By now, the entire MMA community knows EliteXC is in financial trouble. The promotion continues to lose money with each passing day and there is no end in sight.
This latest news comes as a surprise, however. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CBS covered all expenses for the Oct. 4 event and received all revenue. That's right. EliteXC did not pay or receive anything for last Saturday night's "Heat" fight card. Its biggest draw lost and it got nothing in return. Talk about hitting a man while he is down.
- B/R Ticket Guide
It was widely known that CBS and Showtime had taken some of the financial burden off of EliteXC in recent months. I do not think anyone thought it was to this level.
For EliteXC to be forced to hand over all revenue for an event on network TV really shows how inept the promotion is run. It has managed to blow a golden opportunity and, in the process, may have damaged future relations between MMA companies and network TV channels.
Why would CBS, or any of the other networks, choose to work with an MMA company after this disaster? The ratings have been decent at times, but it has mostly been a failure. It's no wonder EliteXC is a punchline to die-hard MMA fans.
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about 1 month ago
What an interesting turn of events. They just can't catch a break, can they?
about 1 month ago
I guess that's better than the last show, where it was a straight airtime buy, which meant Elite actually paid for the airtime and then split ad revenue with CBS.
They're in big trouble. The Kimbo rating was great, but all of the fallout from the fight fixing scandal will probably ensure that no one is going to buy them at this point.
about 1 month ago
I watch every fight possible, from HD Net Fights to UFC. I just don't understand how they can be losing money. They put out a good product in my opinion. I enjoy watching Gina Carano, KJ Noons, Nick Diaz, and Robbie Lawler.
What needs to happen is a unification. Not allowing cross-promotion only holds this sport back.
Imagine boxing if you could only see Don King fighters fight each other, and Golden Boy Fighters only fighting each other, the product would be terrible, not that it isn't already bad.
Fighters want to fight the best possible opponent, it is the promoters that ruin the fight game.
from about 1 month ago
In the current landscape the only unification will be under a UFC banner. Unless Affliction makes a huge turn around in 2009 they'll likely fall off the map as well. It boggles my mind that EliteXC received nothing for this event. It seems that the management is just scrambling for a way to cover their paychecks and are happy to leave the company coffers empty as long as their paychecks say CBS on them.
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