Strikeforce's new vision goes well beyond contract acquisitions
International expansion. Pay-per-view. Network television. Strikeforce?
The new Strikeforce conglomerate, casually referred to as "MMA 2.0" by its new leaders at Thursday's "Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz" press conference, isn't planning on stopping with the simple acquisition of ProElite assets.
Strikeforce founder and CEO Scott Coker has a master plan in place that might pleasantly surprise even the most skeptical of MMA fans -- and he's not the only one eyeing major growth.
"For me personally, I think a lot of people that know me know that we work really hard," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "But our workload just got quadrupled -- a lot of details, a lot of fighters to manage now. So we're building up our inner structure to handle that now.
"But I think we'll be fine. It's been a lot of fun."
Showtime Senior Vice President Ken Hershman, the man responsible for the "2.0" tag, realizes the potential benefit of a firm commitment to MMA programming. And while the network had been openly critical of the performance of ProElite's brass, Hershman no longer has those concerns.
"We've been in boxing for 20-plus years and MMA really has become a really good counterpart for that," Hershman said. "There's a lot of crossover in the fan base, believe it or not, and we think that each one will cultivate the other.
"This also speaks to the demographics of the sport. It's younger, it's very consistent with the new subscribers we have on Showtime. It's important to us. That's our business. We don't sell ads, so we need those subscribers."
A qualified leader, a firm commitment from a broadcast partner. But for the traditionally California-based Strikeforce to succeed in the U.S., surely the brand must prepare a plan to expand across the nation.
In steps Strikeforce partner and Senior Vice President of Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment Jim Goddard.
"We belong to an organization of 50 arenas across North America -- most of the biggest and best arenas in the biggest and best markets across North America," Goddard said. "And we're in communication, regular communication, with all those venues discussing dates and interest in promoting events in those markets across the country.
"It includes a majority of the NBA and NHL arenas across the country. They're all candidates for us right now. We expect to do events in all time zones in all areas of the U.S. in the coming year or 18 months."
Multiple brands, multiple platforms
Strikeforce plans on promoting a number of shows under their flagship brand, as well for is developmental brand, currently under the working title of "First Strike," which would be similar to the organization's past "Young Guns" series, or ProElite's "ShoXC."
But while a premium cable channel like Showtime is an attractive broadcast platform, the more profitable option is undoubtedly a combination of pay-per-view and network television. Coker and Strikeforce, are currently working on both avenues.
"We've had meetings with everybody," Coker said. "What I can say is that there's a contract in place for CBS. Obviously it has a confidentiality agreement, so I really can't talk about the deal. But we're hopeful for maybe something in the fall."
The organization said there have been no talks in regards to continuing Strikeforce's deal with NBC to air late-night historic fights, which would seem to clear the way for the CBS broadcast.
And as for pay-per-view?
"You do the fights on pay-per-view when the fights are relevant and the fans want to see the fight," Coker said. "Now we have a platform to build stars, to make the fights that we want to build relevant, and then go into that business.
"I would say it would probably be something that would take us another 10 or 12 months to get to that point. There is a gameplan in place, already mapped out, but it might take up to a year to get into that business."
Coker and Strikeforce have continuously operated seemingly under the industry giant UFC's radar. With the recent rapid growth of Strikeforce, that has immediately changed. The UFC recently announced plans to counter-program Strikeforce's April 11 "Shamrock vs. Diaz" with a replay of UFC 94 on Spike TV.
Coker said he understands the UFC's position and wouldn't expect anything less, despite the long-standing respect between the two groups.
"I look at it like this: That's been [the UFC's] business model," Coker said. "They're consistent with that counter-programming for their business model. To me, that's a business decision they had to make.
"I don't take it personally at all. Those guys were the industry leaders that led the way. They should have that respect. We're going to go do our thing, and I think we'll do it well."
And while Coker is taking a cautious, steady approach, should "their thing" meet their expectations, Strikeforce is already considering to follow the UFC's lead and expand across the globe.
"As far as doing shows internationally, we have had opportunities to do shows in different countries: Macau, Hong Kong, and recently we got a contact from a promoter in Dubai," Coker said. "And I think there will be a point where we do go international, but I think we have our hands full trying to do what we're going to do for the next 16 fights.
"So we're going to focus on doing a North American tour, then maybe in the next 18 months, we'll reevaluate."
A complete vision
While the ProElite brand has become a part of the new Strikeforce, gone are the brash promises, the wasteful spending and the traveling circus. In its place is a fully developed plan based on years of success in the industry.
And should Coker's once-small San Jose, Calif.-based brand deliver on its potential, "MMA 2.0" could develop an entirely different meaning.
"With the combined rosters that we have today, we are going to be able to put on the best fights in the history of Strikeforce," Coker said. "I really believe this is a new era that has begun for us with the support of Showtime. We will be able to put on fights that will go down in history.
"I believe we've already had some great fights up in the Bay area. We'll now be able to take those fights all over the country. I really feel at this point there is no better company in the world to do this than our company. We are built for this. We are suited for this, and we're going to get the job done."
