Promoter’s Spotlight: Roy Englrebrecht (Part 2)
Affliction and M1-Global Endeavours
The transition from boxing into MMA proved to be a great career move for Englebrecht as his promotional experience caught the attention of some rather big players on the MMA scene.
In 2008, Affliction Entertainment, solicited help from Englebrecht in promoting their first show at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
“[Affliction] did not have a California promoter’s license” he said. “So, in fact, they were not allowed to do a show in the state.”
“They came to me as a licensee of the state and asked me if I would assist them with the Affliction: Banned show. Being a promoter, would I bring my expertise in operations and marketing? So, it was just attending weekly meetings, making sure the fights got approved and the fighters got licensed, and just adding my two cents to make the first show successful.”
Now, nearly six months later, Englebrecht has been retained to work on the Affliction card - only this time in a consulting role, as Golden Boy will handle the promotional duties.
There’s been much ado about the Affliction-Golden Boy relationship in recent weeks and months, but no more so than about Golden Boy’s decision to promote two different PPV cards on the same night, in the same state. On January 24th, Affliction: Day of Reckoning will be broadcast live and on PPV from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California while just 30 miles down the highway, Antonio Margarita will take on Sugar Shane Mosely at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Many would suggest that the PPVs are likely to cannibalize each other in terms of live-gate and PPV revenue, but that isn’t a concern according to Englebrecht. Instead, Affliction must focus on not being swallowed whole on the media front.
“We have to make sure that we don’t get lost in that week’s media activity, so we’re not a step child that week of the show” he said. “In Southern California, with the media, there are still some high profile fighters like Shane Mosely [that draw attention].”
“I like to think that we can be creative. Have a dual press conference with Shane and Antonio and their fighters and then cut their banner down, put ours up, and have our fighters come in for the media. Keep the media there for both.”
And getting creative is going to be something of a necessity for an organization that is rumoured to have lost anywhere between $2-4 million on their last show. When asked what Affliction needs to do in order to ensure long term success, Englebrecht hinted that they needed to decide what they wanted to be.
“Are they going to be a full-time fight promotions company doing major fights as well as club level fights?” he asked. “Affliction Entertainment, with two shows under their belt, has to figure out ‘Ok, where do we go from here? Are we going to sign young fighters? Are we going to establish a brand and take our brand to small town America?’ and I think that will be decided in 2009 once they get the second show in.”
“I think the first show, everybody does the first show. It’s after the second show where you sit down and say ‘Ok, guys, where do we go from here?”
Affliction isn’t the only MMA endeavour that Englebrecht is pursuing, either.
Most recently, Englebrecht and Steven Bash were awarded an M-1 Challenge Series Franchise for the up-coming M-1 Challenge World Tour - a team-based tournament set to play across various venues in various different countries over the 2009 calendar.
“[M-1 Global] was impressed that I’m a promoter that does successful club shows, because the M-1 Challenge is not a show that would play to an 18,000 seat arena. It’ll be more of a very strong MMA show that plays to a 4,000 to 5,000 seat arena.”
“They awarded us a franchise that will compete maybe four times in 2009. We might compete against Russia in an M-1 Challenge World Tour stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil or we might compete against Korea in Seoul, Korea. And there will be six teams competing at each stop.”
The purpose of the challenge, though, is to help showcase and develop the skills of younger, inexperienced fighters.
“It’s an opportunity for young, MMA fighters that are fairly skilled and haven’t been signed by the UFC to see the world, make a name for themselves, establish themselves by competing at the world-level, and then be in line to be signed by the UFC or WEC.
“Keep in mind they won’t make a lot of money. Each fighter for USA West, when we have a World Stop will probably make $1,500 or $2,000 but they get the chance to compete against another country and fighter and they get to visit a part of the world they’ve never seen before.”
Fight Promoter University
If his roles with Affliction and the M-1 Challenge World Tour weren’t enough, Englebrecht also runs a seminar entitled “Fight Promoter University” once every 6-8 months that teaches the basics of running a fight event to individuals looking to get into the sport.
“It’s an accelerated program on how to become a club-level, minor league fight promoter” he said. “It’s like drinking from a fire hose.”
“We’ve had some graduates that have made that step and been successful, but most of the time people come and they see what’s involved and they say, ‘you know, this isn’t for me’ or ‘there is an investment on my part’ and they’re intimidated by it.”
Not only do they provide their aspiring promoters a standard “club show” template with which they can take home and run their own promotion, they also give them practical experience. Every seminar is held over a five day period that coincides with either a Battle in the Ballroom or MMA Fist Series event, which allows each student to work the event and get some first-hand experience in running a promotion.
More information is available at Roy Englebrecht’s website:
www.fightpromoteruniversity.com
