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Sunday afternoon media stroll
By Zach Arnold | January 14, 2007
- The Boston Globe: At the Wai Kru center, you get to pick your fight
- The Asbury Park Press: Makeover gave UFC new life (it’s back! The Zuffa Myth…)
- The Los Angeles Times: Knockout marketing (article about the growth of MMA, using the old ‘blood-thirsty’ angle – it’s somewhat condescending)
- The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader: A fighting chance in an octagon (a debate article about whether or not MMA is too barbaric to be considered a sport, plus a possible opening for The Zuffa Myth surfaces…)
- The North County Times: Martial arts academy opens new San Marcos facility
- EMediaWire (PR): MMA Podcasting surges in popularity (too bad they didn’t bother mentioning the best three shows – Sherdog’s Beatdown, Fight Opinion Radio, and The Fightworks Podcast)
- The Asbury Park Press: Ultimate warrior (profile article on Renzo Gracie)
- The Boston Globe: Claims that Elite XC’s 2/10 debut is in Minneapolis
- The Boston Herald: Kenny Florian becoming face of UFC
- The Contra Costa Times: Oakland to host debut of IFL’s first full season
Topics: All Topics, IFL, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The amazing thingabout the first Asbury Park piece is that the author gets everything right about Rorion Gracie and Art Davie … and still manages to fall for the Zuffa Myth.
Any updates on the IFL-ticket sales now that the marketing campaign actually has begun?
Meltzer:
“-Showtime has scheduled a national press conference with Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie for Wednesday”
Uh… Ol’ Dave has gotten Cesar and Renzo mixed up previously this year, but just in case he’s got it right here… Please tell me Cesar is the one handling talent-something for EXC…?
Cesar was handling a bunch of stuff for World Fighter, which folded before they put on a show. I believe Showtime aquired a handfull of those contracts.
I’m getting sick of my posts being deemed: “our spam filter has identified this as spam etc. etc.”…can you please take my IP or whatever it is off your spam just because if made comments you dont agree with. I don’t spam or call you names or say you live in your mom’s basement – I don’t think I should have to have any comment I make be filtered by you personally or whoever is responsible for policing comments on this website.
The LA Times piece is the total opposite of the 60 Minutes piece. It’s pretty clear the editors already made up their minds about MMA, and when the title says, “Mixed martial arts, a sport once condemned for its brutality, is riding a wave of popularity and profit but still fighting for legitimacy”, you can tell it’s the LA Times is one of the people they’re fighting against.
Case in point: “Later that night, at a news conference, Florian compliments Sherk on the taste of his blood.” The Times quotes Florian as if it was a serious, sincere quote.
Another case in point: None of the pics show actual in-ring action that didn’t have the fighters covered in blood. The only exception was a bird-eye view in which you couldn’t see much of anything with the fighters.
And on top of that, the Zuffa myth returns. Score one for sensationalism and lazy journalism.
Someone should talk about how UFC’s profits are soaring while the LA Times continues to see their revenues plummet like a penny stock. 🙂
Thanks Zack. He’s with EXC now then, I believe, ’cause I’m sure I read a while ago that EXC had picked up the talent relations-Gracie from WF. Just wasn’t sure if that was Cesar or another one. I was scared silly it was another one and Cesar had been brought in to replace Renzo for a second there :S
The various spam filters used are not IP-specific. Several commenters have their comments (either based on their Net service using rotating IPs or not) put in the filter and when I go to check on updates, I have to manually select them out of the filters each time. So it is not a case-specific issue for me as far as what goes through and what doesn’t. What I know is that the filters work great in keeping out normal spam and I will continue to use them.
Frank Shamrock on Dave Meltzer’s radio show discussed a few interesting things about Showtime MMA:
– Scheduled for 4 Events this year
– One of those events is scheduled in September, and is supposed to be on PPV.
– Shamrock is scheduled to fight 2 times a year for 2 years with Showtime MMA. It sounded like he could still compete outside of that company with Strikeforce, but it was never exactly confirmed.
– Shamrock has partial ownership in the company.
As for the ownership thing, that brings up a plethora of issues involved with conflict of interest. A partial owner competing in their own show is a bad idea. I know in Massachusetts, a few owners of the local shows tried to compete, and the athletic commission did not allow it due to the conflict of interest issues that could arise.
As for the PPV market, I wonder how much the market can really take. There are only so many dollars to go around. The UFC should be fine due to their following. However, Showtime, Pride FC, or Bodog will start to feel the effects of this.
As demonstrated about 100 times in the past decade, one must take everything that Frank Shamrock says with a grain of salt (or a pound of salt).
Shamrock has been part of the Strikeforce-ownership since they started, no? Haven’t heard anything come of that. It is an interesting issue for sure, but in reality it may be no different than PPV-bonus-deals in terms of legality. Hopefully EXC aren’t taking a crap on the table with this. Shaw at least should know what to avoid and what’s okay in issues like this.
And yes, Frank S. has stated many times that he intends to work for basically any promotion out there except UFC, and he will not sign exclusively with anyone. On that note, he will be a special guest at the first Art of War show too.
A few thoughts on the Los Angeles Times article:
—Here’s some (not-so) quality fact-checking: “In 2001, Dana White _ then the owner of several Las Vegas gyms and bankrolled by the casino-mogul brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta _ bought the UFC for $2 million. The UFC built on the reform efforts. Soon there were weight divisions and professional judges.”
—One can also tell from reading the article where the author got the attendance figures from (ie, Zuffa). It claims that UFC 59 in Anaheim had “drew 17,100 fans” and had a live gate of $2.6 million. In fact, the total attendance in the building (including comps) was 13,814; and the live gate was $2,191,450. The article also claims that the UFC’s second show in Anaheim, UFC 63, drew a live gate of $1.8 million (it was actually $1,582,370).
—Do you know what agency really, really likes the phrase “off-the-books bonuses”?
—The article states, “A talking point among promoters is the safety of the sport — the notion, in particular, that no one has died after a sanctioned mixed martial arts event, unlike boxing. But fighters routinely suffer significant injury, including broken hands and noses.” This kind of underscores the ignorance of the author, the fact that he’s equating broken hands and noses with the brain injuries that are commonplace in boxing or the deaths that boxing has had almost every year for the past 100+ years.
—I don’t recall ever hearing Chuck Liddell say anything like this before: “Asked if there could come a day when he marches into White’s office and demands real money for a fight — boxing money, say — he [Liddell] said: “My management is looking at that. I didn’t mind fighting for nothing when nobody was making any money,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know things are going to change.”
Good post Ivan. That was an interested Chuck quote, since he has really just come off as a company man ever since UFC took off.
Ivan, I think “off-the-books bonuses” is a poor choice of words on the author’s part, not an indication of wrongdoing on UFC’s part. “Bonuses that aren’t being reported in public” is probably more what he’s getting at. If they were really doing off-the-books stuff, I really doubt they’d be dumb enough to publicly flout it.
Mike, I don’t believe that they are actually doing that, but their own wording has given off the wrong impression numerous times, including Zuffa executives using the phrase “secret money” in describing the pay scale.