EliteXC Buyout
By Josh Stein on Oct 21, 2008
For those who haven’t heard about the recent icing of EliteXC, that’s because this broke fairly recently. It appears that Pro Elite has been bought out by Showtime, which is run by CBS. There is a serious question of whether they will continue to air fights, especially in regard to their upcoming event featuring the fight between Nick Diaz and Eddie Alvarez.
I won’t say that I’m surprised at the downfall of Pro Elite, and the notorious “idiot Gary Shaw” (as Dana White so affectionately named him), but I was severely disappointed at the timing. While I knew that the end of Kimbo Slice’s undefeated streak ended the easy promoting and would eventually lead to a good deal of unraveling, it sucks that this may end the chance for EXC to put on the one truly substantial card they were going to offer, as that Diaz vs. Alvarez card seemed to be.
The reality is, this is a failed business model, and I hope that up-and-coming organizations will recognize that. The way to success, especially against a giant as truly colossal and well run as the UFC is, is to offer a legitimate and consistent process and market it efficiently. A business must be built, not simply erected. To play out the architectural metaphor, there needs to be a substantial foundation.
EliteXC had a crappy business model, and they built their organization on fighters who lacked consistency. While they had fighters in their organization that were substantial, they built up the flimsiest fighter in the sport and pushed a female athlete who, while sensational, remains questionable in her ability to make weight.
A bad business model coupled with generally questionable ethics made is easy to recognize the inevitable collapse, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have an impact on the sport. If EliteXC does fold, the contracts of fighters like Diaz, Alvarez and Antonio Silva go out on the maket, and that is a big deal, because while the UFC could (and should) pick up these contracts, but there are other places for these fighters to go, and that is what I’m waiting to hear.
