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[Sakara=Excitement]

M-1 Global's Co-Promotional Strategy Fails to Bring Brand Familiarity - Bloody Elbow

When the current deal between Strikeforce and M-1 Global was signed as a co-promotional contract that would combine both brands and allow Strikeforce to obtain the services of Fedor Emelianenko, mixed martial arts fans everywhere let out a long sigh of frustration. Many fans have attributed M-1 Global's involvement and Fedor's high demands as the sole reasons why promotions who have worked with the Russia-based organization have fallen into deep financial trouble.

Now, M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko are trying to work out a re-negotiation of their contract, a current deal that is only one fight into the obligated three-fight contract. Some of the rumors circulating revolve around the potential for M-1 Global to seek out higher cash payouts while others believe M-1 Global is trying to remove themselves from the contract in order to seek out more lucrative deals in Japan or perhaps the UFC.

M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan spoke with Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! Sports about one snag that M-1 Global may never be able to hurdle over in the re-negotiation:

This is an issue that I thought about quite a bit following the Rogers vs. Fedor battle back in November. Exactly how much exposure is M-1 Global actually getting from this current deal? If the above image of the Rogers vs. Fedor promotional poster is any indication, M-1 Global isn't receiving much at all. That Rockstar Energy drink logo has more familiarity with fans.

So, who's fault is it? M-1 Global is at fault here. Familiarity is obviously something they are shooting for, but throwing your logo up in front of millions of viewers once every year isn't going to give you any staying power in a casual mixed martial arts fan's memory.



While most fans have a bad taste in their mouth in regards to M-1 Global's shady contract dealings and over-the-top demands, let's look at this from a hypothetical point of view. If M-1 Global was a promotion that produced quality smaller regional shows, had a fairly good reputation in pleasing fighters, and wasn't perceived as a horrible organization, would that even matter in the advertising market of North America?

Probably not. It's no surprise that M-1 Global isn't receiving the exposure they want, and it should be pretty apparent that they'll never receive that kind of attention. Strikeforce has been in the North American market for over 20 years promoting several cards with Showtime over the past few years.

The look and feel of each of the CBS shows screams Strikeforce, something most hardcore MMA fans are familiar with... there's that word again. Are we seeing a trend here?

Kogan is blaming CBS and Showtime for this ordeal, but what did they expect? CBS and Showtime likely want to work with a company that's been established, is known for being rather easy to work with, and doesn't have a reputation of ridiculous demands. M-1 Global is the exact opposite of that statement with the exception that they've been in business for quite some time promoting outside of the United States.

I'm assuming Kogan wants to see something along the lines of "M-1 Global/Strikeforce Presents CBS Saturday Night Fights", but that isn't going to happen. M-1 Global is never going to get the exposure they want in the North American market unless they build a promotion from the ground up and find some sort of television deal for their own organization.

Since it's likely we won't see better exposure for M-1 Global, be ready for a M-1 Global bailout strategy or an attempt to increase payouts for Fedor to compensate. M-1 Global needs to realize that CBS wants to draw in fans, and Strikeforce has more brand recognition than M-1 Global. M-1 simply doesn't keep their name in front of fans enough to allow any casual fan to remember who they are or what they're promoting.

[RonPaulForPeace]

m1 is going to crap fast in most mma fans eyes

[Tyreas]

This basically proves what a lot of us thought. M1 wants to ride another companies name recognition and make themselves into a big name MMA organization.

[Lance Eastwood]

M-1 has always been disappointed with things across the board and will continue to be. I have to believe Strikeforece is way more business savy than M-1 is and will be smart enough to not get exposed or put themselves at financial risk. In the end Fedor is not worth it and I am sure they know that. They have stated themselves that no one fighter will makes or break their business.

[U shut ur FACE]

Honestly I think M-1's co-promotion business strategy has worked wonders because now instead of not knowing who the fuck they are, people hate them.... or wait they failed..

[Xtremo]

Aha!!! In your face m-1!!!

[amosaback]

I hate M-1. As much as I'd love to see Fedor in the UFC, it simply isn't worth signing him if M-1 is attached (which they apparently always will be). I don't fault the UFC at all for not having Fedor on the roster.

Strong personal attachments between fighters and their promotion are nice, but often don't serve the fans/business well. In the case of Fedor, his attachment to M-1 keeps us from really seeing who is the baddest heavyweight in the world, and in the UFC, Stephan Bonnar (I like Bonnar fine - I'm not picking on him) may fight well past his expiration date because of personal ties to Dana's heart strings. It's nice if a promotion can have a family feel to it, but at some point the business side of things has to intervene to make a split where a split is needed.

If only Fedor and Finklestein would stop holding hands with each other then could we see a free Fedor test himself against the best heavyweights in the world. Personally, I'd be happy to see Fedor beat Strikeforces best HWs before heading over to the UFC (in my dreams). I give Toney getting a crack at Lesnar in his first UFC fight (and an athletic-commission blessing on the proposterous match) more of a chance than I give a part between Fedor and M-1 and a later UFC contract for Fedor....