Rizin bombs on NYE on Fuji TV

Going by the information we have currently, it is false to say that the event bombed ratings-wise: compared to last year, the ratings were pretty much unchanged (the peaks were lower while the averages of the non-peak segments were slightly higher which almost totally evens out against last year's ratings). This in addition to the fact that they spent substantially less on fighter pay compared to 2016 doesnt sound alarming.

However, we do not yet know how the other stations performed (at least I dont). Especially the NHK music variety program that dominates every year had an exceptionally strong main attraction this time, so we cant pass final judgement on these ratings until we know how they performed relative to the other major NYE events.

We can however already call this event a huge missed opportunity: Like many posters have already pointed out, relying only on legit MMA hasnt and will never work on NYE.

This card did equal to its predecessor without any freak fights. Had they gotten 1 or 2 spectacle fights going, ratings would have been substantially higher and the event would have been a sure lock for their most succesful ever. Also, past NYE ratings have shown that a large enough portion of casuals who tune in for the spectacle superfights "bleed into" the following segments, which usually yields at least a few new "true" fans.

RIZINs real error lies in the fact that they are fully aware of this and did try to set up 2 spectacle fights with Gabi vs Kandori and Sapp vs Aliakbari (when Sapp arrived in Japan for his NYE shitfests he said in an interview that he was negotiating with RIZIN about his farewell fight, confirming the already strong rumors going around), but bungled both of them: instead of letting Kandori vs Gabi go on and either work the fight completely or perform a "soft work" like instructing Gabi not to strike against Kandori, they canceled the entire thing, and instead of giving in to Sapp's financial demands they tried to lowball him and got outbid, which probably cost them both a ton of ratings and Aliakbari (on his twitter Aliakbari first said he had a fight scheduled in RIZIN for NYE, then after talks with Sapp ended it took like 5 days for him to announce his departure towards ACB).

Even the Kandori fight alone would have let this event outperform all their previous NYE events. They made two pretty strange and pretty significant strategic mistakes for which there is really no explanation - it's not like they dont know what works on NYE. In the end, Sakakibara dropped the ball on this one, and we can only hope that they dont do anything reckless with the course the promotion, because I agree with the general opinion of this being one of RIZINs best ever events.

Maybe Kandori turned down the fight? She sounded pretty pissed and it wouldn't be out of the question.

Also I don't think it's fair to say that Rizin just completely ignored spectacle fights when they did book Gabi vs. Kandori, CroCop vs. TK, and Gomi vs. Yachi. Maybe they could have done more, but it's not like they forgot that angle completely.

Like you said I hope they don't do anything reckless, nor do I think it's nesessary. IMO almost everything could have been solved by just replacing TK with a bigger name and also having the Gabi Garcia fight go through. Maybe add 1 other freak fight (ex. Bob Sapp) if you want to play it safe. But other than that you're good.
 
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They should go full entert1ainment mode on the nye show like back in the k-1 and pride days they would do the entire tournament on regulars shows and just have the finals on nye the rest of the card with stuff you only see on nye like k-1 mma cross overs style vs style figths e.i sumo vs judo They should give tenshin the masato treatment feed him harry gouch k-1 rules or ex world boxing champions it be cool if they could get Daiki I mean he fighting outsiders in differ akire so who knows
I would really be interested in seeing Gabbi vs 2 women at once. Or perhaps vs a lighter weight man. Gabbi vs a 115 lb top 20 Deep/Pancrase man. Talk about a freak show! Who would win?
 
Maybe Kandori turned down the fight? She sounded pretty pissed and it wouldn't be out of the question.

Also I don't think it's fair to say that Rizin just completely ignored spectacle fights when they did book Gabi vs. Kandori, CroCop vs. TK, and Gomi vs. Yachi. Maybe they could have done more, but it's not like they forgot that angle completely.

Like I said, the mistake imo isnt that RIZIN ignored the importance of freakshows, but that they fully recognized their importance and still failed to put them together anyway, which could be seen as even worse busines sense; Im not 100% on the Kandori situation, I know that there were negotiations with her after the weigh in fiasco, and she was offered a substantial amount to take the fight anyway. Whether she refused or RIZIN ultimately got cold feet, I dont know. Fixing the "fight" at least to an extent would have been the smartest business decision, but obviously RIZIN is way too scared to potentially sink the entire org over another scandal.

Gomi vs Yachi and TK vs CC are not even in the ballpark of freak show fights that are relevant for NYE ratings. The Gomi fight was perceived as a passing of the torch fight between to legit athletes, i.e. something only MMA fans will care about in the first place, and TK vs CC was a bandaid matchup when all other options fell through, and actually got RIZIN negative attention domestically, since neither MMA fans nor casuals cared for it.
 
