Strike Two: Promoter Gears Up Amateur Team MMA
Jake Rossen Nov 5, 2009
MMA is only a “team sport” for the duration of a training camp:
once you’re tying up with someone, the idea that you’ve got three
guys in jerseys in your corner means squat. (Unless they have a
stretcher.)
The International Fight League learned this lesson painfully and at considerable cost: promoter Roy Englebrecht is either very unaware of their implosion, or very stubborn. His Professional Mixed Martial Arts League (PMMAL, also known as BRKE) is set for a 2010 debut, with eight teams of amateurs on the West Coast. Wisely, Englebrecht is offering to sell the teams as “franchises” to owners in an effort to spread the risk around.
"I know the fun and profitability that an investment in a professional sports team can provide," Englebrecht said in a release. "I know about the dreams of most every sports fan to be just like Jerry Jones, Jerry Buss, Arte Moreno, or George Steinbrenner and own a pro sports team, as I realized that dream with the [minor league baseball team] Quakes. Now the dream of owning a professional sports team can become a reality with the purchase of a PMMAL team.”
Other realities: bankruptcy, soup kitchens, and medical bills. MMA will never be able to emulate mainstream ball games, and this is a concept without brakes or an airbag.
The International Fight League learned this lesson painfully and at considerable cost: promoter Roy Englebrecht is either very unaware of their implosion, or very stubborn. His Professional Mixed Martial Arts League (PMMAL, also known as BRKE) is set for a 2010 debut, with eight teams of amateurs on the West Coast. Wisely, Englebrecht is offering to sell the teams as “franchises” to owners in an effort to spread the risk around.
"I know the fun and profitability that an investment in a professional sports team can provide," Englebrecht said in a release. "I know about the dreams of most every sports fan to be just like Jerry Jones, Jerry Buss, Arte Moreno, or George Steinbrenner and own a pro sports team, as I realized that dream with the [minor league baseball team] Quakes. Now the dream of owning a professional sports team can become a reality with the purchase of a PMMAL team.”
Other realities: bankruptcy, soup kitchens, and medical bills. MMA will never be able to emulate mainstream ball games, and this is a concept without brakes or an airbag.
