contest, as they held a giveaway for lucky fans to win 2 tickets to the Strikeforce Diaz vs Noons II event. The HP Pavilion, EA Sports MMA, and Showtime, twitter feeds also did a commendable job at promoting the event. Scott Coker himself (@cokersf) even started to tweet more around the event and looks like will continue to do so to promote his company from here on out. We definitely want to see more of this from all of Strikeforce’s partners and sponsors.
Twitter Trends
Good news for Strikeforce here, as the key words “Marloes #Coenen“, “Tyron #Woodley“, KJ “#Noons“, and “Nick Diaz” were all top trends during the evening of the Strikeforce: Diaz vs Noons II event. In fact, “Nick Diaz” was one of the top trends that night, trailing just “Denzel Washington” ‘s Saturday Night Live appearance. This event now holds the record for most Strikeforce fighters trending in one event.
That would make it 4 out of the last 5 events that have trended on Twitter for Strikeforce, with the latest having “#Strikeforce” and “#Jacare” trending from the Strikeforce Houston event, where Jacare won the vacant MW title when he defeated Tim Kennedy in the evenings co-main event.
With a gate of 528,446, after TV revenues, merchandise, etc. they probably did well over a 1 million in revenue. With a low payroll of 211,500 + additional costs, I’d say they cleared at least $500,000 for this event. For anyone who thinks Strikeforce is not making money and will fold like Affliction or EliteXC, obviously doesn’t understand Coker’s business acumen. If the EA game does well, it can only mean more brand recognition for Strikeforce.
They may not have the best fighters, but Coker is exactly the type of CEO that other businesses like to work with. None dictatorial, willing to work with others, open to the media (and yes even to the “evil” Sherdog) and a steady leader. If they can work out their match making and build new fighters as they have been doing as of late, they can really make a run as a solid #2 organization in the business.
I like Heyman’s work, but I’m worried about Coker’s thoughts around working with him. If he plans to use Heyman’s company to help in the marketing, I think that’s good. But if he plans on making Heyman some kind of promotional partner, I think that will have added risk. I’d like to know what Scott is thinking on this end.
mmaguru:
Absolutely, any event Strikeforce runs at the HP Pavilion (owned by same company) is quite profitable for them, not to mention this time around, without fighters like Frank Shamrock, Cung Le, Fedor, or Gina Carano, the payroll was extremely low.
Overall it was a good night of fights for the fans and a probably a profitable one for SF. They’ve been doing this a lot lately.
Militich is fast becoming the best color commentator in the business, and fighters in SF’s roster are starting to come into their own just in time to replace some outgoing stalwarts. It was good to see Woodley graduate in style from the challengers series, and I’m sure we’ll see Galvao, another graduate, again soon. The women’s 135 lb division as a whole graduated that night. I’m sure we’ll see Coenen defend her title on a big Saturday night card in 2011. Nick keeps racking up the wins, and although a relatively boring fight by Nick’s standards, it was pretty exciting by anyone elses. I think Nick will keep building a fan base for himself in the sport. He has the kind of temperament and style that draws eyeballs – even the people who hate him want to watch him. A fight between Daley and Nick would draw solid numbers.
My one criticism of the night has to do (as usual) with Showtime, namely I wish they would show some of the undercard fights when they have dead air rather than trying to fill it with commentary.
With the (near) demise of Dream and Zuffa’s inexplicable lack of support for the WEC, I think SF is firmly, albeit a very distant, second in the world of MMA. And they’ve managed to get there despite (or perhaps because of) not going millions of dollars into debt.
Great post Diego. Agree with all your points, especially with Militich. Also, felt that Showtime’s production just isn’t where it should be at this point. There boxing events seem to be of much better quality. Better production would go a long way in legitimizing Strikeforce as a solid #2.
mmaguru:
That’s probably because SF gets about 1/3 the budget boxing does 😉
As SF gets bigger and brings in more numbers, the more leverage SF will have to get more support.
Jose,
Do you know what kind of numbers boxing is doing on Showtime and HBO? I haven’t ever seen that info reported, I’m curious to see if MMA is catching up. The much vaunted Super 6 is melting down, which must be driving Ken Hershman nuts but creates an opportunity for Strikeforce. I like my boxing almost as much as MMA and I want to see both succeed but I definitely favor MMA.
>”Do you know what kind of numbers boxing is doing on Showtime and HBO? I haven’t ever seen that info reported, I’m curious to see if MMA is catching up.”
I have been looking every where for that info as well. Post it if you got it.
If you listen to what Coker is saying it keeps sounding more and more like they want to do a Super 6 type thing with the HWs like like boxing thing. But in MMA it has even a better chance of blowing up that it did in boxing.
Diego, jv:
I’ve posted it here somewhere before, but the ShoBox events do similar numbers to Challengers while the big boxing events can do anywhere from 500K – 1.5 million viewers on average (varies greatly depending on who is fighting).
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Let me give you some numbers for last week:
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Showtime, Dexter (1.9 million viewers)
HBO’s Boardwalk Empire (2.6 million)
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Dexter Season Premiere:
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Dexter drew 1.8 million viewers, the series’ highest-rated debut to date and Showtime’s highest-rated original series premiere in 15 years.
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Season Finales From Last Season:
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The season four finale of Dexter captured record ratings for original programming on Showtime. Growing 71% over the season three finale it drew over 2.5 million viewers at 9pm and over 3 million including the replay later in the evening.It was the biggest broadcast on Showtime overall since a 1999 Mike Tyson fight.
A direct beneficiary of Dexter’s success has been Californication which airs right after. It was up 72% over its previous season finale pulling in 1.1 million viewers. Californication was renewed earlier this year after it showed a 60% jump in its season premiere and ratings were strong throughout the season.
Thanks a lot Jose that really helps. I know I am getting greedy now but any guesses on how the pay outs compare between the two. I’m not looking for specifics just generalities. I stopped following boxing when I discovered MMA so I don’t know much about the boxing world any more.
jv:
Can’t really say. It really depends on who is fighting, but all you have to know is that Showtime’s boxing budget is much smaller than HBO’s, and Showtime’s MMA budget is about 1/3 of their boxing budget. 🙂
I thought it was a great night of fights for SF, and I’m not surprised to see that it was also a profitable one. Coker recently talked about their new re-branding campaign, and I think that in conjunction with a series of cards that fans will want to see, will lead to even bigger profits.
It is interesting that boxing can do 1.5 million at the top end. While Dexter is in the 1.8 to 1.9 range. Scripted programming is hella expensive. It wouldn’t be unimaginable that at least in the short term sports is better bang for the buck than scripted. Over the length of the syndication run and DVD sales I am sure scripted turns it around. Mind you Dexter is their big show and I am sure some of their scripted stuff doesn’t turn a profit.
While advertising isn’t such a big thing on Showtime I have to imagine the demographic is still important. It has to be harder to attract younger viewers as younger viewers have more distractions. Brining in a viewer in the in the fresh out of school age group is probably worth more to the network than bringing in some one in their 50s. Just my guess.
Thanks Jose. That’s good info.