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Is PRIDE doing a reality TV show?
By Zach Arnold | September 17, 2006
By Zach Arnold
Japanese blogger Gryphon has picked up on a lead that Ed Fishman, the rumored Las Vegas backer for PRIDE, is going to try to pitch a new PRIDE reality show for TV in America.
If this is true, it makes PRIDE look like a copycat to UFC as far as what PRIDE’s American mindset is. UFC was on Fox Sports Net several years ago, then PRIDE goes on board to FSN. UFC has a couple of years of success with their reality show, now PRIDE apparently wants to get into reality TV. Will it work as well for PRIDE as it has for UFC?
Meanwhile, Daily Sports indicates that DSE is trying to get Mike Tyson to fight for them on New Year’s Eve — but the fight won’t happen in Japan, and instead will have to occur in another country (not Japan).
Update: Nikkan Sports has comments from Nobuhiko Takada about Tyson’s first appearance in PRIDE, which will happen on 10/21 in Las Vegas. Takada says that Tyson will appear at the show and cut a promo (microphone performance), but will not fight on the card. The plan is for Tyson to make his debut on New Year’s Eve.
Update II: As Gryphon noted in the comments section, Ed Fishman did an interview with Kami no Puroresu (the media publication ran by Noboru Yamaguchi that is a friendly PRIDE media outlet). The publication (in their teaser) said that they interviewed Fishman in his “luxurious home” in Las Vegas. Fishman is being marketed in the interview as “the man responsible for PRIDE’s advancement in America.” Fishman said in the interview that he is attempting to get PRIDE-themed slot machines created.
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Eh, I think it will really depend on what kind of reality they choose to do. If it’s the same as TUF, then yeah it’s fairly copy-catish, but if they can get creative I’ll be interested in watching.
The copycat issue is minor. No company has ever entered the market place using the same business model as a previously successful one? I guess on that notion TUF is just a copycat of survivor, big brother, the apprentice, etc. Reality shows are a contemporary form of marketing and entertainment that haven proven to work.
The main concern of DSE should be to utilize the opportunity to leap frog TUF with a superior show and portray themselves as the dominant MMA promotion in the world that many feel they are. Most important, they shouldn’t attempt milk the public by stacking their future ppv cards with the show participants. I think that model is built out of straw.
“Will it work as well for PRIDE as it has for UFC?”
Short answer….no.
I think with the right approach and the Japanese flavor, it would go over really well with the US fan base and of course old school MMA fans like myself will definately enjoy it.
The only thing that would bother me is the rule changes, i know the ring has been approved but rumour has it that Pride does not want elbows allowed and that is on top of soccer kicks, stomps and knees to a downed opponent being banned by the NSAC.
I believe Pride should be able to run their show under Pride rules, not NSAC sanctioned rules. I can only dream the NSAC would agree but i doubt it.
The reason I bring up “copycat” with PRIDE on the reality show deal is that now we have others who are emulating what UFC is doing — including the Calvin Ayre deal. I don’t know if there is enough tolerance or room in the marketplace for a second MMA-based reality show.
Now, if the reality show was more or less following around a certain fighter (a modified, updated version of UFC All-Access), then perhaps it might work. Otherwise, I don’t know if it will sell.
Like how Zuffa copied WWE’s Tough Enough formula?
Allen – yes. 🙂 The difference this time is that whether it be boxing, wrestling, or MMA – usually the first to do a successful reality show ends up isolating themselves from competition who think they can do it successfully but don’t pull it off.
I wanna see some traditional Japanese style dojo training. Get Takada, Billy Robinson, Satayama, Fujiwara, and Funaki putting guys though hell. Bamboo sticks and everything.
One more comment,
This first news source is from KAMIPRO MAGAZINE special(For PRIDE-GP final).
This magazine interviewed Ed Fishman directly
If Pride was going to copy the UFC tv, then I wish FSN would copy the UFC taped shows of old fights which are well done. As it is, the FSN Pride shows are butchered horror.
I guess the bottom line for me is that DSE and Fishman both have a wealth of experience in the entertainment industry. If we see a large, well produced show in the works then we can assume that they are both in agreement that the show will do well. If we see a half-hearted attempt to copy-cat the UFC then we know that this is a last ditch effort to revive a struggling organization, and that Mr. Fishman does not have a lot invested in it.
Pride kinda did have a reality show years before TUF. It was called “Pre-Pride” and it was broadcast on Tokai TV. Some of the guys who won went on to fight in smaller shows (Sokun Koh in “Pride-The BEST” and KOTC, Katsuya Inoue in Pancrase and Demolition), but I can only think of two off the top of my head that went on to fight in big shows, Eiji Mitsuoka and Yushin Okami.
Anyway, I guess my point is that an MMA reality show isn’t anything new. It’s just been more successful in the U.S. That’s probably why Pride is thinking about giving it a go.
Because Tyson is still such a big name in Japan, I wonder if his presence fighting an exhibition match on NYE could possibly lead to a new TV deal for Pride? It seems like they’d have some content that the viewing public would want to see.
If that was the case, the whole Tyson/Pride deal would be well worth it IMO.
“The plan is for Tyson to make his debut on New Year’s Eve.”
That will be difficult considering that he is legally not allowed into the country of Japan.
I guess I’m an “old school” fan who feels Pride is complete crap and their “reality show” would be complete crap as well.
Ivan, the buzz is saying that he will be fighting, but not in Japan. Apparently it will be broadcast from some other country. Note that this hasn’t been confirmed yet, but I thought i would mention it
[…] From Fishman’s perspective, aligning with PRIDE is an easy sell. He would love to bring in Japanese high-rollers to gamble their money away, and one way to attract those kinds of fans would be to do Japanese-themed slot machines (such as PRIDE-themed machines). A deal with PRIDE also allows him to take a product in an industry that is seen as a hot commodity right now by cable executives (MMA) and suddenly try to get back into the TV industry again. […]