Affliction Does $2.1M Gate, Expects 100,000 PPV Buys For MMA Debut
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Affliction Expecting Over 100,000 PPV
Viewers For Inaugural MMA Event |
Clothing company Affliction Saturday for its debut MMA PPV "Affliction: Banned" "did a gate of nearly $2.1[M]" at the Honda Center, though Affliction "purchased $500,000 of those tickets itself," according to a source cited by Kevin Iole of YAHOO SPORTS. Affliction VP Tom Atencio said that the event's PPV results, "which most analysts were expecting to come in around 75,000, [were] well better than expected." Atencio did not give a final number, but added that "the final number 'definitely' would be beyond 100,000." Meanwhile, UFC's "Ultimate Fight Night 14," which also aired Saturday night on Spike, earned a 2.1 HH rating and peaked at 4.46 million viewers. Atencio, who "already is at work planning a November show and expects to have a site firmed up by the end of the week," said that he "realizes the UFC is formidable competition, but he's understandably confident after his highly successful first show." Iole wrote, "If the UFC was worried about Affliction's potential as a competitor in the [MMA] business prior to Saturday, the stakes were raised considerably after Affliction did an outstanding job with its first show." The card "was solid and featured a litany of the world's elite heavyweights." Also, the broadcast, "while not perfect, was far superior to CBS' first effort with MMA when it televised an Elite XC event on May 31." All in all, "it was a superb first effort" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/22).
RIGHTS TO FIGHT: PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS' Nanea Kalani reported the state of Hawaii next summer "will start tapping into ticket sales" for MMA events in the state, "a move that promoters say could hurt their business." Under a bill that became law two weeks ago, MMA promoters in Hawaii "will be subject to new license fees," while the state also "will take cuts from ticket sales and [PPV] telecasts." The state would require "all participants in an MMA event to be licensed," and by "some estimates, the state stands to collect close to $1[M] in license fees annually." While the state indicated that the intention "is to regulate the fast-growing sport and ensure safety, local event promoters contend that the state is trying to make money by replicating Mainland athletic commissions that are profiting from the sport's growing popularity" (PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS, 7/18 issue).
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