Nick Diaz’s first foray into MMA promotions occurred last night with the introduction of WAR MMA. As a way to promote the fights and create some buzz, it offered a Kickstarter-type PPV model as fans were able to pay what they wanted…including nothing at all.
The card which featured former UFC star Daniel Roberts against Justin Baesman in the main event occurred at the Stockton Arena in the hometown of Diaz.
The promotion also offered a free replay for fans not able to see it live Saturday night. Nick Diaz’s web site also offered an autographed pair of fight gloves signed by Diaz for the person donating the most to the promotion.
Payout Perspective:
The “Pay What You Want” feature is an innovative idea and a good way to create buzz and market the new promotions. The model is similar to the Kickstarter/Crowdfunding idea in which the public can contribute to a project any amount it wants. The obvious concerns of how much to expect from the public and how to pay for up front/overhead costs may inhibit the profitability of this first card. However, if Diaz sustains the promotion, this idea may be followed by others.
With this being said, the product must be something that people will want to see if they will be compelled to pay. I have not had the chance to see the whole card but one might think that people will check it out and may donate if they like what they see.
This sounds like a good idea at first. But I think it is a horrible idea that kills any long term potential it might have and puts a cap on its success. People associate price with quality. They also get used to what they pay and come to expect it. Giving it away for free will make it extremely difficult to charge later. It will turn a lot of fans off even if it is at a modest price point. The best example I can think of is how Americans, and maybe other nations too, complain about gas prices. Our entire way of life is dependent on gas. When you think of what we can do with a single gallon of gas. The price is extremely cheap. We actually pay more for a Pepsi than we go gas. Yet people never stop complaining about the price. That stems from the fact that we have always historically got gas for a much lower price. People complain not because it isn’t worth the price. But because they are spoiled by prices in the past. Diaz idea might work for the first few events to get a buzz. But he doesn’t want the fans to get used to it.
It would be nice to know how many people paid money. Of course only a Diaz fan would be foolish enough to pay for a product that has no history to base its quality and value on. So the question is. How many of his fans give up their weed money to send it to Diaz. How many were in their “right mind” when they decided to send the money? LOL! Even if Diaz didn’t turn a profit on the broadcast. We know he clean up in concession sales with everyone having the munchies! Zzzzing!
fans aroundI thinkits a good idea on part of nick diaz. Any serious sport evolvs . Look at ufc for instance. There were no weight classes and rules before. Now the game is totally different. Just like football. Everything changes for the better, and there is critisicm that goes along with that. Has anyone seen pride fights. They punished ur puse for not being active enough. Not laying on someone killing time, fighting off a point sys tem. Give the tru fans of mma what they want to see. Ive been watching ufc since ufc 2. Im talking about an 11 year old going into his local movie store and picking up a revolutionary piece of film and loving what he sees. Now a days u buy a fight to watch a brawl and get 1 guy laying on another doing nothing but laying on him with wrestling. The way its going, there will be no real fighters left. Only good wrestlers. I admire nick diaz for rying to bring back real mixed martial arts back. Yes he smokes pot. Ok. Is hat a performance enhancing drug. No. Wake up and see what things are for what they are. This is for the future of mma and fans around the world that do care for real fights. Im open to criticism.oaklandraider1984@gmail.com
I think the first issue is the longevity of the promotion. Is this something that Diaz will do see if it makes money and if not, he’ll abandon it. Or, does Diaz see this as his future after fighting? If so, it can be a good model especially based on how the public perceives Diaz. He’s not conventional to say the least and the model is in line with who we perceive him to be. With that being said, the promotion will be based on Nick’s name for a while until fighter(s) step up and become noticed. It will be up to him (and his team) to find fighters that will make it exciting.
With ufc’s low pay….Diaz can get lots of fighters hahaha