News Bellator sale talks heating up

Hellowhosthat said:
Alex Polizzi Vs Jose Augusto was an incredible fight.
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If that fight had happened in the UFC, it would have been inducted into the HOF. In over 20 years of watching MMA, I have never seen someone eat a MONSTER knee like that and not just survive it but to also recover and get a finish...all in less than a minute. The definition of beautiful violence.
 
philweed said:
Scott Coker will bury any organization he runs. This goof claims “Bellator grew so much” when reality it hasn’t done a damn thing. They haven’t put on one fight worthy enough for fans to migrate over from the UFC given all the years they’ve been running. So how does this low-energy idiot think that his company has grown is beyond belief.

Bellator needs a complete overhaul. If a company like Viacom is not willing to shell out the funds to fix it, it’ll certainly die. How long has Mr. Personality (Scott Coker) been at the reigns? What the f*ck has he been doing all the years?
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I've been saying that for years on here, just not so bluntly. Coker is great at talent relations but not a great MMA business man. A lot of the growth of Bellator in terms of media deals is more on the plate of Viacom than Coker and his team securing any of that expansion. They don't have the power to go sign a TV deal with some Brazil media outlet. Putting more ass's in seats isn't that hard. You just secure more talent with name value and you can sell more tickets compared to the Bjorn era. Securing better talent has a lot to do with what you can afford to pay talent more so than anything else. Viacom has deep pockets and gave Bellator enough money to be a player at times in the free agent world. Sure Coker being a nice guy helps but being just a good guy doesn't pay fighter "x"'s bills.

A lot of people support Coker on here and that is fine but his track record speaks for itself from a business standpoint in MMA. The sad thing in this sport is you could easily argue Coker is the second best MMA promoter in the world next to the UFC brass. Being second best has basically been running Strikeforce's bill up so high his investors bailed and sold out to get out of debt with Strikeforce. Got put in charge of Bellator and for almost 10 years has done so little for it that for the last 5 years Viacom didn't even know what to do with it or where to even broadcast is on their networks. Once they changed SPIKE to Paramount Channel it all went down hill.


P.S.: Rumors are Bellator 301 might not even happen because they are arguing about who is paying for the show.
 
CC27 said:
did it really though? Was Bader/Vassell saving the day for anyone like yo I need to see that?
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The card ended up only being three fights and two of them were WMMA fights lmao.

I think even having a regular title eliminator fight like Koreshkov vs Storley would have helped it.
 
skylolow said:
I've been saying that for years on here, just not so bluntly. Coker is great at talent relations but not a great MMA business man. A lot of the growth of Bellator in terms of media deals is more on the plate of Viacom than Coker and his team securing any of that expansion. They don't have the power to go sign a TV deal with some Brazil media outlet. Putting more ass's in seats isn't that hard. You just secure more talent with name value and you can sell more tickets compared to the Bjorn era. Securing better talent has a lot to do with what you can afford to pay talent more so than anything else. Viacom has deep pockets and gave Bellator enough money to be a player at times in the free agent world. Sure Coker being a nice guy helps but being just a good guy doesn't pay fighter "x"'s bills.

A lot of people support Coker on here and that is fine but his track record speaks for itself from a business standpoint in MMA. The sad thing in this sport is you could easily argue Coker is the second best MMA promoter in the world next to the UFC brass. Being second best has basically been running Strikeforce's bill up so high his investors bailed and sold out to get out of debt with Strikeforce. Got put in charge of Bellator and for almost 10 years has done so little for it that for the last 5 years Viacom didn't even know what to do with it or where to even broadcast is on their networks. Once they changed SPIKE to Paramount Channel it all went down hill.


P.S.: Rumors are Bellator 301 might not even happen because they are arguing about who is paying for the show.
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There are no international MMA brands that are running a true profit. There is no space in the industry for that to happen outside of the UFC, without some crazy things happening.
 
The news about Showtime ending it's sports broadcasts just came out. There is only one more Bellator event this year (November).
Without a TV deal, what is there to buy?
Will fighters still be locked into contracts?
Does anyone think the UFC will buy Bellator just to keep their fighters from The PFL?
Will PFL buy Bellator?
Could Bellator dissolve and there will basically be a bunch of free agents on the market?
 
Showtime to cease boxing, MMA promotion; Bellator future unclear (usatoday.com)

Showtime will soon be done with combat sports.

In an internal memo issued Tuesday, Showtime president and CEO Chris McCarthy informed employees the network will end its boxing and MMA content at the end of 2023 in an effort to “dedicate a larger percentage of (its) resources toward premium scripted series that drive subscribers.”

