Wanderlei Silva vs. Brandon Vera http://mmajunkie.com/news/4578/ufc-considering-july-19-show-to-counter-affliction-banned.mma The UFC has begun preparations to host a live fight event on Spike TV on July 19, the same night that the upstart Affliction promotion hosts its first pay-per-view event, Sherdog.com reports. According to the report, the event could feature a light heavyweight main event between Wanderlei Silva and former heavyweight Brandon Vera, and it's expected to take place in Las Vegas. A source close to the organization tells MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that this isn't the first time the UFC has considered countering one of its rivals' major shows. Back in May, EliteXC, arguably the UFC's top competitor, became the first-ever MMA organization to air live on major U.S. network television. A main event of former bare-knuckle brawler Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and James Thompson was supplemented by a title fight between EliteXC middleweight champ Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. The CBS broadcast peaked with 6.51 million viewers, topping previous ratings records held by the UFC and Spike TV. According to the source, the UFC briefly explored the idea of putting together an event to counter "EliteXC: PRIMETIME," but many factors -- including already scheduled events on May 24 and June 5 -- prevented the May 31 show from taking place. The UFC and Spike TV ultimately countered EliteXC with pre-recorded programming geared around popular fighter Chuck Liddell, which held steady with 1.2 million to 1.6 million viewers throughout the night. One thing worth noting is that with just a month of lead time, Spike TV would have a tall task in rearranging its programming and selling advertising for the event. The UFC and Spike TV would also need to negotiate a "fee" for the event since such programming isn't part of the standard UFC-Spike TV contract. UFC 75 (September 2007) and "Ortiz vs. Shamrock III: The Final Chapter" (October 2006) are examples of such speciality programs. And while the UFC and Spike TV have never publicly commented on the fee, it's believed to be anywhere from $2 million to $5 million per event. If the UFC event does come to fruition, Affliction has reason to worry. The clothing company turned MMA promotion is reportedly banking on approximately 250,000 pay-per-view "buys" -- substantial numbers seen by the UFC (and UFC alone) in the U.S. Affliction headliner Fedor Emelianenko is an international superstar, but that status hasn't translated well to pay per view in the U.S. In fact, an April 2007 BodogFIGHT event that featured Emelianeno vs. Matt Lindland registered a lowly 13,000 "buys." Additionally, the UFC has proven to be a hit on Spike TV. As mentioned above, the cable station can average more than a million viewers even with pre-recorded material. And live events, such as UFC 75 and Ortiz vs. Shamrock III, each peaked with nearly six million viewers. If the UFC produces an original event -- one that doesn't include a $40 pricetag -- it'll surely impact Affliction's pay-per-view numbers. Marketable stars such as Silva and Vera could make the hit that much harder. In any manner, if and when the UFC confirms the event details, expect an announcement soon. Affliction has been promotings its event for nearly two months, and the UFC has just 33 days to make a push.
Dana White at it again. F*cker is scared sh*tless of any momentum gained by a potential competitor. F*ck the UFC.
I completely understand why White is doing it, and it makes perfect business sense, but it's completely unnecesarry. Affliction is gonna lose so much money on this PPV, that they have zero shot of having a second one. And on a 'That really sucks' note, my wife surprised me by booking a weekend vacation for the 2 of us down the shore....and guess what weekend she chose? So it looks like there's 2 MMA cards I won't be able to see. TFK
It's nothing new. Rival boxing promotors hold televised and PPV cards on the same night. It used to happen in Pro Wrestling all the time, from the Monday Night Wars, to StarrCade\Survivor Series on Thanksgiving, to Wrestlemania\Clash of Champions. TFK
All I know is that, as an average MMA fan, I'm stoked about two events on one night. That's why god invented Tivo..
i don't see a problem with what the uFC is doing, my problem is that Dana White always goes on about how no other organisation comes close to the UFC and how he is not intimidated by ELITEXC/Affliction etc, but this is proof otherwise. I just wish he would stop being so smug. And what's with the constant swearing?
Why wouldn't he try and fight it? Kumbaya on the cards? Not fucken likely. That Affliction card is about as good as it gets though. Its how well they hold up over time thats gonna be the test. This game they're playing isnt cheap.
It is an awesome card. Rothwell\Arlovski should be a war. That being said, I'd be amazed if it did more then 100,000 buys. I'm guessing 60,000. TFK
The problem is, Affliction isn't an established brand like the UFC which can sell itself just through its name alone. It'll take time. They need instant success and the card must go well. It would be unfortunate if their first foray into mma is their last. They're paying some crazy money to the athletes on the card. Tim Sylvia alone is set to make almost 8 times what he made in his last fight in the UFC. They need this card to be a success.
It'll be a success, but don't think they've gone into this thinking they're going to re-coup their money with this first card. Thats not how it works. No promotion succeeds early and one can only hope that they're aware of this. The dollar amounts are frightening though. They've got good backing however.
Bodog had a ton of cash backing them, and they also had Fedor. And that got them 15,000 PPV buys. TFK
Well, we'll see if they've learned from the failings of others. It'd be wrong to assume that they've gone into this with their eyes shut.
Hey, don't get me wrong, I hope they succeed, especially if they're gonna put on stacked cards like this one. But I just think they're doomed to fail. There's just no way this card can make money, or even come close to breaking even. I just hope the fighters get paid in advance. TFK
I agree that I don't think this card breaks even. I don't think its possible for an MMA card this expensive to do that at this point in time. I'm hoping this is a once off to get the buzz rolling. Hopefully they expect to take a loss here, because its the right thing to do.
I just don't think there's a way to build a succesful MMA group overnight, like Affliction is trying to do. Especially one based on PPV revenue. I think groups like Strikeforce and Ring of Combat, with their small, local shows, building their names slowly, are more likely to be around and be succesful in a few years then Affliction, or any other group that tries to be huge overnight. TFK
The problem with what Strikeforce are doing, is that the UFC is just waiting until they become enough of a competitor via a stable, and they'll buy them out. Thats been the history of what they've done with rival north american organisations. They have to be hit and hurt somehow and this is a little out of left field. It may or may not work, but I'm not sure Strikeforce is guaranteed a future with the way they're being managed either.
I think this card should've secured bigtime UFC former superstars the ilk of Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz before testing the market in their first big ppv. The card is stacked, that's true. But to have 2 of the biggest UFC stars in history on this card would really ensure or have a better chance at success since it can grab many of the TUF viewers, particular the fanatics who only watch the UFC. Remember, the UFC boom happened at the time when Couture and Ortiz were at or near their popularity peaks. Fans knew and loved them. Their names still would sell bigtime outside of the UFC and I think it would've been grand to have their names on a card like Affliction which would be an easier sell in their first ppv venture. But we'll wait and see. I'm talking purely from a business perspective. Somebody who'd like to see a card like Affliction do well. And to do that, you need to have the most popular fighters on the card who have a large following in the States. Nobody other than Liddell has a following like Ortiz and Couture in mma.
As good as the affliction card is in the eyes of hardcore mma fans, the general public doesn't know who half these guys are. Sure we all know these will be some great fights, but the hardcore fans don't make a PPV a success. Besides the lack of mainstream appeal, they are paying these guys way too much. Yeah, it's nice to see fighters get a ice payday and all, but they are setting themselves up for failure with these ridiculous purses. They can't keep it up forever, in order to keep paying like they are the company needs to turn a profit and this show will be a giant loss guaranteed. It's just not a good way to start.
I am seeing these PPV numbers for Affliction being in the range of 15k to 100k buys. does anyone know what the UFC PPV's usually do in the range of PPV buys? Is there a good source out there? how do they compare to boxing PPVs?
This Reminds REED of the PETTY Bullshit that Showtime & HBO Puts Boxing Fans Thru... They'll EACH Go 2-3 Weeks w/Out Showing ANY Fights @ All, then 8-10 Times a Year they'll Have Shows that BUMP HEADS... SPREADING the Shows Out so that there's FEWER Dead Weekends Would B BEST for the Fans, but Who Gives a Shit about Us, Right???:dunno:... Dana White has the SUPERIOR Product, but he's CLEARLY Threatened by Existing MMA Companies... 1nce Again, PETTY... REED:hammert:
HBO and Showtime can only give out certain dates. Then the promoters work through them dates and the dates are given Months in advance. This is just UFC getting the exact date of a rival promotion so they can hurt them financially.
That's Dana trying to look tough. Lou Dibella does the same thing. Two spoiled yuppies trying to look macho in front of other yuppies and executives.
.... The UFC doesn;t really give official numbers. Depending on the main event though they have very big variances. Anywhere from a few hundred thousand to I believe there highest is a bit over a million. Without them giving official numbers though it's hard to give numbers for each 1.
