MMA Universe

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 59’s ratings this past Saturday received an average of 265,000 viewers. A replay of the event Saturday night received an average of 136,000 viewers.

Bellator also ran an encore showing of the much talked about Alvarez-Chandler fight from Bellator 58. The replay received an average viewership of 237,000 viewers.

Payout Perspective:

Although Bellator 59 was slightly lower than 58 (269,000 viewers), the numbers are steady. The slight decline this past weekend is likely due to the long weekend and holiday shopping. But still the numbers for the replay of the Alvarez-Chandler fight shows an increase in fan viewership.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 58 held this past Saturday scored an average of 269,000 viewers. Bellator 58 tied for highest ratings this season and is an  impressive number considering it went up against UFC 139.

Despite the competition from the UFC, Bellator ratings doubled from last week.

Via MMA Junkie:

An additional 160,000 viewers watched an immediate replay of Bellator 58, meaning a total of 429,000 viewers watched the event on fight night.

The company does not release viewership numbers for the preliminary streams, but a source close to the promotion said the figure was up 97 percent from the previous week’s total.

Payout Perspective:

Very good numbers for Bellator which were aided by Hector Lombard and the Chandler-Alvarez fight. The replay earned solid numbers likely from the social media buzz of the Chandler-Alvarez fight. The ratings could be a sign that Bellator can compete with the UFC. But, more likely, its a sign that the UFC promoted its Fox debut so much that 139 was an afterthought that did not get a lot of promotion. Based on the UFC on Fox’s numbers, the Bellator ratings increase for its stream and show are impressive but must be tempered considering how big the Fox debut was for UFC (and for Fox).

MMA Junkie reports that Saturday night’s Bellator 57 on MTV2 received a low 129,000. Bellator 57 ran opposite the UFC on Fox, the Pacquiao-Marquez fight and college football Saturday night.

Despite changing its time slot to avoid conflicts, the 129,000 viewers average shows that MMA fans were watching the UFC online, the JDS-Cain marathon on Spike TV, free fight prelims on the Audience Network or college football.

Payout Perspective:

Hopefully in 2012 Bellator can plan ahead during weekends it will run up against UFC PPVs and UFC on Fox. The 129,000 viewers is a low turnout but expected considering the huge event in the UFC. We will see if Bellator can gain some traction with the hype of MMA from the UFC on Fox. It will be interesting to see if it can rebound next week despite competing with a mediocre UFC 139.

In a sign of growth for the company, Bellator has entered into a deal with FremantleMedia Enterprises. The company will represent Bellator in seeking international distribution rights and other business opportunities on behalf of the company.

Via joint FME-Bellator press release:

FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), the brand extension arm of FremantleMedia, today announced a global rights deal with Bellator Fighting Championships for FME to exclusively represent the rapidly growing brand’s international TV distribution rights, as well as handle the licensing, digital and ancillary rights for the US and international markets.

Since its launch in 2009, Bellator has rapidly gained momentum in the US and abroad, and is now the No. 2 promoter and producer of mixed martial arts worldwide. Currently in its fifth season, Bellator airs in over 80 million homes on MTV2, in high-definition in 30 million homes on EPIX and can be seen weekly on Spike.com. Recognizing the growing popularity of the brand, Viacom, parent of MTV Networks, recently acquired a majority stake in the company. Additionally, Viacom has announced that Bellator will debut on Spike TV in early 2013, where it will be seen in over 100 million homes.

David Ellender, FME’s Global CEO, commented, “This deal further diversifies FME’s third party slate and builds on our reputation as experts at identifying and exploiting the potential of emerging brands. The sport of mixed martial arts is gaining momentum with fans worldwide, and we can see huge potential for the Bellator brand across all platforms, both in the US and internationally.”

“The incredible athleticism and intensity exhibited in all of our mixed martial arts tournaments translate into any language,” said Bjorn Rebney, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Bellator. “With FME as our partner, we will have the ability to showcase our high-intensity brand of fighting to millions around the globe.”