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Like I said, the mistake imo isnt that RIZIN ignored the importance of freakshows, but that they fully recognized their importance and still failed to put them together anyway, which could be seen as even worse busines sense; Im not 100% on the Kandori situation, I know that there were negotiations with her after the weigh in fiasco, and she was offered a substantial amount to take the fight anyway. Whether she refused or RIZIN ultimately got cold feet, I dont know. Fixing the "fight" at least to an extent would have been the smartest business decision, but obviously RIZIN is way too scared to potentially sink the entire org over another scandal.

Gomi vs Yachi and TK vs CC are not even in the ballpark of freak show fights that are relevant for NYE ratings. The Gomi fight was perceived as a passing of the torch fight between to legit athletes, i.e. something only MMA fans will care about in the first place, and TK vs CC was a bandaid matchup when all other options fell through, and actually got RIZIN negative attention domestically, since neither MMA fans nor casuals cared for it.

Yeah maybe there's something behind what you're saying. I'm sure you know more about JMMA than I do.
I just find it hard to talk about Rizin's show as a failure when from my POV they put on a wicked event that everyone seems happy about. Praise everywhere.

Also I have no idea how you could say fixing the Gabi Garcia fight would've been the smartest business move while also admitting it would potentially sink the entire organization. Just move on. It's not the end of the world. That fight is still there for 2018 and now bigger than ever.

Again I think they just need to make small adjustments and the success will come. I also think they'll be reaping the rewards from this card for a long time to come. McCall/Kape 2, Garcia/Kandori, CroCops retirement tour, plus Horiguchi, Yachi, and Tenshin are now bigger than ever. Lots of other positives too.
 
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Yeah maybe there's something behind what you're saying. I'm sure you know more about JMMA than I do.
I just find it hard to talk about Rizin's show as a failure when from my POV they put on a wicked event that everyone seems happy about. Praise everywhere.

Oh yeah, my point was that it was a missed opportunity more than a failure. Spending less money on a show than last year while still getting the same ratings is not a failure (subject to its performance relative to the other 2017 NYE events). It is a missed opportunity from a business and brand building perspective though, because it could have been much more than that with literally 2 different fights.
Also, these thoughts are independent of my evaluation of the show as an MMA fan. Obviously from that perspective it was a resounding success.

Also I have no idea how you could say fixing the Gabi Garcia fight would've been the smartest business move while also admitting it would potentially sink the entire organization. It's that kind of panic that I hope Rizin doesn't succumb too. Just move on. It's not the end of the world. That fight is still there for 2018 and now bigger than ever.

Again I think they just need to make small adjustments and the success will come.

There are many ways to "fix" a fight in MMA, many of them are subtle enough to not even be illegal in a judicial sense.

But apart from all that, they could have simply added the stipulation of changing the fight to a grappling match, with a full MMA match on their next event. Or have them perform a fake wrestling exhibition and declare it as such, Hotta and Kandori vs Gabi or whatever - really anything would have been better ratings wise than to just send both of them home. Why they figured that having Gabi give a tearful apology in garbled English and shake hands with Kandori was the best possible use of these assets is beyond me.
 
Oh yeah, my point was that it was a missed opportunity more than a failure. Spending less money on a show than last year while still getting the same ratings is not a failure (subject to its performance relative to the other 2017 NYE events). It is a missed opportunity from a business and brand building perspective though, because it could have been much more than that with literally 2 different fights.
Also, these thoughts are independent of my evaluation of the show as an MMA fan. Obviously from that perspective it was a resounding success.



There are many ways to "fix" a fight in MMA, many of them are subtle enough to not even be illegal in a judicial sense.

But apart from all that, they could have simply added the stipulation of changing the fight to a grappling match, with a full MMA match on their next event. Or have them perform a fake wrestling exhibition and declare it as such, Hotta and Kandori vs Gabi or whatever - really anything would have been better ratings wise than to just send both of them home. Why they figured that having Gabi give a tearful apology in garbled English and shake hands with Kandori was the best possible use of these assets is beyond me.

Gabi's apology likely lasted longer than any match up. It was probably the only time anyone, anywhere, would have wanted to see Garcia on her knees for anything.
 
Why they figured that having Gabi give a tearful apology in garbled English and shake hands with Kandori was the best possible use of these assets is beyond me.

They'd rather they fight, but given that it maybe wasn't possible, they used the moment to build a bigger fight for 2018.

Was weird as hell. I hated it. But must admit I'll be curious now when they do rebook it.
 
