New Cities

[Bob Slay]

I realise this is probably not going to happen so this is just for fun, but if you were to name a few cities you would like to see added to the game what would you pick & why?

I'd say my three options would be:

Lagos, Nigeria - currently no MMAT cities in any African nation, and I think MMA is starting to gain a presence there.

Abu Dhabi, UAE - currently no MMAT cities in any Middle Eastern nation, has been involved with combat sports a short time but has already hosted very high profile events.

Singapore - hosts a ton of combat sports events, one of the biggest fighting event cities in the world right behind the existing crop.

[ArtieBanks]

I'd not add any new cities but rename the ones we have - bin Amsterdam, Hilo and St Petersburg. 

Add in Abu Dhabi, Miami/Dallas and Singapore. 

[imcool]

The real question would be: why?  Even from a roleplayers perspective, I find it hard to believe adding a few extra cities for a fighter to be located in will add any flare to a virtually burnt out game.

[Bob Slay]

2 hours ago, ArtieBanks said:

I'd not add any new cities but rename the ones we have - bin Amsterdam, Hilo and St Petersburg. 

Add in Abu Dhabi, Miami/Dallas and Singapore. 

Decent suggestion though it would leave (Mainland) Europe without a host city & I'd say Houston or Austin would be a better US City than Miami or Dallas.

[Zello]

You already know my answer

[Mentor]

I would not mind seeing any new cities, however, cities play an insignificant role in this game and since the game world has shrunk, why add more cities? Changing current cities makes no sense. If we should add any city though, most likely Dubai would probably be first on the list, considering how popular a destination it begun since this game started, then Singapore, based on the fact that the second biggest org in the world currently resides there in real life. 

[Icon73]

5 hours ago, Mentor said:

I would not mind seeing any new cities, however, cities play an insignificant role in this game and since the game world has shrunk, why add more cities? Changing current cities makes no sense. If we should add any city though, most likely Dubai would probably be first on the list, considering how popular a destination it begun since this game started, then Singapore, based on the fact that the second biggest org in the world currently resides there in real life. 

Kind of a side note but Bellator still the second biggest org. They sell more tickets, have bigger live gates and hsve the better overall roster (MMA only).

 

They actually made money last year. 

 

One lost 223 million, PFL lost 10's of millions.

[Alfred]

22 minutes ago, Icon73 said:

Kind of a side note but Bellator still the second biggest org. They sell more tickets, have bigger live gates and hsve the better overall roster (MMA only).

 

They actually made money last year. 

 

One lost 223 million, PFL lost 10's of millions.

Bellator is NOT the second biggest org, One is. And guess what, it's not even close

[Icon73]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

Bellator is NOT the second biggest org, One is. And guess what, it's not even close

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.bloodyelbow.com/platform/amp/2022/10/4/23379959/finances-one-championship-reports-record-high-110-million-in-losses-2021-383-million-total-mma-news

 

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.bloodyelbow.com/platform/amp/2020/12/9/22158239/threats-gag-orders-and-more-fighters-and-employees-throw-serious-allegations-at-one-championship

 

 

Any OME numbers not sourced by legit journos backed with papers u don't believe it. ONE are known liars.

 

Also how is Bellator regional? They hold events in UK, Europe, middle east, Japan and have broadcasting everywhere.

[Alfred]

55 minutes ago, Icon73 said:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.bloodyelbow.com/platform/amp/2022/10/4/23379959/finances-one-championship-reports-record-high-110-million-in-losses-2021-383-million-total-mma-news

 

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.bloodyelbow.com/platform/amp/2020/12/9/22158239/threats-gag-orders-and-more-fighters-and-employees-throw-serious-allegations-at-one-championship

 

 

Any OME numbers not sourced by legit journos backed with papers u don't believe it. ONE are known liars.

 

Also how is Bellator regional? They hold events in UK, Europe, middle east, Japan and have broadcasting everywhere.

The data stated is easily verifiable. 

One is massive and only projected to get bigger. Bellator is tiny in comparison and is only set to get smaller.

[Icon73]

5 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The data stated is easily verifiable. 

One is massive and only projected to get bigger. Bellator is tiny in comparison and is only set to get smaller.

One buys viewers and followers so not that verifiable. We would need to see engagement numbers which very often I see Bellator has higher engagement. But hey I wouldn't be so skeptical if one didnt always lie.

 

Also how are you growing losing hundreds of millions?

[Bob Slay]

ONE's finance model is "unconventional" - they've ran at a loss since they started but they are focused heavily on pumping money into growth & promotion and their big money investors are okay with the long term projections, to most outsiders it looks like they are going bust but they have a very different overall outlook & plan.

[Alfred]

8 minutes ago, Icon73 said:

One buys viewers and followers so not that verifiable. We would need to see engagement numbers which very often I see Bellator has higher engagement. But hey I wouldn't be so skeptical if one didnt always lie.

 

Also how are you growing losing hundreds of millions?

The viewing numbers are from Nielsen. They get watched more than UFC but then they are partnered with Amazon. UFC still top dog by far though.

[Icon73]

32 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The viewing numbers are from Nielsen. They get watched more than UFC but then they are partnered with Amazon. UFC still top dog by far though.

Link?

[Bob Slay]

4 hours ago, Icon73 said:

Link?

You can download the report --> HERE <--

There are a couple of things to bear in mind.

UFC still put out more broadcast hours than ONE

The UFC has 650-700 MMA athletes on their roster.

ONE's roster of 600+ is made up of a cross-section of MMA, Kickboxing, Muay Thai & Submission Grappling athletes competing in those 4 individual rule-sets.