Payout Perspective:

This deal bodes well for Bellator as its a sign of the expansion of the brand and the potential of tapping unrealized economic opportunities abroad. Its likely that this deal is in place as it foreshadows Bellator’s move to Spike TV a year from now.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 56 earned an average of 154,000 viewers. This marked the second straight week in a row Bellator’s ratings decreased in its Saturday night spot on MTV2.

Via MMA Junkie:

The event again faced stiff competition from the UFC. UFC 137 took place the same night in Las Vegas, and the event’s Facebook, Spike TV and pay-per-view fights overlapped with Bellator 56′s broadcast and stream.

Payout Perspective:

This week’s decrease in ratings was probable considering it went up against UFC 137, college football and Saturday night Halloween activities. Its a shame considering the Askren-Hieron fight was a matchup that many casual MMA fans would have been interested in. Arguably, Askren is one of the faces of Bellator and its unfortunate that this fight did not get more publicity…or a better night to run this event.

Late last night, Sergio Non of USA Today broke that news that media conglomerate giant Viacom had purchased a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships.

Viacom, parent of MTV Networks, bought a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships and will start airing the promotion’s bouts on Spike in 2013, the companies told USA TODAY this week. They’ve had ongoing talks for about a year as they finished up various deals, and over the past month finally reached the point where they could announce the news, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said.
…
Selling to Viacom’s entertainment conglomerate guarantees a stable future for Bellator, said Rebney, who will remain in charge of Bellator.
…
“It puts all of those cornerstones of ownership in place for us,” he said. “Which is something that’s been so seriously lacking in the MMA space with so many different companies, including Strikeforce and the IFL and Affliction and all the different failures that have occurred.

… It alleviates those issues.”

SPIKE TV PRESS RELEASE:

Viacom has purchased a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships, USA Today reported Wednesday morning. The promotion’s fights will begin airing on Spike in 2013.

The buy, said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, provides a foundation for the promotion’s future.

“It puts all of those cornerstones of ownership in place for us”, Rebney told USA Today. He will stay onboard to head the fight promotion.

“We’ll have a platform to promote the brand that reaches 99 million fans.” said Rebney to Newsday. “The benefit of what we’ve done in terms of this partnership is going to be reflected in who we’re able to sign, and where we’re able to sign them from and what we’re able to provide the fighters.”

Spike carries rights to air the UFC library through 2012. For the time being, Spike will supplement MTV2′s current Bellator programming with highlight shows and related content, online and on TV. Additionally, Spike.com will continue to stream preliminary card fights.

Spike network president Kevin Kay was bullish on the purchase. “(We) started to have conversations with MTV2 about getting invested in a mixed martial arts promotion and become owners as opposed to renters,” Kay said to USA Today. “You’re building value in something that you own, and you own it for the long term. You’re not in a constant state of negotiation.”

Bellator currently fields such talent as Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez, Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard, Welterweight Champion Ben Askren, Jay Hieron and Alexis Vila.

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Payout Perspective:

Here are some notes and observations from the story:

- Bellator is now the #2 promotion in Mixed Martial Arts behind the UFC.

- Although Spike’s agreement ends this year with the UFC, they stil lhave rights to the UFC library in 2012, which will prevent Bellator from airing on Spike TV until 2013.

- Spike TV started talking about possibly investing in Bellator with MTV2 and Viacom’s mergers and acquisition group when TV negotiations fell through with the UFC.

- Having a strong #2 promotion may be a good thing for the UFC, as they have been dealing with an FTC investigation for the majority of the year.

- Bjorn Rebney: Viacom is the majority shareholder of BellatorMMA now… Rebney will stay on as CEO.

- Bjorn Rebney: BellatorMMA will keep their tournament format through 2012 and 2013 on Spike.

