Saturday night was a very interesting night of MMA for Bellator as its inaugural PPV was entertaining but depending on whom you talk to, came with questionable judging. In its lead-up to the event, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told MMA Junkie it plans to have future PPVs.
As he has been doing throughout the PPV hype, Rebney took subtle shots at the UFC. For instance, Rebney took a shot at the UFC by indicating its PPVs would be quality rather than quantity.
“You’re never going to see our organization where we’re in a position where we’re just force-feeding one every two to three weeks. It’s never going to happen. We’ll do big, significant pay-per-view events.”
He reiterated this at Bellator’s post-fight press conference.
He has taken other shots at the UFC in lead-up to the event including criticizing Zuffa for the reason that MMA is still not legal in New York (via Latin Post).
Payout Perspective:
It’s clear that Bellator is not relying on the PPV model for its business but does the foray into the platform make sense for the company? From the company’s perspective, having a big event 2-3 times a year would be an interesting piece to add to its content as the company could build its seasons on Spike TV around the potential for PPV. We could certainly see a lot more build with tournament finals culminating on a PPV broadcasts as well as interesting rematches from the seasons airing on PPV. We can foresee Rampage-Tito and Alvarez-Chandler/Brooks as headliners for the next PPV. But will fans have the appetite to pay $44.95 for another MMA PPV?
As for Rebney’s jabs at the UFC, it is fine but if he is going to criticize the UFC, he probably should know the attendance and gate of his first PPV event. This is something Rebney did not reveal to the media post-fight as he stated he did not know. Certainly, this will be something that the UFC will mention when asked about its PPV.
What does knowing the live gate have anything to do with an overall annual vision for the PPV events
Only that if you’re going to stand in front of a mic and act like you know what you’re talking about, then it helps to know what you’re talking about. A good promoter should know the gate and projected PPVs the night of the fight.
Regardless, it was a good night of fights, if not especially meaningful to PFP lists.
One doesn’t have anything to do with the other though…
Regardless of whether it fits “random commenter” opinion of a “good” promoter.
Hilarious
Most CEO’s are what we call bean counters, numbers, any numbers are all that matters.