Bellator was not explicitly mentioned in the memo. A person close to the situation told MMA Junkie on Tuesday they believe a sale will occur in the near future, which has been rumored for months. Showtime’s announcement to its employees was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed in June that business discussions between the promotion and rival PFL were ongoing, but he’s largely remained mum on further updates since then. He spoke at length after Bellator 300 but didn’t offer much.

PFL founder Donn Davis and president Ray Sefo have teased a potential absorption, although they, too, haven’t offered any details.

Check out the full memo from McCarthy below, which MMA Junkie has acquired.

“As we continue to dedicate a larger percentage of our resources toward premium scripted series that drive subscribers for us in both Pay TV and SVOD, SHOWTIME will not be moving forward with boxing or other content produced by the SHOWTIME Sports and Event Programming Team. The company’s decision isn’t a reflection of the work the team and our partners have done, rather a reality of the world evolving and our shifting content priorities.

“For nearly 40 years, Stephen Espinoza and his team have created and delivered premium storytelling, thoughtful analysis and outstanding live production including the biggest combat sports events in history. We are deeply grateful to Stephen and the entire team whose collective contributions have helped establish SHOWTIME as the premium brand it is today.

“Under Stephen’s leadership, they have done a terrific job establishing SHOWTIME as the #1 destination for boxing around the world televising nearly 750 live boxing events and 2,000 bouts. Boxing and SHOWTIME have often been synonymous, and we are grateful for their hard work and dedication.

“While I’ve only had a few months to get to know and work with Stephen, I can easily say he is one of the most creative, strategic thinkers who deeply cares about his team, the brand, and the sports he champions. I am very thankful to him and the entire group as they have very dutifully helped us navigate this difficult transition.

“Stephen and the team will be here through December to oversee the remaining events on the 2023 boxing slate as we honor all our obligations through the end of the year.

“Please join me in thanking them.”

Questions have arisen about the scheduled Bellator 301 event Nov. 17 in Chicago, but there has been increasing confidence the event will go on as planned.

The card is headlined by welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov (27-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) vs. Jason Jackson (16-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) and bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis (23-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) vs. interim titleholder Patchy Mix (18-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA).
 
jeskola said:
he asked in regards to UFC and this is a UFC forum. Also that thread is out of date, doesnt have the latest info.
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Seems like a stretch to me. His topic is the Bellator sale, ergo it’s a Bellator topic, and that belongs in Worldwide. As far as being out of date, merging this thread with that one would bump the original thread, wouldn’t it? But I’m not a mod, so my opinion is irrelevant I guess.
<Fedor23>
 
UFC won't buy Bellator because it would be a terrible look for the anti trust lawsuit.

PFL are working on it but it seems to have gone a bit quiet. I suspect it's not as easy to transfer the fighters contracts over from Bellator to PFL as they thought it would be and a lot of them probably aren't down for the PFL format.
 
Hellowhosthat said:
UFC won't buy Bellator because it would be a terrible look for the anti trust lawsuit.

PFL are working on it but it seems to have gone a bit quiet. I suspect it's not as easy to transfer the fighters contracts over from Bellator to PFL as they thought it would be and a lot of them probably aren't down for the PFL format.
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Which means ultimately?....
I hope fighters don't get stuck in limbo.
 
Paul E Gensinger said:
Which means ultimately?....
I hope fighters don't get stuck in limbo.
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If they get taken over by PFL and the contracts don't automatically switch over presumably the ones PFL want would have the choice to switch or try free agency.

Maybe PFL run Bellator as a different brand for a bit to prevent that from happening though.

I do think a lot of fighters are getting released as there just isn't room for the amount of fighters Bellator have in the PFL format, I suspect they want to cherry pick the ones they want and release the rest.
 
BigSexy444 said:
I want to see Ryan Bader come out at UFC 300, take the mic away from Olivi and say "You know who I am, but you don't know why I'm here".
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Hellowhosthat said:
If they get taken over by PFL and the contracts don't automatically switch over presumably the ones PFL want would have the choice to switch or try free agency.

Maybe PFL run Bellator as a different brand for a bit to prevent that from happening though.

I do think a lot of fighters are getting released as there just isn't room for the amount of fighters Bellator have in the PFL format, I suspect they want to cherry pick the ones they want and release the rest.
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It seemed Bellator fighters enjoy the way the org treated them as well as having in fight sponsors. Wth little competition do we think UFC will majorly low ball free agents? Bellator going away is a bad thing for fighter pay.
 
Look bro I'm the smartest guy on sherdog, so next time just dm me!
 
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