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UFC scores huge rating for Silva/Irvin
By Zach Arnold | July 22, 2008
2.1 cable rating, which is tremendous.
Check out the CompuStrike stats for the 7/19 event.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Seriously, I think if the casual fan heard anything about Affliction, they probably confused it with the UFC anyway and tuned in to Spike.
UPDATE from MMAJunkie…
it appears the show peaked at 4.5 million not 3.8.
I bought the Affliction card and had a guy spend 15 minutes talking about how Brock Lesnar will be the best heavywieght ever to fight in the UFC. How wonderful
Affliction had a surprising high gate, but with numbers like this for Silva/Irvin, it really brings into question their ability to draw on PPV. Between this rating and the fact that the UFC has Griffin/Rampage 2 weeks before, does not help Afflictions chances at all.
The source is Iole, so take it for what it’s worth. Either way, it sounds legit, and really makes me thinkg Affliction is trying buy good press, despite all signs of a huge money loss show:
“So far, that hasn’t occurred. Saturday’s show did a gate of nearly $2.1 million, though a source close to the situation said Affliction purchased $500,000 of those tickets itself. Affliction vice president Tom Atencio conceded the company did purchase a large number of the best seats for use for friends and family of the fighters and the company employees, as well as VIPs, but he would not confirm an amount.”
No doubts the UFC probably lost money on their own show, since everything was done last minute, they had no live gate, and no PPV revenues. But the UFC can take a loss in this situation and come out the better. I don’t know if Affliction can do the same. Their last 3 fights were awesome to us hardcore fans, but the production of the entire show was so bad, any casual viewers would have been likely turned off instantly.
affliction was crap production and generally shitty matchmaking
no appeal to the casual fan whatsoever
lets see what whether the curse of Fedor takes another victim (Rings, Pride, Inoki Bom Ba Ye, Bodog, Yarrenoka, M1 Global, Affliction….)
The curse of Fedor:-
Fedor Main Event = Bankruptcy
We had the Affliction show going on one TV and the UFN on the other. Affliction looked horribly amateurish in a side-by-side comparison. We also ended up muting the Affliction show.
Granted, it is their debut show, but in this business you have to hit the ground running. If you don’t impress people in the first show or two, you’re in deep deep trouble.
I like the UFC’s new production. It’s about time they join the 21st century. They’ve been using the old “Tale of the Tape” graphic since the dark ages of MMA.
Affliction: Banned > UFC 33
The curse of Matt Lindland is so much bigger.
Look at where Lindland fought after he left the UFC and you’ll see that he’s like the grim reaper of orgs.
WFA, Bodog, IFL, GFC (Are they still around? Last time I heard of them were when they cancelled that Miami show with Nick Diaz), Raze? (one and done).
If your an upstart org never ever hire Matt Lindland to fight for you.
Pontus – yeah, but Fedor’s curse is much more powerful – no organisation or money mark billionaire can withstand its power 🙂
“Their last 3 fights were awesome to us hardcore fans, but the production of the entire show was so bad, any casual viewers would have been likely turned off instantly.”
After paying 40 bucks???
Turned off, as in not liking it. Still watching it obviously.
Any opinions on T-shirt guy saying he is getting over 100,000 buys? Should we believe him? That is still a big loss, but better than the projections. I’ll wait for a more reliable source I suppose
If the rumored of an Arlovski/Fedor fight is true. My interest is actually piqued. They can add my +1 buy to their 100k.
That’s actually the ONLY fight I would pay for on all of their rosters of fighters.
They should also drop Lindland. This leads me to my next thought. If Lindland, a middleweight, could give Fedor fits, then what the hell is wrong with Sylvia? I think he’s been exposed terribly by Couture’s game plan. The guy crumbles under pressure.
Affliction might as well burn their 800k investment on an altar. One of the worst signings in MMA history.
Lindland gave Fedor fits? He had underhooks and a likely takedown, that Fedor admittedly grabbed the ropes to avoid, but other than having that takedown what exactly gave Fedor fits? He was going for leglocks, g’n’p, passing guard and snatching his arm off.
I guess you could point to the glancing punch that cut him, but let’s be serious, he was not “giving him fits”.
It was a pretty competitive fight before Fedor submitted him. Lindland had him in danger several times. If you think it was a one sided beat down like the Sylvia fight, then you would be wrong.
Fedor has been in danger many times before, he isn’t some indestructible god that many of his fans like to believe.
Hopefully this rating means Anderson is turning into a legit star and can draw PPVs & ratings on his own. It’s a shame that Brock Lesnar’s debut smashed the Hendo/Silva PPV.
It was only a matter of time before Anderson became a star. Fans love a fighter that destroys all challengers. That’s how Chuck became so big. It wasn’t the mohawk or his endearing personality, it was his image as an unstoppable knock-out artist.
I’m sure the mohawk helped though.
The numbers may have had an effect on both Zuffa and Spike, as they appear to be working hard to deliver an impressive UFC 89 for basic cable.
If Silva/Cote is added, I could see it peaking at a little over five million.
The UFNs are fine, but four times a year, Spike should have a very strong card, I would continue to use the U.K. ones on tape delay. The numbers from the previous two show the delay does not hurt.
One thing regarding the Afflicion numbers: There are persistant rumors that Affliction bought a fair amount of tickets, I have heard separate reports of 2000 tickets and a total of $500,000.
Even taking this into account, the show did fairly well. But if they did indeed do that, the numbers are not quite as impressive.
If Elite does well this weekend, I think we will see a bidding war for the U.S. rights to guys like Jason Miller.
Where did I ever say he was an indestructible god? I’ve seen his fights and am well aware he has been put in danger or hurt in his fights.
I said he hardly “gave him fits”, which is true. Other than the cut issue – which Lindland completely failed to capitalize on in any way (even if he just ‘touched him up’ from his guard, that could have been a good move) he was never “in danger” of being finished – having double underhooks looking for a takedown really isn’t “in danger”, but it definitely was an advantage to Lindland. But then Fedor scored the hip throw (cheaply) and immediately looked to pass half guard and actively looking to catch a sub. He gave up positioning to try toehold/leglock, had Lindland in some trouble, returned to top position, transitioned to full mount and then snatched an armbar.
Completely one-sided destruction? No. Overall dominant victory? Yes.
I really don’t see where Fedor was “in danger” to any extent that the fight could have been finished.