There have been numerous reports recently that suggest that the cancellation of a September 20 event in New Mexico and a Cage Rage “Contenders” show in London — along with the resignations of company President (Gary Shaw) and CEO (Doug DeLuca) — indicate that Elite XC is all aboard the Pro Elite sinking ship.
We hesitated to write anything on the matter since it’s mostly speculation; however, it’s a fact that Elite XC’s parent company (Pro Elite) is in financial trouble, which could mean there is some truth to the possible demise of the promotion down the round if things don’t change … fast.
In fact, recent company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Elite XC has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million since its inception in 2007. That’s not too shocking — the mighty UFC lost millions at one point before becoming the well-oiled money machine it is today.
These days the UFC is able to survive and prosper primarily because of its bread and butter — pay-per-view (PPV) sales. No other mixed martial arts company has ever come close to consistently matching the Zuffa-owned promotions PPV prowess … yet.
Elite XC’s plan was to build a solid fan base via exposure on CBS and Showtime with the intentions of one day leading the masses to their PPV screens sometime in early 2009. And after a major success on May 31 with a record-breaking nationwide television audience tuning in to see the network debut of mixed martial arts it seemed like Elite XC was well on its way.
However, company and network executives were likely gutted to learn that they lost more than half of those viewers during the second CBS event on July 26.
In all fairness, a drop off was expected heading into the second show. There was no Kimbo Slice or Gina Carano for Elite XC to hang its hat on. And the initial appeal of the whole thing had worn off, leaving mostly just the hardcore fans left to watch.
And even some of them were too disappointed with the first event’s early stoppages and controversial outcomes to watch the encore presentation.
Despite not being a success ratings-wise, the second event was certainly an improvement as far as the over all quality and production were concerned. Elite XC hopes to have won back those hardcore fans and that Kimbo and Carano being back on the card will attract the big numbers again for the all important third show.
If these recent rumors of the demise of the company are true, it will need as many viewers on October 4 as it can muster. If Elite XC can’t prove to CBS that it can provide consistent ratings then it’s unlikely a contract renewal will be offered up after the fourth and final show wraps.
If Elite XC were to lose CBS right now it would all but put the nail in the coffin for the mixed martial arts promotion. It hasn’t been able to build that fan base as easily as originally thought. And the promotion still needs to attract (and retain) more loyal viewers before it can even think about making the jump to the land of milk and honey (PPV).
Elite XC has made several recent improvements, getting rid of the dancing girls and the mafioso-like front man. Right now, the majority of the complaints coming from the fans regarding Elite XC is that it protects its stars (see Kimbo Slice) and the overall roster is solid yet thin.
Justin Eilers is no heavyweight title contender.
Elite XC is obviously trying to build these stars like Kimbo Slice and Antonio Silva so it can eventually sell them on PPV. The problem is that people are getting tired watching these guys beat up hand-picked cupcakes.
If the survival of the company really is riding on the October 4 CBS event in Sunrise, Fla., then it’s time for Elite XC to put its best foot forward with a competitive and marketable fight card.
It’s pretty simple.
People believe Brett Rogers can beat Kimbo. And there is obvious marketability present with the post fight altercation from the May 31 event. It’s time for that next step. It’s time for Elite XC to finally take a chance on Kimbo losing if it wants a chance at winning as an organization.
The way Elite XC has handled Kimbo — by essentially giving him wins — has created this massive group of hardcore fans who want to see the guy lose. It’s not just about him getting tested anymore — they really want to see him lose, which is a perfect opportunity for Elite XC to add even more lore to Kimbo.
The reward is worth the risk if Kimbo can beat Brett Rogers and start to change these opinions of him … and the promotion.
But it’s a catch-22 because the risk of Kimbo losing is perhaps a nightmare scenario. Then — good ratings or not — Elite XC more than likely will not survive if its biggest stars can’t win.
For Kimbo it’s simple. All he needs to do is keep winning and his star power will continue to shine bright. He can beat up the Tank Abbott’s and Bo Cantrell’s forever and there will still be Kimbo Slice followers, but for the company that signs his checks, it’s not just about him winning anymore.
It’s about who he beats and how much money they can make off it.
Elite XC has shown it belongs at the table. Now it’s time for them to start playing some hands. Fortune favors the bold … just ask Dana White.
49 Comments »
DOOM……NO QUESTION
No doubt! i love this article very much…it reminds me of the times so many people on here where creaming themselves about how elite xc was going to be UFC biggest competitor and that it new TV deal would over shadow any accomplishments so many other orgs. have done. that what happend when you depend on a crowed drawn in by hype and freakshows that have no clue what mma is about all they want is someone to die and be beaten to death in their. like the show they put on in miami i think where they yelled “KILL HIM” the whole fight.
like I said last week, bring Diaz and shields to UFC maybe lawler…and let Lesner feed on kimbo!!!!!!!
