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Bellator Fighting Championships, a growing force in the world of mixed martial arts, has a new television home, MTV2. It was announced today jointly by Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney and Eric Conte, SVP, Programming and Production, MTV2. The three-year deal will commence in 2011
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that's it?
No FX?
If FX is out of the picture, fuck MTV. How many homes have MTV2 anyway?
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MMAFighting.com
The latest channel to venture into televising live mixed martial arts fights is a network few had expected: MTV2.
Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that it has reached a three-year deal to air live fights on MTV2, starting in 2011. Bellator will continue with its seasonal format of 12-week, eight-fighter tournaments, with the next tournament beginning in March.
At first blush, MMA and MTV might seem like strange bedfellows. For that matter, MTV and any sport would seem to be a strange pairing -- isn't MTV supposed to be music television?
But there's a lot of overlap between the young audience MTV reaches and the young audience MMA reaches, and Eric Conte of MTV2 said in a statement that his network viewed MMA as a natural extension of what it already offers.
"MMA is at the top of our audience's wish list, and partnering with Bellator to bring live events and specials to MTV2 made complete sense since our viewers are so hungry to see more MMA on-air," Conte said.
There are a lot of details that still need to be ironed out, including times, dates and venues for Bellator fights. But with MTV2 in about 77 million households, this has to be considered a much better deal for Bellator than its previous contracts with ESPN Deportes (which aired all fights on tape delay) and Fox Sports Net (which used Bellator as filler programming squeezed in between local sports).
And for MMA fans, a new channel jumping into the live MMA business has to be considered a very good thing. Bellator has given fans a good product for two years, and this TV deal ensures that there's more to come.
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Nobody watches MTV2, this deal is no better than the previous deals they had. Somebody at the press conference asked waht happened to the FX deal, and Rebney said "We wanted to be on MTV2 all along, its the better place to build a brand." Laughter and chuckles from the media followed. Nobody is buying that.
FX is a top 5 cable network, MTV2 might not even be top 30. This is a disaster for Bellator, FX would have made them a player, maybe even leapfrogging Strikeforce. MTV2 means nothing, won't help at all.Comment
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I wouldn't say FX is top 5 (about top 10).
It won't be as bad as Fox Sports or ESPN deportes as long as they have a set weekly time they are live and MTV can promote them. I doubt they will promote the show but crazier things have happened.
MTV2 is better than no television...and if the report about FX hadn't leaked, this would be a decent deal.
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at least there is precedence for MMA on MTV2 with Bully BeatdownComment
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FX is almost always top 5.
This deal would have never been considered decent. MTV2 is a nothing network, this is no better than any deal they've had in the past. The only people who will watch, or even know it exists, are the same hardcores who watched on FSN.
Can't spin this one, its a bad deal, and Bellator will likely die before the 3 years is up.Comment
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Lol @ Bellator. What a shame...Comment
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:obama:
They could have been on Strikeforce's level (at least) with the FX deal, but Bellator easily lost for this. They are about to go the same route as Wrestling Society X.
"Sometimes I just want to be with my family and watch movie and eat some popcorn. But when I step on the mat I know there is no other place I'd rather be." - Marcelo GarciaComment
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This is from 2009, but they were top 10 in total viewers among cable networks and top 5 in adults
I'm not gonna say they'll die based only on them getting a deal with MTV2. Are they paying or do they get a good chunk of coin to produce it?
As with anything, promotion is key.
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And you fuckers think im hating when I say Bellator is poorly run..Comment
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What they should do if MTV is serious about MMA (they're not)...throughout February, in whatever timeslot Bellator will end up having in March...produce 30-minute preview specials highlighting guys like Warren, Alvarez, Askren, etc. (great personalities), great fights, the tournament aspect, etc. HYPE THE FUCK OUT OF BELLATOR!
Try and give 'em a head start because the ratings will not be worth talking about.
Instead, nothing. I guess we head into the season 4 debut with nothing from MTV and one day, Bellator's back.
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