ONE's claim to be bigger than the UFC is true on certain metrics, but is far behind in others so their claim is inaccurate rather than a lie.

ONE also uses Hydration testing alongside its drug-testing to avoid fighters attempting drastic weight cuts - something that I think the UFC should definitely look at implimenting itself.

[Icon73]

33 minutes ago, Skuzbukit said:

You can download the report --> HERE <--

There are a couple of things to bear in mind.

UFC still put out more broadcast hours than ONE

The UFC has 650-700 MMA athletes on their roster.

ONE's roster of 600+ is made up of a cross-section of MMA, Kickboxing, Muay Thai & Submission Grappling athletes competing in those 4 individual rule-sets.

ONE's claim to be bigger than the UFC is true on certain metrics, but is far behind in others so their claim is inaccurate rather than a lie.

ONE also uses Hydration testing alongside its drug-testing to avoid fighters attempting drastic weight cuts - something that I think the UFC should definitely look at implimenting itself.

Its hydration testing is awful. But great read thank you for link

[Icon73]

7 hours ago, Alfred said:

Bellator is NOT the second biggest org, One is. And guess what, it's not even close

This was all great information to take in. Still very weird how much money they lose, how much they lie about things and how little comments they'll get to views and likes and how many bots are on their shit. But I'm guessing its a fake it till you make it approach. Which does work tbh.

 

Also, why don't they do Live Gates as big as Bellator? I have so many questions I'm fascinated.

[Bob Slay]

19 minutes ago, Icon73 said:

 I'm guessing its a fake it till you make it approach. Which does work tbh.

That's pretty much spot on in my view, they have a plan & the money to bankroll it. I do watch their events after they release them on their website (not buying their PPV) and it's decent stuff that I think is actually way above all but the very top-tier of Bellator's fights in terms of quality action and surpasses even those at times.

[popart]

Would love new cities but it won't be happening any time soon, in particular because it will make the game look evenm thinner.

 

FWIW, my cities:

 

Kinshasa (Largest city in Africa)

Warsaw 

Mumbai

Mexico City

[Rambo]

please for the love of all things holy, add more cities.

Miami

Houston / Dallas / Austin

Hong Kong

Paris

Rome

Mexico City

Aukland

Lagos

Dublin

[Mentor]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:30 PM, Icon73 said:

Kind of a side note but Bellator still the second biggest org. They sell more tickets, have bigger live gates and hsve the better overall roster (MMA only).

 

They actually made money last year. 

 

One lost 223 million, PFL lost 10's of millions.

Damn, i did not know they were losing so much cash. I sure hope we do not see orgs like ONE close down soon. We need more competition, not less. 

[Bob Slay]

7 hours ago, Mentor said:

Damn, i did not know they were losing so much cash. I sure hope we do not see orgs like ONE close down soon. We need more competition, not less. 

One has some ridiculous big money backers, I wouldn't worry about them. The smaller ones are the ones who might struggle, but the sport is among the fastest growing on the planet so the earlier an org gets going the better for now & some of these smaller ones could see huge growth in the coming years.

Cage Warriors, an Irish owned London-based org has grown massively from where it started 20 years ago, they have hosted events in 14 countries - mostly continental Europe with 3 events in the USA in 2022 & have invested in an academy program to help the amateur scene flourish & help pipeline fighters into the main org. They are almost certainly Europes largest MMA company & have developed a fair few recognizable names in the sport.

The UFC's Fight Pass is having a big impact on smaller orgs getting visibility.

[Mentor]

1 hour ago, Skuzbukit said:

One has some ridiculous big money backers, I wouldn't worry about them. The smaller ones are the ones who might struggle, but the sport is among the fastest growing on the planet so the earlier an org gets going the better for now & some of these smaller ones could see huge growth in the coming years.

Cage Warriors, an Irish owned London-based org has grown massively from where it started 20 years ago, they have hosted events in 14 countries - mostly continental Europe with 3 events in the USA in 2022 & have invested in an academy program to help the amateur scene flourish & help pipeline fighters into the main org. They are almost certainly Europes largest MMA company & have developed a fair few recognizable names in the sport.

The UFC's Fight Pass is having a big impact on smaller orgs getting visibility.

I remember the old Cage Rage, it seems they started out at the same time as Cage Warriors. At the beginning they had more success, but it seems they were poorly managed financially. If i am not mistaken, that is where i saw Anderson Silva first time. 

[Bob Slay]

Cage Rage was a few years before I developed an interest in MMA (as a viewer at least) but on their wiki I did spot this:

"Every Cage Rage event and bout is now archived as part of the UFC Fight Pass library."

And indeed they are:

https://ufcfightpass.com/playlist/1653/cage-rage-replays

[Icon73]

2 hours ago, Skuzbukit said:

One has some ridiculous big money backers, I wouldn't worry about them. The smaller ones are the ones who might struggle, but the sport is among the fastest growing on the planet so the earlier an org gets going the better for now & some of these smaller ones could see huge growth in the coming years.

Cage Warriors, an Irish owned London-based org has grown massively from where it started 20 years ago, they have hosted events in 14 countries - mostly continental Europe with 3 events in the USA in 2022 & have invested in an academy program to help the amateur scene flourish & help pipeline fighters into the main org. They are almost certainly Europes largest MMA company & have developed a fair few recognizable names in the sport.

The UFC's Fight Pass is having a big impact on smaller orgs getting visibility.

Having big money backers does not mean people will continue to run at a quarter billion dollar loss. People should be very worried about ONE.