Atencio Gives Up "Reckoning" PPV Numbers....Sorta

MMAInsider spoke with Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio on Wednesday evening as he returned from a meeting with executives from Golden Boy Entertainment. The spectacled promoter said his team is working on logistics with the boxing promoters for future shows. At the time, he doesn't know whether the idea of cross-breeding MMA and boxing will materialize. His guess for the alliance's next event ranged from June to July.

But enough of all those question marks--MMAInsider wanted to know what the pay per view numbers were for "Day of Reckoning."

Published reports citing Golden Boy CEO Richard Schafer have put the figure between 150,000-200,000 buys, giving the promotion a low estimate--at $44.95 a pop--of between $6,742,500 and $8,990,000 in net revenue.

Atencio, citing his company's desire not to discuss money a la the UFC, put it this way: "We did 50% better than our last event."

MMAWeekly.com was the first to report his estimate for Affliction's first event, "Banned," in which he said the broadcast "did well over 100,000 (buys)." That was before the partnership with Golden Boy; Atencio said his company got a better deal than the standard 40 percent of net revenue doled out to the promoter of the event. A conservative estimate of a $2.4 million take was "within the ballpark."

In an interview with MMAInsider following the second event, Atencio claimed he was not privy to the pay per view deal secured for "Reckoning," as Golden Boy was dealing with Showtime pay per view.

But assuming the standard 40 percent take for promoters in a pay per view event and a 50 percent improvement from 100,000 buys, a low estimate for Afflction/Golden Boy's pay per view take would be $2,697,000. Combined with total gate receipts of $1,429,557, the event could have produced $4,126,557 in gross revenue, excluding other sources like merchandising and sponsorships.

The total on-the-books payroll for the event was $3.3 million. Fedor Emelianenko, who pummeled Andrei Arlovski in the main event, received $1.2 million less than his Belarusian counterpart, but it is widely believed he was given an off-the-books bonus north of a million dollars.

As you would expect, there are a lot of variables in Affliction's equation of profitability. The two companies are private and are required only to disclose the salaries paid to their athletes. There are staff costs, venue costs, taxes, advertising--a litany of expenses that subtract from revenue. And as speculation indicates with Emelianenko, the true numbers of the event's payroll may never be known. Those, in addition to live gate receipts, are a very limited picture of success.

Then there's the possibility that Atencio and Golden Boy have been misleading about the true numbers--not a far-fetched scenario in the world of fight promotion.

Still, even at low estimates, the raw pay per view and gate numbers are impressive for a non-UFC promotion in this economy.

The sustainability of Affliction/Golden Boy's business model is likely the main point of future meetings.

Golden Boy Paid $5 Million by "The T-shirt Guys"?

While most MMA fans were focused on the battle brewing between Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski in Anaheim, or anticipating Sunday night's WEC card in San Diego, HBO boxing commentators Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant were once again taking their jabs at mixed martial arts during the HBO telecast of the boxing match between "Sugar" Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito.

But in the not-so-subtle barbs they tossed at one of the fastest growing sports in the world, they revealed a juicy little tidbit -- surely by accident -- about Oscar De La Hoya and his company's "commitment" to MMA.

"And celebrities here tonight, there's Sugar Ray Leonard in about the fourth row, and his one time Contender colleague Sly Stallone is in the front row," revealed Lampley. He continued, "George Lopez is here tonight, good buddy with the promoter. Mark Wahlberg comes to every major prize fight at Staples. Joe Pesci, a Goodfella, called this reporter for tickets. I didn't have 'em, but he got them somewhere else.

"And there's one big name celebrity, Larry, who isn't here tonight..."

"A celebrity who is here in bronze only," quipped Merchant, referring to a bronze statue of Oscar De La Hoya that stands outside the Staples Center. "Oscar De La Hoya, the live version, is in nearby Anaheim, where his company got a $5 million fee from a t-shirt maker so that he would be personally involved in the promotion of a mixed martial arts show."

He added, "It would take that much, Jim, to get me to go to one of those things."

Aside from Lampley and Merchant's degrading banter, the fee that Golden Boy Promotions received for De La Hoya's promised participation, if true, is quite revealing in regards to the wavering front that Golden Boy has presented when it comes to its involvement in MMA.

"We like to be involved with big fights," De La Hoya told MMAWeekly.com earlier in the week. "Fedor and Arlovski, I don't think it gets any bigger than this."

You probably wouldn't have to pay many people $5 million to say that, but evidently, that is De La Hoya's price... oh, and Merchant's too.

MMA Live - Episdoe 29

ESNP's MMA Live discusses Jon Fitch's 24-hour UFC whirlwind, Affliction and Golden Boy's partnership and head-to-head events, the UFC's march on Germany, and more...

K-1 Readying Dynamite!! Minus Fedor

K-1 has a press conference scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, in Japan regarding its Dynamite!! 2008 event. This is K-1's big year ending New Year's Eve event, which is typically the promotion's biggest MMA event of the year.

The promotion had started pushing a possible year-end bout featuring the world's No. 1 ranked heavyweight in Fedor Emelianenko, who is extremely popular in Japan.

Fedor, however, has a contract with Affliction Entertainment in the U.S. His Affliction contract does allow for Fedor to fight elsewhere, especially outside of the U.S. Affliction though has partnered with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and has Fedor vs. Andrei Arlovski slated for the new partnership's debut event, tentatively planned for Jan. 24 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Such a high profile bout would have to keep Fedor out of any New Year's Eve battles, because it would be extremely risky for Affliction and Golden Boy to put all of their marketing efforts into Fedor vs. Arlovski, only to have Fedor get injured on New Year's Eve.

So far, details of what K-1's plans are for New Year's Eve have been scarce at best, but are likely to come into the light on Saturday.