MMApayout always does good reporting. Info on why SF was up for bids, who was bidding, what some of the bids were, and a loose time line of business events.
http://mmapayout.com/2011/03/mystery-strikeforce-third-bidder-early-signs-of-sale-ufc-purchase-notes/Mystery Strikeforce Third Bidder, Early Signs Of Sale, & UFC Purchase Notes
March 15, 2011
There were
two other bidders in the running to acquire Strikeforce MMA from Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVSE) and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. In the end,
both suitors were unable to match the bids put by Zuffa LLC, owners of the UFC, as the ante was raised several times until an agreement was reached.
According to Dave Meltzer of Yahoo:
Coker wouldn’t say who else was bidding to buy the company, but Pro Elite, Inc., which had the Showtime deal in 2007 and 2008 before going belly-up and having its assets purchased by Strikeforce in early 2009, had raised new capital and had reportedly made a $40 million offer. …
Other names, including
Shelly Finkel, Mike Tyson’s manager, were reportedly interested. While Fertitta said he was not aware of other offers while negotiating this deal, insiders with knowledge of the negotiations said the UFC deal was more lucrative and they kept raising the ante until the deal was agreed upon.
As for the reason for the the sale, Scott Coker shared his side during Monday’s press conference:
“Silicon Valley Sports and us were great partners,” Coker said. “They wanted to get back to their core business, the hockey business and expansion of their other sports businesses. We had a long conversation and started taking different offers and then we started talking to Lorenzo. They had a really good time in this business, but they wanted to get back to their core business. I wanted to stay in this business and this is how we hooked up.”Now, while this announcement was a shock to many, there were some signs and discussions that hinted at the notion in the last 6 months. Folks within knowledge of how Strikeforce worked said it was tough to do everything they wanted to do given the budget and constraints they were given. There seemed to have been some
tug-of-war game between Coker and SVSE, who grew inpatient his year with Strikeforce’s returns. According to Loretta Hunt of LA Times,
Strikeforce had incurred debt, though they were slowly headed in the right direction as the early success of 2011 showed with record ratings and buzz for the promotion. Insiders say that
Strikeforce grew too big for SVSE to want to further commit any more resources, since it would
eventually lead into a war with UFC, which were brought up
by three key events: the Showtime deal, the Fedor deal, and talk of heading into the PPV market.Back in September of 2010, talks of a Strikeforce sale surfaced within the MMA world, and MMAPayout contacted both SVSE and Scott Coker to get their take on the matter. Scott Coker said the rumor was untrue, while SVSE (who was involved due to the news that CEO Greg Jamison was stepping down as of October last year) made the following statement:
As is the case with all properties owned and operated by Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, Strikeforce [a joint venture between SVS&E and WCP] is not for sale and the day-to-day operations of Strikeforce will continue under the direction of President Scott Coker.Only a few months after this statement was issued, talks between SVSE, Scott Coker, and Zuffa (among other bidders) commenced as both SVSE and Scott Coker began to part ways. Was SVSE already heading in a different direction last year and could it have possibly triggered the sale?
As for the bidders,
Pro Elite was bought by the Stratus Media Group back in October of 2009, after the company filed for bankruptcy and who’s key assets were purchased by Strikeforce and SVSE to strike the Showtime deal.
Stratus Media is an owner, producer, promoter and operator of live entertainment events that generate revenue through corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, corporate hospitality, event merchandise and concessions, who also provide athlete management, representation and endorsements. The ProElite group, who was heading this venture in bidding for Strikeforce, were original PE members Doug De Luca, William Kelly, Glenn Golenberg, along witch newly appointed Chairman of the board Paul Feller from Stratus Media. It was said
they raised enough capital to place a bid for $40 million dollars, though was eventually outbid by Zuffa.
The
other bidder was from a
group headed by Shelly Finkel, who is Mike Tyson’s manager and has been one of the most powerful managers in boxing for the past 30-plus years. Finkel officially announced that he was leaving the sport of boxing back in June of 2010, citing politics of the sport as the reason he was driven away to where he got his start, music promotion under Empire Sports and Entertainment. Although Finkel left boxing, he continued to act as an advisor to heavyweight champions Wladimir Klitschko and Vitali Klitschko, with whom he has worked for several years. Empire Sports and Entertainment’s mission was said to become a leading media and entertainment company known for promoting the best events in concerts, music festivals, pay-per-view specials and sporting events around the world.
UFC/STRIKEFORCE PRESSER NOTES:
- Business will stay as usual for Strikeforce according to Dana White, although most believe it will stay as usual until the Showtime TV deal runs its course in Feb/March of 2012, which at that time may merge Strikeforce into the UFC like it did PRIDE, WFA, and the WEC. They will stay as separate entities until then.
- The Fertitta’s and Dana White made it very clear to steer away from any monopoly talk brought up by reporters, citing that there are thousands of promotions all over the world and there is nothing that is stopping anyone with backers to get into the market and compete. They also made it a point to state that any sort of fighter union would be up to the fighters.
- As part of the sale, Scott Coker got a long-term contract to work for Zuffa, but NO ownership stake in the company.
- Zuffa cited that there is a big demand for their product in Canada, Australia, and the UK (global expansion). The addition of Strikeforce and Scott Coker would help aid that demand.
-
The heavyweight GP will continue as planned, and the finals may be held as a PPV event.
- Strikeforce will now abide by the Unified Rules, which means elbows to a grounded opponent will be allowed. Strikeforce will continue to use its six-sided cage and production and commentary team from Showtime.
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Talks between Showtime and Zuffa have yet to take place.- Zuffa was in the San Jose today to pay a visit to Strikeforce offices, which met with the staff. Strikeforce will be sending some of their personnel to Las Vegas later this week to meet and get acclimated with Zuffa staff and culture.
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