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Oscar De La Hoya garners some media attention for Affliction in NY
By Zach Arnold | January 21, 2009
Update: Gilbert Yvel has been cleared by the California State Athletic Commission to fight Josh Barnett.
I was curious how Affliction would do in terms of media coverage in the various NYC newspapers and online for having Oscar De La Hoya show up for the first time since his loss to Manny Pacquiao.
As expected, the coverage was minimal (at best) and the focus from the media towards De La Hoya was about him and not so much about Affliction. You’re not surprised.
Tito Ortiz, of course, got in his shots on Dana White. The New York Times has a somewhat glowing profile piece on Fedor, with the ironic comment from a Russian newspaper writer that he is surprised that “that in Russia very few people know [Fedor].”
The most interesting angle here is how boxing fans will react. So far, they seem to be reacting to De La Hoya and not with much interest about Affliction, which of course defeats the purpose of what Affliction is trying to accomplish here.
Topics: Affliction, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 30 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dave Meltzer is reporting that Arlovski is getting over $1 Million for this fight. His source is Zuffa, who had a chance to see the contract because they had the ability to match it.
Lets say Arlovski vs. Fedor is a $2 Million fight. My instinct would be that it is closer to $2.5 Million +, but for the point of discussion, lets just say $2 Million.
If ticket sales are bad (which they seem to be), they might sell enough tickets just to pay for the arena cost.
Which means, just to pay for the main event itself, they would need to sell 88,888 PPV’s. This is assuming they are getting half of the $45.
Keep in mind that does not include fees paid to Showtime for production, other fighter expenses like hotels, medical expenses, and fees to the athletic commission.
This show is going to lose money. There is no way around it.
If I’m not mistaken, the cut for someone outside of the UFC/WWE world is maybe 40%?
In that case, that is $18 a PPV, or 111,111 PPV buys to just cover the main event.
It doesn’t take a person with a MBA to figure out their business plan is faulty.
I’m sure that all the fans that enjoyed the fashion show at the last Affliction Card will be back to tune in to see the latest shirt designs.
[…] the last EliteXC show and Arlovski fighting there has been no mainstream press for this event. As Zach Arnold has pointed out, Oscar De La Hoya is the center of attention for the recent press conferences, with passing mention […]
Watch the press conference live right now:
http://mmajunkie.com/news/13784/watch-affliction-day-of-reckoning-la-press-conference-live-at-3-p-m-est.mma
They also opened NASDAQ this morning.
The talking heads on CNBC had no idea who anyone was. I only caught a second of it, I saw Tito’s big head.
That’s a shame about Horodecki, but he really shouldn’t be fighting if he has a bulging disc in his neck.
That’s also a shame about Yvel. There’s no way that he should be fighting in the United States.
http://www.411mania.com/MMA/news/95041/Press-Release:-Fedor-Opens-Nasdaq.htm
45 huddle
At least they’re no longer wasting their money on having aging metal bands play live. So maybe they’re learning.
But honestly I don’t understand how some of these start up organizations keep making the same mistake. Haven’t people learned from Bodog or WFA? Why doesn’t any company actually follow the Strikeforce model? They’re one of the few MMA organizations making money.
The strikeforce model won’t make a star out of the promoter. Going straight up against Zuffa will get a guy like Tom A interviews with all the major online news sites. And I honestly think some of this is about ego, and not about being a smart promoter.
Unless Affliction can find a miracle opponent for Lauzon, this card on paper isn’t looking very good. The Lauzon, Buentello, & Barnett fights have no interest to me at all.
Babalu/Soko & Lindland/Belfort are decent, but Soko & Belfort are both front runners that once met with any sort of adversity, completely fold. Those fighters are not fun to watch.
So to me, this is really a one fight show. I really wished they would put Nogueira vs. Vlady 2 on the PPV card, but then HDNet might be mad.
Likely not buying this one, but I could have some moments of weakness on Saturday.
On a completely random note, I finally got SpikeTV in HD through Comcast. Now I’m just waiting for HDNet, and I’m all set.
[…] the last EliteXC show and Arlovski fighting there has been no mainstream press for this event. As Zach Arnold has pointed out, Oscar De La Hoya is the center of attention for the recent press conferences, with passing mention […]
Sometimes I am confused with the internet. Most of the Strikeforce cards in the last 12 months have been horrible to watch. People, however, love them for no other reason than their business model. Affliction puts on great fights, but all anyone wants to talk about is how lousy the promoters are.
Wow, bashing Strikeforce. They are the major leagues. You heard they have a network deal, right? I mean come on. They have a huge schedule of shows already announced in 2009. They have all their champions under contract. And they are the real deal. Heck, Dana even said loves them!!
