I'm convinced that this is the only way for Strikeforce to gain any ground on the UFC, otherwise they're going to die an Affliction like death where they'll losing money on every show until one disastrous show spells the end of them.
UFC made their mark big-time with the birth of the Ultimate Fighter series on SpikeTV. Dana White has been fully milking this reality tv thing, creating interesting storylines out of homegrown fighters all the way up to now. The original TUF noobs have now turned into knowledgeable fans yet he's still churning out more fighters and more fans, basically saturating the talent pool in the U.S. Kimbo Slice was like a huge unexpected prize/bonus for him and they're taking full advantage of that.
So what's he looking to do now? Expand TUF overseas to tap into resources abroad. See, Dana White is not stupid, he knows the formula to success and that's to build name recognition and how else to attract the noobs than a reality show?
All the while the last few years Affliction, EliteXC and Strikeforce have been paying the big bucks for solid fighters that nobody cares about except for the hardcore fans such as us. The last Strikeforce show was only successful because it was on CBS, if that was a PPV, they'd probably get less than 100,000 buys. They won't be able to leech off CBS forever, they're going to have to turn to PPVs which is where the UFC will squash them by doing a simultaneous broadcast on Spike.
With this, I think that the biggest return on their investment would be to sink all of their money into a reality based show. I don't care what the concept is, have the winner suck Fedor's dick, just do you what gotta do to get this gig up and running. Take advantage of the CBS platform while you're in the good books with them.
fuck that no more reality shows.
This is a sport. They'll be fine competing if they keep putting Fedor, Mousasi, Cyborg, Shields, Lawler, King Mo, Thomson, Melendez, Gina, Del Rosario, Jacare, Galvao, Aoki and Zaromskis on TV.
You gotta go with a proven formula, even if it means copying your competition. Why do you think Dana and Co. haven't been easing off with the TUF series? They know that it's a huge factor to their success.
The other orgs have been relying on that concept of signing big names and look where it's gotten them?
i think if they should do a show with an indepth look into the life of 2 fighters, their struggles and motivations training ect... then end the show with a fight between them for a spot on the challengers serries.
kinda like the prehype shows but with imediate gratification, and introducing us to more and more new fighters.
Another marketing genius
For some reason, people like to watch soap operish crap even if it means 5-10 minutes of fighting out of the entire hour. For instance a bunch of guys from my work know who Mayhem Miller is only through Bully Beatdown. They've never seen him fight GSP or Jacare, but they still know who he is and are interested in seeing him fight now.
There are threads going on right now about Matt Mitrone? who tf is he and why do people care? Yeah, I wouldn't know since the only TUF show I've watched over the past 3 yrs was Kimbo embarassing himself. I've been watching mma for 16 yrs and to be honest I have a very low tolerance for these type of things but I have to face the facts that there are so many others that enjoy this shit even if I don't.
Strikeforce needs to realize this too, it's not all about the fight card, it's about building name recognition and creating interesting fighters through storylines. A reality show is a good medium for this if they can swing it somehow.
standupwarrior - Another marketing genius
I'm assuming that you're being sarcastic, but yeah it's this is not ingenius at all. It's simply copying what works, why not?
i think it was the first contender season they were close to that formula, it worked i watched the shit out of that show
i like ^^^^
No no more reality tv, unless it's done pretty much exactly like Z described. Hate to use a crappy analogy like Deadliest Warrior, but no drama, 20 minutes getting to know one guy and what the trainers think of him etc.., 20 minutes for the other guy, 20 minutes for weigh-in fight. Just make room for commercials.
Hell but even that wouldn't of worked for TUF this season, all the build up doesn't help if the fight is terrible. There are a few guys that I am huge fans of now, but some of this season has just been on the all time worst list.
Of course if it was TUF itd be 40 minutes of commercials, 10 minutes of drama, 10 minutes fighting.
Some good ideas Zamiel. I wouldn't want it to be too serious though like the HBO 24/7 (which is a great production btw), it's gotta be gimmicky enough to keep the people's interest. Isn't TUF produced by Burnett, the reality series guru from Survivor? It's gotta have elements along those lines too. I realize that some credibility will be lost by this but that's the formula that works. Having the main guys be part of the show is a good idea, too bad Mark Cuban isn't part of this org, he'd be a good Dana White lol.
asrock -Because it's GAY asrockstandupwarrior - Another marketing genius
I'm assuming that you're being sarcastic, but yeah it's this is not ingenius at all. It's simply copying what works, why not?
: )
They need to do something. They got quality fighters with limited pulling force.
They don't need to do anything to their product. Well, maybe get some elbows and knees in there.
They could use better advertising, but I think they're using an under the radar approach, learning from the mistakes of others. They're gonna be just fine.
Should happen...
No No they need to do Tuesday Night Fights like Dana wanted instead of TUF... what a marketing genius!
they should just feature fighters' hardwork and struggles like Bellator is doing and no lame reality shows please!
Maybe not a TUF style show, but rather a countdown or All access so that the public get to know the fighters.
DROC
I'd rather see a 24/7 style set of shows before a Strikeforce event than any TUF reality show being done.
dking - I'd rather see a 24/7 style set of shows before a Strikeforce event than any TUF reality show being done.
This^ They should do a show, but it's gonna be hard to reproduce the same results. Maybe if Jeff (hook-n-shoot) could lend CBS the rights to his Fight School reality show with some minor changes, I think they would get some great exposure!