Bad News Holland: It's Showtime Cancels May Event In Amsterdam
by Matthew Roth on Jan 20, 2011 2:11 PM EST
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I hate having to break bad news when I wake up but I'm being forced to do it now. Most of you are aware that since 2003, It's Showtime has produced their biggest event of the year in May at the Amsterdam Arena. In 2006, 2007, and 2008 the event was produced in conjunction with K-1 and it appears as if this year's event was supposed to be a co-promoted event as well.
There's a saying which goes "When it rains, it pours" and right now that phrase couldn't be more applicable to state of kickboxing around the world. At this point everyone who has an interest in the sport knows of the financial situation of FEG, well now it appears that the reach is much greater than originally suspected. To try and not beat a dead horse to death, the FEG financial situation is now affecting other organizations.
Simon Rutz breaks the bad news on It's Showtime's website:
The organization of this event would be completely in our hands again, but the fight card was supposed to be arranged by K-1. However, after months of asking questions by email, text messages, personally and by telephone we never got an answer from K-1 regarding the fight card. We had set a deadline for the fight card for January 11, because otherwise there would be too little time for us to organize everything before May 21. It was January 18 when K-1 finally told me that it isn’t able to put the fight card together, because many fighters who have fought for K-1 still have to get their money, and K-1 can’t negotiate with fighters whom K-1 still owes money to.
For a long time it’s not a secret anymore that K-1 is in bad financial problems and that it’s still the question whether they will survive this crisis. FEG (K-1) tries to do everything in its power to get out of this crisis but the negotiations with potential investors are stagnating for a year already.
The two companies have a much deeper relationship than just a co-promoted event. Simon has a management company called Black Label which manages some of the top K-1 stars including Melvin Manhoef, Badr Hari, Gago Drago, and Giorgio Petrosyan. It appears that his company has not only been patient with waiting for fighter payment, but has also helped FEG with their own financial woes. Rutz's continues:
We from IT’S SHOWTIME really hope that K-1 will stay alive and that they will survive these difficult times. However, we don’t believe this will happen anytime soon and therefore we don’t see the Amsterdam ArenA event happen in May.
Also we will not succeed in organizing the Amsterdam ArenA event 100% ourselves because only making and arranging the fight card will take several months. K-1 claims it’s still convinced that it can solve its problems in a short amount of time and still keeps the option for May open. Even if K-1 can solve its problems soon, it will be more realistic for a joint event to take place in September or early October. We from IT’S SHOWTIME keep all options in mind and even the fact that there will be no IT’S SHOWTIME event at all in the Amsterdam ArenA this year. We know we really disappoint a lot of people with this news and we really regret that.
Dave Walsh of Liverkick.com has the best explanation of the above quote:
Quite honestly, this is a case where East meets West and the West can't wait for the East to do business their way. Rutz is very realistic that if K-1 sorts out their financial problems and is open to working with It's Showtime on the joint card, that sometime in September or October would be for the best, while K-1 officials have told him to keep an open mind to the May deadline. It's Showtime manages many of its fighters and understands matchmaking must take place months in advance to ensure that the fighters are prepared for their fights as well as compensated.
The biggest complaint fighters and fight fans have had of the way that FEG does business is announce fights on short notice. The Japanese media is a lot different than that in the West. In order to keep the event fresh in people's minds, Japanese organizations announce fights as close to the events as possible. Unfortunately, as they don't want information to leak out, they often will tell fighters around the same time as the fight announcement, so there is no time for a full training camp.
The good news is that It's Showtime is still looking to promote 10 events this year with six already announced which are after the jump...
March 6: Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
March 26: Brussels, Belgium
June 11: Warsaw, Poland
July 23: Sochi, Russia
September 18: Sporthallen Zuid, Amsterdam
October 8: Geneva, Switzerland
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Sonofabi...
I had kind of had it in my mind K-1’s struggles would benefit It’s Showtime, but this isn’t exactly the case.
Contributor at Unintelligent Defense
Lead Blogger at Ninja's Place
"...just when you think you’ve produced your magnum opus, someone shows up and takes a giant shit in your mouth. In your mouth." - Anthony Pace
Don't eat B.L.T. sammaches
Well now, that's just unfortunate.
I’m sure we’ll still see plenty of awesome events from them this year, but definitely not good news. Dave summed that up pretty well.
The short notice happens in Japanese MMA as well
They just have this left-field way of doing things that flies in the face of logic and reason a lot of the time and unless they adopt the more Western way of prepping and running shows they’re almost certainly doomed for failure and that’d be a horrible shame.
It's FEG centric really though. SRC is better about announcing fights. Not much better but better.
The new editor of HeadKickLegend.com
Follow me on twitter @HeadKickLegend
by Matthew Roth on Jan 20, 2011 4:21 PM EST up reply actions
Depressing
Such an amazing and exciting sport plagued by bad business models, lack of exposure in the right markets and corruption.
I find it really sad that Muay Thai/Kickboxing/K-1 hasn’t caught on in the United States. These athletes work their butts off and put on exciting shows all the while being paid laughable amounts. But in the US, with their ADD, they need quick bursts of action followed by mindless dribble, advertisements, etc. That’s what baseball is, that’s what American football is, and to a lesser degree basketball. And these “athletes” are getting paid millions on top of millions of dollars. Pathetic.
You'd think the 3 minute rounds would be ideal for western audiences with ADD
Unless you get a really conservative fight.
Kickboxing could have been big here I think.
It was doing well on ESPN when Coker was running it for them, but it was Japan that pulled the plug, from my understanding.
Contributor at Unintelligent Defense
Lead Blogger at Ninja's Place
"...just when you think you’ve produced your magnum opus, someone shows up and takes a giant shit in your mouth. In your mouth." - Anthony Pace
Don't eat B.L.T. sammaches
by Urijah Bieber on Jan 20, 2011 11:06 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, this is terrible news.
FEG is saying there’s plenty of time but thats the difference between Western booking and Eastern booking. Europe and North America announces fights well in advance, who knows if FEG could even get a card? Too much at stake for It’s Showtime to risk.
The new editor of HeadKickLegend.com
Follow me on twitter @HeadKickLegend
by Matthew Roth on Jan 21, 2011 1:21 AM EST up reply actions
It gets worse: It’s Showtime and Golden Glory (the management) are being looked at by local Dutch authorities in connection to rumors of money laundering and the involment of organized crime. So although the events and the sport itself have been getting more and more popular in the last couple of years over here in Holland whe now see that mayors and city councils in the big cities are getting less and less lenient towards organisers.
For instance: It’s Showtime (IS) by some is said to be connected to the Hells Angels through one off the owners of Black Label management (manages several IS-fighters).
Golden Glory is supposedly led by Bas Boon (fighter management and ‘deal maker’), Cor Hemmers (KB-trainer), Martijn de Jong (MMA-trainer and organiser of the Ultimate Glory events) and Ron Nyquist. Since Ron Nyquist is still spending time in jail after being found guilty of the murder of two brothers and his history as one off the members of a big Dutch XTC-/Weed- Cartel, GG has become a topic of interest for Dutch authorities.
The Arena-event not being staged this year is a big hit for IS. The event always had big names and created a lot off buzz. Without the event, IS also looses foreign tv-revenu.
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