Bellator Moving To CBS Sports Network In Sept

[RODNEY83]

The channel makes sense I just dont know how will this financially impact the fighters. In other words, will Bellator still have financial power to go after top talent.

Yes, if Shari Redstone, Viacom's 80% multi-billionaire owner, goes through with her plans of bringing CBS back under the Viacom umbrella, which would allow her to put on Bellator fight cards on CBS for big shows and simulcast Bellator cards on CBS Sports and on networks like BET, and MTV and so on. Bellator has a great opportunity to make a dent into the Black American and Hispanic American audiences, but we know under Coker, it's going to not happen

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[Bubba32]

That is terrible. Nobody watches that channel. Mtv2 was better than this

I hope this is just a placeholder until the dazn deal is done and they move over to showtime permanently. But if their stay on cbs sports network RIP Bellator

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I used to have the channel on Playstation Vue but not sure I have it now on SlingTV.

 

[MM808]

Lol Big John and Josh Thompson ripped on Ariel on their podcast this morning for leaking the news.

 

[RODNEY83]

That is terrible. Nobody watches that channel. Mtv2 was better than this

I hope this is just a placeholder until the dazn deal is done and they move over to showtime permanently. But if their stay on cbs sports network RIP Bellator

Think about it like this, CBS can advertise Bellator fight cards that will be on CBS Sports to draw viewers to CBS Sports. And with CBS having contracts with the NFL, the SEC, the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference and Army, Air Force and Navy home football games for both CBS and CBS Sports, the advertisements during those football and basketball games for upcoming Bellator fight cards could be tremendous. And having Bellator fighters being interviewed on the sidelines and in the stands during those football and basketball games could work well. But this provides Bellator being smart under Coker, which we have seen Bellator continues to tread in the mud under Coker.

 

[Phrozenspite]

Think about it like this, CBS can advertise Bellator fight cards that will be on CBS Sports to draw viewers to CBS Sports. And with CBS having contracts with the NFL, the SEC, the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference and Army, Air Force and Navy home football games for both CBS and CBS Sports, the advertisements during those football and basketball games for upcoming Bellator fight cards could be tremendous. And having Bellator fighters being interviewed on the sidelines and in the stands during those football and basketball games could work well. But this provides Bellator being smart under Coker, which we have seen Bellator continues to tread in the mud under Coker.

that also assumes that bellator is of interest to CBS to devote those resource to promoting.

 

[Bubba32]

Think about it like this, CBS can advertise Bellator fight cards that will be on CBS Sports to draw viewers to CBS Sports. And with CBS having contracts with the NFL, the SEC, the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference and Army, Air Force and Navy home football games for both CBS and CBS Sports, the advertisements during those football and basketball games for upcoming Bellator fight cards could be tremendous. And having Bellator fighters being interviewed on the sidelines and in the stands during those football and basketball games could work well. But this provides Bellator being smart under Coker, which we have seen Bellator continues to tread in the mud under Coker.

all of that will probably amount to shit. We heard the same thing when they went to spike, that this was the network that built the UFC, etc... in the end didnt amount to shit.

Now they're being moved to a network so few people watch it's not even neilson rated.

 

[careto]

The fact that they keep signing important fighters leads my to think that they are thinking about Bellator long term.

 

[RODNEY83]

all of that will probably amount to shit. We heard the same thing when they went to spike, that this was the network that built the UFC, etc... in the end didnt amount to shit.

Now they're being moved to a network so few people watch it's not even neilson rated.

My statement ended by stating, this requires Bellator being smart under Coker, which we have seen Bellator tread in the mud under Coker. All the could be's in the world for Bellator, but it's still Bellator under Coker. So no, the move to CBS Sports will not be taken advantage of correctly because of, well, you already know.

 

[RODNEY83]

that also assumes that bellator is of interest to CBS to devote those resource to promoting.

Just going by Viacom 80% owner Shari Redstone plan to do cross promotion with Viacom owned network properties. The opportunity is there, but we know Bellator will not make the most of a great opportunity because of their President. Some examples, Coker had the golden opportunity to have MVP vs Paul Daley in London for a big Bellator blow out card by having England fighters like Linton Vassell on the card, Liam McGeary on the card, Kate Jackson on the card, and others. But Coker grand plan was to put MVP vs Paul Daley on a card in Connecticut. Coker had a great opportunity to make a big blow out Bellator Heavyweight Tournament instead in a non surprising Coker move he filled the heavyweight tournament with way too many past their prime ex-UFC fighters, confirmed PED users, and too many non heavyweights.

 

[careto]

Just going by Viacom 80% owner Shari Redstone plan to do cross promotion with Viacom owned network properties. The opportunity is there, but we know Bellator will not make the most of a great opportunity because of their President. Some examples, Coker had the golden opportunity to have MVP vs Paul Daley in London for a big Bellator blow out card by having England fighters like Linton Vassell on the card, Liam McGeary on the card, Kate Jackson on the card, and others. But Coker grand plan was to put MVP vs Paul Daley on a card in Connecticut. Coker had a great opportunity to make a big blow out Bellator Heavyweight Tournament instead in a non surprising Coker move he filled the heavyweight tournament with way too many past their prime ex-UFC fighters, confirmed PED users, and too many non heavyweights.

MVP vs Paul Daley in Connecticut is still baffling to this date. Bellator has made its intention clear in staking a claim in the European market, yet when they had the opportunity to put together one of the biggest fights to be made in England plus with the opportunity to fill it with British talent they decided to put the fight at a freaking resort in Connecticut...
That HW tournament was the shittiest tournament Bellator has done. Nelson, Mir, Sonnen, Rampage, and King Mo, had not business being in that tournament, hell even Fedor should not have taken part of that tournament.

 

[wwkirk]

I was planning on adding CBS Sports Network. But after tonight, Fuck It!

 

[smart.feller]

CBSSN is great if you have cable, YouTube tv, or Hulu live...if you are a cord cutter with anything else, you’re screwed.

This was probably the worst move they could’ve made...lifetime channel had better distribution. TNT or USA would’ve been a better choice. Hopefully they’ve partnered with a website like mmajunkie, twitch, or YouTube to make it actually accessible to fans, because fans aren’t going to follow to an obscure network, and DAZN should’ve proven that.

 

[wwkirk]

Think about it like this, CBS can advertise Bellator fight cards that will be on CBS Sports to draw viewers to CBS Sports. And with CBS having contracts with the NFL, the SEC, the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference and Army, Air Force and Navy home football games for both CBS and CBS Sports, the advertisements during those football and basketball games for upcoming Bellator fight cards could be tremendous. And having Bellator fighters being interviewed on the sidelines and in the stands during those football and basketball games could work well. But this provides Bellator being smart under Coker, which we have seen Bellator continues to tread in the mud under Coker.

The problem is that you have to subscribe to a bunch of other things to get CBS Sports; there's no standalone option. Even a CBS All Access subscription doesn't get you CBS Sports Network.

 

[biomed190]

Glad I have CBS sports through youtube tv. I enjoy Bellator always have. They put on compelling fights that I enjoy watching. I wish the LFA was on free tv so I didn't have to pay 10 bucks for 1 program but since I really enjoy watching those fights I will continue to do so.

 

[RODNEY83]

The problem is that you have to subscribe to a bunch of other things to get CBS Sports; there's no standalone option. Even a CBS All Access subscription doesn't get you CBS Sports Network.

For my area, we have to subscribe to the sports package channels to get CBS Sports, which was fine with me and many sports lovers. However, I understand other people situations are different.

 

[wwkirk]

For my area, we have to subscribe to the sports package channels to get CBS Sports, which was fine with me and many sports lovers. However, I understand other people situations are different.

Fios includes CBS Sports in 3 packages. One costs $45 more, another $60 more. The last one may not cost extra, but I would lose a number of other stations. I was on the verge of switching to the cheapest one, but then I decided I wasn't sufficiently attached to Bellator.

MMA is the only sport I watch, so any other sports CBS Sports carries aren't a plus for me.

 

[AGEZ909]

That is terrible. Nobody watches that channel. Mtv2 was better than this

I hope this is just a placeholder until the dazn deal is done and they move over to showtime permanently. But if their stay on cbs sports network RIP Bellator

Never watched CBS sports (or even heard of, for that matter), but i am inclined to agree. Bellator is in a tough spot. The rebranding from Spike to Paramount was horrible for Bellator's ratings. Mind is fuzzy, but I remember reading about a sharp decline immediately following the rebranding.

It would be nice to have bellator on big CBS. I don't know what DAZN and bellator are going to do. I can't imagine that DAZN would want to follow through with that 2 year option, considering their finances have probably been decimated due to Covid lockdowns.