andrew falzon
You are currently browsing the articles from MMA Factor matching the category andrew falzon.
Sherdog is
reporting that the UFC is putting together a live card to counter Affliction's PPV debut on July 19th.
However, the real threat to Affliction's PPV is that according to the article, the UFC would like to air the card on SpikeTV, which would cost viewers about $45 less than the Affliction PPV.
This is not the first time the UFC has
counter programmed its competition. During the EliteXC broadcast on CBS the UFC debuted a new biographical show about Chuck Liddell and then re-aired parts of UFC 79.
Thus far Affliction is the only MMA organization that has built its top talent from a pool of former UFC stars like Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski.
The fact that the UFC is trying to pull together an entire night of fights on just 5 weeks notices goes to show how seriously they are taking the threat from Affliction.
Rumored to be on the UFC card is Wanderlei Silva and/ or Bradon Vera.
Written by admin on June 16th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on andrew falzon and TV and UFC and MMA.
When the IFL announced it was canceling its August show during a conference call last Tuesday, it really did come as a surprise. Sure, there have been rumblings that the league was in having financial troubles. But little more than a month ago, the struggling promotion held a conference call in which they announced their new fighting surface, “The Hex,†and that they were not only planning the August show in New Jersey, but were looking even further into the future and planned to do a show in Miami.
With the Jersey show dead on arrival, a show in sunny Miami seems to be implausible. So what happened in the course of that month, that the IFL could go from big announcements to big cancelations? It’s more a matter of what did not happen: The flood gates did not open.
Some well-informed speculation is that, financially, nothing changed for the IFL. Instead, IFL CEO Jay Larkin was hedging his bets that after EliteXC’s CBS debut all the competing networks would act on the “monkey-see, monkey-do†nature of network programming, and be compelled to add the IFL’s brand of mixed martial arts to its programming. But that didn’t happen.
According to Larkin, "We've had conversations with media companies, film studios, television networks, individuals, celebrities. Every time we have one of these conversations, the interest is very high, but they're all being very cautious," said Larkin.
As usual, the networks are playing it safe. They are waiting to see if the ratings from the EliteXC CBS show were a one-time fluke, with fans tuning in from morbid curiosity, or if the curious watchers became legit, car d-carrying MMA fans. On the bright side, negative reaction and backlash to the event seemed to be minimal. Of course, Billy O’Reilly and his minions had something to say about it. But even O’Reilly admitted he “didn’t hear any complaints from anybody about the show.â€
But in order for the sport to grow the next live network show needs to be on the up-and-up:
1. MMA information is all over the net. All those new fans from the CBS EliteXC show who logged into read the MMA media’s account of the CBS broadcast now feel a little slighted by an overblown main event. Kimbo Slice has been thoroughly debunked by fans and writers across the web. Fans, both new and old, are going to be looking for a legit main event from EliteXC’s next network show, or they may go elsewhere.
2. Or, the UFC could land a network deal. Given the UFC’s deep roster of talent, a quality card is not an issue.
But the bottom line, is that for the sport to grow, for the IFL to stay alive and for fans to have affordable access on a regular basis, the floodgates need to open.
Written by admin on June 15th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on andrew falzon and opinion and analysis and IFL and MMA.
On its best nights, the recipe for great MMA was real simple: equal parts pro-wrestling and boxing. The pageantry of the former, combined with the legitimacy and unscripted nature of the latter were thought to make for an intoxicating night of fights.
However, Tuesday's
dichotic announcements are an indication that since its assumed all MMA promotions are based in legitimate, unscripted competition, the pageantry associated with pro-wrestling is more important for attracting fans and drawing revenue.
But the bottom-line is that the UFC is the only promotion that has found the balance between too much and too little pomp in the circumstance of MMA.
After all, when EliteXC's CBS telecast juxtaposed MMA with grand entrances, brash hip-hop artists and MMA's version of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, it was not only rejected by fans, but by the
MMA media as well.
Smaller promotions, like many that appear on HDNet, leave their production in the hands of the network, which does an adequate job, but does not devote the resources on a level equivalent to the UFC, or its cable television partner SpikeTV.
In fact, the UFC owes the majority of its financial success to SpikeTV. Outside of turning the promotion around after launching the Ultimate Fighter reality series, SpikeTV's pay per view previews give the UFC something no other promotion has: A platform on which to sell, not just the sport, but the lifestyle of mixed martial arts.
Early indicators from Afflication's pre-show production and promos are that it will be on par, and possibly exceed the UFC's presentation.
If they find a content partner that allows them to sell their brand and its fighters as a lifestyle, it will quickly become a force to be reckoned with, despite the fact that the initial pay per view is doomed to be a
profitless endeavor.
The addition of Donald Trump as one of the organizations backers not only gives Affliction deep pockets, but connections to NBC and the king of reality TV producers, Mark Burnett, who cooked up Trump’s reality show, “The Apprentice.â€
Given Affliction's dual role as an MMA promotion and clothing company, it already has created a context for a lifestyle. Finding that “lifestyle content†partner would drive consumers to its MMA product and clothing line at the same time.
Written by admin on June 14th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on pro wrestling and andrew falzon and opinion and analysis and Affliction and UFC and IFL and MMA.