Dave Meltzer: DAZN is in trouble

[careto]

Bellator is a big number two organization run by multi-billion dollar media conglomerate. It makes no sense for them to do a boutique type operation with much less cards. They are getting paid huge money by DAZN, plus paid for tv rights internally presumably for the Viacom channels that run the content all over the world plus there are third party tv channels all over the world that license their 40+ shows per year, some of which they break up the rights to multiple ways. Suggesting they style themselves after small operations like KSW or Invicta FC is laughable.

I dont mean for Bellator to be ran exactly like Invicta or KSW but also, doing 40 shows a year ia way too much for the amount of talent they have.
They should be doing 16-18 stacked regular Friday night shows showcasing the up and coming talent (Borics, Neiman, Pettis, Primus, Fortune, etc). And then do 6-8 big stacked events featuring a GP and the big guns (Mousasi, Lima, Pitbull, Chandler, Bader, MVP, Minakov, etc).
The problem is that instead of doing around 24 events that are stacked top to bottom, they do 40+ watered down events. Prelims are full debuting fighters and squash matches. If Bellator had better marketing and was ran with more direction they would be competing more closely with the UFC.
Coker has recently said CBS/Viacom has faith in them and they will continue to support them, so you can only hope the organization will continue to grow and bring more competition to the UFC.

 

[null]

I think they need to make a concession somewhere in the middle of it. No doubt 8 or 10 shows a year isn't going to work. I think something more like 6-8 big shows a year, 10 smaller style shows(more like are typical Bellator shows) with a little name value on them, and then maybe 8-10 shows of contender style/European style type shows. The 10 smaller style shows should be ran to do nothing but pump the 6 to 8 big shows up as can't miss events for fans. Those big shows should be pumping up the next big show. It needs flow from show to show to keep fans interested in the product and that will help build the brand better. The later being a major issue right now and probably always will be to some degree unless they get a nice advertising bump from Viacom to build it up and change how they do business.

The roster overall just needs to be utilized much better than it is across the events throughout the year. Right now it's just like who we got for this weekend, ok sounds good. They seem to stumble into about 3 cards a year that get people talking outside of the hardcore fans. Otherwise too many events take place that fans are barely even talking about or hardly watching when looking at the ratings. When they have shown that solid cards do give them a pop in ratings. They have just never been able to keep those fans coming back. To be honest, this seems to be an issue more with how Coker operates than anything else(Strikeforce was ran very similar) and I'm not sure he is the right guy to lead Bellator. I think he needs to be more in a talent relations role as his primary duties and bring in other people that run the day to day and control the direction of the company.

Bellator is a business. You're speaking as a fan and you have no idea about the numbers and how they structure the business other than what we can all observe. Why would Coker take your advice to take a back step? What media company or MMA promotion have you run that is more successful? It's pretty clear even from a casual observation that Bellator, just like the UFC, has a machine to feed with dozens of cards per year to broadcasters or streaming services all over the world and they are maximizing that output to make a profit.

 

[GSP_37]

Is this based on his genius method of analyzing Google searches?

 

[skylolow]

Bellator is a business. You're speaking as a fan and you have no idea about the numbers and how they structure the business other than what we can all observe. Why would Coker take your advice to take a back step? What media company or MMA promotion have you run that is more successful? It's pretty clear even from a casual observation that Bellator, just like the UFC, has a machine to feed with dozens of cards per year to broadcasters or streaming services all over the world and they are maximizing that output to make a profit.

No one is asking him to take anyone's advice. It's an opinion based on what they put out for us fans over the years. Ratings for Bellator are in the gutter., almost zero buzz around the internet on anything related to Bellator outside of a few events a year, Viacom/Paramount seems to do zero with brand awareness, even MMA related websites and internet/satellite shows barely touch on Bellator (once in awhile they talk about how little anyone cares about a Bellator news story on them), and so on and so on. I agree they have a media machine to feed with shows and it's a necessary evil. But at the same time it can be handled a lot better and Viacom could support the product a hell of alot better. I look at like this, when Ted Turner bought WCW and wanted to take on the big bad WWE they threw alot at it and it worked for a few years. Most pro wrestling fans were buzzing about it, websites talking about it, media outlets talking about it, and it all worked. They just didn't know how to run it successfully from a financial standpoint. But they did accomplish what they wanted short term.

How long can you continue doing the same thing with bad results for the most part. I'd love to know where Bellator would be today without DAZN money, I think we may find out when the 3 year deal is up. Sure, as fan enjoy it and who cares. But they aren't giving us many cards to enjoy throughout the year because its damn mess. Nobody wants to see MVP fight the 68th ranked WW in the world at this point of his career as prime example of WTF. You barely even have anyone trying to breakdown a Bellator fight on Sherdog because no one cares. If hardcores aren't giving two shits I can assure you the general public doesn't give two shits. Proof of that is simple channel renaming with nothing else changing for most viewers they instantly lost about 200K to 250K in viewership.

Enjoy it from a fans standpoint but they aren't giving us much to enjoy and they do have a roster to do a better a job than they are.

 

[careto]

No one is asking him to take anyone's advice. It's an opinion based on what they put out for us fans over the years. Ratings for Bellator are in the gutter., almost zero buzz around the internet on anything related to Bellator outside of a few events a year, Viacom/Paramount seems to do zero with brand awareness, even MMA related websites and internet/satellite shows barely touch on Bellator (once in awhile they talk about how little anyone cares about a Bellator news story on them), and so on and so on. I agree they have a media machine to feed with shows and it's a necessary evil. But at the same time it can be handled a lot better and Viacom could support the product a hell of alot better. I look at like this, when Ted Turner bought WCW and wanted to take on the big bad WWE they threw alot at it and it worked for a few years. Most pro wrestling fans were buzzing about it, websites talking about it, media outlets talking about it, and it all worked. They just didn't know how to run it successfully from a financial standpoint. But they did accomplish what they wanted short term.

How long can you continue doing the same thing with bad results for the most part. I'd love to know where Bellator would be today without DAZN money, I think we may find out when the 3 year deal is up. Sure, as fan enjoy it and who cares. But they aren't giving us many cards to enjoy throughout the year because its damn mess. Nobody wants to see MVP fight the 68th ranked WW in the world at this point of his career as prime example of WTF. You barely even have anyone trying to breakdown a Bellator fight on Sherdog because no one cares. If hardcores aren't giving two shits I can assure you the general public doesn't give two shits. Proof of that is simple channel renaming with nothing else changing for most viewers they instantly lost about 200K to 250K in viewership.

Enjoy it from a fans standpoint but they are giving us much to enjoy.

I agree, if Bellator spent more money on brand awareness, promoting their own fighters, and marketing in general instead of signing the Mirs, Nelsons, and other old washed up UFC fighters they would be doing way better.
Sometimes less is more, and they might be less profitable in the short term because of putting up less events but in the long run they would grow at a steadier more stable pace as a legitimate threat to the UFC.
Now, maybe we are wrong and Coker really is doing an amazing job at Bellator, maybe CBS/Viacom are backing up Bellator and Coker for a reason. I mean according to Coker, they are moving in Fridays to Showtime and Boxing to Saturdays and they plan in keep expanding and signing more free agents, so who knows. Perhaps Coker really will grow this to a legit UFC threat.

 

[null]

I agree, if Bellator spent more money on brand awareness, promoting their own fighters, and marketing in general instead of signing the Mirs, Nelsons, and other old washed up UFC fighters they would be doing way better.
Sometimes less is more, and they might be less profitable in the short term because of putting up less events but in the long run they would grow at a steadier more stable pace as a legitimate threat to the UFC.
Now, maybe we are wrong and Coker really is doing an amazing job at Bellator, maybe CBS/Viacom are backing up Bellator and Coker for a reason. I mean according to Coker, they are moving in Fridays to Showtime and Boxing to Saturdays and they plan in keep expanding and signing more free agents, so who knows. Perhaps Coker really will grow this to a legit UFC threat.

Link to video or article where Scott Coker or anyone official said Bellator is moving to Showtime. I have seen no news about this anywhere and do not believe it is true without proof.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

No one is asking him to take anyone's advice. It's an opinion based on what they put out for us fans over the years. Ratings for Bellator are in the gutter., almost zero buzz around the internet on anything related to Bellator outside of a few events a year, Viacom/Paramount seems to do zero with brand awareness, even MMA related websites and internet/satellite shows barely touch on Bellator (once in awhile they talk about how little anyone cares about a Bellator news story on them), and so on and so on. I agree they have a media machine to feed with shows and it's a necessary evil. But at the same time it can be handled a lot better and Viacom could support the product a hell of alot better. I look at like this, when Ted Turner bought WCW and wanted to take on the big bad WWE they threw alot at it and it worked for a few years. Most pro wrestling fans were buzzing about it, websites talking about it, media outlets talking about it, and it all worked. They just didn't know how to run it successfully from a financial standpoint. But they did accomplish what they wanted short term.

How long can you continue doing the same thing with bad results for the most part. I'd love to know where Bellator would be today without DAZN money, I think we may find out when the 3 year deal is up. Sure, as fan enjoy it and who cares. But they aren't giving us many cards to enjoy throughout the year because its damn mess. Nobody wants to see MVP fight the 68th ranked WW in the world at this point of his career as prime example of WTF. You barely even have anyone trying to breakdown a Bellator fight on Sherdog because no one cares. If hardcores aren't giving two shits I can assure you the general public doesn't give two shits. Proof of that is simple channel renaming with nothing else changing for most viewers they instantly lost about 200K to 250K in viewership.