End Sarcasm. I actually agree with D. Capitated on this one. Besides making money and staying afloat, I have never really been impressed with Strikeforce as a major player in the sport. Their announcing is second rate, their production levels are below par. And their fight cards are pretty weak when compared to the UFC, Affliction, DREAM, or even Sengoku.
Not to mention that Melendez & Thomson are likely out of there once their contracts are up.
Forget the announcing, the fight cards are generally unwatchable. If it wasn’t for YAMMA, Strikeforce’s Tacoma show would be the worst of the year.
D.Capitated: for most people, looking into the future is considered a virtue. While people may enjoy the Affliction card, the fights are overshadowed by the fact that the organization can’t keep it up.
Strikeforce only have 2 draws – Frank and Cung Le, one of whom won’t be fighting anytime soon.
I don’t think they have anyone else who can draw a crowd.
Not sure how much they get from TV though.
Looking into the future when the future doesn’t have very good fights doesn’t do much for me. I’ll take someone who blows through money and gives me what I want over some dude who makes money because he runs awful and cheap undercards. Its not my money.
D.Capitated: it isn’t your money, but unless you’re gonna die soon or turn your interests to backgammon, you have a stake in what fights are going to take place a year from now.
Hieron vs. High is now on the PPV due to Horodecki being off. Nothing exciting here.
D.Capitated: it isn’t your money, but unless you’re gonna die soon or turn your interests to backgammon, you have a stake in what fights are going to take place a year from now.
I don’t know if I’ll die soon. No one does. And frankly, I don’t have any stake in what fights take place a year from now. It isn’t my decision to make nor will it ever be. What I do want to see are good fights. Watching Jeremiah Metcalf fight the “Michael Jordan of the WCL” need not even attempt to qualify.
Strikeforce has drawn at least six thousand for every show.
The worst situation they have had saw them near the break even mark, with most of the shows making them money.
Strikeforce has had a mix of good and bad cards, like any other promotion.
Strikeforce has drawn at least six thousand for every show.
The worst situation they have had saw them near the break even mark, with most of the shows making them money.
Umm, I don’t care.
Strikeforce has had a mix of good and bad cards, like any other promotion.
The mix is strongly in favor of “bad”. Melendez/Thomson was a one fight card. Tacoma Dome was a horrible show. Payback, Destruction, and the Mansion show were all mediocre at best. Seriously. Strikeforce has Babalu and he fights Bobby Southworth, and for that people act like it was great. Affliction has Babalu fight Sokoudjou and Atencio is the devil or something.
“I don’t know if I’ll die soon. No one does. And frankly, I don’t have any stake in what fights take place a year from now. It isn’t my decision to make nor will it ever be.”
Stakeholder: An individual or group with an interest in the success of an organization in delivering intended results and maintaining the viability of the organization’s products and services.
You seem to have a stake in Affliction, if you are so unimpressed by Strikeforce’s offerings. So why do you choose to ignore Affliction’s shoddy business practices? You can pretend you don’t care, but that doesn’t mean it won’t affect you when Affliction goes out of business.
You seem to have a stake in Affliction, if you are so unimpressed by Strikeforce’s offerings.
I’m not a stakeholder in either. I watch fights. I prefer to watch good ones. Affliction has better fights than Strikeforce. Point blank. I’m not going to pretend that Bob Sapp/Jan Nortje is better than Fedor/Arlovski because of how well it ran into the black.
“I watch fights. I prefer to watch good ones.”
That makes you a stakeholder, even if you’d rather not admit it.
Thats a very nice straw man you’ve put up there.
What I think is funny that every year with the Wrestling Observer Awards, their promotion of the year ballot specifically, Strikeforce always gets votes for promotion of the year. And I believe they beat out TNA. At least they did in 2007. Shit, just because they make good money doesn’t mean they have a quality product. WWE makes more money than everyone out there overall, and I like many pro wrestling promotions over WWE. Oh well…
That makes you a stakeholder, even if you’d rather not admit it.
Because I think Bob Sapp and Maurice Smith in 2008 suck? I mean, really, because Billy Evangelista fights for a promotion that will be in business tomorrow, that should matter more to me than Fedor Emelianenko fighting Andrei Arlovski? Christ dude, its not 1999, this isn’t pro wrestling, and you don’t need to pick sides.
“Christ dude, its not 1999, this isn’t pro wrestling, and you don’t need to pick sides.”
What the hell are you talking about? Do you even know what the hell a stakeholder is?
Seriously, none of your arguments make any sense.
What the hell are you talking about?
Listen to yourself! “Affliction to you is better because you’re a stakeholder.” Like, what? Being a fan of MMA makes me, uhh, a fan of MMA, and as such I like fights that are not crappy. Affliction has fights that are not crappy, albiet make no money. Strikeforce makes money, in large part, because most of the card is crappy and is anchored by a single draw. Is there supposed to be a more objective view?