- Spike will supplement MTV2′s current Bellator programming with highlight shows and related content, online and on TV. Additionally, Spike.com will continue to stream preliminary fights.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 55’s ratings this past Saturday night received an average of 168,000 viewers on Saturday night. The numbers show a decrease from Bellator 54 which posted an 185,000 viewer average.

An immediate replay of the broadcast received a lowly 45,000 viewer average.

Via MMA Junkie:

Once again, the latest ratings continue the organization’s wildly inconsistent season-five numbers; two events have scored at least 235,000 viewers, and three have drawn 158,000 or fewer. Bellator 55 did go unopposed by the UFC and Strikeforce.

Payout Perspective:

Despite not going up against another MMA card, it seems that Bellator fell victim to College Football (which included several top teams playing at the same time as the broadcast), the World Series and HBO Boxing (including the first episode of Pacquiao-Marquez 24/7). The 168,000 viewer average is decent but one would think that it could have maintained, if not exceeded Bellator 54’s 185,000 average. Also, the replay numbers seemed unusually low.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 54 on MTV2 received an average of 185,000 viewers. Running unopposed a UFC card helped the promotion increase viewership by 80% between Bellator 53 and 54.

Via MMA Junkie:

Once again, the latest ratings continue the organization’s wildly inconsistent season-five numbers; two events have scored at least 235,000 viewers, and three have drawn 158,000 or fewer.

A replay earned an average of 116,000 viewers. The 185,000 average equated to a 0.2 rating according to The Wrestling Observer.

Payout Perspective:

A nice bounce back from 53′s 103,000 average a week ago. As MMA Junkie points out, Bellator’s ratings have been across the board and its hard to find a pattern. But, we may argue that the numbers reflect the fact that Bellator can draw a decent audience when its not running up against the UFC. This begs the question as to if Bellator should move to another night. Moving the time slot on Saturday could be another option but that could draw confusion. Bjorn Rebney indicated that he would be open to such a move in 2012. But, this week Bellator 55 runs unopposed (on TV that is) so we should see another solid ratings week.

Last week we reported that Bellator had sued Arizona promotion Desert Rage Full Contact Fighting claiming the Arizona-based promotion interfered with contracted Bellator fighters for its upcoming event in Yuma on October 22nd as Desert Rage was set to hold its own event nearby on the same date.

The most recent movement in the case has Desert Rage filing a jurisdictional challenge to Bellator’s lawsuit. As a company in Illinois, Bellator filed its claim in Illinois. However, Desert Rage has opposed the filing and is requesting that the lawsuit either be dismissed or transferred to the district court in Yuma, Arizona. The hearing date to determine the jurisdiction issue will be held in December which is interesting considering that its well after the October 22nd events of both companies.

In its motion, Desert Rage includes the affidavit of Chance Farrar, the individual Bellator alleges to be the central person to have had contact with Bellator contracted fighters and had knowledge of its contracts as Farrar worked with Bellator this past spring.  In his affidavit Farrar claims not having a contract with Bellator and worked as a “fight coordinator” for Bellator’s April 2011 event in Yuma. Notably, he states, “I did not have any written contract with Bellator in relation to this (April 2011) event.” He also states that Desert Rage had planned its October 22nd event in July which would trump Bellator as it claimed it started planning for its event in August.

Based on the affidavit, its interesting that Bellator did not have Farrar sign a non-disclosure, non-compete agreement prior to having him work with the company. Obviously this is Monday-morning quarterbacking and perhaps Bellator did not have a reason to suspect this could happen. But, as a fight promotion, planning is everything. Its interesting that some sort of instinctive relief  (a request from the court to stop a party from doing something) was not requested by either party as both promotions are set to hold its events this Saturday. The hearing date for the motion is set well after the events and the effect of that would make the lawsuit about money. Or, just a moot point.

