Is Bellator's model working?

[The Natural Born Runner]

Freakshow fights every now and then.

Picking up MMA prospects like Pico very early on.

Taking underpaid elite talent like MacDonald and Mousasi.

Onboarding legend status fighters who are over the hill like Rampage, Fedor, Silva etc.

Picking up reality stars like Jack Swagger and the Aaron from Geordie Shore.

Is this a slow burner than will pay off in the long run?

 

[Easy The Great]

Still waiting on Swagger to get that gold to go with his Lucha Underground belt.

 

[MMAProfessional]

I think they are doing a really good job with what they have. Getting Rory and Moose was huge for them. Moose I think they didn't willingly let him go I'm sure they wanted to keep him just not for how much Bellator was willing to pay and Rory they were probably hoping he couldn't cut it in Bellator like Benson. That being said they won't surpass the UFC unless they can find a way for their stars to go over which I can't imagine happening since they can outmatch Bellator when it comes to their real draws and talent.

 

[george14]

I think it is. They have huge name value considering they picked up guys past their prime, but also have some of the best fighters in the world like Rory, Mousasi, Chandler, Bader, Davis, etc. If they keep balancing the freak shows along with good fights, they will be successful.

I will be curious to see what happens in 2019. If they gain some more traction, you could see more guys leave the UFC.

 

[Danespina]

I think it's only a matter of time before it all comes together. They've made a lot of good moves.

 

[Spiderbite]

I know we all like to pretend that we're taking in fights while sipping Cognac by the fire, but sometimes it's just fun to watch a trashy reality star punch out a random bum or even watch Tito fight another legendary geriatric.

I know it's not as polished or homogenized as the UFC, but i get hyped by the weirdo matchmaking.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

The ratings have decreased in the past couple of years so no.

 

[Go Go Plata]

All the right moves have been made, it's just not translating to viewers. I think Paramount network has alot to do with it. They need a network that will fully support them.

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

I get a feeling it's not earning profit every year, but it is a business that is growing - kind of like Amazon but a smaller private company. That type of business model wouldn't work if they weren't under the Viacom banner.

edit- I just found out that Viacom stock is 3x less than what ut was 3 years ago. Not good.

 

[Baba Ghanoush]

If it's opposite day and your definition of improving means steadily losing viewers the last few years.

 

[Thesnake101]

Considering that they were in the red until their deal with DAZN got announced, and taking into account their dwindling ratings, no.

Things might take a turn for the better or a turn for the worse soon enough, we shall see.

 

[podsox]

DAZN is good for immediate future of money flow but I just don't see it working

 

[Meathead Jock]

I dunno? Ratings have been bad, but they have the pieces in place to give me a year or two of very good fights if they decide to stop protecting people.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Hard to know. It's run on the same model as Strikeforce and Elitexc were ran on except now they have deeper pockets.

 

[Bubba32]

if the model worked they wouldnt be moving to dazn.

 

[skylolow]

No, simply because they can't get people to continue to follow the product in large enough masses to increase ad revenue on Paramount to make the money side work. That is how it works on TV. Ratings build over time and so does the ad revenue. So now they sold off some those media rights to Dazn. Question is, will Dazn now produce a good package to get fans to support/pay for Dazn in America. If not when the deal runs its course they'll(Dazn) be out of business.

Make no mistake about it the best way to describe what is going on is this..............a person owns a decent business that has some ok sales, making some money sometimes, losing money other times, and continues to chug along but can never get over that hump. So they end up selling a portion of their business to someone else who is coming in to hopefully take it to the next level. This is what Viacom essentially did since they own the media rights and Bellator.

P.S.: I won't be shocked one single bit if we saw Bellator sold off in the next year.

 

[2004 account]

Bellators recents scouting and signings > UFC’s.

 

[Magx951]

its pretty obvious what's gonna happen long term

Scott's gonna keep stealing the UFC's talent until the UFC has to buy them out to still be seen as a credible organization from a competitive standpoint

dont tell that to frankieNYC though. he actually thinks bellator's goal is to make a profit right now. Fucking kook.

 

[HaulParris]

I don’t know how Bellator and PFL make money (paying competitive salaries to fighters, but with not enough viewers), but I will keep watching. My only exceptions are the obvious freakshows - Shamrock / Royce / DaDa.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

I think so, yeah. Coker is probably the smartest guy in mma right now and that guy knows how to build a brand. And he knows what old school hardcore mma fans miss about mma. I think he's just as big a fan as we are and he remembers the glory days of mma, 2000 - 2010. And I think he's trying to get the sport back to that point. But he's fighting an uphill battle since the UFC has basically ruined modern mma. I'm hoping between him and sakakibara (sp?) they can salvage the sport. But it'll take time.