The company did as much as could be expected to answer critics during its second live network television broadcast Saturday night, revamping its lineup to include more credible fighters, compelling matchups and an overall feeling of less talk with more action. The result was a telecast far superior to EliteXC’s debut back on May 31.
Saturday’s show, called “Unfinished Business,” featured Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith in a do-over after their initial middleweight title fight was ruled a no-contest when Smith was inadvertently poked in the eye. The two heavy-handed strikers delivered a quality fight, as did Jake Shields and Nick Thompson in the welterweight title match (albeit a short one) and Nick Diaz and Thomas Denny did the same in a lightweight bout.
Unfortunately, after 4.8 million people tuned in to see EliteXC’s debut, only a little more than half that number came back for the second card. Early overnight numbers suggest around 2.62 million viewers watched Lawler-Smith II, down from a 3.0 Nielsen rating to a 1.9.
While the dip wasn’t unexpected, it meant the UFC’s free show on SpikeTV from the weekend before drew nearly a half million more viewers than the CBS offering.
It’s never good to get out-drawn by cable. Ever.
Call it a sophomore slump for EliteXC. Or blame it on the fact the latest event went on without the company’s two overhyped circus attractions in Gina Carano and Kimbo Slice. Or maybe it was just the result of a less visible advertising blitz by the network, which put ads for the first show featuring Slice on heavy rotation during the NCAA basketball tournament.
Or maybe – and I’m just thinking out loud here – the ratings slump is a sign that EliteXC has a couple of very different problems with mainstream fans as well as hardcore enthusiasts.
Among mainstream America, conventional wisdom contends Slice and Carano are EliteXC’s draws, despite the fact neither has proven they are legitimate contenders or even credible fighters. Carano has yet to make weight for a fight and Slice’s opponents are – out of necessity – carefully handpicked to ensure a victory from the former street fighter.
Therefore, if the mainstream still sees MMA as something of a curiosity, viewers likely aren’t going to watch when their two preferred sideshow attractions aren’t involved. And that’s a shame for the other, real athletes who call EliteXC home.
With hardcore fans, the opposite may be true. EliteXC simply might not have enough top-level fighters to garner much interest. Many longtime followers of MMA recognize Slice and Carano as shams and likewise – rightly or wrongly – see fighters like Lawler, Smith and Diaz as guys who were unable to make much of splash during their time in the UFC.
If that’s the case, then EliteXC needs to open up its wallet and try to steal some top talent away from organizations like the UFC and Affliction, and that might be easier said than done.
Whatever the reason, the sagging ratings haven’t yet derailed EliteXC’s partnership with CBS. The network says it’s still onboard for an Oct. 4 show, which will no doubt see the return of both Slice and Carano to the cage.
But even with the company line holding strong, EliteXC better hope those ratings start to edge back up by October. Otherwise CBS can’t be expected to stick around forever.
Either way, to find long term success, the company needs to find the right balance between promoting acts like Slice and Carano and putting over some legitimate top-ranked talent.
And it needs to do it fast.
Chad Dundas is the editor-in-chief of the MMA blog www.mma-ameria.com. A sports journalist and fiction writer living in Missoula, Mont., he is a regular contributor to Crave Online.
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