Is It's Showtime! growing too rapidly?
by magnetic on May 17, 2011 6:53 PM EDT
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PrintAccording to Wikipedia, It's Showtime held 7 shows last year. This year, It's Showtime is already up to 6 and at this rate, stands to double its annual output in 2011. In addition to consistently booking its star talent, It's Showtime is branching out into more countries, having recently held its first show in France with upcoming events in Poland and Spain planned. It's Showtime has also signed more international broadcasting deals, most recently a multi-year agreement with HDNet for coverage in the United States. With the fallout of K-1, It's Showtime has quickly assumed its place as the de facto number one kickboxing promotion in the world, but I wonder: has this growth happened too quickly? Has the pressure of the opportunity created by K-1's downfall accelerated It's Showtime growth prematurely?
On the one hand, it seems like It's Showtime is a very capable company when it comes to doing business in this market. Its co-promotion business model allows it to maintain a high output while sharing the costs with regional promoters. These promoters also give It's Showtime access to new markets, making it possible to hold shows in any country with interested investors and potentially limiting the kind of negotiations that tend to present roadblocks for big shows like the UFC and Strikeforce.
On the other hand, the costs will grow with It's Showtime and its current model may not be able to sustain the costs for long. I look to Strikeforce as an example. It started as a small regional show, just like It's Showtime, and quickly became a national promotion after the fall of EliteXC. Yet, as we saw, the costs grew with the promotion, and Scott Coker's original Silicon Valley backers ultimately chose not to commit to their investment.
If It's Showtime is to become a global brand and to continue with its co-promotion business model, it will need backers who are willing to assume a greater share of the costs. These costs may become too great for the small-time promoters that It's Showtime currently does business with. The company will need bigger sponsors--in essence, a plan for the next phase of development. Its current model has served it well so far, but like Strikeforce, it may be quickly outpaced by the need for fast growth created by the sudden demand left in K-1's aftermath.
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Totally different situations
Strikeforce would always be smaller than UFC, no matter how good their shows were.
With K-1’s death imminent, Its Showtime is in a position to become the UFC or the biggest promotion around. They are filling in the demand that K-1 left behind and need more shows to grow.
That’s true, but the parallel I was trying to draw was that both Strikeforce and It’s Showtime suddenly have found themselves in the spotlight because other promotions fell and have both had to accelerate their growth in order to fill the space, which may require them to incur greater costs or change the way they do business.
It's not a bad question to ask
But I have this expectation that Cuban is pissed that he couldn’t make money off of MMA and is now willing to invest some resources into kickboxing. It’ll take a lot less money to replace K-1 than it would have to compete with Zuffa.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
Editor, HeadKickLegend.com
Still Subo at Fightlinker.com
by Derek Suboticki on May 19, 2011 4:17 AM EDT up reply actions
That's another very interesting thought
The HDNet deal is multi-year, with ten It’s Showtime events this year. I don’t think any other HDNet show is producing that many events this year, which essentially makes It’s Showtime the de facto number one fight show on HDNet. That to me says a lot. HDNet has always wanted to be a prominent outlet for MMA, but it’s been shut out of the big leagues by the Affliction debacle and the Zuffa acquisition. This deal puts it back at the top of a different sport.
Great to see a fanpost of this sort going up.
I definitely see the lines that you’re thinking along… I do believe that the return of K-1 might even things out at some point in the (relatively) near future.
Regardless, it’s going to be quite interesting to see things in action with It’s Showtime on HDNet. Quite curious to see how some facets of the whole deal will look at the end of the day.
i think K-1 is taking too long to sort out its problems and it may be left behind
They just sit quietly and do nothing. They still haven’t paid fighters and the fighters are afraid to sue because if they do and K-1 declares bankruptcy then they are stuck with the legal fees. No top fighters are going to come back to a show that hasn’t paid them when they can fight in another show that is getting similar exposure (except maybe the Japanese fighters). It’s a shame cause K-1 was like the UFC of kickboxing cause it was the big leagues, but it also let the fighters compete in other smaller shows (unlike the UFC).
I don't think we're going to see a K-1 70kg or heavyweight GP this year
Unless K-1 can magically cough up the money. Giorgio Petrosyan is still owed money, and I think Overeem is, too. None of the European kickboxers will fight in K-1 unless they can get paid. Also, It’s Showtime is holding their own 70kg MAX GP this year which features most of the top 10 fighters. I wouldn’t be surprised if they announced a Heavyweight GP later on, either.
Can someone please tell me what's happening with the Gesrges vs Iganshov fight?
It was scheduled for July Sochi along with the 70kg tournament. The tournament moved to Brussels in September, but I’ve seen nothing that mentions this HW title fight. Is it still on? What’s going with it?
On topic, I think the major problem It’s Showtime has is its limited roster. With United Glory around, all the Golden Glory fighters are not fighting in It’s Showtime, which significantly limits the roster. The best way to solve this might be to buy the K-1 name from that Japanese dude so they can re-brand It’s Showtime as the new K-1 thereby using that "premium big league’ image already established. This may attract fighters from small promotions that are currently trying to compete with It’s Showtime.
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