The Story Behind the Sengoku Cancellation

by Dave Walsh on Nov 17, 2009 8:57 AM EST in MMA

At this point we know that Sengoku Raiden Championships New Years Eve show will not happen, but the reasons why have been rather clouded. Word is that Don Quijote, their big money sponsor pulled out upon seeing how much money World Victory Road would require to produce the show. Most of this is probably related to purchasing television time on TV Tokyo on January 3rd.

Zach Arnold points out for the uninitiated that TV Tokyo has a long history of being "pay TV" unlike the other major television networks in Japan like Fuji TV and Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) who operate more like American stations do. To put it in a way that people will understand, when Strikeforce was on CBS, CBS made an investment in the show under the hope of making back their money plus extra from advertisers. This is how TBS and Fuji operate, TBS being the network that works with FEG for K-1, K-1 MAX and DREAM productions.

Don Quijote saw the outrageous pricetag and pulled their support for this show, knowing the ratings for MMA have not been groundbreaking the past year (especially for Sengoku) and the live gate would be less than impressive in a 10,000 seat arena.

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I love Japanese MMA, so it’s really hard to see the shape it’s in. I’ve heard the only reason DREAM has a TV deal is due to FEG already having a contract with TBS. The networks have been reluctant to touch MMA after the PRIDE/Yakuza fiasco. I still have hopes that it will return to prominence, but really… it seem’s like it will die a fad, or that there will be only minor promotions like Cage Force and DEEP that the hardcore Japanese and American audiences watch.

by Excelsior! on Nov 17, 2009 1:27 PM EST reply actions

DREAM is running into problems..

DREAM.12 didn’t get the TBS treatment because of the risk involved with the cage and the limited number of MMA-only shows they wanted to run. Shows like Dynamite!! are fine, as is just about anything else K-1 related. K-1 still gets ratings, MMA, well, doesn’t.