# Rumour: Things about to get serious for Bellator



## MatParker116 (Feb 21, 2009)

http://middleeasy.com/index.php?opt...the-sunday-morning-rumor-mill&catid=37:rumors


> # I really wish I wasn't the bearer of bad news. Bellator has kept me thoroughly entertained since the summer of 2009. However, things with Bellator are starting to 'hit the fan'. As of this morning, Bellator does not have a television deal to air their season four tournament scheduled for the beginning of 2011. Negotiations with G4 supposedly fell through around the time DirecTV decided to drop the channel from their lineup.
> 
> # Each Bellator show costs the organization around $400,000. A fee of $65,000 is paid to NBC (similar to what the IFL did) to broadcast regionally in hopes that NBC will pick up the program for a national time slot. They make roughly around $20,000 from sponsors per show which still leaves them in a substantial hole that gets deeper with every week of Bellator broadcasts.
> 
> ...


Eddie, Hector, Ben, Joe, Cole, Zach this is Dana White:








I believe you guys have several contract related things to discuss.


----------



## Wookie (Jul 20, 2008)

Well that certainly sucks a$$! I like Bellator a lot better than sh*tty Strikeforce.


----------



## slapshot (May 4, 2007)

It this point I dont mind, might be selfish but I want to see Alvarez and others in the UFC.

One would think this will strengthen strikeforce as well if they pick up the female fighters womans MMA will have more legitimacy and they need all the fighters they can get.


----------



## Dtwizzy2k5 (Jul 7, 2008)

I hope Bellator dies and all their good fighters join the UFC monopoly! Let's face it, it's better for the sport and for the fans (but not the fighters) if all the best fighters are truly in the UFC.


----------



## SideWays222 (Sep 9, 2008)

Dtwizzy2k5 said:


> I hope Bellator dies and all their good fighters join the UFC monopoly! Let's face it, it's better for the sport and for the fans (but not the fighters) if all the best fighters are truly in the UFC.


To be honest, i enjoy watching events that arnt UFC only events. Bellator was one of the few organizations that was interesting to watch. So even though i see why you say its better for the fans there are some that this will not make happy including myself. This just means im going to have to cross off some of my MMA EVENTS schedule, which is never an easy thing to do.


----------



## gosuu (Sep 23, 2007)

Another bandwagon organization hoping for a "get rich quick scheme" biting the dust. The UFC at one point was 40 million dollars in debt and the sport of MMA outlawed in the majority of our states, yet they stuck to their guns. Good riddance I say. The UFC monopolizing MMA in America isn't a bad thing. And it's not like there aren't going to be smaller promotions. There just isn't going to be these joke competitors who hold onto 1 or 2 fighters who people are actually interested in.


----------



## Thunder1 (Aug 16, 2008)

"The UFC monopolizing MMA in America isn't a bad thing."

No not really. However it's their brand that makes the money not MMA. Just like the NFL is to football. The sport of football doesn't make money the NFL does. They carry the brand, just like UFC to MMA.


----------



## Roflcopter (Sep 5, 2008)

Thunder1 said:


> "The UFC monopolizing MMA in America isn't a bad thing."
> 
> No not really. However it's their brand that makes the money not MMA. Just like the NFL is to football. The sport of football doesn't make money the NFL does. They carry the brand, just like UFC to MMA.


Correct, and quite frankly, I'd be pissed if i couldn't see Tom Brady and Payton Manning duel against each other every year because they were in different leagues.

The NFL-AFL and NBA-ABA mergers were probably the best things to happen to their respective sports, I don't see why MMA would be any different.

Furthermore, Bellator is nice to watch and all, but when they acquire elite talent and hold them hostage, well, seeing guys like Lombard and Alvarez mash up low to mid level competition every 4 months gets old.

DIE BELLATOR DIE!


----------



## Dtwizzy2k5 (Jul 7, 2008)

Roflcopter said:


> Correct, and quite frankly, I'd be pissed if i couldn't see Tom Brady and Payton Manning duel against each other every year because they were in different leagues.
> 
> The NFL-AFL and NBA-ABA mergers were probably the best things to happen to their respective sports, I don't see why MMA would be any different.


Allow me to explain how it's different. Think of the UFC as an NFL team, not the whole NFL itself. Each NFL team has a single owner (there are 32 owners in the NFL), just as the UFC has a single owner (Dana White). In the NFL, because there are 32 teams with 32 owners, there is competition between teams and if one team isnt offering a good contract, another team will and theyll sign the player at a reasonable salary.
In the UFC, there is only one owner so there is no competition. It is a complete monopoly and if DW doesnt give you a good contract then too bad because you have nowhere else to go. 
The only way that MMA would be like the NFL is if there were 32 different fighting promotions (like UFC, strikeforce, bellator, etc) and they each co-promoted between each other.


----------



## MMA specialist (Nov 8, 2010)

Holding an event every single week was clearly going to cause funding related problems from the get go. I will be sad to see Bellator go however, i enjoyed watching their fights, but if this is true, then id only give them a couple of weeks to put their shit together and get on track!


----------

