A Market Worth Fighting For

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"The WWE and UFC have proven that there is a definite demand for this kind of programming," says Robert G. Routh, an analyst who follows the WWE for Jeffries & Co. "The difference is that with wrestling, at the end of the day, no one gets hurt. That's the differentiator between the WWE and the UFC and its other competitors. Will the audience mind the violence? There could be a public outcry. I know for a fact that this affects advertising and marketing. Fighting is similar to adult entertainment, and not everyone thinks that two people beating the hell out of each other should be broadcast. Even now it is mainly on pay TV."

Shamus and Otto argue that boxing has long been part of American culture, has always been accepted on broadcast TV, and in fact is historically much more dangerous than MMA, whose fights often end with submission holds rather than knockouts. Still, they are offering a sanitized version of martial arts combat. The league will ban the most violent moves, like elbow strikes and head butts. It will have rounds, like boxing matches. It will conduct drug testing, and it will advocate governmental oversight. It has also done away with the octagonal steel cage that is the trademark of rival UFC in favor of a traditional boxing ring.

Outside of its owners, investors, and fighters, no one wants to see the IFL succeed more than Joel Gold, founder and publisher of Full Contact Fighter, the leading publication covering the world of MMA--pretty much the Wizard magazine of its market. "My sales used to grow at about 20 percent a year," says Gold, who also owns the leading MMA apparel brand (also known as Full Contact Fighter). "But for the past three years it has been over 100 percent. Over the years I have seen a lot of guys come in with plans, and nothing ever comes of it. Gareb and Kurt are the first guys in five years that I have sat down and talked to who really make sense. I think it is a great plan, and it is nice that they have real money behind it."

"They are visionaries," says Pat Miletich. "They see where this sport can go when no one else has. They have put together a team that from top to bottom is the best."

"They are visionaries," says Pat Miletich, who is coach of the IFL's Silverbacks and whose Champions Fitness Center in Iowa attracts hundreds of top MMA fighters from as far away as Japan and Thailand. "They have put together a team that from top to bottom is the best in the business at what it does. It is rock solid and when you have a great organization like that, it is hard to fail."

But, of course, it's still possible. Only time will tell if the league is the next NFL, or if it goes the way of the USFL and XFL, two failed upstart football leagues with a lot of money and marketing behind them. But unlike those leagues, the IFL has little established competition and is at a threshold moment in a sport that by all accounts is growing in popularity, here and abroad. "We are going to create a billion-dollar marketplace," says Shamus. "We will make these guys global superstars. I've been in the superhero business my whole life and these guys are real-life superheroes, guys who have an extraordinary power and ability that separate them from everybody else."

Perhaps the best reason for optimism is this: According to Shamus and Otto's research, there are currently some 30,000 martial arts schools in this country alone, with about four million students.

Larry Olmsted, a frequent contributor, wrote about the World Poker Tour for the May 2005 issue.

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