I've read that there was a little over 7500 people for the last strikeforce event featuring fighters considered the best HW's in the world. It's not very impressive considering all the hype there was around Alistair. So, where did they go wrong? if I wasn't following forums and MMA specific news I'd have no idea Strikefoce even exists, do they market their product better in the U.S.? In Quebec, Ringside, a local promotion, can bring up to 4k people for a local card. :think
most people dont know about strikeforce and the rest that knows of it goes and watches it illegally but there are the few that supports it by paying and also its poorly marketed
By almost every account UFC have by far the best organisation, production and marketing - most likely in all of combat sports. How did they not sell out for the card I do not know. Their marketing must be awful.
Strikeforce is owned by the UFC,is it not.They will eventually bury this brand as well and be the lone company standing.
It is now but the UFC aren't going to suddenly pump loads of money in to salvage that show. They will either begin to slowly rebuild it or bury it. Overeem, Hughes, multiple fighters all talk about how organised Zuffa are. Overeem said he noted a change in how the shows are run now that Zuffa have taken over. Hughes and other UFC fighters have ripped into SF being so unprofessional.
The UFC draws large crowds because its brand and fighters are exposed on Spike and through other mainstream entertainment outlets. Showtime is not a mainstream entertainment outlet, its a premium channel that draws a far small audience. The likes of Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Daniel Cormier, Chad Griggs are simply not known to the average viewers. They've had nowhere near the level of exposure that a low level fighter like Clay Guida has had. Even Werdum isn't overly well known due to him disappearing straight after defeating Fedor. And Strikeforce's brand is poor - even amongst those fans that know who they are they're mostly seen as the secondary organisation. Zuffa is also going to make far less money (if any) on this show than the average UFC event. They're not going to throw the same level of advertising support for this show as they would for a UFC pay per view because the latter generates the revenue to cover the cost. Its also worth pointing out that a 7,000 attendance is hardly poor when compared to what most American boxing shows promoted solely through Showtime get. And Strikeforce gets far less support from the network than most boxing shows do.