DISCLAIMER

The information in this post is opinion only. In addition, and because this is my opinion, it is not intended to be (and is not) legal advice or an advertisement for legal services. This post provides general information only. Although I encourage interested parties to contact me on the subjects discussed in the article, the reader should not consider information on this site to be an invitation for an attorney-client relationship.  I disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post. Any e-mail sent to me will not create an attorney-client relationship, and you should not use this site to send me e-mail containing confidential or sensitive information.

Bellator could move from its current Saturday night slot according to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. MMA Junkie reports that “it remains to be seen” where the promotion will place its sixth season which starts in the first quarter of 2012.

Via MMA Junkie:

Bellator, which has promoted 54 shows since its 2009 debut, now airs on MTV2 on Saturday nights. But those events frequently face competition from the UFC, Strikeforce and other weekend-loving promotions. And though it’s hard to determine if it’s solely that competition that’s affecting ratings – season-five Bellator events have peaked with up to 269,000 viewers and recently bottomed out with 103,000 – MMA fans often are forced to make a choice.

Bellator’s move could depend on whether it will move to Spike TV. And that move will depend on whether the UFC will purchase the rights to its library from Spike as Spike has retained the rights to it for 2012. The network cannot feature another MMA promotion so long as it has the rights to the UFC library.

Payout Perspective:

A move to another night is not as simple as one might think. Rebney points out the ease of selling tickets to a Saturday night event as one reason Bellator remains on Saturday night. However, viewers would have a better chance of watching Bellator programming if it moved to another night when it does not go up against the UFC. Of course, without the NBA, Bellator has one less competitor on Saturday nights the first quarter of 2012. It would mainly have to work around UFC PPVs.

Another option could include holding events on another night and giving away the event tickets to ensure attendance while finding other ways to recoup the gate revenue. It could also just move its start times on nights of the UFC PPVs although that move could become confusing since it could lose viewership if people are confused about the start times.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 53 bottomed out with an average of 103,000 viewers Saturday night. The numbers reflect the lowest ratings on MTV2 since it began broadcasting on the network.

Via MMA Junkie:

The latest ratings continue the organization’s wildly inconsistent season-five numbers; two events have scored at least 235,000 viewers, and three have drawn 158,000 or fewer. Bellator 53 faced stiff competition from UFC 135 (sic actually UFC 136) and a full slate of NCAA football games, which likely had a major effect on the ratings.

A rerun of Bellator 53 received more viewers (120,000) than the live viewing.

Payout Perspective:

The most telling number from Bellator 53 is that its replay outdrew the live event. Obviously a low rating was expected considering going up against UFC 136. But, the replay shows that there are viewers out there that would watch its product. Should Bellator move to another time slot or another day? Will moving to Spike TV help its ratings?

MMA Fighting reports that Bellator has filed a lawsuit against Arizona promotion Desert Rage Full Contact Fighting (“Desert Rage”) claiming the local Arizona promotion interfered with its upcoming show October 22nd in Yuma, Arizona.

The lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Illinois (where Bellator’s principal place of business is located) states that Chance Farrar was paid to assist with Bellator’s April card in Yuma, Arizona. The Complaint filed by Bellator claims Farrar was given access to Bellator fight contracts as well as pertinent information related to negotiating with fighters. It also claims Farrar knew the terms of fighter contracts and knew the length and conditions of the contracts.

The Complaint goes on to allege that Bellator did not enlist Desert Rage to secure fighters for its upcoming event October 22nd in Yuma, Arizona. It began the process of finding fighters in August 2011. Bellator discovered that Desert Rage would be holding an event that same night in Winterhaven, California–9 miles from the site in Yuma where Bellator would hold Bellator 55. It also learned that the local promotion offered more money to fighters under contract with Bellator. A cease and desist letter (attached to the Complaint as Exhibit A) was sent to Desert Rage requesting that it not contact fighters under Bellator contract. In addition, Bellator claims that Desert Rage officials told fighters and others in the MMA industry that Bellator had cancelled its event on October 22nd. As a result of these claims, Bellator believes that ticket sales would be impacted.

Bellator has sued Desert Rage and Chance Farrar for 1) Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations; 2) Interference with Prospective Advantage; 3) Negligent Interference with Prospective Advantage; 4) Deceptive Practices under Illinois state law. and 5) Common Law Unfair Competition.

Bellator is requesting an order from the court which would stop Desert Rage from holding an event on the same night as Bellator 55 and from holding an event “within 50 miles of Yuma,” until after October 25th. It also is requesting that the court order Desert Rage and Farrar to not communicate with any fighters that are under exclusive contract of Bellator or are negotiating with Bellator. Bellator is also requesting actual damages of over $75,000, exemplary/punitive damages and attorney fees and costs.
CM_ECF LIVE, Ver 4.2 – U.S. District Court, Northern Illinois-CM_ECF LIVE, Ver 4.2 – U.S//

Interesting notes in the Complaint:

- Bellator claims its production costs for Bellator 55 exceed $500,000
- Bellator is seen on television weekly by 250,000 viewers nationwide
- Farrar admits to receiving Bellator’s cease and desist letter although he personally denied telling anyone that Bellator’s card was cancelled.

As of this writing Desert Rage and/or Chance Farrar had not filed an Answer (response) to the Complaint.

H/t: The Fight Lawyer

Payout Perspective:

It does not appear that a non-disclosure agreement was signed by Farrar when he helped Bellator in April. But, it appears from the Complaint that Farrar was privy to Bellator fighter contracts and information related to fighter contracts. Whether or not the information Farrar received from working with Bellator was used by Desert Rage or himself will be important to this lawsuit. Certainly, Bellator is arguing that this information was used in recruiting fighters for Desert Rage’s card. More damaging to Desert Rage and Farrar is the claim that the Arizona promotion told fighters that the Bellator card was cancelled. It will be interesting to see how the court rules in this case.

DISCLAIMER

The information in this post is opinion only. In addition, and because this is my opinion, it is not intended to be (and is not) legal advice or an advertisement for legal services. This post provides general information only. Although I encourage interested parties to contact me on the subjects discussed in the article, the reader should not consider information on this site to be an invitation for an attorney-client relationship.  I disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post. Any e-mail sent to me will not create an attorney-client relationship, and you should not use this site to send me e-mail containing confidential or sensitive information.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 52 received its second highest ratings ever on MTV2 with an average of 269,000 viewers. The numbers show an increase of 70 percent from last week’s performance.

Via MMA Junkie:

The Bellator 52 broadcast peaked between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. ET with 345,000 viewers. Additionally, an immediate replay of the event scored 196,000 viewers, marking a combined audience of 465,000 viewers for the first two airings of Bellator 52.

Bellator 52 featured the quarterfinals of its Heavyweight tournament.

Payout Perspective:

The numbers are promising considering the show went up against a live and free UFC event on Versus, college football as well as HBO Boxing (although I believe MMA ended before boxing began). At this point, Bellator is likely hoping for consistency with its ratings. As you may recall just two weeks ago it scored an all-time MTV2 low of just 114,000 viewers. Of course, that occurred the same night as Mayweather-Ortiz. Notwithstanding this past weekend’s ratings, it seems that Bellator is not destination television. Looking at the last three shows, there’s a huge swing in viewership. Obviously, its been going up against stiff competition the past couple weeks (Mayweather and Jon Jones). So, perhaps 52 is a turning point for the organization.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator 51 held Saturday night drew an average of 158,000 viewers on MTV2. The results were up from last week but still an overall disappointing rating.

The opening of the bantamweight tournament for Bellator featured a highlight reel knockout of Joe Warren by Alex Vila. But, it faced stiff competition from UFC 135 as well as the usual slate of college football.

