Pro Elite 10Q (8/19/08)
By Zach Arnold | August 19, 2008
Filing here. Some items of note:
The company’s current assets are around $15 million USD and it’s total accumuluated deficit is $55.7 million USD. On 12/31/07, the assets were $26.2 million USD and the deficit number was $31.4 million USD. This means that the company has admittedly lost nearly $25 million USD in a 6-7 month time frame.
How much money went out to try to create their own farm system? $5 million USD for King of the Cage, $8.2 million USD for Cage Rage, $2.35 million USD for the assets from ICON Sport, and a $2 million USD investment in Spirit MC.
Then, there’s this line about the Pro Elite web site:
Website operations expenses were $1,390,464 for the six months ended June 30, 2008 compared to $1,187,167 for the six months ended June 30, 2007.
There’s a lot to pour through in terms of the items in this filing, so take a look at it and post any comments you have about it.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The UFC hype machine lands in Chicago
By Zach Arnold | August 19, 2008
- Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse): Miguel Torres expects to fight Manny Tapia on 12/3, then Urijah Faber later on
- Sportsnet (Canada): Dana White says Anderson Silva wanted Patrick Cote next
- The Chicago Tribune: UFC comes to Illinois
- Setanta Sports (UK): Martin Kampmann says upcoming fight with Nathan Marquardt is his toughest test to date
- MMA Fighting: Full cast announced for TUF 8 season
- Sports Illustrated (Josh Gross): Often criticized, TUF gives fighters golden opportunity
- Sports Illustrated (Ben Fowlkes): What to expect with TUF Season 8
- Sherdog: James Irvin admits painkiller use
- MMA Memories: Without Zuffa’s aggression, nobody has momentum
- Dave Meltzer (Yahoo Sports): EXC’s future could rest on Kimbo Slice’s shoulders
- The Dayton Daily News (OH): Kentucky-based AFL is vying to snag Tito Ortiz
- The Baltimore Sun: Q & A with radio host Chris Thomas
- The Las Vegas Review-Journal: MMA popular in NFL
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Back to $2.75/share
By Zach Arnold | August 19, 2008
Pro Elite’s stock price, that is.
The quarterly report on the company’s finances is supposed to be filed by today.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Quote of the Day – Elite XC
By Zach Arnold | August 18, 2008
Steve Sievert at MMA Junkie recently interviewed Pro Elite CEO Chuck Champion:
“We look at October as a critical step in our development,” ProElite CEO Chuck Champion told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “We’re approaching it that way. We’re not betting the ranch on the thing, so I don’t want you to think we’re just pushing ‘all in,’ using another analogy. But, with each one of these … if you do them well, they create momentum, and if you don’t do them well, they stall momentum. A young company needs a lot of momentum.”
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
A question for PayPal users
By Zach Arnold | August 18, 2008
Does anyone (who uses PayPal) know how to do a PayPal-to-non PayPal user transaction in which you can have a check, money order, or money transfer (i.e. cash) sent to a person and have the person sending the money fund such a transaction with PayPal funds?
(This is a question that needs an answer for someone in North America. Unfortunately, Xoom does not offer service to recipients in the States.) One caveat: The person who wants to fund the transaction with PayPal funds does not use a PayPal debit or credit card.
If you have any answers to this question, use the contact form and send me an answer.
Topics: Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Defending the concept of WAMMA
By Zach Arnold | August 17, 2008
“Big” John McCarthy does his best to support WAMMA here, but misses one point when he claims that all promotions outside of UFC want to support WAMMA champions. That point? The promotions aren’t supporting the true spirit of the concept, given that every promotion has their own title belts and the two major promotions in MMA, UFC and DREAM (K-1), will never go along with the sanctioning body.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Star-Tribune is at it again in attacking MMA
By Zach Arnold | August 17, 2008
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, one of America’s struggling ‘big’ newspapers, is at it again in attacking MMA. It’s the same author who went on the attack against MMA last year, Katherine Kersten. It’s the same theme as well — UFC is going to bring down America’s culture and bring in the moral darkness.
You’ll remember the author from this diatribe one Summer ago.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
MMA stars make the media rounds
By Zach Arnold | August 17, 2008
This Monday in Chicago, UFC will hold a press conference to announce the main fights on their upcoming debut card in the market for this October.
The Arizona Republic has a Q & A session with Royce Gracie.
Heath Herring wants a re-match with Brock Lesnar.
The Fightworks Podcast has an interview with Saulo Ribeiro.
