Bellator 196 Averages 420k Viewers

[skylolow]

Are those numbers actually true? I miss the original Bellator. Fighters always brought it for the tournaments.

Bjorn avg. around high 600k (like 675K area). This was with a shoe string budget, little name value across the roster, and some what of a flawed system.

At that time Spike was in a extra 10 million homes and more or less MMA was more popular.

Presonally, I don't think the extra homes added that much to avg rating(50K at best). I think it has more to do with the UFC/popularity of the UFC doing these three things....

Educated fans: Fans today understand what they are about to watch more than ever. A junk card fans won't care about. It even hurts the UFC.

UFC dominance: UFC gives MMA fan more than enough content now days to keep them entertained from going out looking for more MMA.

MMA War has been won: In any sport usually one form of that sport rises to the top and every other form fights for scraps. In MMA that is the UFC.

Overall, fans I think at times just expect too much out of the Bellator's of the world. Enjoy it, it isn't going to ever magically be anywhere on the same level of the UFC. The UFC would have to fail and if that happens MMA fails.

 

[CC27]

Bjorn was pulling 800k every week with no names.

wonder how they are doing financially compared to Bjorn.

Coker came in and upped their payroll and production costs and signed some big free agents but it doesnt seem to be paying off.

Other than the rare fight with past star or freakshow fight Bellator events come and go with little attention paid to them by anyone.

TV networks are losing subs, mma has cooled off a bit and whats left is dedicated to UFC. used to be we have to support the number 2 to take on UFC, SF, Bellator, whoever it is but that seems to have died off.

Whats crazy is there is alot of people upset with way UFC is doing things so you'd think there would be more rallying for Bellator but there isnt.

 

[Robbie b]

Bjorn avg. around high 600k (like 675K area). This was with a shoe string budget, little name value across the roster, and some what of a flawed system.

At that time Spike was in a extra 10 million homes and more or less MMA was more popular.

Presonally, I don't think the extra homes added that much to avg rating(50K at best). I think it has more to do with the UFC/popularity of the UFC doing these three things....

Educated fans: Fans today understand what they are about to watch more than ever. A junk card fans won't care about. It even hurts the UFC.

UFC dominance: UFC gives MMA fan more than enough content now days to keep them entertained from going out looking for more MMA.

MMA War has been won: In any sport usually one form of that sport rises to the top and every other form fights for scraps. In MMA that is the UFC.

Overall, fans I think at times just expect too much out of the Bellator's of the world. Enjoy it, it isn't going to get ever magically be anywhere on the same level of the UFC. The UFC would have to fail and if that happens MMA fails.

I personally think everything went downhill for Bjorn when he decided he wanted to go head to head with the ufc instead of just 4unning what he created. I think the original structure of Bellator was a beautiful thing. The tournament structure kept a natural drama flowing because there was always something on the line. If the could have somehow got on the same page it could have been a wonderful thing. Bellator could have built the homegrown stars and the ufc could bring them to the next level.

 

[GueseGuy]

It's Coker, plain and simple.

Look at his past history objectively. The guy has no game plan for the future ever. He is all about the event in front of him with very little effort put into long term match making or hierarchy of the divisions. All to often it feels like many cards are just put together for the sake of that event and that is it. I swear he spends more time trying to make the event feel special(ie: grand entrances) than he does on match making.

He simply can't manage a roster to save his ass. That might be harsh but I've yet to see much of any long term plan with any org he has headed up.


P.S.: If you ever listen to any of the MMA radio/podcast out there once in awhile they'll talk about how a Strikeforce or Bellator event is kind of like a car crash waiting to happen in a busy intersection in India behind the scenes compared to a UFC run event(outside of last week). They say its very chaotic and very poor communication between everyone from the weigh ins to the end of the event. It sounds like a lot of it is because they have very few people and each person is wearing too many hats. It just isn't run like an org that is serious about competing/trying to on the UFC level. I've heard some MMA journalist say most B level shows have been more organized behind the scenes. Though they all say they treat media much better than the UFC.

Truest post I’ve seen in a long time. Coker is a moron. Plain and simple. People act like the guy is a messiah in the fight business. But honestly the only things I think he does well is spot and sign wrestlers who could become good, and sign ex-UFC guys. Bellator is piss poor in their management. They don’t even announce the fight card in it’s entirety at any point at all. You have to go on tapology to see prelims. It’s pathetic. And then don’t even get me started on their social media and their hype fight products. I think 2 dogs could do a better job than their whole entire team.

It’s pathetic and I wish Bjorn was back. Bjorn knew how to hype and get people emotionally invested in the product. Remember before a fight, when Bellator would have each fighter’s 1 - 1 1/2 min long little interview coinciding with one another in an epic way to hype the fight before the walkout? The fighters would give a little backstory and say the usual blah blah blah and then the music would come on and all that. Those things might seem corny but they work! It gives people a chance to get invested in the fighters and the fight. Now we just have randoms fighting and we don’t have any clue about who they are. I can’t stand it. The UFC is fucking up and Bellator is just absolute garbage and can’t gain any ground.

 

[FKA]

Simply put times have changed.

Overall viewership is down even in UFC so of course bellator is feeling it as well.Also The rebranding helped the overall classyness but i think some viewers are still lost in the swithchover.Bjorn wouldn't change the numbers his cards weren't more stacked though I think the tape delay is definitely working against them.As I've mentioned before I personally did a numbers comparison and Coker actually has better numbers in literally every aspect you can measure.

Grass is always greener lol.....

I still believe in cokers vision he's done some great things and helped the company overall.There are ups and downs but I'll ride with Coker over Bjorn any day.

Coker made Bellator a legit destination for free agents when Bjorn was around no one wanted to sign straight up.Lets just skip the UFC free agents he lured away and mention the standout wrestling prospects,the champions from other orgs, the hot regional prospects,and rising international prospects.


Yes a pessimist could claim Coker is sinking the company cuz viewership is down and he's increased the overall costs.....

But he's done ALOT of things to grow Bellators roster and respect amongst the industry.No way in hell would Bjorn have done anything better ..........

 

[tehMoose]

Simply put times have changed.

Overall viewership is down even in UFC so of course bellator is feeling it as well.Also The rebranding helped the overall classyness but i think some viewers are still lost in the swithchover.Bjorn wouldn't change the numbers his cards weren't more stacked though I think the tape delay is definitely working against them.As I've mentioned before I personally did a numbers comparison and Coker actually has better numbers in literally every aspect you can measure.

Grass is always greener lol.....

I still believe in cokers vision he's done some great things and helped the company overall.There are ups and downs but I'll ride with Coker over Bjorn any day.

Coker made Bellator a legit destination for free agents when Bjorn was around no one wanted to sign straight up.Lets just skip the UFC free agents he lured away and mention the standout wrestling prospects,the champions from other orgs, the hot regional prospects,and rising international prospects.


Yes a pessimist could claim Coker is sinking the company cuz viewership is down and he's increased the overall costs.....

But he's done ALOT of things to grow Bellators roster and respect amongst the industry.No way in hell would Bjorn have done anything better ..........

This guy gets it

 

[orangecuse]

Simply put times have changed.

Overall viewership is down even in UFC so of course bellator is feeling it as well.Also The rebranding helped the overall classyness but i think some viewers are still lost in the swithchover.Bjorn wouldn't change the numbers his cards weren't more stacked though I think the tape delay is definitely working against them.As I've mentioned before I personally did a numbers comparison and Coker actually has better numbers in literally every aspect you can measure.

Grass is always greener lol.....

I still believe in cokers vision he's done some great things and helped the company overall.There are ups and downs but I'll ride with Coker over Bjorn any day.

Coker made Bellator a legit destination for free agents when Bjorn was around no one wanted to sign straight up.Lets just skip the UFC free agents he lured away and mention the standout wrestling prospects,the champions from other orgs, the hot regional prospects,and rising international prospects.


Yes a pessimist could claim Coker is sinking the company cuz viewership is down and he's increased the overall costs.....

But he's done ALOT of things to grow Bellators roster and respect amongst the industry.No way in hell would Bjorn have done anything better ..........

This guy gets it

UFC's Reebok debacle and Viacom buying out Bjorn and willing to foot the bill for free agents brought big name UFC free agents. That wasn't Coker, there's no plan from Coker. What are you talking about? LOL anyone in his position would do the same thing in signing Rory, Bader, etc if given the opportunity. Again who only signed because of being upset about UFC sponsorship and Viacom willing to pay them more than the UFC.

Coker's generic plan is lame unoriginal UFC retread singing like Alessio Sakara, Kendall Groves, and Josh Neer and put them in main events. And the pathetic Dada-Kimbo's, Gracie-Shamrock embarrassments. Which got them one time ratings, a lifetime of embarrassment on video and did nothing for anyone else on the roster and did nothing to drum up interest in watching Bellator regularly.