Payout Perspective:

According to MMA Junkie, the 158,000 viewers were ranked 14th out of 17 Bellator shows on MTV2. Its a tough spot for Bellator considering it went up against UFC 135. If you consider the fact that the UFC 135 prelims had strong ratings, you can infer that most MMA fans were going to be focused on the UFC Saturday night.

During UFC 135′s press conference, MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani spoke to UFC President Dana White regarding their current relationship with Spike TV, Bellator airing on Spike.com, and what we can expect from UFC shoulder programming in 2012.

Spike currently owns the UFC library through 2012, and by doing so, cannot air content from another MMA promotion – such as Bellator – until the deal expires or UFC buys back the library.  When Helwani asked White if the UFC was planning on buying the library back from Spike, he firmly stated that the “UFC will be on Spike TV in 2012″.  That of course means that Spike would then be contractually obligated to UFC programming throughout next year and Bellator would stay on MTV 2 and Spike.com until the life of the contract expires.

When Dana was asked about Bellator airing on Spike.com on the same day as UFC live programming, white stated the following:

“If you really look at what I call ‘the spirit of the deal’, it’s the wrong thing to do. The thing is, you have to understand, in my opinion it’s Spike not being honorable. They’re not being honorable. And they know. Kevin knows, Brian, all the guys who have dealt with me at Spike TV, I’ve been nothing but honorable with them. Everything that I did was to build the UFC and Spike TV. I’ve been a fantastic partner. Whatever they’ve needed from me I’ve done for them and helped them get to where they are today, just like they’ve helped us get to where we are today. And what they’re doing, if that’s the case, and they’re running these things on Spike.com, that’s not the spirit of the deal and they are being 100% not honorable. “

In terms of Strikeforce and their future, White stated that their existence relies completely on whether Showtime wants to stay in the MMA business.  Their deal is up on February/March of 2012 and a decision of whether to exercise a 2-year option – which would extend the current TV deal until 2014 – has to come from Showtime by the end of October.

When asked about Women’s MMA, White suggested that Women’s MMA will be promoted under the Zuffa banner “as long as Strikeforce is around”. Since ZUFFA acquired Strikeforce,  their champions and most marketable fighters – Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem, and Dan Henderson to name a few – have since signed to fight in the UFC and have vacated their Strikeforce belts. Cung Le, another main staple in Strikeforce, is scheduled to be part of the UFC 139 co-main event, which will take place in San Jose, Strikeforce’s old home-base.

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Payout Perspective:

The library rights that Spike currently owns is a key chess piece here being utilized by the UFC and Spike.  By keeping UFC programming on Spike, they can continue to distribute their content on Spike, which is synonymous to many as the home of MMA and the UFC.  They are also essentially keeping Bellator off of Spike for another year.  At the same time, Spike can use UFC’s programming to counter live events which will be shown on FOX, FX, and Fuel TV.  They can also use UFC programming to promote Bellator on MTV 2 and Spike.com, which they have been doing for months now, ever since negotiating a future deal with the UFC earlier this year.

As for UFC’s new partner, FOX, keeping the library on Spike prevents FX and Fuel TV from airing any shoulder programming, which will make it that much tougher to convert current Spike viewers to switch over.  Without having access to shows like Unleashed, previous TUF seasons, and old UFC events, Fuel TV and FX will have to solely rely on live events in 2012, which will not produce enough programming to get MMA fans to tune in to FX or Fuel TV on a regular basis to catch UFC programming, as they have become accustomed to at Spike TV.

In the end, it seems that UFC programming will be on multiple platforms in 2012.  The problem is that this scenario creates an interesting transitional stage for the UFC.  We can already see this with the first UFC on FOX event, which will only feature one bout.  The co-main event of Ben Henderson vs Clay Guida currently has no TV platform because Spike still has rights to UFC content through 2011, with the exception of the UFC doing network events.  FX and Fuel TV are cable channels, which is in the same tier as Spike TV. Unless FOX or another network channel – highly doubtful – chooses to air the prelims, we will most likely see the co-main event and other prelims on the card air on Facebook or on one of FOX’s website, which is a huge blow to the fighters and their sponsors.  The exception would be if the main event – Cain Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos – ends quick enough so that FOX can try and air some prelims, but there’s not much of a guarantee with a 1-hour time slot.

