L.C. DAVIS CONTINUES WEC SURGE
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by Steve Sievert-MMAjunkie.com
At first glance, it's a concept that sounds all too familiar – a team-based MMA organization built around up-and-coming fighters designed to appeal to fans in specific regions of the country.
However, the entrepreneur behind MMA's newest league says his venture is anything but a sequel to the International Fight League (IFL).
"The only similarity is that they had an 'L' at the end (of their name), and we have an 'L,'" said California-based promoter Roy Englebrecht, who launched the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League (PMMAL) last month. "It is as opposite as it can be. We're a minor-league operation. They wanted to be international. That's the mistake they made. They hired me early on. I advised them, as I did with Affliction. All you can do is tell people. I said, 'Guys, this doesn't make sense. Trust me; I've done this for 20 years.'"
Where the IFL failed is where Englebrecht, one of the most successful local boxing promoters of his generation, believes the PMMAL will flourish. The explicit focus of the league's business model sets it apart from anything that's been attempted in MMA before.
The league is scheduled to launch early next year with eight teams in Southern California and Las Vegas. A league-wide fighter salary cap will keep costs in check, as will a mandate to host shows in small venues, such as hotel ballrooms or high-school gyms. This is far removed from the bright lights of the UFC and $55 pay-per-views, which is exactly the point.
Englebrecht has long been a believer in minor-league sports, having helped develop the Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) Quakes into one of the most successful Class A organizations in minor league baseball. He also had ownership in the Arena Football League's Anaheim Piranhas and the West Coast Hockey League's Reno Rage. His promotional company, Roy Englebrecht Promotions, hosts the "Battle in the Ballroom" boxing series at the Irvine Marriott Hotel. This bi-monthly professional boxing show is in its 25th year, making it one of the longest running local boxing events in the country.
Englebrecht believes now is the right time, and Southern California is the right place, for MMA's first minor-league promotion.
"We have 35 million people from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and it's a hotbed of mixed martial arts," Engelbrecht said. "We can launch this with eight franchises where fans don't have to get on a plane. They can drive back and forth to get to away games in an hour-and-a-half and keep expenses down."
Each PMMAL team will fight an eight-event regular season schedule, with four home events and four away events, once a month beginning in February. The concept gives fans the chance to take a rooting interest in not just a favorite fighter or two, but in their local team. Englebrecht sees the opportunity for rivalries to develop between teams and fans and for there to be a level of passion among fans that can be fleeting on the current local MMA scene.
All eight teams will qualify for the quarterfinals of the PMMAL playoffs in October. Four teams will advance to the semifinals in November and two teams will compete in the PMMAL Championship in December. PMMAL fighters will earn a minimum of $10,000 per year, and can earn upward of $25,000 per year based on their success in the ring.
Englebrecht has set the cost of acquiring a PMMAL franchise at $70,000. By comparison, the price of entry into the NBA D-league is $1 million. He says franchises can turn a profit by drawing about 1,000 fans per show and pricing tickets between $30 and $40. The league will hold a fighter draft in December to fill franchise rosters.
So far, there's been ample interest from both potential fighters and owners, some of whom are already in the MMA business in the area. The PMMAL is encroaching on the turf of local promoters, but Englebrecht believes the league is more opportunity than threat to those promoters.
"We're making the club MMA promoter have an opportunity to be a minor league MMA team owner," said Englebrecht. "Because now you'll have exciting MMA action in Southern California, and a lot of the good, young fighters will be fighting on PMMAL teams, so there won't be anybody else left for the club promoter. We've had club promoters in Southern California who have expressed an interest in protecting their turf and what they've built up over the last two or three years to buy a PMMAL franchise because they can make more money than they can doing their individual show."
In keeping with the minor-league approach, Englebrecht doesn't plan to televise regular-season events, but he is interested in exploring the possibility of getting airtime for the playoffs.
Coker had to be sold on Walker signing – Over the past eight months, Strikeforce has made a series of moves to elevate its status from respected regional organization to the sport's No. 2 promotion behind the UFC.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has pressed all the right buttons in deals with ProElite, M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko, Showtime and CBS. However, his decision to sign former football great Hershel Walker went against the grain. Bringing the 47-year-old Walker into the fold played more like a headline grab than a move designed to bolster the Strikeforce roster. Coker disputes the notion that Walker was signed just to sell tickets, but he understands the skepticism. After all, he had to be sold himself.
"Initially, I told him no, we're not going to do this," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "What changed my mind was when we put him through a workout with a Division I-A wrestler, a jiu-jitsu guy and a kickboxer. He went 15 minutes, with a one-minute break and wasn't winded at all. No one took him down and kickboxing, he did really well. The ground game is where the holes are, but who doesn't have holes in this sport?"
Coker says despite the contract that's in place with Walker, the Heisman Trophy winner won't fight if he's not ready. With that said, Walker's training at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., appears to be progressing enough for Strikeforce to green light his first bout. Walker is due to fight in January, but Strikeforce has proceeded cautiously by not announcing his opponent just yet.
Broadcasting deal could be UFC's entrée to NBC – A major deal in broadcasting could pave the way for the UFC's long-awaited debut on network television.
Cable giant Comcast is in talks with General Electric to purchase majority control of GE's television and movie company, including NBC. It's unlikely that getting MMA on the nation's No. 4 prime-time network would be a near-term priority if Comcast closes the deal. However, the cable company needs no introduction to MMA.
Through its Versus cable property, Comcast already has a deal in place to televise Zuffa's World Extreme Cagefighting brand. That could help open the door to potential negotiations between Comcast, as the new majority owner of NBC, and the UFC.
MMA has seen NBC airtime in the past, albeit through a paid arrangement with Strikeforce. The California-based promotion previously had a deal with the network in which it purchased a 30-minute, late-night block of programming to air "Strikeforce on NBC." The weekly program, carrying recorded Strikeforce bouts, debuted in April 2008 and peaked with nearly one million viewers for one episode.
The solid performance of the series set the stage for discussions between NBC and Strikeforce to air live fights. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMAjunkie.com in October 2008, that "it's been signed off on at many levels (at NBC) already, and I think we're at the final stages." However, Strikeforce subsequently purchased ProElite's assets, and jumped at the opportunity to partner with Showtime and, ultimately, CBS.
Given the interest NBC had in Strikeforce last year and the continued solid ratings the sport generates on CBS and Spike, the network would likely seize the opportunity to bring MMA's biggest show to its under-performing prime-time lineup. A change in ownership might jumpstart that process.
Originally Posted by Crack Morris
