THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Strikeforce has made another stride towards moving their former southern California-centric promotion to a worldwide brand in MMA, as the organization, along with Shine International, have announced the sale of more than 70 hours of programming to markets in Europe, Australia and Latin America.
Six networks have purchased the programming, which features the 30 highlight shows that originally aired on NBC, as well as 56 hours of footage from Showtime and live broadcasting of forthcoming events through February of 2012. Those networks are "Virgin Media Television's Bravo in the U.K., Turner in Latin America, FX in Portugal, Ukraine's Megasport, Seven Network Australia, and Dahlia TV in Italy."
Said Chris Grant, president of Shine International, "Strikeforce is the leader in mixed-martial-arts content as proven by the huge demand for their programming around the world. They have the world's best fighters, the world's best events, and they know how to translate that into fast-paced programming that captures what will soon be the most popular sport in the world."
Penick's Analysis: This is a big step for Strikeforce and will allow them a more global presence for their brand, but Grant's comments are quite laughable. It's one thing to be confident in your organization and to tout yourself as highly as you can, but to spit out straight untruths as "Strikeforce is the leader in mixed-martial-arts content" or that they have the "world's best events" is something entirely different. They've put on some great fights, they've put on some very solid events, but they're nowhere near being the leader or the best in any category in the sport. No, they've got a long way to go to earn that distinction. This is a great move for them, and will certainly increase their viewership overall, but this is not the "leader" getting a further reach worldwide.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP