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CBS makes another big bet on mixed martial arts
Emelianenko vs. Rogers fight could bring boffo ratings for Tiffany Network
By William Spain, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:14 PM ET Nov 5, 2009
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Ultimate Fighting Championship has managed to outlast or buy most of its rivals in the fast-growing sport of mixed martial arts, but one rival, with help from CBS, is out to prove there's room for another big, tough kid on the block.
On Saturday night in primetime, CBS CBS and StrikeForce will present a card headlined by a fight between Fedor Emelianenko, widely considered the best heavyweight in the world, and Brett Rogers, a relatively unknown, but undefeated, up-and-comer.
While CBS ran a couple of other cards earlier this year with the now-defunct EliteXC that featured Internet street-brawling sensation Kimbo Slice that drew high ratings, the coming event seeks to take things to a whole other level by rolling out quality competitors backed by scads of promotional and ad dollars.
CBS and StrikeForce are predicting great things from the event, hoping it will surpass the 7 million or so viewers for Kimbo's last fight, most in that extremely elusive male 18-to-34 demographic coveted by so many advertisers.
"The young male audience is not something we typically get on a Saturday night," said Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president for CBS Primetime. "But these are the best fighters in the world and you get to see them for free," rather than on pay-per-view.
Kahl said that convincing some top executives, and advertisers, to back mixed martial arts programming, which has a "blood sport" reputation, took a bit of doing.
"It required some explanation and education," he said "But when you show the ratings numbers this has achieved on other platforms, there is no question that this has become a mainstream, legitimate sport. And our sales guys are really happy with the pricing and sellout level."
The network has gone all out to promote the fight through its own promotions in programming, including National Football League games, and has also bought advertising time and space on other outlets, he said.
"We are leaving no stone unturned," Kahl said.
While the UFC relies on pay-per-view, coupled with a reality show and other fight programming on Viacom's VIA Spike TV, Scott Coker, founder and chief executive of StrikeForce, sees a big future for the sport in free TV as well.
He noted that not only CBS, its sister network Showtime and Spike have run MMA programming, it has also appeared on Versus and General Electric's GE NBC.
"Even three years ago, it would have been hard to believe that that there would be five or six television outlets and so many sponsors," he said. "The UFC is doing an amazing job but we are very good at what we do, too. There is room for more than one player."
He said that some sponsors are still "tiptoeing around" the sport but also pointed out that major blue-chips, including Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD and Harley Davidson HOG have embraced MMA programming.
Video game maker Electronic Arts ERTS is one of StrikeForce's top sponsors and is using the Saturday night fight to preview a new MMA-themed product.
"Time will tell how much of this can be commercially supported," said Tom Goedde, vice-president of marketing for EA. "But I think this fight will have the largest viewing audience in history for mixed martial arts. And I want all the eyeballs possible, not just the super-hardcore fan."
And said eyeballs are ideal for EA, he added: "The demographics of the audience and for [the company's games] are literally one and the same."
Apart from Emelianenko and a stable of other top-notch fighters, StrikeForce has a not-so-secret weapon that the UFC and other leagues have thus far eschewed using: Women. And they don't just carry signs around the cage.
On Aug. 15, Showtime aired a fight between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos that was seen in more than 850,00 homes and became one of the most-watched programs in the cable network's history (although the UFC counter-programmed it on Spike with a replay of a pay-per-view event and drew about three times as many viewers).
Showtime has run other MMA programs, has a contract for more from StrikeForce "and the ratings have been strong, approaching the ratings for our boxing franchise," said Ken Hirshman, vice-president of sports programming. "While we are not able to directly tie new subscriptions to programming, it is an important component of attracting new subscribers."
The network had a deal with EliteXC starting in February of 2007 and although that league "had some right out of the box success, it overexpanded too quickly and ran into this juggernaut of a recession," Hirshman said, a fate he does not see coming StrikeForce's way.
"They have run a very, very solid business," he said. "They are very professional and continue to grow organically and rationally."
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