News Bellator sale talks heating up

careto said:
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1710126501255880822?s=46&t=Agsxq8Xi86ZrpMPcqRtdPw
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He's right and Petesy is correct, there is no space for two major promotions. Back when Strikeforce as big, UFC was running around 25 shows an year, now it's almost 50. There is just not enough desire to watch more then one MMA event a week for vast majority.

Can't wait for everyone to make a 180 on their opinion on whatever Bellator champ when he finds success in the UFC

Likewise the comments are the same old "They signed washed UFC fighters" that hasn't been true for years but PFL doesn't get the same amount of hate for doing exactly the same thing. Genuinely believe ONE pays people to mention them or it's just the new fav off every online hipster
 
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careto said:
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1710126501255880822?s=46&t=Agsxq8Xi86ZrpMPcqRtdPw
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I think the one guy on some level is correct in asking does this prove the market will only support one big org.

If we really think about Viacom owning Bellator should've been a bigger deal than it ever turned out to be. Massive resources at their finger tips beyond just money. We are talking about owning media outlets, media outlet connections around the world, a mass of knowledge in marketing, huge connections with every single advertisers/sponsors on the planet, etc etc etc. At some point behind the scenes the bean counters had to just say this isn't a winnable fight or no chance in hell to take a chunk of market share that really matters. I always said from the day they bought Bellator that it was a double edge sword. Good for everything listed above and the flips side was a multi billion dollar company could fold them the next day and hardly care, get lost in the Viacom umbrella of companies, and never be able to take advantage of the most lucrative media deal in the world which is the US market.

I've said on here many times its just the evolution of sports for the most part. One pro form or league of a sport usually sits at the top and gets most the money and attention. Everything below it fights for scraps. Even baseball which is popular in other countries outside of the US pale in comparison to the MLB. Japan probably being the second place in market share is a million miles behind MLB. Same with the NBA.


P.S.: I think a common dominator in the failing of these orgs is they are usually started by someone who truly is a big fan of the sport but the investors are not. Sure, they may enjoy it, but at the end of the day its an investment and nothing more. Before you know it you got 20+ different investors with their hands in the cookie jar. They aren't a cohesive unit working together and understanding the battle they're in. Most these orgs take on more investors to just pay back earlier investors and it just goes on and on until there is no more investors and it goes belly up. UFC had Dana's drive/love of the sport combined with the Ferts who are big fans of the sport funding it and the big key is they participated in it on a daily basis to grow it, legalize it, etc etc.. They didn't need anyone else to invest until much later and had revenue to support taking on investors/funding with the means to pay them back.
 
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careto said:
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1710126501255880822?s=46&t=Agsxq8Xi86ZrpMPcqRtdPw
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This guy gets it. Bellator was owned by the fucking network that made the UFC (spike) and strikeforce (showtime) and they still went belly up.

They did invest heavy into it but it just didnt draw.

Today the UFC is doing 50 shows a year plus contender series plus tuf plus if thats not enough regional mma on fightpass. There's just no room for a #2.

Nobody cares about a #2 in sports. It's not even like college sports where you can see athletes move over to the majors. There's just no point in following the #2 org unless you just want to see fights and if thats the case fightpass has you covered where those regional fights are actually more relevant as those fighters may eventually get to the big leagues (UFC)
 
Bubba32 said:
Bellator was owned by the fucking network that made the UFC (spike) and strikeforce (showtime) and they still went belly up.
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Uh...no they didn't. As for the rest of your post, this idea that we don't need other promotions is asinine.
 
TITS said:
Uh...no they didn't. As for the rest of your post, this idea that we don't need other promotions is asinine.
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I think what he meant was Spike was the first to allow the UFC on the airwaves(though they paid initially to get the Ultimate Fighter on) but eventually Spike did give the the UFC there first big media deal at the time and really helped them grow the fan base. Showtime gave Strikeforce a media a deal and worked closely with them on events and rumors where they even helped pay for Fedor to come to Strikeforce. But it failed in the end with a lot of debt. Then they bought Bellator and had technically all of he control over the product and it has ran its course and is done. In other words Viacom/Showtime/etc isn't very good at MMA on any level.

These other orgs in the MMA space are basically like the XFL or USFL or even the CFL of football. The NFL(UFC) rules everything and the rest of them struggle at best regardless. The NFL takes up the news of football almost 365 days of the year and gives its fan hours upon hours of football and related shows to satisfy most fans needs. So they barely even look at the other football products. As hardcore fans, no matter if we like it or not the UFC basically equals MMA now. It doesn't appear that fans are willing to support a second org in the capacity of what fans expect out of that org and maybe that is the real problem with everyone, expectations of a second real org.
 
skylolow said:
These other orgs in the MMA space are basically like the XFL or USFL or even the CFL of football. The NFL(UFC) rules everything and the rest of them struggle at best regardless. The NFL takes up the news of football almost 365 days of the year and gives its fan hours upon hours of football and related shows to satisfy most fans needs. So they barely even look at the other football products. As hardcore fans, no matter if we like it or not the UFC basically equals MMA now. It doesn't appear that fans are willing to support a second org in the capacity of what fans expect out of that org and maybe that is the real problem with everyone, expectations of a second real org.
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The United States Football League (“USFL”) and the XFL announced their intention to merge. They will be a Pro Minor league events held in the spring their goals not so loftly anymore (will be a major feeder for the NFL).
National Spring Football League (New name)

Screenshot 2023-10-07 2.52.44 PM.png
 
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David Street said:
Never heard him talk so much to say he 'doesn't know'.
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Dead Man Walking speak basically.

I find it kind of funny how they are making such a big deal out of Bellator 300 but Bellator 200 they hardly acknowledge it and gave us just a typical card. Watching the broadcast of 300 it was hard to tell if was more or less a swan song for Bellator(even though there is another card) or really a celebration of Bellator 300 and everything they accomplished to get here. Maybe a combination of both is what it was.

P.S.: The Bellator 200 debacle is kind of speaks volume of how the product is promoted with Viacom owning it. What should've been a big deal to the org and easy way to hype an event was basically a whisper at best.
 
skylolow said:
Dead Man Walking speak basically.

I find it kind of funny how they are making such a big deal out of Bellator 300 but Bellator 200 they hardly acknowledge it and gave us just a typical card. Watching the broadcast of 300 it was hard to tell if was more or less a swan song for Bellator(even though there is another card) or really a celebration of Bellator 300 and everything they accomplished to get here. Maybe a combination of both is what it was.

P.S.: The Bellator 200 debacle is kind of speaks volume of how the product is promoted with Viacom owning it. What should've been a big deal to the org and easy way to hype an event was basically a whisper at best.
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The card lost a lot of steam when it lost Bader/Vassell 2. They should have found a suitable replacement for Vassell like Gokhan Saricam or something.
 
TheBrownRanger said:
The card lost a lot of steam when it lost Bader/Vassell 2. They should have found a suitable replacement for Vassell like Gokhan Saricam or something.
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Corey Anderson offered but apparently Viacom didn't want to pay for it
 
TheBrownRanger said:
The card lost a lot of steam when it lost Bader/Vassell 2. They should have found a suitable replacement for Vassell like Gokhan Saricam or something.
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did it really though? Was Bader/Vassell saving the day for anyone like yo I need to see that?
 
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?
 
Did Bellator have ANY FOTY contenders in Scott Coker’s entire tenure? Rebney at least had the Chandler/Eddie fights.
 
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