LOL "the overall classiness." Because he had some TUF experience he signed, featured and promoted known already known scumbag War Machine, an untrained street fighter almost died live on TV for one of Coker biggest fight cards. Nothing classy about 50 yr old Shamrock.in a dodgy fight.

 

[FKA]

UFC's Reebok debacle and Viacom buying out Bjorn and willing to foot the bill for free agents brought big name UFC free agents. That wasn't Coker, there's no plan from Coker. What are you talking about? LOL anyone in his position would do the same thing in signing Rory, Bader, etc if given the opportunity. Again who only signed because of being upset about UFC sponsorship and Viacom willing to pay them more than the UFC.

Coker's generic plan is lame unoriginal UFC retread singing like Alessio Sakara, Kendall Groves, and Josh Neer and put them in main events. And the pathetic Dada-Kimbo's, Gracie-Shamrock embarrassments. Which got them one time ratings, a lifetime of embarrassment on video and did nothing for anyone else on the roster and did nothing to drum up interest in watching Bellator regularly.

LOL "the overall classiness." Because he had some TUF experience he signed, featured and promoted known already known scumbag War Machine, an untrained street fighter almost died live on TV for one of Coker biggest fight cards. Nothing classy about 50 yr old Shamrock.in a dodgy fight.

1)Bjorn tried bringing over free agents but no one wanted to sign Coker didn't just magically acquire them.......it was in part due to the format change from Bjorn.....no one wanted to go through tournaments.Bjorn had the same budget Coker had in his first year they didn't open up the spending until the following year after he showed an uptick in all the messurables.What has Coker done? Bjorn never had a working relationship with SPIKE as far as production went, it was Coker who did what should have been obvious and put SPIKES production team on producing the show instantly making production values way better.Coker did away with the tournament and season format and it instantly became easier to land free agents.He has signed tons of great talent and I'm not talking about a single UFC fighter.When tournament format was there no one would sign it' fact...look at PFL having to dish out 1million a weight class winner just yo attract mid tier talent as most champs bailed.


2)Coker implemented the same groundwork for Bellator that he did for Strikeforce.He used name value guys in mains and headliners (be it over the hill or not)and it brings in eyes to the mid and low card guys.It also gives a talent barometer the fans can see as they integrate name value talent and their own homegrown talent.Eventually the Homegrown talent and big name free agents become the cream of the crop.

3)By classy I was referring to the switch to Paramount instead of the full blown bro channel SPIKE lol.

The Gracie/Shamrock and Dada/kimbo fights were freakshow as it gets but your wrong when you said it didn't do anything because after each one of those cards the following week saw a residual amount of viewers tune in.

Actually it wasn't any of the former TUF members that elevated the brand it was the Phil Davis,Benson Henderson, Matt Mitrione,Gegard Mousasi,Rory MacDonald like signings of course coupled with the highly touted wrestling prospects,champions from other orgs,team fedor,and other highly touted international prospects.


Um ......epic fail bro.....coker didn't take over until 2014 warmachines last fight in Bellator was 2013......still under Bjorn control LMFAO I still remember the over the phone interviews from jail/prison.....stay classy Bjorn.

 

[skylolow]

wonder how they are doing financially compared to Bjorn.

Coker came in and upped their payroll and production costs and signed some big free agents but it doesnt seem to be paying off.

Other than the rare fight with past star or freakshow fight Bellator events come and go with little attention paid to them by anyone.

TV networks are losing subs, mma has cooled off a bit and whats left is dedicated to UFC. used to be we have to support the number 2 to take on UFC, SF, Bellator, whoever it is but that seems to have died off.

Whats crazy is there is alot of people upset with way UFC is doing things so you'd think there would be more rallying for Bellator but there isnt.

I highly doubt they're making money.

But what we have to remember is Bellator provides them a lot of live sport hours every year. If they didn't have Bellator it would be a lot of hours to fill with something and something cost money also.

Now none of us know what they are willing to lose each year but I think it a lot more than an avg group of investors would ever want to part with.


P.S.: On the UFC side, remember your on a forum and people bitch. These forums represent a very small part of the market. Those guys can complain all day about the UFC and guess what, they still tune in. Remember the evolution of sports is always one league/form/version of it will rise to the top and everything below it will fight for scraps. There is reason why there isn't another NFL, MLB, NBA, etc

 

[InfinityLens]

The freakshow was working out great for them and than Kimbo v DD5K happened. It was great for ratings but scared them off freakshows which is bad.

They need to go back to the early Coker (freakshows!) era except with more direction.

 

[Dozer .]

I’ve supported Bellator from the beggining but at this point,

If it dies, it dies