Coker: Bellator NY PPV is best MMA event of the year
Scott Coker: “This PPV, the way we’ve stacked it from top to bottom, is the best offering this year.”
Bellator MMA CEO Scott Coker spoke recently with Brett Okamoto for ESPN, about the promotion’s pay per view television event. Bellator 180 on June 24, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York City is, says the boss, the best MMA PPV card of the year to date. And Coker says the promotion is not two and done with PPV.
“This is not something we’re going to go in and out of,” said Coker. “This is something we’re committed to. The company is committed to doing PPV fights.”
“We’ve been waiting in the wings for Wanderlei. Had he been available to fight in January, Chael would have fought him instead of Tito Ortiz, and that’s because that’s the fight that’s been built up for the last four years. That fight was supposed to happen three years ago and it never did. I feel people are still interested in this and that’s what it comes down to – the matchup.”
Coker said Bellator parent company Viacom will put a multi-million dollar marketing strategy behind the PPV show, 20-30 times larger than anything done previously, even for the quarterly “tent pole” events. So expectations are high.
“When you say expectations, it’s something I think we’re going to feel,” said Coker. “To me, any [buy rate] in the mid-200,000s would be respectable. And anything in the 300,000s would be considered a big hit.
“The PPV business is tough and there’s a lot of competition in the marketplace. There’s boxing fights around us, wrestling events, other MMA shows. But honestly, I think this is the best MMA PPV that’s been offered in 2017. I’m a fight fan and always buy the big fights; I haven’t bought one of them this year. But this PPV, the way we’ve stacked it from top to bottom, is the best offering this year.”
This is Bellator’s second try at PPV. Bellator 120 in 2014 reportedly did 100,000 buys. The main event fighters, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva, have each been suspended significantly for anti-doping violations. And the co-main, Fedor Emelianenko is 40, and retired in 2015. However, Coker is undaunted.
“This is a sport where you could be 21 years old and still have the same risks,” he said. “Look at the fights that have fallen off this year. Let’s be honest. Age doesn’t have anything to do with it. It has to do with the fact that accidents happen all the time and people get injured.”
Bellator NYC Main Card (PPV)
Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione
Michael Chandler (c) vs. Brent Primus
Douglas Lima (c) vs. Lorenz Larkin
Aaron Pico vs. Zach Freeman
Bellator 180 Prelim Card (Spike TV)
Phil Davis (c) vs. Ryan Bader [c]
James Gallagher vs. Chinzo Machida
Neiman Gracie vs. Dave Marfone
Keri Anne Melendez vs. Sadee Monseratte Williams
Bellator 180 Prelim Card (Bellator.com)
Ryan Couture vs. Haim Gozali
Jerome Mickle vs. Anthony Giacchina
John Salgado vs. Hugh McKenna
Matt Rizzo vs. Sergio da Silva
Bradley Desir vs. Nate Grebb
Heather Hardy vs. Alice Yauger