Heavy Handed 10.11.07: 7 Easy Steps to Save the IFL
Posted by Joe Newman on 10.11.2007
Former Showtime entertainment guru Jay Larkin recently took the reins of the International Fight League. He's facing a major uphill task to turn around the league's financial fortunes. Here is Joe Newman's two-cents worth on how to get it done.
Jay Larkin
President / International Fight League
424 W. 33rd St., Suite 650
New York, N.Y. 10001
Dear Jay:
Congratulations on your new job as president and chief financial officer for the IFL! Hopefully, your compensation package has lots of upfront money and doesn't include any IFL stock options.
I don't envy you. You've got your work cut out taking control of an organization that has as much chance of making it through its third year as the Geico cavemen have of winning an Emmy. If you pull this one off, they're going to call you Jay Legend. You'll be the Lee Iacocca of mixed martial arts.
Here's the deal, Jay. You don't mind that I call you that, right? We've got so much in common, I almost feel like we know each other.
You were a Showtime network executive until you got dumped. And I used to subscribe to Showtime back when I could afford cable. You've never run an MMA promotion and neither have I. You have a background in boxing, a dying sport ruined by greedy promoters and an indifferent fan base that no longer trusts the legitimacy of the product. I used to work in newspapers, a dying industry ruined by greedy publishers … You get the idea.
Since you're probably still worrying about important things like ordering your new business cards, you may not have had time to think of ways to save the IFL. Don't worry, that's where I come in. I've put together this easy 7-step plan to help you navigate the tough times ahead.
7. Blow up this team concept. It doesn't work.
I'm not talking about little tweaks, either. It needs a major overhaul if you're going to build a serious, dedicated fan base.
People don't care about a team called the Quad Cities Silverbacks or the Nevada Lions. The local affiliations mean nothing to people who live in those regions, so why should it matter to a TV viewer in Miami?
You've got to tap into a national and international audience for every show. So why alienate people by anchoring your teams to some meaningless geographic designation?
6. Do, however, stick with your celebrity coaches.
This IS what draws a lot of your more knowledgeable fans. You need those fans but they're not the ones who are going to help you survive. (We'll get back to this point later.)
You need to take this coaching concept even farther.
You know what made your recent championship event special? It was the clash between the Miletich Fighting Systems and Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That's cool.
You need more of this. Imagine if you had a major fight camp behind each of your teams?
Does anyone really remember who Johnny Lawrence was? But everyone knows the Cobra Kai.
5. Slow down. In two years (three seasons), the IFL has expanded from four to eight to 12 teams to 16 for next year.
Tell me, Jay. Does this make sense to you? The organization is hemorrhaging cash and you're out there blowing your load like a sailor on a three-day shore pass.
You're the new sheriff in town and you need to slap some sense into some people over there. Reduce the number of teams, get your new TV deal in place and concentrate on improving the product before you even think about increasing your budget. (Hey, after I wrote this draft, I read somewhere that the expansion is on hold and you're going to stick with 12 teams next year. Did you have anything to do with that, Jay?)
Speaking of improving your product, you may also want to consider a) hiring some competent refs b) bringing in the cage. Face it, the cage is where it's at and will help you attract more fans. Go ahead and keep your ban on elbows, if you want, but I'm willing to bet the majority of newer fans want to see their mixed martial arts in the cage.
The ring is fine for boxing but it just doesn't work as well in MMA where there are guys driving for takedowns and grappling. How many times do we see action stop because guys have slipped too far under the rope?
4. Share the pain.
Right now, the IFL owns all of the teams. That goes against the grain of every other major sports league in the world.
You're picking up the tab, paying all the salaries and footing all the marketing expenses. No wonder the league needed an investor to come to its rescue over the summer and pump $12.5 million into its operating fund.
I realize it might be hard to find an Al Davis or George Steinbrenner willing to "buy" a team in your league based on your current financial returns but why not explore this avenue? Owners could share in gate receipts and TV revenue and, in turn, give the teams their own identities.
For now, get some corporate sponsors for your teams and give them naming rights. If the National Football League can pimp out the names of its stadiums to FedEx and Alltel, why can't you let some sponsors attach themselves to your teams.
Could Xyience or Tapout pony up enough cash to make it worth it? It seems like you could work something out. Sponsors would get mentioned prominently in every telecast and mentioned in news stories leading up to each event.