Diaz belongs in the ufc, the other two I could careless
Pleeeeeease let that happen. I might pay an extra $50 to see that. Better yet. lets do it “Winner take all” or “Old Testament” style. If Kimbo wins, all the UFC fighters will be slaves to the ElteXc, and vice versa.
Although, I’m not sure Dana is gonna want some, or any of those guys back.
santiago, although things don’t look very good, EliteXC is not done yet. They could make a 180°, I think your talk is premature.
This does snot look good for the Elite, strike force guys.. The UFC is and will forever be the biggest and badest of all MMA organizations.. ( Damn I miss PrideFC… )Well with these turn of events Affliction to stay afloat will need to step their game up.. Tito is most likley not going to sign with Elite or Strikeforce to fight another guy named Shamrock.. I hope Affliction gets him.. they could use the PPV says.. but damn outside of Ken Shamrock..Tito has not won a fight for 4 years.. but still can draw a crowd.. mind boggling.
Pride was really the only other viable promotion outside of the UFC, but even Pride was hemorrhaging money at the end. The UFC pounced and that added to the mess. The Pride acquisition cost the UFC a lot of money and they still missed out on a lot of the top Pride talent. Not only did they not sign some of the best fighters from Pride, the fans were robbed of seeing them fight. Guys like Fedor and Gomi took long hiatuses while they tried to figure out who they were going to sign with.
I guess what I’m getting at, is the UFC needs to stay away from these struggling promotions. They went after the IFL and they still didn’t some of the top talent from them either. The UFC needs to let these promotions go under and then compete for the contracts after the fact.
I see your point.. but Dana is like ” Cesar “.. he is doing it up.. ROME STYLE!
RealDrew, I think the UFC buying Pride was also about the videos of the fighters. How would it look if the guy who owned Pride was able to show fights of guys that are now in the UFC? Buying Pride was a good move for the UFC even if they didnt get alot of the talent! The IFL….. I didnt get so much, but there has to be a good reason???
There must be a lot of money in the video rights to fighters. Didn’t Fedor’s contract with Afflication have something about him keeping his rights to the videos?
I guess that’s an upside, but if the UFC could do it over, do you think they still puchase Pride now?
RealDrew you are very correct i have a friend who is huge pride fanatic…and pride’s video vault is well worth over 20mil from what he has found in his research….contract rights are bought easily with pocket money like how bank and mortgages foreclose or short sale a home.
Yea, Fedors contract does have the video rights.
And seeing as how they didnt get all the big names, then maybe they wouldnt?
maybe one of the many reasons fedor didnt want to sign with UFC..because he knew how exclusive they were about all their product rights.
I hope EliteXC does fold. I dont like how they run their company. F it! Let em fold and just let the UFC and Affliction have a bidding War over its fighters.
Dont be fooled, there was a time when the UFC played 2nd Fiddle to my beloved PrideFC and iMO that was perfect.
Best scenario for fans is to just have 2 BIG competing companies, doing it the right way. In a perfect world I would like Affliction to grow and Keep pushing the UFC to better its product (giving us better match ups, cards, and more free shows). I would like all the other organizations like STrikeForce, Elite to just DIE because they have good fighters but they dont match them up against anyone decent, so F those Companies!
Itake it you don’t cout the Forrest Griffin fight as a legitamate win. (I don’t either)
*Count
DB - If it is left in the judge’s hands, it’s legit, even if you don’t like it. I thought Rampage won, but hey. It went to the judges, and whatever they say goes. Rules are rules.
truth crossfire…rampage thought he could walk thru griffin and he couldnt finish him. judges see what they see man…thats why you dont leave it to them.
Well said : “I miss PrideFC”… Sooo true. I was completely stoked when I found out that UFC was going to by Pride and sign their fighters. But, now that it is said and done, I liked having the option. Plus, the big fighters that I looked foward to watching in Pride have kinda lost their luster and I don’t know if it’s because the UFC fighters overshadowed them when they got bought out, or the Pride fighters simply died with Pride. Somehow Wandi, Mirko, Hendo, Gomi, Shogun, Hunt, and others aren’t as intimadating.
At the same time, props to Rampage, Silva, and Nog for showing what they can do.
Don’t misunderstand. I am diehard fans of Wandi, Rampage, Shogun, and Fedor. I will always watch them if I am given the opportunity. But, for me, those Pride fighters were larger than UFC, and life for that matter. It’s just not the same.
The only difference between the advent and rise of the UFC and the similar losses EliteXC are facing is that the UFC did not have to compete with another larger more profitable and better entity on its own turf.
EliteXC won’t even be around by the end of 2009.
Good point. The UFC is making money because they were the first in line. This is why they sell themselves AS MMA and not merely a piece of it.
It’s worked for the so far.