Enjoy it from a fans standpoint but they aren't giving us much to enjoy and they do have a roster to do a better a job than they are.

A lot of the issue for me is trying to sell people as stars without getting them to beat anyone to build it. They try and sell Gallagher as a star despite him beating nobody and getting finished by the only decent guy he's faced, they feed MVP a steady stream of journeymen for him to look cool against, they refuse to risk MacFarlane as their poster girl by making her fight Velasquez.

 

[leto1776]

A lot of the issue for me is trying to sell people as stars without getting them to beat anyone to build it. They try and sell Gallagher as a star despite him beating nobody and getting finished by the only decent guy he's faced, they feed MVP a steady stream of journeymen for him to look cool against, they refuse to risk MacFarlane as their poster girl by making her fight Velasquez.

Sounds like PBC’s model in boxing

 

[careto]

Link to video or article where Scott Coker or anyone official said Bellator is moving to Showtime. I have seen no news about this anywhere and do not believe it is true without proof.

I guess we need to take Coker's word for it.
https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/04/bellator-cbs-sports-network-scott-coker-focused-on-big-future



The twitter page for Bellator News also commented on it.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

They mention cbs sports and wishful thinking for them regular cbs. They have not mentioned showtime at all. They only time Coker mentioned Showtime is that Bellator and showtime will share a fight studio in the summer. Sometimes they will go on Friday on paramount and on Saturday showtime boxing

 

[sonhow]

 

[null]

They mention cbs sports and wishful thinking for them regular cbs. They have not mentioned showtime at all. They only time Coker mentioned Showtime is that Bellator and showtime will share a fight studio in the summer. Sometimes they will go on Friday on paramount and on Saturday showtime boxing

Exactly- not Bellator is moving to Showtime at all.

 

[SakurabasEar]

I dont think belletor has the depth or consistentsy to make that move. It would be smarter if they mived to cbs

 

[careto]

They mention cbs sports and wishful thinking for them regular cbs. They have not mentioned showtime at all. They only time Coker mentioned Showtime is that Bellator and showtime will share a fight studio in the summer. Sometimes they will go on Friday on paramount and on Saturday showtime boxing

I guess that what Coker meant, I thought it was a move to Showtime but what you are saying makes more sense.

 

[blaseblah]

For sure, trying to compete with the UFC in number of shows and/or talent is not viable in the long-run. This is why Bellator should stay in their lane and just concentrate in doing less shows with more quality and trying to create some homegrown talent. Instead they want to pop off 30+ shows a year, watering down their product, and competing with the UFC for talent.
Just look at Coker talking about the re-negotiation with Chandler. He sounds very doubtful about Chandler continuing with the promotion, even though Chandler has said that he wants to retire there. They are probably paying Chanlder a pretty penny but now they probably cant afford those pay checks for much longer, specially if DAZN doesnt renew their contract.

The biggest failure of Bellator was getting rid of the weekly tournament format but the cards not getting any better. What was the point?

 

[null]

The biggest failure of Bellator was getting rid of the weekly tournament format but the cards not getting any better. What was the point?

Bellator cards have gotten way better since the Bjorn Rebney tournament days and the roster is way better too. The tournaments on DAZN are way better too albeit more drawn out in time.

 

[blaseblah]

Bellator cards have gotten way better since the Bjorn Rebney tournament days and the roster is way better too. The tournaments on DAZN are way better too albeit more drawn out in time.

No they haven't. The last Bellator card was 240. I didn't know who the main event fighters were and the only recognizable names were Brent Primus and Charlie Ward.

 

[null]

No they haven't. The last Bellator card was 240. I didn't know who the main event fighters were and the only recognizable names were Brent Primus and Charlie Ward.

That was one of the Euro Series cards. Those feature obviously a lot of UK & Euro fighters and not the bigger names or tournaments the DAZN or Paramount Network cards from the U.S. or other countries do. Bellator has at least three or four types of cards, the big tentpoles as Scott Coker calls them on DAZN with the year long tournaments and big game fighters; the regular Bellator cards on tv and DAZN; the Euro Series cards serving that market; and then I would include the Bellator/Bellator Kickboxing hybrid cards that they do from time to time in Europe mostly that are effectively co-promotions with some Euro orgs. You can't compare the old Bjorn Rebney Bellator which was fun for what it was at the time with the much bigger and more expansive Bellator of today that is owned by a media conglomerate and has a lot bigger ambitions.

 

[strebitel86]

Bellator is in trouble.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Bellator cards have gotten way better since the Bjorn Rebney tournament days and the roster is way better too. The tournaments on DAZN are way better too albeit more drawn out in time.

Not sure I agree, they have a better quality roster now, but I don't think they utilise them well at all.