Comments on: Monday media highlights

By: UFCjunkie.com - A Blog for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA news, rumors and recaps » Baltimore Sun Launches Dedicated MMA Section

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:25:54 +0000

[...] Baltimore Sun Launches Dedicated MMA Section Posted by ufcjunkie on January 29, 2007 at 8:56 am ET I heard about this bit of news from Zach at FightOpinion.com and felt it was worth mentioning here: the Baltimore Sun has launched a full-fledged MMA section at baltimoresun.com. [...]

By: JOSH

JOSH — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:54:58 +0000

Im just saying that the LA area is good for MMA. I do belivee the IFL will paper but to what extent I doubt it will bethat extreme.

By: Zack

Zack — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:06:53 +0000

Are you really going to compare UFC 60 to the IFL though? My only point was that even the white hot UFC had to paper 1/3 of Staples, which holds a similar capacity to the Forum, and is more desirable to go to. The IFL will have to paper 90% of the crowd and there will still be less than 4000 people in an arena that holds 18,000.

By: JOSH

JOSH — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 05:03:45 +0000

Do u know how much the Olympic Aud is to run? Belive me its expensive (had friends in XPW and it made them bankrupt running from there). Also I was at the ECW show too..ah the memoreies. Both UFC shows, though didnt sell out, did extrememly well. As for the LA shows not doing well lets look at the gates released by UFC

UFC 57- Liddell/Couture III: 3.3 million
UFC 58- Louisea Vs Franklin 1.7 million
UFC 59- Tito/ Forrest (in Anaheim) 2.1 million
UFC 60- Hughes/ Gracie (Staples) 2.9 million
UFC 61- Tito/Shamrock 3.3 million
UFC 62- Liddell/ babalu 3 million
UFC 63- Hughes/ Penn (Anaheim) 1.5 million
UFC 64- Silva Vs Franklin 1.7 million
UFC 65- Hughes Vs GSP 2.1 million
UFC 66- Liddell/ Tito II 5.3 million (biggest gate in UFC history)

So in actuality the Staples show was pretty damn succesfull coming behind some of the biggest cards in UFC history. And the first Anaheim show did pretty well (second not so much). So IMO the LA market is still pretty primed for MMA. Its up to the IFL to start advertising mucho mucho advertising for the show.

By: Zack

Zack — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:13:43 +0000

What’s MMA’s track record in running Los Angeles? UFC 60? UFC didn’t come close to selling it out. WFA? The show tanked so hard the company went under. Trust me, I was at both of them. IFL and their barely lukewarm product will tank. The Forum is a huge arena…if they’re hellbent on running LA, they should consider the Olympic Auditorium. It’s smaller and only a few blocks from Staples. I went there to see the only West Coast ECW show years ago.

By: The MMA Critic

The MMA Critic — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 02:00:36 +0000

The knees have to come back. I could live without the stomps to the head. In a perfect world, we would have that too, but it isn’t a must have. The knees change the fight completely. The only thing they need to watch out for is when a fighter is on the ground and his head is up against the cage. That might be the one time when knees on the ground is a bad idea. Of course, the more rules the worse, but I could see a definite reason for having that specific rule implemented. It would still allow for knees to be back, but not get fighters a no way out against the cage.

By: AJAX

AJAX — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:33:00 +0000

I’m a fan of Pride because of the ring and the rules, but after reading the CroCop article above, I can’t wait for the U.S. public to see this guy. I think Herrings game suffered a bit because of the “no knees” rule, but Mirko’s won’t. It’s going to be explosive!

By: JOSH

JOSH — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:40:18 +0000

Oh I would sooo beg to differ on that. The forum isnt in that terrible of a neighborhood, the only thing I can see overshadowing the Forum is just the beauty of the Staples Center (IMo its the same thing that pretty much killed the Sports Arena). BUT believe me u can run literally ANYTHING fromLA (hell even the arena football team does well at Staples center). I would agree that SD is probably just as profitable an area (if not more so) but I dont think OC would have been very good.

By: The MMA Critic

The MMA Critic — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:39:30 +0000

The struggles of the IFL really showcase how hard it is to break into the sport of MMA. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to do it.

If you don’t have enough stars, you can keep the payroll down. However, it will be more difficult to get fans to the events. If you have enough stars, the payroll will be significantly up. However, you run the risk of still having small crowds, or taking a huge loss trying to build up your company. This is why the UFC lost $40 Million before they started to turn things around. And all of it was attributed to the success of a realty show.

The current MMA boom reminds me of a niche version of the Tech Stock Bubble forming in the late 1990’s. In MMA, you have all of these companies going for the big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They are losing millions doing so, and the hardcore fans are “buying into” the concepts. With the exception of Zuffa, nobody is doing anything at all that would get the attention of the casual fan on a regular basis.

By: Zack

Zack — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:42:59 +0000

LA is a terrible market to run…especially in Inglewood at the Forum. That’s a part of town where most people who have the income to spend on multiple sporting events a year don’t go. OC would’ve been a better market to run, or possibly even San Diego, which has had some success with the Total Combat events. However, even San Diego tanked when Icon tried to run that Lindland vs Van Arsedale card down here with ambitious ticket prices.