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Scott Coker: Media writers claiming that Showtime controls Strikeforce’s decision-making are putting out propaganda

By Zach Arnold | June 24, 2010

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Jordan Breen, you are now officially Baghdad Bob according to Scott Coker.

From Josh Gross’ radio show on Tuesday:

JOSH GROSS: “How much of a learning curve was there for you? You’ve been around for a long time. You’ve promoted pretty much every kind of combat sport you can imagine, but how much of a learning curve was there in terms of the really big business of combat sports once you did that Showtime deal?”

SCOTT COKER: “You know, I’d say, we went from being a regional company to being a national brand I think in the last year and you know it’s only been, we’ve only had our first fight 14 months ago on Showtime and so in the last 14 months I think we’ve accomplished a lot of great things. One of the things I’m really proud of is you look at our roster now compared to 14 months ago you wouldn’t even recognize it and you know I’m thankful to Showtime and the fights that we do with CBS. But you know, with Showtime, which we’ve done, we’re doing 16 fights with them in a calendar year, you know, it’s really an executive over there and I know that you know he doesn’t like to mentioned all the time and but that’s Ken Hershman and you know who Ken is. But here’s a guy that has really said look we believe in Mixed Martial Arts, we’re going to back Mixed Martial Arts, and we’re going to back Strikeforce and I think what they’ve done is allowed us to you know have fight cards that are 4, 5 deep every time and so when it comes to our live events or [fans] watching on Showtime, you know they’re going to watch a big full fight card and not just you know before we used to have a great main event and then you know maybe a decent semi-main event and then it would just kind of drop off from there but now we’re able to tee it up much nicer for the fan watching at home on Showtime or the fight fans that’s coming to our live gate.”

JOSH GROSS: “Why do you think this narrative exists, I think it’s pretty prevalent on the blogs and a lot of the fan forums and some of the mainstream media as well, that Showtime is really running the ship or that Showtime’s leading the charge and sort of the decision making and that you know you guys are here, you’re sort of waiting for them to make the call. Why do you think that thinking is out there?”

SCOTT COKER: “Well, I mean, you know, it’s, I mean to me it’s just propaganda you know thrown out by somebody else, right? And you know to me if anybody knew anything about our business I mean you know Showtime’s in New York, we’re in California. You know, we’re operating on a much different you know they’re worried about television and believe me when they wake up every day they’re not thinking about just Strikeforce. I mean, they have boxing, they have that great Super 6 tournament. In fact I had a chance to watch over the weekend up in Oakland live, Andre Ward, fantastic fight. And then you know they have the Super Six tournament, they have their Inside NFL show, they have all their entertainment shows, all their movies, you know they have their NASCAR show that they just picked up and they have MMA as part of their you know program offering to their clientele but you know at the end of the day you know Ken Hershman is not waking up just thinking about Strikeforce or running Strikeforce. He’s way too busy, believe me, and if he was running Strikeforce then why am I working so hard?”

JOSH GROSS: “Right. Right. Does it feel negative or overly negative at times the coverage? Do you think guys get a fair shake?”

SCOTT COKER: “Well, I would say no and I’ll tell you what. Part of the frustration, you know, Josh, we’re talking about major mainstream you know media sites that you know they hear stories, they get a sound bite, and they run with it. You know they don’t call us to confirm whether it’s true or not. I mean they just run with it. As long as they get a bite from you know somebody then they’ll just run with it and so it’s you know it’s frustrating because you know if you’re you know BLOODYKNEES.COM or you know MYKNEESHURT.COM then I get it because it’s just fans or you know just people that are you know out there just trying to you know generate uh you know… generate not awareness just trying to generate gossip, right? And but if you’re a mainstream site, I mean I think you owe it to everybody to have a you know to do your due diligence and to find out what the real story is and if it’s not the real story it’s usually never like what you know they print on there but it’s still a little bit frustrating and you know but with saying that, you know the good news is look how much we’ve grown in the last 14 months and Josh, we really continue to grow because we have great fighters and we keep building this brand and keep building Showtime, Mixed Martial Arts on Showtime, and putting great fights and great cards out there, just like we are this Saturday night.”

JOSH GROSS: “It’s twice that you declined to say Dana White. Why are you treating him like Voldemort from Harry Potter, you can’t mention his name once. What’s the deal?”

SCOTT COKER: “It’s not even like that. It’s, you know, hey, you know what, they’re doing great things in Mixed Martial Arts, Josh, you know how I feel about those guys. You know, they run a great business, they’re doing their own thing and we’re doing our thing and so to me we’re going to keep doing our thing and really how I feel is you know when I wake up every morning I’m thinking about my staff and I’m thinking about the next fight, I’m thinking about the fighters, I’m thinking about the sponsorships you know that we’ve brought on, we’ve brought on a couple great new sponsors for this fight and you know we think about how to grow this business. I’m not thinking about engaging in any kind of silliness with any other league, I mean, to me there’s room for everybody and people should be happy we’re out there. I mean if we weren’t out there, Josh, how would you know how would it work if you’re you know a guy that you know doesn’t have some place to shop your wares sort of speak and level the playing field because you know now these fighters you know have more than one place they can go shop their abilities or their talents. You know like Dan Henderson. for instance, I mean if we weren’t here and there was only one place buying then you know then there’s not going to be maybe a you know situation where you might be able to maximize you know what you’re getting as far as your purse because there’s only one person buying but you know right now we have two people right now in the space and it’s good for the industry. It’s a balance. It’s healthy for everybody. It just means that the industry is healthy.”

Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

13 Responses to “Scott Coker: Media writers claiming that Showtime controls Strikeforce’s decision-making are putting out propaganda”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    Many fighters say they talk directly to Showtime and not Strikeforce. So either the fighters are lying or Coker is full of it.

    • What I’ve read is that Showtime decides what fights they want on their network and they OK or turn down fights that are offered them. Same as boxing. We’re probably better off as a result, otherwise we’d likely be getting Cung Le/Brian Warren 3 this weekend.

  2. […] Scott Coker speaks out against all us gossipy MMA blogs for pushing the idea that Showtime is getting all up in Strikeforce’s business: “Part of the frustration, you know, Josh, we’re talking about major mainstream you know media sites that you know they hear stories, they get a sound bite, and they run with it. You know they don’t call us to confirm whether it’s true or not. I mean they just run with it. As long as they get a bite from you know somebody then they’ll just run with it and so it’s you know it’s frustrating because you know if you’re you know BLOODYKNEES.COM or you know MYKNEESHURT.COM then I get it because it’s just fans or you know just people that are you know out there just trying to you know generate uh you know… generate not awareness just trying to generate gossip, right? And but if you’re a mainstream site, I mean I think you owe it to everybody to have a you know to do your due diligence and to find out what the real story is and if it’s not the real story it’s usually never like what you know they print on there but it’s still a little bit frustrating.” […]

  3. Phil says:

    The sad part is that Gross didn’t have any of the quotes that fightlinker just posted as a followup to coker’s answer.

    If Showtime isn’t making the decisions, than he knows why Toughill kept getting pulled from cards, he knows why Lawler didn’t get a replacement for that fight, he knows why Babalu was on the bench for so long.

  4. Jonathan Snowden says:

    I love the idea that Showtime pays for the product and can’t have a say in what ends up on-air? What kind of world do you people live in?

    • 45 Huddle says:

      There is a big difference between having a working relationship between Showtime and Strikeforce…. And what we likely have now…. Which is fighters saying they aren’t even talking to the promoter anymore.

      I think any reasonable fan, myself included, can understand Showtime having sone say on when the cards take place and some details of the cards. But they should not be running the ship.

      Imagine Derek Jeter talking to a FOX executive about his playing tine. Sounds stupid, right? Well, the equivalent is happening in MMa right now.

      • Except it isn’t at all. Showtime’s job is to ensure they have the best and most competitive fights for their money. Its up to Strikeforce to comply with that. End of story.

      • If anything, it sounds like Strikeforce needs to do a better job of putting cards together well in advance for approval instead of dicking around until a few weeks prior to submit them to Showtime.

      • Zheroen says:

        Terrible analogy. The more obvious analogy to use is that of how cable programming in the 1980s shaped the boxing landscape, by securing exclusive contracts with fighters and promoters. Showtime helped establish itself as a major competitor in the 1980s in part by signing the dominant fighter of the era, in Tyson (not to mention Hagler at middleweight), and establishing themselves as a strong competitor to HBO in the premium channel wars.

        Showtime is a premium channel that relies on subscribers rather than sponsors, and to that end relies heavily on the ratings as ratings = money in competition with HBO/Starz. SpikeTV has the advantage of being part of a basic cable setup that can be financed by Girls Gone Wild commercials. Therefore, it is infinitely more vital for Showtime to have a more direct influence in their programming and attempting to craft a product to their specifications in order to attain those ratings, because they pay the bills. SpikeTV’s programming is theoretically-interchangeable with any of Viacom’s networks (hence the UFC countdown shows and such also being broadcast on MTV2), so it doesn’t need to differentiate itself or have as much incentive for dynamic programming that will appeal to the demographic that purchases premium cable television networks. It also pays substantially less. Whereas SpikeTV is just happy to have the UFC, and lets them do their thing, because Showtime is investing more money in Strikeforce, they are going to expect immediate results in order to get a return on their investment.

        Showtime also has Strikeforce in a position of power, as Strikeforce has not yet established itself as a strong enough brand that it can reliably sustain a pay-per-view business model. Due to that, it is only natural to expect that with Showtime as their primary financial partner, they are more subject to influence on the broadcast.

        I have no idea how won can be so blind/shocked/appalled, and use as a soapbox to bark like a little yippy lapdog your usual anti-competitive dogma, at what is only obvious economic strategy.

    • Steve says:

      I agree that it is ludicrous to expect Showtime to no say in what goes on their network. It’s not like the UFC doesn’t have it’s share of issues with their broadcast partners. There is a reason every season of TUF is 2/3 full of douchebags and malcontents, and there is a reason every PPV prelim show features TUF alumni. SpikeTV has a massive say in what the UFC puts on their network.

      That said, regardless of how much influence as SpikeTV has, Zuffa is clearly in control of their brand. I’m not sure the same can be said of Strikeforce.

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