zatoicchi
23.07.08, 07:59
If the UFC was worried about Affliction’s potential as a competitor in the mixed martial arts business prior to Saturday, the stakes were raised considerably after Affliction did an outstanding job with its first show.
The card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., was solid and featured a litany of the world’s elite heavyweights.
The television broadcast, while not perfect, was far superior to CBS’ first effort with MMA when it televised an Elite XC event on May 31. There didn’t appear to be enough television lighting and the picture on the pay-per-view broadcast came out a bit dark. Additionally, play-by-play man Jay Glazer was frequently way over the top and needs to tone down the shilling about 10 notches.
All in all, though, it was a superb first effort. But the key factor wasn’t how good the fights were or how well the broadcast was produced. It was money.
The UFC has been banking on making things so difficult for Affliction that it would lose oodles of money and be forced to cave.
So far, that hasn’t occurred. Saturday’s show did a gate of nearly $2.1 million, though a source close to the situation said Affliction purchased $500,000 of those tickets itself. Affliction vice president Tom Atencio conceded the company did purchase a large number of the best seats for use for friends and family of the fighters and the company employees, as well as VIPs, but he would not confirm an amount.
But he said the pay-per-view results, which most analysts were expecting to come in around 75,000, was well better than expected.
Mailbag: The UFC's Affliction (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=Apx33Yyb2vJ1SI1hQB1vDbo9Eo14?slug=ki-mmamailbag072208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
The card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., was solid and featured a litany of the world’s elite heavyweights.
The television broadcast, while not perfect, was far superior to CBS’ first effort with MMA when it televised an Elite XC event on May 31. There didn’t appear to be enough television lighting and the picture on the pay-per-view broadcast came out a bit dark. Additionally, play-by-play man Jay Glazer was frequently way over the top and needs to tone down the shilling about 10 notches.
All in all, though, it was a superb first effort. But the key factor wasn’t how good the fights were or how well the broadcast was produced. It was money.
The UFC has been banking on making things so difficult for Affliction that it would lose oodles of money and be forced to cave.
So far, that hasn’t occurred. Saturday’s show did a gate of nearly $2.1 million, though a source close to the situation said Affliction purchased $500,000 of those tickets itself. Affliction vice president Tom Atencio conceded the company did purchase a large number of the best seats for use for friends and family of the fighters and the company employees, as well as VIPs, but he would not confirm an amount.
But he said the pay-per-view results, which most analysts were expecting to come in around 75,000, was well better than expected.
Mailbag: The UFC's Affliction (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=Apx33Yyb2vJ1SI1hQB1vDbo9Eo14?slug=ki-mmamailbag072208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)