CBS Bankrolled Kimbo's KO on EliteXC

With debt piling up, EliteXC has to hope that the recent ratings success of its CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights is enough to pull it out of a tailspin. A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday detailed how the promotion was able to pull of the Oct. 4 event in Florida... with a lot of help from CBS:

"Effective October 3, 2008, ProElite, Inc. (the "Company") entered into an amendment (the "Amendment") to a license agreement with CBS Entertainment ("CBS") originally dated January 10, 2008, as revised and dated February 21, 2008 (the "Agreement") in connection with the production and licensing of live world-class mixed martial arts fight programs.

Previously, CBS ordered an additional event under the Agreement from the Company scheduled to be presented on October 4, 2008, at The BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida (the "Sunrise Event"). The Company advised CBS that it was unable to deliver the Sunrise Event ordered by CBS for October 2008 under the current terms of the Agreement.

Accordingly, the Company and CBS agreed to amend the Agreement whereby CBS would assume all expenses for the event and receive all revenue from the event. CBS advanced the estimated event costs according to an agreed upon budget in order for the Company to pay expenses related to the event. Additionally, the Company and CBS waived mutual exclusivity under the Agreement for the Sunrise Event."

The question now is if it was enough. It would appear so, according to one network executive. After the initial ratings came out CBS executive Kelly Kahl told MMAWeekly.com, "Our contract calls for four shows. We've said all along we're planning to do four shows, and there's nothing in these numbers that would suggest we won't."