In July at the second Elite XC event on CBS in Stockton, Calif., the promotion had a difficult time selling enough tickets to fill up the relatively small Stockton Arena.
So much so that 3,701 of the total 6,572 people who attended “Unfinished Business” on July 26 received their tickets on the house.
The organization couldn’t afford to have an empty arena being shown on CBS for one of its prime time events and risk looking bad not only to the viewers at home, but also to the network executives. So, they were forced to literally give away more than half of the seats that were filled.
It was almost a given that they would produce better ticket sales in South Florida with hometown favorite Kimbo Slice main eventing. In fact, the demand for seats grew so high that additional sections were opened with extra $30 tickets two days prior to the event.
The final numbers revealed that 7,723 tickets were sold for “Heat” and the company more than tripled its live gate, pulling in a total of $826,433. “Unfinished Business” only managed to bring in $269,000.
The total live attendance at the Bank Atlantic Center last night was 9,414 — nearly a 50 percent increase from Stockton.
Even though the main event didn’t necessarily turn out as planned, at least Elite XC can hang its hat on this as a success.
28 Comments »
that is a pretty large improvement. I hope that November card with Alvarez Daiz, Villasenor Lawler II and Smith Lombard is near my house, because I would love to go!
The devil is in the details.
It’s good to see nice ratings and attendance, but $826,433 is small change compared with the losses they’ve been incurring. Showtime may be taking over sooner rather than later.
The max capacity at Bank Atlantic is about 22,000. 19,000 are used for hockey games. Elite used the arena’s “horseshoe” configuration which is about half of the venues availiable seats, plus the upper bowl was empty. It was nowhere near max capacity. At least thats what I’ve read elsewhere. Still with an $826,433 gate, that doest even put a ding in the $60 million that they are in the hole. Plus, Yahoo is saying that Elite had to give Kimbo an undisclosed extra cash bonus just for him to get in the ring after Shamrock was DQ’d. They are lucky they didnt have to pay Arlovski otherwise I think that whole gate number would have been pointless.
I don’t think very many people understand how important Elite XC’s successes are to the sport of MMA. Quite simply, if Elite XC tanks, there’s no guarantee that ANY of their fighters (with perhaps the exception of Shields) would end up in the UFC. So, if you are the fan of anyone in Elite, I would recommend trying to find a positive side to whatever they do instead of laughing at them. Competition is great for MMA fans – think about it this way: last night, UFC 86 was shown on Spike while Elite’s show was being aired. 5 hours of MMA for free…diehard MMA fans like myself wouldn’t turn down that offer, that’s for sure.
Last night’s event, while not ending in the way that about 90 percent of average MMA fans would have expected, has caused me to be even more interested in a rematch between Seth and Kimbo. Who ya got in the rematch?
Im just pointing out the facts. IMO, all the positive spin in the world wouldn’t prevent the inevitable collapse of Elite XC. Also IMO, for any knowledgable MMA fan to think that the pro’s of Elite outweigh the con’s would simply be an ignorant. The only thing positive about Elite XC is that they are positively $60 million in the whole. I could care less if they had a Petruzelli/Kimbo rematch. I’d rather watch a Starnes/Quarry rematch. Besides, Elite wouldn’t have a rematch between the two because they wouldn’t want Kimbo to lose again.
you dont want to see Lawler Villasenor and Alvarez/Diaz?
Alvarez/Diaz yes. I could care less about Lawler/Villasenor.
dont care about your fellow mexican?
Yeah, thats how I normally decide weather or not I want to watch someone fight, is if they are mexican or not. You’re the man.
I read that all the companies that pay CBS to show their ads didnt buy any TV time! Thats why we saw Fedor/Tim about 100 times. So I dont think it was a success? A success compaired to the other show then yes a big success!
trying to put a positive spin on something bad? how about nearly 3k free tickets for an arena with special seating to try and make the place sellout. EXC FTL
who do u got on the diaz /alvarez fight after seen alvarez in dream diaz better be prepared to take a beating!!!
everyone who said these other organizations are good for mma were right. they sure make the ufc look fantastic and prrofessional.
werd…
It would be a great day for the sport if Dana could go back to paying fighters peanuts -sarcasm- You know the UFC only has a capacity of around 200 – 250 fighters? There is no way they could support all of the other mma stars, unless everyone only fought like once a year.
again, why do you care what they make. do you care what your mechanic or check out girl at the grocery store makes. i dont, i only care what i pay and i dont care if thats selfish. if its crap money in the ufc then why are all the fighters trying to get there and most claim its the place to be other than those named tito or randy. and randy is back, why? because the grass isnt greener on the other side. there are other football leagues but only one nfl. get over this dana sucks bull crap, its old. he made waht we all love to watch and so many jump on this bandwagon of hating the guy for no real reason. pay these guys what boxers make is what everyone wants for some reason but those same people will tell you boxing is dying. i want my cake and eat it too. you all act as if you run multimillion enterprises and are telling these very successful guys how to do it. go back to waht you know and pump my gas or serve my happy meals. dana is running the ufc and mma just fine. rant over, hate me if you want.
DAM!!!!!!!!! Way to tear him a new one Egads, I agree 100%
because unlike you, I ACTUALLY DO MMA and my friends are fighting amateur looking to go pro. It is easy for a fat shit not to care about the treatment of athletes. (And yes, I also care what other people make) I am not a bleeding heart, I just do not like to see people get shit on by corporations. Boxing is dying because of crooked managers that take all of the boxer’s money, not because they are getting paid good. And Randy isn’t back because he wants to, he can not beat the gestapo lawyers working for the UFC. Try not to lie so much when making your points.
“go back to waht you know and pump my gas or serve my happy meals. dana is running the ufc and mma just fine.”
and what is it that you do that makes you better than everyone who has an opinion on here egads? why dont you go shove it you elitist
getapo??? dana equals hitler now? melodramatic are we. so you “DO MMA” do you? being able to put me in an ommaplatta or even spell it correctly makes you more knowledgable than them about running a league or major sport. Make one yourself, i bet CBS will give you a TV deal, i bet my left nut there will be a few slots open on their schedual
I used to shoot baskets in the gym, but I can guarantee you the NBA won’t be calling me any time soon. The UFC is for the best of the best. Just because you and your friends “do MMA” the same way I “do basketball” does not mean you are entitled to jack squat. If any of you are good enough then the opportunity to make good money is there, but most likely you will fight in local shows and make enough cash to buy some beer and go back to your jobs on Monday with some stories to tell your coworkers.
I wonder how much of the gate was based on Slice fighting Shamrock? I’m no Shamrock fan, but I’m thinking he is 10x the draw that Slice vs. Petruzelli would have been.
agreed
fail.
I give Elite XC until April 2009 and I think they will be done once they fail to secure additional investors, and begin to liquidate their assets.
I do however believe that it is in the UFCs best interest to have a “lesser” organization around, if only to create the image of competition.
And as a fan, Elite XC has many fighters that would otherwise (as other people have stated) not be fighting for the UFC, and Affliction cannot sign them all.
2009 will be a fascinatingly strange year for MMA.
kimbo shamrock for the next card wouldnt be a disaster
if elite xc are $60 million in the hole then they are screwed
no way for them to claw back that cash in the short term
they will continue losing money for the forseeable future
their survival is highly dependant on how deep the pockets are of whoever is bankrolling them
judging by the way they tried to lowball tito and fedor i would assume they dont have much cash left
did affliiction fund arlovskis half million or whatever he got in exchange for the affliction adverts???
if not i cant see how elite afforded him
Has the pay roll been released? I wonder if the live gate money covered the fighters salary?