Coker comments on Bellator ratings downturn

[InfinityLens]

https://mmajunkie.com/2018/05/bellator-scott-coker-talks-roster-ratings-paramount

-Says it's normal to have peaks and valleys.

-Says roster will come into it's own in 2019.

 

[AGEZ909]

Agree with both points.

The question is that is this “Valley” an industry wide problem, or is it a Bellator problem?

 

[2004 account]

I know Coker wants to keep it classy but he could’ve easily used the recent low ufc ratings as a talking point to defend his posture about fluctuations throughout the whole mma landscape and this being the nature of the business.

Truth is the whole scene is going through a low valley and will probably rebound in 2019. A lot of it depends on ufc, they are the tip of the spear in a way, and what they do greatly influences not only the popularity of the sport, but also the direction it takes going forward.


Whatever happens I have no doubt Bellator will continue to get even more exciting in 2019 and I will support them. They have been making good moves as far as fighter signings and production quality go imo and deserve the viewership.

 

[mime]

I know Coker wants to keep it classy but he could’ve easily used the recent low ufc ratings as a talking point to defend his posture about fluctuations throughout the whole mma landscape and this being the nature of the business.

Truth is the whole scene is going through a low valley and will probably rebound in 2019. A lot of it depends on ufc, they are the tip of the spear in a way, and what they do greatly influences not only the popularity of the sport, but also the direction it takes going forward.


Whatever happens I have no doubt Bellator will continue to get even more exciting in 2019 and I will support them. They have been making good moves as far as fighter signings and production quality go imo and deserve the viewership.

i think the UFC just over-saturated the market. Not sure how that changes in 2019 with ESPN since they are still holding a ton of events but maybe more coverage by ESPN will be good for the sport.

It used to be we had just stacked cards that you looked forward to and you knew most fighters. Now its like boxing where there is a fight every week but we really don't care or can afford to miss it unless it's a big fighter you are a fan of.

Not sure what will be so different in 2019 unless they can really put on the big event fights, daley/MVP in London, Rory/Moose in Canada, not sure what else

 

[2004 account]

i think the UFC just over-saturated the market. Not sure how that changes in 2019 with ESPN since they are still holding a ton of events but maybe more coverage by ESPN will be good for the sport.

It used to be we had just stacked cards that you looked forward to and you knew most fighters. Now its like boxing where there is a fight every week but we really don't care or can afford to miss it unless it's a big fighter you are a fan of.

Not sure what will be so different in 2019 unless they can really put on the big event fights, daley/MVP in London, Rory/Moose in Canada, not sure what else

You have a good point. You’re right about the ufc saturating the market with weak cards, I guess the deciding factor of whether or not the industry gains traction will depend on the creation of new superstars and whether Conor McGregor fights more frequently.


Specifically speaking about bellator, the conclusion of the hw gran prix will surely add ratings, as well as all these new good “familiar name” signings getting fight opportunities will continue to help shape up bellators name brand recognition.


Of course this is all just speculation on my part.

 

[skylolow]

Hard to compare the UFC to Bellator.

When the UFC puts on questionable cards on paper the ratings suffer or even on PPV today. They put a better card on and they come right back. If they really wanted to they could do very big ratings because they have the talent to do it and to do it often.

Bellator on the other hand has some of there best fighters fighting and not pulling in ratings much better than virtually no names are doing. That is the part to worry about. If they continue to put out cards like they are I don't see the ratings changing. They need to change how they are utilizing the roster through out the year. Not too mention Paramount is pulling in a larger audience than Spike was and that isn't translating into better ratings for Bellator.

 

[InfinityLens]

Hard to compare the UFC to Bellator.

When the UFC puts on questionable cards on paper the ratings suffer or even on PPV today. They put a better card on and they come right back. If they really wanted to they could do very big ratings because they have the talent to do it and to do it often.

Bellator on the other hand has some of there best fighters fighting and not pulling in ratings much better than virtually no names are doing. That is the part to worry about. If they continue to put out cards like they are I don't see the ratings changing. They need to change how they are utilizing the roster through out the year. Not too mention Paramount is pulling in a larger audience than Spike was and that isn't translating into better ratings for Bellator.

I think that's because the Spike audience was smaller but more Bellator friendly, they are getting a smaller peace of a bigger pie. They could actually go to a smaller channel and get bigger ratings if the channel has a better demographic for them.

 

[CC27]

Just dont see what they can do to turn it around. The network they are on changed and mma isnt a great fit like it was on that network. What exactly is gonna turn it around? The old names and UFC vets arent bringing in the viewers like they did in the past.

Even Fedor/Sonnen, a fight a year or two ago would probably do close to Kimbo numbers wont even average a million viewers when it happens.

Also highly doubt Pico, Ruth or any of those guys will break out to be superstars in Bellator.

 

[FKA]

Hard to compare the UFC to Bellator.

When the UFC puts on questionable cards on paper the ratings suffer or even on PPV today. They put a better card on and they come right back. If they really wanted to they could do very big ratings because they have the talent to do it and to do it often.

Bellator on the other hand has some of there best fighters fighting and not pulling in ratings much better than virtually no names are doing. That is the part to worry about. If they continue to put out cards like they are I don't see the ratings changing. They need to change how they are utilizing the roster through out the year. Not too mention Paramount is pulling in a larger audience than Spike was and that isn't translating into better ratings for Bellator.