Kimbo Slice and LaDainian Tomlinson together at last in a Nike commercial. Now, which one is it that I draft again #1 in my fantasy football league?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The financial status of Pro Elite (EXC)
By Zach Arnold | August 15, 2008
Pro Elite stock update today from the SEC: Notification of inability to timely file Form 10-Q or 10-QSB (NT 10-Q, 8/15)
The Company is spending significant time and resources seeking required financing, including significant efforts by the financial and accounting staff, and as a result is unable to complete the consolidated financial reporting needed to file our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2008 with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the deadline without unreasonable effort and expense. Such efforts include analysis of impairment of goodwill and acquired intangible assets, as described further below.
Therefore, the Company requests additional time to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2008. The Company expects to file its Quarterly Report by August 19, 2008.
The Company is actively negotiating to consummate a financing of approximately $3.5 million in secured debt (with a funded amount of $3.0 million after an original issue discount of $0.5 million) and believes a successful closing is reasonably likely, but there is no assurance that it will be successful in doing so at all or on a timely basis. Any such failure to obtain financing in the immediate future would also have a material adverse effect on the Company’s liquidity and capital resources and ability to continue as a going concern.
Even if the Company successfully closes on such financing, it expects to report in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that its capital resources are sufficient only until the end of the year, and only if the Company makes significant reductions in operations and expenditures. The Company is also actively seeking additional financing beyond the $3.0 million to enable the Company to execute its operating plans without significant reductions in operations, but there is no assurance as to whether any such financing will be available on reasonable terms or at all.
The IFL is dead, and both Elite XC & DREAM are heading into dangerous territory. The MMA business at the end of this year may very well look exactly like the professional wrestling business on a worldwide scale — one major company (UFC… like WWE) and everyone else not even close.
When Pro Elite made the move to buy out a lot of B-level MMA companies, I thought it was a volatile and unwise move. How can you possibly manage four or five different MMA organizations by sitting in an office in Los Angeles? Impossible to do. By buying out all of the major B-level promotions (except Strikeforce), Elite XC has basically accomplished what UFC could never have dreamed possible of doing — potentially killing off an entire farm system of promotions for building new MMA fighters. Essentially put, if Pro Elite goes out of business soon then it can be fairly stated that the company negatively impacted the business by paying off so many upstarts and not doing anything with those promoters they paid off. Remember — promoters like Terry Trebilcock signed multi-year deals, so they will be on the sidelines in the foreseeable future if Pro Elite tanks and goes out of business.
There is something curious, however, going on with the Pro Elite stock. It was down to $2.50 USD/share and it jumped up $5.50 USD/share today to reach $8.00 USD/share. Why on earth would this happen, given that Pro Elite filed this new financial report today with the SEC?
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
IGF today at Ryogoku
By Zach Arnold | August 15, 2008
Announced crowd ws 7,288 paid. Josh Barnett won his main event match against Tank Abbott in 4’55 with an ankle hold. Naoya Ogawa defeated Montanha Silva in 9’16 by submission, and Bobby Lashley defeated The Predator in 10’54 with a spear.
Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Quote of the Day – Brock Lesnar
By Zach Arnold | August 15, 2008
He was recently interviewed by The New York Times:
Q: How do you respond to critics who say that you have not “paid your dues,” in that the only reason your fights have been televised twice is because of your name and not necessarily your skill?
A: A lot of people lose sight of the bottom line: this is a business. It’s about making dollars by selling tickets, Pay-Per-Views, and merchandise. It’s up to the promoter to decide what is televised. I just train hard, then get in the octagon and fight.
In regard to the “You haven’t paid your dues” stuff: sure, I came into this sport with a name, but I didn’t just build my name and my reputation in pro wrestling. I also came in with twenty years of amateur wrestling experience.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Affliction saves some money; Belfort not booked for Las Vegas
By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2008
MMA Weekly is reporting that Vitor Belfort will not fight Matt Lindland on the Affliction 10/11 Las Vegas show. That was an awfully expensive undercard fight to book. Affliction is now working to find a new opponent for Lindland.
Speaking of Matt Lindland, any chance that he will be fighting Jake Shields soon? We interviewed Jake on our latest radio show and he made it clear that he would fight at 185 pounds if the money was there to do it.
Speaking of Affliction, Dana White wants to thank them for booking Tim Sylvia against Fedor. What a kind and generous man he is.
Topics: Affliction, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Roger Hollett returns on September 20th
By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2008
Remember him? He was one of Canada’s best young prospects in MMA. Roger’s going to be back in action soon after rehabbing his knee (ACL surgery).
Speaking of young Canadian MMA prospects, meet Sarah Kaufman.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |