Affliction: Banned Definitely Above 100,000 PPV Buys

Affliction VP Tom Atencio spoke with Yahoo, and was very confident of the sales of the PPV topping most projections:

"But he said the pay-per-view results, which most analysts were expecting to come in around 75,000, was well better than expected."

“I don’t have everything on that yet, but for the people who felt this was going to be a total flop in that regard, I have news for them,” Atencio said. “It’s already done a lot better than what I’ve heard people speculating. I’m not going to release the (official) number, but it’s already well beyond what people have been saying. Well beyond.”

Atencio would only say the final number “definitely” would be beyond 100,000.

If that number holds it would indicate one of two things: Either the hardcore base of MMA fans has shown a large increase or Affliction’s traditional and non-traditional marketing efforts paid off in a big way.

It is up to some debate how large a hardcore MMA fanbase there is to draw from in the US. A basement figure would be the 60,000 buys range that marked the high water PPV mark for Japanese promotion PrideFC in North America. The basement level for the UFC would seem to be in the 200,000 range, generally the level at which their B-show UK cards sell on PPV.

A number somewhere in between would seem to be the sweet spot that represents a good starting point for a fledgling fight promotion, operating on a national level. Most prognosticators put the probable sales for Affliction: Banned on the lower end of that spectrum, but that looks to have undersold the growth in popularity of MMA, not just UFC. Affliction’s mix of former Pride and UFC fighters may have struck a chord with this hard core audience, spurring buys.

Another possible reason for the increase could be the effectiveness of Affliction’s marketing. Affliction used some nontraditional avenues for their promotion of the Banned PPV, foremost among them their partnership with retailer Buckle. Buckle used very prominent window displays to advertise the show and offered discounted Affliction merchandise that pushed the PPV as well as giving away Affliction: Banned literature with each purchase with information on the card. With a national reach and a demo (18-34) that hits the sweet spot for MMA fans, the marketing efforts by Affliction with the retailer may have paid off. Another marketing effort not spoken of much prior to the card was significant local radio buys for the show, many in rock formats that the Affliction brand is popular with.

Even with a higher than expected number of PPV buys, the card is almost certain to come in in the red, a fact not lost on Atencio. Atencio can justify a money losing first card, but seems to be talking fiscal sanity as it relates to future cards:

“We had to come out swinging and make a big splash and we did,” Atencio said of Saturday’s card, which featured five of the world’s top 10 heavyweights. “Having said that, we realize this is a business first and that if we don’t turn a profit, we’re not going to be around. We need to have the guys understand that."

“We know (fighters) want to be treated well and we’re willing to work with them, but they have to be willing to work with us. We just can’t go out there and throw money around without thought. The guys have to be willing to work with us and can’t simply look at us as a cash cow.”

Source: www.mmapayout.com