Cro Cop vs TK was soooo stupid too... Kosaka really had no business being there, but i guess they playing it safe now that they want Mirko to fight next years tournament champ, but cmon Kosaka?
 
RIZIN FIGHTING WORLD GRAND-PRIX 2017』で、(18:30~)4.8%、(19:30~)6.4%、(21:30~)6.2%、(22:50~23:45)4.3%

Very underwhelming early numbers...


I for one really enjoyed the fight card. I actually paid to watch it. And don't regret it at all. I like that it's totally different than UFC. Maybey they should add traditional boxing to the fray. As Boxing is bigger than MMA in Japan I believe. It could be like a super bowl of combat sports with MMA, KICK BOXING, TRADITIONAL BOXING and possibly a grappling or Japanese pro wrestling match.


They are basically doing all they can do. Tenshin and Rena have been delivering exciting fights win or loose. And those are the two stars IMO.


I just hope things pick up, as I love JMMA. And don't want it to go away. And am glad it's back.
 
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What do expect from an org that puts on wmma DEBUT fights on a NYE card
 
Who was that?

2015 Show had Gabi making her debut against the debuting Lei'D Tapa

Personally I think that debuting fighters are on of the best things about RIZIN, they keep things fresh and new and there is an air of mystery about the debuting fighter

Also people who watched the last 3 PPVs. You should remember the that TV audience does not get the same experience as you.. The TV audience gets only fragments of the full show+ a lot of advertising so the flow and feel of the entire show is not as important for them as it is for us who watched the entire, add free PPV

For the casual fans, They may only be able to watch 2-3 fights with a lot of commercials in between them so they cannot actually get The full RIZIN experience as it was intended from start to finish".


Tournaments must be followed and the the viewer must know the context of each fight in the tournament in order for the tournaments to have appeal. Since mosty NYE viewers are casuals, they miss the context of the tournaments entirely and the tournaments loss most of thier appeal

So what matters most to the TV audience are ATTENTION GRABBING fights which require no context or background knowledge from the TV viewer!!!

That means Bob Sapp vs Guy wearing Diapper, Gabi vs Grandma, Figure skater vs Former Idol. are the matchups that must be booked to grab the viewers attention. With this kind of match making, the actual matchups ARE THE CONTEXT here. These kinds of match ups are easy to follow for the TV audience and are instantly attention grabbing and full of appeal. No one needs any background information for freakshows.

While the the NYE RIZIN shows eemed like one of the bext ever events for us who watched the last 3 PPVs, for the casual fan all they saw on NYE was a bunch of normal MMA fights with no context for the viewers and with nothing to grab thier attention so of course the ratings sucked. It's hard to get hooked on a show if you didn't watch if from the start.


The casual TV experience and the PPV viewer experience are wildly different

Sakakiraba made a great PPV experience but totally neglected the TV viewer experience..he should burn in JMMA hell for this
 
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UFC haters: "Omg japan is so amazing. They're so respectful towards the art of MMA."

Actual Japanese MMA fans: "We just want to see 52 year old grandma pro wrestlers and Bob Sapp"

Lol this…

MMA hipsters think it’s cool to hate the ufc and love JMMA where roided 250 lb woman are beating the shit out of your grandma.
 
How did Bob Sapp vs The Bear's ratings go.
 
So it looks like official numbers are out:

"On Tuesday, Video Research Inc., revealed the TV ratings of the programs aired by five terrestrial stations on New Year’s Eve.


As usual “Red and White Singing Contest” by NHK scored the highest rating. The program by NHK scored an average rating of 35.8 % for the first part (19:15- 20:55) and 39.4 % for the second part. (21:00 – 23*45)
The second highest was “Downtown’s Gaki No Tsukaiya Arahen!!” By Nippon Television. The popular show by the comedian duo scored 17.3% for the first part (18:30 – 21:00) and 16.3% for the second part. (21:00 – 24:30) The third highest was “50th Annual Year End Japan’s Songs” by TV Tokyo and the rating was 8.4%. (16:00 – 22:00)


RIZIN was fourth with 4.85% between 18:30 to 21:30, 6.4% from 21:30 to 22:50, and 4.3% from 22:50 to 23:45."

Source: http://adcombat.com/rizins-tv-ratings-on-nye-announced/

So it looks like my initial estimation was correct: The show did not tank/bomb/whatever, but in maintaining last year's ratings level they missed the opportunity to get the number 3 spot this time around, which could reasonably have been expected with the addition of Kandori vs Gabi in some form plus Aliakbari vs Sapp. They did outperform KYOKUGEN 2017 on TBS (aka Sapp vs Bear).

It's also interesting to note that a lot of fans are complaining online about Fuji TV's pacing being terrible.
 
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