I was just thinking the same thing. You can’t compare the losses of EliteXC with the original UFC losses - the UFC had no competition. IMHO Elite XC will fold - it’s only a matter of the exact date.
Very well said I fully believe EliteXC needs to step up and put there big draws in real fights with real competion. As much as I’m a UFC fan competition can only make them better so I wish EliteXC all the luck in the world.
Was there ever any doubt? The first time I saw mexicutioner post “Boycott EliteXC!” I knew it was the beginning of the end….. that rat bastard
tell’em James! lol
A simple thanks will do.
Thanks. My post was meant as a compliment. heavy sarcasm on the rat Bastard part.
Lol I can’t say dana didn’t see it coming I am a mma I will only watch ufc’s ppv’s unless affliction can make the randy fedor fight happen but I’ll watch any free mma lol
i’d actually like to see them set up fight tomato cans in a row for Kimbo to fight one at a time. 5 cans = 5 easy KOs. all in one night. hell, all in one 30-minute block. considering he’s NEVER going to be a contender, at least he can entertain me on a drunken Saturday night.
…and every TKO you have to pound a beer, every KO you have to pound 2 beers before the next fight starts!
LMAO at XC for really considering PPV. So now there theoretically could be 3 MMA PPV’s in 1 month. I was beginning to like XC after the last CBS show, but now it is pretty obvious they are doomed and I will NEVER buy a PPV from these guys. I am more than happen to stick to my 1 UFC PPV a month!
I heard they are hurting for cash so much that they are having the weigh ins for the October 4th event at the Gameworks in the Sawgrass Mills mall across the street from the Bank Atlantic Center!
Im just kidding, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
are you just going to let James S say that about you?!!
That was a good one, Mex. I cracked up out loud.
That is hilarious.
looking forward to the strikeforce vitale trigg bout.
i’d be interested in these elite fights…
brett rogers vs kimbo
kj noons vs mike aina
ninja rua vs. frank shammy
diaz vs. lawler rematch!
wasn’t eddie alvarez supposed to come over? and i don’t get why they don’t just put all the strikeforce, shoxc, proelite guys all together in 1 promotion and have more stacked cards and deeper talent pool.
i think the main reason elite xc will fail (and affliction) is inconsitancy. affliction might suffer the same fate as the elite xc’ s 2nd show becuase they are up and down and cant quite seem to get what the mma fans want. thats the one thing you can count on with ufc, love them or hate them, is that they are very consistant about bringing you the very best in mma that they can possibly bring. they may not be perfect, but they are consistant.
Good point. Elite XC is now at the mercy of CBS. Each show will be “do or die”. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if the October card is cancelled. Furthermore, I read somewhere that the CEO of CBS doesn’t even like the idea of MMA being on his network.
SUMNER REDSTONE. cant stand him, but your right he doesnt like mma.
If (and probably when) EliteXC goes under, it will be a huge tell-tale sign of things to come. They are the second largest MMA company right now (according to Playboy), and if they don’t make it, I don’t see any of the others, either. It’s like the USFL and the XFL couldn’t make it because the Superbowl has the two best teams from the NFL play. I could, however, see collegiate MMA becoming a popular sport.
Affliction will be going down as well, bet on it. They are hemorrhaging money and have no where near the draw power. Take Fedor out of the question and what are they left with?
A bunch of ex-UFC veterans that are getting way overpaid. Barnett and AA are good, but still overcompensated.
Would anyone ever buy an Elite XC Pay-per-view?
Uh, no.
They don’t have enough going on to make a decent PPV.
As these pseudo competitors to the UFC fall by the wayside, the fans lose out. Dana has beefs with so many of the departed UFC fighters, and has talked so much smack about the guys that never signed, that you have to wonder how many of them will hang in limbo waiting for the next would be competitor to give them a decent paycheck.
No, some will go bounce at Trump Casino’s with Tito.
OK, so very late to the game, but I looked through the numbers and here are some facts (and my analysis/opinions):
Current Assets: $5.3M
Current Liabilities: $9.5M
Current Ratio: .56
This is a BAD sign for any company
Net Loss for the Six Months from 12/07 to 6/08: $24.3M
Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities: $-7.6M
This last number tells you whether they are, at the end of the day profitable, and they aren’t even close. Their gross margin on the last six months, including the Kimbo fight) was negative by $2.7M even before you throw in their SG&A (overhead), which gets you to that $24.3M number.
To stay alive, they got a note payable from Showtime (borrowed money) and a warrant (borrowed more money on the future price of their stock) in the amount of $6M.
Unless they can radically change their financial structure, they’ll be dead in months. No one is going to loan them more money with financials like these.
DOA
Well with “Kimbo” as their frontman and biggest draw, what do you expect? I hope this means Kimbo will be out of a job and have to choose between UFC and Youtube. I would LOVE to see Kimbo vs Gonzaga or Werdum