On a media teleconference Monday promoting Strikeforce's CBS network debut, CEO Scott Coker said ticket sales are brisk.So far, the 12,000-seat Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. is 85% percent sold for the Nov. 7 event, Coker said.
"I would expect us to be totally sold out by Saturday," he added.
Coker said CBS was doing a good job at promoting the event and exposing it to new audiences, but ultimately, Emelianenko's status as the number one heavyweight was the primary selling point.
If Coker had one gripe, it would be his wish that Emelianenko was local.
"If Fedor was living in America, we'd take him on a lot more shows, but that's not the case," he said. "He's here now and we're going to make the best of it for the rest of the week."
For naysayers who believed Strikeforce was a flash in the pan, Coker said comparisons to other failed MMA companies wasn't fair.
"I don’t think it’s justice, because these other companies, that wasn’t their core business," he said. "We're not a t-shirt company, we're not a comic book company, we're not a gambling company. This is our core competency and this is what we’ve been doing for over two decades now. To take it to this level, we're very proud and honored to have Fedor fight and do the co-promotion with M-1 and be on CBS."
Coker will soon leave San Jose, Calif for Chicago to begin the final stages of promoting the event.
7 comments:
Couldn't agree more! WAR Strikeforce!
My favorite sport in my office's Backyard @ Sears Center I can't wait... We need a big sell-out!! Go Fedor!!
Who was the "comic book company" he was talking about?
CANT WAIT, GO FEDOR!!!!!
The comic book company was the IFL. One of the guys involved owned some comic book company.
Strikeforce is in for a rude awakening. They're going to lose money on this. CBS has a great deal and will get the lion's share. Strikeforce needs about 5 shows to get their head above water. Chances are slim to none of this succeeding. They will need a miracle.
The fedor fight will be a quick one sided beatdown and the fans will be very upset.
The Mayhem fight should be a good fight. That might save the card and motivate CBS to continue to back this train wreck. But this is like selling seats on the Titanic knowing it's going to sink.
Fedor's onesided beat down WILL NOT UPSET fans. 90% of viewers for that fight just want to see a utter beatdown of Rogers. They just want Fedor to do what he has been doing for the last 15 years. Namely, destroying a less skilled but bigger fighter in a brutal freak-show like fashion. See for example Gary Goodridge fight.
Most people only give Rogers a punchers chance. I mean everyone is a underdog when he goes up against Fedor, even Lesnar.
Strikeforce did a great job and I think they know what they are doing.
The worst scenario would be for Strikeforce to launch CBS's MMA viewership and then CBS to switch over to UFC after CBS builds some fans of their own. Strikeforce will be left without a TV Station.
But Strikeforce is smart. They know what they are doing.
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