I think with the western Europe series coming in 2019 we will see more high quality euro talents coming and it will help build a bigger presence and fanbase in the UK and Europe which will be huge for them.Also fighters will have an opportunity to stay more busy as the euro series will feature bellator vets too not just guys looking to get to main show.

Paramount is getting more viewers but they aren't necessarily sports fans.SPIKE was a guys channel it was young men and middle aged men that tuned in now it's more of a mixture.In fact its rumored to be the reason they are trying a couple WMMA heavy cards to test.


All in all its plainly obvious the entire mma market in the US has been saturated and is suffering a plateau.The UFC recorded RECORD low numbers for some fight nights and the nunes vs Pennington ppv was the lowest in 10 years.....

I fully understand the UFC can ride through the ups and downs but the point is they too are hitting lows so its' absolutely expected the orgs underneath the UFC would feel it as well and it would be more pronounced but they too can ride through it.

I feel bad for PFL cuz the first event might garner good views but it' gonna be old wsof numbers pretty quick.I keep seeing Bjorn nuthuggers keep bringing up how fun the early tourneys were.......except in today's landscape it' painfully clear you NEED name value to draw people.

 

[skylolow]

I think that's because the Spike audience was smaller but more Bellator friendly, they are getting a smaller peace of a bigger pie. They could actually go to a smaller channel and get bigger ratings if the channel has a better demographic for them.

I don't like the argument that the demo has changed for Paramount. What we are saying then, those viewers weren't fans of Bellator and we are seeing that in the ratings. If you believe that then we have to say the old ratings were inflated by non fans of the sport. In other words dead beats just leaving the TV on for back ground noise or leaving boxes on or whatever. But either way they aren't watching now just because the Paramount isn't running 55 reruns of Cops daily or whatever and they moved on to some other odd ball channel for noise. We can't have it both ways.

 

[kingcillo24]

I feel bad for PFL cuz the first event might garner good views

I don't think this PFL card is doing over 400k viewers tomorrow.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

Valley:

 

[Danespina]

Agree with both points.

The question is that is this “Valley” an industry wide problem, or is it a Bellator problem?

UFC, Bellator, and Rizin constantly seem to have ratings of doom topics.

 

[VIP1349]

Feel like Coker has been saying "Yo but next year we going to be good." since he came to Bellator.

 

[Mga223]

All mma ratings have been terrible lately.

Seems like casuals are being very casual this time around.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Feel like Coker has been saying "Yo but next year we going to be good." since he came to Bellator.

I mean he must believe in what he is saying if he is so confident in the product he turned down the best fight at 170 a non ufc company could make in Askren vs Rory

 

[chubbman]

this is what happens when you push the past at the expense of the future

 

[skylolow]

this is what happens when you push the past at the expense of the future

Yes and no, there best ratings come from the guys in the past and some of the guys on the down swing from the UFC. You got have name value on cards for people to even tune into see the up and comers or homegrown talent.

The problem is they put together a decent card on paper and follow it up with crap show after crap show usually. They do nothing to keep any momentum going from event to event. It's like the next card headlined by Budd. The only reason there doing that is to see if these new women viewers that Paramount has pulled in will watch a woman fight in Bellator. It's almost laughable at how Coker utilizes this roster. The dude seriously just can't think big picture long term. Everything is about the next event and that is it. The only time he thinks down the road is about some tournament that will save the day or expanding more and more when you can't even get it right at home right now, its a chaotic mess right now.

The facts are Viacom spent the money securing guys Coker wanted over the last two years. They re-branded the channel to Paramount and overall have attracted more viewers to the channel just like they wanted. But Bellator's ratings have been cut down by 250K or so per an event and Paramount ratings across the board avg. upward. That can't be good for Bellator no matter how we want to spin it. It also tells us that on some level Bellator's old avg ratings were inflated by some lazy non Bellator fans since they have abandon the brand simply cause Paramount doesn't replay whatever sad man show they use to have on for whatever reason.

 

[InfinityLens]

I don't like the argument that the demo has changed for Paramount. What we are saying then, those viewers weren't fans of Bellator and we are seeing that in the ratings. If you believe that then we have to say the old ratings were inflated by non fans of the sport. In other words dead beats just leaving the TV on for back ground noise or leaving boxes on or whatever. But either way they aren't watching now just because the Paramount isn't running 55 reruns of Cops daily or whatever and they moved on to some other odd ball channel for noise. We can't have it both ways.

I'm saying that guys who saw the promos on the old Spike would go "dudes punching each other in the face, AWESOME!" and than tune in. The people on Paramount, not so much.

Valley:

That was actually a peak.

UFC, Bellator, and Rizin constantly seem to have ratings of doom topics.

WSOF/PFL to, and they are all still here!

Feel like Coker has been saying "Yo but next year we going to be good." since he came to Bellator.

Sadly true, let's hope the Europe series changed things.

I mean he must believe in what he is saying if he is so confident in the product he turned down the best fight at 170 a non ufc company could make in Askren vs Rory

For hardcore's yes, for casual fans it's not like it would be a ratings mega event.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

That was actually a peak.

Then why didn’t they stick with that garbage?