Whether we like it or not, the UFC has set a standard with its weigh-in events and shaped them into a promotional tool all unto themselves. UFC weigh-ins regularly attract 2,000 fans at a bare minimum, and one weigh-in once garnered 5,000 attendees. Fans who shell out hundreds of dollars a ticket for a top-level show -- and Affliction should include themselves in this category -- are looking for the complete experience. This includes the opportunity to check out their favorite fighters ahead of fight day, compare notes with friends and make final wagers.
The weigh-ins for “Day of Reckoning” were sorely lacking. Making fans wait 15-20 minutes between each bout weighed in, without music or videos, for the sake of a television broadcast they don’t even get to watch is considered callous at this point in the industry.
If the UFC can learn to accommodate live television broadcasts and a large turnout, others can juggle it, too. In addition, the UFC offers signings and other opportunities to keep its fans coming back.
Again, take advantage of your captive audience. Many of them have skipped work or taken vacation days to come support their fighters. Don’t bore them in their seats in the process.
Give fans a reason to miss the fights
Nothing’s worse than two fighters battling it out in the ring to an empty arena. “Day of Reckoning” had lines around the corner, but few of those fans made it into the Honda Center for the first bout of the night.
I admit I’m not sure who’s to blame for this, but again, others don’t seem to have this problem.
MMA afficionados savor every single fight. A promotion should plaster its event’s start time everywhere it possibly can, then coordinate that accordingly with the venue.
Wait so long between events
I know Affliction has stated that it only plans to hold three or four events a year, but I’d wish it would consider just a couple more offerings a year.
Word of mouth between events is crucial, and it’s easy to lose momentum in this biz, no matter how good the previous event fared. Adding just two more additional events in 2009 could do wonders for Affliction’s cause. Sure, it’s more money out the door, but the promotion could reap greater profits in the long run.
Two to three months between shows is ample.
Like last July’s “Banned” event, “Day of Reckoning” got the community talking. Now fans and fighters have to wait four to five more months for a follow-up? It doesn’t seem productive in the end.
Sacrifice quality in the “little” details
By all accounts, Affliction’s pay-per-view improved by leaps and bounds between events in terms of camera shots, lighting and general flow.
It’s too early to either praise or condemn the broadcast commentary team after just one event. Affliction switched things up by implanting M-1 Challenge’s Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith and added the polarizing Tito Ortiz for color duties. Ortiz’s persona drew boos that drowned out the in-ring interviews, which was counter-productive (I’d suggest Ortiz be relegated to the booth and groomed further there), but the team needs a couple more shows to create familiarity and spread its wings.
The backstage reporting left less to be desired, though. Sirius Radio personality Scott Ferrall and longtime MMA supporter Chuck Zito were unrehearsed and sloppy in their exchanges, spoke over one another and repeated the same questions to their subjects. The effect looked thrown together and diminished the broadcast’s professionalism.
Though I have no doubt Ferrall and Zito have a passion for the sport, please leave this detail to the professionals. I think the fans would appreciate some added insight into the fights from the “bowels” of the arena beforehand, but let’s get someone the fighters know and will actually interact with.