MMA Junkie reports that Saturday night’s Bellator 50 received an all-time low of 114,000 viewers. Although it tried a special start time (7pm ET/PT) to avoid conflicting with other events, the ratings reflect otherwise.

A re-airing of the card on the same night garnered just 94,000 viewers although the rebroadcast occurred during Mayweather-Ortiz.

Payout Perspective:

Bellator 50 was the first card where Spike.com streamed its prelims worldwide. It would be interesting to see the viewership for those fights. Despite its efforts, its clear that the busy night of fights and football contributed to the low number. Certainly, Bellator hopes that the ratings will bounce back but going up against Rampage-Jones this Saturday may not be the weekend for the rebound.

MMA Junkie reports that Bellator will be streaming its preliminary fights worldwide on Spike.com starting this Saturday with Bellator 50.

Last week Bellator and Spike.com began streaming its preliminary fights online. Bellator sent out the announcement via its twitter account.

Payout Perspective:

This is a good move for the company as it gives it broader exposure for the product. It also is another sign that Bellator will be moving to Spike TV. However, its another stacked weekend of combat sports with UFC Fight Night and the Mayweather-Ortiz fight to compete with in addition to college football (notably the Oklahoma-FSU game). Its interesting that Bellator’s prelim streaming on Spike.com will be competing with the UFC’s Facebook streaming. Then, the UFC will be airing on Spike TV and Bellator on MTV 2.

MMA Junkie reported this past week citing industry sources that Bellator’s move to Spike TV will occur although no one knows when it will happen. The move will affect the UFC as much as it will Bellator.

While Bellator has indicated its contentment with staying at Viacom-owned MTV2, it also owns Spike TV and has experience promoting MMA (i.e., UFC). So, a switch to a network with more viewers (80 million vs. 100 million). makes sense. With Spike.com streaming Bellator fights this past Saturday, we may have seen the beginning of the Bellator move to Spike TV. In addition to the online fights, Spike.com has produced a fall preview which foreshadows the move to TV.

This week, Bellator was advertised during TNA Wrestling as a live voiceover during a wrestling match. In addition, Eddie Alvarez made an appearance on the wrestling show. A Bellator on Spike.com logo was visible in the bottom right hand corner of the screen right above the Spike logo during Spike shows.

Via MMA Junkie:

Spike TV is far more visible and in 100 million homes (compared to MTV2′s 80 million). Additionally, with Spike TV’s marketing muscle (which has helped promote 14 seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” and dozens of live events) and an upgrade to a high-definition channel, Bellator could easily grow its audience exponentially. After all, even the lowest-rated UFC-Spike TV events score between 1.5 million and two million viewers.

In addition to the inevitable move, it identifies the situation the UFC is in as Spike TV has rights to the UFC library until 2012 even though live events will end this year.

So, the UFC could face the potential of counter-programming with its own product. This could prove embarrassing if, like in June, the UFC on Versus live event lost out in viewership to UFC reruns on Spike TV. Certainly the UFC would hate to see this happen with a new partner in Fox.

It could purchase the rights to the library but that would allow for its biggest competitor to begin on Spike TV. This could pose a problem as well. An industry source states that most people are not aware of the shakeup in networks and MMA organizations and would turn to Spike TV not knowing the UFC moved to the Fox Family.

Via MMA Junkie:

“The last thing you want is confusion in the marketplace,” the source said. “You have to spend a lot of money to let people know where you’re airing. People are creatures of habit. They don’t read stuff for the most part. They only know the channel it’s on, and a lot of people don’t know (about the UFC’s move to FX).”