If I was a potential sponsor, I could think of much worse ways to blow my advertising dollars.
3. Scrap the dual meet format. This sport is about individual matchups and you're never going to make it past next season if you don't start shifting the emphasis away from the teams and onto the individual fighters.
Put on one fight card a month with fighters from three or four different teams on the card. The fighters represent their teams and earn team points with victories that go toward the league standings.
This way you can focus on building events around individual matchups and still crown a team champion at the end of the season. The scheduling will take some thought but on the upside, fighters would no longer have to fight every six weeks and you might actually cut down the number of injuries plaguing the IFL.
Once you change your format, the next step is to get rid of the playoffs. When the regular season is done, tally the points, crown a winner and hand out bonuses to the champions.
Then, put all of your marketing efforts into your post-season World Grand Prix. Expand it to the top eight fighters in each weight class and have them square off in a single-elimination tourney spread over three events. You might even be able to throw the finals up on pay-per-view and generate some decent revenue.
This way your World Grand Prix becomes the crown jewel of the season and not an afterthought.
2. Don't overspend on signing big-name free agents and instead concentrate on developing and marketing your own stars, like Andre Gusmao and Bart Palaszewski.
Developing talent is the one place you can beat the UFC. If I'm an up and coming fighter would I rather bust my ass for $5,000 on a UFC undercard or fight for the IFL where I'll make $60,000 a season win or lose, plus bonuses, train with a top coach and get the kind of TV exposure I would never get as a UFC undercard fighter?
Now, while you shouldn't spend the kind of money you would need to sign a Fedor Emelianenko, there are some guys out there worth signing for a lot less who will still help you win some casual fans.
Sign Kurt Angle if you can do it without breaking the bank. Don't discount guys like Kimbo Slice or Jorge Masvidal, either.
Sign a couple novelty fighters and let them help sell your cards and build your TV ratings. Get those casual fans to tune in and then win them over with your product. And by novelty, I'm not talking about Butterbean. I mean guys like Kimbo and maybe some crossover athletes, boxers, wrestlers, NFL-types, who have athletic ability, who have some name recognition and who can sell some tickets. They'll also generate press whenever they fight.
Think storylines, Jay.
The mainstream media loves story lines. Sportswriters at The Daily Bugle need to give the average reader a reason to be interested in a story about MMA. A nice percentage of non-MMA fans who read a story in their sports page are going to be curious enough to tune in to your event.
And if you do your part in producing a great show, you might just win you some new fans. These are the fans you need to survive.
While you're at it, make sure all the guys you sign at least look like they work out regularly.
I saw a couple of your heavyweights on a replay the other day and those guys looked like they just stumbled out of some tough man contest at the local dive bar. Set some standards, Jay. Nobody wants to see a couple fat bastards slapping bellies. There's a reason Sumo wrestling has never caught on in this country.
1. Finally, some grooming advice: Shave your head.
I noticed you're already a little thin on top. So why not go all the way and shine the dome?
Let's face it. The UFC is the bully on the block and the bald look seems to be working real well for UFC president Dana White.
About Dana. He pretty much thinks the IFL is crap. He doesn't hesitate to call you guys out. I never hear any witty rebuttals coming from the IFL offices.
You need to man up and tell Dana to suck it.
Okay, I realize this may not be your style but the IFL needs a personality -- someone who can become the public "face" of the IFL.
Challenge Dana to a boxing match. Criticize how much he pays his lower-tier fighters. Make some waves and get some publicity. Make your marketing department earn its money.
If you're not up to it, can I suggest that there's already someone on your payroll who would be perfect for the role? Bas Rutten already has the bald head and he could kick Dana's ass if things ever got out of hand.
Give Bas a raise or a piece of the company and make him IFL commissioner. Get him out there pitching your product fulltime, man. He's one of your assets. Yes, I realize that he already has a high profile on your telecasts and TV show but by making him commissioner, what he says will carry the weight of the organization.
Getting your events on live TV was a good move. I've also heard that there might be a deal to bring Fox Sports in as a partner. That's another good move. Hopefully, IFL founders Gareb Seamus and Kurt Otto didn't wait too long to hand over the reins of the company to someone with your kind of big time deal-making experience.
Good luck, Jay. And, remember, I'm just an email away if you need me.
Sincerely,
Joe Newman
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