(All for one and one for all….right guys?)
The plausibility that DREAM and K-1 will continue past the first quarter of 2011 is looking bleak as the promotions’ parent consortium, Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) has failed to secure much needed financial backing.
A $200 million deal that was in the works with Japanese capital investment firm PUJI has collapsed according to Fighters Only and it seems that the reason the agreement fell through was because the popularity of kickboxing and MMA in The Land of the Rising Sun" is waning.
Some red flags that signalled to PUJI that Japan’s interest in combat sports is on the decline were a dramatic drop in advertising dollars, live gate revenue and FEG’s inability to secure a television deal for its K-1 Dynamite! New Year’s Eve show this year. Investors weighed the risks of the deal and decided that FEG had grossly exaggerated the value of the company and the potential revenue that could be made in Japan, given the current state of the sport in the country.
The fact that several fighters have yet to be paid for FEG fights they competed in under both the K-1 and DREAM banners in 2010 speaks volumes about the dire circumstances the company is in. When you aren’t making money and you have employees whose exorbitant salaries aren’t being paid, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your place in the business world.
Fight Opinion’s Zach Arnold lays out some scenarios that could keep the struggling company afloat for at least one or two more shows if it pays the Tokyo Broadcasting System to broadcast its events or gives them the broadcast rights for free to ensure that its shows make it onto TV in Japan (HDNet broadcasts FEG shows in North America), but if that happens, then it isn’t likely that K-1 and DREAM will survive until next spring.
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It'll make me so sad losing both DREAM and K-1. Having an elite level kickboxing event is fantastic especially as it really does show who the best of the best is at stand up is at their respective weights. K-1 Max came along and made the K-1 heavy weights look slow and powerless. I've loved watching the rise of Giorgio Petrosyan and as much as I wonder what he'd be like fighting at either 155lbs or 145lbs in MMA part of me knows that he simply doesn't have the time to become as great a quality ground fighter as he is kick boxer.
@ easy21
I'd beg to differ when it comes to having every single fighter fighting under a single banner as with a lot of organisations there is a larger spread of cheap or even free events to view. Basically, without small events you'd never have been able to see Lee Murray go the distance with Anderson Silva or the war that was Manhoef versus Cyborg. The UFC is a big fan of fighters that win their fights. You'd never have seen Abel Callum versus Hideo Tokoro (which for my money was one of the best fights of 2009) as at the time Tokoro was 24–20–1 and Callum was 15-3. I've yet to see a boring Tokoro fight and I'll always tune in regardless of his record.
Also, you wouldn't have women's MMA. I've watched a number of women's fights at events and on television and they have a habit of making the men who have fought on that card look worthless.
Generally, I'd be sad if FEG died as they kept the classiness and spectacle in combat sports. You wouldn't have the awesomeness of the poster for the first round of DREAM's feather weight GP or K-1's live choir during the opening ceremony of this year's heavy weight final 16.