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NSAC releases PRIDE Gate Figures.
By Luke | October 25, 2006
The NSAC recently released PRIDE’s live gate numbers on their website yesterday. It turns out the paid attendance was 8,079 for a gate total of 2,056,440, which ranks them sixth in all-time attendance in Nevada for MMA events.
For a first time event, the number is always high due to the curiosity factor, and with PRIDE in particular, they’ve had a small hardcore fan base in America for years, so the hardcore fans were going to come from across the country to see the debut show in America.
The biggest question, as Zach Arnold pointed out in his piece, is whether that show got over with any casual fans that might have been watching because to build on that attendance figure, they will need to start attracting more casual fans. The hardcore fan base is a good place to start from. UFC relied on their base for support for many years following the cable ban, and even after Zuffa put them back on PPV, but were still without national television.
The difference between PRIDE and UFC in this instance is that UFC already had an established fan base that was significantly larger than PRIDE’s hardcore base in America. PRIDE – at the most – probably draws about 20 thousand PPV buys per show. UFC drew – at their peak – around 70-80 thousand buys, prior to the reality series.
It’s going to take time for PRIDE to establish their name in the United States, and in Las Vegas in particular. If PRIDE is serious about making a home in the United States, they’ll need a stronger television deal, and a very long, and aggressive advertising campaign to let people know who they are, and what they’re all about.
The other question is this – Is Ed Fishman committed to PRIDE long-term? DSE has issues in Japan due to the Yakuza scandal that was broke by the series of articles in the Shukan Gendai. Having Ed Fishman there to help finance the American shows allows DSE to stay in the background, which lessens the chances of their previous troubles being brought to the surface in America. Ed Fishman certainly has the money to bankroll PRIDE through the tough beginnings if he chooses, but it took Zuffa four years to start turning a profit in UFC, and that was with a twelve year headstart.
Thats one part of this scenario that isn’t talked about enough, when people discuss rival promotions challenging UFC’s supremacy in the United States. Having a twelve year head start on every other promotion, when it comes to name recognition, and a fan base, etc. is a huge advantage that PRIDE will have to overcome if they want to rival UFC.
For a debut show in a new market, The Real Deal has to be considered a success when compared with the debut shows of other start-up promotions like WFA, or IFL. The challenge going forward will be building a fan base in Vegas (if thats where they choose to stay) that will pay to see their shows, and getting a national television deal that will help them build a bigger niche on PPV, because unlike Japan, PPV is the major cash cow on this continent. Without PPV, it’s very tough to exist on a national level.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Luke Nicholson, MMA, PRIDE | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I wonder if figures will ever be released for Pride’s OnDemand internet PPV service?
Also, let’s not forget, the Real Deal was broadcast, business as usual, as a PPV here in Japan on Sky PerfecTV. Those numbers can’t be completely ignored.
Sorry to double post. But you can see the Pride TV schedule here…
http://www.prideofficial.com/free/media/
Many opportunities to watch the PPV…
http://www.prideofficial.com/free/media/details.php?id=1159759612&yy=2006&mm=10
Next month’s Bushido (I think)…
http://www.prideofficial.com/free/media/details.php?id=1161751412&yy=2006&mm=11
All’s I’m sayin is, let’s not forget about the PPV’s!
Another way you can look at it is that PRIDE did a better live gate than the last 2 UFC shows while putting one of the absolute shittiest cards in the history of their promotion. Then again that might be too positive an outlook to take for some people who just want to bash the organization.
Or you could look at it as PRIDE could only draw 8,000 paid for their first show in this market. Most fighting/wrestling promotions draw better the first time into a town/country than in subsequent visits.
Something else to consider is Pride can’t ignore their Japanese fanbase in order to invade the U.S. with regular shows. Their money is made off of live events in Japan and they sacrifice yen when they run U.S. shows. I don’t see how they could do more than 2 U.S. shows a year without hurting their Japanese market or their pocket book.
I think the poor card and UFC 64 one week before could have limited the buys. I think the pool of fans that Pride can draw from is big enough to keep fairly respectable numbers, the problem IMO is the USA based PPV buys. I think the PPV buys will be poor.
HijoDelOso:
I remember reading somewhere that Pride’s plans in American were to create a self-sustaining organisation with home-grown fighters. At the moment, they are importing the big guns to get things off the ground.
However I definitely remember reading Sakikibara saying that he envisioned a full-time American HQ. The logical next step is that Pride USA actually resides in the USA and functions as an American company, with home-grown fighters and promotions and the occasional big name imported from Japan (or wherever) once in a while… But “Pride FC” would not have to be imported every time.
I think they want to plant a seed and let it grow. Not import flowers every 4 months.