Payout Perspective:

It will be interesting to see what Spike TV (and Viacom for that matter) does in the coming year. Does it bring over Bellator immediately or utilize the UFC library as a counterprogramming tool while streaming fights on Spike.com? Will it offer up the UFC library to the UFC so that it can bring over Bellator? Spike TV cannot play UFC reruns and live events of another MMA organization.

The bigger business move will be to see if the UFC tries to purchase the rights of its library to prevent Spike TV from the possibility of counterprogramming. Or, does it allow Spike TV to show the library to keep Bellator off of Spike TV.

Before Bellator’s fifth season kicks off on MTV 2 this Saturday, Spike.com “takes an in-depth look at the stories and personalities that drive Bellator Fighting Championships”.

Bellator Fighting Championships Fall Preview
Get More: Bellator Fighting Championships Fall Preview

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Payout Perspective:

As you can see from the video, Spike and Bellator continue to grow their partnership as Spike continues to slowly integrate the Bellator brand on to the network. This is a great promotional video, and was done in a manner where it is Spike TV ready, as you can see with the placement of the Spike brand on the bottom left.

These videos by Bellator are great  promotional tools that do a great job of introducing their fighters to new audiences by telling individual stories from their fighters.  In this case, the goal is to convert as many viewers of Spike/Spike.com as possible to tune in and watch Bellator when they slide in and take over the UFC slot, as most assume is a foregone conclusion at this point.

If that wasn’t enough of an indicator, Spike and Bellator announced the streaming of Bellator prelims on Spike.com yesterday. There was also been cross-promotional efforts between MTV 2 and Spike in recent months and that will continue this week as Bellator’s LW champion Eddie Alvarez is booked to appear on Spike’s TNA’s Impact this week, pushing the opening of the new Bellator season.  It is said that Spike TV executives were with Alvarez the entire time according to F4WOnline.com.  “It should be noted Joe Warren was on TNA in the past, the Bellator was plugging TNA even on MTV 2, virtually every week last season”.

There is a cat-and-mouse game being played right now by Spike and the UFC. Ariel Helwani of NBC Sports details the interesting situation regarding the UFC Library rights Spike has until 2012:

“Spike TV announced on Tuesday that Spike.com will air Bellator’s season five prelims beginning with Saturday’s event in Atlantic City, N.J. This seems to be another indication that Bellator will soon make its way over from MTV2 to Spike. However, since Spike owns the rights to the UFC library in 2012, the network can’t televise another promotion for that entire year. That is unless the UFC buys the library back, which would then nullify the deal. According to sources, Spike is willing to part with the library for the right price to expedite the process of getting Bellator on its network. If not, expect Spike to air UFC programming at the same [time] as live UFC events on the FOX Sports family of networks.”

Bellator and Spike.com announced today that Bellator undercard fights will be streamed live on Spike.com. Bellator’s 5th season will continue to be broadcast on MTV2.

Via Bellator press release:

Spike.com, a leading destination for men on the web, will stream LIVE undercard fights throughout the 12-week season of Bellator Fighting Championship that begins Saturday, September 10. It was jointly announced today by Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney and Erik Flannigan, Executive Vice President, Digital Entertainment, MTV Networks Entertainment Group. This marks the first time Spike.com has streamed live mixed martial events.

Spike.com will stream Bellator’s live undercard fights each week from 7:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT, leading into MTV2’s live coverage of the 5th season of Bellator Fighting Championships at 9 p.m. ET/PT. For the first time ever, Bellator will be simulcast in HD on EPIX.

Payout Perspective:

The other shoe has dropped. After the UFC left for Fox, the speculation was would Bellator be its replacement on the channel. We now see the beginning of Spike finding its replacement. Spike executives were at Bellator’s last show and it was likely in prelude to this announcement. Certainly, the live streaming opens up the Bellator product to more viewers and allows prelim fighters the chance to be seen. It should also mean more web traffic for Spike.com. We shall see how much time it takes before Bellator makes its eventual move from MTV2 to Spike TV.