MMAInsider: So, how do you feel about the second show?Atencio: It was work. (laughs) I can honestly say that without the guys that helped me here, Tracy and Shannon and everyone else that's involved, it would have never happened. But aside from that, we made it through, and I'm extremely happy. The fights were awesome, and the event seemed to go pretty well. There were a few glitches, and this is only my second time. As a team, we're still learning.
MMAInsider: Then you've got this Larry Merchant throwing some crap your way.
Atencio: Yeah, it's just like anything else. You have people who are completely myopic and they're not open to anything, and I think that was his way of trying to hurt us, because (allegations of a $5 million payoff to Oscar De La Hoya) are completely false.
MMAInsider: What are some of the roadblocks you encountered on the way to the show?
Atencio: I think it's just the B.S. of rumors, and having to squash that. And they're so minimal, it really doesn't matter, but it's wasted time. Like the ticket sales, the whole 1500 seats sold, then I heard Arlovski broke his hand the week before. It's just petty little rumors.
MMAInsider: You ever feel like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't?
Atencio: I always feel like that. Always.
MMAInsider: There was a report on Yahoo! Sports that your paid attendance was 8,946 for a live gate of $1,512,750. Are those numbers accurate?
Atencio: Not to my knowledge. As far as the numbers, I don't really get into the numbers.
MMAInsider: Is the characterization that Golden Boy does logistics, runs the show, deals with athletic commissions, and Affliction finances the fighter purses, is that accurate?
Atencio: No, that's not accurate. There's definitely things they do, there's things that we're learning, and that's why we brought them on board. Things that they're going to have expertise on that we're just learning.
MMAInsider: How does this partnership work, then?
Atencio: They're handling the back end, the deals, the negotiations when it comes to things like Showtime, and pay per view, and we're doing the marketing -- what we do well. The matchmaking we do because they come from the boxing industry. If we start doing boxing shows, they'll handle the matchmaking for the boxing.
MMAInsider: Is Affliction in charge of the fighter purses?
Atencio: Yes, we are.
MMAInsider: What are the chances of putting on Arlovski vs. Sylvia now? It would seem like those two have a built in storyline and rivalry.
Atencio: It definitely does seem like one. I'm still trying to catch up on my emails alone. I have 500 emails that I have to catch up on. I've got a lot going on.
MMAInsider: Is Fedor vs. Barnett a lock?
Atencio: I'd like to think so, but I haven't even sat down with them and discussed it yet.
MMAInsider: Will your next event be in July?
Atencio: We're shooting for it, we haven't finalized it though. I take it one fight at a time. I just want to focus on each show at a time until we become seasoned at this, and then I'll be able to feel more comfortable to give dates. I like to take things slow. I want to make sure we’re doing everything right, and when we're not, to fix whatever we're doing wrong.
MMAInsider: Well, you mentioned seasoning, and one of the main things that people are looking at is your payroll. You've said in the past you want to make sure fighters don't look at you as a cash cow. You have most of these guys to three-fight deals, and originally, you said you wanted to put on three fights and no more. Is that one of the things you want to look at moving forward as a promotion?
Atencio: Well, just to correct you, I absolutely choose to stay in this. But the reality of it is -- whether we do -- it really comes down to finances. But having said that, the shows are successful in other ways than just that. Our plan is to have four fights a year with Golden Boy, M-1, and Mr. Trump, that's our plan right now. I'm just taking it easy because I want to make sure that each event is methodical on our side. I just don't want to get ahead of myself, get cocky, get arrogant, because I've seen what happens when people do that, and I like to learn from other people's mistakes. Hopefully, I can continue to stay grounded and do that.
11 comments:
Great show! Great fights! Keep 'em coming! Competition makes everyone better!
the fights are good, the t.v. presentation can improve and what about the roster? they only have so many matches they can do with a limited roster....fedor vs barnett looks good but everyone i know wants to see arlovski again just to find out if he can do it
12:00am, everyone you know wants to see Arlovski again? Really? He got crushingly dealt with in barely over three minutes. In other words, we already saw Arlovski, and it sure wasn't pretty.
I went to my first Affliction event all the way from South Texas and it was worth every penny!! awesome event!!
looking forward to the next event!!
Bring Affliction to Arco Arena. Do it before July though. It will sell out. Try some smaller shows like on CBS. The more Affliction the better.
Affliction is great! Much better than UFC. I love the whole show, it reminds me of PRIDE FC. The quality of the fights are awesome and I wish you all the best for the future events. You are doing a great job!
I just don't see how they are making any money on either show. The last one had to bleed them to death. I'm sure there PPV buys where cut in half from the first one. Huge fighter payout. Says ticket sales where great. But you could go on ticketmaster literally a few days before the event and buy groups of 10+ tickets in a row all over the areana. I think when the real numbers come out we'll see that at least 3000+ tickets where comp.. The whole Trump think just odd. I know why they do it. But if Trump wants to get into this then get him to put up some cash flow into it. Who the hell has a press conference in NY on one of the biggest days in history in the last 20+ years?? He says they handle the marketing because that is what they do best. I think he may want to look at that part again. All honesty they need to partner up with the right people and bring in some of the right MMA people. Guys like Monte Cox. They need some type of marketing guru to help also. Nobody outside of the diehard fans knew anything about this show. You can't grow or sustain your business on diehard fans. You have to attract blow joe.
Hopefully they stick around. But the numbers just don't seem to be even close of them making even a dime. Sure the numbers aren't a 100% accurate that we hear. But even giving them a large benefit of the doubt they don't even come close to making money. You'd need in the neighborhood of about 150K to 200K in PPV buys to come close to break even.
I know this all sounds negative but I really want them to stick around. I'm just also realistic that things don't look great.
I'm not going to lie, I'm a fan of the UFC. I didn't like the first pay per view besides Fedor ripping of Tim and a couple here and theres. But I really enjoyed the second show. The Atencio did great on the match making this time. I think he did excellent for his second show. I really hope they don't get into over paying the roster though. I'd hate to see what happened to boxing happen to MMA. They get the big checks, and they do just enough to win or even make it through the fight. Tim lost but he got a fat ass check! Sure he didn't cry too much losing to Fedor.
Fedor vs. Arlovski rematch!!! Barnett doesn't even seem interested in fighting Fedor.
The live Affliction atmosphere was incredible, ESPECIALLY when Fedor walked out to fight! I've been to shows around the world and Day Of Reckoning stacked up with the big boys! Keep up the good work Tom!
PLEASE PLEASE get a new crew of commentators/interviewers...i cringed at almost every word,especially Tito....the fights were great though!
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