Television ratings weren't the only low numbers produced by Elite XC's "Unfinished Business" event this past weekend at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif., on July 26.
In fact, out of the 8,541 tickets printed up for the Showtime/CBS primetime event, only 3,701 were sold, according to the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
Obviously, Elite XC couldn't afford to have an event on network television with less than a half filled venue, so the promotion improvised by giving away a staggering 2,817 tickets, putting the final head count at 6, 518.
The collective face value of the 2, 817 complimentary tickets was $340,960, which was considerably higher than the $268,715 that came from tickets that were actually sold. In addition, 2,023 fell by the wayside -- no one used them.
Not exactly a success for Elite XC and not exactly what the network executives at CBS like to see from its investment, either.
Therefore, Elite XC either did a lousy job putting the word out about this event -- and people in Stockton just didn't know about it -- or maybe Stockton wasn't the best place to hold a major event after all.
Considering all the home-grown talent on this card, it doesn't make sense that the locals wouldn't come out to support their hometown fighters. It appears this has more to do with the poor marketing of this event.
Perhaps low numbers like this reflect the down side of having a guy like Gary Shaw leave your company. If nothing else, Shaw -- who recently resigned -- was a great promoter and hype guy. Not that it should have been a hard sell, but something tells me Shaw wouldn't have had any trouble getting that Stockton Arena more full than it was on Saturday night.
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